taikouvember

[taikouvember]

TAIKOUVEMBER 2025 - ANNOUNCEMENT POST

Hello everyone!

First of all, thank you to all 31 participants of the interest poll! We thought hosting an entire week might be too ambitious, but we were happy to see that the majority of voters confirmed to be happy to participate or enjoy another event. So in the fourth year of Taikouvember, we keep things a little bit smaller.

November is the last month of autumn, right before Christmas time begins. It’s a time that can be filled with light and coziness, gloominess and melancholy, a time of contrasts. So, November 7th to November 9th shall be dedicated to the relationship between Taichi Yagami and Koushiro Izumi (Taikou, Koutai or mainly known as Taishiro(u) in the English speaking fandom). The prompts you may want to use throughout the entire weekend are the following:

Partners & Crests

Childhood / Adulthood

Platonic / Romantic

Sporty / Studious

Free Space!

You can interpret the prompts however you like. If you want us to reblog your posts, please tag everything as #taikouvember, #taikouvember2025 or #taikouvember 2025 and we will be happy to share your content, let it be fanart, sketches, fanfiction, drabbles, poems, edits or whatever comes to your mind.

The annual Rules & FAQ and a more detailed Prompt Guideline will follow soon. Stay tuned for the upcoming updates!

[taikouvember]

*consider

[taikouvember]

Taikouvember 2024 has already come to an end - and we wanted to say "thank you" to all participants this year!

There hasn't been much resonance this time, but taking the most recent events around the globe into consideration, this shouldn't have been too surprising.

Please take care of yourselves, your loved ones and the people around you and keep in mind that your mental health should always come first.

A big shoutout goes out to:

@celticmagic617: [Day 1] [Day 3]

@jamesthedigidestined: [Day 1] [Day 2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6]

@taichi-x-koushiro / @koushirouizumi / @izzyizumi / @hikari-m: [Day 1.1] [Day 1.2] [Day 1.3] [Day 1.4] [Day 1.5] [Day 2.1] [Day 2.2] [Day 2.3] [Day 2.4] [Day 2.5] [Day 2.6] [Day 3.1] [Day 3.2] [Day 3.3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6.1] [Day 6.2] [Day 7.1] [Day 7.2]

@valtren: [Day 1.1] [Day 1.2] [Day 2.1] [Day 2.2] [Day 4] [Day 5]

@seventeenlovesthree: [Day 1] [Day 2.1] [Day 2.2] [Day 3.1] [Day 3.2] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6] [Day 7]

Thank you all for sticking around and taking the time to send both amazing original and reblogged posts, it was a pleasure to host it all thanks to your effort and shared love for our boys, Taichi, Koushiro, and the (relation)ship revolving around them. None of this would have been possible without you.

We still hope that those who have visited were also enjoying the entries, either through likes or as silent lurkers - you're all welcome and appreciated! If you'd like to contribute later, you can still do so by contacting us @taikouvember or posting things tagged with #taikouvember or #taikouvember2024.

This may have been the last Taikouvember, but we hope you've enjoyed the past three years as much as we did.

Goodbye for now!

[taikouvember]

READY?_ [a Taichi/Koushiro FST]

[ A mini Koushiro Izumi + Taichi/Koushiro (Taishiro/Taishirou) FST (fan soundtrack), interspersed between character songs and etc. + encompassing Digimon Adventure Tri’s Reboot and the potential beyond. -Or, in which Koushiro Izumi angsts way too much for his own good, but Taichi’s always there for him. ] [FULL FST CAN BE HEARD/WATCHED HERE!] – THE BEGINNING – [and so it begins] 1. Digimon Adventure Opening Theme - Butter-Fly [Wada Kouji] [+Translation] 2. Digimon Adventure OST - Adventurer ~Taichi’s Theme~ (Ver 2.) 3. Digimon Adventure OST - Digital Scratch! ~Koushiro’s Theme~ (Ver. 2) – KOUSHIRO IZUMI – [or, Koushiro’s journey to find himself + what are these mysterious “feelings”??] 4. Love Lost Elegy [Miku Hatsune] (*serious yet upbeat; “somehow I managed to escape” [that dimension], [taichi’s] “courage��, “XX” –) (*+“but you know what? I’m scared”/“I guess it’s about time for me to save you”) (*the mv here is kinda flashy but this Ib version w/out flashing is a substitute) 5. Listen To Your Heart [DHT] (*this is a classic in general, but LISTEN TO YOUR HEART, KOUSHIRO) 6. Cherish [Ai Otsuka] (*angst/creepy yet hopeful, and the flickering screens in that MV? Adv. EP 21??) (”Love is such a frightening thing / That’s why I run from it, yet chase after it”) (”If we never had the chance to meet each other, I wouldn’t be able to smile the way I do now”) (”This year, the happiest moments I’ve had were the moments I could be there next to you”) 7. Iris [The Goo Goo Dolls] (”And I don’t want the world to see me ‘cause I don’t think that they’d understand”) (”When everything’s made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am”) (”When everything feels like the movies, yeah, you’d bleed just to know you’re alive”) 8. Version Up! (Koushiro’s Digimon Adventure Character Song) [+Translation] – HOPE – [or, during Adventure’s Battle for Earth] 9. Be Yourself [Audioslave] (inspiration: this old but amazing amv) (*for both Taichi & Koushiro; but mainly Taichi) (”To be yourself is all that you can do…”) 10. Open Mind (Koushiro’s Digimon Adventure 02 Character Song) [+Translation] – DESPERATION – [or, in which Koushiro Izumi helps Taichi Yagami and co. save the world] 11. One Week (Digimon The Movie OST) [Bonus?: my oldschool af amv] 12. Digimon the Movie OST - Birth of Omegamon (*actually cover of Shouri ~Zen no Theme~ from the Adventure Japanese OST?) 13. Brave Heart (Digimon Adventure’s Evolution Theme) [Wada Kouji] [+Translation] – REBOOT – [or, in which s u f f e r i n g happens, and Tentomon is too precious for this world] 14. Vector to the Heavens [Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days OST] (*Kokuhaku, Koushiro’s [+Taichi’s] desperations, and Tentomon) 15. Vector to the Heavens (Backwards) [Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days OST] (*the Reboot, or everything is falling apart, and they both can’t do anything) 16. Kioku no Kakera (”Shards of Memory”) [+Translation] (Koushiro’s Digimon Adventure Tri Character Song) (*mostly for Tentomon, but–) (”Though I didn’t have enough courage, I spread my knowledge with both hands”) (”A closed wall to encourage you with the words [“Right” “I want to know” “Mistake”] written all over”) (”Even if I cry, I won’t change anything about the future made of erased words.”) – SUPPORT / TAICHI YAGAMI – [or, Taichi’s final battles and epiphanies in Tri, while they support each other] 17. Brofist [HetaOni OST] (*”I’ve always believed in Taichi-san before this, in any case.”) (”Let’s do this!!”) 18. READY?_ [The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya OST] (in which Taichi (& Koushiro’s)’s goggles will probably help work miracles) 19. Yuuki wo Tsubasa ni Shite (”I’ll Turn My Courage Into Wings”) (Taichi’s Digimon Adventure Character Song) [+Translation] – TOGETHER – [or, in which they reunite, and f i n a l l y realize and admit their feelings] 20. In The Rain (Piano Cover) [Miraculous Ladybug] (*please see: image number 13 of this beautiful art set by Harrup!) (*the piece in question is sfw but nsfw warning for the art set otherwise) 21. Hey My Friend [TommyHeavenly6] (Kamikaze Girls OST) [+Translation] (”The endless dreams, reality, and such… I was caught up with the distractions.”) (”If it’s just decorative pride, I don’t need it…”) (”Hey my friend – tell me when [you notice].”) – CONCLUSION – [or, and so it ends, or, and so it begins… again] 22. Our Digital World [+Translation] 23. Butter-Fly ~Piano Ver.~ [Wada Kouji] 24. I Wish (Full Ver.) [AiM (also aka: Mimi Tachikawa’s seiyuu)] [+Translation] (*also in which Mimi cheers them on, because she def. would!) 25. Butter-Fly ~Memorial Ver.~ [Digimon Adventure Boys] 26. Aikotoba [Ayumi Miyazaki & AiM] – EPILOGUE – [or, no matter what…] 27. Utada Hikaru - First Love [Japanese ver.] (”You are always gonna be my love, Even if I fall in love with someone again sometime.” “You will always be inside my heart, There will always be a place for you only.”) 28. Utada Hikaru - First Love [English ver.] (”…And you should know, How I wish I could have never let you go. Come into my life again, oh, don’t say no.”)

