A/N: If I owned this, Sorato would never have been born. End of story.
Actually, this is the beginning of a story - this story. Shizu is my own
creation. Couples involved for sure are Jyoushiro, Kensuke/Daiken, and some
other random pairings. You no like, you no read. You do like, you review.
Simple, ne? Oh, by the way - this is primarily a /romance/. However, I tend
to get caught up in /drama/. If it gets so dramatic the romance is getting
shut out, feel free to physically hurt me. Thank you.
Chapter 1: Love at First Sight/Water Wars
Jyou didn't bother to hide the fact that he couldn't stop staring at Koushiro. After all, everyone else knew about his crush on the younger genius, though Koushiro wouldn't notice that if someone shrieked it in his ear.
Yamato tapped the taller boy on the shoulder. "Hey, Jyou, check out the cute chick next to us," the blonde whispered. The male digidestined were standing in line to buy popcorn at a movie theater; the girls had gone in, so as not to miss the previews. Jyou glanced at the "cute chick," eyeing the way her soft, white-blonde hair curled ever-so-slightly at the tips. He grinned as he caught a bit of flustered conversation from somewhere behind him.
"We can still escape! It isn't too late! I'm telling you, Ken, this movie is a bad idea. . . Jun can't stop crying ever since she saw it. . . it's such a chick flick. . ."
"Dai-chan, everyone else is here."
"No one will notice if we run away! Please!"
Jyou glanced back in time to see the indigo-haired boy roll his eyes. "Daisuke Motimiya. When was the last time the digidestined all got together? All twelve of us?"
Daisuke blinked. "There are /twelve/ of us?"
Ken laughed. "Duh! Look, this movie is really important to the girls, so let's at least /pretend/ we enjoy unconditional love for /two hours/. Okay?"
"Uh-oh," Taichi muttered. Jyou looked over at his friend, who was staring at Koushiro. "Uh, don't look now, but I /think/ Koushiro finally noticed that human beings can have different genders."
~Oh, great,~ Jyou thought. ~There goes /any/ chance I ever had with Kou- chan. . .just who does he find so interesting?~
That thought was answered by Yamato. "But /I/ wanted to ask her to sit with us! She's really cute!"
Oh. The /cute/ girl. Jyou had to admit, she /was/ beautiful, if you liked flawless people who seemed to smile perpetually. He didn't. He much preferred the short, redheaded, occasionally quirky genius standing only three feet away.
"Popcorn, please," the pretty girl said, flashing a grin at Jyou, who blinked. Why was she looking at /him/? He didn't like girls; he had pretty much accepted that by now.
The girl gathered up her popcorn and walked over to their line, which was moving forward slowly. "Hello, I'm Shizuko - just Shizu to friends."
"Um. Hi." Jyou didn't know what else to say to her, but Koushiro broke in.
"Jyou, would you mind ordering? I forgot what everyone wanted."
Almost bursting with relief that he didn't have to talk to Shizu, Jyou stepped forward, accidentally brushing against Koushiro. He took out his wallet, trying not to look as if he was eavesdropping.
"I'm Koushiro Izumi. That was Jyou Kido - he's notoriously shy. Do you want to sit with us?"
~Jeez, Kou-chan isn't usually that. . .forward. He must really like her.~ Immediately after processing that thought, Jyou moved to quash the jealousy trying to rise up in him. ~If he likes Shizu, that's okay. She seems /nice/ enough.~
Daisuke's voice rose above whatever Shizu said in reply. "You didn't mention that when you invited me to come, Tai! I /hate/ musicals!"
"Come on, Daisuke, it's supposed to be a really sweet story."
"I HATE SWEETNESS!"
Jyou shook his head and stepped up to the counter. "I'll have five large popcorns, three Pepsis, seven Mountain Dews, and two lemonades, please." He called back over his shoulder, "You guys owe me /big/. This costs a fortune."
Shizu giggled. "Hey, we have two minutes before the movie starts, better get going. . ."
The teenager behind the counter pulled out two trays. "Your friends back there gonna help?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Kou, can you come get one of these?"
"Hmm? What?"
Jyou silently groaned. It had begun. Koushiro's first crush - and it was on a /girl/. Some girls were all right, but this one seemed fake somehow. "Yama?"
"Sure, Jyou."
The party moved into the theater and found their seats, uncomfortably close to the screen. "This is supposed to be a really romantic movie," Sora said happily. "It was a huge hit in America - almost won Best Picture of the Year."
Hikari wrinkled her nose. "I already saw the movie that won - it was really dumb. This one should be nice. I saved you a seat, Takeru."
