may 3 08 A/N: all i want to do right now is scream! but i digress. thank you for the reviews, they mean a lot to me. they let me know that my story is appreciated by someone other than me! :D

enjoy!

2: runaway love

It was a beautiful and warm evening in June with the sun, partly obscured by the horizon, shining brightly and no clouds in sight. Streaks of yellow, red, and orange hues crisscrossed the sky as if some great artist had taken a huge fire-colored paintbrush and carelessly brushed the sky with it. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Izumi was sitting sullenly on a wooden bench in a garden area outside of Matsuzawa Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. She felt annoyed at the clear, awe-inspiring weather for so drastically conflicting with her dark, saddened mood.

'This is it,' she thought sadly. She bowed her head and a part of her hair fell in front of her face, hiding it from the world. 'It's all over...' Their digital adventure had come to an end, yet she knew that she would be the only one of the group to truly see it as an ending. She had a secret which she had never told the boys. Actually, she had a lot of things which she had kept from her best friends, including a particularly amorous one that involved everybody's favorite brunette - but this one was doubly important. The one that she knew would ruin her life forever, while her five greatest friends wouldn't care, for they would still have each other. She flipped open her cell phone, which had reformed from a D-Tector a mere five or ten minutes ago, and checked the time. 6:23 PM. According to real-life time, it had only been 23 minutes ago when she boarded the trailmon bound for the digital world, but to Izumi it felt like she had grown at least a year older.

Wow, talk about a growth spurt.

6:24. She had to leave, and soon...

Suddenly, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps tapping on the concrete ground. She didn't look up as 11-year-old Takuya Kanbara - AKA, everybody's favorite brunette - scooted along the bench until he was close to her and laid his head on her shoulder playfully. Izumi smiled involuntarily behind her wall of blonde hair, but she gently pushed Takuya away.

"Hey, I thought we were friends." Takuya said with fake hurt in his voice. He pouted. Izumi laughed delicately, sending a warm and happy feeling through Takuya, but she didn't respond. "I was just kidding," Takuya added after a long awkward pause. "Sorry."

"I know. No worries," Izumi sighed. Her back hunched further and more hair fell in front of her face. She made no effort to push them back.

"You look upset. What's wrong?" Takuya asked concernedly. "Don't try to pretend you're not upset. I'm not stupid," he added, staring worriedly at her pale blond hair. He was suddenly slapped with the urge to reach out and touch it. He lifted his hand absent-mindedly. It was midway through the air when Izumi suddenly shook her head and began to stand up. Takuya retracted his hand, feeling strangely disappointed.

"Takuya, I have to go." she said sadly, yet still not looking at Takuya.

"Hey! You're not getting away that easy," Takuya said, grabbing her wrist and staring at her, or rather, the back of her head, purple beanie included, with blazing eyes. "Tell me what's wrong." he commanded forcefully, with the same air of self-confidence and Takuya-ness that had led the group so effectively in the Digital World.

The air was silent for a few moments, and the two were still: Izumi standing with her head down and her back to Takuya, who was seated and had his hand wrapped tightly around Izumi's wrist. He was tense, ready to get up incase Izumi, who had beaten him in running races many times, decided to make a break for it. Behind them, colorful flora swayed like hula dancers in the cool breeze that swept through the garden while the large brick hospital loomed large and domineering in the background.

After several long, silent moments, Izumi sighed defeatedly and slowly turned to face Takuya for the first time. Angry, tear-filled emerald eyes met the milk-chocolate brown ones. Fueled by anger and sadness, she yanked her wrist away from Takuya forcefully, who simply stared at her in dumb-faced surprise.

"I said, I have to go, okay!? And before you ask, I'll probably never see you or anyone else again, that's what's wrong! Now I really, really have to GO!" Izumi screamed at the dumbfounded Takuya. Without another word, she turned around and ran out of the garden, into the city, and out of Takuya's life.

Takuya stared hard at the ground in emotionless silence. He bit his lip and willed himself not to cry. Suddenly he felt a timid tugging on his shirt sleeve, but he didn't look up. He hadn't even heard anybody coming.

"Takuya-niisan," Tomoki Himi, known to the group simply as Tommy, tugged harder on Takuya's shirt. He called Takuya "niisan", Japanese for older brother, because throughout the digital world adventure, Takuya had been a better brother to him than his real brother, Yutaka Himi, had ever been. "Takuya-niisan, where's Izumi?"

"She had to go." Takuya whispered.

"Well, you have her number, right? So you can just call her when we get home! Anyway, come on! I have to take you back to the hospital lobby so you can meet Kouji and Kouichi's mom! Wait till you see how much they all look alike! It's the coolest thing ever!" Tommy said excitedly. However, Tommy's words sounded like nothing but annoying prating to Takuya while his heart sunk painfully in his chest as a chilling realization came to fruition in his head. Overcome by his worry for Izumi, he had forgotten the sole reason he had come looking for Izumi in the first place. 'Beans!' he thought angrily. He had forgotten to ask for her cell phone number.

Tsk, tsk. Takuya Kanbara, what will we do with you?

Of White Mice and Sakura Trees