[taikouvember]

{D I G I M O N} Adventure {F r a n c h i s e} "Adventure" to "The Beginning" {Series} + "B E Y O N D" {P.V.} x 2020 (Adventure:) {Re-boot} + P a r a l l e l s (Inspired) + Mrs. Izumi (as Support) + {A D O P T E E!}Koushiro{u} x Taichi {KouTai}

I   H A T E D   Y E S T E R D A Y ,

I   H A T E D   THE W O R L D ,

BUT I'VE   C H A N G E D ,

and I’ll     L O V E     T O M O R R O W

… And M I G H T YOU R E A L I Z E      " L O V E " ,

M E E T "S O M E O N E" ,

… And  MAKE   A F U T U R E    OF Y O U R  OWN ?

"...And it makes ME so {H A P P Y},

{FOR Y O U} that I'm on the {V e r g e} of T E A R S..."

-"Gunjou Rain" L y r i c s by: Jin {"Ultramarine Rain"}

Gifs by @izzyizumi / @koushirouizumi​ {Do Not R e-p o s t or Re-produce without my Permission} {Do Not Remove Caption} (A s k to U s e)

Usage r u l e s under the ‘read more’!

REGARDING EDITS/GIFS USAGE:

- they must NOT be used to spread negativity for the canon/fandom! {INCLUDES: in regards to Adventures AS A WHOLE, Adventure (Original series), 02, Tri, Kizuna, Adventure & 02 movies, Drama CDs, any spinoff materials} - they must NOT be used to promote ship-warring within the fandom - they must NOT be used to attack any Adventures character focused on - IF I SEE YOU DOING THIS I WILL LIKELY BLOCK WITHOUT M E R C Y {usage may be allowed IF PERMISSION IS ASKED TO USE.}

{Please also LIKE this post if you are wanting to use!} {Once you have “Like’d”, You must contact me directly or privately to ask for permission!} {However, read my about & F.A.Q pages first. Please DO NOT use / ask if you match anything in my “Do Not Interact” section.} {I MAY POLITELY DECLINE USAGE REGARDLESS. Please do not take it personally!} {if you are unsure if you can use you can SEND ME AN ASK} {I will check your blog; if you do not match anything on my “D.N.I”; [CHECK THE FAQ FOR MY D.N.I SECTION/S] you will likely/may pass the check and can use!} {However please note my ENTIRE FAQ sections on such} {It is possible I may not grant permission for other reasons} [i.e.: You post a lot of something I have blacklisted]

PLEASE ALSO NOTE: {My headcanons for the characters of this series VARY} {for this set particularly [Adventure+02 Chosen / various Advs charas]; I headcanon most as/on the M-spec/M u l t i gender attracted {s p e c t r u m}*} {this post/my edits ARE NOT for people who cannot respect this fact or M-spec people / M-spec headcanons / MF relationships, Q u e e r identities, etc. in general!}

[PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL AND FOLLOW MY RULES] {OR DO NOT INTERACT WITH THIS POST/MY CONTENTS}

(Note: Tagging/commenting/discussing Positively/respectfully is OK!!)

[taikouvember]

Digimon Adventure x tri. x Kizuna x 2020 ~ J.P.N Version featuring Character (+DUO/SHIP/O.T.P) Koushiro[u] Izumi (+Taichi Yagami); [KOUTAI] / (TAIKOU) / {Taishiro[u]} + Koushiro & Tentomon; (as Friends); + IZUMI Family (as Adopted) ~ Important Quotes ~ (Common) Character Traits ({+Awkward} Grinning or HAPPINESS) ~ Parallels (across all Adventure{s}-relevant medias)

“You look more EXCITED than you’ve ever BEEN before.”

“You look really HAPPY about something.”

“I understand how much you LOVE this” - Motimon as he patiently listens to Koushiro, (rambling about the benefits of Oolong);

“YOU LOOK HAPPY”

“All WE WANT is for YOU to BE HAPPY.” - Mrs Izumi

(My Interpretation): {“Are YOU HAPPY?”}

“YES.”

“YES, I AM.” - Koushiro[u] Izumi, in every possible Universe, Likely

{Bonus Gifs + Original commentary under the ‘read more’!}

Keep reading

[taikouvember]

{D I G I M O N} Adventure (F r a n c h i s e) ~ Adventure, 02, tri., tri. S t a g e-p l a y, L a s t E v o l u t i o n: Kizuna, & Adventure: [2020 R e b o o t] + KOUSHIRO I z u m i + {F R A M E D In} S U N S E T {S}/{C O L O R S} + {KOUTAI} / {Taishiro} / {TaiKou} (Koushiro{u} I z u m i & Taichi Y a g a m i) {As S H I P} + Koushiro & M e n o a Bellucci

+ {L O O K I N G}/A i m i n g Towards the F U T U R E {F O R W A R D}

Originally I wanted to make this for @taikouvember 2 k 2 4! (It could have fit for "L i g h t"!) {Though I made it a bit e a r l y!}

[taikouvember]

@taikouvember Day 7 - Kindness / Miracles: "Absolutely Dating"

Initially, this wasn't even meant to be part of Taikouvember, as I had merely been on a concept design spree just a few months ago... However, the more I thought about this art, which started off as nothing more than a simple doodle for the "Miraculous Tentobug & AguNoir AU", the more I realized... Basically, it is a representation of miracles. Hikari - who functions as the time-traveling equivalent of Bunnyx in the Miraculous Ladybug AU - would definitely tease her (pretty much clueless) brother in the past about his potential future love life. Miraculous Ladybug is a series that revolves around wishes in a similar way as Digimon does and evolution is also a theme that appears in both of them, so... Why not dream about a future in which these two would keep fighting alongside each other as partners in crime, achieving higher power levels that pay homage to to their Digimon partner's evolution levels (WarGreymon and HerculesKabuterimon in this case)... And being absolutely lovey-dovey in the process?

(I also initially had a design that contained less black in Koushirou's design, but I still felt like including it, because it still looks interesting!)

