Finally chapter 23, it's been a lot a fun writing this one. Emotion is the thing I got to work the most on and I have to admit that despite how enjoyable it was, it was actually very difficult. But before I get into my story stuff, I'd just like to take a few moments to say-er, write a few things about you guys reading this right now.
First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reads my fanfiction. I'm sure I would've given up by now if it weren't for you guys. But I'd really like to focus on the one that's always keeping me idea-searching and writing my stories. And this person is my friend and fellow writer, Toshiku Yumari. She's provided endless support and is willing to read parts of my stories and give me criticism. She's always been behind me in this, giving me inspiration (and also friendly competion). So for everything you did for me, Toshi, thanks.
Secondly, I have a few reviews that need answering and I shall do that now:
arkee: You'll just have to wait and see who Avaruusmon is. It'll all be revealed in Sakkakumon!
Angelwings12: Apparently Edward wants to sparkle, and somehow it turns on the ladies. Or something like that.
Shiningheart of ThunderClan: Lunamon first shows up as Lekismon in chapter 11.
And again, I apologize for the late update, I was distracted with YouTube because we finally upgraded from the ever-so slow dial-up to high-speed! Huzzah! And that finally gave me time to make a Takumi amv. If you wanna check it out on YouTube, my username is Giffey105 and it's featuring the song I Can Wait Forever by Simple Plan.
Now I present you with chapter 23!
Chapter 23
"I really don't know how you want me to respond to that," I admitted truthfully, putting an unsympathetic scowl on my face. "That makes you sound so innocent, when in reality you were a snobbish jerk that has now resorted to homicide. I really just don't see it. Couldn't you have just dealt with death like a normal person that's reached their time?" I really shouldn't have been taunting someone that was looming above me with a fairly large weapon and another Nuova Luna just a few feet away. One of my best ideas? Hell no.
Crescemon frowned, unsatisfied by my response. She didn't seem as pissed off as I would have really assumed, knowing that she had a nasty temper at most times. Just moreover…annoyed that the reply she was expecting, maybe pity of some sort, who knows, hadn't come out of my mouth. "Most people don't get a second chance," she snorted, "Wouldn't you do the same as I? Can you truly blame me?" She cocked her head to one side, answering completely honestly, and at the same time, sending questions my way for me to respond to.
I let out a small growl that had managed to rise up from the back of my throat and make its way up to my lips without my notice until the last moment. "It was a rhetorical question, Karin. Or would you rather me tell you—never mind, I'll do it anyway." I completely changed my mode of voice, my face tightening into a glare that would have made Duskmon scared. Or at least I thought it just might. "Just go to hell, Karin. That's where you belong, and the only place you'll truly be accepted by others just like you. And tell Satan I said hello before you go all trampy on him, you yariman."
If she wasn't at all pissed off before, she indeed was now. Before I could really do anything to protect myself or even get on guard, I felt a hard blow of her foot to my stomach, sending me back with such force I banged my back on the opposite end of the cavern. A fierce shock came over me from my vertebral column, my ribcage and out, consuming me in pain. I found myself trembling, trying to contain myself and get past the hurt that enveloped me from head to toe. I have to get up. If she kills me, next she'll go for everyone else. I can't let that happen…
She began to slowly step towards me, like she was giving me time to say anything I thought I might need to. "Any final requests before your Data is used for Lord Cherubimon's means?" She twisted her head around to view me from all presented angles. I didn't really understand why, since the only thing I probably looked like was a bloody, mangled mess that was glaring at her with hatred brewing in my irises. If there was something I was truly certain of at that point of how I looked, I knew I definitely wasn't eye candy.
I struggled against myself to remove my glare from her and unclench my gritted teeth to answer her question. I knew this would get me into more trouble than I already in, if that was even possible at this point, but hey, I couldn't have really cared, since what was worse than her trying to kill me and take my Data as she tried to do ever since I met her here? I had dug myself a pretty large hole up to this particular moment in time—and sometimes I wished it wasn't just a metaphorical pit—, the next step was to jump in it and get someone to bury me alive. "Why waste my breath?"
She giggled to herself, and I wasn't sure whether or not it was because it was of what I said. For all I knew, my stupid gallantry that always seemed to get me in a hell's worth more trouble than if I kept my trap shut for once only amused her, since it was all I could truly say when my days were numbered and she was counting down. And if she was still human, she'd have fingers to count on, rather than single paws, thus it would make the situation a heck of a lot more like a horror story. "Maybe because your breath is about to run short." She seemed rather proud of herself, haughtiness just bursting from the tone of her voice. "Might as well say any confessions now. While you can."
I got my arms under my body and trembling, got myself up to my knees into an unsteady crouch. I grinned, knowing just how to answer. Everyone knew just how much I loved my songs, and thus, why can't they be my last words as well? "The secret side of me I never let you see. I keep it caged, but I can't control it. So stay away from me, the beast is ugly. I feel the rage and I just can't hold it. It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls. It comes awake and I can't control it. Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head. Why won't someone come and save me from this? Make it end!" I pulled out my D-Tector and pushed the button. My hand was veiled in coils of Data. "Execute!" Fractal Code circled around me from all directions, like an egg of light. "Beast Spirit Evolution!" Static flew through me and I gave out a yell as my body morphed into the half feline, half bird of prey. "Laikasmon!"
I could see the area of the cavern in crystalline purity, though everything seemed different as I had seen it as Gryphanimon. I felt a strange yet tempting power course through me, flowing through me like my own blood. I could feel my anger pumping with the strength that dwelled inside me, like a bottled up rage that needed quelling. Well, if it wanted to be repressed, then I would gladly tear Lekismon apart just to get it out of my system. I let out a feline-like roar, pouncing without a battle plan and tossing it all to fate. You've shown me pain, now I show YOU what real pain is like! Time for just desserts, my dear! "Shiorai Pionos!" The ring upon my tail glowed and I felt an aura—a dark, a soothing dark aura—came over me like a blanket. I growled as I used the strength to attack my target…Wait, what is my target? I want to destroy everything! Make it all crumble before me! Show the world you're not some worthless child! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!
My assumed target, I couldn't have been sure—or cared—at that point, dodged my attempted tackle, leaping to the side. She retrieved her Nuova Luna that she had previously placed down and turned them into blowguns. "Dark Archery!" Arrows of darkness flew towards me at a rapid speed, or at least they seemed like they should have going by the rest of the common sense I held. But they appeared to be going in slow motion, something easy to evade and come in for a counter attack.
Destroy!
Destroy!
Destroy!
