Frontier 02: Home Frontier – Chapter 23: Out of Love
madjack89: Holy crapmon! Twenty-three chapters and I'm still going strong!
Takuya: Holy what?
Kouji: What the hell is a crapmon?
Shino: Apparently you guys have never heard of Digimon in a Nutshell.
Takuya and Kouji: Digimon in a what?
Tommy: Shut up fo I break you sucka!
Takuya: What…?
Kazemon: Weeeeeee! *flies by*
Kouji: What the hell!
Takuya: Kouichi, control your girlfriend!
Kouichi: I can't!
Takuya: Why not?
Kouichi: Somebody sent us these cookies and she ate them and so did Tommy and then they just went nuts and I don't know!
JP: Come on down, Zoe.
Kazemon: NEVER!
Shino: Dude, these are crack cookies!
Kouji: What!
Kouichi: Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…
Takuya: Who sent these cookies?
madjack89: Hey, who took my cookies?
Everyone: …
Kouji: Well that explains a lot.
Kazemon and Tommy: Woohoo!
madjack89: O-kay? I'm gonna start answering reviews now.
*break*
hazeleyedharmony: Thanks for the complimenting! You make me feel special like that! And just keep reading to see Kouichi's FURTHER reaction to Duskmon (heh heh heh).
greywindfalcon: Sorry you missed it (I was wondering where you were)! But yeah…7:11...hee hee! Actually, I didn't expect this story to get that far myself (didn't think anyone would like it)! But now I got a rep to protect! Woohoo! Alright, well thanks!
kyokoaurora: Thanks! Yeah, Yutaka's in for a real shocker (ha)! But glad you like that chapter; I think it's one of my favorites too!
garnettfox: Okay then! I understand now! And yes dragramon, you can hang out for a while (Kouji:No!). Shut up, Kouji. (Kouji: grrr…) Alrighty, thanks for le review!
GoldenDragon326: Yup, there is Duskmon. (Darth Vader theme) Heh! And Shino will meet you in chapter twenty! (Shino: I'll bring snacks. Woot.) Thanks for the reviewing!
aluminion: That's a good guess! And I'm glad you got to review! Thanks!
*break*
madjack89: Okay, time for the chapter!
Takuya: Believe it!
Kouji: No! No more!
Note: I don't actually eat crack cookies. I don't do drugs! I'm a DARE kid! Yeah! And I don't smoke and drink!
—
"You're what?" Takuya exclaimed, turning around as best he could.
Gatomon quickly shushed him, pricking her ears up for a moment. Then she relaxed. "Keep quiet!" she whispered. "It'll be easier to escape if Wizardmon thinks you're still unconscious."
Takuya nodded slowly, trying to work this out in his head. Gatomon was in love…with Kouichi?
Gatomon smirked at his confused expression. "Weird, huh?"
"You're telling the truth?" Takuya asked quietly.
"If I helped you escape, would you believe me?" Gatomon asked, slipping her paws out of her bindings.
Takuya stared at her, completely dumbfounded. "How did you…?"
"Biding my time." Gatomon shrugged, reaching over to untie Takuya. "Your D-Tector is on the shelf over your bed."
Takuya broke out of his bindings, rubbing his sore wrists. Gatomon got up, making a move to open the closet. "Get ready. We'll have to fight our way out," she hissed, teeth and claws bared.
"Wait," Takuya said quickly, holding up his hand. "I think you need to explain a few things."
Gatomon lowered her paws, staring at Takuya patiently.
"Okay, first of all, how did Chikao get involved with Wizardmon?"
Gatomon frowned. "That's killing you, isn't it?" Takuya nodded.
"Alright," she sighed, sitting back down. "We'll hold off our escape until you're all caught up on the situation.
"First off, Wizardmon met up with your cousin by chance. There wasn't any planning involved; it just happened. He was limping along after transporting us and I was trying to support him-"
Takuya glared at her suspiciously. Gatomon glared back. "Takuya, he's still my brother, despite what he's done. What would you do?"
Takuya sighed. "Good point. Continue."
"Anyway," Gatomon continued, "I wasn't paying attention to what was in front of us until I bumped right into a human's leg. It turned out that human was your cousin."
Gatomon paused, gauging Takuya's reaction. "I guess it's my fault that he got involved with Wizardmon," she muttered. "I'm sorry."
Takuya stared at her, looking surprised. "What do you have to be sorry about? It's your brother's fault. No offense, but he's an ass."
Gatomon smiled. "Thank you, Takuya. I thought you hated me."
Takuya shrugged. "Maybe I'm getting over it."
"Well, to explain why your cousin is helping Wizardmon," Gatomon said, continuing her explanation, "he was actually a little confused at first."
