Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.
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To The Future I Must Walk
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Kouichi let out a frustrated breath. Why? Why? This isn't fair. Why? A groan escaped him. It isn't fair.
"Life never is," he heard Mr. Saito say from beside him.
"You owe me a lot of explanations," Kouichi muttered.
Marise laughed, "I don't owe you anything, Kouichi. You should be grateful for the information I volunteered."
The more Kouichi thought about it, the more he realized it was true. Looking down, he mumbled, "But nothing adds up."
"It shouldn't. Lucemon's particularly annoying in that sense." Marise allowed silence to drift in as he sighed and looked around. "I haven't been out much. The bookstore has been closed for how long?" Chuckling, he added, "Thank you for returning the keys, by the way."
Kouichi just shrugged.
Still smiling as he quickened his pace to walk beside Kouichi, Marise said, "I suppose you know what happened to the egg?"
"No."
"Quite right. Someone took it," he informed the boy.
"It doesn't matter. This isn't your business," Kouichi returned coldly, grabbing the lapels of his jacket and yanking them closer as he did. If anything, it hurt to speak this way to someone he admired so much, but he couldn't help but be bitter.
Sighing, Marise came to a stop. "I suppose I should tell you about your brother..." murmured the man, sounding tired.
Kouichi stopped. He did his best to keep calm, taking several breaths and telling himself, Just don't scream, just don't scream. Quietly, he said, "I don't want to hear it. It's not like you owe me anything, anyway." He noted the bitter tone in his own voice and decided it was the last straw. Clenching his fists, Kouichi broke into a run, not bothering to look behind him, not bothering to look in front of him.
There was a light morning drizzle, and the sky was still dark, taking on a purple to black shade. Kouichi wasn't sure if the wetness on his cheeks was rain or tears, and he didn't care much. Sometime after five minutes or so, he stopped running altogether, and stood unmoving in the middle of the street, gazing at the stoplight. It was stupid of him, he knew, but Kouichi figured it didn't matter.
A honk snapped him out of his daze, and Kouichi finished crossing the street. Way to go, Kouichi. Only you could be an idiot like that. He resisted the urge to scream and continued to walk. Every so often he would quicken his pace and tighten his fists as the thought of the destruction of the Digital World came to him; or the disappearance of Lowemon, as Duskmon was already gone; or even the thought of an unhatched Lobomon, who ready to hatch.
This isn't fair. Why should they have to suffer for our well being? Kouichi let out a shaky breath and stopped in his tracks again, leaning against the familiar glass window of the bookstore. "Duskmon, you must have known another way, right?" he whispered, looking down at his shoes. "That must have been why you weren't with Kanaye or Naoko or...or...with Lucemon. Please, tell me there's another way..." Kouichi sank to the floor, bringing in his knees and folding his arms on top. I sound desperate, he thought, letting out a half-hearted laugh.
Kouichi looked up, startled by some sound or another. "What-Kouji...?" he exclaimed, looking up to see his brother gazing down at him with lightless eyes.
Slightly, Kouji inclined his head.
The older twin scrambled to his feet. Looking at his brother, he felt the familiar feeling that woke him up return, but pushed it away. "You weren't home, and I had no idea where you went. We just had a meeting at Mr. Saito's. Apparently we have to destroy the Digital World."
Perhaps he should have known then, when Kouji didn't answer. Mistaking the silence for sorrow, Kouichi looked down at his feet and continued in a broken voice, "It's not fair. They all have to go, just because of some stupid excess Chaos. You should probably go talk to Saito. You missed everything..." Kouichi looked up again, noticing his brother was holding something in his arms. Startled, he asked in amazement, "You have the egg...?"
Still, Kouji remained silent. A strange smile crept on his lips as he brought the egg towards his chest.
"Kouji...?" Kouichi choked, watching in confusion as the egg faded within his brother. His senses became alert, and he took a step back warily. Eyes glued to the other boy, Kouichi slipped a hand into his pocket but stopped.
