A/N: I love, love, LOVE this song! And I have it on repeat. Thus, the inspiration for this fic. Please r/r, as I am very proud of this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Toei does, and Saban screwed it up somewhat. Incubus owns "Drive." Any questions?
Drive
By: Crystal, aka Matt & Mimi
Osamu Ichijouji, better known as "Sam," sat peacefully at the desk he used for his sixth-grade history class. Naturally, he was the only one in the class whom had finished the test they rest of the class was working on.
Sam watched in mild interest as a girl with somewhat wild-looking strawberry-blonde hair pulled into a ponytail ran into the classroom and over to the teacher. She spoke in a hushed whisper for a moment before waiting for the teacher's response- and perhaps a chance to catch her breath. The teacher, Mr. Hidoriwaka, nodded briefly at the girl, and she smiled.
"Class," Mr. Hidoriwaka said. The students paused in their work.
"We have a new student," Mr. Hidoriwaka continued. "Her name is Jun Motomiya. People, *try* to make her feel welcome. Why don't you go sit next to Sam, the blue-haired boy over there with the glasses."
Sam watched as this girl, this Jun, walked over and sat in the desk next to his.
"Hi," the girl said to Sam cheerfully. Sam grunted in response. "Well, how rude!" the girl said, sounding annoyed. "You could at least say hi!"
"Whatever," Sam said flippantly. Jun looked over at the boy genius with a decided look of annoyance on her face.
***
Jun Motomiya looked over at the so-called, "boy genius." For someone who was supposed to be so smart, this guy, this Sam Ichijouji, sure was rude!
Evidently, Jun decided with a certain taste of dissatisfaction as she looked upon his face, Sam felt that he didn't need to smile, presumably because of how smart he was. Well, that just wouldn't do. Jun hated dourness with a passion, and she felt it was her duty to make sure that the people of the world were much happier. After all, she felt, civilization needed happiness to make the world run smoother, didn't it?
Jun looked over at the blue-haired genius and smiled. She got a cool, steady gaze sent back to her. Her smile never wavered as she returned her gaze to the teacher, and attempted to tune into his lecture. She could already tell that this was going to be a long school year...
As the young girl walked away towards her apartment building, she noticed a certain blue-haired boy walking in the same direction. "Hey, Osamu!" she called out. The boy visibly winced as he heard her voice.
"What do you want?" he asked, not even pretending to be happy to see her.
"Do you live at the Tamachi building?" she asked cheerfully.
"Why do you care?" he inquired snidely.
"I live there, too!" she said, linking her arm with his. "Let's walk home from school together every day!"
"Joy," Sam mumbled sarcastically.
Jun's ever-present smile never left her face as she dragged the boy genius home. She was determined to make him smile and laugh...
'What is it with this girl?' Sam wondered to himself as she cheerfully pulled him along the way. 'Doesn't she realize that I don't want to talk to her? I've never met anyone quite as infuriating as Jun Motomiya...'
"Look, we're here!" Jun's voice sang out. Sam glared at her.
"Will you please let go of my arm now?" he asked, his voice deliberately cold. Jun's smile never wavered.
"Nope!" she said brightly. Sam groaned.
***
"Sam, it's time for school!"
Sam trudged towards the living room. He'd had nightmares the night before of strawberry-blonde hair and an annoyingly cheerful smile.
"What's the matter, Sam?" Mrs. Ichijouji asked her son perseptively. "You usually can't wait for school!"
"Never mind, Mama," he said. "You wouldn't understand."
The doorbell rang, and Mrs. Ichijouji went over to the door. A few minutes later, she looked over at Sam and smiled.
"Sam, there's a girl here that goes to your school," she said cheerfully. "She wants to walk to school with you."
Sam groaned and walked over to the door. As he suspected, Jun Motomiya stood at the door with that smile of hers.
"Let's go, boy genius!" the girl chirped. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of his apartment.
***
"Sam and Jun Ichijouji... Jun Motomiya-Ichijouji... Jun Ichi-chan..."
Sam had learned by now to just shut up when Jun ranted on their walks home, but that didn't mean he had to like it. 'Why must this girl torture me so?' he wondered as her rambling continued.
"Oh, I know! Sam Motomiya!"
Sam choked at that. "Say what?!" he cried, forgetting his vow of silence on these walks.
"Come on!" Jun giggled. "Why must the girl change her name? I think Sam Motomiya has a rather nice ring to it."
"And I think you're stark-raving mad," Sam responded. "I don't see why I have to take this."
"Because I won't leave you alone until you give me a genuine, happy smile and a cheery laugh," she replied.
"Oh, God," Sam mumbled. "I'm stuck with her for life."
"I don't think it'll be that long for me to make you smile," Jun responded.
"I don't smile," Sam responded hotly. "So why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Nope!" came the toothsome response. "Won't happen!"
"Oh, why, why me?" Sam mumbled to himself.