[taikouvember]

Digimon Adventure{s} (+Adv ~ Tri + {Side} / {A.U.} Adventure: [2020 Reboot]) ~ AMV [Anime Music Video] - Tomodachi no Uta {Song of Friends} (sung by: Nanami Kashiyama) {from originating series: Kagerou Project} featuring DUO/O.T.P/Poly-ships: - {Main} KouTaiMi / TaiKouMi (Mimi x Koushiro x Taichi); - (Heavily Implied) KouTai (Koushiro x Taichi)

PAST AMVS / VIDEO EDITS IN THIS SERIES: Kagerou Daze (Heat-Haze Daze) / Children Record [+Adv Chosen] / RED / Additional Memory and Imaginary Reload music edits for KageDaze / Days (short edit) / Lost Time Memory / Yesterday Evening / Summertime Record / Shounen Brave [+Jou] / Outer Science [+Villains] / Headphone Actor (short edit) / DAZE (short version / TV Size OP) / KOUSHIROS ? CYBER JOURNEY [+Maki] / Brave Heart x Kaien Panzermast [+Chosen Children] / Night Tales Deceive [Yobanashi Deceive] / [KOUSHIRO’S] Imaginary World / Mekakushi Code [Blindfold Code] [+Yamato&Sora&Adv Chosen] / Ultramarine Rain [+Mrs Yoshie Izumi; Izumis] / Imagination Forest [+Mimi&Jou] / Transparent Answer [TaiKou+Meiko] / Jinzou Enemy [Artificial Enemy] / DEAD and SEEK (short edit) / Headphone Actor (Full version Preview) / Otsukimi Recital [TaiKou+Chosen] / Shissou Word [Never-Lost Word] [(Yamatox)Sora(xMimi)(xJou)]+[TaiKou]+[Chosen] / My Funny Weekend [Mimi+Hikari+Chosen] / Kusanagi Attention [(Ken x)Miyako(x Hikari) (xDaisuke)+Mimi+02 Chosen+Advs Chosen (+TaiKou)] / Shinigami Record (Short Edit) [(+2020!)TaiKou] / [KSHRO’s]? Theory of Happiness [Adv~Tri TaiKou + Special Appearance] / Imaginary Reload (Music Edit Ver. 2) [Adv Chosen+2020 Chosen] / Children Record Re:Boot (Music Edit) / Children Record (Nijisanji Cover version)

Digimon Adventure{s} Franchise © Toei Animation & Bandai

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. This is FAN-MADE. No $$$ is being made off this fan-work * Please do not re-post, re-distribute, edit, or use my specific editing of any work in this series without asking my Permission! I do not allow my works to be re-produced for any usage, including A.I.!

Notes:

There are some spoilers for Tri (mainly Ketsui); {as well as a much smaller ‘moment’ of Mimi & Sora from “Kyousei”}; a scenery spoiler from the very opening moments of “Kizuna” also included (No character is shown!), as well as scenes from DigiAdv 2020 Eps 49~50, which feature an important mid-end series (second-to-last big) battle. The 2nd to final scene included has audio left in (though I still have to add in subs); of that battle’s aftermath; {the enemy itself is not seen in this}

This A.M.V. is part of the “A.M.V.s Route” of my Digimon Adventures Koushiro Izumi-centric, semi canon compliant A.U.s series; REPEAT?_VERSE (Please note all notes on that series if you choose to view it!) This one is an A.U. spin-off of sorts, with a pretty, “calm” song, and can easily be watched as a stand-alone!

A fan-translation for the song (not by me) can be found here! You may want to read the lyrics first before watching!

Side ships, AMV specific notes, & Lyrics/Translation under ‘read more‘!

Keep reading

[taikouvember]

TaiKouvember 2024, Day 6: Light 

(Sequel to Day 5: Hope, although mostly unneeded to enjoy this.) 

“So, that’s why you’re a wreck today?” Hikari giggles, gently rubbing Gatomon’s belly as the feline Digimon purrs warmly. 

“Yes! It was horrible, Hikari; you need to put Takeru on a leash or something!” Taichi exclaims, wiping his face down in an attempt to take the tension off. 

“Onii-chan, I can barely contain a few children; an adult is well out of my league. Not to mention I tried that already and he liked it.” She gives Taichi a playful smirk, taking great joy in the pained reaction from her older brother. 

“I don’t understand what’s so wrong anyway. You humans overcomplicate everything.” Gatomon shakes her head, clueless and frankly uncaring of the gravity of Takeru’s intrusions. 

“I concur, humans truly are mysterious creatures.” Tentomon says, leaning into Taichi’s side in an attempt to comfort him. Grateful for the touch, Taichi begins to scratch under the big bug’s chin. 

“On another note, Onii-chan, Gatomon would like to spend some time with you. The little softie.” The young woman beams at her Digimon, who only raises her chin and looks away in response. 

“Yes, well, I hear Tentomon particularly enjoys your salmon, so I feel inclined to try some myself.” Gatomon tries to deflect, huffing as Hikari pets her. 

“The salmon was good last night!” Tentomon asserts, raising his claw up to accentuate his point. 

“Oh! Uh, sure? We’ll pick some up on the way home,” Taichi tilts his head, somewhat confused but not disliking another Digimon around, asking, “How long will you be staying?”

“Just for a few days.” Gatomon replies simply, leaning into the affection as she, partly, gives up the tough cat act. 

“I have a school trip, which is just overnight, but a few friends and I will be touring for another night. So take good care of her while I’m gone, or I won’t forgive you!” Hikari takes on a more serious expression, pouting at her brother. 

“Of course! I’ll pamper her even more than you do!” Taichi laughs as a waitress comes by. They give her their orders and eat peacefully, casually talking in between bites. School, friends, gossip, previous adventures, a little bit of everything, until their lunch breaks end. 

“What a shame, Onii-chan; I have to go pack. Again, take care of Gatomon! And Gatomon? Feel free to tease Onii-chan as much as you want!” She laughs, kissing the two Digimon’s heads and her brother’s cheek before squeezing him as tight as she can in a hug, which he returns. The three of them then waved her off as she parted. 

“Alright , Gatomon, Tentomon, let’s run some errands before we head home.” Taichi recommends paying for the meal before sliding out of the seat. 

“I have no objections.

“Let’s pick up a treat for Koushirou-han!”

“Hmm, good idea. They’ve been rather stressed, right?” Taichi grins and pats the heads of his companions, leading them off on their new adventure. 

After a rather uneventful but pleasant time, Taichi returns with some groceries and Digimon in tow. Tentomon immediately goes for Koushirou’s office as Gatomon checks the place out. 

“Looks nice, not as dingy as your old apartment.” Gatomon observes, quick to lay down, and starfish lazily. 

“Well, when your partner makes so much, it’s easy to upgrade.” Taichi smiles warmly, proud of Koushirou’s accomplishments. 

“Hmm, and what about you?” Gatomon questions, sitting up now that the topic has piqued her interest.

“Well, I’m focusing more on school, and...”

“Hey, don’t feel ashamed, Taichi. You put your all into what you need to, and that’s what’s important.” 

“Koushirou said the same thing, but...”

“‘But’ nothing; listen to them. They’ve never been wrong before.” Gatomon counters, giving Taichi a stern but caring look. 

With a sigh Taichi nods and agrees, acknowledging how great Koushirou is for shouldering so much. It’s at this moment that he’s reminded of the wrapped package in his hand. It’s a simple box, wrapped in dinosaur wrapping paper, but hopefully Koushirou would enjoy it all the same. Debating on when to gift it, Taichi decides to set it in a drawer and, hopefully, remember to gift it later. 

After checking the time, Taichi decides to pop in to Koushirou’s office, softly knocking so as to not scare his love as he enters the room. 

“Yes, Taichi-san?” Koushirou smiles up at him, their soft eyes and sweet lips drawing Taichi in to plant some kisses. He begins to get greedy, kissing deeper before Koushirou softly pushes Taichi away. 

“You know my one rule,” they say simply, pointing to a curled up Tentomon taking a nap, “no funny business in front of the Digimon.” 

Taichi nods and sighs, keeping his hands mostly to himself while giving his partner tamer affection, resulting in a firm shoulder massage.

“Still working even on a Sunday?” Taichi questions, looking over to the screen but just seeing garbled-looking lines of text and graphs. No wonder Tentomon fell asleep.

“Someone found a zero-day in our SSL protocol implementation, so I’m patching and pentesting our services just to be sure we’re no longer at risk.”

“This couldn't result in another Diaboromon, can it…?”

“If it could, do you think I’d be so casual? I’d have called up every Chosen in the world to be on standby as we get Daisuke-kun and Ichijouji-kun to handle it.” They respond practically, eliciting a nod and sigh from Taichi. Koushirou, sensing their partner’s emotions, firmly holds his hands in their own, massaging them. 

“You’re still doing your best, Tai; please don’t forget that.” Koushirou says tenderly, smiling up at their partner once again. Taichi returns that smile, still unsure but happy to be believed in. However, Koushirou must soon get back to work, and Taichi leaves to study before starting dinner. 