I lunged back, taking measures for the attack. "Talim Storm!" My vision went completely silver for a split second and then I quickly adjusted. Through the power held within my gaze, wind began to pick up and a cyclone enveloped Crescemon, a twister of silver razors revolving around and supposedly battering my enemy. I didn't focus on the calculations of whether or not my attack had any effect, or even if it truly hit her. Adrenaline pulsated throughout my being, helping my unquenched aggravation I couldn't seem to satisfy. That's just fine. All the more fuel to keep fighting. All the more time to rid the world of shiseijis such as the one before me. It shall all be done as it was destined. And if I don't see such written in the stars, I can make it so.
"Ice Archery!" My Talim Storm cyclone was suddenly turned to ice, all of the motion that caused damage ceased at that moment. The ice shattered into millions of pieces like shards of glass as Crescemon's form appeared before me, smiling triumphantly in confidence from her destruction of my previous attack. I readied myself, thinking of all the ways it would be enjoyable to destroy her and rid of her of her Data. And these specific ways: Every way.
She placed a single paw on her hip. "I see in your eyes you can't control your Beast Spirit. Typical." She seemed like she was going to say more, but something caught her attention and caused her to veer her head around to investigate. "I can assure you that it shall be the end for someone this day. And one of the candidates will not be me." She grinned deviously, leaping into the darkness. "This is farewell, Mirai. For how long, I cannot determine. But I swear to the three moons that when we next collide in combat, I shall not be the one to fall."
My heightened senses caught whiff of whatever caught her attention as well, making for a good target practice. Whatever it was, it smelled unique to me, different than Crescemon did. It didn't even smell like Digimon to me. It made my mind scrambled into a mixture of temptation and yet, I was banged with former knowledge that I just couldn't recall. All shall witness my strength firsthand. All who oppose me will shatter like a broken mirror. And I won't be the one with the bad luck… I let a growl escape my jaws, coming out because of my feline statics as more of a hiss than anything. Either way, I was warning the oncoming creature that I was present and deserved respect.
My nostrils suddenly picked up on what it exactly was, what seemed so different than Crescemon's essence: A human. Male. Blood type B.
I had a war with my own mind, trying to decide between my own will and my Beast's. The Beast's desires were overpowering, yet I wanted to obey my own. I was literally having a battle with two sides of my consciences. My pleadings came out quiet compared to that of my Beast, having little to no power in fighting against it because of all of the power it possessed. Investigate. Destroy! Investigate. Destroy! Maybe he—Destroy! But—DESTROY! DESTROY! DESTROY!
I let the force take me over, I let it be that of my motivation. Whatever it pleased, it could do. I was going to be behind it; I felt the rage that it felt, we were one. There was no reason to feud against one that is your very existence. I allowed the feeling—that which demanded of me to eliminate any obstacles that came forth and presented itself—to fill my head, and I got into position, ready to pounce on my prey. If I took the time to look back and see my tail, it probably would have been waving back and forth in anticipation. Blood. Data. Sweet death…
Suddenly, when the human came in view, I couldn't see him clearly. He seemed distorted, like the effects of the Beast altered the looks of whom was actually arriving. I felt anger rise up in my spine, and I squeezed my eyelids close to one another to make a glare. I tried to take in the form of this new character that came into play, but my eyes just weren't cooperating. So, surrendering to the feeling that was pulling me down, I did what instincts told me to do right at that particular moment: Attack.
From my crouched position, of which was poised and ready for this very second, I bent my knees and lunged forward at my newly acquired target, my mouth agape and teeth visible. I aimed myself to take down the enemy with a single blow, for the fact it was an unwary human, much weaker than the average Rookie Digimon. It should be simple, no turning back, no hesitation, and it'd all be over in a second. If all went absolutely flawlessly, there would be no room for a scream, no struggling at all whatsoever. Just death to my enemy, another one to fall to my power. Crescemon got lucky by fleeing when she had, but this human shall meet his instant doom. Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.
But much to my dismay, the human managed to evade my ambush by giving a reckless jump out of my aspired direction, going into a summersault and then into a crouch. I hit the ground gracefully, my paws digging into the turf, and I spun around to eye my opponent, scanning briefly for any instantly-noticeable weak points. I saw none, but none the less, didn't remove my guard. This essence…so familiar…not removed last meeting… time to do that now.
He eyed me up every visible point of my animal-like body that he could see from his current position. "That mark…" His lower jaw went down away from his upper slightly, showing off his surprise in the smallest way possible. "…Mirai?"
I felt a sting suddenly spark from my mind and flow downwards in such a way it seemed like it was going directly to my heart. Such fiery emotion, emotion that made myself so much more than difficult to control. It was a thing that had yet to be tamed, and a part of me enjoyed its power displayed, maybe I didn't want it obeying me. …Mirai…? What…? My mind was instantly rid of those distractions that came over me for the briefest amount of time, and rage and bloodthirsty cravings came rushing into my head like floodwaters after a heavy downpour. Kill the human! Do anything necessary to reign dominant! Take his Data! Bloodshed! Murder! Slaughter!
I hissed, intensifying my glare, warning him not to make a single movement. He didn't seem at all fazed by the notion, which took me by surprise. Why is he not trembling…? He must not know of my power. I will show him what strength I possess. And he shall learn the hardest way possible…Kill him! Kill him now! I bent my knees downward, ready to spring upon him in waylaying. And if I directed myself to the correct place, it should be all over in a matter of mere seconds. Although…playing with for a while wouldn't be such a bad idea, either. It sounded tempting; I was the predator, he was the prey. And who said the predator never messed with its snack for a while before taking it down for the count? In the mood for a game of cat and mouse, little human? Better get scurrying…
"Mirai! Stop!" He made no effort to move, he didn't even seem to get the picture I was painting for him that he was on his last moments of his life. "You have get control of your Beast Spirit!" He looked directly into my eyes but I simply cast away the gaze and let out another threatening hiss. He will get it. He will be afraid, he will tremble. He will fall… "I don't want to fight you…" His tone seemed to be more to himself than anything, but I heard it and opposed it. I want to fight...Blood. Blood. Blood. "But if it's the only thing that will stop you, be prepared to tame the Beast." He pulled something out that I somewhat recognized. But I couldn't place what it exactly was. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" A form appeared in his place, a canine. More specifically, a wolf. "KendoGarurumon!" As he howled, I cringed. What connection do I have to him? A human! Humans are nothing to me! Destroy! Destroy!
