Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon. Or Kouichi's hat. Or Takuya's goggles. But I thank everything that I don't own Kouji's bandanas.

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To The Left

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He pushed the cup of hot chocolate her way. "You will drink this, even if I have to make you," Kouji ordered quietly. He had managed to drag her into the nearest café, and get her to sit across from him at a table in the back after he had bought her a hot chocolate.

Izumi took at it, stared at it. When he cleared his throat, she obligingly took a sip, then set it down on the table again. She looked up.

He was smiling. "Good. I expect all of it to be gone by the time we leave."

The girl nodded slowly. "Okay."

"It's pretty cold today," Kouji sighed, looking out the window. "It's such a pain to look at gray. I get bored easily. We might as well start hibernating like bears."

Izumi shrugged as she took another drink from her hot chocolate.

"What?" Kouji's eyes were focused on her now, a frown had fallen onto his face. "You don't like the rain?"

"I…don't really care." She stared at her drink, then back up at Kouji. "Why are we here?"

"So you don't die from the cold?" Kouji shrugged. "You tell me why."

"But I'm the one who wants to know why."

He laughed at this, much to Izumi's annoyance. Then, holding up two fingers, Kouji told her, "It takes at least two people to make things happen. Whether it's you and your conscience, you and someone else, or someone else and another someone else. I may have invited you, but that's only half the story; why did you accept?" Seeing a contemplative look on her face, Kouji nodded. "There you go."

"Fine." Izumi looked at her hot chocolate again. "Aren't you going to ask me?"

"I'm not going to ask you anything. You can talk if you want." He shrugged. She's really out of it. "I'm just here to make sure you finish your drink." That said, Kouji looked at her expectantly.

Izumi stared at her cup. A sigh escaped her as she rose the cup to her lips and downed the rest of the liquid. Finished, she set the cup down gently on the table and looked at him.

"Will you listen?"

He shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."

Not what I want to hear, but it works. "You know…my parents are divorced."

Kouji snorted, looked away as he swallowed his laughter.

"That's not funny!" Izumi insisted, sending him a glare.

"I know, but you make it sound…so…" He tried to cough to mask his laughter.

That's right…his parents are divorced, too. Izumi looked at the white top of the table. "Oh…"

"No, no, sorry. It's an entirely different situation." Kouji cleared his throat and motioned for her to continue.

Izumi continued staring at the table. "Well, before I left for Italy, she had started to see someone. I thought when I left that it wasn't going to last so long, but…" She drew a breath, and looked out the window, eyes searching for a patch of blue peeking out from behind the heavy gray clouds. "…they're still together."

"You make it sound like she's cheating on you."

"W-well, I'm her daughter!" Izumi insisted.

"She's your mom." Kouji shrugged. "She's entitled to her own happiness."

Izumi let out a frustrated sigh. "That's not the point!"

"I fail to see a point."

"Well, what did you think when your dad remarried?"

Kouji let out a chuckle here, and looked to the ceiling. "Yeah. About that: I was told my mom was dead. That's a big difference there."

"But you didn't like her!"

"She wasn't my mom. I didn't have to." He shrugged. "I didn't hate her either. I just didn't care." Oops. She might catch me for a lie somewhere there, Kouji realized, trying to keep his face.

But Izumi sat back in her seat, looking defeated. "Well I don't like him."

"You won't like anyone your mom might choose as a potential new husband. Why? Because you feel left out. Well, think about this, Izumi: have you even told your mother how you feel? Perhaps she understands, perhaps not. It's kind of hard to tell when all you're doing is lazing around the house being apathetic. Not even I do that anymore." He scowled. "Are all girls so troublesome when it comes to their parents getting remarried?"

Izumi shrugged. "I'm only one girl. Don't ask me!"

Aaaah, the pain! She's really out of it. Kouji shook his head. "Well, continue."

"She always talks about him. It's never reminiscing about my dad, not even about me! It's always about him!" Izumi muttered, glaring at the table now. "I hate him!"

"You're being a brat about this."

