All bands mentioned in this part are actual J-Pop bands. Special thanks must go to Tachikawa Mimi-sempai for listing the bands and artists that she felt best suited the characters. I recommend all the bands and songs mentioned in this part, they're really cool. (Even the Kinki Kids. ^_^) I did make up a few names and characters sprinkled here and there.
I don't own Digimon. I don't own any of the bands mentioned. I do own several of the secondary characters that aren't really important, but no one cares about them...it's sad. ;_;
Kyoudai 01
by Rb
I walked out of my room, Koushirou beside me, until I reached
the dinner table and met my mother's date.
Her date was an older man, dark hair, sort of rugged looking, a
bit tired. He smiled uneasily when he saw me, as if he wanted to
place me but he couldn't.
His kids...I sucked in my breath. One was a bit taller than the
other, but they had the same blonde hair and cold blue eyes.
"T-T-Takeru-san?" I gasped. "Yamato-san? What are
_you_ doing here?"
"Ah!" my mother said happily. "I see you know each
other already, there shouldn't be any need for introductions, but
we shouldn't forget to be polite! This is my son Hida Iori, and
his friend Izumi Koushirou. Iori, this is Ishida Ryuichi, and
these are his sons Yamato and Takeru. Now that we've been
properly introduced, why don't we eat?"
Takeru and I were frozen in place, staring at each other.
Koushirou and Yamato locked eyes and nodded.
Koushirou clamped a hand down hard on my shoulder.
"Iori-kun, let's sit." He guided me to a seat on one
side of the table and sat down on my right. My mom sat at one of
the shorter sides, and Mr. Ishida sat down across from her.
Yamato sat across from me, Takeru next to his father.
My mom started bringing in dishes from the kitchen. She'd made a
western-style meal, barbequed chicken, mashed potatoes, rice,
salad, and soda to drink. Mom rarely was able to cook like this
when Grandfather was still here.
Takeru and Yamato both dug in eagerly to the food, and their
father wasn't very far behind. Koushirou remembered his manners,
and so did my mother and myself.
After a few minutes, Mr. Ishida cleared his throat. "Should
we tell them, Akemi?"
My mother nodded. "Yes, Ryuichi."
"Well, as you know, Iori, I've been seeing your mother for
quite some time." I didn't know, but I kept a poker face.
"I've been thinking, and..two nights ago, I asked her to
marry me."
I gasped. Yamato's blue eyes widened. Takeru started gagging over
his chicken, which made Koushirou run around the table and give
him a hearty slap on the back. Takeru coughed several times.
"Takeru-kun, are you all right?" Koushirou asked, but
he was ignored by Takeru, who was on his feet, his meal
forgotten.
"Dad!" Takeru glared at his father, his blue eyes
blazing. "You're not serious!"
"I am," he answered simply.
I turned to my mother. "Mom, don't tell me you accepted this
offer!"
"Iori, I did," she said, smiling. Her eyes were like
Miyako's eyes when she sees a cute boy. They glittered with some
strange light.
My jaw dropped. "You mean...you and...him...you're going to
get married? No way! What about Father?" I begged. "And
Grandfather, how can you dishonor them like this!"
"It's not dishonorable for a widow to remarry," said
Mom coldly.
"But...don't you love them anymore?" I pleaded. I could
feel the tears start in my eyes, no, no, no, I hadn't cried in
front of anyone else since I was nine...
"It's not that I don't love them, Iori..."
I turned away in disgust. I didn't want to hear the stories about
how they were dead, she wasn't obligated to love them, how it
would be good for me to have a man in the house, blah, blah,
blah...
Takeru was having a similar argument with his father. Koushirou
was looking around anxiously. Yamato was still eating, his blue
eyes cold.
"I...I can't believe you, Dad!" Takeru exploded.
"I have to go. Oniisan, can you drive me to the Yagami's? I
have to see Hikari."
"Sure." Yamato wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up
from the table, bowed to my mother, and strolled out of the
apartment, Takeru following him.
"Yamato! Takeru! You boys!" Mr. Ishida called.
"Argh...I'm sorry, Akemi. They're strong-willed
boys...Natsuko and I gave them too much independence, in
retrospect."
