Chapter 2 ~the Other Side of Kouji Minamoto ~

It hadn't been very long since Sakura and Kouji left the trailmon back. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since then. Once again, the silent atmosphere became loaded with tension. Sakura wasn't a nervous girl and she was usually speaking to improve her mood and that of the few persons that happened to be with her, but with Kouji it was different. She didn't know him at all, and he had been so cold and indifferent to her, even though he had saved her life. She couldn't think of something to say that would improve the heavy atmosphere without upsetting Kouji or herself and end up fighting again. She looked at Kouji's back again; he hadn't changed position since they started walking. He just kept looking at that map, quite annoyed. Was it because his dot's color? He had been pretty upset that time. Or was it because he was with her? Was she really that annoying? She knew they weren't exactly getting along, but she never thought of herself like a burden or a nuisance.

She stopped walking, trying to contemplate that thought better. Wasn't that what Kouji had said? 'Little Nuisance'. She was indeed a burden to him. Sakura's mind quickly put everything together: Kouji thought that she had to be saved all the time; that she needed to be protected. It was all because of the incident with the train he thought she was getting in problems all the time. And he wasn't going to waist his time with her. That's what he meant every time he called her 'Little Nuisance'! It was all like a punishment to him! Sakura got angrier at every passing second. She needed to get out of that thought to regain her control, but she was unable. The simple possibility that she might be a nuisance to someone upset her, mainly because she hated that kind of people… and now she was being one. She never really cared about Kouji and what he thought, but she was being something she loathed, and she could hardly bare it.

"You're staying behind, Sakura." Kouji called as he waved one arm behind his head, but he didn't stop or turn around.

She had to thank Kouji internally for breaking her thoughts. She wasn't a nuisance, and it was possible that Kouji only liked that nickname. Al though she was going to make clear that she actually hated it. Suddenly, Sakura heard a weak sound. It wasn't more than a few taps, but she still worried. They were in a weird island with creepy creatures that were unknown to all humans. What if they were dangerous? She listened carefully. The sounds were intensifying until Kouji also stopped and looked around.

The station was divided by many boiler-looking objects. It was very hard to try to figure out where the sound was coming from. Kouji, who was a couple meters ahead of Sakura, looked through an opening between the boilers, which gave the impression of forming a road, or, at least, a hallway. Sakura started to approach until both heads were just a few inches away, trying to see what was happening. Right then, two boys, passed running in the parallel 'hallway'. One of them was little, quite thin, and was literally being dragged by the other one, who was chubby and big; he was dressed in a light blue overall and he was holding something in his free hand, the one that wasn't holding his partner's. They were both laughing and their smiles were way bigger than their faces. Before they kept on running with no direction at all, the chubby one threw they object he was holding, which flew all the way were Sakura and Kouji were. Weather if it was by accident or not, the object hit Kouji's head, bounced, and ended in the floor, besides Sakura's feet. Her eyes widened, waiting for Kouji to blow up, though on the inside she was laughing uncontrollably.

"Now what?!" Kouji yelled frustrated as he rubbed the part of his head that had been hit with the object. Sakura chuckled as she knelt and grabbed the thing, taking a long look at it.

"You were hit by a chocolate bar!" She said, not being able to hold a laugh.

"Ha, ha, very funny." He said, glaring at her. Then, he turned his head to the place where the pair had run through. "Hm, there goes an accident waiting to happen." He pointed out.

"Don't you think we should do something? They really shouldn't be wandering alone in a place like this." Sakura said as she looked at the empty, parallel corridor again.

"We're supposed to find those 'Spirits'. Every second standing here is a second lost."

"What if something happens to them?" Sakura's big heart spoke this time. If they could help in something, why not do it? Kouji's reason then hit her. He doesn't want to be with me more than the necessary time!

"I don't know them. I have no idea of what they are doing. It's not my problem if they have gotten themselves into trouble. And since I don't owe them anything…" Kouji began. Apparently, everything was a complete waste of time for him.

"You don't have to owe a person to help them, and you don't need to know them, either. It's something you do for satisfaction; that's what 'helping' means." Sakura pointed out.

"Oh, well, I'm not here to play baby-sitter. And we have all ready many things to worry about." He said, leaving aside his argument of owing a person to help them, and resumed his walk. Sakura stood there, not knowing what to do. Finally, she made up her mind and ran after Kouji. She knew he was being selfish, but he was right in some things. Those boys' problems were only delaying them, and they were desperate to find those 'Spirits'… weren't they?

She kept following Kouji as she let her mind wonder. Why was she trying to find those 'Spirits'? Was she really trying to do it because she couldn't stand Kouji? They hadn't been fighting since the past… half hour? Fifteen minutes? But she wasn't really trying to 'get rid of him', as he had said about her. She was just following for two things. The first one: she hated being alone, and she knew she wouldn't last five minutes without getting lost, or eaten. The second reason was because that voice had told them. And she had promised herself that she'd obey it if she got her out of her house and far from Yoichi, and, weather it was on purpose or not, it had turned out well. So, even if she felt like she was trapped with Kouji on the train and when they discovered that they were supposed to remain together, she didn't feel like it anymore. She just felt… normal.

