Dancing with the Stars
Kouji x Izumi Drama/Romance
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier or else it would be a romance anime already. ;;
A/N: It's been a while since I wrote for Frontier, and I only have one fic ;; but anyway, [waves flag] Here's some Kouzumi Drama for everybody! By the way, Kouji, Izumi, Takuya and Kouichi are 21, Tomoki is 19 and Junpei is 22. Umm… in italics are various jumbled flashbacks.
-o-
He knew that it was one of the last days he could spend with her like this. He wanted to make it perfect, to make her perfectly happy. With a forced smile, he walked towards the one who was admiring the unexplainable beauty of the stars that night.
"Will you dance with me?" he asked with a soft smile, one he rarely wore because for him it was easier to frown or sneer.
A surprised expression, yet glee filled her eyes. She eyed her prince, infatuated, "Of course…"
A smile, he takes her hand, "Let's go…"
-o-
A night of a million stars he called it – his sweet gestures, everything. It made that night perfect, too perfect to last forever.
She placed her hat on the ground, looking up at the dark skies – the only light source of her surroundings were a few twinkling stars amidst the pouring rain. She turned away from the site of stars – perhaps it was too painful, she did not want to be reminded. But she was… She remembered.
-o-
He clenched his chest tightly, pain evident in his expression. He didn't want her to see but he could not control the stinging and intolerable pain.
"Kouji… what's wrong?" she asked grasping his fist with gentleness he could not explain.
He pushed away the pain forcing a smile to reassure her that he was fine, "I'm fine Izumi – you must be imagining things…"
She wasn't reassured at all – she was anxious, nervous, she was afraid of what was happening to him. She hugged him affectionately, "Kouji, I want to know… I thought we won't hide things from each other anymore, don't you remember?"
He looked away, afraid to meet her gaze. He had promised her they would never keep things from each other again, the main reason being their troubled realizations and confessions of feelings. That time… was nothing else but what people would call chaotic, and not mention the fact that all their friends and his twin brother had bothered them so much along the way. "I do…"
"So tell me when there's something wrong, okay?" she kissed him softly.
"Un." He looked away rather nervously – he could never tell her… it will destroy her, and with her being destroyed, he will too…
-o-
She wiped the tears away, standing up from her seated position. He always brought me here… but that was long ago.
"Izumi? What are you doing here? It's raining cats and dogs." A familiar voice called out as she turned around.
It was Takuya, her best friend, "I'm fine Takuya – have you gone to visit him yet?"
A firm nod from the brown-haired young man, "I did… Kouichi, Junpei and Tomoki did too… I heard from him, you did as well."
"Is he doing any better?" she asked for a moment. She was not expecting a positive answer, she just visited moments ago – he wasn't getting any better.
He shook his head, "Sorry Izumi."
"It's okay…" she said softly.
"Do you need me to take you home?" Takuya had asked, "I have two umbrellas…"
She nodded shyly, "Thanks Takuya… but would you mind if we visited him before…?"
"Not at all Izumi…" he said with a forced grin, "I don't think anybody is affected here more than you and Kouichi… I guess… life's unfair like that…"
Too unfair…
-o-
"Look Kouji, the stars are beautiful tonight!" she pointed out to the unexplainable beauty that she was watching.
He sighed, blushing lightly as he felt her hand intertwine with his. He said bluntly, "I guess so…"
"Stars are so amazing, don't you think so too Kouji?" she grinned frolicking upon the asphalt path they were on, dragging around her rather serious introverted boyfriend.
"Ah… Izumi, what are you doing?" complained Kouji softly before she sealed his mouth with a soft kiss getting his mind away off everything, rendering him speechless.
She giggled doing graceful movements in front of him as she let go of his hand, "I love dancing, did you know that? Stars are wonderful to dance with… I know I might sound weird right now but would you dance with me Kouji?"
He considered declining but the look on her face had somewhat forced him not to. Finally, after moments of deliberation, he decided to agree. After all, nobody would see them and he had wanted to see her smile always, though he may not show it much. He nodded slightly, a bit of doubt rising, but she did not notice and took one of his hands and began to sway.
He was… rather stiff – he rarely danced, not in his age of 17, not a few years before. Perhaps the last time was when he was really young, around five years old, performing for their pre-school program. She was graceful – a goddess of beauty. He guessed she took dancing lessons, but perhaps even if she didn't, she would still be exemplifying such beauty and grace before him. Her smile too… it was what one would call beautiful.
She laughed at him playfully, "Move a little more Kouji! How can you dance without moving?"
He sighed softly – basically, he didn't dance nor did he like to move around his body very much… Dancing wasn't for him – not someone like him. He didn't move due to the lack of skill and his male pride and ego all at the same time.