"A little?" asked Takuya. "That's an understatement."
"Actually, it's not," Gatomon said bluntly. "Takuya, your cousin knew what Digimon were right when he saw Wizardmon. He didn't see me at first because of my tail ring, but when he did, he didn't freak out at all. He shrugged all of that off."
Takuya eyes widened. "But that's impossible. He can't…"
"Which leads me to one very likely conclusion," said Gatomon. "Your cousin has been to the Digital World before."
"Excellent deduction."
Gatomon turned quickly to see who had said this. Takuya merely stared at his cousin. "Chikao…"
Chikao smirked. "You're curious. Fine then. I'll tell you about my ill-fated trip to the Digital World."
—
JP stopped just inches from the park's pond, stepping right on a flower garden. He really could have cared less at that moment though, because a few feet from him stood Tomoyo, tears streaking her face.
"Tomoyo," JP began, thinking of what to say. This was a new and confusing experience for him. He always knew what to say to make things right. It was only Tomoyo that got him tongue-tied. It was frustrating, but strangely it was almost amusing to JP. But not now. He needed the right words to make things right, and they wouldn't come.
"JP," Tomoyo muttered, making JP jump. She raised her head to look at him for a moment.
Suddenly, she began to laugh. JP stared at her, confused beyond believe. Wasn't she crying? he thought stupidly.
Tomoyo laughed for a few more minutes and then began to calm down enough to talk. "I just think that it's funny, JP!" she said happily.
"What's funny? I thought you were upset! I was worried you were gonna do something stupid like drown yourself in the pond or something! Tell me how that is funny, Tomoyo!" JP glared at her, his concern turning to anger and disbelief.
"That's exactly what's funny, JP," Tomoyo said calmly, stopping her giggle-fit. She walked up to JP, embracing him.
JP's eyes widened when he realized that he was blushing because of her hug. "Excuse me?" he murmured, keeping his face angled away from Tomoyo.
"Well, you said that you didn't actually care about me, yet here you are, concerned for my safety," she said, smirking at JP's blush. She let go of him, stepping back to give JP some space.
JP stared at the ground. "But Tomoyo, I still-"
"Love Zoe. I heard you the first time, JP," Tomoyo said impatiently. "And I say that is not the whole truth."
"What do you mean?" JP snapped, insulted by her implication. Did she think he was lying?
Tomoyo giggled. "You're so funny, JP! I just meant that I think you've fallen in love with me too without realizing it. Remember that night we kissed? You said that you liked it, and I know that wasn't a lie."
Instead of rebuffing her, JP considered this possibility. He had been genuinely worried about her. He had blushed when she had hugged him. He had definitely enjoyed her kiss.
JP's eyes widened when he realized that the real underlying reason for his rejection of Tomoyo was to keep her safe from attacking Digimon. He was beginning to get over Zoe, truthfully, but he didn't want to be over her.
He had loved Zoe for so long now that it gave him a strange, hollow feeling to know that Tomoyo was, in fact, right. Without knowing, he had fallen in love with Tomoyo and fallen out of love with Zoe.
JP sighed. "So I have," he murmured, smiling bitterly.
"JP," Tomoyo said quietly. "I'm sorry."
JP suddenly grabbed Tomoyo, lifting her into a hug. "Nothing to be sorry for," he whispered in her ear. He smirked when he noticed her shiver. He placed her back on the ground.
She stared up at him, eyes shining. JP smiled. "Who said I couldn't be a Casanova-type figure?"
Tomoyo was about to respond when a tree branch broke not far from where they were standing. They turned to see Kouji slowly getting to his knees.
"Damn branch," he muttered, a slight quiver in his voice. JP's expression softened when he noticed Kouji's glistening eyes
Kouji's head snapped up and he realized that JP and Tomoyo were staring at him. "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, dashing back through the trees.
Tomoyo took a step forward, but JP held her back. She stared at him questioningly. "I'll take care of this," JP said, looking at the spot where Kouji had just been. "I think I know what this is about, anyway."
Tomoyo nodded slowly. "Go ahead. I'll be right here when you get back."
JP smiled then ran for the trees, headed in the same direction as Kouji.
Kouji, he thought, continuing his pursuit. You're jealous of me, aren't you? You're jealous of us. That could have been one of the things fueling you to attack Taki.
He burst out of the trees, stopping on the park path. He glanced left and right, not knowing which way Kouji had gone. Suddenly he felt his D-Tector begin to heat up. He quickly took it from his pocket. On the screen there seemed to be some sort of tracking device with a little blue dot on it that was moving toward JP's left.
JP smiled triumphantly. "Thanks Beetlemon," he murmured, turning to his left and running along the park path.