She didn't feel nervous anymore, even if she was with Kouji and they weren't talking. All that worry had gone away with that thought. Why had it happened? Why she didn't hate Kouji and his idea of her? Why wasn't she fighting or looking for a fight with him? The answer then made her smile happily. She didn't feel that way anymore because she knew that she liked herself and that Kouji wasn't going to change that. She didn't feel that way anymore because he wasn't bothering her, and she could talk to herself and think of her own business, just like when she was alone in her house, but with the difference that she had company. If something happened, she wouldn't be alone, and she didn't have to worry about talking to someone.

Her mood suddenly improved as her mind filled with this happy thought. It improved even more when they managed to get out of the station and they founded themselves in a lovely forest. Sakura couldn't help looking around and contemplate their lovely surrounding. It was nothing like she'd ever seen! Everything was so green and it made her feel alive. She hoped past Kouji happily and opened her arms to feel the sweet caress of the wind. It felt so good on her face, her hair, and her bare arms that she forgot for a second that she wasn't alone. It was Kouji's horrible grunt that brought her back to reality. When she turned to see him, his face was totally upset by the fact that his map had gone. He looked like he was going to stamp his foot on his D-tector at any second.

"Got tired of the map?" Sakura said cheerfully as she hopped back to where Kouji had stopped.

"Shut up." He mumbled as he kept pressing buttons. He didn't bother to look at her.

"So, you have no idea of where are we? You were the one with the map!"

"Let's make this clear!" He said putting his D-tector aside. "I am not lost! I just don't know where to go next because the map disappeared. Second: we wouldn't be better if you had the map!"

"That is…"

"So true." Kouji completed as he turned his head to his D-tector.

"I was going to say 'so rude'." Sakura mumbled but she didn't care if Kouji had heard her. She sighted and put her hands on her hips, looking around the forest that had suddenly stopped looking so charming.

The only thing she saw were hundredths of trees. She turned her head to the right and something caught her attention. It was a gray wall made of bricks and covered in plants and flowers. She looked back at Kouji, who was still glaring at his D-tector, and made her mind. She walked over the wall and started to examine it. If she founded a door or something, they might be able to follow it and perhaps find someone that might know about the Spirits. To Sakura, most of the Digimon were nice, though she had only spoken to the trailmon. She founded nothing peculiar about the wall, so she let out a little, frustrated, grunt and she leaned in a section of the wall covered by moss and bindweed. She didn't feel how thing the layer of plants was until it was too late. The plants were so weak and thin that they couldn't even stand Sakura's weight and, in an instant, it broke; making Sakura fall with a drowned scream. Before she could keep on yelling, she tried to hold herself from a wall and ask Kouji for help, but as she placed her hand on the wall, she felt a horrible pain on her right arm that forced her to let go before she could ask for help. She rolled over some stone stairs and fell heavily in the floor. The last thing she felt before darkness covered her was a sharp pain in her right arm.

***

Kouji turned around confused by the sound he just heard. It sounded like Sakura's voice mixed with something light falling. He was even more confused when he couldn't find her anywhere near.

"What's with that girl?" He asked frustrated. It was then when his eyes caught something. It was a big hole in the wall. "Now, I'm sure I'd remember that."

He returned over their steps until he was able to see to see the terminal in which they had just arrived, but they were still no signs of Sakura. Defeated, he decided to return to the wall. Maybe Sakura had decided to leave without him. Al though he doubted it. In a couple of minutes he reached the hole in the wall again. Why would she want to disappear through a hole in a wall?! He asked himself, totally irritated by the fact that they were wasting precious time.

"She knows it's safer to stay out of creepy holes in the walls!" He then thought of Sakura's temper and smirked. "Well, we didn't come here to play it safe." This better not be someone's idea of a joke… especially Sakura's! He thought as he carefully descended the stairs.

Half the stairways were covered by the green light form the forest, while the bottom half was completely dark. A few holes in the sealing provided Kouji the necessary light to avoid falling. When he got to the final steps he listened carefully to any sound that might come from Sakura, but he heard nothing. Why am I looking for her anyway?! He sighted. Right, we're supposed to stick together… and she would have done the same for me, I guess.

"Anyone here?! Sakura?!" He yelled but got no reply. "Ok, I suppose not." He sighted and stood there, thinking weather he should continue or not. The screen on his D-tector was white this time.

***

"The wind is blowing on that direction…" Sakura heard a voice say. He kept on talking, but she couldn't fully understand what he was saying.

She tried to rub her head but something prevented her to do it. She slowly opened her eyes to see the little boy with the hat that she'd seen running happily before. He was standing a few feet away was his chubby partner but he moved towards Sakura and held her right arm.