"Talim Storm!" My vision turned silver as a cyclone of silver light appeared before me. I willed it to move towards him, ripping up the ground under it. He countered with a laser he summoned from his mouth and it ripped through the twister like paper. I leapt out of the way of the oncoming attack and roared. You dare challenge me? Become a Digimon, ruin our little game? Fine, last one standing! I'll show you the true power of the Beast within!
He persisted with me through telepathy, not speaking with his physical mouth. "Mirai! I know you don't want to do this! If you knew what was happening—what you're doing, I'm sure you would stop! Please, Mirai, listen to me!" I couldn't distinguish the look in his lupine eyes. It wasn't anger, it wasn't fear… I know exactly what I'm doing! But why must you address me by such a name? Why must you look at me like that? Stop pretending I'll have mercy upon you!
I jumped upon him suddenly, tackling him to the ground under me. Baring my teeth, I looked into his eyes. I saw a bright determination brewing inside them, one I didn't understand. Why are you so determined to defeat me? I will not stand by and take your attacks! You shall meet doom! He continued to insist my innocence; I couldn't comprehend such. Why does it seem like you're holding back on injuring me? Fight me, feeble dog! Show me the strength that of a useless human possesses! Fight me! And perish! Destroy! "Mirai! Look at me! Don't you remember who I am? Koji! I'm Koji Minamoto!" He shoved it down my throat. That name. He made claims of something that I'm not. He thought I had a human heart, that I was somehow under some kind of circumstance human. I am the Legendary Warrior of Time, and you can't tell me any different than that!
He shoved me off of him, and I recoiled back with a Shiorai Pionos. He took the attack head-on, getting knocked off his feet and rolling back. "Mirai!" He got back onto his feet and stood still, just watching me with outmost concentration, as if that would somehow give me a message that I didn't know that he was trying to portray, that I was somehow supposed to receive and understand. I don't want to listen to you, impertinent human! Fight me! I know you have more strength than that, I can sense it! Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.
"I know you don't want my help, you'd rather destroy me—" At least you understand that much, dog. "—but that's the Beast deceiving you! I remember when I was taken over by my Beast Spirit! All I wanted was power and death, but I know that's not what you truly want! You have a good heart, Mirai, that's why you were able to break me free from my own Beast!" His gaze remained on me, though I wasn't fazed by such weak notions. But suddenly something flashed in my mind. Are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
I answered for myself in a growl that was more to myself than a warning to my enemy standing before me. No I'm not. I won't let such a powerless creature that actually takes the form of a Legendary Warrior put me to my knees! He shall know pain like he never experienced before. Let the game of willpower begin… "Talim Storm!" I encased the Warrior-wannabe in the twister of shining razors and took satisfaction in hearing him scream in agony. This is putting you into your place, dog. Bloodshed. Murder. Demise. Blood. Blood. Blood.
I couldn't figure out the emotions that put me in my place. Hearing him scream, knowing victory will indeed be mine after all, and yet… the fulfillment wasn't enough for me. It didn't seem to quench the thirst for destruction that I felt. More…desperate measures shall solve such an issue…I laughed, though outwardly it came out as a roar. It shall all be over in the shortest amount of time, I'll be done with him and I could go onto something that was more of a challenge. His blood is like honey; I shall enjoy this to no end, knowing that the honey shall be mine in just mere minutes, and if I'm lucky, even less…Well, lucky for him, anyway. I wonder how much more he can take… Let's test this, shall we?
My attack deceased and his wolf form fell to the ground. I could hear the blood pounding in and out of his heart. A human heart, I added mentally with a devious, feline smile, I wonder what it's like to possess something so feeble, something that can take much less than that of a Digimon. Were they made to be so weak? Or was this some mistake on an ultimate force's part? Whatever, all shall be dismissed and not worth my pondering much longer…I began to step towards him slowly, paw after paw. I wanted him to quiver, I wanted him to beg for his own pathetic life. That should give me enough enjoyment as to give me motivation to look for a new, better nemesis to face in combat. Humans, I learned, made horrible fighters, therefore, horrible opponents, and all in all, just weren't worth my time. They should be disposed of as quickly and properly as possible.
His human form returned into sight, the wolf disappearing into rings of blue Data. He pulled himself up onto his knees and stared up at me, shaking uncontrollably. Yet I didn't see any fear, the determination taking its place and taking up too much room for any other emotion. "Mirai, no, don't do it. You know what's right, you know we're friends. We've shared more than acts of friendship, to be honest." Never believe the Big Bad Wolf…Blood. Blood. "You always help me when I'm down, you always take my side. You were the one that actually trusted me and let me be who I was. Could you forget all of that?" He bit his lip, and it seemed as though he wanted to turn away but found that he just couldn't. His gaze was locked with mine, but I kept it like steel, firm and without emotion.
I hissed angrily, hating how much he was resisting, he just refused to go down. It was like he just didn't know that he was defeated. I would fix that. I lunged in to clamp my teeth around his neck for a final, painless snap, but his arm got in my path. I got my teeth around his wrist and locked my jaws down. He yelled out in agony as blood began to ooze its way from where my teeth surpassed his skin, and a ring of blue Data began to circle around him. "MIRAI! I KNOW YOU CARE ABOUT ME!... AND I CARE ABOUT YOU AS WELL!" He leaned forward, holding back another cry and kissed me just above my nose, a small, light… brief yet compassionate peck.
Blood…No more blood. My vision cleared and I could suddenly see him with beautiful clarity. As soon as I did so, I felt grief flood to me like I had been shot with a lead bullet. I released my grip and stepped back. N-no…I almost killed him…I would have killed him…I can't believe I was so deceived as to think it would be all right, that this was all just a game, that he was useless to me… I De-Spirit Evolved and fell to my knees, tears instantly making their way out of the corner of my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. They splattered against the ground and made dark marks on the soil. As dark as my heart. "K-K-Koji… I'm s-s-sorry," I stuttered, knowing that he didn't even deserve to hear my voice. He deserved so much more than to hear that of which had wanted to kill him, someone like me. "N-nothing can e-excuse w-w-what I've done…"
His Data disappeared back inside him as he staggered over, grasping his gashes with his hand. "It's in the past now, forget about it. You had the strength to break free, that's all that matters," he stated quietly, meeting his eyes with mine. I immediately looked away from his gaze, breaking out into more tears.
