The Truth Part 1
by Cybra
A/N: We needed a little mystery on this site! Okay, here's what I've been wondering for the past few weeks after I learned that Izzy's parents died in a car accident: "What if that accident hadn't really been an accident?" And thus! A new story was born! Crud, I'm going to be working on two series at once! OH WELL! This takes place after they return to the real world and the evil Digimon are defeated. Yes, Junpuu is in this story. Also, if you read the "Mrs. Brisby and the Rats of NIMH", you should recognize one of the locations.
Disclaimer: I need one, don't I? Crud. Well, I don't own Digimon. There. Now you can't sue me.
TEN YEARS AGO...
Kojiro and his wife Ami drove along the brightly lit streets of Tokyo towards one of the finest restaurants in the city. They were coming toward a bridge as they drove through the Odaiba district. He smiled as he thought of how his distant cousin Osamu and his wife Junsa had been overjoyed when he asked them first to take care of his son Koushiro. Still, he would've taken Koushiro with him...only Koushiro was sick. However, Kojiro knew that his son would be better before his first birthday, it was three months away. Ami knew that, too, but she still worried.
"We'll take good care of Koushiro," Junsa had reassured Ami.
Kojiro had then led Ami out to the car. He had smiled at his wife, hoping to reassure her. Then he had started up the car and drove off, his cousin waving at him as he and Ami drove off.
His wife had been quiet for several minutes until she finally spoke up.
"I'm sorry, Kojiro, it's just that...I've never seen him that sick before. I feel terrible abandoning him like this," Ami admitted.
"We're not abandoning him, Ami. Look, Koushiro will be just fine. Osamu and Junsa know what they're doing. They've raised a kid before."
Kojiro suddenly stopped, biting his tongue. There were actually two children in the family named "Koushiro". One was his own son. The other was Osamu and Junsa's son. However, a few days before Kojiro and Ami's child was born, Osamu and Junsa's son died. To honor the lost child, Kojiro and Ami decided to name their son after Osamu and Junsa's son.
"Yes, I know," Ami said, missing the sudden stop on Kojiro's part. "Still, I think we should be home with him."
"Now, Ami, relax. This was supposed to be a night out with the family to just have a little fun. Now it's just down to you and me. Besides, the two of us needed to be alone for a few hours," he stated, teasing her.
She lightly punched him in the arm. She liked the teasing, but sometimes he could do it too much. Kojiro turned up onto the bridge. What happened next went so fast that Kojiro barely had time to react to it.
"Holy---!!!" Kojiro began to swear as he slammed on his breaks.
The car in front of them had had its engine stall. Kojiro silently thanked the stars for them getting a new car with anti-lock brakes. However, those brakes didn't work. They skidded. The distance between the car in front of them and themselves grew smaller and smaller.
Ami was in the passenger's seat, screaming her head off. Kojiro saw he was boxed in as he tried to find a way to swerve around the car. He decided to try a trick his uncle had taught him when he was 16. He jerked the wheel to the right and tried to apply the brakes again. The tires squealed as the car began to come to a stop when the car behind them plowed into them. The car completely spun out of control as they hit the guardrail and went over the side.
Twelve hours later, the sad news came that Kojiro had died in the hospital and his wife Ami died a few minutes afterward. Osamu and Junsa were asked if they would be willing to take care of Koushiro to which they said yes. On the way back from the hospital, Osamu and Junsa talked.
"Should we tell Koushiro about it once he's old enough to understand?" Junsa asked.
"I don't think we should, dear. I think we should wait longer than that. When we're sure he's ready," her husband told her.
Junsa frowned, but nodded in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRESENT DAY...
Miss Naru, Izzy and Junpuu's teacher, went through the results of the intelligence test Principal Fukachi had made them take. The principal had said that a few scientists had come by with extreme interest in the results of her teaching. She had said it was the kids that really did it, she just helped them along. However, they had wanted hard-core data.