Out of nowhere, Kouji pulled out a bokuto out of nowhere and pointed it at his brother. A sick grin appeared on his face; it was as if he was sneering at Kouichi. But his eyes were what startled Kouichi the most.
Why didn't I see this before? Weakly, Kouichi withdrew his hand out of his pocket and took another step back. This isn't Kouji...this is someone else. I can't fight him, he realized, feeling the disgust rise to his mouth. He fought it back down, barely dodging as Kouji launched an attack in his direction. "Kouji, stop!" he found himself shouting, though he knew it was useless.
As another attack came towards him, Kouichi dodged it and kicked his brother into a nearby crossing sign. Sorry, Kouji, he thought as he did, then turned around and, not daring to look behind him or in front of him, ran for all his legs were worth.
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Kako stared at the empty plate before her, half-glaring, half-contemplating. "Mmm...I...will not," she muttered with great difficulty. Several seconds later, she growled, "Shut up, I will."
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Hideki muttered, "It starts. Again." The others just nodded glumly in agreement.
"Yes. No. Yes! No. Yes no yes-AUGH, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE! THIS IS STUPID!" Kako yelled, accidentally sending the plate flying to crash against the wall. Seeing this, she winced. Good thing Dad's out.
Hideki's eyes narrowed on his sister. "Kako," he snapped, "that's coming out of your bank, I'll have you know."
She stuck her tongue out at him. Folding her arms, Kako said, "But you still owe me the money from all those bets!"
"Which was negated by that final bet in which I said I didn't have to pay any of the dues if you made another bet. And you made another bet," Hideki told her with a smug grin.
Scowling, Kako muttered, "Not my fault. You cheated me." She sighed and leaned back against the couch, shutting her eyes. She had a headache from trying to be angry with Kouichi instead of thinking of the destruction of the Digital World. So far, it was working, but at a great cost to her sanity.
"Hey, did you ever hear the joke about-" Junpei started, a faltering smile on his face.
Just as gloomy as the rest, Takuya looked up. The goggle boy let out a sigh and shook his head. "Junpei, give up. It won't work. Besides, I really don't want you to go crazy. Just admit it. You're as sad as the rest of us," he said. He looked back down at his feet, at a loss for any more words.
Beside him, Tomoki spoke up, "But we have to try! Our being...this...down isn't going to make anything right! We have to think up some other way, or at least be happy so they have a good last impression of us!" The boy stood up. "Come on, are you all going to make them feel bad about this? Let's at least try to think of another way!" he cried, facing all of his friends.
Izumi forced a smile. She stood up and gazed at her feet. "Y-You know, that's a bit dramatic, Tomoki, but you have the right idea." The smile faded and returned, soft, sad, but not forced. "I don't...want to let them down. We won't be fighting at our best if we're like this. Tomoki's right. We should be thinking of another way, not sulking," whispered Izumi, turning her head to Takuya, who was to her right.
Letting out a laugh, Takuya leaned back against the couch and folded his arms. He stuck out his tongue and remarked, "I never thought I'd be a quitter. My bad. Alright! Junpei, you're all brains!" He turned to his left and pointed at the older boy.
Sulking even more, Junpei muttered, "Thanks for putting me in the spotlight. I don't have all the brilliant ideas, you know."
Laughing unnecessarily, the other boy nodded. "Right! I know that! It's brainstorm time!" Takuya exclaimed, shooting his fist into the air.
Before they could all sit back down to start thinking, Hideki let out a horrified yell. "I can't believe it! NO, RAI MISSED IT ALL!" He sank down beside his sister, crying. Suddenly looking up, he commented, "Wait, that's good. She didn't hear me tell those two to shut up." Letting out a laugh, Hideki waved to everyone staring at him. "Sorry, false alarm."
With all his might, Takuya glared at Hideki. Something inside him snapped and he felt the corner of his mouth twitch. He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. It didn't help that everyone else was joining him, laughing aloud as well.
For those precious few seconds, the world was free from any chaos.