She pouted lightly but understood nonetheless, "Let's waltz then? What to you say?"
He finally realized that most of the time, it would be impossible for him ever to decline her request. It seemed as if no matter how cold and bitter he had been before, she managed to bring out a side of him unknown to man. He found himself nodding, and soon with his hands on his waist and her arms around his neck, they began to waltz.
They waltzed around the asphalt path, forgetting the world and only knowing three things: He, she and their love.
He loved her. He never expected it but he was glad he found it. He found the meaning of friendship, of family and when he realized his feelings for her, he found out about love.
She loved him. Despite the fact that she thought she would fall in love with somebody so warm and kind to her, she fell in love with coolness, and felt rather warm and fuzzy with him nonetheless.
Neither expected it, but they were thankful for such a blessing.
-o-
Takura Kanbara pushed the door open and gave her a gentle shove to go inside. She saw him, his hair not tied up as usual staring at the ceiling looking weak and frail. However, he wasn't weak – not at all. He was one of strength and determination, he always has been.
She approached him slowly, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, "How are you feeling Kouji?"
"Pathetic." Was the one word reply of the young man.
Takuya left the room – he knew it would be better to leave the two alone.
"You're not pathetic…" she said gently, fixing his hair so that none would cover his face.
He faced the window not being able to take her kindness. He hurt her too much to accept such a thing, "I am. I'm a liar, an idiot, a weakling, a cancer patient and I'm dying."
She looked at him dolefully, "You did what you thought would not hurt me Kouji… and you did the right thing."
"No, I didn't…" he said with a hint of coldness despite how weak he had looked, "You even told me yourself."
"I was angry then, confused… I didn't understand…" she explained to him but no matter how much she did try to, he would still continue blaming himself for the pain he had caused her, even if he was the one with more pain than she could ever imagine.
"Even so, I'm leaving you like this… It's just unfair of me to do." He said bluntly.
She said softly, "You can still fight it Kouji…"
He shook his head, "I don't… think so…"
Izumi hugged him, "You can Kouji… and no matter how cliché I always thought these scenes were in romance dramas… my love will be with you… always Kouji… Always…"
Kouji wanted to hug back but found himself unable to. He tried to stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks, "I love you too Izumi… but…"
"Kouji, you can do it… after all, there are still plenty of stars to dance with… We will dance with them, right?"
He didn't answer.
-o-
"He has cancer Izumi…" Kouichi told her the grave news, "Didn't he tell you? He told me he did… I told him to…"
She shook her head frantically and grabbed his twin by the collar, "You're lying! Kouji's not… he's not… He would have told me."
Kouichi looked frazzled, "Calm down Izumi… there must be a reason why Kouji didn't tell you, okay? It's not that it's the easiest thing to say to somebody – especially you. He loves you. He never wants you hurt. Kouji's not some kind of numb and cold guy to just drop the bomb like that on you out of nowhere."
"Since when? Since when was he sick?" she asked him forcefully.
Kouichi sighed, "When he was eighteen… he found out when we were eighteen – three years ago, two years after you got together. I thought he would've told you sooner or later – but maybe he thought it would get better."
"Can he…?" she uttered dreading the answer.
Kouichi looked hesitant for a moment then sighed, "He can Izumi… but there's a really slim chance – apparently, he's always skipping his medicine, skipping check-ups… it's getting quite bad."
She was afraid, confused but most of all she felt fury in her… She didn't even know why.
"Where are you going Izumi?" Kouichi looked worried.
"I'm going to see him…" she looked rather infuriated as she flung the door of his hospital room open.
Kouji was seated up and staring outside the window with a blank emotionless expression. She watched him and her blood seemed to boil – perhaps she was throwing all her frustration into him. Perhaps she's acting like a mother when her son did something wrong.
She slapped him.
Kouji fingered his swollen cheek and softly said, "So you now know…"
She was angry, "Yes I do! Why did you keep it from me?"
"At first I thought I was doing it for you actually, so you won't get hurt by such an announcement…" he said coldly, "But maybe in truth, I was just afraid you won't love somebody who's about to die, because it's just too painful. I didn't want to loose you."
"Is that it? You're such an idiot!" she screamed.
He was deeply wounded by her words but he did not show it. He was not a weakling and never would be. "I'm sorry…" he said sincerely, but in an even tone of voice.
"Sorry just doesn't cut it." She
said wiping away the tears that managed to well in her eyes, "it just doesn't."
She exited the room and slammed it shut.
-o-
DingDong
Izumi Orimoto opened her home's front door groggily. It was around 10 in the evening already – she didn't understand how anyone would want to visit her house at this time of night.
She opened the door, eyes widening at what she saw…
"Izumi…" the person said breathlessly. He was leaning at the side of her door and looking at her weakly.