"What are you–"

"Your mom needs a life too, Izumi," Kouji murmured. "I'm not saying she's bored with you – but everyone has boring moments together. Even me and Kouichi.

"Your problem is that you're too focused on hating the guy rather than spending what time you have with your mom doing fun things. Like…what do you people do? Shop?" He shrugged. "Stop giving her a chance to talk to him. Just spend fun time with her." Kouji threw his hands in the air. "Don't give me that look! I don't know what girls do!"

Izumi rolled her eyes. "But she talks about him even then!" she insisted.

"And like I said, you're being a brat about it." He rose to his feet. "Just…don't give her a chance to talk about him."

"But –"

"Quiet," he muttered, leaning forward until his head was centimeters from her own. Kouji stared down at the cup and nodded. "Well, you finished."

"Okay, but–"

Kouji looked at her and leaned in slightly, pressing their lips together. "Please, Izumi, just drop it," he murmured, pushing back and slinging his bag onto his shoulder. "I'm heading back now. Go straight home."

Izumi just stared as he left.

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Why? Why? She hated the word. BUT WHY? Izumi threw her pillow across the room.

Takuya had dumped her for good.

Her own mother was too busy with her own boyfriend.

Kouji –

She didn't want to remember. Izumi shut her eyes and pulled the covers of her bed over her head as she let out a groan. It was a mistake. Right? Or my imagination! I have a disgusting imagination! WHY? Izumi threw the covers off and stood up. "I need dinner," she decided. The lack of food in her stomach was causing her to hallucinate.

She made her way to the kitchen and stopped. Shoichi was still her, talking quietly to her mother.

In the kitchen. Where there was food.

Izumi stopped outside, held as still as possible.

"…I don't know, Shoichi. You know I'd love to, but Izumi…"

"No, no, I understand. It isn't the best news to her. It's fine."

"It's a beautiful ring," her mother whispered, but Izumi heard.

Shoichi laughed softly. "Just like the person who's supposed to wear it."

"I can't."

"I know." Another laugh from Shoichi. "Maybe one day Izumi will let me hog you a bit more."

Izumi retreated, ever so slowly, back to her room, trying to swallow all she had heard.

A proposal? What else would a ring mean? The girl threw herself onto her bed, face buried into her pillow. 'A potential new husband,' huh…? A shaky sigh escaped her, and she sat up, reaching for the phone.

Shibuya…didn't want her back. That was clear.

"Daddy?" Izumi whispered, pressing the phone against her ear. "I want to go back…"

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"Yo."

Izumi nodded, ignored Takuya – it was mutual ignoring, anyway. Kouji frowned.

"Well…? As you were saying?" he snapped at Takuya.

The goggle boy managed a grin. "N-nah…I'm–"

"Don't be a moron. You start something, you finish it," Kouji snapped, sending him a cold glare.

"I'll tell you later," Takuya mumbled, turning around and sulking back to his seat.

"Forget it! I don't want to hear!" Scowling, Kouji picked up his magazine. "So? Did you two talk or what?"

Izumi jumped in her seat. "What?"

"Did. You. Talk. With. Your. Mother?"

"Oh…no. Not really."

"'Not really'?" he echoed.

She shifted uncomfortably and murmured, "We talked a bit…I guess."

"That's good."

Not really. It was just the usual, 'good morning' and 'have a nice day'. Izumi smiled crookedly, feeling her eyes sting. It still…hurts.

"What happened?"

She sniffed. "What are you talking about?"

"I can hear you crying pretty well from here," Kouji murmured, flipping the page of his magazine. "So?"

"It's…nothing…" The tears began to fall, crashing onto her desk. She hated it. Her sleeves would always get soggy – if they didn't, then her papers would.

Kouji let out an exasperated sigh. "I give up on you people," he muttered, loudly putting the magazine down on his table and turning around. "What is it? Takuya? Kouichi? Me? Not having seen Tomoki and Junpei? Lying about talking to your mom? That guy? Or–"

"Forget it," Izumi croaked, looked up and shaking her head. "Just forget it."