"Just lucky, I guess!" Jun sang out.
Sam let out a groan in response.
***
"Sam, who's that girl you always walk to and from school with?"
Sam looked over at his little brother, Ken. "Oh, her name is Jun," he said.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
Sam choked. "You've gotta be kidding, Ken!" he cried out. "Jun the Annoyance, my girlfriend?!"
"She should be your girlfriend," Ken said in the adorable way only a child could pull off.
"You couldn't pay me a million bucks to go out with Jun!" Sam said, looking a little terrified.
"You like her, don't ya, Sam?" Ken asked.
"What?!" Sam shrieked. "No way," he fretted, blushing.
"You do!" Ken said smugly. "You like her. If you didn't, you wouldn't be blushing."
"I-I..." Sam stuttered, still blushing furiously. "I don't know what you're talking about. Now shut up, I have to do my homework."
"I still say you like her," Ken mumbled to himself.
***
The next day, Sam found himself thinking about what his brother had said about his feelings towards Jun as he walked with the girl in question.
'It's not possible... is it?' he wondered. 'She's always been so annoying towards me. How could it even be possible that I could ever think about her that way... No, Ken was just imagining things... right?'
"Why so quiet, Osamu?" Jun asked in a chipper voice. "You're even more silent and gloomy that normal!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam said sullenly.
"I know what'll cheer you up!" Jun said decisively.
"And what is tha-"
Sam's question was cut off as the girl planted a firm kiss on his mouth. An explosion of incoherent thoughts burst through his head as her lips made contact with his. Butterflies fluttered in his stomache for a moment before she moved back to her former position.
"Is that better?" she asked him with a glint in her eyes.
Sam reached over impulsively and kissed her, this time catching Jun off guard, he noted with a certain feeling of satisfaction. He melted into the kiss for a moment before backing away slowly from the girl.
"So, does this mean we're going out?" she asked with mock innocence.
***
'Why did I do that?'
That was the major thought in Sam's mind as he stared up at his ceiling that evening. His mind had not left the topic of The Kiss since it had happened, and it was beginning to annoy him, quite frankly. But yet, his mind would not- could not- focus on anything else.
'It meant nothing,' he tried to assure himself. 'But... Why did it feel so good?' Sam blinked. 'No! It couldn't've been that... She kissed me, after all... I didn't kiss her... I didn't ask her to... She just did it... She just... Kissed me...'
"Argh!" Sam groaned in frustration aloud, punching his pillow. "*Why* is this bothering me?!"
"I don't know," came an annoyed voice from the door. "But I wish you'd shut up about 'it,' whatever that is."
Sam looked up in surprise. "Kenny-boy, what are you doing up?" he asked curtly.
"I'm surprised that Mom and Dad aren't up, too, what with all the noise you've been making," Ken said sourly. "Did it ever occur to you that some of us are trying to get some sleep?"
"My, my, you're in a bad mood," Sam said teasingly.
"You'll find that happens when certain people won't let me sleep!" Ken said angrily. "Now, shut up so I can sleep."
With that, the little boy whirled around and stalked back to his room, closing the door shut behind him.
***
"Oh, what a beautiful morning!" Jun sang out. "Oh, what a beautiful day!"
"It's raining," Jun's little brother, Davis, said dourly as he watched his sister prance about. "So *why* are you singing about it being a beautiful morning?"
"You need to lighten up, little one," Jun said teasingly. "I'm perfectly allowed to think it's a beautiful day!"
"A school day is never a beautiful one," Davis retorted.
"If you must know," Jun said with a dreamy sigh, "the reason I'm so happy is that... I think I'm in love."
Davis promptly spat out the mouthful of cereal he had just put in his mouth. "What?!" he cried out. "Jun, you're in the sixth grade! What could you possibly know about love!"
"Enough to know that Osamu is the one..." Jun sighed. "I knew it the second we kissed..."
Davis, whom had been stricken with the incredible misfortune of having just put another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, promptly spat it out... Again.
"You did what?!" Davis cried, scandalized. "You kissed some poor guy?! Now he'll have cooties!"
"When you're in love, you'll like being kissed," Jun informed the boy with an air of false maturity.
"I'll never like a girl," Davis said certainly. "Girls are yucky."
"Whatever, kid..." Jun said with a long-suffering sigh.
"Oh, puh-lease," Davis said, rolling his eyes. "Like you're the all-knowing love guru."
***
"Hey, Sam!"
The boy in question looked over from the schoolyard as Jun waved her arm vigorously at him. She ran over to him at top speed.
"You left your apartment early," the girl noted.
"I wanted to think," Sam muttered.
"About what?" Jun asked innocently.
"About the stunning display of mouth-to-mouth we did yesterday afternoon," Sam retorted in annoyance.
"Oh, so you're saying that you didn't like kissing me?!" Jun said angrily. "Then why did you kiss me back?"