While it was a difficult task, Taichi did successfully get Gatomon to let them have salmon tomorrow, as they already had it yesterday. Instead, today, given the cooler weather, Taichi decided he’d prepare sukiyaki, or hot pot beef and veggies. However, Koushirou wasn’t there at his usual time, which was just after 5 PM. Taichi makes his way to the office quickly, worry building as he opens the door to reveal... Kou, just sleeping in their chair.

Taichi lets out an audible sigh and softly prods the genius awake, kissing their forehead as they wake up. 

“Rise and shine, beautiful; it’s time for dinner!”

“Mhhh… I haven’t even had breakfast yet though…?”

Taichi just laughs again and kisses them on the lips, handing Koushirou their water to help wake them up. And now, with a groggy Koushirou in tow, it was time to eat together. 

Koushirou casually greets Gatomon, who returns the greeting. After interrogating Kou on how they weren’t surprised, he was informed that Hikari texted them last night. With a pout, he accepts the answer, earning him a peck on the cheek and a thank you for the meal. Now shining brightly, he prays with them before they all dig into the food in their own unique ways. 

Taichi was voracious and saved his favorites for last; Koushirou was meticulously melding their flavors together, while Tentomon enjoyed playing with his food as Gatomon was unable to hide their enjoyment as they ate, devouring the food happily.

Soon, with dinner finished, the two Digimon go to play, Tentomon leading Gatomon to their server. 

Now, with the two lovers alone, Taichi can’t help but cling to his other half. In response, Koushirou laughs and returns the embrace, saying nothing as Taichi explores their waist casually. 

“I’ve missed you today.” Taichi breathes out, feeling his scalp being massaged as he’s held closer. 

“It was hardly even 12 hours since we last had sex; you can’t be serious." They laugh, shy and flattered at Taichi’s insatiability, saying, “At least survive until we’re in bed, okay?” Koushirou bargains, kissing his bottom jaw before softly splitting off. 

“Fiiineee, but instead we’re cuddling on the couch with a blanket on.” Taichi says, the implications clear to the two of them. Quickly they get cozy on the couch and find a good movie, snuggled close and getting very familiar as they watch the film. 

Sooner than they’d like, however, the movie ends, and as they slowly untangle from their mess of limbs, Taichi remembers the gift. Quickly standing, he walks over to the drawer and reveals the box, handing it to Koushirou. 

“What is this?” They say, beginning to slowly undo the wrapping. 

“It’s a gift for all the hard work you do; I bought it using my own money, so it may not be too great, but I hope you still enjoy it.” Taichi says, rocking on his heels as Koushirou goes faster, careful not to make a mess but wanting to quickly see what it is. Soon, all that is left is a brown box. 

Slowly, the brown box is opened to reveal a gorgeous gold necklace with a large onyx, a deep purple contrasted with bright white streaks. Koushirou immediately starts to tear up, grinning softly. Taichi immediately holds his partner, massaging their back as they squeeze tightly. 

“An onyx… It represents the birth constellation of Leo, right? Which just so happens to be the first month of August…?” They say through sniffles, overwhelmed somewhat as Taichi confirms, congratulating his love for their quick thinking. 

“Say, Tai… I suddenly feel a bit tired... Would you like to go to bed…?” Koushirou says, leaning on their love with a deep, meaningful look in their eye, and Taichi doesn’t need to be asked twice, crazy hat addicts be damned. 

@taikouvember

[taikouvember]

Digimon Adventures ~ x Kagerou Project “My Funny Weekend” AMV [music © Jin, singer: Hatsune Miku {Vocaloid}] featuring CHARACTERS/DUO/SHIP[s]: MIMI TACHIKAWA, HIKARI YAGAMI (as supporting characters) + Taichi Yagami [Taichi “Tai” Kamiya in U.S. Dub] x Koushiro(u) Izumi [Koushiro “Izzy” Izumi] ~ {KOUTAI}/[Taishiro(u)] & with bonus scenes for: Jou Kido x Mimi Tachikawa [Joumi] as a main ship Miyako Inoue x Hikari Yagami [Miyakari] Sora Takenouchi x Mimi [So(Ra)Mi] as side main ship Mimi Tachikawa x Meiko Mochizuki [MiMei] {brief} Miyako Inoue -> Mimi Tachikawa [Mimiyako] as implied crush Taichi x Koushiro x Meiko [TaiKouMei] x Mi (Mimi) as equal polyships Taichi x Koushiro x Mimi [TaiKouMi] as an equal OT3 Daisuke Motomiya* x Hikari x Miyako as equal polyship {brief} (* Ken can be read in into the background if you like Dai/Ken[suke] ) [ or DaiKenMiyakari as an equal polyship ] Yamato x Sora [Sorato] / x Mimi [YamaSoMi] as an equal OT3 {brief} [or +Jou for YamaJouraMi] as equal polyships ~ you can feel free to read in whichever of the above pairs you want (or anything else that’s in my shiplist pretty much!) however, please keep in mind the main ship is Taishiro. It is not intended as brotp only but as ship.

PAST AMVS / VIDEO EDITS IN THIS SERIES: Kagerou Daze (Heat-Haze Daze) / Children Record [+Adv Chosen] / RED / Additional Memory and Imaginary Reload music edits for KageDaze / Days (short edit) / Lost Time Memory / Yesterday Evening / Summertime Record / Shounen Brave [+Jou] / Outer Science [+Villains] / Headphone Actor (short edit) / DAZE (short version / TV Size OP) / KOUSHIROS ? CYBER JOURNEY [+Maki] / Brave Heart x Kaien Panzermast [+Chosen Children] / Night Tales Deceive [Yobanashi Deceive] / [KOUSHIRO’S] Imaginary World / Mekakushi Code [Blindfold Code] [+Yamato&Sora&Adv Chosen] / Ultramarine Rain [+Mrs Yoshie Izumi; Izumis] / Imagination Forest [+Mimi&Jou] / Transparent Answer [TaiKou+Meiko] / Jinzou Enemy [Artificial Enemy] / DEAD and SEEK (short edit) / Headphone Actor (Full version Preview) / Otsukimi Recital [Moon Viewing Recital] [Advs Taishiro & 2020 Taishiro] (Note: Check the link for ‘ Otsukimi Recital ‘ for all links to any past AMVs as well as story info / the story introduction link!) (*It’s ok to start on/only watch this current AMV!) [*You may understand the story/implied timeline of things better if you begin from my “Kagerou Daze” AMV, though it’s also not required! “Children Record” is also recommended as a starting point/upbeat song! “DAZE” also serves as a mini Opening theme song and is also upbeat!] {NOTE : PLEASE read my FAQ and “about” sections BEFORE interacting directly with me, my contents / fanworks / this series, or my blog!!!}

[More info + lyrics under the ‘read more’!]

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[taikouvember]

Happy “Taishirou is not gonna be canon tomorrow day”, everyone! No, seriously, this “Let Taichi Yagami find happiness (3 times within 5 minutes)” idea has been floating around in my head for the past few days and I simply couldn’t stop thinking about it, so… 

The premise is the following: There has been a theory about Kizuna going around that implies that the bond between a human and their Digimon partner only breaks if the human loses touch with themselves and stops valuing their relationship for the sake of “being an adult”. As of Kizuna, Taichi had been almost completely disconnected from his “past self”, the majority of his friends, his partner and had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do. So instead, he acted all tough and, apparently, how an “adult was supposed to behave”, isolating himself, buried in his depressive state without confiding in anyone, while rejecting Agumon.

For Taichi to reunite with Agumon/Koromon, several things had to happen (in my opinion, let this take place round about ~2011/12): 

1.) He had to reconnect with his friends and learn to ask for help: This is represented here by him quitting the part-time job he absolutely wasn’t happy with to work at Koushirou’s company instead, also asking him to proof-read his final thesis. Not to mention that he’s likely to have made efforts to reconnect with some of the other Chosen Children as well at this point.