When the laughter subsided, Izumi turned to her cousin with an amused look. "So, what was up with Kouichi and 'it'?" she asked, using air quotes and raising her eyebrows.
"I...it...well, it's a long story," Kako mumbled. She lowered her eyes to the floor and let out a sigh.
"We have time."
Reluctantly, Kako lifted her head up. Another sigh escaped her and she looked away from Izumi's eyes. "In Hawaii, Kouichi and I discovered, with Piximon's help, an egg. Turns out it was Lobomon's egg. Yesterday, in the middle of lunch, it was shining, and then it started bouncing. This entire time, Kouichi trusted me to keep the egg safe, but it was bouncing in the middle of the night, and the doorbell rang, and..." Her voice drifted off into another miserable sigh.
Silence ensued and it was several seconds later that Kako realized everyone had been paying attention.
"Lobomon?" Takuya suddenly blurted, gazing hurtfully at the girl. "And you couldn't tell us?" Pouting, the goggle boy exclaimed, "I thought I was trusted!"
Snickering, Junpei added, "As trusted as a poisonous two headed snake."
"I heard that."
Izumi just shook her head. "Ignore them, Kako," she told the other girl, smiling encouragingly. "I'm sure you had your reasons. But if we had Lobomon's egg, maybe we could have had the upper hand...somehow." Her eyes widened for a split second before returning to normal. After that, Izumi didn't speak to anyone, but murmured aloud occasionally for her own benefit, pointing randomly in the air and looking thoughtful.
In the meantime, the boys were bored of trying to think up ideas. Nothing seemed to be working. They weren't even sure there was an alternate solution to their problem. Minutes ticked by, countless times they shifted positions, groaned, sighed, hit their foreheads, kicked at the ground, but no ideas came. In the end, Junpei had fallen off the couch, Tomoki and Izumi were sitting normally, and Takuya was counting on his head to support the rest of him on the couch, eyes shut and legs folded into a meditating position.
Hideki had grown restless, and Kako was still nodding off, fighting against the unconsciousness that threatened to overcome her. Finally, the young man stood on his feet and yelled, "Alright, I'm sick of this stupid attempt at finding another way! Can we at least play videogames and think at the same time?"
Startled by this given information, Takuya toppled over to the side, just missing Tomoki's head with his feet. He quickly scrambled onto his feet. "Videogames! You have videogames?" Eagerly, he awaited an answer, looking as a hungry hyena would (or so Kako thought as she looked at him through bleary eyes).
"DUH."
"I'M SAVED! I even brought my memory cards!" Takuya babbled, engaging in a lively conversation with Hideki about videogames. Sure enough, Tomoki and Junpei joined in.
Boys will be boys, Kako thought with a small smile. I wonder if Kouichi ever finished any game I gave him. She giggled slightly at the thought, but it came out more drunkenly than she intended. The weight of her eyelids was unbearable. Slowly, her consciousness began to slip away...
Or it would have, had it not been for the incessant pounding at the door. "Open up already!" a familiar and impatient voice shouted.
That's not Dad. He's in the back. Kako sat up and frowned. Her blood was as good as ice when her mind cleared enough to recognize the voice. She dreaded opening the door with every step she took towards it. Strangely enough, she didn't have to. After opening the door, she discovered it shut seconds later anyway, with Kouichi, breathing hard, leaning and sinking down against it. Something told her there was something wrong.
Why can't I place this? It all seemed so familiar.
"Th-the egg," Kouichi breathed, "Kouji has it."
"Oh. That's...good," Kako finished lamely.
Scowling, Kouichi rose to his feet. "Considering he tried to attack me, that he absorbed the egg, and he's out there with a weapon...?" His glare directed itself to the door.
She stared at him for several seconds. "You're joking," Kako blurted, taking several steps back. A fear overwhelmed her, and for a minute, she believed that Kouji would burst through the door and kill them all. Damn overactive imagination, she thought, shivering.
