Chapter 14: Never Trifle with a Jealous Dragon

You all made it back outside with you leading. Your sense of direction might be nonexistent but Dramon gave you some hints when you were on the verge of getting the whole group lost.

You stretched. "Ahh, it's good to be out in the sun again!"

Takuya didn't look happy at all. "Where do we go now? We need to find the other spirits."

"Beats me," you answered. "Pipismon said Flame Terminal. He didn't list out all the detours."

"But you can hear the spirits!" he objected. "Who else do you hear around here?!"

"I only hear them when I'm close," you said defensively. "I couldn't hear Beetlemon from Forest Terminal and I couldn't hear Mercurymon from outside Flame Terminal!" You paused. "And if they're all going to take over my brain, I'd rather not hear them."

"Kumamon and Korikkakumon won't take over your brain, Ally-san, I promise," Tomoki assured you.

"Kazemon and Zephyrmon won't either," Izumi added.

The others were all silent, and although you pretended not to notice it worried you.

Finally Kouji spoke up. "Lobomon won't."

"Agunimon won't."

Kouichi was still quiet. "Kouichi?" you prompted.

He gave you a pained look. "The darkness is fickle. I can't promise anything."

"Don't be so gloomy," Junpei boomed. "You turned the darkness spirits good last time."

"A spirit's actions depend on the user," you heard yourself say. The others looked at you with surprise and you blinked, equally surprised. You shook your head. "Dramon, I think. But I'm not afraid of darkness," you assured him. "I'm not prone to anger or hatred. I'll be okay."

He just gave you that same unhappy look. "I hope so."

You held his eyes. "I will be."

You felt something strange happen just then. Your stomach fluttered pleasantly when you realized that Kouichi was worried for you. You felt touched by that worry. You began wondering what Kouichi's spirit was like. Hopefully he would be as nice as his human.

"So, where are we supposed to look now?!" Takuya yelled, shaking you out of your warm, fuzzy moment. Luckily, he hadn't directed his frustration at you.

"Would you calm down, Takuya-han?" Bokomon scolded.

"Yeah, yelling isn't helping," Izumi added.

"Why don't we split up?" Tomoki suggested. "We can ask the local Digimon if they've heard anything about the spirits."

"That might work," Kouji agreed.

"I'm game," you said with a grin.

Takuya seemed to recover his enthusiasm. "Okay. We'll all take a different part of town."

"Neemon and I will search the east!" Bokomon said. He grabbed Neemon by his red pants. "Come on, Bakamon!"

"I'm Neemon, not Bakamon," Neemon replied.

"Kouichi and I will ask in the north," Kouji said. He and his twin started off in that direction.

"Izumi and I will check the south!" Junpei shouted eagerly. He grinned at the blonde girl.

You were surprised when you felt a flare of jealousy. You hadn't thought that it would bother you if Junpei paid attention to other girls, but apparently it did. Now you began wondering what their relationship had been like when they had first been in the Digital World…

"Um, no," Izumi said immediately. "Takuya and I will go to the south. Why don't you and Tomoki go west, Junpei?"

He looked stunned by the rejection and you were relieved. But your jealousy was still prickling you. You wanted to find out more about their past together.

"I'll come with you and Takuya, if you don't mind," you said. "I'd like to get to know you two."

"Great!" Takuya said over Junpei's second noise of disappointment. "And if you hear Agunimon, let me know!"

"Obsessive, much!" Izumi teased as you headed south. Then she gave you a smile. "Though I wouldn't be mad if you tell me if you hear Kazemon."

You chuckled. "Kouichi was right. You two are a lot alike."

Your trio explored the south end of town, you keeping your 'ears' open for voices as Takuya and Izumi asked passing Digimon about the spirits. None knew anything about the spirits, and you didn't hear any random voices. After a few hours, you and Izumi were tired so you sat down in the shade of one of those giant furnace things while Takuya kept looking for more Digimon to question.

"When do you think he'll notice that we're not following him anymore?" you asked as you both watched Takuya bound after a pink bird.

"Anywhere between an hour from now and never," Izumi joked.

You chuckled but your jealousy was still simmering. Now might be a good time to find out what was between her and Junpei. But you'd play it cool of course. You weren't going to make an enemy without reason or before you were ready for a fight…

You shut your eyes and relaxed as your mind pondered questions you could ask. 'What's up with you and Junpei?' was too direct. 'How about this weather?' was too indirect. You needed something in the middle.

"Say, Ally-san… Do you like Junpei?" Izumi asked you suddenly.

You fell over, shocked. 'So much for the indirect approach!' you thought.

You said, "Of course I do. He's my best bud! We always hang out."

Izumi grinned. "Well, that wasn't quite what I meant."

"Ohhhh…" you mumbled. "I dunno. I never thought about it before." Which was true. "But he's a good friend, so I guess I might like him more someday."

You started blushing was you talked. Picturing Junpei romantically was… new.

"Let me know if you decide," Izumi said. "If Junpei has a shot at another pretty girl, maybe he'll stop flirting with me."

"Pretty?" you yelped with honest surprise. "You mean me?"

"Of course." Izumi smiled at you again. "You're pretty."

You blinked. "No way," you scoffed. "Maybe I qualify as 'cute' but not 'pretty'."

"You're pretty!" Izumi insisted. "Especially your hair." She tugged gently on one of your wavy locks. "I always thought short haircuts were too boyish, but it looks nice on you."

"I just do this because it's thick and a pain to deal with," you muttered bashfully.

"It looks pretty."

You still didn't believe Izumi, though it was nice to hear someone compliment you. And you did like your hair - when it was the right length. When it got too long, it irritated you.

Then as you mulled over Izumi's words, something else occurred to you. "So, wait," you said. "You don't like Junpei?"

Izumi sighed with exasperation. "He's a great friend," she said carefully. "But I don't… have those feelings for him."

Then your intuition told you something else. "Are you and Takuya… ?"

Izumi smiled and nodded. "We started dating a few months ago after Junpei moved to America. He doesn't know; or if he does, he's being persistent."

"And stubborn," you added. "That's Junpei."

"Takuya's even worse," Izumi laughed. "And don't get me started on Kouji!"

"It must be a Y-chromosome trait!" You both laughed, and you felt deep relief that you hadn't had to make an enemy so soon. Monsters you could handle. Humans took more thought.

You spotted Takuya storming over with a look on his face like a mother hen whose chicks had wandered away. "Incoming: angry boyfriend."

~Izumi POV~

I turned, and sure enough Takuya was on his way towards us looking peeved. Probably because we'd stopped to rest. I sighed inwardly - it would take a while to calm him down, I knew.

More annoying was that I hadn't gotten to ask Ally my other important question: did she like Kouichi?

Because it was obvious to me that he liked her.