"You're awake! It's such a relief!" He cried and smiled warmly.

"Who are you, guys?" Sakura asked sitting up and snapping her head between the two boys.

"My name is Tommy and he's J.P.!" The little one replied again.

"I'm Sakura." She tried to get Tommy to let go of her arm, but every time she couldn't move it, let alone ignore the pain. "What happened to my arm?!" She cried desperately after Tommy let her arm go very carefully.

"I think you dislocated your arm." J.P. replied, kneeling besides her.

"Are you sure it's dislocated?!?! It hurts a lot!" She almost yelled, trying to hold back the tears.

"No, I'm not sure! I really suck for these things." He apologized with a mortified expression. Sakura felt so guilty of having to trouble both of them that she hid her pain as best as she could, though it was no mystery that she wasn't all right.

"It's Ok, I can handle it until I figure out…" She began but a weird noise cut her off. It sounded like many voices yelling.

"We need to keep on moving!" J.P. warned.

He and Tommy helped Sakura up and they started walking with J.P. leading the way. Sakura preferred to stay behind them. She didn't want them to notice in how much pain she was right then and make them feel guilty for not being able to help her. Did Kouji realize I was missing? She asked herself. What if he hadn't? She might have to stick around with J.P. and Tommy until she founded him. What if neither of them found their Spirits because they weren't together as the voice had commanded? She wanted to kill herself. Why did she have to lean on that stupid wall?! That was causing all her troubles and pain… internal and external! She looked at her arm. It was horrible, and it hurted like hell! Looking at it was almost as painful as the external feeling.

"Hey, J.P…" Tommy asked nervously. "Is there a chance that we might be going in circles?"

"No! What makes you think that?" J.P replied and approached Tommy, who was staring at a boiler-kind-of-looking thing.

"This cross." Tommy pointed at a cross scratched over the surface of the boiler. Sakura also broke her thoughts and approached the two boys.

"That means nothing. It's just something somebody did a few years ago or something." J.P. said quite confident.

"I drew it when we started out!" Tommy cried and lowered his head.

"It means we're lost. We're going to be stuck here for days, if not for months." Sakura sighted softly and went back to her former position. Suddenly, Tommy became a sea of tears and yells and Sakura got a tremendous headache with his crying. This is perfect! I'm lost with a dislocated/fractured arm, another disorientated person, and a kid that has zero control and a tendency of crying!! This couldn't get any better!!

"Hey, Tommy, don't cry!" J.P. pleaded. He searched in his pocket and got out a chocolate bar, just like the one that hit Kouji. "Here, this will make you feel better. At least we won't starve!" He said as he cracked a piece of chocolate and handed it to Tommy, who stopped crying and took it happily. "You want some, Sakura?" He said, offering her a piece.

"Umm… no thanks. I'm fine." She said politely, al though she was very hungry. She just felt it wasn't the right place to start eating.

Sakura watched how the boys' mouth opened widely as they prepared to eat their chocolates. Then, the sound they'd been hearing since they started walking appeared again. It was a horrible, husky laugh that came from the sealing. The three of them looked up only to see more than a dozen pairs of red eyes staring at them. Suddenly, one of them jumped and fell from the sealing, showing its sharp teeth as the thing's outline became clear. It was a face with long things like ears, and it was light pink. They all started screaming, but before any of the kids could do something, all of the creatures had them surrounded. It was horrible how those things try to bite them, and Sakura wasn't particularly able to move a lot to defend herself, or, at least, prevent them from eating her.

"Here, you can have them! Take them all!" J.P. cried as he threw all of his chocolate bars, grabbed Tommy's hand, checked which Sakura's arm he was holding, and started running desperately.

The weird Digimons made a hill of pounding faces as they ate the chocolate. Sakura was relieved until one of them turned around and yelled something like "eat the humans! Eat the humans!"

"What do they want from us?!" She cried trying to hide the evident pain running produced in her arm.

"They became addicted to chocolate bars!" Tommy yelled as they ran with no direction. That was becoming a habit on those boys.

***

"Why did I choose to keep on going?" Kouji asked himself frustrated by the fact that he had no clue of Sakura's whereabouts. "When I find her, that girl is going to be in so much trouble!" He muttered.

He kept walking through a dark hallway, which he founded, was a dead end. Perfect! He analyzed the obstacle in front of him. He founded a stick on the ground and started hitting the barrier with it until it broke, revealing it was only made of old pieces of wood. The noise of the wood crashing with the floor came quite late, and that made Kouji wander how far he was from the ground. He popped his head out of the hole he just made, which now seemed more like a door or a window, and examined the sight.

"What's this?" He asked distractedly; the sight wasn't too good from up there.

The place had more light because of the many holes in the sealing; everything was illuminated by a weird light that gave a bluish tone to the place and Kouji realized that he was kind of far from the floor but that he could get down by sliding through one of the many poles that were placed there. The only thing that worried him was how resistant those poles were. He was thinking of that when he heard two different voices screaming: one was very high and sounded quite scared, the other one was low but that didn't prevent showing his fear.