Giggle. Blush. Ah, young love. Jyou had been too involved in his studies to ever experience it. . .
Daisuke squirmed around in the seat next to him. "Ken, what's this movie called?"
"Moulin Rouge. It's about love." Jyou thought he caught a strange note in the younger boy's voice, but decided he must have imagined it.
And then the previews started, and everyone got very quiet.
~~
"That was the worst movie I've ever seen," Daisuke groaned.
"I liked it," Ken said, seeming preoccupied. Daisuke followed the taller boy's gaze to Shizu and Koushiro, who were holding hands.
"Are you jealous of Koushiro, Ken?"
"Whaaat?" Ken gasped, flushing very deeply. "No way!"
"You /are/! You like Shizu!"
Ken's blush darknened considerably. "I do /not/ like her."
"I'll see you there," Shizu said cheerfully, striding off. Koushiro watched her, and Ken watched Koushiro, while Daisuke couldn't seem to tear his eyes off of Ken.
Quite suddenly, Miyako shoved Ken and Daisuke apart. "Izzy!" she squealed, hugging him in a friendly sort of way. "Good job with Shizu!" Sora, Mimi, and Hikari converged on him, grinning deviously.
Jyou groaned and sat down on one of the inconvenient benches placed randomly about the lobby. "Jeez. Just when I was starting to think I had a chance, that little - "
"Jyou," Takeru said warningly, casting a pointed glance Iori's way. "There are young minds here."
Taichi threw a friendly arm over Jyou's shoulders. "Hey, come on, snap out of it. Chances are, she'll break his heart, and he'll come running to you, and all will be well - like in the movie."
Jyou blinked. "Satine /died/ in the movie, Tai."
Taichi's jaw dropped. "She /did/? Was that the part where I fell asleep?"
"It was an emotional movie," Iori noted. "Hikari was crying at the end."
Takeru coughed.
"You notice too much," Ken observed, blushing again for no apparent reason.
Yamato grinned quite suddenly. "Hey, Jyou. Why don't the six of us match you up with Koushiro?"
Daisuke gasped. "I thought there were twelve of us!"
"I'm not counting the girls, or the couple. Do the math, Dai."
"I hate math."
"Really?" Ken asked. "I /love/ it."
Taichi narrowed his eyes. "So, how do we go about matchmaking?"
Yamato nodded slowly. "First, we get Shizu out of the picture. Then, Ken and Daisuke can pretend to be in love - just so that Koushiro gets used to shounen ai."
"What?" Ken shrieked, drawing the attention of several moviegoers. "Me and /Daisuke/?"
"Don't sound so disgusted," Daisuke muttered.
Jyou grinned weakly. "Thanks for the offer, but I'd really rather do this myself."
Takeru snorted. "Like we'd let you try! Let me guess - you'd draw him into an intellectually stimulating conversation and then try to kiss him. Won't work! You already like him - you don't want to scare him off. Let /him/ make the first move. And for him to do that, we need bait."
"No, no, and no," Ken snapped. He yanked out his wallet and tossed some yen at Jyou. "For the soda and the popcorn. Keep the change." With that, the indigo-haired boy stalked off.
Yamato blinked. "What's eating him? Some people - well, very few, actually - would /love/ to pretend to like Daisuke."
"Thanks," the redhead said.
"Don't mention it, Dai."
~~
Shizu sat down at her computer and opened the innocently named "Research Report." Actually, the folder had nothing to do with reports, although there was some research involved - mostly programming, It was funny, actually - only six months ago she hadn't even known what HTML meant, and now she was a better computer programmer than Koushiro Izumi and Ken Ichijouji put together.
Six months. Had it really been only six months? Six months since she moved to Odaiba, six months since she had first laid eyes on Jyou Kido.
She had adored him immediately, of course - the way his strangely-colored hair brushed against his chin, the way he adjusted his glasses. He hadn't noticed her. That was back when she had been invisible - the geeky new kid from Tokyo, pimple-faced, with thick glasses and skirts every day.
Then /he/ had given the ordinary girl a way to change her bland appearance. He had altered it very slightly each week until now, when the change was finally complete. The effect on most men was spectacular, especially on Koushiro, but Jyou had barely glanced her way.
She frowned and keyed in a line of code, waiting for the program she had named to pop up. Somehow he /would/ be hers. Even if it required sacrificing part of the other place in the process.
She lifted her microphone to her mouth. "Gazimon."
"Yes, Shizuko?"
"Get the flame legion out into sections A-5 through B-8. I want nothing there tomorrow. Get the digimon out alive - I'll place my artificial skeletons in the destroyed area tomorrow. I want that forest leveled, you hear?"