2.) He had to figure out what he really wanted to spend his life doing: The title of his thesis is “In Regards To The Coexistence Between Humanity and Digimon”, which indicates that he has embraced the fact that his relationship to Digimon and the Digital World is a vital part of who he is, a part he simply cannot get rid of without denying his true self.

3.) Figuring out other things about himself: He’s still struggling with insecurities, but that’s part of life and we all will never stop developing. It takes curiosity to learn - but it takes courage to unlearn. Between getting a new haircut, opening up and trying to discover and accept his own feelings, gathering the courage to actually act on them, Taichi Yagami is on a pretty good way. 

So now he has gained confirmation that his thesis turned out amazing, he just got himself a boyfriend and also reunited with his Digimon partner. Absolute jackpot. 🧡

[taikouvember]

TaiKouvember, Day 5: Hope

Pen meets paper furiously, scribbling down as fast as possible, and yet it’s still not enough to capture the speed of his mind. The sight laid before him was too rich for material; it simply couldn’t be ignored. So he stared; even as his pen veered off the perfectly straight lines, he stared deep into the core of his focus. 

“Uuuh… TK? You okay?” Taichi questions, worry written on his features. He moves from his leaning position, the arm that was once draped across the couch’s top now resting on his arm, his other partially reaching out. Before it can get too far, Koushirou pats Taichi’s thigh to gain his attention. 

“It’s no use. Taichi-san, Takeru-kun simply will not stop writing once something has taken his interest.” With a gentle shake of their head, they sip coffee from a red-and-black polka dot mug, leaning comfortably into the soft material. Taichi, not entirely satisfied, leans back as well, an eye still watching Takeru. 

“Still, does he need to stare so... intently?” 

“Of course! This is the best material I’ve seen in a while!” Takeru suddenly exclaims, jumping up. 

“I suspected it for a while, but this? Living together? This seals it!” 

“Suspected ‘it’? What do you mean by that? And what does being roommates have to do with anything??? Kou, what does he mean?!" 

"In due time, Taichi-san, in due time," Koushirou says cooly, enjoying the warm drink as Takeru tightly seals his mouth, nearly exploding from laughter. 

Taichi Yagami decided that was not a great start to the day. He wasn’t the smartest; that was Koushirou, but more than not understanding something, he felt like he was left out of some kind of joke. Takeru stuck around for a bit longer but soon left as Patamon reminded him that a class was starting soon. After this, Taichi was left alone with Koushirou in their shared apartment, and he didn’t understand how that was involved. 

The day, otherwise, carried on as normal. Koushirou worked from home, occasionally poking out to grab a bite to eat or socialize with Taichi. Said retired gogglehead was studying in between sessions of scratching Tentomon’s shell. Who knew a carapace could be so sensitive? Soon enough, however, Koushirou walks out of his office and leans into Taichi, who had finished studying an hour ago. 

“Tough problem again?” Taichi questions, beginning to softly scratch and massage the spiky scalp laid before him, fingers untangling buried knots and tense muscles as Koushirou cannot help but lean closer. 

“Yeah, we’ve tried to use a new corpus of data to finetune our transformer model without as much inference time, but we still have yet to break past the Chinchilla scaling law,” Koushirou says casually, leaning more into their roommate’s touch. Taichi, for his part, cannot parse anything other than chinchillas riding massive robot cars. 

“You’ll get there, Kou; you always do. You’re a true genius, someone who can break past any barrier they set their mind to.” He says warmly, continuing to massage the scalp of his roommate, who has now turned away.

“That’s not true, and you know it, Taichi-san,” Koushirou says flatly, gently breaking off from the touch. Taichi, unsure but respectful of the newfound distance, turns to Tentomon for guidance. 

“Koushirou-han, you simply cannot blame yourself for that.” The large insect says, a robot-like arm moving up to pet his partner, a loving spark hidden behind the green compound eyes. 

Koushirou loosens their shoulders slightly, nodding as they return to leaning on Taichi. In response, Taichi naturally begins to massage their scalp, giving soft soothing words over their best friend's capabilities, remaining like this until a timer begins to go off. 

“You made dinner?” Koushirou questions, beginning to slowly stand up and stretch firmly, flexing their arms out. Taichi happily observes their best friend’s form, smiling as he confirms he at least threw something quick together. 

They walk over to their kitchen, and Taichi insists that Koushirou, as “the breadwinner," should sit down and be catered to by Taichi. Koushirou disagrees vehemently, arguing that Taichi’s studying is just as valuable as work, only finally agreeing to be served when the pair decide Koushirou will handle dinner tomorrow. 

It was indeed a simple but filling dinner, consisting of a salmon fillet for each, a large bowl of rice, and miso soup with tofu. They sit down, pray over their meal, and proceed to eat. Koushirou slowly begins to eat, eating bits of each and letting their flavors meld together. Taichi, however, quickly begins to devour his rice and miso soup, saving his salmon for last. Tentomon first focuses on the soup, enjoying the warm savory flood of miso before playing with his food, making small rice balls with salmon centers, and constructing a pyramid before continuing to eat. The pair of DigiDestineds look at the Digimon with joy, catching the eye of the other and smiling ear to ear. 

Soon, they’re all stuffed and go to recline on the couch, mimicking their position this morning except even closer, Tentomon resting peacefully in a fluffy bed made out of his favorite pillows. The similarities to this morning spark that aching question and feeling of being left out again, and deciding now was as good a time as any... 

“Hey, Kou, what did Takeru mean earlier?” Taichi questions, slightly worrying his lip as he looks over to his redheaded roommate, uncertainty written across his features despite his best efforts. 

“You mean you still haven’t understood how people see us? Taichi-san, we live together. We’re seldom apart. I can’t even think of a time in the last year I didn’t at least talk to you in a day. Whenever we talk to friends, the other always comes up without fail. Don’t you consider that out of the ordinary?” Koushirou turns to face Taichi, their eyes catching, mesmerizing their roommate. Fuck, were they always this deep?

“I, uh, thought that’s what best friends do?” Taichi responds somewhat dumbly, shifting his own body to face Koushirou as well. 

“‘Would best friends do this?’ Koushirou says, their hand reaching out to hold Taichi’s head before eclipsing their burning lips with their own. And while I don’t have all the details for this part yet, I bet the gist of it is you both end up in the bedroom, and you are SORE, Koushirou-san. Like Taichi just DECIMATED your tight-“ 

"Please spare us the details. Takeru-kun, for everyone’s sake. Please.” Koushirou pleads, pouring themselves another glass of coffee as Taichi, a flaming mess of nerves, just sputters and leans forward. A complete wreck. 

“Great, and now you broke my boyfriend; they don’t come cheap, you know.” The redhead says cooly, unphased by Takeru’s antics as they rub Taichi’s back. 

“Not in shock over this?” Takeru asks, leaning back into his chair and taking in the floundering composure of their dear gogglehead. 

“Takeru, I once saw you regale an entire group of Chosen with a legend from the Digital World you made up on the spot; your fanfiction regarding how me and Taichi got into our relationship is not surprising in the least. Now please, it’s 6 AM; me and Taichi were in the middle of sex, and I would prefer to get back to it and get to bed before Taichi is nothing but a melted mess.” In response, Takeru busts a gut and heads out while Taichi just implodes mentally at the brazen admission of his partner. Within moments, however, Taichi has more than enough motivation to return to bed, and they both have a fantastic day afterward. And Takeru had plenty of new writing material.  @taikouvember

[taikouvember]

Digimon Adventure tri.: Kokuhaku [“Confession”] (Movie #3) Featuring Character{s}: {+Tri} Koushiro[u] Izumi (& Takeru Takaishi; & Meiko Mochizuki) ~ Important Quotes

“It’s not about {‘just’} what you ‘COULDN’T’ DO.”

