2004 – New Year, New Problems
Story #10: Cody the Kendo Kid (Part 1)
Author's Notes: This story covers Cody. Like the previous story on Davis, look for a few unexpected twists, as well the much-expected "trigger" for the social change. Enjoy!
Date: 1/3/2004
Time: 4:30 pm
Place: Hida household, Cody's room
Iori "Cody" Hida slumped, slouching on his bed. Up until this point, he had spent the last four days trying to run from the implications of the New Year's Eve battle with MaloMyotismon. He had been trying to busy himself with worry of what would happen to Oikawa's apartment and possessions, most importantly the technology that had been used to create the Digiworld havoc (and maybe the only way to undo some of the damage), but the facade of concern was falling apart due to the fact that he had no idea if they could legally claim Oikawa's possessions, and since his mom and grandpa knew about Upamon he couldn't use hiding him as an excuse to run from what his conscience was telling him...
Cody sighed. The fact of the matter was that the revelations were now causing him to suddenly not measure up to even his own standards, mostly because of the now-obvious Ken-Kari connection via Gatomon and the now-parallel redemptions. Cody now was mad at himself because things he had thought were separate but parallel were now linked together into one big web. His head spun trying to figure out all the connections, and that "web" was also pulling on his conscience, unsettling him.
Most of what was unsettling him was the fact that he wanted to hit himself in the head with the kendo stick for not seeing the parallelism (even without the Myotismon connection) earlier, particularly considering that his father had taken an assassin's bullet, something he knew well but didn't want to think about.
The parallels he should've seen before were now obvious:
1. His father had taken an assassin's bullet and sacrificed himself to save another.
2. Wizardmon had sacrificed himself to save another (Gatomon).
3. Wormmon had sacrificed himself to save another (the true Ken) from the mad Digimon Emperor he had been driven to become by the Dark Spore and Myotismon's machinations (not to mention the pressure from the public and his parents).
The starkness of the parallels was leaving Cody with the strange feeling that he had failed some kind of test (though what exactly it was he couldn't figure out), and the dread of thinking that he had committed a sin that could be greater in magnitude than even lying. He had seen the ghost of Wizardmon, heard Gatomon's redemption story afterwards, then refused to believe Ken could change after he reappeared following the fall of the Emperor. When it boiled down, the two situations weren't actually all that different, and (even if the Myotismon connection hadn't been revealed) by believing Gatomon was good but not that Ken could be good, he thought he had been a hypocrite (or something close to it), heightened by the fact that he knew how noble a life-sacrifice was because of his father's death.
He was also sure Gatomon knew that, or would soon, and then would seriously be on his case. He feared he would be turned into a scapegoat for accusations about said hypocrisy related to Ken, and because his doubt lasted the longest and caused the most trouble he would likely be singled out. Trying to pass the blame because the others (except Davis) had doubted as well probably wouldn't work, nor could he use the fact that he had tried to bring Oikawa into the Digiworld just before he "died" as a counter.
If the words started to fly, Cody knew he would be without support. Ken would either stay away or join in the word-flinging, and he had gotten the impression that his mom and grandpa might say "you should've known better" and also provide no help. Finally, Cody figured that if his dad was looking down on what he had done, he would be displeased at him, so there would be no use in trying the spirits for help.
Frankly, Cody was afraid he was in a no-win situation and his heart raced as he tried to think of a way out. Could he use the attributes given to him? "Knowledge?" He had it, but he didn't use it! "Reliability?" Joe said he was reliable, but he knew that by this hypocrisy (or close to it) he had failed this big time.
Cody panicked even more as flashes of Gatomon's and Ken's accusations flying at him entered his mind, as well as the semi-ridiculous thoughts of Gatomon shredding his clothes and generally manipulating him to do embarrassing things in front of the others. Up till now, he had thought what he had heard of Gatomon's mental powers was semi-apocryphal, but now he didn't want to see or feel for himself if they were true. Cody was sure his mind was spinning out of control, but he couldn't be sure what she would do, particularly with the emotions running high...