"I-" Sam started.
"You know, I really like you, and I thought that you might like me back!" Jun continued. "Why'd you bother to kiss me back if you didn't like me?"
"Uh-"
"Do you like stringing people's hearts around?" Jun said, continuing like the boy hadn't even spoken. "Just because you're the boy genius of Tamachi does not mean that you have a right to toy with people's emotions! What gives you the right to just twist people's feelings around for your own sick, twisted plea-"
"ENOUGH!" Sam cried out. "I was not stringing you around! I don't know why I kissed you back! I don't know what I'm feeling! All I know is that when you kissed me, I thought I was going to die with this indescribable feeling inside of me! I felt like I never have before, and dammit, I don't know why, but I liked it! And not just that, I liked it coming from you!"
Sam blinked in surprise even as that last sentence came out. He hadn't even realized he'd felt that way until the words had come out of his mouth. They had just come out, straight from the heart.
"Oh, Sam..."
And right there in the middle of the schoolyard, Osamu Ichijouji delivered a passionate kiss to Jun Motomiya.
***
"Kissing in the middle of the schoolyard!"
"Yes, sir," Jun mumbled as she stared at her hands, which were placed upon her lap.
"Kissing!"
"Yes, sir," Sam echoed Jun as he stared at his feet.
"Jun, you're a new student, and as such, you may not be aware of this, but such public displays are frowned upon in this school," the principal said.
"Yes, sir," Jun said meekly.
"And quite frankly, Osamu, I'm surprised at you," the principal said. "You've always been such a bright, polite student."
"Yes, sir," Sam said, feeling about two inches high.
"But, I'm afraid that I have no choice but to give the two of you detention."
"Sir!" Jun cried, her eyes bugging out. "You can't be serious!"
"Oh, yes, I can, Miss Motomiya," the principal said grimly.
***
"Sam, I'm disappointed in you."
Sam stared down at his feet once again as his mother adressed him.
"Yes, ma'am," he said meekly.
"Breaking a school rule so flagrantly!" Chiharu continued. "Why, Sam, it's just not like you! And kissing, at that! Look, I have no choice but to disallow you from ever seeing this... Jun girl again."
"But, Mom!" Sam cried out.
"Now, don't you, 'But, Mom!' me, young man!" Chiharu said sternly. "You're lucky I'm not taking away your computer rights, too."
"Yes, ma'am," Sam said, thoroughly miserable.
Later, Sam sat at the computer, boldly going to a place he'd never been to before: A chat room.
MotomiyaGirl: Wow, so your Mom was really mad?
TamachiGenius: Yeah
MotomiyaGirl: that sux
TamachiGenius: Ino
MotomiyaGirl: *giggles* You pick up on chat lingo quickly
TamachiGenius: ...
MotomiyaGirl: What's the matter, Osa?
TamachiGenius: Mom says I can't see you any more
MotomiyaGirl: Oh, no!
TamachiGenius: Jun, I don't know what to do
TamachiGenius: I've never disobeyed my parents before,
MotomiyaGirl: ...
TamachiGenius: But I've never felt this way about anyone before, either
MotomiyaGirl: :) *kisses*
TamachiGenius: *blushes*
MotomiyaGirl: Let's talk at the park tomorrow
TamachiGenius: Okay
MotomiyGirl has logged off.
TamachiGenius has logged off.
***
"Hey, Jun."
The girl looked up from her guitar. "Hey, Sam!" she said cheerfully.
"Wow, do you play?" Sam asked as he sat down underneath the tree with her.
"A little," Jun blushed. Her hands brushed lightly over the strings, and she began playing. After a few moments, she started singing.
"Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear,
And I cant help but ask myself
How much I let the fear take the wheel
And steer."
Sam smiled and started singing along with her.
"Its driven me before, and it seems to
Have a vague, haunting mass appeal
But lately Im beginning to find that
I should be the one behind the wheel."
Sam slung his arm over Jun's shoulders as she continued to play the guitar while they both sang.
"Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there,
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there
I'll be there.
"So if I decide to waiver my chance
To be one of the hive,
Will I choose water over wine
And hold my own and drive?
"It's driven me before and it seems to be the way
That everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that
When I drive myself my light is found
"Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there,
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tommorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there."
"I love this song," Sam commented briefly during the guitar solo.
"Me, too," Jun replied.
"Would you choose water over wine...
Hold the wheel and drive?
"Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there,
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tommorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there."
Jun's fingers hovered over the guitar strings for a second as the last noted played out.
"I love you," Sam said, emotion raw in his voice. "I know I'm only twelve, but if there is love in this world, then this is it."
"I love you, too," Jun said. "And I'll never let go of you."
***
"Osamu Ichijouji!"
Sam winced as his mother used his full name. "Yes, mother?" he asked.
"One of the neighbor ladies came up to me today," she said angrily. "She said that she saw you with a young lady."