In a few seconds, Kouji was able to see two boys running desperately. They were the boys he had seen when they arrived to the terminal: the chubby boy and the little one with the huge hat. It was right then when he realized that they were carrying Sakura… well, the fat one was doing the entire job, since the little fellow couldn't help a lot; he was more like running for his life. Kouji couldn't see if Sakura was conscious or not, but that didn't stop him from letting out an exclamation that shortly turned into a grunt.

***

"Sakura, wake up! I can't carry you all the time! I know it hurts… but please wake up NOW!!!!" J.P. pleaded to the fainted girl in his arms without stopping. It was mere luck that they had a grate advantage on the Digimons before Sakura fainted. It was even harder when he had to carry her since he was so afraid of hurting her arm. They both had figured that the pain of her arm was the reason she had fainted, combined with the effort it took her to escape from the Digimons. Sakura let out a few groans before opening her eyes again and feel that sharp pain in her arm again; that was enough to wake a person up and made him/her cry, all in one.

"J.P.? What's going on?!" She asked, trying to control the pain in her voice without success.

He didn't even have time to answer, for the Digimons surrounded them again. It all became a mix of screams of fear and pain, and Sakura used that opportunity to let the pain of her arm out without anyone's suspicions. Suddenly, a new scream joined, but it didn't come from any of the three kids in trouble. It cost a lot of effort to become silent like her new friends, but she made it… eventually. Sakura looked at the noise's direction with pain in her eyes, only to see Kouji Minamoto coming down, sliding from a tube and then breaking it, so it became a practical weapon. All the Digimons stopped biting and jumping around to look at Kouji, who had a smirk on his face. Sakura couldn't smile relieved for too long, since the pain in her arm became stronger by the minute and her tears were struggling to come out with each stab that came across her arm.

All the Digimons charged at the boy, who lodged skillfully their attacks and returned them with double of intensity. He performed a few maneuvers that Sakura didn't even think possible. What kind of training does he have?! She silenced her pain with that thought and pulled her mind deeper into the question by observing Kouji.

"Who's that?!" Tommy asked with a smile on his faced, marveled by the fight Kouji was giving.

"That guy's serious!" J.P. said amazed as he placed Sakura on the floor and took a better look at the boy. Sakura wanted to reply but she was afraid to open her mouth and let a painful scream out, so she just watched Kouji and bit her lip until it became white.

Kouji kept on fighting until the Digimons surrounded him. When they had him buried under a hill of living Digimons that threatened to eat him, his recently created weapon hit the Digimon at the top, and with that, Kouji was able to send them all flying by making a circle with the wooden stick. As all of the Digimons crashed with different walls, Kouji lowered the stick and smiled happily and proudly. Sakura got up with a little trouble and a huge effort and moved just a few steps towards Kouji, trying to calm the pain in her arm by gently rubbing it, but she did was afraid that if she touched it too hard she'd make it worse. She stood there, with Kouji's eyes fixed on her face. She didn't even dare to move closer to him in a poor attempt to calm herself down from the pain she was suffering. All of the pink, ugly Digimons that had tried to eat them were lying in the huge space between her and Kouji.

"Why do you always get us into trouble, Little Nuisance?!" He asked, returning to his cold tone, al though he was smiling on his inside for defeating the Digimons and founding Sakura. Now they could resume their search.

Sakura's mind began elaborating something to reply. Unbelievable! He won't even let me thank him because he's all ready fighting with me! I didn't ask him to save me… again! Why is he such a jerk?! Sakura's anger was interrupted by the growing pain of her arm. She screamed internally, not being able to hide the hurt in her eyes. Internally was the only way she could cry without breaking down in front of Kouji, J.P., or Tommy... not when she was made uncomfortable by people who cried in front of others and she'd criticized Tommy a while ago for that. She could fix her arm with a bit of help, she just needed to find the time, and if any of them saw her crying they would make a huge deal of it, well she doubted that Kouji would really care. But it was true that her arm was becoming a problem, and the pain was so hard that Sakura couldn't help biting her lip until blood came out of it. Come on, Sakura! You can't brake down now! Be strong! In a few minutes you'll check it out and everything will be fine. It can't be that serious!

"Sakura…?" Kouji began, his dark eyes looking again into hers. The look he gave her was weird. It was like… caring. Sakura swore she'd never seen that look on Kouji's face again.

"Don't yet, human!" A Digimon's voice interrupted their. "Don't smile yet!" And right after he said that, a flash of blinding light covered the entire place and, to their surprise, the Digimon transformed into something else.