"Junpuu has a nice rating," Miss Naru commented with a smile. "Let's see about Izzy...oh, my."
Izzy's rating was exceptionally high for a 10-year old. She had suspected that his rating would be extremely high...but not THIS high! The teacher placed the results in an envelope and wrote the address of the center that had requested it: the National Institute of Mental Health.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do ya know? That school actually complied with our request!" one of the scientists said in pleasantly-surprised tone of voice.
"Well, Odaiba Elementary has always been compliant whenever we need data on children," another scientist, a woman this time, stated.
"Yeah, Kasumi, but you have to admit, this is pretty amazing that they actually sent the results back so fast!"
Dr. Yaten smiled, her green eyes shining. "Yeah, but remember, that class only had two students, Satoshi."
Dr. Hotaru nodded. He walked down the hallway, towering above everyone, with the results in his hand. He looked at the names again. Junpuu Hino. Koushiro Izumi. On the second name, he did a double take. No, it couldn't be.
"Well, I'll be. Looks like Kojiro's son is doing well for himself."
Professor Kojiro Izumi had been a mathematician at Tokyo University for several years. He and Dr. Hotaru had been close friends and the two had talked about everything, even though their fields were different from each other. It had ripped Dr. Hotaru's heart out when he'd learned that Kojiro and his wife Ami had been killed in a car accident.
"Kojiro, wherever you are now, I'd like to see your son sometime, if that's all right with you," he murmured. However, Dr. Hotaru knew that his friend would've requested that he visit his godchild.
The psychologist made up his mind. He knew some other friends of Professor Izumi who would want to see this information and know that Koushiro was alive and well. After all, the boy had seemed to drop off the face of the earth after his parents had died. He drove off in his car to the university.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another scientist, this time a mathematician, looked over the results. He, too, did a double take on the name "Izumi". However, this wasn't a pleasant double-take. A look of horror crossed his features.
"God, no. Tell me that one of them isn't still alive," he whispered.
Pictures and other personal data had been included in the two children's folders. He reached into the folder of Koushiro Izumi with a shaking hand and pulled out a recent picture of the child.
The boy was smiling a little uncomfortably, making the smile seem sort of crooked. His dark eyes shone under what had to be the effect of a large flash bulb, but intelligence shone in those eyes as well. His wild red hair made his eyes seem to stand out more. The orange shirt showed off a strange pendant around his neck. However, the boy was the spitting image of the man the scientist had hated all those years ago.
"He wasn't in the car. Oh God, he wasn't in the car..." he whispered in horror.
His perfect plan hadn't completely worked. Professor Izumi and his wife were dead, but their son still lived! What if he knew something about it? The man quickly made up his mind. However there was one thing that he knew:
It wouldn't be easy to complete a job that had been started 10 years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm home!" Izzy informed his parents as he walked through the door.
Mrs. Izumi jerked at his voice and quickly hid what she had been working on. There were only 2 weeks left before his birthday and she didn't want the surprise to be spoiled. He'd be so thrilled!
Joe, Tai, and Sora had lost touch with Izzy after returning from the Digiworld since they were very busy. Mimi would acknowledge his existence in the halls at school...then turn back to her friends. However, Kari, Matt, and TK had managed to keep in touch with the boy. Matt was one of Mrs. Izumi's present 2 partners in crime. He had proved to be invaluable in setting all this up. Not to mention Junpuu.
However, as Izzy came closer to being one year older, he had started asking constant questions. All of them about his real father and mother. In order to get him out of the house so she and her husband would be able to work in peace, she'd given him the assignment to research as much as he could on his parents. He'd spent every afternoon at the library for the past week trying to find out information.
"Hi, Mom!" Izzy greeted her.
"You're home early," she commented, trying to keep her voice normal and not sound like the dog that got caught with the cat's tail in its mouth.
"Junpuu said that she had some stuff to do and I couldn't come with her," Izzy informed her.
He went into his room and pulled out a disk. Written on it was "Izumi Project" which he kept the notes for his research on. He slipped the disk into his backpack and set off towards the library.