"It's all right, Ryuichi. I understand. We _are_ startling
them. Give them time..."
The room pulsed around me. Nothing was making sense.
Before, when nothing made sense, I'd always go to Miyako, and
she'd be my friend, and comfort me when I felt bad, and talk
about my problems, and just be there. So I left the apartment
without saying a word, in search of my oldest friend.
---
"Iori-kun," Koushirou panted, "are you all
right?"
No, I wasn't all right, but my mind had shut down at the moment.
I was operating on instinct, and instinct told me to walk fifteen
steps to the right, turn at the corridor, press the 'up' button
and ride the three floors to Miyako's apartment.
"Iori-kun, I don't think we should be barging in
unannounced!" Koushirou hissed as I rang the doorbell. I
shook my head to clear it of all distractions and instead rang in
the doorbell code that was so familiar to me, two short, one
long, two short. It was Miyako's and my special code.
"Huh?" I heard Miyako's familiar, if puzzled voice, on
the other side of the door. It warmed my heart...she was always,
always there for me when I needed her. She was there. She was...
When she opened the door, she was different from how I'd
remembered. Her huge glasses were gone; instead, her normal brown
eyes were an unusual, piercing color. Colored contacts? Her
straight purple hair was wrapped in curlers around her head, and
her face was made up. She was wearing more makeup than a clown.
She wore a pale pink T-shirt and loose, darker pink shorts that
looked frilly and _feminine_.
Koushirou made a choking noise from behind me.
"Mi...Miyako-chan?"
"Izumi-sempai!" Miyako's face turned red, a color
completely different from the colors painted onto her, and she
instinctively crossed her arms over her chest. They locked eyes.
I felt invisible.
"What _happened_ to you?" Koushirou asked, his voice
radiating bafflement.
"Umm...Mimi-chan and some of her friends and I are giving
each other makeovers..." Beyond Miyako, I could see other
girls in various states of makeup levels and frilly pajamas. I
could feel a blush starting.
"You didn't need one until now! You look like..." His
voice trailed off in disgust.
Miyako's expression darkened. "Well, excuse me, Mr.
My-Computer-Is-More-Man-Than-I'll-Ever-Be!"
"At least I --"
Koushirou's no doubt witty retort was cut off by the appearance
of Tachikawa Mimi.
"Koushirou-kun!" Her voice oozed charm, happiness, and
good will to man, animals, and the green stuff underneath a bus
seat. It made my ears itch. "What brings you to the
apartment? You just haaad to see Miyako-chan, didn't you?"
Mimi grinned jovially. "Doesn't she look GREAT?"
"Well, actually, she -- "
"Mimi-chan, he's just an ignorant -- "
"Admit it, you're perfect for -- "
"SHUT UP!"
Koushirou, Miyako, and Mimi all just stared at me.
"Shut up," I repeated, although a bit less fiercely.
"Just shut up. I wanted to talk with my friend, but she's
gone...so, goodbye." I turned and walked glumly back to the
apartment.
"Iori!" Miyako started, but too late. I was leaving.
"I've got to go catch up with him, see you," Koushirou
said from behind me. After a moment, he said
"Miyako-chan?"
"Yes, Izumi-sempai?"
"Take a _shower_."
---
I wandered the hallway in front of my apartment for about fifteen
minutes before finally entering. Koushirou was supposed to spend
the night, but I made it clear to him that I would prefer to be
alone tonight, and he called his parents and was gone within
moments.
I thought about what my mother's decision would mean.
Marriage...a new father, but he'd never be my father, my father
was my father and this new guy could never replace him. Siblings.
Brothers, only they weren't really my brothers, would they be?
Yamato and Takeru, they'd always talk about their time in the
digital world and how much they'd done together, I could never
get close to their level of a bond.
I'd be the outsider, the outsider in my own family. I know that
Mom always wanted more kids besides me. She'd been pregnant when
my father died, but she'd miscarried. She'd love Yamato and
Takeru as long as they let her make meals and complimented her.
And she and Mr. Ishida were totally besotted with each other...