In all, the recent events made Cody feel like his spirit of confidence and guarded trust had been stripped down until there was no hiding it's flaws. He had thought being able to master kendo and guard himself from others was a way to be the man his father was, to honor him, but now he saw, too late, that he had closed himself off too much and actually had dishonored his dad by doing that, even if only Cody knew it. Before he became one of the Digidestined, Yolei was one of the few people outside of his family he trusted, and he trusted the others because he saw that it was better to trust them than not to. But when it came to Ken, he was understandably mad at him, and acceptance was anathema, even after the others had come around. That mindset was broken over Christmas at the party, but now that reconciliation smacked of "too little, too late."
Cody wasn't sure if he was just jumping to conclusions, but he thought that unless he headed it off, he was headed for some kind of serious public humiliation. But how could he head it off? Get down on his knees and beg for them not to hit too hard? He didn't think that would necessarily work.
Now Cody really wanted to hit himself with his kendo stick. "Oh, man! What do I do now?" he thought, hoping that his panicked state was just him overreacting...
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Suddenly Cody heard a voice in his head speak quietly and clearly to him. He listened, for he knew that it was the conscience that had been pounding him over the course of that day.
It said, "You have put yourself in this situation, so therefore you must be the one that gets yourself out of it, understand?"
Cody nodded to himself and then the voice continued, "Now, I don't know what they will do, if anything, but if the worst comes to worst, you must be ready to lay down anything and everything to prevent losing face. Because we can't know what the reactions will be, you must prepare for the worst in advance. However, if you don't prepare quickly enough or well enough, you run the risk of taking the hit anyway. Therefore, you must make a big sacrifice now! It must be big in order for it to be taken seriously, and it must be now as you cannot know when your next meeting with Gatomon or Ken is. Are you listening to my proposal?"
Cody nodded and said, "I'm listening."
"Good. Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to invite Kari and Ken over to learn kendo from your grandfather."
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Cody nearly fell of the bed when he heard what his conscience was wanting him to sacrifice. There was no way he was going to do that! "But I can't do that! I can't give up that time! It's too special!" Cody complained to his conscience.
"It is the only thing big enough that will get you a hearing if the worst-case scenario is true." his conscience bluntly stated.
Cody's forehead grew sweaty. "Isn't there something else I can give up?!?" he pleaded with his conscience.
"No, there is nothing else that is a big enough sacrifice. It's your choice: sacrifice it or run the gauntlet and hope they will be merciful."
Cody quickly saw that there was no other way out. He weighed the facts: he really didn't want to give that special time he had with his grandfather while they practiced kendo, but he didn't want to run the risk of having the black mark of hypocrisy being leveled on him, as it would be permanently damaging to his reputation. Cody's mind flashed back and forth between dreadful thoughts of having fingers pointed at him, sounds in his mind of charges being brought against him, and the pain he felt in giving up what he considered one of the most precious things he had.
Finally, Cody saw no use in resisting: sacrificing this precious time-slot he had with his grandpa, sop to the others it may be, was the only way he saw in getting out without running the risk of losing face. He crashed onto the bed, burying his head in the pillow. He was only a kid; why should he even be worrying about things like this? In the same breath, Cody cursed both Myotismon and his own close-mindedness, and then quickly pushed out a few tears into his pillow. He had always avoided crying, but now trapped in his own agony he couldn't help but shed tears. Alternately cursing Myotismon and vowing to become a more open person, he sobbed into his pillow for a minute or two. He eventually figured that he had pushed out all of the pain of giving up the special time, and rose to his feet.
Cody felt like his heart was broken and bleeding, but he knew what he had to do to avoid the greater damage the accusations of hypocrisy could do. Tears staining his face and eyes still watery, he opened his bedroom door and left the room...