“It’s about WHAT YOU WILL DO.”

“It’s about WHAT WE DO NOW!”

Gifs by @izzyizumi / @koushirouizumi​ {Do Not Repost or Reproduce without my Permission} {Do Not Remove Caption} (Please Ask to Use)

Image usage rules + original commentary under the ‘read more’!

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[taikouvember]

@taikouvember Day 5 - Hope: Something you would like to see happening for them I simply hope to see them chilling and being happy together in the canon

[taikouvember]

“My best friend is finally getting therapy and part of his healing process is becoming my employee”

@taikouvember Day 5 - Hope: Something you would like to see happening for them

Short Fic Summary: Koushirou struggles to get new employees for his start-up company and hiring processes go rather slowly, even with the support of a very engaged team. He absolutely isn't prepared to hear that their most recent New Hire for the marketing department is someone very familiar to him... (Because I always wanted to write a fic about their set-up as coworkers at Koushirou's company while using a ridiculously long and cheesy light novel title - and because we all know that this would be the best type of therapy for Taichi!)

Word Count: 3287

“Excuse me, Izumi-shachou?”

The door to Koushirou’s main office opened and the HR manager came in.

“Kawashima-san”, Koushirou greeted her, accompanied by Tentomon bowing down next to him. She immediately smiled at the ladybug, who had become some kind of mascot to the little start-up company.

“Hello, Tento-san. I just wanted to hand in the sheet of New Hires we acquired today.”

“Ah, thank you very much”, Tentomon took the folder with the CVs instead of his partner, who let out a sigh of relief. It had taken several weeks to get the hiring process going, the main team in office consisted mainly of acquaintances he mad made thanks to the network he had been building together with his American friend since he was 16. Since his tech company wasn’t exactly known too well yet, competition in regards to personnel proved to be rather difficult – especially in non-technical fields.

“We only had three applicants this time, but Takano-san actually found someone he intends to add to the marketing team core, so that may be a good sign!”, Kawashima explained and seemed rather cheerful about the announcement. Just like Koushirou, Kawashima Shiho was still in her early twenties, but pretty dedicated to get all administration duties done – which Koushirou was more than thankful for. She had joined the company around six months after he had met at a technology fair and Koushirou, who had mainly focused on getting technical acquaintances on board, had been pretty lucky to have stumbled across her. Things had gotten better back then – especially after the name Izumi Koushirou had become more well-known after appearing in the media after the Eosmon incident a few months ago. Which was also when he had been contacted by Takano Hideki  – a marketing specialist in his mid-thirties, who had been more than fascinated by the intent of the company.

Providing gadgets for the growing network of humans partnering with “Digital Monsters” wasn’t exactly a market he had experienced before. And so, Koushirou had slowly but steadily gathered a little team of tech – and Digimon – enthusiasts. It wasn’t a lot, especially since he couldn’t even yet afford hiring too many people at once, but he had high hopes that things would improve.

“Three is more than we anticipated, so this is indeed a good sign”, Koushirou replied, “Thank you for attending the hiring meetings in my place, Kawashima-san.”

She shook her head in response.

“That is my job after all and you’ve been particularly busy with reporting the company project results to the finance team. Also, as company president, you don’t even have to be at all the hiring meetings for the other departments”, she added with a smile, which he returned wearily. They really would need the marketing team to make sure the company would gain more publicity – and thus, new potential clients and supporters if he wanted to maintain all of this. His American friend still provided financial support – for he didn’t plan on depending on that forever.

“And that’s also what this list is for! I met all three of the New Hires myself and I would assume they’ll be suitable additions to the company.”

“That is good to hear. I would still really like to meet them myself”, Koushirou admitted – he wasn’t exactly an office-shut-in and regularly tried to stay in touch with the different departments as good as he could. He also had veto rights in regards to hiring and felt like he had to at least look over the company structure to some degree. But by trying to micromanage everything, it did remind him a little of the times he had to look over Iori, Miyako, Ken and Daisuke during their school days…

“… You really should get to meet them, Koushirou-han.”

Both humans turned to Tentomon, as the Digimon urgently stared at one of the sheets after he had browsed curiously through the folder – at least Koushirou was, at this point, perfectly able to read his partner to be able to tell that something wasn’t right.

“Why, what do you mean, Tentomon?”

“Well… You may want to have a personal talk with one of them at least.”

Hearing that, he raised an eyebrow and took the folder out of Tentomon’s claws – only to immediately freeze once he saw the application picture…

Kawashima blinked in surprise and confusion. “Is something wrong?” Having her own curiosity piqued, she glanced at the sheet as well. “Oh, he was a very interesting applicant, we weren’t completely sure whether he would fit the role, but Takano-san seemed very intrigued by his attitude and presentation, so I trust that we made the right choice by hiring him.”

“… Do you know if he is still in house?”

“Oh, he probably is still talking to Takano-san in his office, I assume. Like I said, he was highly impressed by him.”

“E-excuse me, then…” With his lips pressed together, Koushirou bowed and, to Kawashima’s even greater surprise, almost stormed out of the office. Leaving his HR manager and his Digimon partner behind, with the former still being completely at a loss.

“I’ve… Never seen him that frantic before, does he know the applicant?”

“Oh, ya know…”, Tentomon chuckled, bashfully rubbing the back at his head after pointing at the man with the confident smile on the application picture, “He may actually know Yagami Taichi-han a little too well…”

~

“Shachou?!”

Takano didn’t react any less astonished as Kawashima had just a few minutes ago when Koushirou had almost slammed the door to his office open – which wasn’t like anything their usually composed and cool company president had ever done before. Besides the main IT and tech work space and Koushirou’s main office, the floor mainly consisted of the HR, finance and PR/marketing offices. Paths were short and so it didn’t even take him two minutes to get here.

Their New Hire didn’t seem exactly surprised – instead, he looked like he had been haunted by a ghost once his eyes met Koushirou’s. A certain sense of “Damn, I didn’t think I’d meet you just yet” was in the air.

“Is something the matter, Izumi-shachou? You look rather distressed?”, Takano asked and Taichi became even more pale.

“I… Just talked to Kawashima-san and came here to greet our newest company member personally”, he smiled a forced smile – and Takano found himself laughing.

“See, I knew you would leave an impression early, Yagami-san.”

“Y-yeah… That’s one way to put it”, Taichi smiled in return, which led Koushirou to cough.

“Takano-san, would you mind if I talked to Yagami-san alone for a few minutes?” The way he pronounced his name – the family name of a person whose first name he had probably said a million times before– felt odd, foreign and just plain wrong, but his brain was running on autopilot right now anyway. What was happening here, why was it happening, was this a prank, was he dreaming?

“Absolutely not, I am sure you’ll be just as pleased with him as I was, just please call me back when you are done”, Takano said. Despite being more than ten years older than himself, he was oozing quite a relaxed and confident aura, still seemed very “in touch” with his younger colleagues… But Koushirou couldn’t tell how much he actually knew.

“Thank you very much…”

With that, Takano left his little office space and the two long-term friends behind, who remained quiet, still maintaining – somewhat uncomfortable – eye contact… Until the door was closed and the air seemed clear.

“Taichi-san, why on earth did you not tell me that you applied to my company?! When did you intend to tell me this, just – how did you even come up with this, what was going through your head?!”, it eventually bursted out of Koushirou in waves, so he couldn’t even keep his voice low anymore – didn’t even care anymore if the entire office heard him like that – and Taichi just apologetically raised his arms.

“I wanted it to be a surprise! I obviously knew you would learn about it sooner than later, but, knowing how freaking busy you were recently, I kinda thought it’d take at least until tomorrow!”, Taichi responded, but Koushirou still stared at him as if he had lost his mind. It was true that they had been barely in touch for a few weeks due to his finance report – but also because of something else.

“And what a surprise this was! Also, this doesn’t explain why you applied here, I mean… What happened to your job in the pachinko parlor?”