This left me, and I wasn't sure where I fit in. I wouldn't be all
"love love love, look, I have brothers, I'm okay!" I
couldn't be like that. I wasn't like them, the golden brothers,
good in sports and music and at the top of nearly every class and
loved by everyone and...
I wasn't their brother. I wasn't related to them, I was nothing
like them. Yes, we were all digidestined, and I was close to
Takeru, but...they weren't brothers, flesh and blood. And their
father, hah, he wasn't my father, he could never be my father.
They couldn't replace my father, my father, my father...
I slipped into my own room, avoiding my mother. Somehow I fell
asleep that night, my thoughts whirling me around in my head like
a roller coaster. When I awoke from my restless slumber, I
couldn't believe my eyes.
"Jyou-sempai?" I gasped.
"Iori-kun," he said, smiling. "We were
worried."
"You didn't even get undressed last night," Daisuke
added with an uncharacteristic look of worry on his face.
"I was..." No, it hadn't been a dream.
Koushirou stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"We're here to cheer you up!"
"Yeah!" said Daisuke, pumping his fist in the air, all
worry forgotten. "We're going to take you to the mall!"
"Daisuke-kun, we can't write out Iori's day for him,"
chided Jyou.
Daisuke paid him no mind. "We can eat lots of food..."
"Daisuke-kun, I don't think you should have made those plans
without consulting Iori-kun first," Koushirou noted.
"...look at comic books..."
"Daisuke-kun, are you paying attention at all?" Jyou
asked.
"...and check out cute girls! Yes!" Daisuke flashed me
the V-sign and winked. "What do you say, Iori?"
"DAISUKE-KUN!" yelled Jyou and Koushirou at the same
time, with identical distressed looks.
I laughed. "Let's go!"
"Great. Just, um, great. Get dressed, and we'll meet you
outside." Jyou and Koushirou manhandled Daisuke out of the
room.
As I changed into fresh clothing, I heard a whispered
conversation outside my door.
"Daisuke-kun, you idiot!" Jyou's normally mellow voice
was rapidly approaching panicky. "Why did you tell him to go
to the mall?"
"Because I thought we would escort him, and there are cute
girls at the mall..."
"But the others will be there!" Koushirou hissed.
I could just picture Daisuke's face falling. "Ohh..."
"I'm ready!" I called quickly. This eavesdropping was
rather dishonest. I walked out of the room.
"Iori-kun, are you sure you want to go to the mall? I mean,
wouldn't you rather go to a museum or something?" Jyou's
voice was rationality itself.
"Jyou-sempai, I really wanted to go to the mall," I
said, which was true -- I wanted to see what they didn't want me
to see.
"Fine," he sighed, "but it's gonna be awfully
crowded..."
---
Crowded didn't begin to describe the masses at the mall.
The only way I can describe it is such: the world's population
is, what, 6.2 billion by now? Well, in this mall, approximately
one-third of the world's population decided to go to _this_ mall.
People were everywhere.
It felt weird, walking into this crowd. Even though my friends
were with me, I felt so alone.
"So, Iori-kun, where to first?" Jyou asked me.
"Uhh.." I shrugged. "The bookstore?" I'd
spent many comforting hours there, surrounded by black ink on
white paper.
"Excellent choice!" grinned Jyou.
We split up once we got to the bookstore. Koushirou glanced
through some magazines, Jyou was looking at science fiction, and
Daisuke was at the manga rack. I wandered around.
Then I spotted _her_. She was with a bunch of her friends, all
giggling over the latest shoujo manga. I hid myself in the
non-fiction section and watched her.
"Hey, isn't that Motomiya?" asked one of her friends.
"Yeah, it is!" _she_ said. "Motomiya's so
cool!" She winked, and my heart melted. "Look.
Motomiya-saaaan!"
Daisuke's head snapped up. "Ehhh? Oh, it's you,
Megumi-chan."
She giggled. "Motomiya-san, how are you?"
"I'm fine," said Daisuke distractedly, as my heart
snapped into tiny little pieces.
"Motomiya-san," said another one of her friends,
"I saw your game last night, it was awesome!"
"Thanks," said Daisuke. "Hey, have any of you seen
Iori?"
"You mean Hida Iori?" asked one of the girls.