"A young lady?" Sam asked, hoping he didn't sound too nervous.
"Yes," Chiharu said, sounding more and more angry by the second. "One with wild, strawberry-blonde hair."
"Really?" Sam squeaked.
"Osamu, I specifically forbade you to see that girl!" Chiharu screamed. "What part of that didn't you understand?!"
"I understood it all," Osamu said. "But mother, I love her!"
"You are twelve years old, boy!" Chiharu said, her voice high and shrill. "What do you know about love?"
"I know enough to understand that Jun completes me!" Sam cried out.
"You will *never* see that girl again, or so help me, I will not be responsible for what happens to her!"
***
"... And that's why I can't see you anymore," Sam finished miserably.
"Oh, Sam..." Tears streamed down Jun's face as she heard Sam's story. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too," Sam said. And as he turned away from her and began walking, the world crumbled around the two.
--
"I can't take this anymore!" Sam cried three weeks later. "I love her, and I don't care what happens, I'm going to make up with her! Ken, come with me, we're going to go buy some roses."
"We are?" Ken asked curiously.
"Yes, and we're going to buy you some candy," Sam said in a conversational tone. "And then, we're going over to the Motomiya's house, and I'm going to tell Jun that I can't live without her."
"Candy?" Ken cried in delight. "And I get to meet Jun? I'm game!"
--
"Hey, isn't that, like, your boyfriend across the street there?"
Jun's head whipped over at her friend's words. "It's Sam!" she whispered, her heart leaping to her throat. "And he has roses! Do you think he still loves me? Sam!"
--
"It's Jun!" Sam said joyously as he held the roses close to him. "I'm coming, Jun!"
The crosswalk light turned to the little man, and Sam and Ken started walking across.
--
"Sam, watch out!" Jun cried as she spotted the car.
--
"What's going on, Sam?" Ken asked.
"Get out of the way," Sam said roughly, pushing Ken aside.
"Ow!" Ken said as he stumbled.
And then the car hit the indigo-haired boy.
"Sam!" Ken cried out.
--
"Sam! No!"
Jun started screaming as she sank to the ground. Her friend held her supportively.
"Crazy drunk driver," her friend muttered as she held Jun.
"Sam!" Jun shrieked helplessly. "Sam, don't die on me! Sam! Sam!"
***
"OSAMU!!!"
***
Ken clutched the picture desperately, tears streaming down his chubby cheeks as his big brother's last words echoed through his mind.
--
"Kenny-boy," Sam had said weakly.
"Sam?" Ken had asked catiously.
"I'm going to die."
"No!" Ken had cried.
"The amublance... can't possibly... get to me... in time..." Sam had coughed. Kami-sama, even his cough was weak.
"Don't die, Sam!"
"Ken..." Sam had said, his voice growing even weaker. "If you ever see Jun... again... a few years down the road... tell her... Tell Jun that I... will always.. love her..."
"Sam? Don't die, Sam!"
***
"Konnichiwa, Mr. Motomiya, Mrs. Motomiya."
As Jun's parents squealed on about Ken's mental prowess, Jun looked at the polite Ken Ichijouji, a friend of her brother's. Ken was going to spend the night, Davis said.
"I can't believe that a real, live genius is going to be spending the night here!" Jun squealed in an attempt to sound normal.
'Oh, God... Can he possibly be... He looks so much like...'
Jun politley excused herself as soon as she could, and ran to her room. From in her chest of drawers, she pulled out a framed picture. It was of her and Osamu, sitting underneath their tree. They'd been so happy underneath that tree, singing songs and talking and sometimes even kissing. Truth be told, the number one reason that "I Turn Around" was her favorite Teen-Age Wolves song was because it reminded her of those happy times with Osamu before he died.
"Jun-san?"
Jun looked over to the door. Ken stood there, looking nervous.
"Yes, Ken?" she asked politely.
"You left the living room awfully fast," he commented. "I was just wondering why."
"Oh, it's nothing, really," she sighed. "It's just, you remind me of my first true love."
"Really?" Ken asked, sounding mildly interested. "Who was he?"
"He was nothing short of perfect, in my eyes," Jun sighed. "He was smart, brilliant, funny, doting... His name was Osamu, but everyone called him..."
"Sam?"
Ken and Jun looked at each other, exchanging looks of shock.
"How'd you know?" Jun asked in a strangled voice.
"He was my brother," Ken said uneasily. "You mean to tell me... You are the 'Jun' he went out with?"
"Yeah," Jun said. "And I loved him, I really did... Still do, I guess..."
"Um..." Ken cleared his throat. "Before he died, Sam told me... I mean, the last thing he said was that he'd always love you."
Tears glimmered in Jun's eyes. She walked over to the boy genius slowly, and threw her arms around him, and cried for all that was, and all that could have been. And for the next few moments, the two were content to hug each other as they drowned in their memories of Osamu Ichijouji.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Toei does, and Saban screwed it up somewhat. Incubus owns "Drive." Any questions?