"Yes, Shizuko."
"Send the lightning legion out to section A-2. Get my Airdramon out there to bring the inhabitants to C-4 and shock the lake. I /need/ those X-ray photos faxed to me /tonight/ of the Seadramon. You copy?"
"Yes, Shizuko."
She closed off the connection and opened another file - the map. She clicked on a small square, magnifying it, and tapped out the sequence again. "Cherrymon?"
"I hear you, Shizuko."
"I'm sending out some Dark Rings now. Make sure the Woodmon are covered, all right?"
"Yes, Shizuko."
She leaned back in her chair, grinning. This was /brilliant/. Ken would appear to be the Kaiser again, while she would be the innocent thirteenth digidestined who just happened to land on top of Jyou when she appeared from the sky. So she was giving up a lake and a forest. The digimon would live, just a bit more cramped. Her Dark Rings wouldn't really affect the Woodmon, who would do anything for her.
Now for the email.
~~
Ken collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with dull violet eyes. He was /so/ tired. It was now midnight, and he had been up since six that morning.
~Exhaustion. That's why I yelled at Dai-chan. I wasn't thinking properly.~
That was what the indigo-haired child wanted to think. The truth was, Daisuke had touched a nerve just /implying/ that Ken liked Shizu. He /hated/ her, for being perfect, for liking Koushiro. . .
"Ken?"
"Yes, Wormmon?"
"I think you should see this."
The sleepy young genius flapped a hand at Wormmon. "Turn the computer /off/, Wormmon. I'll look in the morning."
"No, I really think you should see this."
Ken groaned and dragged himself over to the computer, squinting against the brightness. "Wow. An email. And this can't wait why?"
Wormmon jumped onto his partner's lap and pointed at the screen. "Look who it's from."
Ken peered at the "From" line. "The Digimon Kaiser. Okay, that's ridiculous. I think I would /know/ if the Kaiser was sending out emails. It's a hoax - probably Dai--" He stopped, his mouth hanging open, as he continued reading silently. Then, slowly, he read it out loud to Wormmon.
" 'I have decided to stop being a digidestined and return to my comfortable, solitary life in the Digiworld. Beginning tomorrow, I will systematically destroy the world. Fight me if you dare." Ken rubbed his eyes. "I can't think, Wormmon. It must be a joke."
"Unless the Kaiser is back."
Ken rolled his eyes. "Look, I refuse to believe it. I don't have time for this, with school and not sleeping well. Besides which, if, somehow, it was the Kaiser, why would he be emailing /me/ about it?"
Wormmon opened his mouth, then paused. "I really don't know."
Ken collapsed back onto his bed. "And I really don't care just now, so leave me alone, Wormmon. We'll straighten everything out in the morning."
~~
Miyako peered around a bush and raised the walkie-talkie to her lips. "Target sighted," she whispered conspiratorially. "She's boarding a school bus. Binoculars?"
Hikari, who had been dubbed a "partner in crime" by her enthusiastic friend, handed over the binoculars. "I can't believe we're spying on her."
Miyako shrugged, staring through the windows. "She's paying the driver. Wow. Wish /I/ were that pretty."
Hikari sighed and grabbed the binoculars. "This is wrong. Especially when we're late for school and no one's heard from Ken and that weird email. . ."
Miyako snatched the binoculars back. "Look, 'kari, Ken's been really tired. He's probably taking the day off, and we all know there's /no/ way he could be the Kaiser again. We're supposed to be helping Koushiro to impress Shizu, remember?"
"I know," the brunette replied, shifting her aching legs.
"The bus is leaving. Bicycle?"
Hikari pulled her friend to her feet. "Miyako, our school is the opposite way from the high school, and we're /late/."
"But I /like/ this!"
Hikari groaned and dragged Miyako over to their bikes.
~~
"Oh, my God," Takeru whispered, staring in horror at the sight before him.
The forest had long since burned to the ground, although dark wisps of smoke still rose to the sky in some places. Everywhere they could see small, pathetic skeletons, bones bleached clean by the fire.
The walkie-talkie crackled. "Daisuke, Takeru," Iori's gravelly voice said. "We have a situation here at the lake. Electricity, apparently. It's mostly dried up, the ground is charred. There's a huge Seadramon skeleton right in the middle."
There was a sort of hissing, and then Miyako came on, sounding distinctly ill. "Koushiro and I found several Woodmon. They didn't see us. Dark Rings. The email was true."
"It can't be," Daisuke snapped vehemently. "How could Ken have possibly done all of this since last night? You saw him after the movie, he couldn't walk straight. I don't think he's had twelve hours of sleep in the past week."