"I hurt you, Koji!" I snapped back, going into a sob. I didn't want him to see me like this and the best thing I could do was bury my face in my hands. "That's unforgiveable! What if I wouldn't have been able to stop? Would it still be okay then after you were dead, even if I did manage to control my Beast Spirit in the end? Control doesn't compare to your life, Koji! You shouldn't have even risked yourself! You shouldn't have even kept your promise to me, all I've been doing is getting you hurt! It's all my fault!" I felt like I was stabbing him in the heart with a knife, like it was something I couldn't stop, even if I wanted to. Of which I did. I wanted to stop stabbing, stop causing him harm. But why was it so inevitable? Why do all my mistakes come back to bite everyone, not just me?
His voice came in a mumble that I barely heard. "I would have done it anyway," he answered back. His voice then became a bit louder and more assured, certain that what he was saying was right. "You seem to always forget that Takuya isn't someone just you care about. He's my friend, too, and I'm sure anyone would have done the same for him, or for anyone one else in the group. You can't always take the blame for everything. We're all in this together, and no matter how much you refuse to share any of the culpability, you have to remember everyone else makes mistakes too. Each member as an effect on all the others. It's not all you."
I took a long strained breath, not wanting to concede, but knowing Koji was right. Even with this truth, it still didn't heal the panging in my heart. Trying to collect myself of what I had left to actually be collected, I wiped my tears off my face and onto the sleeve of my sweatshirt. "All right…all right…" I sighed in effort to catch my breath. "But I'm still going to take responsibility for all of my actions." I unzipped my jacket and ripped a huge strip off of it, and throwing the rest aside, bandaged his slashed arm up the best I could, keeping my eyes upon it, thinking hard of how much I wanted him to be dead at that moment, and because of that desire, what I had caused. Why did it have to be him of all people? Why did Crescemon of all times have to flee? I could have finished her off for good and maybe none of this would have even happened. And yet, her words still remained in my mind, despite the lack of control I had at that moment: "This is farewell, Mirai. For how long, I cannot determine. But I swear to the three moons that when we next collide in combat, I shall not be the one to fall."
A single question appeared in my head because of the remembrance of this: What was she planning?
Koji walked over a few yards away, bent over, and picked up my hat off the ground. He dusted it off with his hand and tossed it back to me, chucking it like a Frisbee while noting that I couldn't forget it since it was pretty much my trademark. He smiled lightly at me as I returned my hair into its normal style under the hat. As I did so, I said, "Okay, we should go and find the others, to make certain they're all right. Do you know where they are?" I didn't realize that I had outwardly stated my concern until the words were already out of my mouth. But by then it was just too darn late to get them back in.
His small smile turned slightly devious. He had caught my moment of slipped words. Crud, why did he have to have such good hearing? It was, like, inhuman. He must've had a good bond with his Beast Spirit. "Aw, you care about them. You have tamed your Beast. And your ego."
My eyes narrowed into a small glare. "Be glad I already went after you," I growled, tightening my lips together and curving them downward to a scowl. Though through that expression, I knew that he could see the guilt still stained on my face, the proof lying on my wetted cheeks. The tears I cried of remorse; that was everything that gave it away. My face was like a book, open and for the entire world to read, despite how many times I tried to slam it shut. I never wished it to be that way; I had always wanted to be alone and for no one to know there was anything even wrong with me to begin with. But no. Everyone knew I had problems, and most judged me for them. I hated it that way.
I sighed, tossing my head to one side, beginning to make my way out of the cave, not thinking to check back to see if Koji was coming, though proper evidence told me so. "Okay, enough with the taunting. Let's get on with it and save our idiot Legendary Warriors and kuso before they go and get themselves killed in some dumb, almost harmless manner by pissing off a bunch of Digimon that were normally docile but they just did the wrong thing and sent 'em of the deep end or whatever."
"I take it you're not in a very good mood." I could practically feel his stare behind me burrowing into my back, his voice holding a substantial amount of flatness.
I wanted to roll my eyes, but decided to do it mentally. "Whatever gave you that idea?" I turned around and saw him struggling to walk, more damage of my own lack of self-control, I mentally noted with a hint of self-hatred, and I walked over to him. I braced myself steady, putting my hand behind his back. "Payment for earlier." With that said, he put his arm securely around my shoulders, and we began to make our way out of the cave. I didn't feel like mentioning this was really putting strain on me, since Crescemon did a pretty good job earlier. And I was sure that she wasn't using very much of her power on me. I was sure that if she would've slapped me across the face using all of her strength, she probably would've taken my head off. And then with that kick to the stomach, she could have easily punctured my organs and broken all of my ribs. And in addition to the wall that I hit as well. Yeah, her body was just a wrecking machine. I couldn't grasp the fact that it was Karin. I'll-slap-you-because-that's-the-most-damage-I-can-do-Karin. I'm-so-much-better-than-you-and-I'm-the-one-that-deserves-your-boy-Karin. I-just-stole-the-only-thing-you-had-left-and-now-I'm-laughing-in-your-face-Karin. Karin.
I felt a knot in my throat form. I had to contain my anger, I could manage just that. She was gone now, I had to keep reminding myself that. Though she said she would be back, I added to myself, putting that mental note into the growing pile of things I had to remember. The part about the 'when' always kind of got me. She didn't even know when she'd return. What did that mean? Did that mean that some force higher than herself, possibly Cherubimon, told her to return? A feeling in my gut told me it was more than that. But it was also my gut that got me unsettled. If there was more than just Cherubimon, then were we completely off center? Was there something else we should be focusing on?
"You know what, Koji?" I began as we hit what I figured around the one-mile mark in our little trek to find the rest of our group. We had been walking for a while in silence. But it wasn't the usual awkward silence I'd probably come to if I had been with someone else instead of Koji, it was almost a comforting silence. All I could hear was the sound of our footfalls on the ground and our breathing intertwining like a natural little chord. For a while, I'd come to just ignore my own exhaling and inhaling, and just listen to his. It was almost a soothing sound, the repetitive in…out…in…out… "You're really awesome."
He chuckled lightly at my very blunt statement. "I try," he answered, without a single denial of this one truth. That's because he knew that it was incontrovertibly true and thusforth, there was no argument within this particular topic.
I shook my head, smiling slightly at his response. "No seriously. Actually, I could've picked a better word than 'awesome', maybe…uh… unbelievable, but nonetheless. The point is, you're amazing—hehe. That's the right word. Getting back to what I was saying, you…surprise me. A lot. I nearly try to kill you—I actually managed to expose your Data—and yet, here you are, saying that you're awesome. I mean, what the heck? It's like you forget all of the dumb and completely life-threatening things I've done to you. Most people would be pissed off at me till I'm fifty." When I said this, I was namely thinking of Karin. "But—" He cut me off, looking at me with his eyes shining like sapphires.