Drive
By: Crystal, aka Matt & Mimi
Osamu Ichijouji, better known as "Sam," sat peacefully at the desk he used for his sixth-grade history class. Naturally, he was the only one in the class whom had finished the test they rest of the class was working on.
Sam watched in mild interest as a girl with somewhat wild-looking strawberry-blonde hair pulled into a ponytail ran into the classroom and over to the teacher. She spoke in a hushed whisper for a moment before waiting for the teacher's response- and perhaps a chance to catch her breath. The teacher, Mr. Hidoriwaka, nodded briefly at the girl, and she smiled.
"Class," Mr. Hidoriwaka said. The students paused in their work.
"We have a new student," Mr. Hidoriwaka continued. "Her name is Jun Motomiya. People, *try* to make her feel welcome. Why don't you go sit next to Sam, the blue-haired boy over there with the glasses."
Sam watched as this girl, this Jun, walked over and sat in the desk next to his.
"Hi," the girl said to Sam cheerfully. Sam grunted in response. "Well, how rude!" the girl said, sounding annoyed. "You could at least say hi!"
"Whatever," Sam said flippantly. Jun looked over at the boy genius with a decided look of annoyance on her face.
***
Jun Motomiya looked over at the so-called, "boy genius." For someone who was supposed to be so smart, this guy, this Sam Ichijouji, sure was rude!
Evidently, Jun decided with a certain taste of dissatisfaction as she looked upon his face, Sam felt that he didn't need to smile, presumably because of how smart he was. Well, that just wouldn't do. Jun hated dourness with a passion, and she felt it was her duty to make sure that the people of the world were much happier. After all, she felt, civilization needed happiness to make the world run smoother, didn't it?
Jun looked over at the blue-haired genius and smiled. She got a cool, steady gaze sent back to her. Her smile never wavered as she returned her gaze to the teacher, and attempted to tune into his lecture. She could already tell that this was going to be a long school year...
As the young girl walked away towards her apartment building, she noticed a certain blue-haired boy walking in the same direction. "Hey, Osamu!" she called out. The boy visibly winced as he heard her voice.
"What do you want?" he asked, not even pretending to be happy to see her.
"Do you live at the Tamachi building?" she asked cheerfully.
"Why do you care?" he inquired snidely.
"I live there, too!" she said, linking her arm with his. "Let's walk home from school together every day!"
"Joy," Sam mumbled sarcastically.
Jun's ever-present smile never left her face as she dragged the boy genius home. She was determined to make him smile and laugh...
'What is it with this girl?' Sam wondered to himself as she cheerfully pulled him along the way. 'Doesn't she realize that I don't want to talk to her? I've never met anyone quite as infuriating as Jun Motomiya...'
"Look, we're here!" Jun's voice sang out. Sam glared at her.
"Will you please let go of my arm now?" he asked, his voice deliberately cold. Jun's smile never wavered.
"Nope!" she said brightly. Sam groaned.
***
"Sam, it's time for school!"
Sam trudged towards the living room. He'd had nightmares the night before of strawberry-blonde hair and an annoyingly cheerful smile.
"What's the matter, Sam?" Mrs. Ichijouji asked her son perseptively. "You usually can't wait for school!"
"Never mind, Mama," he said. "You wouldn't understand."
The doorbell rang, and Mrs. Ichijouji went over to the door. A few minutes later, she looked over at Sam and smiled.
"Sam, there's a girl here that goes to your school," she said cheerfully. "She wants to walk to school with you."
Sam groaned and walked over to the door. As he suspected, Jun Motomiya stood at the door with that smile of hers.
"Let's go, boy genius!" the girl chirped. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of his apartment.
***
"Sam and Jun Ichijouji... Jun Motomiya-Ichijouji... Jun Ichi-chan..."
Sam had learned by now to just shut up when Jun ranted on their walks home, but that didn't mean he had to like it. 'Why must this girl torture me so?' he wondered as her rambling continued.
"Oh, I know! Sam Motomiya!"
Sam choked at that. "Say what?!" he cried, forgetting his vow of silence on these walks.
"Come on!" Jun giggled. "Why must the girl change her name? I think Sam Motomiya has a rather nice ring to it."
"And I think you're stark-raving mad," Sam responded. "I don't see why I have to take this."
"Because I won't leave you alone until you give me a genuine, happy smile and a cheery laugh," she replied.
"Oh, God," Sam mumbled. "I'm stuck with her for life."
"I don't think it'll be that long for me to make you smile," Jun responded.
"I don't smile," Sam responded hotly. "So why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Nope!" came the toothsome response. "Won't happen!"
"Oh, why, why me?" Sam mumbled to himself.
"Just lucky, I guess!" Jun sang out.