"That polite little twerp?" said another.
"Are you baby-sitting him or something?" a third asked,
and all of the girls -- _her_ included -- giggled.
"He's no twerp," frowned Daisuke, "and I'm not
baby-sitting him, he's one of my best friends."
"Really?" said Megumi, and my heart krazy-glued itself
back together.
I grabbed a book at random from off the shelf, coughed, and
walked towards them. "I'm right here, Daisuke-san."
"Hey, cool. Do you know these girls?" he asked, giving
me a carefree grin.
"Yeah...some of them..." I mumbled.
"We're in the same class, Motomiya-san," Megumi said,
and smiled at me. Okay, it was probably directed at Daisuke and
not me, but I caught part of it, and it warmed my entire body.
"I never knew you had an interest in flower arrangement,
Hida-kun."
I stared at the book in my hands. 'A Beginner's Guide to Flower
Arrangement.'
"Well...um..." I blushed. Then I laughed loudly.
"It's, uh, for my mom! Yeah, my mom! She really, really,
wants to learn, uh, flower arrangement!"
This left Megumi and the other girls staring at me a little
blankly. Daisuke sweatdropped. "Uh, Iori, let's find the
others and go, okay? We've got a busy day."
"Oh, all right, Daisuke-san." I smiled a little
nervously at Megumi. "See you, all right?"
She smiled back. "See ya!"
"So," muttered Daisuke in an undertone as he marched me
away. "That girl, Megumi...you like her?"
I blushed a darker red. "What?"
"I saw how you acted around her, Iori. I'm not dumb."
He cracked a smile. "Not that dumb, anyway. You were acting
like how I used to act around Hikari-chan."
"Kami-sama forbid!" I smiled in return. "Yeah,
Daisuke-san. I do. Please, keep it a secret?"
"You mean, I'm the only one who knows?" he asked,
surprised.
I nodded.
"Of couirse I'll keep it a secret, then, Iori."
We reached Koushirou and Jyou, who were standing in line. While
they paid for their books, Daisuke convinced the older boys that
they 'MUST' go to the music store next. I occupied myself with
thinking of _her_ smile.
"Hey," Daisuke said as we were walking to our next
stop, "I just realized I don't know what kinds of music you
guys like!"
"Is it that important?" asked Jyou.
"It's very important!" demanded Daisuke. "Music is
the window into the soul!"
"Isn't it 'eyes are the window to the soul?'" I asked.
"Eh-heh-heh, yeah, I knew that, Iori. But music is very
important in discerning the personality of a person! Take me, my
favorite band is B'z. What does that tell you about me?"
"You're an uncouth barbarian who has no taste in
music?" Koushirou volunteered brightly.
"Hah, hah, very funny. Who do you like, then?" Daisuke
challenged.
"Hamasaki Ayumi," said Koushirou evenly, with no trace
of embarrassment.
Daisuke started laughing.
"What?" Koushirou asked.
"Never picked you -- " gasp, chuckle, wheeze " --
for a shoujo fan, Koushirou. What next, are you going to be a
magical girl?"
Koushirou hmphed. "Well, at least I'm not a --"
"Well," Jyou cut in, "I like Spitz, Fumiya Fujii,
and Imai Miki."
Daisuke and Koushirou had identical looks of disgust on their
face.
"So, you like sappy music, Jyou-san?" asked Koushirou.
"Do you have a lot of tissues ready when you listen to the
music, Jyou-san?" asked Daisuke.
At the same time, they both burst into song. "Watashi wa
anata no sora ni naitai..." ("I want to be your
sky," Imai Miki. -- ed)
Jyou fumed. I applauded.
"I also like 'Seesaw Game,' by Mr. Children," Jyou said
nervously.
"Seasaw game?" gasped Daisuke.
"That song's so..." Koushirou wrinkled his nose.
"GENKI!" they groaned.
"You guys sound like the Kinki Kids," Jyou noted wryly.
"Jyou-san!" gasped Koushirou.
"How cruel!" sniffled Daisuke. "He's mocking my
dream!"
Koushirou looked strangely at Daisuke. "If that's your
dream, please don't take me along with you."
More laughter.