“I quit there. You said it yourself once, I seemed even more miserable every time I went there, and according to my therapist, it was just adding up to any mental issues, so… Yeah, I finally had the guts to quit.”

Taichi had finally started seeing a therapist. After losing Agumon, he had shut himself away for several days – up until Hikari, Koushirou and the others eventually couldn’t bear leaving him to his own devices to rot away in his flat anymore. It had taken quite a few attempts, speeches, crying and shouting to get through to him, reminding him that he didn’t have to deal with all of this by himself for him to finally break down. Years of self-isolation, years of pent up trauma, the feeling of loss, of his partner, of his sense of self… It had all come together, culminating in several painful realizations.

There hadn’t been an immediate solution. Instead, there had been a few fights and fallouts even, several weeks of searching and making use of Koushirou’s connections to find a therapist that was capable of taking over this case. Obviously, not a lot of “normal” humans were even in the position to relate to anything Yagami Taichi had gone through in his young life of only 23 years, but… It was worth a shot. And Koushirou had been glad that Taichi had accepted the opportunity despite having rebelled against the idea for a long time. Whichever path it may lead him towards, it could only have gotten better in his opinion.

However, he had not expected to suddenly see his best friend standing here in his office, dressed in suit and tie, not just as a visitor, but as an actual… Employee. His employee. And… As what even?

“I still don’t understand… What made you apply to become part of our marketing team? How does that relate to your studies?”

Now it was on Taichi to cough and, apparently, collecting himself.

“See… You know, I picked up writing my thesis again, right?”, Taichi explained calmly – which was an unusual sight, but it also calmed Koushirou down a little as well.

“You’re writing about the relationship between the real and the Digital World and how its relations may result in a symbiosis between the two…”

“Yeah. And once I’m done, I will have to present my thesis orally as well and, you know, I was talking to my therapist about that… He said I’m currently lacking experience to pull something like that off. Speaking in front of a crowd of people, being convincing…”

Hearing that, Koushirou felt a little sting in his chest. The Yagami Taichi he had known for the majority of his life used to be capable of pulling people along just by being himself, by letting his charisma show, his natural sense of leadership. To hear someone else assessing that he was currently not in a state of being his naturally contagious self anymore was… Daunting to say the least.

“And… Part of me knows that I want to make that symbiosis happen. Kinda, at least. So… I need to be able to sell that vision somehow. I have no idea how to do that yet, but… I want to learn how to do it.”

Seeing Taichi so vulnerable, so open to him… Hadn’t happened in a long time. Yes, he had seen him cry several times before, but he hadn’t been able to… Explain himself so surely and unsurely at the same time.

“Then I heard Hikari and Takeru talk about how you’ve been struggling to get people to work for your company and…”, Taichi hesitated, “Yeah, I saw the open positions listed on your screen the other day too.”

Koushirou frowned. Again, they hadn’t talked a lot in the past weeks, hadn’t even seen each other in person for a while, so… He really must have worked hard on his application there. It made the sting increase even more. Made him feel like the worst friend in the world.

“I had no idea…”

“Like I said, it was… Kinda meant to be a surprise, you know?” The grin on his face felt genuine, but Koushirou couldn’t shake the thought that he must have forced himself to keep quiet about it too.

“But… You could have asked me! I could have introduced you to Takano-san even sooner and-“

“No!” This time, Taichi actually seemed steadfast about his decision and, most important, more confident again to put his foot down. “That’s the point, I didn’t want to be hired based on, well, knowing the CEO. I don’t want handouts, Koushirou, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. This was a crazy idea in the first place and I brought it up to my therapist, even if it felt stupid and out of place after everything, but… I wanna figure out what I really want to do now. And what I’m capable of, on my own.”

Admittedly, Koushirou had never been to therapy himself, so he wasn’t exactly aware of how it worked, but if Taichi was already able to put his vision into words like that after just a few months… It really must have left an impact, Koushirou thought to himself while listening patiently.

Of course, when the subject of therapy had been brought up by Hikari for the first time Koushirou had done his research – like he always did whenever he was not familiar with something. Thus, he remembered that there was something along the lines of exposure therapy, so whatever Taichi and his therapist must have brewed up together, it did feel like Taichi intended to face his demons, all of his insecurities heads on, taking on a challenge like this.

A part of him had almost assumed that Taichi would end up distancing himself from him even further, from everything in order to avoid hurting even more. Who could have blamed him for wanting to get away from everything that could potentially remind him of the part of himself that he had lost?

But now, Taichi really seemed to have gathered enough courage to do the opposite instead.

“So… Takano-san doesn’t know that you know me?”, Koushirou asked softly, causing Taichi to scratch his chin.

“Eh, I would say he still somewhat looked through me”, he confessed, again with a grin – one that felt a lot more like him though. “I knew way too much about this place and I’m pretty sure he saw me around before, but… I tried not to bring it up. But he’s actually a great guy, so talking to him made it all feel less stupid after all.”

Despite of how furious Koushirou had been before about not having known about any of this, about being left out of the picture… It also felt like, by choosing this path in particular, here of all places, Taichi was intending to step closer towards him specifically as well. Even if he hadn’t let him in on how it looked inside of him for a long time, even if he had had shut him out just like everyone else… Now that the tables had turned, in just the blink of an eye, Koushirou couldn’t suppress a smile, even if he had wanted to.

“You mean getting into ‘marketing’, mh?”

“Yeah, wild, I know.”

Koushirou’s smile widened.

“I presume you’ll be responsible for texting and being a PR representative of the company – and less for designing then?”

This time, Taichi pulled a grimace – and Koushirou knew he had hit a nerve there. His political sciences studies would come in handy, that he was certain about – however, talking convincingly to politicians still required a significantly different skillset from selling their ideas to the general public, including clueless stakeholders and, especially, the media.

“I know that tone, Kou, and I don’t like it! Mind you, I was practicing technical stuff with Hikari, I know photoshop and such! I’m not a kid anymore and way past the point of bluescreening your computer! Trust me!”

“No, no, I believe you!”, Koushirou laughed out loud – furthermore, he could not help but notice just how much he had missed Taichi’s presence. Bickering like that, being like this together, felt like putting over a warm, comfortable blanket he had hidden away in a closet for a long, long time…

And in the end, it was true – not only did he believe Taichi, he had always believed in him as well. And deep down, Koushirou knew better than anyone else how capable Taichi could be when he was at a hundred percent.

“Good! But yeah, Takano-san will do the visual designing stuff, I’m here to provide the input.”

“Interesting.” So that was most likely what Kawashima had been referring to when she had talked about Taichi’s ‘performance and presentation’ coming off as intriguing, Koushirou mused internally. Somebody must have done their homework up front and Koushirou was convinced that Takano had dug up quite a bit. Probably must have been aware of their ‘relationship status’ as well. “So by input you mean… Processing your experiences and present them in a neat package?”

“Pretty much”, Taichi smiled a crooked smile. He really had come a long way, considering how casually he was already conveying this. Maybe this would really prove to be a key element in getting Taichi’s spirit, and eventually Agumon back? Koushirou had seen him make miracles happen if he set his mind to it, so maybe his therapist had been onto something there. “So, you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Taken off guard by that reply, Koushirou blinked at him.

“I… Wasn’t exactly mad in the first place”, he said truthfully, all glimpses of potential anger had completely vanished after all and Taichi’s gentle tone was something he had never really been able to stand a chance against anyway. Instead, there was a weird sense of… Wary giddiness now. “Just… I did not see any of this coming.”

“Well, but then I was already successful in a way.”

“You really were.”

“Heh… So be sure to see me around a lot more in the future, Izumi-shachou, Takano-san was talking very highly of you.”