"I do it because what would be the point if I was mad at you? I can tell by what you put yourself through that you have remorse for everything that you've done. Maybe you weren't sorry in the past before you came here, but maybe that's what we're here for. To teach us to learn from our mistakes and become a better person. Besides," He pushed my grinning face away from his so I'd be looking in the other direction, "I can't say mad at you."
I erupted into slightly laughter. "What am I, your pet? And am I your misbehaving dog?" I did a cooing dog owner imitation, "I can't stay mad at you! You're such a good dog, yes you are! Yes you are!" I blushed pink at the thought that came into my head. I wondered how he'd react, curiosity getting a big fat hold on me and my actions. "Doggy wanna cuddle." I rubbed my cheek against his and my head came to rest on his shoulder. I let out a relaxed sigh despite our current location and everything out there trying to dispose of the Legendary Warriors.
He seemed surprised in my action at first, but then slowly melted into it. He had a smile plastered on his face, a small one, but either way, I could tell I wasn't really annoying him with this. "They always say dog is man's best friend," he stated with a hint of sarcasm. And he actually took my words and my actions in a way that actually took me slightly aback mentally; he didn't seem at all bothered by me, which really kinda confused me. After all, he wasn't really one of those kinds of guys that enjoy that.
"I should be telling you that, Mr. Wolf." My neck began to get strained from that straight angle tilt I had it placed. I lifted my head slowly and rubbed my neck, rolling it around in the circle that made it snap about five painful times. "Why don't the people on TV have that problem? In fact, those people fall asleep on each other's shoulders. They're probably using a pillow that they're not telling me about and you just can't see it with the angle of the camera. Stupid movie people." I frowned at my discovery. I'd never fallen asleep while resting my head on someone's shoulder; I never liked that kind of contact. There was a point, besides now at this particular moment, that I didn't exactly mind it.
But, I told myself, I had to teach my mind not to make that connection between Koji and him. They were two different people, of two different times. The time of the old me, and the time of the new me. But when I thought harder about it, the two me's were really not all that different. I had all of my negativity that was just brewing at the surface, but then, past it, I had my contentment, I could actually be somewhat happy and satisfied. But that came to be the hardest part to handle. I had spent most of my time being sour and when a time came that I was actually pleased at the point in life I was at, I didn't know how to actually assert that pleasure. I didn't recognize it, and therefore, disowned the feelings for those I did recognize and was able to follow through with. Familiarity was comfort.
I thought about the word familiarity for a moment, wondering about the Memory Aura had shown me. That boy had thought Koji was familiar. No, more than that. He had known his name, and yet, he said Koji didn't know him. The thing that had struck me the weirdest: How similar they looked. They had the same hair, eyes, and facial structure. But they were emotionally different; the boy seemed so depressed, so alone. The way he cried those grief-stricken tears pierced me in the heart with my own familiarity. Those first days after that breakup, I refused to cry—I never wanted anyone to ever see me cry, I was stronger than to show such weak emotion—but this was one of the times I couldn't stop it. I had stood on that street in the pouring rain too many times, I had expected too much of him as to come out, kiss, and make up. But no, I wasn't worth it, I wasn't as good as Karin. I had never been, and we all knew it full well. Then why wasn't he with her to begin with? Why did he have to go through those measures as to break me and then decide I wasn't right? As far as I was concerned, it was just cold-hearted.
"Koji, you said you didn't have any siblings, right?" I questioned suddenly, almost startling myself with my own inquiry. When he looked at me in puzzlement, nodding unsurely, I continued, "I have a…a gift. It's called Memory Aura and an ability of my Ancient Spirit that I inherited. But anyway, I had a vision of the past. There was a boy in it—he looked just like you, and he was running towards you, calling out your name. He said he knew you, but you didn't know him. It's just…strange, since it seems like you guys would be related or something, judging by the looks." I shrugged indifferently.
"Maybe you're getting an ability mixed up with daydreaming." I wasn't sure how he managed to voice that with such a stern tone and expression. But it made me confused as to whether or not he was actually serious about his statement or it was just sarcasm. But he dismissed that idea quickly, taking a few moments to ponder it, and deemed this conversation to go no farther than it had by asking, "I've been thinking and I don't get it. Why didn't Duskmon finish me off when he had the chance?"
I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, an action I got from Takuya over time, no matter how much I refused to admit that fact. "That was kinda my doing actually. After you took the bullet, so to say, for Takuya, I sorta went berserker. Ya know, berserker with all caps and the three. BERSERK3R, you've seen that before, right?" He just stared at me and I continued, "Anyway, I Beast Spirit Evolved to Laikasmon—somehow. I haven't quite figured that out yet—and got my oshiri whipped, so I resorted to yelling at him. I happened to mention your name once, and he kept repeating it like it was going out of style—which it isn't, of course—and he released this blackness from his body, and here we are. Well, um…kinda."
Before he could respond, his attention was drawn away from me and he walked on ahead, looking past the last little tree line and off into the open area beyond it. He stopped as I caught up to him and just took in the area that lied ahead. It was completely derived of plant life, the sky was dark—duh—and there seemed to be what seemed to be either a village or a fortress with many buildings within it. It was all made of stone, and outside of the village-fortress-thing, were stone pillars that reminded me of the Stonehenge and a large tablet that was standing upright. And emerging from on the wall of the tablet thing was a voice that was none too pleasant, "Stop! Leave that alone!" Zoe of all people, she's always the one I hear. Back at the beach and now here…
And once there's one, there has to be more to join it. "Hey, stop messing around with our D-Tectors!" This time I recognized the voice to be owned by JP. Of course, he just wanted to score points by agreeing with the little Princess Prune.
Thus, because everyone else decided it was convenient to start yelling at this particular moment, the last feels the strong need to join in on the little spat they were having with whatever they were yelling at. "C'mon, give 'em back to us!" Except Tommy is probably the one most likely to be ignored, if they all weren't. Because I knew for certain that I wouldn't have given a crap to any one of them, although the one I probably would have ignored most indefinitely would have to be Zoe.
"You'll break them!" I would have openly stated that she would have eventually anyway if we weren't busy trying to sneak closer to where they were being held captive on that tablet-thing that they managed to get themselves stuck on.
"I'm warning you!" I began to wonder what a pissed off JP was really like. I never saw him lose it in battle—though I wasn't calling this a battle; he was glued to a rock—so I found the need to figure. And what I figured he let all of hell loose at that particular point. Especially if it involved either Zoe or chocolate. Which came to one more topic of thought: Which one did he love more?
"Stop it!" It was at this point that Tommy began to have the tone of a girl, leading me to believe that he just might be Justin Bieber.