Sam let out a groan in response.
***
"Sam, who's that girl you always walk to and from school with?"
Sam looked over at his little brother, Ken. "Oh, her name is Jun," he said.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
Sam choked. "You've gotta be kidding, Ken!" he cried out. "Jun the Annoyance, my girlfriend?!"
"She should be your girlfriend," Ken said in the adorable way only a child could pull off.
"You couldn't pay me a million bucks to go out with Jun!" Sam said, looking a little terrified.
"You like her, don't ya, Sam?" Ken asked.
"What?!" Sam shrieked. "No way," he fretted, blushing.
"You do!" Ken said smugly. "You like her. If you didn't, you wouldn't be blushing."
"I-I..." Sam stuttered, still blushing furiously. "I don't know what you're talking about. Now shut up, I have to do my homework."
"I still say you like her," Ken mumbled to himself.
***
The next day, Sam found himself thinking about what his brother had said about his feelings towards Jun as he walked with the girl in question.
'It's not possible... is it?' he wondered. 'She's always been so annoying towards me. How could it even be possible that I could ever think about her that way... No, Ken was just imagining things... right?'
"Why so quiet, Osamu?" Jun asked in a chipper voice. "You're even more silent and gloomy that normal!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam said sullenly.
"I know what'll cheer you up!" Jun said decisively.
"And what is tha-"
Sam's question was cut off as the girl planted a firm kiss on his mouth. An explosion of incoherent thoughts burst through his head as her lips made contact with his. Butterflies fluttered in his stomache for a moment before she moved back to her former position.
"Is that better?" she asked him with a glint in her eyes.
Sam reached over impulsively and kissed her, this time catching Jun off guard, he noted with a certain feeling of satisfaction. He melted into the kiss for a moment before backing away slowly from the girl.
"So, does this mean we're going out?" she asked with mock innocence.
***
'Why did I do that?'
That was the major thought in Sam's mind as he stared up at his ceiling that evening. His mind had not left the topic of The Kiss since it had happened, and it was beginning to annoy him, quite frankly. But yet, his mind would not- could not- focus on anything else.
'It meant nothing,' he tried to assure himself. 'But... Why did it feel so good?' Sam blinked. 'No! It couldn't've been that... She kissed me, after all... I didn't kiss her... I didn't ask her to... She just did it... She just... Kissed me...'
"Argh!" Sam groaned in frustration aloud, punching his pillow. "*Why* is this bothering me?!"
"I don't know," came an annoyed voice from the door. "But I wish you'd shut up about 'it,' whatever that is."
Sam looked up in surprise. "Kenny-boy, what are you doing up?" he asked curtly.
"I'm surprised that Mom and Dad aren't up, too, what with all the noise you've been making," Ken said sourly. "Did it ever occur to you that some of us are trying to get some sleep?"
"My, my, you're in a bad mood," Sam said teasingly.
"You'll find that happens when certain people won't let me sleep!" Ken said angrily. "Now, shut up so I can sleep."
With that, the little boy whirled around and stalked back to his room, closing the door shut behind him.
***
"Oh, what a beautiful morning!" Jun sang out. "Oh, what a beautiful day!"
"It's raining," Jun's little brother, Davis, said dourly as he watched his sister prance about. "So *why* are you singing about it being a beautiful morning?"
"You need to lighten up, little one," Jun said teasingly. "I'm perfectly allowed to think it's a beautiful day!"
"A school day is never a beautiful one," Davis retorted.
"If you must know," Jun said with a dreamy sigh, "the reason I'm so happy is that... I think I'm in love."
Davis promptly spat out the mouthful of cereal he had just put in his mouth. "What?!" he cried out. "Jun, you're in the sixth grade! What could you possibly know about love!"
"Enough to know that Osamu is the one..." Jun sighed. "I knew it the second we kissed..."
Davis, whom had been stricken with the incredible misfortune of having just put another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, promptly spat it out... Again.
"You did what?!" Davis cried, scandalized. "You kissed some poor guy?! Now he'll have cooties!"
"When you're in love, you'll like being kissed," Jun informed the boy with an air of false maturity.
"I'll never like a girl," Davis said certainly. "Girls are yucky."
"Whatever, kid..." Jun said with a long-suffering sigh.
"Oh, puh-lease," Davis said, rolling his eyes. "Like you're the all-knowing love guru."
***
"Hey, Sam!"
The boy in question looked over from the schoolyard as Jun waved her arm vigorously at him. She ran over to him at top speed.
"You left your apartment early," the girl noted.
"I wanted to think," Sam muttered.
"About what?" Jun asked innocently.
"About the stunning display of mouth-to-mouth we did yesterday afternoon," Sam retorted in annoyance.
"Oh, so you're saying that you didn't like kissing me?!" Jun said angrily. "Then why did you kiss me back?"
"I-" Sam started.