Miss Naru had heard about this little project and had asked both him and Junpuu to do genealogy assignments. Junpuu's great-aunt had been obsessed with the family tree before she died, so the whole history of her family was in a neat little spiral-bound book. All she had to do was get those facts in to Miss Naru. Izzy had to work for his information.
He went to the door again.
"Bye, Mom!" he called.
"Bye, Izzy!" she answered.
Izzy went down the stairs, meeting Matt on his way down. Matt was hurrying up the stairs, like he was late for something.
"Hi, Matt! What're you doing here?" he greeted.
Matt did a double-take, looking very much like the dog that had gotten caught with the cat's tail in his mouth. His mind went blank for a moment as Izzy waited patiently for an answer.
"I...uh...came up here to talk to a friend! That's it!" Matt said, coming up with a quick excuse. "I'm kinda late, Izzy. Talk to ya later?"
Izzy nodded and continued on his way down. Matt didn't let out the breath he'd been holding until he saw Izzy ride away towards the library on his bicycle.
"Almost blew it right there," Matt muttered to himself.
"Smooth move, my friend," a familiar voice congratulated sarcastically.
Matt whirled to see Junpuu...or he thought it was Junpuu. There were so many bags in her arms that he could hardly recognize her.
"Junpuu?" he asked warily.
"No, it's the UPS man. Of course it's me!" She shifted the bags. "Little help here?"
Matt complied and relieved her of about half the bags. The two continued together, talking as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Junpuu shifted one of the bags to ring the buzzer. Mrs. Izumi looked out the door to see them.
"Finally! I was beginning to worry!" she said, helping the two of them get inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Back again?" the librarian teased. "Same year on the microfilms?"
Izzy nodded. As the woman left to go fetch them, another boy walked up to the desk.
"Miss? Uh...Miss?" he called quietly, not wanting to disturb the other people in the library. Izzy kept his eyes focused on where the woman had disappeared, but looked at the other boy when he said, "Izzy? Is that really you?"
It was Tai! Izzy returned the smile that the older boy gave him easily. Tai couldn't help but notice the small thin string peeking up over Izzy's shirt collar. He knew what it was immediately.
"You still have it?" Tai asked, amazed that Izzy would keep such a trinket. Especially since it would remind him of his adventures in the Digiworld.
Izzy nodded as he pulled out the Crest of Knowledge. The tag and Crest looked out of place in the human world. That's when the librarian came back. He hastily shoved the Crest back into his shirt.
"Here you go. Good luck!" she said.
Tai watched as Izzy wandered over to where the microfilm viewers were. He quickly got the microfilm he needed in order to do his work (a project on an excavation nearby that had taken place 5 years ago) and followed Izzy. He hadn't seen the younger boy in weeks.
"What're you working on?"
"Miss Naru is having us work on genealogy projects and trace our families back at least 3 generations. I need to find out exactly who my parents were," Izzy explained in a hushed tone of voice.
Both of them went to work in silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, Izzy's eyes hurt from staring at the microfilm screen so much. It was hard to read the writing and sometimes he had to cross his eyes just to read it right. However, he finally struck pay dirt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Nobel Prize Winning Mathematician Dies in Wreck
"Professor Kojiro Izumi and his wife Ami died last night after plunging into the bay near the Odaiba district. After spending 12 hours in the hospital, both of them died from hypothermia and other injuries sustained during the plunge. A funeral will be held for them on Thursday, November 17.
"Professor Izumi lectured at Tokyo University. While having enemies, he had many friends who will miss him very much. Mrs. Izumi sold homemade baked goods in various stores and supermarkets. She, also, will be missed.
"Professor Izumi is well-known for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in agriculture. Using a complex number system, he figured out exactly when farmers should plant which crops at what times for greater food production. This has increased food production by about 1.5%. It may not seem like much, but it is very important to starving families."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Izzy felt slightly ill. His parents had suffered before they'd finally died. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his stomach down. Tai put a hand on his shoulder. Izzy looked up and smiled.