"Execute now!" JP's D-Tector floated up towards him surprisingly. "Yes!" But it was stopped short by hitting some sort of force field (the work of Avaruusmon I could only assume). It fell down with a loud shattering noise, so it appeared that he just broke it. "No…! Oh man, what's the use?"
Justin Bi—er, Tommy was the one to scold him this time, looking at him as if he just bet all of his chocolate and lost it all at the races or something. And knowing JP, he'd probably do that. And knowing Takuya, he'd probably be the one to win all of the chocolate. "Don't say that! We can't give up now! I'm sure Koji or Takuya or Kaz will find a way to save us!"
I pumped a small fist, putting a small grin on my face because of Tommy's words. "Yes, I'm acknowledged!" I exclaimed lightly, causing Koji to give me a somewhat strange look. I knew that if I wouldn't have Spirit Evolved in order to fight Duskmon, I probably wouldn't have gotten mentioned or even a single thought from those three. But now that I've somewhat proved my worth by showing my inner Digimon, I could actually be called part of the team. Except knowing this lot, I wasn't too sure that was one hundred percent awesome. Since I could easily gather that there's gonna be some big downfall that's gonna come my way eventually, making a pretty large hole to dig myself out of. Goodie.
At that moment, giant wooden doors opened at the fortress and two figures of drastically different heights walked out and over to those pinned to the wall. They were easily distinguished as Mercurymon (who could mistake that pointy head with an old English accent?) and that of whom was almost as bad as Zoe, the wet-head formally known as Ranamon. They began to speak to the three enslaved Legendary Warriors, seemingly getting them pissed of almost right away. And from that large distance away, I could clearly see a smirk forming on the Warrior of Water's face. She must've just gotten permission to torture them or something. That grin can't be because she's enjoying their company…
What seemed to be Ranamon's hands appeared, floating in the air. There was four of them, two of them holding feathers. What is she going to do, tickle them? Ranamon snapped her fingers, and the hands floated over to Zoe and Tommy (okay, so why not JP? I don't get it) and while one hand held each of their heads in place, the ones with the feathers rubbed them right below the nose, causing them to sneeze repeatedly. Okay, so maybe not tickle them… But then, the Warrior of Water snapped her fingers again and then the hands moved and began to tickle them. Ha-ha! I was right! Take that, fortunetellers!
I suddenly heard JP exclaim, "Do your worst! I can take it!" Dude, you're not even the one being tortured…or at least what Ranamon calls torture. She, in response to his words, again snapped her fingers, and he shouted out, "You're mad, Ranamon, MAD!" And this is something that I should leave to the imagination of those that didn't watch what happened at this very moment.
At this point, the Digimon trying to get the Spirits out of the D-Tectors resorted to hitting the devices with large sledgehammers. Somehow, their D-Tectors must have been a lot sturdier than mine, since they withstood blow after blow. This ran through my mind with a little bit of unnecessary envy as we concealed ourselves behind a fairly large boulder, out of sight of the two evil Legendary Warriors and close enough to hear more of what they were saying. Not that I wanted to hear any of their voices in better clarity than I had way the heck back there, though.
"Koji, what do you see?" I questioned, knowing that he got the better view because he was standing closer at that particular moment. I saw the look on his face and knew instantly that he thought of some kind of solution.
His eyes trailed back to me for a split-second. "There's a force field around where the Datamon have the D-Tectors. If we could just get through that and then we could get the D-Tectors…" He turned back around and leaned his back on the rock, looking at me with a bit of doubt. "But there's five of them and only two of us." He balled his fist and gritted his teeth, growling in frustration. He glared down at the ground as if it was its fault.
I brought my hand up to my chin. "We have to think of something. It can't be completely hopeless. Just think." I complied with my own words and began to search my mind for some sort of solution. There had to be some sort of method of going about a battle and winning even though the odds were against us. We were the Legendary Warriors, there had to be some way to come out on top. But there was a problem: They were Legendary Warriors too.
Koji put his hands to the sides of his head and cringed. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!" I figured that he thinking out loud, trying to fill the gap of doubt that began to take its toll on both of us. There seemed to be little to no hope in actually beating them. Quite honestly, I was ready to leave right then and there in surrendering of the other members of the group. But, worry not, I'd take Koji with me.
I breezed past Koji and peered around the rock. The "torture" had ceased—though I could have known that by the silence—and Tommy and Zoe were gasping for breath. Ranamon was gazing up at them with her arms crossed and a sour expression put upon her face. She was clearly perturbed that she wasn't getting any answers from the group stuck to the wall. I heard her say to Mercurymon, "Is it alright if I do something a little more drastic?" She got the okay from the Warrior of Steel and then turned to the group, pointing to Zoe. "You! Sweet thing! Let's see how pretty your are when you're squashed like a bug!"
There was a weird little awkward silence as JP had this weird look on his face like the snot was being kicked out of him, shoved back in, and then kicked right back out again. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was slowly inching farther and farther away from Ranamon. Or Zoe. Or both.
"Pay attention, son! I'm trying to threaten you here! Hello?" The Warrior of Water put her hands on her hips and scowled at JP, narrowing her eyes. It was clear that she wasn't in a very good mood right about now and just wanted to tear them apart. Well, maybe not Tommy because he was the only one really staying overall quiet. But that didn't happen very often so maybe he was under the list of homicide. She pointed back up at Zoe.
"What are you doing?" Zoe asked, looking at the Warrior of Thunder with a look that clearly said 'WTF are you daydreaming about this time? Never mind, I'm not even going to ask. Oh wait, I just did.'
"I, uh, it was just…it's a long story," he admitted, a weird expression coming into shape on his face. Yeah, long enough that I can spell it out without even taking time to think about what letters are in it. Z-O-E
"Don't worry, Precious, I'll get to your little girlfriend soon enough." Ranamon grinned evilly. "No offense, but I'm savin' the best for last." She began to do a little dance-thing that consisted of bobbing up and down on one leg and waving her arms. She laughed deviously, in a way that reminded me of Lekismon. "Dark Vapor!" She summoned a purple cloud that spiraled around JP that seemed to really piss off everyone else around him.
"JP!" Koji cried out while pulling out his D-Tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" He disappeared from my sight into the familiar orb of Data. "Lobomon!" The form of the blue and white armored wolf appeared and ran into battle. It actually kinda seemed rash for Koji, not really his style. Although this wasn't really the time for the amount of calculating that'd actually be needed in defeating these guys.