"But you're crying, you're behind me, and it's annoying."

She let out another sniff and looked up to glare at him through blurry eyes. "I'm sorry!"

"Liar."

"Minamoto! Stop making the girl cry!" someone laughed.

"SHUT UP," Izumi and Kouji snapped, though Izumi's yell wavered more than Kouji's.

"Damn, you two are more of twins than–"

Someone grumbled. "Hurry up and shut up, Takei."

Takei made a face at Takuya. "Yeah, yeah…"

"So?" Kouji asked her quietly, leaning forward to rest his arms on her desk. "Izumi…!"

"Settle down, class!" Moriguchi walked into the room, and Kouji turned around with a scowl. The entire class slowly fell silent, save for Izumi's quiet sobbing. Startled, the teacher looked up. "Ah…Izumi…?"

The girl mumbled something, and Kouji let out an irritated growl. "She says she's fine," he translated, scowling and looking to the side. In a quiet voice, he hissed to Izumi, "Hurry up and stop, would you? We can talk later."

"I-I got something in my eyes," Izumi managed through a sniff. "Can I go to the bathroom and wash it out?"

"O-of course," Moriguchi mumbled, raising one eyebrow and shooting the class a confused look as Izumi rushed out.

Kouji let his head fall on his desk. Fine my bandanas.

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"No, don't go," Kouji ordered, grabbing a hold of her arm when she stood up, ready to leave.

Izumi looked at her feet, shooting a look at Takuya out of the corner of her eyes. "But…"

The boy let out a sigh and shook his head. "Takuya's going to ditch again. Apparently he thinks he can take advantage of my not saying a word, so I'll just write it plain and clear. Moriguchi has a meeting – but he's coming back to the classroom to grade papers, and then he's leaving. We have time until then. You sit down. I'll clean up. We'll talk."

As if on cue, Moriguchi left the room, and Takuya snickered. "Well, well! I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Kouji!" he laughed, walking out of the room.

"Don't worry, you'll be getting your surprise too, moron," Kouji muttered, going straight to the chalkboard. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Izumi said, voice quiet, tired. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying she'd done – she must have spent at least half a day in the bathroom and used up a whole tissue box.

"Keep saying that, Izumi. But 'nothing' didn't happen. Something happened. What was this something that did happen?" Kouji asked, placing down the erasers, having finished cleaning the board. He took a piece of chalk in his hand. "Or are you just going to keep lying?"

Izumi let out a sigh and leaned forward. "I'm not lying," she insisted. "I just don't know…I don't…I…" She looked up. "What are you doing?"

"Giving Takuya his surprise." Kouji put down the chalk and looked up, content. On the board, he had written large enough so that even Izumi in the back could see.

"'Takuya, do your share,'" Izumi read slowly, with a frown. "That's not going to do much, you know."

Kouji shrugged. "I'm not going to erase it." He walked over to her, sat down in his seat. "Now tell me. Who said what? Who did what? What happened?"

"It's nothing," Izumi insisted, standing up and frowning down at him.

"Well if that's not a lie, then why the hell are you crying?" Kouji snapped, standing up and slamming his hands down on her desk.

She picked up her bag and made her way to the door. "I told you it's nothing, so why won't you just believe me?"

"Because I'm not stupid enough to believe in a lie!"

"Well too bad!"

Kouji let out a frustrated growl. "Is it really our fault, Izumi? You won't talk to us about anything. You know our numbers – heck, if you forgot, you could just ask us! You won't ask us, you won't answer us – what do you want? You're the one pushing yourself away from everyone!" he shouted.

Izumi stopped at the door, startled. "I…" I don't care! I don't need to confide in you. I never wanted to talk to you. You forced me into this! I hate you…

"I hate you," she whispered, breaking into a run.

The boy winced and turned around, leaning forward and placing his hands on his desk for support. I hate cleaning this stupid classroom…who the hell makes it so dirty?

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"It isn't my fault!" he snapped, exasperated. Even for an older brother (by minutes), Kouichi was pushing it. "What would you have done?"