Takeru rested a kind hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Innocent until proven guilty," the blonde reminded the fiery leader.
Someone on another walkie-talkie snorted. "Isn't this enough proof for you?" Taichi asked cynically.
"No," Daisuke answered immediately. "Look, he was, like, half-dead yesterday, and just last weekend we had a Water War. You don't play Water War with someone you're going to betray."
"Water War?" Takeru asked incredulously, staring at the gogglehead. "You had a /Water War/ with the /Kaiser/?"
"Former Kaiser," Daisuke reminded him. "And he's actually very good at it."
Takeru couldn't help it. Despite the wreckage barely ten feet from him, he doubled over, laughing hysterically.
Koushiro coughed on the other line. "Could we wrap it up? I have a date."
The excursion into the Digiworld ended soon after that, with all the girls shrieking in delight, Koushiro blushing on his end of the system of walkie- talkies, and Takeru suffocating with laughter.
~~
Wormmon poked Ken. "Ken-chan, wake up."
The indigo-haired boy groaned and rolled over, shielding his eyes from the light streaming through the window. "What time is it?"
"Ten something."
"Ten something," Ken repeated. "You didn't give me much time to sleep."
Wormmon blinked. "But you've been asleep for a very long time, and your mom is calling."
"Wha?"
"Ken, there's someone at the door!" Mrs. Ichijouji called.
"C'you get that, Wormie m'dear?" Ken asked, grabbing his pillow and using it to cover his eyes.
". . .sure." The small green digimon bounced off of the bed and out of Ken's room. Moments later, he returned, followed by a nervous-looking redhead.
"Good morning, Ken."
"Hi, Dai-chan."
Daisuke shifted from one foot to the other. "So, have you been sleeping all day now? And what about yesterday?"
"All day? It's only ten."
"Actually, it's 10:57. Almost eleven."
Ken moaned and lifted his pillow to glare at Wormmon. "Wormmon!"
"I can't tell time!" the digimon objected. Ken whipped the pillow at his partner, who scuttled quickly out of the way.
"About the sleeping thing?" Daisuke asked again.
"What? Oh, that. Yes, I've been sleeping since midnight, and before that I was. . . sleeping. I fell asleep over my homework. And yesterday I stayed home. Sleeping."
The redhead blinked. "Jeez, how did you get so far behind in your sleep?"
"If I knew, I would tell you. Is there a reason you - OH. You got that email too, didn't you?"
Ken swung his legs out of the way as Daisuke sat down on the bed. "We all did," the boy confirmed.
Ken groaned, putting a hand dramatically to his head. "And everyone else is morbidly convinced that it was true. Those morons. I don't have the strength to do my homework, let alone rule the Digiworld, not to mention a tiny fact I'd like to call guilt. Do you /really/ think I would /ever/ do anything like that again?"
"I'm not accusing you," Daisuke murmured. "But a forest was burned down, and a lake was dried up, and there are skeletons."
Ken puzzled over that for a moment before raging, "Skeletons? My God, what is /wrong/ with you? There is no such thing as a digimon skeleton. They turn into Digi-dust when they die!"
Daisuke winced, blushing. "Guess we didn't think of that." Quite suddenly, he brightened. "It's Saturday."
"I noticed."
"You said we could have a Water War today."
Ken sat up and almost collapsed, grabbing Daisuke's shoulder to steady himself. "You're on," he gasped. "Just let me wake up a /little/ bit more. . ."
~~
Shizu passed Daisuke's house less than an hour later, a spring in her step. She had a /date/. It wasn't with Jyou, but Koushiro /was/ cute, in his own way.
She paused, staring in shock at the spectacle before her. Daisuke and Ken. Soaked. A pretty enough picture, but not when Daisuke was upturning a soapy bucket of water on his friend's head.
"So they know it's not him," she mused. "Ah, well, doesn't change anything." She continued on, grinning despite herself when Ken relentlessly chased after Daisuke with the hose.
//Shizuko, this is frivolous.//
Shizu groaned and replied mentally, /Can't I have any fun at all? I didn't wish for beauty just because, you know./
//But a date, Shizuko, on a day like this!//
/Shut up./
//I do not have to shut up! I absolutely refuse! Nothing is working out!//
Shizuko absently plucked a leaf from a tree in her path and began to shred it. /Actually, everything is fine from my end./
The voice was silent - exactly what the blonde girl had been hoping for.
Across the street, Ken suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes glazed over. "Dai-chan, didn't you say someone burned down a forest?"
Staying clear of the hose, Daisuke walked closer to his friend. "Yeah, so what?"