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Cody sighed and wiped the tears from his eyes as he approached his mom, who was currently assembling various food items to prepare for dinner. She looked down at Cody as he approached.
"Something up, honey?" she asked.
"Umm... is it alright if I call some friends?" he quietly asked.
"What kind of friends?" his mom replied.
Cody sighed before replying that he wanted to call Kari and Ken. Mom nodded a consent, but told him that he had kendo practice and that he couldn't go anywhere with them. He nodded as he walked to the phone.
Before picking up the phone, he looked around to see where his grandpa was. Cody found him sitting on the couch, watching TV while sipping on a glass of prune juice. Cody turned back; it was too painful to tell what he was going to do now. He would do it at dinner...
Cody picked up the phone and autodialed number 4 on the phone, which was the number for the Kamiyas. He sighed sadly as he heard the phone ring; his heart was in his feet, but he knew it was the only way. Cody quickly wiped away a stray tear and sighed to compose himself as he heard someone, maybe Kari's mom, answer the phone.
"Hello, Kamiya residence."
"Could I speak with Kari please?" Cody asked into the phone.
"May I ask who is calling?"
"Tell her it's Cody."
"OK then."
A minute of silence, then some fumbling noises as apparently the handset on the other end was passed to someone. A surprised "Cody, is that you?" was then heard through the earpiece. To his relief, Cody recognized the voice as Kari's.
"Yeah, it's me." Cody said, his voice less heavy due to the relief of getting to Kari quickly.
"Well, why are you calling? I didn't expect you to be calling here." Kari replied, the surprise in her voice obvious.
"I know. I didn't want to be calling you either, but this is too important to ignore..."
"Something up?" Kari said. She was obviously concerned about Cody's tone of voice.
Cody sighed into the phone. There was a brief, awkward pause, and then Cody quietly asked, "Have you ever... considered taking kendo classes?"
(On the other end, Kari raised her eyebrows in surprise). "What do you mean?"
"Well, I haven't told my grandpa yet... but I want you to come take kendo with me, starting tonight."
The shock in Kari's voice was unmistakeable. "Cody, are you sure? I thought you liked those times alone with you grandfather. Why are you giving it up now?"
Cody sighed again. "I wish I could explain this over the phone, but I really can't. Will you come tonight?"
There was a pause over the phone, then Kari quietly said, in a bewildered tone of voice, "Uhh... well, I guess. I don't have anything going on tonight anyway. Is anyone else coming over?"
"Ken is." Cody sadly replied, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent a breakdown over the phone. "I'm going to invite him next."
"Ken?" Another moment of silence, and then Kari again, this time sounding like she had an idea what was going on:
"Uh, OK with me, I guess. I don't have any equipment or anything, but I'll come."
"Is Gatomon coming with you?"
"Did you think she wouldn't?"
"No, just checking."
"Oh, OK then. I'll see you tonight." Cody heard a click as Kari hung up the phone on her end.
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Cody sighed quietly and wiped away another tear as he pressed a button which got him a dial tone. He quickly found and grabbed a scrap of paper on which Ken had scribbled his phone number during the Christmas party. He slowly dialed the number written on the paper and waited impatiently as the phone rang. Someone answered it on the fourth ring. "Hello, Ichijouji residence." he heard someone, probably Ken's mom, speak on the other end. "If this is for Ken, please state the reason you are calling and whichever company you represent."
Cody was startled by this greeting and said, "Uhh, what do you mean by companies?"
"Over the past few days, Ken has been contacting several companies with which he had contracts with before he ran away. He has desired to reestablish himself with companies that are still willing to trust him with an endorsement. Weren't you told about that by your boss?"
"Boss? I'm sorry, but I'm not involved with companies. I'm Cody. Ken invited me over to the Christmas party with Davis and some other kids. I'm involved with Digimon too, if that helps."