You're alone, JP thought, continuing his mental reverie. Ever since Seiko died you've felt that way, haven't you? And the only way to curb that dark crushing loneliness was to shy away from your feelings, thereby pushing everyone away.
JP smirked. "I'd better save all this for when I actually find him," he said, following the blue dot farther into the night.
—
Zoe lay on her bed, pondering things that had been bothering her for quite a while.
She closed her eyes, thinking back to the horrible night when Kouji had nearly killed Takuya. That night, Kouichi had gone into some sort of self-induced trance, mumbling about remembering something.
But when he woke up, he didn't even remember saying anything like that, Zoe thought, worry entering her thoughts. I've tried to bring it up again, but…
She shuddered, an image of Duskmon suddenly popping into her mind. Maybe it'll only cause him pain. She rolled onto her side staring out her window. "Mom and Dad have been gone a while now. I wonder what's taking them so long?" She mumbled this, trying to distract herself from her thoughts, but failing.
"I want to help him, but will it only bring him grief? What if that memory is one that should be kept secret?" Zoe sighed, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly a light hit her ceiling, bathing her room in a warm glow. She glanced at her bedside table, where she found the source of the light to be her D-Tector. She picked it up, wondering what was going on.
A symbol appeared in the middle of her D-Tector's screen. She realized with a jolt that it was the symbol of the warrior of darkness.
"Kouichi?" she asked hopefully. "You know, you could have used the phone."
"Zoe," said a voice coming from the D-Tector. It was deeper than Kouichi's, but still sounded mostly like him.
"Lowemon?" Zoe asked slowly. "How are you doing this? What's going on? Where's Kouichi?"
"Follow your D-Tector and you should be able to find us," Lowemon said quickly, as if he were in a hurry. "Kouichi doesn't know I'm doing this, but right now, I don't think he would even care."
"What going on, Lowemon? Just tell me!" Zoe exclaimed angrily, tears filling her eyes.
Lowemon paused then said, "It's Duskmon. He's back."
Zoe's D-Tector dimmed then flashed again, this time with a tracker that could locate Kouichi.
Zoe sat stock-still for a few moments, eyes wide. "Duskmon," she murmured. She quickly pushed away her fear, knowing she had to go help Kouichi. Possibly even save him.
"He'll try to take his revenge," she said to herself, grabbing a coat and clutching her D-Tector tightly, "But at what cost?"
—
"Hotaru!" Daiki rushed into the living room of their house, finding Hotaru reading a book.
Hotaru looked at him, confused. "Something interesting happen in Death Note?"
"No!" Daiki cried. He thought for a second. "Well, yes, but that's not what I'm trying to say!"
He handed Hotaru his D-Tector. Hotaru looked at Daiki, instantly alert. "Trouble?" he asked, clutching his D-Tector tightly.
"Yeah," Daiki said, holding up his own D-Tector. "Kouji called and said there are some Digimon after us. He wants us to meet at Takuya's house because his family's out."
"Good thing ours is too," Hotaru said, getting up and heading for the door. "Come on. Let's go."
"Right," Daiki replied, following his cousin.
Hotaru opened the door, preparing to Spirit Evolve and get going, but there was a figure standing in front of the open door, blocking his way.
He looked down to get a better look at the Digimon. It was purple and looked a bit like an imp. It had big pointed ears, red gloves, and a red scarf. It also had a yellow smiley-face on its chest, which didn't match the scowl on its face.
Hotaru glared at the Digimon while Daiki looked at it in wonder. "Look, Taru-kun! It's making the same face Kouji makes whenever Taki does something stupid! And it's kinda cute!"
The Digimon glared at Daiki, raising its fists. "I ain't cute!" it barked, stepping forward threateningly. "And I don't appreciate bein' compared to that loser warrior o' light, thank ya very much!"
"You're welcome very much!" Daiki said happily.
"Dai, I don't think you should be trying to make friends with the Digimon that's trying to kill us," said Hotaru flatly, raising his D-Tector.
The Digimon smirked. "This guy really is all business, eh? Well, first of all, the name's Impmon, and as to killin ya, I ain't allowed to yet.
"But that don't mean I can't rough ya up a bit!"
—
Shino walked through the gates to the park, still undecided about what to do. He stopped, staring sadly at the ground.
"Kouichi's been nothing but nice to me," he said to himself. "Even though I didn't deserve it. But…"
Zoe's face flashed through his mind. He clutched his head, trying to curb the sudden wave of grief. He shook his head slowly, gritting his teeth.
"Why is it that I can't be happy, no matter what I do?" he asked, more to himself than to anyone else.
"Join the club," a familiar voice said from behind him.
He turned quickly to find Kouji sitting off to the side of the path, leaning against a tree. He was half hidden in the shadows, explaining why Shino hadn't seen him before.