"Thanks, Tai," he whispered.
Tai nodded. After a few minutes, Izzy took a few short notes on the article in order to remember it. He typed down the date of the funeral and everything for good measure. Tai left him like that since he had to go home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later, the group of Digidestined got together for a long-overdue reunion. They were all having the time of their lives on the beach. Matt managed to sneak up on Tai and drop a crab in his lap. Tai had quickly retaliated by chasing Matt all up and down the boardwalk. Mimi and Sora both went to get hair ties while Junpuu and Kyra helped Kari and TK build a sand castle.
Izzy smiled, remembering how kind Junpuu's parents had been to take in Kyra. After all, nobody had been able to locate the girl's parents. So now Kyra and Junpuu were driving Mr. and Mrs. Hino completely crazy. However, they still enjoyed having the two of them in the house.
Izzy was floating on his back in the water while Joe was boogie boarding somewhere off to his right. He closed his eyes and let the sunlight hit his light skin. Junpuu had always teased him about him needing a tan and to put on some muscle. To which he always retorted that girls liked pale and skin guys. Unknown to him, Junpuu had gotten him a T-shirt that read as follows: "Chicks dig pale, skinny guys".
Izzy continued to float on his back until a pair of hands roughly grabbed him. Izzy barely had time to suck in air before he was yanked under. Figuring that Joe might've been ambitious enough to pull a prank on him, he only struggled a little bit. He looked at his captor, the salt burning his eyes. He couldn't make out a face, but this guy definitely wasn't Joe. This guy was much too tall.
With that realization, Izzy began to struggle even more to try to get out of the man's grip. However, the guy's hold was much too strong for him. He couldn't break free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt had seen someone grab Izzy and pull him under, but it had happened so fast that he couldn't tell who it was. He looked over and saw that Joe was still too far away to be the culprit and all the others were on the beach. He suddenly stopped, causing Tai to run right past him. He tore down the beach, yelling Izzy's name.
Junpuu and Kyra were on their feet faster than you could say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (or however you spell that dang word). They joined Matt as he ran down the sandy beach.
"What's wrong?!" Junpuu demanded.
"Somebody just dragged Izzy under!" Matt replied.
The three of them swam as fast as they could to get out to their friend. The man, whoever he was, decided to hightail it out of there. He was gone before the kids could get a good view of him. Matt helped a struggling Izzy up to the surface and onto the beach, the two girls searching for the man.
Izzy coughed up a little water, but was otherwise okay. Joe aided the girls in their search, but the three of them came back to shore within a few minutes. The others ran up to them.
"What happened?!" Sora demanded.
"Somebody was trying to drown Izzy! WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?!" Junpuu snapped angrily.
"Cool it, Junpuu," Izzy ordered her quietly. She complied.
Kyra held up something in her hand.
"This was all we could find of the guy. A darn watch," she stated tossing it to Tai.
Tai's eyes widened. "A darn EXPENSIVE watch."
The watch itself had one of those symbols for being waterproof on it and was made of solid gold. Quartz crystal covered the watch face. It was still ticking away with its silver hands over a black onyx background. Even the Roman numeral numbers were gold! Engraved on the back of the watch face were the initials "J.C."
Kari gave Izzy a towel when she noticed that he was shaking. However she knew from the look in his eyes that it wasn't just the water temperature that caused him to shiver.
'Somebody tried to kill me,' Izzy thought.
Junpuu gave him a worried look.
"Are you okay, Izzy?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
Everybody could tell that that remark was meant to be sarcastic. They all knew that it wouldn't be okay until that sicko was caught.