Avoiding to tell him that they wouldn’t even be in the same team and thus, probably not getting in touch much, Koushirou couldn’t tell if he was ready for them to be actual coworkers yet. He couldn’t tell if there would be rumours and gossiping, whether there were other complications he hadn’t thought of yet. All he could do was trust in Takano’s judgement, Taichi’s persistence and his own ability to separate their newly founded professional bond from their private bond. Things would absolutely be different from now on, but – it was genuinely making him a bit more hopeful for the future. For the sake of his company – and for Taichi’s sake as well. Most importantly, setting all rationality aside and letting his emotions do the talking, he wanted to believe that this arrangement would eventually improve their friendship again rather than harming it.

“We’ll see about that, Yagami-san.”

Little did he know that it would end up being an entirely different experience from anything he could ever had imagined…

[taikouvember]

TaiKouvember 2024, Day 4: Reliability 

‘A headache is coming on.' Joe thinks to himself, massaging his eyes and opening them to the blurry blobs before him. He gently paws the table for his glasses, cupping them gingerly in his hand before equipping them once more.

“Okay, run this by me again... How do you get stuck on an island in the middle of Tokyo???” Joe yells into the phone, quickly assembling his things as he awaits the reply. First aid kit, rations... maybe bring double... utility knife, rope, an atlas, a compass...

“Well, uh, Kou…?” Taichi questions on the other line, prodding his friend to take the reins. 

“Well, Joe-san, we heard stories of a monster on the island... and, thinking that perhaps there was a Digital Gate, we went to investigate... and there was! We defeated the Digimon! However, we spent too much time fighting it, and our Digimon went back to rookies." Koushirou says meekly, shame coating his words as he has to admit their blunder. 

“Alright, me and Gomamon will be there as soon as we can. And Koushirou? Please tell me when you do this. I may be busier now, but if I thought you were in danger, I’d be there immediately.” Joe says, confident in his ability to make time for his friends. 

“Yeah! We’d be there faster than two shakes of a Tylomon’s tail!” Gomamon cheers as he jumps into Joe’s arms, grinning as the two give their goodbyes and quickly make their way to the coast of Odaiba. Pulling out his Digivice and aiming the screen at his best friend, the bar begins to overflow with the Light of Hope within his heart.

“Okay, Gomamon! Time to Digivolve!” 

Quickly, a ball shrouds Gomamon in grayish energy, and he begins to float midair, forming the features of his evolution as it spins midair.

Gomamon! Digivolve to…

IKKAKUMON!

Suddenly the sphere shatters, and Ikkakumon lands in the water, floating proudly as Joe easily makes his way on top of the digital beast. The two begin their journey, Joe giving directions as best he can using the directions Koushirou gave him, his atlas, and his compass. Soon enough, they see a wooded island, a Pepper Breath erupting from the shore like fireworks in the sky. Joe calls out but deems it futile, so Ikkakumon returns fire with a weak Harpoon Torpedo, signaling their arrival.

“Joe! Am I glad to see you!" Taichi is the first to make contact, giving Ikkakumon a big hug as Joe slides down to greet him. 

"Well, I couldn’t have just left you two here!” Joe exclaims, mock-offended as he looks around. Noticing the lack of a certain redhead, he turns to Taichi and questions the location of Koushirou.

“Oh, yeah! Come on, we found a campsite!” Taichi grins, grabbing Joe’s arm as Ikkakumon devolves back to Gomamon, quickly catching up on the familiar sandy surface. 

Quickly Taichi has led Joe to a rather open expanse; dried log chairs surround a now-burning flame, Agumon tending to the fire with his claws as a smell of burnt sugar fills the air. Discarded aluminum cans partly covered by dirt indicate to Joe this was an older spot, not likely used for a while. Koushirou, arms full of fresh and old tree limbs, sets them down before waving down the two other boys. 

“Hey! Glad you could make it, Joe-san! And I see you brought some supplies.” 

“Yep! I figured better safe than sorry, right?” Joe puffs his chest out proudly, happy he could help his dear friends. 

“Oh yeah? Whatcha got in there?” Taichi questions, creeping up on Joe’s bag like a tiger stalking a poor rabbit. Knowing it’d be opened anyway, he drops the bag down and begins to sort it out, revealing the various items he brought. With a hearty laugh, Taichi can’t help but grin.

“You were more prepared than I thought! This is great! Joe, this may be too sudden, but can you camp tonight? With this campsite, your equipment, and Gomamon’s fishing skills, we can spend the night roughing it together!” Taichi pleads, flashing his best smile and biggest, brightest eyes. 

Joe, weighing the options in his mind, eventually sighs in defeat and says, “Fine, but I’ll need to borrow your satellite phone, Koushirou.” 

Taichi jumps up into the air in excitement and runs to Agumon, leading his Cretaceous creature into the woods to forage and get more wood. Koushirou, satellite phone in hand, passes it to Joe.

“You didn’t have to; we would have been able to camp ourselves if you’d just left the rations,” Koushirou says matter-of-factly, smiling as Joe begins to dial his home. 

“Yeah, but even future doctors need breaks now and again, right? Besides, don’t think I didn’t notice the smell earlier; there are pears on this island, right? You could have left any time.” Joe smiles knowingly, causing Koushirou to look away, their little plan to spend time together exposed. 

After calling their parents and confirming they have the night to camp, they all begin to scrounge up some fishing rods to catch dinner. Naturally, no one can best Gomamon, but Joe didn’t happen to do too badly. Tentomon, rather than fishing, prepared the fish to be roasted as he learned from Kae. As Agumon again tends to the flame, they all take turns watching the fish in between rounds of stories and laughter.

Soon, with their bellies full and the darkness coating the landscape, they can’t help but begin to reminisce about the Digital World. Living under the stars for so long in a world straight out of a fever dream, spending what felt like months while constantly fighting for survival, was something that you can’t forget. The stars begin to fill the once-shifting expanse—different stars than in the Digital World, but no less special. They exchange stories, revisit memories, laugh together, and spend time with each other. The Digimon are the first to fall asleep, their bellies full and their partners at ease, giving them all the comfort they need. Next is Koushirou, huddled together with his precious partner Tentomon; he can’t help but join him in sleep. 

Taichi, however, stays up alongside Joe, quiet for a while, but he can’t quite let this thought go. 

“Psst… Joe…! I got a question.”

“Yes, what is it, Taichi?” 

“Do you... ever have bad dreams? About the Digital World?” Taichi mumbles part way through, but Joe can get the gist of his words. 

A moment passes as Joe begins to formulate a response, Taichi worrying his bottom lip as Agumon instinctively moves in closer to his partner. 

“I used to. You don’t go through that without at least some bad dreams... Leomon... becoming a doll... even fighting with Matt at the cafe. I used to dream about all of that and more.”

"And... why did they stop…?”

“My parents found me screaming one night, and I was in therapy the next day. That helped me a lot. Are you…?”

“What? Me? Having nightmares? Psh, no! I’m the Crest of Courage, remember? I don’t need therapy!” Taichi deflects, the tone of his voice obvious to Joe that he’s lying. 

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. Still, there must have been some reason you wanted to know.”

“Kou… He’s been having them too, and I wanted to know what could be done…?” 

“Well, it can’t replace therapy, but how about you two come over for breakfast tomorrow and I can show you some of the techniques I learned? At least until ‘Koushirou’ can get into therapy.”

“Yeah! That sounds great! Thanks, Joe! You’re the best!”

“Mmmh… and don’t you forget it…!” Gomamon tiredly says, breaking up the back and forth of their conversation and eliciting laughs from the both of them. 

“I won’t anytime soon. G’night Joe, don’t let the Bedmons bite!” Tai flashes him one last grin in the dimming light before laying on his back, staring at the stars, and cuddling Agumon to fall asleep.

“Of course Taichi, I’m good Ol’ Reliable Joe, and I won’t forget that. Good night, both of you.” Joe says, returning the warm smile and giving Gomamon a small peck on the head.

It may take some time, but he’s going to help his friends however and whenever he can. 

@taikouvember