Ken coughed and sat down, shaking wet tendrils of hair from his eyes. "That's what the Kaiser was planning to do once. I managed to stop him, that time."
"So?"
Ken groaned. "All of a sudden, I have a really bad feeling about all of this. . . "
Chapter 1: Love at First Sight/Water Wars
Jyou didn't bother to hide the fact that he couldn't stop staring at Koushiro. After all, everyone else knew about his crush on the younger genius, though Koushiro wouldn't notice that if someone shrieked it in his ear.
Yamato tapped the taller boy on the shoulder. "Hey, Jyou, check out the cute chick next to us," the blonde whispered. The male digidestined were standing in line to buy popcorn at a movie theater; the girls had gone in, so as not to miss the previews. Jyou glanced at the "cute chick," eyeing the way her soft, white-blonde hair curled ever-so-slightly at the tips. He grinned as he caught a bit of flustered conversation from somewhere behind him.
"We can still escape! It isn't too late! I'm telling you, Ken, this movie is a bad idea. . . Jun can't stop crying ever since she saw it. . . it's such a chick flick. . ."
"Dai-chan, everyone else is here."
"No one will notice if we run away! Please!"
Jyou glanced back in time to see the indigo-haired boy roll his eyes. "Daisuke Motimiya. When was the last time the digidestined all got together? All twelve of us?"
Daisuke blinked. "There are /twelve/ of us?"
Ken laughed. "Duh! Look, this movie is really important to the girls, so let's at least /pretend/ we enjoy unconditional love for /two hours/. Okay?"
"Uh-oh," Taichi muttered. Jyou looked over at his friend, who was staring at Koushiro. "Uh, don't look now, but I /think/ Koushiro finally noticed that human beings can have different genders."
~Oh, great,~ Jyou thought. ~There goes /any/ chance I ever had with Kou- chan. . .just who does he find so interesting?~
That thought was answered by Yamato. "But /I/ wanted to ask her to sit with us! She's really cute!"
Oh. The /cute/ girl. Jyou had to admit, she /was/ beautiful, if you liked flawless people who seemed to smile perpetually. He didn't. He much preferred the short, redheaded, occasionally quirky genius standing only three feet away.
"Popcorn, please," the pretty girl said, flashing a grin at Jyou, who blinked. Why was she looking at /him/? He didn't like girls; he had pretty much accepted that by now.
The girl gathered up her popcorn and walked over to their line, which was moving forward slowly. "Hello, I'm Shizuko - just Shizu to friends."
"Um. Hi." Jyou didn't know what else to say to her, but Koushiro broke in.
"Jyou, would you mind ordering? I forgot what everyone wanted."
Almost bursting with relief that he didn't have to talk to Shizu, Jyou stepped forward, accidentally brushing against Koushiro. He took out his wallet, trying not to look as if he was eavesdropping.
"I'm Koushiro Izumi. That was Jyou Kido - he's notoriously shy. Do you want to sit with us?"
~Jeez, Kou-chan isn't usually that. . .forward. He must really like her.~ Immediately after processing that thought, Jyou moved to quash the jealousy trying to rise up in him. ~If he likes Shizu, that's okay. She seems /nice/ enough.~
Daisuke's voice rose above whatever Shizu said in reply. "You didn't mention that when you invited me to come, Tai! I /hate/ musicals!"
"Come on, Daisuke, it's supposed to be a really sweet story."
"I HATE SWEETNESS!"
Jyou shook his head and stepped up to the counter. "I'll have five large popcorns, three Pepsis, seven Mountain Dews, and two lemonades, please." He called back over his shoulder, "You guys owe me /big/. This costs a fortune."
Shizu giggled. "Hey, we have two minutes before the movie starts, better get going. . ."
The teenager behind the counter pulled out two trays. "Your friends back there gonna help?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Kou, can you come get one of these?"
"Hmm? What?"
Jyou silently groaned. It had begun. Koushiro's first crush - and it was on a /girl/. Some girls were all right, but this one seemed fake somehow. "Yama?"
"Sure, Jyou."
The party moved into the theater and found their seats, uncomfortably close to the screen. "This is supposed to be a really romantic movie," Sora said happily. "It was a huge hit in America - almost won Best Picture of the Year."
Hikari wrinkled her nose. "I already saw the movie that won - it was really dumb. This one should be nice. I saved you a seat, Takeru."
Giggle. Blush. Ah, young love. Jyou had been too involved in his studies to ever experience it. . .
Daisuke squirmed around in the seat next to him. "Ken, what's this movie called?"
"Moulin Rouge. It's about love." Jyou thought he caught a strange note in the younger boy's voice, but decided he must have imagined it.