"So, Iori, what about you?" asked Daisuke.
"Mmm, I don't listen to pop music very much. I like Sakamoto
Ryuichi's compositions, they're really gorgeous. I also like
Tamaki Koji's music."
No one said anything as we got within sight of the music store.
I sighed. "What, is no one going to challange _my_ music
taste?"
"Well, it's not that your music taste is bad,
Iori-kun," Koushirou said, choosing his words carefully.
"It's just that..."
"It's so out of date!" Daisuke jumped in. "Take my
hand, Iori! I'll introduce you to the world of B'z and
L'Arc~en~ciel! It'll be a hard journey, but I think I can convert
you to good music taste!" He twirled around in front of me
and ended up in an overly dramatic position.
Koushirou rolled his eyes. "And you say _I'm_ the shoujo
fan, Daisuke-kun. You were made to be a magical girl."
Daisuke made a frightened noise as he got up. "Me? No! I'm
too handsome and virile to be a magical girl!" He paused at
the door to the store. "Hey, do any of you hear screaming
from the music store?"
"How can you tell with all that racket coming from the
store?" asked Jyou crankily.
"It's not noise, it's B'z. Fireball. Good song. But that's
not part of the song. I think someone's in trouble!"
"Go transform into Magic Bishounen Daisuke and save the day,
Daisuke-kun!" Koushirou cracked.
"Hah, hah, very funny," Daisuke grimaced as we entered.
"Hey...isn't that Mimi-san?" I asked, pointing to the
girl who was doing most of the screaming.
"You're right, Iori...who's that guy with her, though?"
asked Daisuke.
"Hey, is that Yamato-san?" Koushirou wondered.
"Why would Mimi be glomping on Yamato like that?"
Daisuke questioned.
I glanced at Jyou, and I swore that steam was rising from his
ears.
"Glomping?" frowned Koushirou. "What constitutes
'glomping?'"
"Well, she's holding on to his arms really tight, and she's
wailing about something..."
Koushirou, Daisuke, and I slunk forwards, close enough to hear
her words.
"Whaaaaa~aaaat?" Mimi squealed at the young girl behind
the cash register. "You mean I have to PAAAAY for this item?
Are you kidding me? Do you see this big handsome fella besides
me?" She gave Yamato's shoulder a pat. "Do you know who
he is?"
"Mimi," muttered Yamato, "what are you
doing?"
Mimi gave Yamato a flirtacious wink. "Relax,
Yama-kuuuuuun." Then, she grinned at the clerk. "This
pretty boy right here with me is Ishida Yamato, lead singer of
the Teenage Wolves! He's a _very_ good friend of mine, aren't
you, Yama-kun?"
"Not when you call me 'Yama-kun,'" Yamato grumbled.
Daisuke was choking on his laughter, and Koushirou was holding
his breath. I noticed that Taichi and Sora were cracking up at
Mimi's performance a discreet distance away.
"You're Ishida Yamato?" the clerk said, her eyes huge
and starry. "Oh, wow! Will you sign a CD for me?"
"I-I-I..." Yamato said, tongue-tied.
"Tell you what," said Mimi confidentially to the clerk.
"He'll sign alll the Teenage Wolves CDs in the store --
"
"Mimi!" said Yamato, aghast.
" -- If his darling little Mimi-chan can have the latest
Kinki Kids CD for free!" Mimi winked. Daisuke and Koushirou
facevaulted.
"She likes the Kinki Kids..." groaned Daisuke.
"We should've guessed..." murmured Koushriou.
I looked at them with inquiring looks. "Who _are_ the Kinki
Kids?"
"You don't know?" gasped Daisuke.
"Consider yourself lucky," nodded Koushirou.
"Ah." I turned my attention back to the Mimi-drama.
"I can't believe it..." Jyou said, holding his head in
his hands. "She's getting a discount if Yamato autographs
the CDs...Mimi, this flagrant abuse of your friend's position in
the musical world has gone on for long enough!" He marched
up to Mimi, who had just paid for her discounted CD. "Mimi,
do you have no shame at all?"
Mimi blinked up innocently at Jyou. "Should I?" Jyou
facevaulted. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes!" exclaimed Jyou, once he got back on his feet.