After the blinding light, a gray, small hill of something similar to pitch appeared. The four kids watched with their eyes wide opened how the thing started moving until it grew to such proportions that they had to raise their heads to see its neck… or the place where its neck should be. The monster had a huge mouth with sharp teeth and weird shapes around its eyes. He didn't have any extremities… or shape at all, but, by the way it growled, the kids could easily tell that he wasn't happy. The frightened screams of J.P. and Tommy were heard louder than what the Digimon growled. If there was something else on that cave, it will definitely hear them. The only thing Sakura pleaded was that the one who came, if somebody did, was on their side. The Digimon growled at Kouji, but something happened that diverted its attention.

As J.P. and Tommy kept on screaming their throats out, the Digimon turned to face them, quite threatening. J.P. and Tommy were on the back, and Sakura was standing ahead of them, closer to the Digimon, who roared once more at her. If the face of the Digimon was hardly bearable, his breath could really kill a person. It smelled worse than dead fish! Sakura became paralyzed by the smell, the Digimon, and her arm. Her heart started beating faster and faster as the Digimon opened his mouth. J.P. and Tommy started to run and yell, leaving Sakura all by herself. Suddenly, her left arm was pulled, forcing Sakura to move and wake up from her trance. Everything happened so fast for Sakura that she took a while to realize what was going on, but when she fell on her knees it was too late to do something: Tommy had returned to save her from the Digimon, so he pulled her left hand and got her out of the Digimon's range, but when they were running, he tripped with a rock, making him and Sakura fall to the ground.

Sakura looked at Tommy and then at the Digimon, who fired a green acid-like thing. Tommy yelled as he though he was going to die, but Kouji quickly jumped to his side and got him out of danger. The acid was so strong that, when it touched the ground three or four holes appeared on the ground, letting more light inside the dark cave. Just a few feet from the holes made by the acid, Kouji was kneeling, carrying Tommy in his arms and pounding loudly. While Kouji tried to figure out a way of his situation, Tommy was shaking uncontrollably. The poor little guy was so frightened!

The Digimon threw its acid again, but Kouji had very good reflexes, and Sakura had seen that. He lodged the attack again and ran to another place. After a few more attacks, there where more holes than ground in the cave. Sakura's arm was hurting a lot, but she was more concerned of what happened to Tommy and Kouji. J.P. was besides an opening, just like the one Kouji had used to save them, but neither of them could move, since the Digimon kept throwing acid all over the place.

"Eww, it smells!" Sakura caught a voice coming from the opening. She turned around only to see a blonde girl, a bit taller than her, and dressed in purple covering her nose. She was with a boy with goggles and red shirt. "What's that Digimon, Bokomon?"

"It's a Raremon." The creature called Bokomon replied. He was white with a gray beak and look like a duck.

"Sakura!" The boy yelled. Sakura recognized her friend Takuya, the one who had left her alone in the train station.

"Takuya? What are you doing here?" She asked surprised, but the reunion was interrupted by Kouji's scream and the sound of the acid consuming the floor again.

Takuya got something out of his pocket, and Sakura saw it was a D-tector, just like hers but it was red and black.

"Spirit, wake up! I need you!" Takuya yelled as he pressed buttons.

"You have a Spirit?" Sakura asked surprised.

"I'm not kidding here!" Takuya yelled, not answering Sakura's question. Sweat was all over his face. Kouji had Tommy in his arms and they had no way out. Raremon was right in front of them, and Kouji couldn't back away, because behind him there was a huge, deep, dark hole that could kill them both. "Come on! Come on! Come on!" Takuya kept yelling as Kouji moved back and fell to his knees when he nearly steps on the void. Nobody could breathe, waiting for Tommy and Kouji to die or for Takuya to do something. "SPIRIT!!!" Takuya yelled.

With a flash of reddish light, Takuya had stopped being Takuya and Agunimon had taken his place. Sakura watched how her friend was taller, had long, yellow hair and his body, protected by a red and black battle armor, and was covered in flames. He didn't even look like Takuya at all! So this is what the Spirit does! Agunimon jumped from the high opening and landed right in front of Raremon, who fired at him his green acid again. Agunimon easily lodge it and pushed Raremon to a wall. The Digimon tried to attack him with his acid again, but Agunimon was just too strong, so instead of hitting him, the acid crashed with the sealing, making more and more openings in it. Soon, the cave was illuminated by many beams of light coming from all directions. Agunimon jumped in front of Kouji and Tommy, who couldn't believe their eyes, and blocked the acid that Raremon threw at them.

Suddenly, a flash of light came again, and Agunimon disappeared to become Takuya again.

"What's going on?! Why did I turned back into me?!" He yelled frustrated. As he tried to answer all his questions, Raremon threw more acid right at them.

"Look out!" Sakura yelled at the three boys.

The three of them immediately looked around, and in a desperate attempt of surviving, Takuya grabbed Tommy and they both jumped out of the way. By accident, when Takuya and Tommy jumped aside, they pushed Kouji to the hole.

"Kouji!"

"Oh, no!" Takuya yelled as he tried to reach Kouji, but it was too late. He'd fallen.