Kouichi locked the door and looked up at Kako. There was a look in his eyes, one she knew well, but couldn't quite place. Sorrow, desperation, forgiveness...confusion; as if the weight of the world was held in his eyes. In a quiet voice, he told her, "It's not a joke. Whatever this is, it's starting, and I don't think Kouji's going to be on our side." He awaited her reaction, but realized Kako was staring at him. "Well? Get your dad or something!" scowled the boy, brushing past her and walking to the living room.
Instead of following him, Kako made her way to the backyard through the kitchen. By this time, the sky was streaked with gray, and there was a gloom that made it seem as if even the flowers were wilting. "I didn't mean it," she said softly, walking up to the nearest rose bush. Brushing her fingers against the petals, Kako repeated, "I didn't mean it. Is he mad at me? This is my fault, isn't it?"
As if to answer her, the petal she touched broke away from the rose, and was gently carried into her palm. Shutting her eyes, Kako cupped her hands, placing one on top of the other to carry the petal without harm. She brought her hands towards her, opening them when they were at her eyes' level. "Please...be safe," she whispered, watching as the petal flew off in the breeze that blew harsher with each second that passed.
She wasn't sure at the least to whom.
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Izumi sat down quietly on the couch, straining her ears to see if she could hear who was at the door. She was positive it was Kouichi, but Kako went to check, and she figured the two would appreciate a moment alone. It was when Kouichi returned without her cousin that Izumi began to worry.
She looked up with a start as he entered the living room. "Kouichi-"
"What...are...you all doing?" Kouichi rasped, trying to even out his breathing by taking deep breaths.
The tone of his voice was what worried her the most. "What happened?" she inquired, sitting on the edge of her seat.
Kouichi drifted towards the opposite couch, sitting down in the spot Kako had previously occupied. He spared the details and said bluntly, "Kouji. Egg. Crazy."
Withholding a frustrated cry, Izumi gritted her teeth. "What?" she asked, digging her fingers into the couch.
The details spilled out of Kouichi's mouth faster than she could comprehend. She caught bits of it. "...went for a walk...ran...Kouji near a crosswalk...had the egg...egg...went into him...had a bokuto...tried to attack me...ran," was what it sounded like to her. But the tidbits she heard were enough for her to picture what was going on.
Before Izumi could say anything, Kouichi turned to the boys, who had gathered around Hideki and were listening to his advice for videogames. "Idiots! What are you doing? Don't you care about the Digital World?" he snapped, glaring at them.
The room fell into silence.
Junpei tried to defend himself. "We were just-"
"I don't care. Do something useful! Kouji would do something, but no, he had to go and be...be..." Kouichi let out a growl and slammed his fist downward into the space beside him.
A frown appeared on the girl's face. Izumi stood up and murmured, "We care, Kouichi. Don't ever question that. I don't know what happened to Kouji, but you can't forget that we're still a team. There's six of us, five without Kouji. I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you in any way took that out on Kako..." Izumi drew a breath. "What is wrong with you? Is it Kouji?" she asked.
Exhaling sharply, Kouichi shook his head. "I don't know, Izumi," he confessed in a weak voice. "He's...his eyes were...it's like he was..."
"Possessed?" a softer voice offered.
Kouichi stood up and looked at Marise. Guiltily, he looked at his feet and mumbled, "About earlier, Mr. Saito, I..."
Marise waved a dismissive hand. "That matters little. Yes...Kouichi, I thought you should know." A small, dry smile lit his face. "Your brother is...well, he is, in all technicalities, possessed," the man admitted.
Again, the room was swallowed by silence. Kouichi stiffly turned his gaze towards the general direction of the door. "Then..." A deathly pale color washed over him. "N-no..."
A chilling scream of pain echoed throughout the house.
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Kanaye calmly took a sip of tea, then placed the china cup down on the table. "It will be a few more hours, and the Area we've created will take full effect. With the absence of the spirits in the Digital World, Lucemon made it his top priority to collect his best digimon in that one spot. Perhaps we should lift the cover now?" he suggested, meeting Rai's eyes.