I pulled out my D-Tector and gripped it in my hand. I stared down at it intently. "If Koji's risking his neck to save those guys, then I will too. No more running away from battle, the past matters no longer…" I held out my hand and pressed the button on the side of my D-Tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" I felt the weakness I had wash away from me and be replaced by the strength that my Spirit possessed. "Gryphanimon!" I looked around quickly, jumping up into flight. Lobomon had already gotten the two Warriors distracted, so the best thing to do was get the other D-Tectors. I'd have to keep my eyes on the Warrior of Light just in case things got a bit messy, however.
Nodding to myself, I waited for Lobomon to lure them to the roof of the building and made my way over to the force field. I began beating upon it with my fists, thinking it would shatter easily, but I was sadly—and annoyingly—mistaken. I threw punch after punch until my arms and knuckles were aching. "Why won't this stupid thing break? Is it made of invisible titanium or something?" I resorted to using an attack. "Strike of Thoth!" I cast my leg against it and felt a pain shoot up me. "Ow ow ow! Son of a—ow! Bad idea! Bad idea! What the fukku is up with this thing?" I pretty much lost it at that moment, throwing punches in rapid fire. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"
I then, after breaking a hard sweat from that little bit of madness, looked over at Lobo—Wait, where is he? For that matter, where did Ranamon and Mercurymon go? Crap, I turn away for a second and Koji goes and does something dumb. "Okay, time to go in and help. I'm not gonna get that broken anyway…" I glowered down at the stupid force field and the Datamon still trying to get the Spirits out of the D-Tectors. At least they hadn't achieved that yet. "Okay…" I flew over to the building of which they were battling upon earlier, the last place I had seen them. I noticed a whole in the roof and flew down, seeing Ranamon flooding the whole building with water. Koji's gonna drown if this keeps up… I made a last-minute decision and held my breath, diving in. I looked around for some sort of solution. I had gotten myself in the water, and now what?
I noticed a large door on the other side of the room and tried to swim over to it. But before I could do so, I felt something clamp onto my leg. I turned around and saw Ranamon smiling and waving at me, holding my leg with one arm. "Hi there, Cutie Pie!" Oh great, she can talk underwater, too… "You're not leaving us so soon, are you?" I was thinking about it, yes. Why? Do you not want me to use the door? I can blow a new door in the wall if you really want me to.
I narrowed my eyes and swung my free leg around, clunking her upside the head. With my leg freed, I darted to the door. I gave it a full-body tackle and they swung open. All of the water rushed out, along with all those who were in it. "Have you no control?" Mercurymon snapped, a tone that showed if he actually had eyes he'd be glaring daggers at the Warrior of Water.
Ranamon held her hands up in front of her mouth, looking like she was very afraid of the figure that was undoubtedly twice her height. I didn't know if it was Mercurymon or Ranamon's height that played as the biggest factor here. "Why you mad at me? It was your idea!" I don't really think that he cares all that much. I think he has more important things to worry about.
Mercurymon, in turn, walked away groaning. "I'm surrounded by buffoons…" Tell me about it, I feel the same way every single day. And currently I'm near two buffoons at the current moment. He walked over to Lobomon, who was near where the others were held captive on the ground, struggling to get to his feet. He stood a mere three yards away from him, waiting for his last words. He wanted everyone to stand by and watch as the Warrior of Light is destroyed ever so quickly, helpless as to do anything to assist him to prolong his ultimate defeat.
I stepped in between them, putting no second thought in between my foolishness and blind valor. It couldn't have been seen under the metal plate that covered the lower half of my face, but I gritted my teeth, and I let out a deep, barely audible Beast Spirit-like growl. "Back. Off." Annunciating every word clearly and as separate, one-word sentences, I clenched my hands into fists and glared sharp blades at the Warrior of Steel. If my gaze could kill, he would have been already ten feet under and worm food. "Touch him. And die."
Mercurymon laughed a loud, deceitful cackle that echoed throughout the entire area, his overconfidence seemingly shining through so bright that he didn't even bother to prepare himself or get on any kind of guard. That, I knew, would eventually be his downfall. This meeting or not, it will still end in the same way. "Thy will is strong, my dear, but heavily misguided. Thou shall not live to see another sunrise."
It was my turn to laugh. Not evilly by any means, just a normal carefree laugh that I hadn't let out for a very long time. "I already know that." I said with a smile glittering in my eyes (at least my whole body doesn't glitter…). According to the arrangement of his lips on his mirror-face and where I imagined his eyes to be, my statement took him by surprise and I continued sassily, "I don't wake up early enough to see the sunrise. Hee."
Mercurymon curved his lips down into a frown at my comment. "Thy absurdity is thy folly."
At that moment, lightning lit up the sky in a deafening boom and clouds covered the already dark sky. It appeared like there was going to be a nasty storm coming forth. The wind blew cold gusts of air, along with it, large freezing chunks of snow. It seemed to take everyone here by surprise. It had come about so quickly, just like someone flipped on a switch or something. Almost like someone told the weather to do that and then it actually listened. Naw, you'd have to be insane to talk to the weather… Or just be Takuya…
The Warrior of Steel turned away from me, looking out into the distance. "At last the final player hath arrived." Speak of the devil… Why does this always happen? Do I jinx it or something?
"Well, then let's get the show on the road!" Ranamon ran over to the quickly approaching Agunimon, seemingly a little too eager to battle the Warrior of Flame. Her smile stretched from one side of her head to the other. It was now officially official from that very moment on (well, at least in my mind): The Spirits of Water should now be called the Spirits of Mental-Scarring. Agunimon threw Pyro Darts at her that landed at her feet. "Missed me! Missed me! Now you gotta ki—" She got nailed by one and toppled over backwards.
"Thanks, but no thanks," he responded with a hidden-pride scowl of his spot-on shot that had done its intended job. At least that's one girl he resists a kiss from… I thought with a discouraged frown. "Pyro Tornado!" A cyclone of fire enveloped the force field and completely destroyed it and its surroundings in that single blow, compared to my rash, uncontrolled punches. Hey, I coulda done that… "Now Lobomon, free the others!"
"LoboKendo!" With a single, almost invisible to the naked eye movement, Lobomon had sliced through the chains holding the other Warriors with his light-harnessed sword. After he had done so, he landed in a crouch, ready to spring back just in case.
Tommy, Zoe, and JP grabbed their D-Tectors and Spirit Evolved into their Human Spirits. While this was taking place I inquired to Lobomon, walking over to him, "Were you just faking injury to get close enough to break them free?" He gave me a knowing glance as we neared our fellow Legendary Warriors. We lined up next to them, facing Mercurymon and Ranamon, getting on the ready. "Hey, exactly where did all of the Datamon go?"