"You know, I really like you, and I thought that you might like me back!" Jun continued. "Why'd you bother to kiss me back if you didn't like me?"
"Uh-"
"Do you like stringing people's hearts around?" Jun said, continuing like the boy hadn't even spoken. "Just because you're the boy genius of Tamachi does not mean that you have a right to toy with people's emotions! What gives you the right to just twist people's feelings around for your own sick, twisted plea-"
"ENOUGH!" Sam cried out. "I was not stringing you around! I don't know why I kissed you back! I don't know what I'm feeling! All I know is that when you kissed me, I thought I was going to die with this indescribable feeling inside of me! I felt like I never have before, and dammit, I don't know why, but I liked it! And not just that, I liked it coming from you!"
Sam blinked in surprise even as that last sentence came out. He hadn't even realized he'd felt that way until the words had come out of his mouth. They had just come out, straight from the heart.
"Oh, Sam..."
And right there in the middle of the schoolyard, Osamu Ichijouji delivered a passionate kiss to Jun Motomiya.
***
"Kissing in the middle of the schoolyard!"
"Yes, sir," Jun mumbled as she stared at her hands, which were placed upon her lap.
"Kissing!"
"Yes, sir," Sam echoed Jun as he stared at his feet.
"Jun, you're a new student, and as such, you may not be aware of this, but such public displays are frowned upon in this school," the principal said.
"Yes, sir," Jun said meekly.
"And quite frankly, Osamu, I'm surprised at you," the principal said. "You've always been such a bright, polite student."
"Yes, sir," Sam said, feeling about two inches high.
"But, I'm afraid that I have no choice but to give the two of you detention."
"Sir!" Jun cried, her eyes bugging out. "You can't be serious!"
"Oh, yes, I can, Miss Motomiya," the principal said grimly.
***
"Sam, I'm disappointed in you."
Sam stared down at his feet once again as his mother adressed him.
"Yes, ma'am," he said meekly.
"Breaking a school rule so flagrantly!" Chiharu continued. "Why, Sam, it's just not like you! And kissing, at that! Look, I have no choice but to disallow you from ever seeing this... Jun girl again."
"But, Mom!" Sam cried out.
"Now, don't you, 'But, Mom!' me, young man!" Chiharu said sternly. "You're lucky I'm not taking away your computer rights, too."
"Yes, ma'am," Sam said, thoroughly miserable.
Later, Sam sat at the computer, boldly going to a place he'd never been to before: A chat room.
MotomiyaGirl: Wow, so your Mom was really mad?
TamachiGenius: Yeah
MotomiyaGirl: that sux
TamachiGenius: Ino
MotomiyaGirl: *giggles* You pick up on chat lingo quickly
TamachiGenius: ...
MotomiyaGirl: What's the matter, Osa?
TamachiGenius: Mom says I can't see you any more
MotomiyaGirl: Oh, no!
TamachiGenius: Jun, I don't know what to do
TamachiGenius: I've never disobeyed my parents before,
MotomiyaGirl: ...
TamachiGenius: But I've never felt this way about anyone before, either
MotomiyaGirl: :) *kisses*
TamachiGenius: *blushes*
MotomiyaGirl: Let's talk at the park tomorrow
TamachiGenius: Okay
MotomiyGirl has logged off.
TamachiGenius has logged off.
***
"Hey, Jun."
The girl looked up from her guitar. "Hey, Sam!" she said cheerfully.
"Wow, do you play?" Sam asked as he sat down underneath the tree with her.
"A little," Jun blushed. Her hands brushed lightly over the strings, and she began playing. After a few moments, she started singing.
"Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear,
And I cant help but ask myself
How much I let the fear take the wheel
And steer."
Sam smiled and started singing along with her.
"Its driven me before, and it seems to
Have a vague, haunting mass appeal
But lately Im beginning to find that
I should be the one behind the wheel."
Sam slung his arm over Jun's shoulders as she continued to play the guitar while they both sang.
"Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there,
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there
I'll be there.
"So if I decide to waiver my chance
To be one of the hive,
Will I choose water over wine
And hold my own and drive?
"It's driven me before and it seems to be the way
That everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that
When I drive myself my light is found
"Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there,
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tommorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there."
"I love this song," Sam commented briefly during the guitar solo.
"Me, too," Jun replied.
"Would you choose water over wine...
Hold the wheel and drive?
"Whatever tommorrow brings I'll be there,
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tommorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there."
Jun's fingers hovered over the guitar strings for a second as the last noted played out.
"I love you," Sam said, emotion raw in his voice. "I know I'm only twelve, but if there is love in this world, then this is it."
"I love you, too," Jun said. "And I'll never let go of you."
***
"Osamu Ichijouji!"
Sam winced as his mother used his full name. "Yes, mother?" he asked.
"One of the neighbor ladies came up to me today," she said angrily. "She said that she saw you with a young lady."