A/N: So what doth thou thinkith? I know you guys are probably going to hate me for life, but whatever. Anyway, this is good practice for me since I want to be a mystery writer when I grow up! :::skips away with the men in white coats::: BTW, this is sort of tied in with my other series. You'll see or you can have Kyra explain!
by Cybra
A/N: We needed a little mystery on this site! Okay, here's what I've been wondering for the past few weeks after I learned that Izzy's parents died in a car accident: "What if that accident hadn't really been an accident?" And thus! A new story was born! Crud, I'm going to be working on two series at once! OH WELL! This takes place after they return to the real world and the evil Digimon are defeated. Yes, Junpuu is in this story. Also, if you read the "Mrs. Brisby and the Rats of NIMH", you should recognize one of the locations.
Disclaimer: I need one, don't I? Crud. Well, I don't own Digimon. There. Now you can't sue me.
TEN YEARS AGO...
Kojiro and his wife Ami drove along the brightly lit streets of Tokyo towards one of the finest restaurants in the city. They were coming toward a bridge as they drove through the Odaiba district. He smiled as he thought of how his distant cousin Osamu and his wife Junsa had been overjoyed when he asked them first to take care of his son Koushiro. Still, he would've taken Koushiro with him...only Koushiro was sick. However, Kojiro knew that his son would be better before his first birthday, it was three months away. Ami knew that, too, but she still worried.
"We'll take good care of Koushiro," Junsa had reassured Ami.
Kojiro had then led Ami out to the car. He had smiled at his wife, hoping to reassure her. Then he had started up the car and drove off, his cousin waving at him as he and Ami drove off.
His wife had been quiet for several minutes until she finally spoke up.
"I'm sorry, Kojiro, it's just that...I've never seen him that sick before. I feel terrible abandoning him like this," Ami admitted.
"We're not abandoning him, Ami. Look, Koushiro will be just fine. Osamu and Junsa know what they're doing. They've raised a kid before."
Kojiro suddenly stopped, biting his tongue. There were actually two children in the family named "Koushiro". One was his own son. The other was Osamu and Junsa's son. However, a few days before Kojiro and Ami's child was born, Osamu and Junsa's son died. To honor the lost child, Kojiro and Ami decided to name their son after Osamu and Junsa's son.
"Yes, I know," Ami said, missing the sudden stop on Kojiro's part. "Still, I think we should be home with him."
"Now, Ami, relax. This was supposed to be a night out with the family to just have a little fun. Now it's just down to you and me. Besides, the two of us needed to be alone for a few hours," he stated, teasing her.
She lightly punched him in the arm. She liked the teasing, but sometimes he could do it too much. Kojiro turned up onto the bridge. What happened next went so fast that Kojiro barely had time to react to it.
"Holy---!!!" Kojiro began to swear as he slammed on his breaks.
The car in front of them had had its engine stall. Kojiro silently thanked the stars for them getting a new car with anti-lock brakes. However, those brakes didn't work. They skidded. The distance between the car in front of them and themselves grew smaller and smaller.
Ami was in the passenger's seat, screaming her head off. Kojiro saw he was boxed in as he tried to find a way to swerve around the car. He decided to try a trick his uncle had taught him when he was 16. He jerked the wheel to the right and tried to apply the brakes again. The tires squealed as the car began to come to a stop when the car behind them plowed into them. The car completely spun out of control as they hit the guardrail and went over the side.
Twelve hours later, the sad news came that Kojiro had died in the hospital and his wife Ami died a few minutes afterward. Osamu and Junsa were asked if they would be willing to take care of Koushiro to which they said yes. On the way back from the hospital, Osamu and Junsa talked.
"Should we tell Koushiro about it once he's old enough to understand?" Junsa asked.
"I don't think we should, dear. I think we should wait longer than that. When we're sure he's ready," her husband told her.
Junsa frowned, but nodded in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRESENT DAY...
Miss Naru, Izzy and Junpuu's teacher, went through the results of the intelligence test Principal Fukachi had made them take. The principal had said that a few scientists had come by with extreme interest in the results of her teaching. She had said it was the kids that really did it, she just helped them along. However, they had wanted hard-core data.
"Junpuu has a nice rating," Miss Naru commented with a smile. "Let's see about Izzy...oh, my."