She lazily stirred her tea with a small spoon, gazing at him all the while. Lift the cover...? Leaving the spoon in its place, Rai sat up straight and nodded. "It would be wise...but I'm afraid of what the government might do. They'd be wasting troops, for one. Nevertheless, it would give the people some warning. W-wait!" she exclaimed as Kanaye snapped his fingers.
"Done. Too late, Ophanimon." The victorious smirk was replaced by one of curiosity. "Shouldn't you be with Kimura and company? I'm sure those idiots will need your help about now," he commented.
Laughing, Rai retorted, "They've got Hideki. He'll use his brain. It'll be fine." She went back to stirring her tea.
Kanaye cleared his throat. "Ignoring your cell phone?" He rose an eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes and took the cell phone out of her pocket. Flipping it open, she answered with a drawl. "Hello?"
"H-Hey...Rai...want to help us?" There was a nervous laugh.
Hideki, Rai thought, biting back a groan. In an attempt to sound enthusiastic, she exclaimed, "Hideki...! We were just talking about you..." The enthusiasm faded quickly. Oh screw it, I'm not doing this. "What do you want?" she asked impatiently.
"Well you see we were all just fine trying to think up ways to not destroy the Digital World and then suddenly twerp one comes in and yells at us all because we were slacking and apparently Kouji is possessed or loco or something and at the moment he's at our door and trying to break it down. Hi, Rai. How was your day? Are you free? Because we could use some advice at the moment," Hideki whimpered.
That...big...baby. She cursed to herself and ignored Kanaye's look of amusement. "I'll be right there...stupid baby," she muttered, hanging up and pocketing her cell phone. "Yeah...that was Hideki...apparently he can't take care of himself. Oh, yeah, and there's something about Kouji going loco and attacking."
"Thought so."
"You knew about Kouji, too?"
"Yes. It's been in Lucemon's book for a long time."
Rai huffed and crossed her arms. "You could have told us."
He gave her a grin. "I'm supposed to be on Lucemon's side. Handicaps vary," he told her.
"I guess," the biology teacher muttered, standing up. "You'll be going, too?"
"Yes. Ai will be...suspicious." Kanaye pressed his lips together and tried to hide his annoyance.
Snickering, Rai made her way to the door, Kanaye right behind her. "You aren't so bad, kid. Good luck with getting her off your back. And...it might help to know that we'll probably be at Marise's house the entire day. Just in case, say, you have the time to drop by?" she suggested, giving him a meaningful look.
Kanaye smirked. "I'll keep that in mind."
From outside the apartment, he watched her run off. Shivering from the cold, Kanaye started his own journey back home.
A part of him longed to go elsewhere. Maybe...when this is over, I'll visit Mom. Resolved, Kanaye quickened his pace.
"You're going the wrong way, Kanaye," someone scowled.
Lazily, Kanaye replied, "So what if I'm taking the long way? It's not like any of you care." He stopped all movement forward and whipped his head in the direction of the speaker. "Fujitaka." They acknowledged each other with a prolonged inclination of their heads.
An impatient sigh startled them out of their staring contest. Under her breath, Naoko muttered, "Oh for the love of-Fujita! Hurry up! We don't have all day."
"What were you doing here?" Fujitaka sneered at Kanaye, ignoring the girl beside him.
Calmly, Kanaye replied, "When it's your business, I'll tell you. In case you haven't noticed, Mercurymon, I'm the leader, despite the fact that you're one of the stupid legendary warriors. If you have a problem, duke it out with Agunimon and take over his squad." The smirk went hidden as Fujitaka scowled.
Naoko sensed the heightened tension in the air. Pushing aside Fujitaka, she snapped, "Lucemon ordered us to prepare, oh wise leader. Are you coming or not?"
Kanaye shrugged. "As I said, I'm taking the long way. Does it matter?" he inquired.
"Yes."
