Snap. Snap. Creak. Snap. Creak. Snap. Creak. Snap. "Ken?" The young man snapped the small box shut once more before turning to his friend. "Yeah, Minomon?" "What's wrong?" the small digimon asked, worried. Ken had been sitting on his bed for two hours now, prying open a little box before snapping it shut once more. Every time it clicked shut, he would wince slightly. Something was obviously bothering him, but as always he made no attempt at offering that information. Which meant, as always, Minomon would have to bug him until his human partner was willing to talk. "Nothing," Ken answered. Again he pried the small box open, looked at its shiny contents for a moment and snapped it shut. "Ken, I know when you're upset. You can't fool me," the little digimon pressed further. "It's no big deal, Minomon, really." "You're acting like it's a big deal," the digimon observed. "I'm just sitting here," Ken protested, somewhere between defensive and ashamed. "For a long time. That's not like you." Creak. Snap. "What's in that box?" Minomon asked. Ken opened the box once more and held it closer to the digimon. "It's pretty," he offered. "I thought so, too," Ken said with a slight grin. "What does it do?" Minomon asked. "It doesn't do anything, buddy." "Then why do you have it?" "I bought it." "Because it was pretty?" the digimon asked. "I bought this particular one because of how it looked, but it's not just to be pretty." "You said it didn't do anything," Minomon said, confused. "Yeah, but I'm supposed to do something with it." "What?" Ken licked his lips and snapped the box shut once more. He leaned over and dropped it onto the bedside table. The blackness of the box mocked him. "I'm supposed to give it to someone." "Who?" "It doesn't matter. I decided not to after all." "Is that why you're sad?" Minomon asked. Ken didn't answer. Instead, he reached over to the bedside table again and picked up the black box. It was soft. He pried it open again, the contents glistening at him. Minomon was right; it was very pretty. Expensive, too. Not that the money mattered to him. He had just hoped she would like it. He was sure she would. She liked everything he gave her. She was sweet like that. Ken pulled the contents of the box out of it before tossing the box to the carpeted floor. Light was reflected by every facet of the stone that perched proudly on the outside. He liked that part. She would, too, he knew. She'd love it. She loved him. Ken held the shining object at arm's length. He dropped it onto the carpet as well. Minomon watched, upset because he could see that it made Ken so very sad. With a sigh, Ken peered over the edge of his bed, where he sat with Minomon and looked at the floor. The blackness of the box on the ground mocked him. Black was so very dark... The ring mocked him. "I bet," Minomon said tentatively, trying to cheer his friend up, "that Yolei would like it. If you don't want it anymore, you should give it to her." Squeezing his eyes shut, Ken dropped into a lying position and grabbed his pillow. He pulled it over his head curled into a ball. "I can't do it," Ken's voice was muffled by his pillow and Minomon couldn't understand what he was saying. "I can't put a ring on her." Minomon would have frowned had his mouth allowed such expressions, but it didn't. So he merely crawled carefully off the edge of his friends bed and landed on the floor. He hopped to where the dark box and the bright ring had fallen. Using his stubby arms, Minomon placed the ring back into the box and snapped it shut. Upon hearing the noise, Ken pulled the pillow away from his face and sat up. He leaned over, taking the box away from his digimon. He pried it open. And snapped it shut. And put it on the bedside table. Minomon looked up at Ken. He couldn't see the wet marks on the blue-haired young man's pillow. ~*Owari*~ Disclaimers: Ah dun own Digimon, Ken Ichijouji, Minomon, Yolei Inoue or anything at all like that.