Izzy's rating was exceptionally high for a 10-year old. She had suspected that his rating would be extremely high...but not THIS high! The teacher placed the results in an envelope and wrote the address of the center that had requested it: the National Institute of Mental Health.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do ya know? That school actually complied with our request!" one of the scientists said in pleasantly-surprised tone of voice.
"Well, Odaiba Elementary has always been compliant whenever we need data on children," another scientist, a woman this time, stated.
"Yeah, Kasumi, but you have to admit, this is pretty amazing that they actually sent the results back so fast!"
Dr. Yaten smiled, her green eyes shining. "Yeah, but remember, that class only had two students, Satoshi."
Dr. Hotaru nodded. He walked down the hallway, towering above everyone, with the results in his hand. He looked at the names again. Junpuu Hino. Koushiro Izumi. On the second name, he did a double take. No, it couldn't be.
"Well, I'll be. Looks like Kojiro's son is doing well for himself."
Professor Kojiro Izumi had been a mathematician at Tokyo University for several years. He and Dr. Hotaru had been close friends and the two had talked about everything, even though their fields were different from each other. It had ripped Dr. Hotaru's heart out when he'd learned that Kojiro and his wife Ami had been killed in a car accident.
"Kojiro, wherever you are now, I'd like to see your son sometime, if that's all right with you," he murmured. However, Dr. Hotaru knew that his friend would've requested that he visit his godchild.
The psychologist made up his mind. He knew some other friends of Professor Izumi who would want to see this information and know that Koushiro was alive and well. After all, the boy had seemed to drop off the face of the earth after his parents had died. He drove off in his car to the university.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another scientist, this time a mathematician, looked over the results. He, too, did a double take on the name "Izumi". However, this wasn't a pleasant double-take. A look of horror crossed his features.
"God, no. Tell me that one of them isn't still alive," he whispered.
Pictures and other personal data had been included in the two children's folders. He reached into the folder of Koushiro Izumi with a shaking hand and pulled out a recent picture of the child.
The boy was smiling a little uncomfortably, making the smile seem sort of crooked. His dark eyes shone under what had to be the effect of a large flash bulb, but intelligence shone in those eyes as well. His wild red hair made his eyes seem to stand out more. The orange shirt showed off a strange pendant around his neck. However, the boy was the spitting image of the man the scientist had hated all those years ago.
"He wasn't in the car. Oh God, he wasn't in the car..." he whispered in horror.
His perfect plan hadn't completely worked. Professor Izumi and his wife were dead, but their son still lived! What if he knew something about it? The man quickly made up his mind. However there was one thing that he knew:
It wouldn't be easy to complete a job that had been started 10 years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm home!" Izzy informed his parents as he walked through the door.
Mrs. Izumi jerked at his voice and quickly hid what she had been working on. There were only 2 weeks left before his birthday and she didn't want the surprise to be spoiled. He'd be so thrilled!
Joe, Tai, and Sora had lost touch with Izzy after returning from the Digiworld since they were very busy. Mimi would acknowledge his existence in the halls at school...then turn back to her friends. However, Kari, Matt, and TK had managed to keep in touch with the boy. Matt was one of Mrs. Izumi's present 2 partners in crime. He had proved to be invaluable in setting all this up. Not to mention Junpuu.
However, as Izzy came closer to being one year older, he had started asking constant questions. All of them about his real father and mother. In order to get him out of the house so she and her husband would be able to work in peace, she'd given him the assignment to research as much as he could on his parents. He'd spent every afternoon at the library for the past week trying to find out information.
"Hi, Mom!" Izzy greeted her.
"You're home early," she commented, trying to keep her voice normal and not sound like the dog that got caught with the cat's tail in its mouth.
"Junpuu said that she had some stuff to do and I couldn't come with her," Izzy informed her.
He went into his room and pulled out a disk. Written on it was "Izumi Project" which he kept the notes for his research on. He slipped the disk into his backpack and set off towards the library.