"A young lady?" Sam asked, hoping he didn't sound too nervous.
"Yes," Chiharu said, sounding more and more angry by the second. "One with wild, strawberry-blonde hair."
"Really?" Sam squeaked.
"Osamu, I specifically forbade you to see that girl!" Chiharu screamed. "What part of that didn't you understand?!"
"I understood it all," Osamu said. "But mother, I love her!"
"You are twelve years old, boy!" Chiharu said, her voice high and shrill. "What do you know about love?"
"I know enough to understand that Jun completes me!" Sam cried out.
"You will *never* see that girl again, or so help me, I will not be responsible for what happens to her!"
***
"... And that's why I can't see you anymore," Sam finished miserably.
"Oh, Sam..." Tears streamed down Jun's face as she heard Sam's story. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too," Sam said. And as he turned away from her and began walking, the world crumbled around the two.
--
"I can't take this anymore!" Sam cried three weeks later. "I love her, and I don't care what happens, I'm going to make up with her! Ken, come with me, we're going to go buy some roses."
"We are?" Ken asked curiously.
"Yes, and we're going to buy you some candy," Sam said in a conversational tone. "And then, we're going over to the Motomiya's house, and I'm going to tell Jun that I can't live without her."
"Candy?" Ken cried in delight. "And I get to meet Jun? I'm game!"
--
"Hey, isn't that, like, your boyfriend across the street there?"
Jun's head whipped over at her friend's words. "It's Sam!" she whispered, her heart leaping to her throat. "And he has roses! Do you think he still loves me? Sam!"
--
"It's Jun!" Sam said joyously as he held the roses close to him. "I'm coming, Jun!"
The crosswalk light turned to the little man, and Sam and Ken started walking across.
--
"Sam, watch out!" Jun cried as she spotted the car.
--
"What's going on, Sam?" Ken asked.
"Get out of the way," Sam said roughly, pushing Ken aside.
"Ow!" Ken said as he stumbled.
And then the car hit the indigo-haired boy.
"Sam!" Ken cried out.
--
"Sam! No!"
Jun started screaming as she sank to the ground. Her friend held her supportively.
"Crazy drunk driver," her friend muttered as she held Jun.
"Sam!" Jun shrieked helplessly. "Sam, don't die on me! Sam! Sam!"
***
"OSAMU!!!"
***
Ken clutched the picture desperately, tears streaming down his chubby cheeks as his big brother's last words echoed through his mind.
--
"Kenny-boy," Sam had said weakly.
"Sam?" Ken had asked catiously.
"I'm going to die."
"No!" Ken had cried.
"The amublance... can't possibly... get to me... in time..." Sam had coughed. Kami-sama, even his cough was weak.
"Don't die, Sam!"
"Ken..." Sam had said, his voice growing even weaker. "If you ever see Jun... again... a few years down the road... tell her... Tell Jun that I... will always.. love her..."
"Sam? Don't die, Sam!"
***
"Konnichiwa, Mr. Motomiya, Mrs. Motomiya."
As Jun's parents squealed on about Ken's mental prowess, Jun looked at the polite Ken Ichijouji, a friend of her brother's. Ken was going to spend the night, Davis said.
"I can't believe that a real, live genius is going to be spending the night here!" Jun squealed in an attempt to sound normal.
'Oh, God... Can he possibly be... He looks so much like...'
Jun politley excused herself as soon as she could, and ran to her room. From in her chest of drawers, she pulled out a framed picture. It was of her and Osamu, sitting underneath their tree. They'd been so happy underneath that tree, singing songs and talking and sometimes even kissing. Truth be told, the number one reason that "I Turn Around" was her favorite Teen-Age Wolves song was because it reminded her of those happy times with Osamu before he died.
"Jun-san?"
Jun looked over to the door. Ken stood there, looking nervous.
"Yes, Ken?" she asked politely.
"You left the living room awfully fast," he commented. "I was just wondering why."
"Oh, it's nothing, really," she sighed. "It's just, you remind me of my first true love."
"Really?" Ken asked, sounding mildly interested. "Who was he?"
"He was nothing short of perfect, in my eyes," Jun sighed. "He was smart, brilliant, funny, doting... His name was Osamu, but everyone called him..."
"Sam?"
Ken and Jun looked at each other, exchanging looks of shock.
"How'd you know?" Jun asked in a strangled voice.
"He was my brother," Ken said uneasily. "You mean to tell me... You are the 'Jun' he went out with?"
"Yeah," Jun said. "And I loved him, I really did... Still do, I guess..."
"Um..." Ken cleared his throat. "Before he died, Sam told me... I mean, the last thing he said was that he'd always love you."
Tears glimmered in Jun's eyes. She walked over to the boy genius slowly, and threw her arms around him, and cried for all that was, and all that could have been. And for the next few moments, the two were content to hug each other as they drowned in their memories of Osamu Ichijouji.