Shino took a step toward Kouji. "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing tears streaking Kouji's face.
Kouji raised his hand, wiping them away. "Nothing," he muttered.
"That's not the impression I'm getting," said Shino firmly, crouching down next to Kouji. "You want to talk?"
There was silence for a few moments. Then Kouji said, "You're jealous of Kouichi because you love Zoe too."
Shino's eyes narrowed. "We're not here to talk about my problems," he said quietly.
"I can help you make the right choice, at the least," Kouji retorted. "Let me tell you a little story."
"I've heard the Digital World story before. Kouichi sacrificed himself like the goody-two-shoes self-sacrificing guy he is," said Shino impatiently. "I don't want to hate him, but I just wish I could be like that. Maybe then Zoe would be with me."
Kouji smirked. "You're more like him right now than you know."
Shino stared at him, feeling confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"You're having a battle inside yourself right now between doing what is right or allowing yourself to be consumed by your darker side in order to get what you want," said Kouji. "Kouichi had a similar problem."
Shino's eyes widened. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"We left out a piece of the story," said Kouji, staring Shino straight in the eye. "Kouichi didn't get to the Digital World the same way the rest of us did.
"When he chased after me and missed the elevator, he made the quick decision to run down the steps. When he ran down them, h-he tripped and f-fell." Kouji paused, trying to stop his voice from trembling too much.
"When he woke up, he was in the darkest part of the Digital World. We call it the Dark Area, but I don't think it technically has a name.
"Anyway, when he was there, he thought he had died. All he could think about was how our dad had abandoned Mom and him. Slowly, his anger began to consume him."
Kouji paused again, fists clenching. "That's when Cherubimon showed up."
"Cherubimon," Shino whispered thoughtfully. "The corrupted Celestial Digimon that you stopped, right?"
Kouji nodded. "He held five of the legendary warrior spirits. Four he turned into his servants. And the fifth…he gave to Kouichi."
Shino gasped. "But you said that the spirits Cherubimon held were corrupted!"
"Exactly," said Kouji. "Cherubimon gave Kouichi Lowemon's corrupted spirit, called Duskmon. Kouichi was all alone and he was filled with hate. Duskmon's spirit consumed him, and he truly became the corrupted warrior of darkness."
Kouji closed his eyes. "In fact, we had a few intense battles. He almost killed me more times than I'd like to think about…and so did I."
Shino stared at Kouji, shock apparent on his face. Kouji smirked. "As you can see, we eventually managed to purify the spirit, and him. It's not something we usually like to talk about.
"The reason we didn't tell you before was so you wouldn't develop preconceived notions about Kouichi before you even got the chance to know him."
Kouji finished his story, gauging Shino's reaction. Shino was holding his head in his hands, looking torn.
Kouji sighed. "Kouichi almost lost his battle. But I know you won't lose yours. You are a good person, unlike me."
"You're all better people than me," Shino mumbled through his fingers. "I'm losing myself already. All it will take is a push off the edge, just like Kouichi."
Kouji was silent, getting lost in his own thoughts once again. Finally he said, "You'll make the right decision. Now, could you do me a favor and head over to Takuya's? Everyone else will be there. Tell them I'll be there in a little bit."
Shino got slowly to his feet. "Alright," he muttered, running back along the path.
—
madjack89: Alright guys, how was that? I can't take too much longer because my sister is yelling at me (she's even trying to tell me what to write)! C'mon, who's the author here? Gosh!
Takuya: But you're still doing a commentary?
madjack89: I said I wouldn't take TOO much longer.
Takuya: I see.
Zoe: My head hurts…
madjack89: Sorry Zo. My bad!
Tommy: My head hurts too, but I still love cookies.
Daiki: That's the spirit!
Kouji: Dai, sometimes I can honestly say I have no idea how you are our age.
Daiki: It's called anime, Kouji!
Kouji: Point taken.
madjack89: Oh, and guys, I haven't mentioned this yet, but because of several time skips, Kouji, Kouichi and Kira are now 13, so happy birthday to them!
Kouji and Kouichi: Okay.
Kira: Sweet! I'm older than Taki!
Kouji: Still not older than me, Yankee.
Kira: Shut up, bandana boy!
Shino: You know, we haven't done a "what happens in the next chapter" blurb in a while.
madjack89: That's because I've been winging it!
JP: Perfect strategy.
madjack89: Hey, you guys winged it half the time in the Digital World.
Takuya: She got us there.
madjack89: Okay everyone, here's the last bit of exciting news! I might get TWO chapters up this week because I have a day off from school! Hooray!
Takuya: Yay!
madjack89: Alright, see you later!