Suppressing the urge to curse, Kanaye pushed Fujitaka out of his way and, with the two right behind him, ran the rest of the way. The sooner this was over, the better.
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"It's not that bad. Come on, there's been worse," Kako commented, swallowing as she gazed at the boy before her. Hearing Kouichi's scream, she had come inside to find him staring at the space in front of him unblinkingly, not moving, not talking, just staring. It frightened her to see him in that state, and what was worse...
...no one seemed to care. They just left him like this. They don't think I can help him, do they? Kako whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and sitting beside Kouichi to rest her head on the arm of the couch. She barely touched her forehead to the couch when the sound of a door opening startled her. "Kouichi-" she started, but stopped when she realized who came in.
An overwhelming joy surged through her, but she didn't get up in time before Hideki ran forward, grabbing Rai's hand. "Don't worry, I'll save you!" he declared, gazing at Rai with determined eyes.
Silence.
Brushing Hideki away, Rai walked over to Kako. "Where's everyone else?" she inquired.
"Outside...for the most part staring and dodging while Kouji attacks," the girl replied. "But Rai-"
The lady let out an impatient sigh. Pacing, she muttered, "That's as good as standing under a falling tree branch. Why aren't they attacking?"
Smiling, Kako answered, "They're all scared silly, and it's really just Kouji." The smile faltered. "And...I guess they don't want to hurt him," she added softly, careful not to look in Kouichi's direction.
Rai let out a curse. "Where's your dad?"
"Kitchen," Hideki interrupted, sending Rai a look only they seemed to understand. In turn, she glared at him and the two erupted in a conversation of hushed whispers that were incomprehensible to Kako from where she sat.
Beside her, Kouichi let out a hollow laugh. "Kouji...with the egg," he whispered.
Kako jumped. Eyes wide, she looked at him, frantic. Beginning to panic, she stuttered, "K-Kouichi!"
"No...be quiet." Kouichi, whose head had been bowed to stare at his feet, looked up with eyes gleaming with hatred. "Just be quiet."
She scowled. No wonder they just left him, she thought, glaring coldly at him. "Listen, and listen well, okay? I'm not going to ever talk to a...loser like you if you're going to do something like this! This is your brother we're talking about! Why is it that Takuya and everyone else have to fight him, and not you?" She looked at him, expectant for an answer.
Kouichi shook his head. "Kouji...with the egg," he said again, louder this time. "That's not my brother."
"To hell with that, Kouichi! Since the beginning of the year, any time Kouji's done something stupid, that's all you can say. 'That's not my brother,'" she mimicked. Sneering, she added, "And it doesn't take a genius to notice you always sound proud or amused. Face it, Kouichi. You're afraid." She sent him a challenging glare, which was met with a tired look. Surprise fluttered through her eyes, but she made sure to keep her face.
Standing up, Kouichi looked at his feet and murmured, "I know I'm afraid. It's sickening. They say the only thing to fear is fear itself, but I'm afraid of that and much more." He gazed at Kako. "About earlier...I...I didn't mean it. Or...or maybe I did." A frustrated look overcame him. "I can't explain it, Kako. I didn't want to do that. I know I hurt you, I-" He stopped, clenching his fists as he did. Voice lodged in his throat, Kouichi looked at her with a tearing face, as if trying to say something.
A forced smile appeared on her lips. Standing up, Kako covered his mouth with her hand and murmured, "Go fight, and we'll see how great your apology is."
"Thank you," Kouichi whispered.
She shook her head and watched as he ran out the door. Softly, so only she could hear, Kako murmured, "You're the one that did this. Everything you accomplish is you."
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A/N-
Sorry to cut it short, action is next chapter. Oops, bad prediction.
Thank you for the REVIEWS- GemmaniGirl, RukiMinamoto, x.XWeirdxnxWiseX.x
XP Crazy catcher uppers. It means a lot to me. Especially now. .:stupidly messed up a notepad and deleted it, thereby deleting all fiction press ideas:. Your reviews really helped cheer me up.
Review or PM or Flame.