Raremon let out something very similar to a laugh and threw his acid at the sealing once more, while all of the kids and the two Digimons that came with Takuya looked at the hole, waiting for something to happen that might save the boy who had just fallen. Another hole was formed in the sealing and a beam of light fell over the hole where Kouji had fallen. Grate, at least Kouji won't die in the dark! That should make everything better! Sakura thought sarcastically as she glared at Raremon. Suddenly, all of the beams of light that Raremon had formed moved to the whole where Kouji would certainly die.

"What's going on?!" Sakura asked with a voice thread. She was still on her knees and her arm still hurted, but she also knew that something weird was going on.

A blue light illuminated the cave with such and intensity that forced the kids to close their eyes. When the light grew less intense, they were able to open their eyes. Neither of them believed what they were seeing: another Digimon appeared; he was taller and he was white and blue. His head looked the same like a wolf's. He floated majestically above them with all the beams of light illuminating him beautifully.

"Kouji?" Sakura asked, still with a low voice. Nobody could have heard her, but still, they all gasped.

"Did I look that cool?" Takuya asked Tommy, gaining a nod from his little friend.

"Yeah, just… different."

Sakura turned around to see Takuya's friends. J.P. and the blonde girl's mouth hung open. Takuya and Tommy were also very surprised.

"It's the legendary warrior of light: Lobomon!" Bokomon announced again. This time he had a book on his hands and J.P. and the girl were also contemplating its pages.

"I've never seen anything more beautiful… in my whole life!" The girl exclaimed.

"Me neither!" J.P. added.

"You can say that again!" Takuya yelled and Tommy simply nodded.

I guess I'll have to agree in that one, Sakura thought, smiling. Just don't forget that it's Kouji who you're talking about.

Lobomon stood there, in front of Raremon, but he didn't attack or move. He just waited. Apparently, Raremon wasn't as impressed as the kids, so he opened his mouth and simply threw his disgusting acid at Lobomon. This time, neither of the kids thought that Lobomon might loose. Lobomon quickly lodge the acid.

"Lobo Kendo!" He yelled as he pulled out a blue sword made of light. With that, he quickly lodged the acid Raremon kept throwing at him and jumped over his head, sticking his sword on it.

Raremon let out a scream of pain before colliding and becoming surrounded by the same Digi-codes Sakura had seen on the train.

"Now, you bag of trash! Prepare to be recycled!" Lobomon got his D-tector out. "Fractal Code, digitize!" He yelled, and with a swift move, the Digi-code that surrounded Raremon got inside Lobomon's D-tector, disappearing forever.

The blonde girl let out an exclamation in Italian, but Sakura was a bit more concentrated in getting up than in showing her agreement. Lobomon had been excellent, and Sakura had to recognize that. He was surrounded by an oval of Digi-codes and he turned back into Kouji again, who was kneeling on the ground pounding heavily. Sakura got up and approached him, but Takuya and Tommy were faster since they ran quickly to him.

"Hey, are you Ok?! Let me help you out." Takuya asked politely as he put a hand on Kouji's shoulder. Sakura stood frozen besides Kouji. He's not going to like that! She thought as she remembered his expression when she placed a hand on Kouji's shoulder. Kouji opened his eyes suddenly.

"Don't touch me!" He yelled rudely at Takuya. Both, he and Tommy stepped back from him. Kouji stood up with a huge effort and regain his balance. Sakura looked up at him, surprised by how rude he really was. He hadn't ever used that tone on her and she had expected that he'd be mean, but not that much! "I don't need your help, or anyone else's!"

"Kouji…" Sakura mumbled, with a voice thread mixed with pain again. She needed to get a look at her arm, and she needed to do that right then, but she couldn't believe he was being so rude.

"But I guess I should thank you for saving me. I always repay my debts." He continued with the same tone, not looking at Takuya, Sakura or Tommy.

"Stop that!" Sakura whispered irritably because of the pain in her arm.

"I didn't do it so you'd owe me, you know!" Takuya yelled at Kouji, interrupting Sakura.

"My name's Kouji Minamoto. And you are…?" Kouji waited for the answer, but Takuya didn't reply. "So, are you gonna tell me? I can't repay you if I don't know your name."

"I'm Takuya Kanbara." Takuya sighted, defeated.

"Takuya, huh?" Kouji asked reflexive. Then he smirked again and his tone became of satisfaction. "See ya." He said as he started walking again and waved a hand over his head. Sakura stood there, not knowing what to do. Should she apologize to Takuya? No! She wouldn't apologize for something she hadn't done! And she wasn't responsible for what Kouji did! But he had been very rude… even more than when she was with him, and not apologizing would be rude. "Sakura, you coming?" Kouji yelled from behind. Sakura turned to Takuya and the others who had joined him.

"I'll see you around guys." She said as cheerfully as she could, but it wasn't much. "Tommy, you were very brave back there." She said, making Tommy blush. "J.P., thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome!" J.P. replied happily.