And then the previews started, and everyone got very quiet.
~~
"That was the worst movie I've ever seen," Daisuke groaned.
"I liked it," Ken said, seeming preoccupied. Daisuke followed the taller boy's gaze to Shizu and Koushiro, who were holding hands.
"Are you jealous of Koushiro, Ken?"
"Whaaat?" Ken gasped, flushing very deeply. "No way!"
"You /are/! You like Shizu!"
Ken's blush darknened considerably. "I do /not/ like her."
"I'll see you there," Shizu said cheerfully, striding off. Koushiro watched her, and Ken watched Koushiro, while Daisuke couldn't seem to tear his eyes off of Ken.
Quite suddenly, Miyako shoved Ken and Daisuke apart. "Izzy!" she squealed, hugging him in a friendly sort of way. "Good job with Shizu!" Sora, Mimi, and Hikari converged on him, grinning deviously.
Jyou groaned and sat down on one of the inconvenient benches placed randomly about the lobby. "Jeez. Just when I was starting to think I had a chance, that little - "
"Jyou," Takeru said warningly, casting a pointed glance Iori's way. "There are young minds here."
Taichi threw a friendly arm over Jyou's shoulders. "Hey, come on, snap out of it. Chances are, she'll break his heart, and he'll come running to you, and all will be well - like in the movie."
Jyou blinked. "Satine /died/ in the movie, Tai."
Taichi's jaw dropped. "She /did/? Was that the part where I fell asleep?"
"It was an emotional movie," Iori noted. "Hikari was crying at the end."
Takeru coughed.
"You notice too much," Ken observed, blushing again for no apparent reason.
Yamato grinned quite suddenly. "Hey, Jyou. Why don't the six of us match you up with Koushiro?"
Daisuke gasped. "I thought there were twelve of us!"
"I'm not counting the girls, or the couple. Do the math, Dai."
"I hate math."
"Really?" Ken asked. "I /love/ it."
Taichi narrowed his eyes. "So, how do we go about matchmaking?"
Yamato nodded slowly. "First, we get Shizu out of the picture. Then, Ken and Daisuke can pretend to be in love - just so that Koushiro gets used to shounen ai."
"What?" Ken shrieked, drawing the attention of several moviegoers. "Me and /Daisuke/?"
"Don't sound so disgusted," Daisuke muttered.
Jyou grinned weakly. "Thanks for the offer, but I'd really rather do this myself."
Takeru snorted. "Like we'd let you try! Let me guess - you'd draw him into an intellectually stimulating conversation and then try to kiss him. Won't work! You already like him - you don't want to scare him off. Let /him/ make the first move. And for him to do that, we need bait."
"No, no, and no," Ken snapped. He yanked out his wallet and tossed some yen at Jyou. "For the soda and the popcorn. Keep the change." With that, the indigo-haired boy stalked off.
Yamato blinked. "What's eating him? Some people - well, very few, actually - would /love/ to pretend to like Daisuke."
"Thanks," the redhead said.
"Don't mention it, Dai."
~~
Shizu sat down at her computer and opened the innocently named "Research Report." Actually, the folder had nothing to do with reports, although there was some research involved - mostly programming, It was funny, actually - only six months ago she hadn't even known what HTML meant, and now she was a better computer programmer than Koushiro Izumi and Ken Ichijouji put together.
Six months. Had it really been only six months? Six months since she moved to Odaiba, six months since she had first laid eyes on Jyou Kido.
She had adored him immediately, of course - the way his strangely-colored hair brushed against his chin, the way he adjusted his glasses. He hadn't noticed her. That was back when she had been invisible - the geeky new kid from Tokyo, pimple-faced, with thick glasses and skirts every day.
Then /he/ had given the ordinary girl a way to change her bland appearance. He had altered it very slightly each week until now, when the change was finally complete. The effect on most men was spectacular, especially on Koushiro, but Jyou had barely glanced her way.
She frowned and keyed in a line of code, waiting for the program she had named to pop up. Somehow he /would/ be hers. Even if it required sacrificing part of the other place in the process.
She lifted her microphone to her mouth. "Gazimon."
"Yes, Shizuko?"
"Get the flame legion out into sections A-5 through B-8. I want nothing there tomorrow. Get the digimon out alive - I'll place my artificial skeletons in the destroyed area tomorrow. I want that forest leveled, you hear?"
"Yes, Shizuko."
"Send the lightning legion out to section A-2. Get my Airdramon out there to bring the inhabitants to C-4 and shock the lake. I /need/ those X-ray photos faxed to me /tonight/ of the Seadramon. You copy?"