There was silence for a moment, then came from the other end, "Cody? You mean little guy, likes to do kendo, father was Oikawa's best friend?"
Cody flushed a deep red at this description, but acknowledged it. "So, do you want to talk to Ken about something?" continued the voice at the other end.
"Yes. Could you put him on please?" Cody asked.
There was an acknowledgment, and then a minute of silence as Ken was put on. Cody then heard heard Ken's very surprised voice, "Well, I, uh... wasn't expecting you to call. Is there something you need to talk about?"
"Well, yes." Cody began. "You see, I haven't been very supportive of you in the past..."
"That's an understatement, but go on." Ken replied, temporarily unnerving Cody.
"Umm, yeah..." Cody said as he fumbled for a good starting point. He finally found it and continued on: "Well, ever since the battle ended, I've been going through a guilt trip about that. In that weird dimension, things started to link together in ways I don't think any of us could explain, and after MaloMyotismon fell, I got hit with a big pang of guilt about doubting your change. I went home on the edge of completely breaking down, and now I'm afraid that Gatomon will get on my case because of the cross-linking. This means I'm going to give something important up as a show of my sorrow at my mistake... Have you ever considered doing kendo?"
Ken took a moment to take in what Cody was saying, then said, "Well, not really. I have a stick and and an old hood in storage somewhere, but I decided I liked judo better so I did that instead. Why are you asking?"
Cody took a deep breath before answering. Trying not to break down, he said, "Well, I want you to come and practice kendo with me and my grandpa. Up until now, I've had it as a special time with him, but if it is the only thing I can give you that will show my sincerity, give it up I will."
Like Kari, Ken was surprised at Cody's decision. "Are you serious?" Ken asked.
"It's the only thing I can give that's special enough. I've already asked Kari to do the same thing, and she's coming over tonight. But if you don't want to come..."
Whatever confusion Ken may have had, he was impressed by Cody's honesty and decided to hear him out. He quickly interrupted with, "No, no, I'll come. Is it after dinner?"
"Yes." Cody replied, relief obvious in his voice. "Is Wormmon coming with you?"
Ken chuckled slightly. "Of course."
"Oh, good then. See you after dinner, and bring whatever equipment you have."
"Right. See you then."
Cody hung up the phone. That part was now finished, but telling his folks was going to be hard as well...
"Something wrong, Cody?" Upamon said as he bounced up to him. Upamon had been watching TV as well, but had noticed Cody go to his mom and make the phone calls; now he was curious as to what was going on.
Cody knelt down and quickly put a finger to lips, telling his Digimon partner to be quiet. "I'll explain in my room." Cody stated, beckoning Upamon to his room. The confused Digimon bounced to catch up with Cody as the latter quickly returned to his room. Both of them would stay in there until dinner time...
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Time: 5:30 pm
Place: Hida dining area
Cody stared down at his food, showing no interest in eating it whatsoever. The thought of having to tell what he had done was discouraging his appetite, and he only poked at his food.
His mom and grandpa looked at each other in concern, then mom asked, "Something wrong, honey?"
Cody sighed and said, "I'm just not very hungry..."
"Well, could you try to finish what you have?" she replied.
Cody nodded, then took his fork and put some rice in his mouth. However, he chewed slowly, and it was clear to both mom and grandpa that something else was causing his lack of appetite. He looked up guiltily at them and wished he hadn't put himself in this situation...
"Are you sure nothing's wrong, Cody?" his mom asked again.
Cody sighed again, but said nothing as he stuffed some chicken into his mouth.
"Is something bugging you, Cody?" Cody's grandpa asked after a few moments of silence.
Cody nodded but still said nothing.
"Well then, what's wrong?" Mom asked.
Cody sighed again and then turned his gaze to where his dad's picture was hanging, over the family shrine which was set up after he died. Mom and Grandpa followed Cody's gaze, then nodded to themselves. "Ah, I see! Is it something related to Oikawa, to those Digimon you've told us about?" Grandpa asked.