"I'll see you both around." She said as she looked at Takuya and the girl that she didn't know. "And…" She thought of apologizing but quickly backed off. "Good luck." She said, then, she turned around and followed Kouji.

She walked through the path Kouji had walked a few minutes later. It felt so horrible to hear her own footsteps echoing in the cave, knowing that everyone was watching her. She walked through the same door Kouji had disappeared through; it was darker than the cave but she was still able to see. The pain of her arm bothered her again.

"Come on! Why did it have to happen to me?!" She cried as she glared at her arm. Her voice was starting to become husky again. "Kouji, where the hell are you?!" She yelled. She couldn't even put her arm in its place because of the lack of light.

"Behind you." He replied indifferently from the darkness. Sakura turned around only to see him leaning in a wall behind her. "Let's move." He said as he started walking. Sakura sighted and followed him. Here we go again…

In some minutes of silent and painful walking, they reached the door through which Sakura had fallen. They got up the stairs and founded themselves in the lovely forest again. This time, Sakura's mood didn't improve. Not one bit. She walked to a nearby tree and sat heavily on the ground, looking at her arm. It looked awfully bad. She started moving her hand above her shoulder, trying to figure out the best way of examining without making it hurt so much... and fix it too. It was hard doing something that she hadn't done before!

"How does it feel?" She asked Kouji in a little voice manipulated by pain.

"Hm?" He asked distracted, looking at her.

"How does… it… feel?" She asked again painfully. Now that she wasn't concerned of saving her own life or looking at Lobomon, there was nothing that distracted her from the pain she was feeling and the fear it caused her to look at her arm and know it was helpless. If something really frightened her was pain… internal and external.

"It's cool." He replied as if it was nothing and stood in front of her, blocking the sun and creating a shade on Sakura's body. "What happened to you?"

"You don't care." She replied and looked away.

"How are we going to find your Spirit with that arm?"

"What?" She asked as she looked at him in surprise. "Are you still going to help me? I thought…"

"You tend to get into trouble a lot. Who is going to save you?"

"I don't need to be saved!" She yelled at him.

"Yeah, right."

"Why are you so rude sometimes?" She asked, looking at him. He looked at her in question.

"Why are you so proud?" He returned the question, sitting beneath a tree in front of her and putting his arms behind his head.

"Don't change the subject!" She said sharply and then continued. "Sometimes you can be so… different, and then you become cold out of the blue. Like today with Takuya."

"I… I don't know how to react."

"You don't get many friends?" She guessed.

"You wouldn't understand!" He yelled, but he was quite reflexive about what Sakura had just asked.

"Don't be so sure… And I'm not proud!" Sakura yelled as she kept examining her arm. She'd be sure to ask Kouji about his loneliness sometime, but for that night, Kouji's past traumas discoveries had finished.

"You are."

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I am not!"

"You are!"

"I'M NOT!!!"

"Look at you, if you weren't too proud you would have asked for my help with your arm all ready." He replied with a smirk and stood up again.

"It's a waste of time. You won't help me anyway."

"You're right. Normally I wouldn't help you out." He shrugged.

"The truth is..." Sakura began, embarrassed by having to ask for his help. "It scares me to see what's wrong with it... and it also frightens me having to fix it"

"I can see that." He said as he approached her. "Stand up."

"Why?" She asked as she looked at him again. Her right eyebrow questioning.

"Even if I don't like it, I owe you." He replied as he grabbed her left arm and helped her up.

"You don't owe me a thing!" Actually I owe you… twice, she thought, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"If you hadn't fallen through that wall I wouldn't have founded my Spirit. So consider one of you debts paid." He said. Damn, he does remember I owe him! Sakura thought. After a while, he added: "I think that's what the voice meant earlier."

"That makes sense." She said, more calmly now.

"Ok, it's not fractured." He said, tilting his head a bit to look better at her arm.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know how a fractured bone looks like and it's nothing compared like this. It's just dislocated, meaning that 25% of your pain was psychological." He explained.

"Psychological?" She asked, embarrassed. All that pain she was feeling was simply an influence of her brain!?!?!?!?!

"It happens the whole time with people that have never broken a bone or suffered strong external pain." He explained as if it was obvious. Not caring at all.

"How do you know so much?"

"My grandfather is a doctor." Kouji said, making a dissimulated face to the mention of that man.*

"And what…? But she didn't have time to finish her question because, suddenly, Kouji had his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly. She was about to protest for the pain it was causing her, how uncomfortable he was making her, and how she'd changed her mind about healing her arm when Kouji beat her to it. "This is going to hurt."

Kouji grabbed her shoulder with his hand, very carefully and pushed it back into its place. A loud 'crack' was heard and Sakura couldn't help to groan and pound loudly as a few tears came rolling down her eyes. It had hurt more than having it dislocated. Kouji sighted; it had been horrible to hear the crack of her arm, though he knew it was even more horrible to be the one who felt it; he had to thank his stepmother for teaching him to do that.