"Yes, Shizuko."
She closed off the connection and opened another file - the map. She clicked on a small square, magnifying it, and tapped out the sequence again. "Cherrymon?"
"I hear you, Shizuko."
"I'm sending out some Dark Rings now. Make sure the Woodmon are covered, all right?"
"Yes, Shizuko."
She leaned back in her chair, grinning. This was /brilliant/. Ken would appear to be the Kaiser again, while she would be the innocent thirteenth digidestined who just happened to land on top of Jyou when she appeared from the sky. So she was giving up a lake and a forest. The digimon would live, just a bit more cramped. Her Dark Rings wouldn't really affect the Woodmon, who would do anything for her.
Now for the email.
~~
Ken collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with dull violet eyes. He was /so/ tired. It was now midnight, and he had been up since six that morning.
~Exhaustion. That's why I yelled at Dai-chan. I wasn't thinking properly.~
That was what the indigo-haired child wanted to think. The truth was, Daisuke had touched a nerve just /implying/ that Ken liked Shizu. He /hated/ her, for being perfect, for liking Koushiro. . .
"Ken?"
"Yes, Wormmon?"
"I think you should see this."
The sleepy young genius flapped a hand at Wormmon. "Turn the computer /off/, Wormmon. I'll look in the morning."
"No, I really think you should see this."
Ken groaned and dragged himself over to the computer, squinting against the brightness. "Wow. An email. And this can't wait why?"
Wormmon jumped onto his partner's lap and pointed at the screen. "Look who it's from."
Ken peered at the "From" line. "The Digimon Kaiser. Okay, that's ridiculous. I think I would /know/ if the Kaiser was sending out emails. It's a hoax - probably Dai--" He stopped, his mouth hanging open, as he continued reading silently. Then, slowly, he read it out loud to Wormmon.
" 'I have decided to stop being a digidestined and return to my comfortable, solitary life in the Digiworld. Beginning tomorrow, I will systematically destroy the world. Fight me if you dare." Ken rubbed his eyes. "I can't think, Wormmon. It must be a joke."
"Unless the Kaiser is back."
Ken rolled his eyes. "Look, I refuse to believe it. I don't have time for this, with school and not sleeping well. Besides which, if, somehow, it was the Kaiser, why would he be emailing /me/ about it?"
Wormmon opened his mouth, then paused. "I really don't know."
Ken collapsed back onto his bed. "And I really don't care just now, so leave me alone, Wormmon. We'll straighten everything out in the morning."
~~
Miyako peered around a bush and raised the walkie-talkie to her lips. "Target sighted," she whispered conspiratorially. "She's boarding a school bus. Binoculars?"
Hikari, who had been dubbed a "partner in crime" by her enthusiastic friend, handed over the binoculars. "I can't believe we're spying on her."
Miyako shrugged, staring through the windows. "She's paying the driver. Wow. Wish /I/ were that pretty."
Hikari sighed and grabbed the binoculars. "This is wrong. Especially when we're late for school and no one's heard from Ken and that weird email. . ."
Miyako snatched the binoculars back. "Look, 'kari, Ken's been really tired. He's probably taking the day off, and we all know there's /no/ way he could be the Kaiser again. We're supposed to be helping Koushiro to impress Shizu, remember?"
"I know," the brunette replied, shifting her aching legs.
"The bus is leaving. Bicycle?"
Hikari pulled her friend to her feet. "Miyako, our school is the opposite way from the high school, and we're /late/."
"But I /like/ this!"
Hikari groaned and dragged Miyako over to their bikes.
~~
"Oh, my God," Takeru whispered, staring in horror at the sight before him.
The forest had long since burned to the ground, although dark wisps of smoke still rose to the sky in some places. Everywhere they could see small, pathetic skeletons, bones bleached clean by the fire.
The walkie-talkie crackled. "Daisuke, Takeru," Iori's gravelly voice said. "We have a situation here at the lake. Electricity, apparently. It's mostly dried up, the ground is charred. There's a huge Seadramon skeleton right in the middle."
There was a sort of hissing, and then Miyako came on, sounding distinctly ill. "Koushiro and I found several Woodmon. They didn't see us. Dark Rings. The email was true."
"It can't be," Daisuke snapped vehemently. "How could Ken have possibly done all of this since last night? You saw him after the movie, he couldn't walk straight. I don't think he's had twelve hours of sleep in the past week."
Takeru rested a kind hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Innocent until proven guilty," the blonde reminded the fiery leader.
Someone on another walkie-talkie snorted. "Isn't this enough proof for you?" Taichi asked cynically.
