Izumi hated her school uniform. Really, truly, deeply, she hated it. It was generic, common, fit in all the wrong places, and to top it all off, was exactly the shade of brown she looked the least attractive in. Her only comfort was that she wasn't alone; misery loves company and, near as she could tell, no one else was rocking the uniform either. She knew they weren't designed to be flashy or even particularly nice, but still, did the thing have to be so hideous! Frowning at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, Izumi readjusted the collar, then tugged on the skirt, trying to center it around her hips. This twisted the white shirt that was tucked into the skirt's elastic band, creating wrinkles that demanded her immediate attention. Then there was the matter of her hair, which was the one aspect of her appearance with which the school allowed her any freedom. Normally this was an exciting thought, as Izumi considered herself to be quite the independent and creative spirit, but today the ugliness of her uniform was extra depressing. She parted the golden sheet right down the middle, braided both halves into pigtails, then pulled the braids out, sighing in frustration.
No… that was a lie. It wasn't the school uniform that was depressing her. The real culprit was so much more obvious and so less easily dealt with. Izumi was upset because she had a friend in trouble and she had no idea how to help him. She was depressed because said friend didn't even want her to try. He didn't think she, or any of them really, could do anything anyway. And now, on top of all that, he wouldn't even talk to her and she didn't understand why. She didn't understand what she had done wrong- and she must have done something wrong. Koichi's behavior had to be her fault some how, the result of something she'd done or a backlash against something she'd said. Because if it wasn't, if it had nothing to do with her, then she wasn't just depressed; she was powerless and that was something Izumi refused to be.
So she'd fretted and followed him, talking about school, the weather, homework, trees, anything that might get Koichi to speak. And when she wasn't trying to reestablish communication she fussed over little things that didn't matter. This was one of those times and she knew it. Setting her jaw, Izumi pulled all her hair over her left shoulder and began to braid, pulling each turn just a little out of the knot to give it some extra volume. Back in her bedroom, her phone started chirping as someone decided 7AM was a good time to call her. She fastened the braid with a brown band and walked efficiently to the phone.
"Takuya," she said inquisitively, checking the caller ID. "You're up early. There's more than 10 minutes until school starts."
"Hey," he said back in mock defense. "I'm not that bad! I've even been known to go to school early!"
"It's not 'going to school early' if you have football practice."
"Mmmm, I'm pretty sure it's the place that makes it count, not the reason."
"Sure…" A moment of silence.
"Zumi? What's up?"
"What do you mean? I'm fine."
"Come on, remember who you're talking to. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I couldn't tell the difference between your upset 'I'm fine' and your legit 'I'm fine'?"
"Takuya," she started in a falsely teasing voice. But then she stopped suddenly, reconsidering. He waited patiently for her to decide how to respond, listening to a dull clicking sound as she bit her thumbnail. Nervous habit; now he knew there was something wrong.
"I asked around at school…" She faltered, chewing her tongue. "There's a boy from 3B, Tanaka Yuki… He's quiet, no one really knew him… I guess that's the type, right?"
"He's missing?"
"Two days now." She inhaled slowly, biting down on her nail. "They're in my school, Takuya. For who knows how long! And if they're in my school, just down the hall from me, then where else are they?"
He had no answer. Truth be told, they were in his school too. Not anyone he knew personally, Koichi was the only quiet, insecure kid he hung out with, but around him. That girl he'd assumed was sick was now top of the class; the lanky kid that ate lunch alone on the stairs wasn't around anymore. They were everywhere, like shadows on the streets. The longer he looked the more he found, even people who had looked perfectly fine.
"There's a lot of stressed people out there," he shrugged. "When you start looking for them."
"They're more than stressed," Izumi said, her nail snapping between her teeth. "They're invisible- powerless. They don't think anyone can help them… They don't even want help anymore…"
"You're worried about Koichi," Takuya read, hoping to stop her nail chewing before she destroyed it beyond salvage. There was a long pause as Izumi rubbed her fingers together, choosing her words.