She was speechless and worried as well. He shouldn't be here. He should be at the hospital clinging on to dear life, "Kouji… you shouldn't be here."
"I can be anywhere I want to be." He said firmly despite his weak composure. He could be even more stubborn than Takuya at times, and Takuya had already been very stubborn.
She wanted to argue with him, but she already knew the turnabouts so she didn't. She could never change his mind when it was made up, "Why did you come here Kouji?"
He kissed her.
"The stars are beautiful tonight… dance with me Izumi…" he said. It was an invitation and in his voice, it was evident that he was unsure of her answer.
She smiled weakly. It's been a while, months ever since he was hospitalized. It was painful for both of them.
"Okay then…"
He brought her outside, he was struggling a bit to walk but got used to it a bit along the way.
She closed her front door and followed him to her home's garden where he paused, "I've always thought that the view of the stars here was beautiful… You love to dance, right?"
"Yes…" She nodded biting her lip. It was rare that a person like Kouji would say that he found something beautiful, only a few things gained this privilege, her and the stars.
He placed his hands on her waist and laid his head on her shoulder. He murmured to her ear, "Dance with me…"
She wrapped her arms around his neck not bothering to stop the tears that was flowing down her eyes. Kouji rarely did such things. He was always rather cold, shy and had a hard time expressing himself. She knew what this all meant.
"Just like that night…" he said softly.
"Yeah…" She sighed somewhat dreamily, If only we could go back to that…
They waltzed for a few moments, enjoying the little time they had with each other. Both didn't understand how life could do such a thing to them… She definitely didn't.
They stopped and looked at each other.
"They're probably looking for me now… I wouldn't want you to get into trouble…" he whispered.
"I'll take you back…" she said worried about his safety.
He shook his head, "Kouichi's close by… he brought me here…"
"Kouji…" she murmured.
He turned around and to her surprise, he smiled, "I love you Izumi. I'm so sorry for all the things that I've caused…"
She was shocked, and he was crying. It was the first time she ever saw him cry – it meant something…
"I love you too Kouji…" she hugged him softly.
"Goodbye Izumi…" he said walking away.
It caused all her might to say such a thing, not sure if she could actually do such a thing, but she did. With a breath she said, "Goodbye Kouji…"
He died soon after.
-o-
They had just finished waltzing, sitting down underneath a familiar tree. "Why do you love to dance Izumi?"
She shrugged, snuggling closer to him, "I don't know myself Kouji… Perhaps watching the stars, I just get motivated to… I don't even know why…" she laughed.
"They are very beautiful… aren't they?" Kouji remarked hesitantly.
Her eyes widened, it had been the first time she heard him say such a thing – the word beautiful. She smiled, he did change a lot over the years. When they were twelve, he began to change more and more, and when they were fourteen, they fell in love with each other. Two years after that, they got together with the help of their friends.
She then replied, "Yes, they are…"
"You are beautiful too…" he said with a light blush.
She smiled, slightly flustered, "Thank you."
He stood up, "Would you like to dance once more?"
"Why not?" She smiled at him, taking his outstretched hand to stand up.
-o-
She stared at the unmoving lifeless body of Kouji Minamoto, not bothering to stop the tears flowing from her eyes. Her eyes had been red and sore, and despite Kouichi, Takura, Junpei and Tomoki's comforting, she couldn't help but feel so… so… miserable because of the event. Even Kouichi who tried his best to be strong for his younger brother had cried a few moments ago – it was not easy loosing someone who you found after years again. Tomoki and Junpei had both been sad because of the lost of their precious friend. Only Takuya, who wanted to be strong for everybody tried to bring up a front of strength, of someone to rely on, though there were some moments as he looked at Kouji's lifelessness that his eyes glittered with tears – all of which he wiped right away.
They all expected such a thing to happen though, especially Izumi. In a way, they both said their goodbyes that night…
She wiped her tears away, kneeling down in front of the bed in which he was laid and taking his hand. Squeezing it tightly, she tried her best to stop the tears…
"I know we can dance with the stars again… Wait for me…"
She kissed the hand with softly.
"Just wait for me…"
A soft breeze blew into the room as a response.
::Owari – the end::
A/N: Not up to your standards? ;; I hope it is! I tried my best, and I'm terribly sorry if Junpei or Tomoki had a really small role in the fic or the fact that you feel Kouji is OOC – honestly, I believe that Kouji is not the block of ice people believe he is. He is cool and somewhat an introvert, but not some emotionless being… :) he was actually kinda nice in the series and would probably be one of those possessive and sweet boyfriends :), though I'm still sorry if I still portrayed him wrongly ;; Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this :) and well, this is dedicated to all Kouzumi fans out there I guess. R/R!