Cody sadly nodded.
"Oh, then what exactly is it that's troubling you?" his mom gently asked.
Cody slumped in his chair, elbows on the table, head in hands. He knew he must be breaking a half-dozen rules, but he didn't care at the moment, and he also thought that concern would temporarily outweigh good manners. Cody looked with an ashamed face, and said hesitatingly, "I... I can't do kendo with you alone anymore Grandpa. I've... I've invited Kari and Ken over to learn from you, and there going to be here after dinner. That's what the phone calls were about."
Mom and Grandpa exchanged shocked looks as Cody sighed and looked at Upamon out of the corner of his eyes. Seeing his Digimon partner's confused look, he winced and began to slide down in his chair until he reluctantly stopped the slide and sat back up in the chair.
Cody looked on with pleading eyes as an astonished Grandpa said, "But I don't understand. I thought you liked that we were the only ones that practiced together."
Cody explained with a pained look that it wasn't that he disliked being his grandpa's only real student, but that he had no choice if he was to avoid the possibility of something horrible happening to his reputation. "What is it that's such a problem that you have to do this?" Mom asked in a very worried tone of voice.
Cody sighed, trying to fight back tears, "It's about Ken. I've seen things that make him and his story a lot like someone else's, a someone who I was willing to trust even though I wouldn't with Ken, and I'm afraid..."
"...that you're going to be called a hypocrite for it?" Grandpa guessed.
"Yeah. I mean, she knows that everyone else except Davis doubted him too, but I went on with a doubt when it was obvious I shouldn't have, particularly with what happened with Dad... and I felt I've failed some important test, though I'm not sure why exactly..."
Grandpa nodded and said, "Well, we've already had the discussion about Ken already, so I won't repeat myself, but with people there are times you need to be the rock in the stream, and there are times you need to be the water that flows around the rock. You understand?"
Cody nodded, sighing deeply to prevent a breakdown. "Now with what I know and Ken knows, I'm afraid just saying 'I'm sorry' won't be enough to get anyone to believe that I am sorry as I say I am. That's why I decided to do this; it's the only way they'll believe me when I say I'm sorry. I hope you both understand why I did this."
A minute of silence passed as Mom and Grandpa ruminated over their response. Cody swallowed down a few tasteless bites of chicken as he waited uneasily, alternating his pleading gaze between Mom, Grandpa and a worried Upamon.
Finally Mom made some kind of nodding motion, then Grandpa spoke. "We will accept what you have done, but we do not accept it lightly." he sternly stated. "You have told us how important both Oikawa and Ken were in the events, and we understand why you are afraid that you seemed to have failed in this important test of your character. However, we do not think they would be as harsh as you think they would be. But because none of us know what the reaction would be, we will accept the sacrifice you are making. But let's make one thing clear; this is for tonight only! However, if they are willing to continue taking lessons, then that is something that will have to be discussed between me and them. Do you understand Cody?"
Cody nodded grimly, swallowing a heavy lump in his throat. His eyes should both guilt and sorrow, and he looked like he could burst into tears at any minute. He thought he had rock-solid composure, but the last week had been like a battering ram, pounding at the "shell" until now it was ready to give way. What had taken years to build up was now being undone in a matter of hours, and the only way he hoped to survive without complete destruction of his credibility (at least, that's what he thought) was to throw himself completely at the mercy of those he had wronged. This is what he had to do tonight...
"Do you know when they're coming?" Mom asked.
"Well, Kari knows when I would be doing it, and someone probably told Ken, so I think they have an idea of when they'll come..."
"But you didn't tell them directly?"
"No, I kinda guessed they would know..."
"Could you call them again, just to make sure?"
Cody sighed in reluctance but agreed to do so, after clearing his plate of course. Cody picked up his fork and slowly began eating again, a desire of wanting it to be over slowly building inside...
End of Part 1