A Koukari fanfic

Chapter 1

Rhythmic tapping disturbed the quiet night, discordant to the crickets chirping around. The inharmonious ticks scurried through the summer breeze before disappearing from sight. They fell from ear shot of the kids sleeping, except one...

A pair of soft brown eyes slowly patted open, drowsy and droopy from the sudden wake of slumber. Two small hands rose and careless rubbed them open as the small girl sat up. The mysterious ticking noises that lingered around perked her ears, causing Kari to slowly unravel herself from her sleeping bag. As she quietly stood up, careful not to wake the other digidestined, she turned her head slightly from one direction to the other in search for the source. She cautiously tiptoed through the maze of sleeping bodies, the taps getting louder with each step.

Her eyes caught glance of the pier next to where everyone decided to sent up camp. Squinting her eyes, she barely made out a glowing distant figure sitting on the edge. Kari took a uneasy breath and reluctantly walked over. Her increasing heartbeat mixed in with the ticks growing louder the closer she got. The pier shook with each step as she made her way to the end. There, a small frizzy haired boy sat with his laptop on his crossed legs shining back at his face.

The still lake water on both sides of them echoed of the waves from earlier that day, but the boy's attention was too fixated his screen to notice. Dark rings emerged from under his eyes and his posture was completely hunched over his work. Quietly, Kari peaked over the boy's slouched shoulders. "Hey, Izzy."

Startled, he whipped his head around and became face to face with her. He took a breath of relief when he realized it was her, but then hitched when he realized how incredibly close her face was. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he twisted his head forward and back to the screen. "Hi, Kari," he muttered as the tapping returned.

"What are you still doing up?" She curiously asked him, slowly sitting down to the left of him.

He didn't even turn his head to respond. "I can't sleep," he said without a blink of an eye. Kari's brow scrunched inward at his vague answer. She brought her legs to her chest and rested the side of her head on her knees, looking at the boy. He looked too focused on the bright screen to catch any sleep.

"Oh, because you're on your computer?" She questioned as she looked out onto the dimly lit lake. Lights from other cabins shined onto the water, creating little white dots in the tree line.

"No," was the only word that fell from his mouth as he placed his head in his hands. Sighing heavily, he rubbed his aching head. He swiftly ran his fingers through his red hair and went back to typing.

She moved her gaze from the tiny lights down to the water, looking at her reflection. "Why can't you sleep?"

"It's complicated," irritation hung in his voice as her face grew with concern. Biting her lips, different explanations of his lack of sleep ran through her head.

Curiosity flooded her mind, pouring out of her when she responded, "You don't have to always keep it inside. You know you could always talk to me."

When her words touched his ears, he twisted his head towards her. The light from the moon lit her pale face as a breeze swept through. She carelessly looked out at the forest trees in the distance, completely unaware of Izzy's lingering gaze. The sight of her had him completely mesmerized, leaving him breathless. He was, for one of the first times in his life, completely lost in words, but eventually, he shook his head and stuttered, "I can never sleep... No matter how hard I try, the outcome is inevitable, so I just stopped fighting it. Troublesome as it is, I have adapted to it, but some nights, it's still tedious."

Kari looked at the tired boy next to him. "Like insomnia, right?" She whispered through her tiny lips.

"Presicely," he said back to her with his gaze now focused on his hands in his lap.

"Does anyone know about this?" She asked, looking at him and wondering if she is the only one that knows. Everyone in their group sleeps soundly mostly every night, even on these nights. It has become a tradition that they all take a camping trip together every summer since the digital world adventure.

"Negative," he replied, gazing back at her. "I didn't want to be a burden, really. I feel like it's an inner struggle I have to conquer myself."

Humming in response, she desperately wanted to ask him what that inner struggle was, but she decided to save that for another night. Instead, Kari looked up at the clear night sky and asked, "Do know any constellations?"

He smirked and said, "As a matter of fact, I know a couple." Closing his pineapple laptop half way and observing the star filled sky, he raised his right finger up, pointing diagonally left towards her. "You see the five stars that kind of resemble an M?"

Kari squinted as she scooted closer to Izzy, their legs barely touching one another. "Yeah, I see it," she eventually depicted it.

"That's Cassiopeia. And that one over there? That's Draco. But you see the bright star in the sky?" He glanced down at her.

"Yeah?" She questioned, eyes focused on the star at the end of his finger.

"That's actually the planet Venus," he finished.

Kari's eyes widened in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah, there is actually ancient myth between Venus and Mars," he replied as he continued to gaze at the planet.

"Please tell the story, Izzy," she pleaded, propping her head in her hands ready to listen.

"Well... Venus was the goddess of love and beauty. She attracted many with her pleasant smile and exquisite features. She fell in love with Mars, the god of war, however, she was already married to the graceless Vulcan, the god of fire," he looked back down at her saddened face.

"Oh no... what happened?" She looked at him with a gleam of a star in her brown eyes.

"Well, once a year, Venus will catch up with her mythological mate until a full conjunction occurs. After their reunion, Venus continues with her fast movement to move to the east each night, leaving her slow red lover behind."

"Incredible," she whispered out to the mysterious night.

"Yeah, pretty prodigious," Izzy whispered as he opened his laptop again.

Silence filled the air between them, but was disrupted by reborn patting of the keyboard. He was lost his his work again.

"We should do this again..." Kari yawned, stretching both her arms outward and almost knocking Izzy in the face. She looked up at him with her brown eyes. "Every night we spend together."

"Yeah, we should," he stiffly responded, not even looking up as he continued typing.

"Promise?" She whispered as she gently placed her head on his shoulder. Her short hair delicately fell over part of her cheek as she closed her eyes.

Izzy stopped typing on his laptop for a second to look down at the girl sitting next to him, eyes widened at her action. A light blush lingered on his cheeks, not knowing how to respond. "Promise," he eventually managed to muster. He continued to look down at the sleeping girl beside him because he was too afraid that she would wake up from his typing again.