Miss Naru had heard about this little project and had asked both him and Junpuu to do genealogy assignments. Junpuu's great-aunt had been obsessed with the family tree before she died, so the whole history of her family was in a neat little spiral-bound book. All she had to do was get those facts in to Miss Naru. Izzy had to work for his information.
He went to the door again.
"Bye, Mom!" he called.
"Bye, Izzy!" she answered.
Izzy went down the stairs, meeting Matt on his way down. Matt was hurrying up the stairs, like he was late for something.
"Hi, Matt! What're you doing here?" he greeted.
Matt did a double-take, looking very much like the dog that had gotten caught with the cat's tail in his mouth. His mind went blank for a moment as Izzy waited patiently for an answer.
"I...uh...came up here to talk to a friend! That's it!" Matt said, coming up with a quick excuse. "I'm kinda late, Izzy. Talk to ya later?"
Izzy nodded and continued on his way down. Matt didn't let out the breath he'd been holding until he saw Izzy ride away towards the library on his bicycle.
"Almost blew it right there," Matt muttered to himself.
"Smooth move, my friend," a familiar voice congratulated sarcastically.
Matt whirled to see Junpuu...or he thought it was Junpuu. There were so many bags in her arms that he could hardly recognize her.
"Junpuu?" he asked warily.
"No, it's the UPS man. Of course it's me!" She shifted the bags. "Little help here?"
Matt complied and relieved her of about half the bags. The two continued together, talking as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Junpuu shifted one of the bags to ring the buzzer. Mrs. Izumi looked out the door to see them.
"Finally! I was beginning to worry!" she said, helping the two of them get inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Back again?" the librarian teased. "Same year on the microfilms?"
Izzy nodded. As the woman left to go fetch them, another boy walked up to the desk.
"Miss? Uh...Miss?" he called quietly, not wanting to disturb the other people in the library. Izzy kept his eyes focused on where the woman had disappeared, but looked at the other boy when he said, "Izzy? Is that really you?"
It was Tai! Izzy returned the smile that the older boy gave him easily. Tai couldn't help but notice the small thin string peeking up over Izzy's shirt collar. He knew what it was immediately.
"You still have it?" Tai asked, amazed that Izzy would keep such a trinket. Especially since it would remind him of his adventures in the Digiworld.
Izzy nodded as he pulled out the Crest of Knowledge. The tag and Crest looked out of place in the human world. That's when the librarian came back. He hastily shoved the Crest back into his shirt.
"Here you go. Good luck!" she said.
Tai watched as Izzy wandered over to where the microfilm viewers were. He quickly got the microfilm he needed in order to do his work (a project on an excavation nearby that had taken place 5 years ago) and followed Izzy. He hadn't seen the younger boy in weeks.
"What're you working on?"
"Miss Naru is having us work on genealogy projects and trace our families back at least 3 generations. I need to find out exactly who my parents were," Izzy explained in a hushed tone of voice.
Both of them went to work in silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, Izzy's eyes hurt from staring at the microfilm screen so much. It was hard to read the writing and sometimes he had to cross his eyes just to read it right. However, he finally struck pay dirt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Nobel Prize Winning Mathematician Dies in Wreck
"Professor Kojiro Izumi and his wife Ami died last night after plunging into the bay near the Odaiba district. After spending 12 hours in the hospital, both of them died from hypothermia and other injuries sustained during the plunge. A funeral will be held for them on Thursday, November 17.
"Professor Izumi lectured at Tokyo University. While having enemies, he had many friends who will miss him very much. Mrs. Izumi sold homemade baked goods in various stores and supermarkets. She, also, will be missed.
"Professor Izumi is well-known for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in agriculture. Using a complex number system, he figured out exactly when farmers should plant which crops at what times for greater food production. This has increased food production by about 1.5%. It may not seem like much, but it is very important to starving families."