"It's been almost a week, Takuya. I know you said we needed to give him some space and I've been trying, really I have, but I…" She swallowed, sitting down on the edge of her bed and bracing her elbows on her knees.
"I know," Takuya said, the warmth in his voice somehow making it across the line. "And I get it. I'm worried too. It bugs me that we haven't heard a peep from Tache either. I can't think they'd have just given up, not after that dream thing."
"We wouldn't know it even if they did make a peep," Izumi scoffed scornfully, wrinkling her nose. "He won't even talk to us! How are we supposed to help if he won't tell us what's happening? Oh wait, that's right, we're not supposed to help."
"I hear you, I hear you," he soothed. Izumi could just imagine him on the other side, waving his hands at the wall or the window for emphasis, and that made her smile a little.
"I know. It's just so frustrating! And where's Dorian in all this?"
"He said he had some stuff to take care of," Takuya shrugged. Izumi scooted forward on her bed, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline.
"But don't you think it's a little weird? He goes down and talks to Koichi, then suddenly our friend won't speak with us? Then he just up and vanishes without any explanation?"
"He's French?" The Takuya in her mind shrugged again as he spoke, making an I-have-no-clue face. Izumi wrinkled her nose, unsatisfied with the answer.
"He's hiding something… something important."
"How'd you know?"
"Woman's intuition."
"Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously!" Her mock vexation came out a little too real and she sighed, straightening and crossing her legs in an attempt to force calm back into her body. On the other end, Takuya made some mildly vexed noises of his own, the rustle of cloth hissing in the background as he too shifted.
"I'm sorry Takuya," she apologized. "I didn't mean to bite; I just don't trust him. It's not that I think he's a bad guy, necessarily…"
"You just think he's an ass."
"No! Well, yes, I do think he's an ass, but that's beside the point. I feel like there's something…" She swallowed, trying to find the word. "Off about him. Something lacking."
"Zumi, he's here to help us. And if you look at it he's been nothing but helpful since he's shown up."
"But where is he now? Why haven't we heard from him? If keeping Tache at bay really is his primary concern, then what's so important that he's willing to leave Koichi unattended for a week?"
"Koichi's not 'unattended;' Dorian left him with us."
"Dorian thinks we're incompetent, a sentiment Koichi seems to share. He doesn't seem like the type to leave important matters to incompetent people. He has got to know something we don't, or have some source of information we don't know about."
She heard an intake of breath and chose to cut him off before the argument could get heated again.
"Takuya, please just listen to me. We need to know whatever it is that he knows and we need to know how he knows it. I want to trust Dorian, I really do, and I want to believe he's got nothing but good intentions, but-"
"You need a little bit of proof," Takuya finished in a resigned tone. She sighed affirmation through her nose, bringing her thumbnail back up to her lips, wondering if maybe she'd gone too far.
"I'm sorry," she apologized softly, more for causing him trouble than for any of her thoughts.
"Don't be," he said reassuringly. "We've been together for a while now and I have never known your instincts to be wrong. If anything I'm the one who should be sorry, for trying to push you. So, okay… if Dorian's hiding anything, it'd be in his apartment or somewhere in that building, right?"
"Yes," said Izumi uncertainly. "Takuya, where are you going with this?"
"Tomorrow after school I'll pick you up and we can go check it out! See what we find. If there is something there, we confront him about it. Force him to come clean with us."
"And if we don't find anything there?"
"Then we keep on our toes, but I think if we don't find anything incriminating we should lay off the French guy. We Digidestined need to stick together and trust each other, for Koichi's sake."
"For Koichi's sake," Izumi nodded. She could hear the placating smile in Takuya's voice, and that made her smile too. There was a bit of a pause, then, a spark of mischief lighting in her stomach, she added: "So it's a date!" and hung up.