"Yes, you should! And flirting with a boy that you're not
dating -- that's just shameful!"
"Wow, Jyou-sempai's pretty upset," I noted dryly.
Koushirou grinned. "Well, he is dating Mimi. I think he
takes this as a personal attack."
I looked up in surprise. "Really, Koushirou-san? Since
when?"
"It seems like since forever," he shrugged.
"Huh," I said, and turned away. _I_ hadn't known that.
Jyou-sempai with _her_? He was much to good for her...ah, well,
it really wasn't any of my business.
"Mimi, you can't just trick your way into getting what you
want!" Jyou groaned.
"But it works so well!" Mimi cried. "Jyoooou!
You're meeean!"
Yamato looked from one to the other, shrugged, and started
signing the CDs. Taichi and Sora watched the Jyou/Mimi argument
with a mixture of interest and weariness.
"I'd bet 10,000 yen she bursts into song," Sora said.
"Too easy," Taichi sighed. "Any second
now..."
"Y'know, let's come back later," suggested Koushirou to
Daisuke and myself.
"Hai," we chorused, and left the store (and Jyou).
"Where to next?" I asked.
"I know!" said Daisuke. He grinned widely.
"Ma-ku-do-nu-ra-tsu!"
"McDonalds?" Koushirou asked, sweatdropping.
"Why not?" I said. "It's in the food court, after
all."
"All riiiight!" Daisuke exclaimed. "Food!"
I sweatdropped. "You eat more than our digimon did."
He winked. "Well, I'm a growing boy, after all..."
We made it into the food court without any further problems.
Daisuke made a beeline for the McDonalds' stand while Koushirou
and I searched for a place to sit.
"Is this a good place?" I asked Koushirou, pointing to
an empty table a few fet away. "This way, Daisuke-san won't
have to walk too far."
Koushirou frowned and squinted in the distance. "Huh...why
don't we take a seat over there." He pointed a table quite a
long distance away.
"Koushirou-san, that's so far away! Daisuke won't be able to
find us! And besides, is that table even empty?"
"We won't know until we get there! Excuse me, excuse me,
coming through, impatient computer geek coming through, if you
don't give me space I'll trash your computer and delete all your
files, move it..." In this manner, Koushirou arrived at the
table of his choice, with me following meekly. Unfortunately, two
high school students were sitting there. "Excuse me, I'm an
upperclassman. I demand this table."
"Izumi-sempai, I -- " one of them protested.
"Shut up and move, Miyazaki-kun." Instantly, they
moved. "Sit, Iori-kun. No, not there -- the other
chair."
"Why?" I asked, sweatdropping.
"What can you see, when looking straight ahead?"
"Um, your head?" Instantly, Koushirou moved.
"Umm...the backs of Takeru-san's and Hikari-san's
heads...Miyako-san and...Ken-san."
"Good, tell me more."
Anguished, I stared at him. "Are you asking me to spy on
Miyako-san and Ken-san?"
"Nnnnnnnnnnyes."
"Koushirou-san!"
"Shhhh! Just tell me what they're doing!"
"Well, Miyako-san's got her head on Ken-san's shoulder, and
she's got both of her hands on his arm, and I can't see Ken-san's
expression because Takeru-san's hat is in the way. I refuse to
tell you anything else, because the look on your face is rather
strange and I'm the closest person to you and I'd prefer you take
your anger out on someone else."
Koushirou's eyebrow twitched. "That's it." He started
to stand up.
"Ne, Koushirou-san, why are you so upset over what
Miyako-san does?" I asked.
He deflated and sat back down. "I'll explain it when you're
older, Iori-kun."
Daisuke appeared, holding a tray that was literally layered with
food.
"How can you eat all that much?" I asked, my attention
diverted.
He laughed uneasily. "Eh heh heh...hey, look! Ken and some
of the other kids are at the next table! Hey, Ken!"
"Daisuke!" said Ken, his blue eyes brightening. With a
bit of difficulty, he detached Miyako from his arm and came over
to our table. "Hello, Koushirou-san, Iori-san," he
said, nodding at us, before (predictably) turning his attention
to Daisuke. "As always, Daisuke, you have impeccable timing.