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Izzy felt slightly ill. His parents had suffered before they'd finally died. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his stomach down. Tai put a hand on his shoulder. Izzy looked up and smiled.
"Thanks, Tai," he whispered.
Tai nodded. After a few minutes, Izzy took a few short notes on the article in order to remember it. He typed down the date of the funeral and everything for good measure. Tai left him like that since he had to go home.
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A few days later, the group of Digidestined got together for a long-overdue reunion. They were all having the time of their lives on the beach. Matt managed to sneak up on Tai and drop a crab in his lap. Tai had quickly retaliated by chasing Matt all up and down the boardwalk. Mimi and Sora both went to get hair ties while Junpuu and Kyra helped Kari and TK build a sand castle.
Izzy smiled, remembering how kind Junpuu's parents had been to take in Kyra. After all, nobody had been able to locate the girl's parents. So now Kyra and Junpuu were driving Mr. and Mrs. Hino completely crazy. However, they still enjoyed having the two of them in the house.
Izzy was floating on his back in the water while Joe was boogie boarding somewhere off to his right. He closed his eyes and let the sunlight hit his light skin. Junpuu had always teased him about him needing a tan and to put on some muscle. To which he always retorted that girls liked pale and skin guys. Unknown to him, Junpuu had gotten him a T-shirt that read as follows: "Chicks dig pale, skinny guys".
Izzy continued to float on his back until a pair of hands roughly grabbed him. Izzy barely had time to suck in air before he was yanked under. Figuring that Joe might've been ambitious enough to pull a prank on him, he only struggled a little bit. He looked at his captor, the salt burning his eyes. He couldn't make out a face, but this guy definitely wasn't Joe. This guy was much too tall.
With that realization, Izzy began to struggle even more to try to get out of the man's grip. However, the guy's hold was much too strong for him. He couldn't break free.
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Matt had seen someone grab Izzy and pull him under, but it had happened so fast that he couldn't tell who it was. He looked over and saw that Joe was still too far away to be the culprit and all the others were on the beach. He suddenly stopped, causing Tai to run right past him. He tore down the beach, yelling Izzy's name.
Junpuu and Kyra were on their feet faster than you could say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (or however you spell that dang word). They joined Matt as he ran down the sandy beach.
"What's wrong?!" Junpuu demanded.
"Somebody just dragged Izzy under!" Matt replied.
The three of them swam as fast as they could to get out to their friend. The man, whoever he was, decided to hightail it out of there. He was gone before the kids could get a good view of him. Matt helped a struggling Izzy up to the surface and onto the beach, the two girls searching for the man.
Izzy coughed up a little water, but was otherwise okay. Joe aided the girls in their search, but the three of them came back to shore within a few minutes. The others ran up to them.
"What happened?!" Sora demanded.
"Somebody was trying to drown Izzy! WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?!" Junpuu snapped angrily.
"Cool it, Junpuu," Izzy ordered her quietly. She complied.
Kyra held up something in her hand.
"This was all we could find of the guy. A darn watch," she stated tossing it to Tai.
Tai's eyes widened. "A darn EXPENSIVE watch."
The watch itself had one of those symbols for being waterproof on it and was made of solid gold. Quartz crystal covered the watch face. It was still ticking away with its silver hands over a black onyx background. Even the Roman numeral numbers were gold! Engraved on the back of the watch face were the initials "J.C."
Kari gave Izzy a towel when she noticed that he was shaking. However she knew from the look in his eyes that it wasn't just the water temperature that caused him to shiver.
'Somebody tried to kill me,' Izzy thought.
Junpuu gave him a worried look.
"Are you okay, Izzy?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
Everybody could tell that that remark was meant to be sarcastic. They all knew that it wouldn't be okay until that sicko was caught.
A/N: So what doth thou thinkith? I know you guys are probably going to hate me for life, but whatever. Anyway, this is good practice for me since I want to be a mystery writer when I grow up! :::skips away with the men in white coats::: BTW, this is sort of tied in with my other series. You'll see or you can have Kyra explain!