"Ah, isn't this sweet? Together at last, I love reunions," the Warrior of Steel noted villainously. Nice to know. You'll be reunited with your fallen comrades soon enough. Don't worry about that. We'll even take care of it ourselves. "It appears we are ready for the final act of our little play." He added a laugh to it, trying to psyche us out. If only he knew how wrong he was about thinking we actually were. Or at least how good we were at hiding it.
"Shut up and fight, Shakespeare!" I yelled, half trying to make a dumb joke having heard him imply a play and his old English accent, half being completely serious in the words.
"I should put on something more comfortable," Ranamon stated, Slide Evolving into Calmaramon. She looks even uglier than she did when it's bad weather… I wonder how that works… Hmm, maybe I should add something here to piss her off… Why not? I've done it many times before, why stop now?
"IMAGINE HOW MANY BURGERS KOJI COULD MAKE WITH THAT!" Adding to the effect of my words, I pointed directly to the squid-shaped Digimon. I would have done the whole point-and-laugh shebang, but this just wasn't really the time to laugh at her and her ability to become a burger.
Calmaramon turned red with anger. Actually, I think that's what she was supposed to turn. She actually turned lavender, instead. Maybe she went to the same place that Zoe did for all of her clothes, except found out they sold some sort of food or drink or chemical or something. "You're gonna get your just desserts for that one, toots! And I'll be the one that'll dish it all out for you!" I betted that if Mercurymon wasn't there giving her orders, she would have let out all of hell loose on me.
"You don't really think you're gonna win, do you? Haven't you heard? It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature!" Agunimon shouted, his voice hardly carrying through the storm. That was the cue to go, and we leapt into action.
It started with Beetlemon electrocuted Calmaramon with a Thunder Fist and Kazemon kicking her off her, uh…feet? with a Tempest Twist. Kumamon froze Mercurymon to the ground with his Blizzard Blaster snowball-shooting gun and Lobomon came in twirling his LoboKendo and tackled the Warrior of Steel, breaking out of the ice that held him in place. After a bit of bickering between the two evil Legendary Warriors like they were an old married couple, I looked at Agunimon and he gave me a smile in exchange for a nod. There was a silent agreement that went on right there, and we both knew the conditions. It was a noiseless contract that we formed with single glances.
"Pyro Tornado!" He spun around and became veiled in fire as I took to the sky.
I readied my position. Directly at Calmaramon and Mercurymon. "Burning Oras!" I felt myself being consumed with flames, but I wasn't burned. The fire was almost a comfort, but I knew it must be release. I swooped down at them as Agunimon released his own attack. I willed the fire to leave my body without the physical contact with the opponent it usually needed and it mixed with the Pyro Tornado. The evil Warriors were trapped in the flames and they brought themselves closer to their beings. When the fire dispersed from the elements' effects, they seemed to panic as we neared, ready for more. It was much too easy now, much different than it had been before this moment in time.
"Well, now what do we do?" Calmaramon screeched, curling up all of her tentacles, making them look as though they just shriveled up. She had a look on her face that showed just how scared she was with the distance between us.
"Retreat and regroup." At that answer from Mercurymon, the Warrior of Mental-Scar—er, Water turned tail and made her way out of sight as the Warrior of Steel disappeared, first his body, then one mirror, and then he snapped his fingers and the other disappeared as well.
To make sure that Calmaramon had actually went away and wasn't planning to ambush when we thought they both were gone, I swooped up and trailed her for a few minutes. She went down the side of a cliff, escaping down into the depths, into the darkness that I could pick up if only I went down there and watched her myself. "You little brats! This isn't over!" she screamed, her voice ear-piercing like a million babies crying all in the same building. Or like Zoe.
I triple-checked that she was indeed gone and then flew back over to the group that had now De-Spirit Evolved and had been discussing something as I neared. I caught the last phrase, words from Takuya, who was staring down at his D-Tector, "We're in for a great run. All of us." He was smiling, probably from our last victory. Actually, everyone there was smiling. I could feel the positive aura just radiating from the entire group, a happiness I hadn't seen in a long time.
Normally I would have run away from such emotion, but I had landed and De-Spirit Evolved even before I knew exactly what I was doing. "Well, there's no sign of them anywhere. They're gone, that's for sure. That's victory, guys." I walked up to them, putting a hand in my pocket. There was a weird awkward silence as everyone, aside from Koji of course, just merely stared at me like I was a moron with an extra arm and a tail or something. "…What?"
Takuya suddenly burst out laughing, as if there was actually something funny, which at this point, I didn't see it. "Dude, you Evolved into a female Digimon!" He didn't say anything more, erupting into more laughter. He obviously noted the more feminine stature of my Spirit. At least Gryphanimon wasn't as bad as Kazemon. She looked like she was in a metal bikini. Where does she work, a strip joint?
"That's because I'm a girl, you moron!" I ripped off my hat and started whacking him with it, an all-out impale. "Dude, you are so stupid!"
He suddenly stopped, seeing my hair hanging down. He looked me up and down and his eyes came to rest on my face. "Mirai…? Mirai Kimishima?" It seemed like a huge effort for him just to say my name. I merely sent him a stare like 'uh, yeah, the last time I checked, that's who I was.' And he responded with a big grin that always lit up the entire room. I couldn't help but think about how much I missed that expression that always used to remain on his face. I missed when that expression made me glow a deep red as he put his hands onto my cheeks and brought his lips to mine.
I missed a lot of things about the past. But I had to turn away from that, the thing we could have had was over. I had Koji now, and I couldn't say that I'd prefer Takuya instead. The past happened for a reason, a reason that maybe was still unclear, but I knew that maybe it was going to turn out better than I can even comprehend. Back then, I thought that things couldn't get any better, then everything was ruined in a single instant, shattered like glass, everything that I had built up and loved—a life that I loved—but now I knew that they can—and they did—get better. Maybe they didn't right away, but when I got here to the Digital World, things weren't perfect, but they indeed were better than they ever had been. And I knew it was because Koji was here.
Getting out of those thoughts that only took an instant to come into mind and get out, I was suddenly snapped back into reality by one none other than Takuya exclaiming, "MIRI!" He wrapped my arms around me, and it didn't seem like he was going to ever let go.
Alright, Mirai's identity has now been revealed! The moment everyone's been waiting for! Anyway, about Koji's blood type, I just saw it on a website and it said it was B (even though there's no real way of knowing) and so I just went along with it.
Please R&R! I love to hear from you guys! ^-^