"No," Daisuke answered immediately. "Look, he was, like, half-dead yesterday, and just last weekend we had a Water War. You don't play Water War with someone you're going to betray."
"Water War?" Takeru asked incredulously, staring at the gogglehead. "You had a /Water War/ with the /Kaiser/?"
"Former Kaiser," Daisuke reminded him. "And he's actually very good at it."
Takeru couldn't help it. Despite the wreckage barely ten feet from him, he doubled over, laughing hysterically.
Koushiro coughed on the other line. "Could we wrap it up? I have a date."
The excursion into the Digiworld ended soon after that, with all the girls shrieking in delight, Koushiro blushing on his end of the system of walkie- talkies, and Takeru suffocating with laughter.
~~
Wormmon poked Ken. "Ken-chan, wake up."
The indigo-haired boy groaned and rolled over, shielding his eyes from the light streaming through the window. "What time is it?"
"Ten something."
"Ten something," Ken repeated. "You didn't give me much time to sleep."
Wormmon blinked. "But you've been asleep for a very long time, and your mom is calling."
"Wha?"
"Ken, there's someone at the door!" Mrs. Ichijouji called.
"C'you get that, Wormie m'dear?" Ken asked, grabbing his pillow and using it to cover his eyes.
". . .sure." The small green digimon bounced off of the bed and out of Ken's room. Moments later, he returned, followed by a nervous-looking redhead.
"Good morning, Ken."
"Hi, Dai-chan."
Daisuke shifted from one foot to the other. "So, have you been sleeping all day now? And what about yesterday?"
"All day? It's only ten."
"Actually, it's 10:57. Almost eleven."
Ken moaned and lifted his pillow to glare at Wormmon. "Wormmon!"
"I can't tell time!" the digimon objected. Ken whipped the pillow at his partner, who scuttled quickly out of the way.
"About the sleeping thing?" Daisuke asked again.
"What? Oh, that. Yes, I've been sleeping since midnight, and before that I was. . . sleeping. I fell asleep over my homework. And yesterday I stayed home. Sleeping."
The redhead blinked. "Jeez, how did you get so far behind in your sleep?"
"If I knew, I would tell you. Is there a reason you - OH. You got that email too, didn't you?"
Ken swung his legs out of the way as Daisuke sat down on the bed. "We all did," the boy confirmed.
Ken groaned, putting a hand dramatically to his head. "And everyone else is morbidly convinced that it was true. Those morons. I don't have the strength to do my homework, let alone rule the Digiworld, not to mention a tiny fact I'd like to call guilt. Do you /really/ think I would /ever/ do anything like that again?"
"I'm not accusing you," Daisuke murmured. "But a forest was burned down, and a lake was dried up, and there are skeletons."
Ken puzzled over that for a moment before raging, "Skeletons? My God, what is /wrong/ with you? There is no such thing as a digimon skeleton. They turn into Digi-dust when they die!"
Daisuke winced, blushing. "Guess we didn't think of that." Quite suddenly, he brightened. "It's Saturday."
"I noticed."
"You said we could have a Water War today."
Ken sat up and almost collapsed, grabbing Daisuke's shoulder to steady himself. "You're on," he gasped. "Just let me wake up a /little/ bit more. . ."
~~
Shizu passed Daisuke's house less than an hour later, a spring in her step. She had a /date/. It wasn't with Jyou, but Koushiro /was/ cute, in his own way.
She paused, staring in shock at the spectacle before her. Daisuke and Ken. Soaked. A pretty enough picture, but not when Daisuke was upturning a soapy bucket of water on his friend's head.
"So they know it's not him," she mused. "Ah, well, doesn't change anything." She continued on, grinning despite herself when Ken relentlessly chased after Daisuke with the hose.
//Shizuko, this is frivolous.//
Shizu groaned and replied mentally, /Can't I have any fun at all? I didn't wish for beauty just because, you know./
//But a date, Shizuko, on a day like this!//
/Shut up./
//I do not have to shut up! I absolutely refuse! Nothing is working out!//
Shizuko absently plucked a leaf from a tree in her path and began to shred it. /Actually, everything is fine from my end./
The voice was silent - exactly what the blonde girl had been hoping for.
Across the street, Ken suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes glazed over. "Dai-chan, didn't you say someone burned down a forest?"
Staying clear of the hose, Daisuke walked closer to his friend. "Yeah, so what?"
Ken coughed and sat down, shaking wet tendrils of hair from his eyes. "That's what the Kaiser was planning to do once. I managed to stop him, that time."
"So?"
Ken groaned. "All of a sudden, I have a really bad feeling about all of this. . . "