Thank you for getting me _away_ from her! Wow! Are you going to
eat all this?"
"Dig in!" Daisuke beamed. The two boys started to
demolish the pile of food that Daisuke had bought at an
incredible rate. Koushirou and I sweatdropped.
"You two might as well come over to our table," Hikari
called to Koushirou and me. We got up a little sheepishly and
headed over to their table. Koushirou slid in next to Miyako,
looking nonchalant. I pulled up a chair from an unused table (why
couldn't Koushirou and I have sat there?) and sat between
Koushirou and Takeru. A variety of courses had been neatly set on
the table in a buffet style. Koushirou and I quickly selected our
food choices.
"You like _that_?" Miyako suddenly asked Koushirou.
He swallowed his mouthful and nodded. "Yes, it's quite
delicious."
"But it looks so...so..._icky_!"
"You shouldn't judge anything by its looks alone,
Miyako-chan," Koushirou said mildly.
"But something like _that_ shouldn't have been created at
all for sheer aesthetic reasons! It's _ugly_!"
"Miyako-chan, just because -- "
"I bet you hate it and you're just eating it to spite
me!"
"... wherever did you come up with _that_ hypothesis?"
"It's perfectly logical, Izumi-sempai!"
"In what universe?"
"Isn't it so cute, the way they bicker?" Hikari said
conversationally to Takeru and myself.
"They fight like an old married couple," Takeru noted
wryly.
"Exactly so," I sighed.
"Do not!" they both said at the same time. Frightened,
they both shut up.
"Anyway, Iori-kun," Takeru said, turning to me, "I
have to apologize for the way that I acted at your apartment last
night. It was very disrespectful of me." He sounded very
polite, very formal, and very rehearsed.
"I accept your apology. I admit, I wasn't very polite,
either." I winced a little. "I was in shock, I
suppose."
"In case you had any doubt, it's not that I don't want to
have you as my brother," Takeru reassured me, and smiled.
This was genuine, I knew. Takeru had been one of my closest
friends ever since we had met and gone into the digital world
together. "It's just...well...it's stupid, but I've always
hoped in some part of my mind that my parents would
remarry..."
"I'm sorry, Takeru-san." I'd had dreams like that too,
that my father wasn't really dead, that he was still here...
"Will you still see Yamato-san as often?"
"Well, that's the other part of the deal." Takeru
continued to smile, but the light had gone out of his eyes.
Hikari touched his shoulder compassionately. "See, my dad
had been discussing his remarriage with my mom before he
announced it. And it turns out, my mom's been offered a new job
in America."
My eyes widened. "Are you going to move with her?"
"Well, my mom doesn't want to disturb my studies and my
friendships in such a drastic way," Takeru said
sardonically. "She's going to rework the settlement with the
lawyers so that I'll live with Dad full-time and visit Mom during
vacations and such, like Yamato does."
"That's good, you'll see more of your brother then..."
I said, unsure of where this conversation was heading.
His blue eyes glittered. "Ah, but Dad's moving into your
apartment after the wedding."
My eyes widened. "So, you and Yamato-san...will be living in
my apartment? Full-time?"
"Exactly."
I kept my external features under control, but inwardly, my mind
was whirling, recalculating. For all that I'd been thinking, I
hadn't thought about that...I hadn't thought about how much my
daily life was really going to change.
They'd be there, every single minute of every single day, my room
wouldn't be as neat and orderly as it was now, but with two older
boys, neither of whom could keep anything clean, loud and
jarring, everything would change...
But then again, everything was changing, every single minute of
my life. Nothing was the same, new feelings, new family, new
school, new everything. It was all too much, I couldn't make
sense of it anymore. I couldn't take it anymore.
But I couldn't crack, I'm the sensible one, I'm Iori, I'm serious
and level-headed and the one that always, always makes sense. Not
for one minute could I ever crack. I had to stop my thoughts,
slow down their rapid pace...
I met Takeru's gaze. "Yeah. Exactly."
To Be Continued...
That was exciting, wasn't it? ^_^ I had much fun writing this part. ^_^ Read and review, please, they brighten up my day. ^_^