***

"Kouji, what is it?" Satomi's came from across the kitchen.

"Nothing I can't handle." He replied coldly and walked past her, but stopped when he noticed that she was watching him worriedly.

"Let me help you, please." She begged. He sighted.

"It's my finger." He said, turning around.

"What's wrong with your finger?" She asked sweetly but nervous and got closer to Kouji. She took his right hand and examined his finger. "Oh, I see. You dislocated it."

"I suppose."

"I'll put it back in place… if you want." She doubted with each word she spoke. It felt like she was afraid of Kouji… or trying to please him. Kouji nodded as his stepmom placed a hand over his finger.

The painful 'crack' came in no time and Kouji grunted in pain, but he didn't screamed or cried. He still had the feeling of the past pain on his finger.

"Better?" She asked shyly. Kouji nodded. "Whenever that happens, you just have to put the bone back into place. It might hurt a bit, but you might not be able to use that bone again if you don't fix it." She smiled a bit.

"Hum." He replied coldly again and stepped out of the kitchen and went straight to his room, not thinking how that made his stepmom feel. He'd have given everything to have his mother tell him that instead of her…

***

He kept his attitude indifferent and he tried to separate from Sakura, but something wouldn't let him; Sakura's left hand was holding tightly from Kouji's shirt. She kept her hand attached to his shirt while the right arm remained still, touching gently Kouji's chest and her face buried in his chest, moving slightly when she sobbed.

Her arm was on its place now, and it was better that way… obviously, but it still hurted a bit; she couldn't help to cry a bit and take deep breaths between each sob to calm herself down. It had been awful to hear her own arm crack, it had been awful to run with that arm, but it had been harder to face one of her biggest fears: pain. It was a long story how she had developed that fear, and she wasn't going to increase her pain by thinking of it. While Sakura buried her face in Kouji's chest, he blushed hardly, not knowing what to do. He had never seen a girl crying... let alone a girl crying in his chest! After a few moments of thinking what he should do, he wrapped his arms around Sakura nervously and waited for her to relax a bit.

"Thank you." She finally said, sitting again beneath the same tree. She was also blushing hard after realizing what just happened. She used her left hand to wipe off her tears.

"Yeah." He said, sitting down besides her and looking at the sky. He didn't know what to say, but Sakura let his coldness pass for that time. She knew she wasn't in the position of fighting in that particular occasion. Instead, something else crossed her mind.

"You see how helping people is simple?" She asked, giving him a closed-eyed smile. She'd been looking at Kouji closely during the fight and she had definitely founded out that his arrogance only showed when he was forced to be with other people. It was a mask to prevent them getting closer to Kouji.

"Define 'simple'. I could have been death by now." He stared at her indifferently again.

"What I meant was that I helped you, you helped us, then Tommy helped me, you helped Tommy, Takuya helped us and you saved the day." She explained without taking the smile off her face.

"So that's how you see the world? Like a path where you can be jumping around, helping others as much as you can?" He asked.

"Not only to me. You see the world that way, too" She doubted. "Well, only the part about helping others." She corrected with her sweet voice. "Before Takuya saved you and Tommy, you held Tommy very tight in an attempt to protect him."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said proudly and look away.

"You might be a jerk with everyone else and say you don't need help, but I can see you're different deep inside you heart. There's another side of you, Kouji."

"That is…" He defended himself.

"So true." She quoted him. "You can't help it because you feel it's the right thing to do, just like me." There was a silent pause and Sakura understood that she was totally right about Kouji. "It means I'm not the only one proud around here."

"You win this time, Little Nuisance." He sighted and looked away.

"Don't call me that!" She replied softly but serious.

They both sat in silence and contemplated the sky. A few Digimon crossed the pink and orange sky flying happily with the wind. So Kouji does have another side. I just need to find out why he only shows it with me… but that will come eventually, Sakura was finally invaded by the her tiredness and she laid down in the grass, letting her mind wander until she was asleep. Kouji looked at her, curled up on the green, soft grass, sleeping peacefully. He chuckled a bit.

"What a traveling partner." He whispered to himself and he kept on contemplating the screen of his D-tector. He had found his Spirit thanks to Sakura, and he wasn't going to forget that. Now it was his turn to help her out, for they were tied in that mission, and it wasn't a commitment that either of them would break.

After a while, he got tired and looked at the pink-and-orange sky again, putting his arms behind his head. She was right about me. With her I feel… different. I feel like she's a different person that what I thought. Maybe I was wrong about her the whole time. He snapped his head suddenly and looked at Sakura concerned. Could I be… gaining a friend?! He watched how her lips outlined a word that he couldn't hear and then some brands of her long hair fell over her face; he couldn't help smiling.

*Satomi's (Kouji's stepmom) father is a doctor. Yep, I just made that up! Let's pretend that he taught Kouji a bit of medicine and all that stuff when his father made him stay with him in order to unite Kouji to his new family or something. :D