"I'd have…say, weren't the rains yesterday strange? Summer storms already…? Makes me want to eat something cold today…"

"Today is the same as yesterday," Kouji grumbled. "Gray. Gray. And Gray. Stop changing the subject."

Kouichi shrugged. "I'm getting some ice cream. You want some?"

"No, I have to call a moody girl and apologize," Kouji snapped. "I'll wait at that table," he muttered, pointing to a table just outside the shop. "And don't get me an ice cream!" he added, but Kouichi was already inside the shop.

Kouji slumped down into his seat and dropped his bag on the floor. Izumi's number…Izumi's number…there. He pressed the call button and placed the phone near his ear. Ring. Ring. STOP WITH THE RINGING! "Hello…?" he mumbled, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Yes…?"

"Um…Mrs. Orimoto? Is Izumi there? This is…Kouji," the boy murmured, sitting up. Suddenly I figure I could just ask her mom what's going on. Heck, I wonder if she still remembers me.

"Sorry, but Izumi hasn't come home yet," she returned with a sigh. "You'll have to call back…"

"She hasn't come home?" Kouji repeated, rising to his feet. You're kidding. Why isn't she home? Where else…?

"Is…something…"

He hung up and pocketed his cell phone just as Kouji came back, two cones in hand.

"Hey…! I got you ice cream –"

"I didn't tell you to get me any!" Kouji snapped, nearly tripping over his bag. "I've got to go somewhere, so don't forget to take my stuff home!"

"Haaah…? I wasted money on you again," Kouichi sighed, looking at the two cones in hand. "Oh well…"

"Kouichi!"

"What?" the older boy snapped in return.

"Don't. Forget. My. Stuff!"

Kouichi waved (or attempted to) a cone at him. "Yeah, yeah, just go! Tell Izumi I said hi," he grumbled.

Moron. Kouji broke into a run. Damn it, Izumi! Where the hell did you go?

He really hated it when she did this.

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Even for a late summer day, it was strangely cold. Even for a late summer day, it was strangely dark. Even for a late summer day, it was strangely windy.

It was a strange, late summer day. That was all Kouji could conclude.

A strange, late summer day – almost night. And he still hadn't found Izumi.

He'd checked the school and had a short talk about Takuya's absence the past two days during clean up. He'd checked the park and informed Takuya of his detention after school tomorrow. He'd checked the arcade – almost – and met Junpei and Tomoki outside, only to find out they were still trying to beat the same, stupid game – and then he'd realize Izumi would take no interest in the arcade. He'd called Izumi's mother once more, but she still hadn't come home three hours later. He'd run around half the town, if not more.

And still no Izumi.

It drove him crazy.

"Damn it!" Kouji swore, kicking the ground as he found himself at the bridge again. "Stupid girl!" Halfway across the bridge, he stopped to lean against the railings, and looked down at the water.

Unstained by the rains, it continued to bob up and down peacefully, gently, slowly, showing no sign of moving, showing no sign of stopping. Still as clear as ever. Still as reflective as ever.

Kouji sighed and sank down, peering at the water between the bars of the rails. The last orange from the sun disappeared from the reflective surface of the water, sank onto the grass, until all that was left of the sky was a dark purple that soon began to fade into blue.

He shut his eyes and drew a breath. When I find her I will…

His eyes opened and fell on the water again. Night had begun to set in. And reflecting off the lake was the one and only reflection of Izumi.

Izumi.

When I get down there, Kouji thought, rising to his feet and continuing to the other side. When I get down there, she will regret this…

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A/N-

Yey, and we end there! Next chapter might take a while again (and that'll probably be the last chapter, too). I've been getting so little computer time, and Pendulum is written based on how much computer time I have (because all of it is on the computer: the story, the plotting, everything). Plus I still have Misconceptions to update. AHAHAHA. Haha. Sorry.

Izumi felt really awkward to write, not so much at the middle, but at the end of the middle. I wonder if I rushed that…?

Review or Flame.