Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Searching
They passed the Washington monument as they walked through Washington D.C. Matt stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You hear everyone talk about how big all this stuff is, but when you've fought a monster that can take up five Odiaba blocks standing up and sitting down, this all seems average."
Tai stopped and saluted the monument. "Doesn't make what they stand for any less/"
"I guess," Matt shrugged.
"Are we almost at this girl's house?" Tai asked as he kicked at the ground.
"Almost," Izzy replied. They entered a nice looking neighbor hood. Large green trees lined the street and stood like a canopy over the two story houses that occupied the lots.
"Wow," Matt smirked. "How plush. This girl's got it good."
"There it is," Izzy pointed out. The three other's looked up at a two-story house painted white with four windows decorating the front.
"Looks cheery enough," Tai observed as they walked up the drive. Izzy nodded, but kept his eyes on the brown front door. "So how did this Mizuhara guy get your sister anyway? I mean, why didn't your parents take her too?"
"Uh I don't know," Izzy replied with a shake of his head. "I'll have to ask my parents."
"Well, are you gonna ring the bell or what?" Tai asked impatiently.
"Oh yeah." Izzy pressed the orange illuminated doorbell beside the door. They could hear a muffled 'ding dong' from inside.
The door opened to reveal a tall, black haired man. He stared at them through charcoal colored eyes, with a look on his hard, slightly aged face, that was warm. "Yes, can I help you?" He locked eyes with each of them, freezing on Izzy's.
"Uh hi, my name is Koushiro Izumi and I-" Izzy started.
The man's eyes widened. "What? Repeat your name."
"Koushiro Izumi." When the man didn't say anything Izzy continued. "I'm looking for a girl by the name of Cassandra Mizuhara. Does she live here by any chance?"
The man's eyes seemed to ignite at the name. "No Cassandra doesn't live here. Now please go away."
He tried to shut the door, but Matt put his foot in the way. "Listen sir, you know more then you're telling us. Now we've come a very long way and the fact is you're our only lead on this girl. Please help us out." It wasn't a question; it was a demand.
The man could see the fire in Matt's eyes, knowing the blond teen would not back down and gave a defeated sigh. He stepped out of the house, briefly glancing over his shoulder, back inside. Izzy followed the man's gaze and saw into the kitchen of the house where a woman was shuffling around. The man closed the door, blocking any further view. "Listen, I haven't heard from Cassandra in almost eight years. I doubt there's anything I can do for you." He locked eyes with Izzy again. "What do you want?"
"Is there an address you can give us where we could find her?" This time Sora spoken and silently Izzy thanked her because for some reason he couldn't find his voice. The fact that every three seconds the man would look at him, trying to eat through his skin or something with his charcoal eyes.
"Uh, last I heard she was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But that was eight years ago. Let me get the address." He turned and walked inside, closing the door behind himself.
"What is with this guy?" Matt asked.
"I don't know, but if you ask me he keeps giving Izzy here the look down. Some body has the hots for Izzy," Tai laughed.
"He's hiding something," Izzy reasoned.
"Forever paranoid, aren't you?" Tai rolled his eyes. "But you're right, he's hiding something. What do ya suppose-"
The door opened and the man walked out carrying an envelope. "Here," he said as he closed the door. "This is the address of the foster home." His voice had been reduced to a whisper.
Izzy took the envelope. "Foster home?" He asked.
"Yes, Cassandra was part of the foster care system," the man replied. "Now will you please go away and leave me be. You've got what you want." He went back into the house, slamming the door in their faces.
"He sure was friendly," Tai said sarcastically.
"Forget him," Matt snapped brashly. "We got what we came for." The man's attitude had got to him.
They started to walk out of the neighborhood. "So we're off to Louisiana?" Sora asked.
"Yep," Izzy nodded. "I'll call in the tickets and see when we can go."
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"Come on Matt!" Tai yelled as he pounded on the bathroom door.
Izzy rolled his eyes as he passed the two. He entered the living room where Sora sat on the phone. "Yes mama, Koushiro and the other boys have been taking care of me. No we haven't had any trouble and Gennai is paying for everything." She put her hand over the receiver. "Izzy, where are you going?" She asked in a hushed voice so her mother wouldn't hear she wasn't listening.
He sat down beside her. "I'm going back to that guy's house. I have a couple of questions to ask him," Izzy replied as he pulled on his shoes.
"Yes, mama, I'll tell him. Yeah, he's right here." She pulled the phone away from her ear. "Izzy, she wants to talk to you."
He took the phone and held it to his ear with his shoulder. "Hello Mrs. Takenouchi. How have you been?"
"I've been good and yourself?" Came the sweet voice of Sora's mother.
"Good, busy," he answered.
"I see you're still not very talkative. I thought maybe America would have changed you, or my daughter would have." They both laughed. "Well, I just want to wish you good luck with the rest of your search and thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"Your welcome, although you really don't have to worry about Sora. She has a way of taking care of herself."
"Well thank you anyway."
"Mrs. Takenouchi, as always it was a pleasure talking to you, but I have to go so I'm gonna give the phone back to Sora."
"Wait before you go there was something I wanted to talk to you about first. Now I know that you and Sora are grown up now, but I don't want you taking advantage over her."
"Wha-what?" Izzy gasped, nearly dropping the phone. "Mrs-Mrs. Takenouchi, you have no reason to be worried. I would never- I swear, I mean." He calmed himself down. "Don't worry. She's safe."
"Thank you Koushiro, you can give the phone to Sora again."
Izzy pulled the phone from his ear and handed it to Sora. She put her hand over the receiver again. "Did she give you the talk, Izzy?" She asked her red-faced boyfriend.
"Yeah, pretty much," he replied as he finished lacing his shoes.
"Sorry," she laughed. "Go ahead and take the car. Matt, Tai, and I are just going to go do to the White House. I'm going to drag Tai through the three o'clock tour." She put the phone to her ear. "Yes mama, I'm still here."
He got up and kissed her before walking out of the hotel room. He walked out to their Passat parked outside and drove back to the man's house. He hopped out of the car and rang the doorbell.
A brunette woman opened the door, a large friendly smile on her face. "Hi can I help you?"
"Uh yeah, is your husband home by any chance? I was hoping to talk to him," Izzy said politely.
"Yes, he's home. Come on in." He stepped inside the cool house and she shut the door. "Follow me." He followed her down a blue painted hall lined with family photos. Their footsteps echoed on the wooden floor as she led him through the house, into the kitchen. She stopped at a door inside the kitchen. "He's down stairs in his study, go on down."
He nodded. "Thank you." He opened the door and walked down the stairs. At the bottom he turned into a large room. The room looked like a cross between a bar and a library. One side of the room was covered in books and a desk faced the stairs. One the other side was a bar and three maroon booths. The man sat at the bar; drink in hand, reading a thick book. "Excuse me," Izzy announced.
The man's head snapped up. "How'd you get down here?"
"The-the woman upstairs led me down," Izzy replied.
"Well then what do you want boy?"
"I want to ask you a couple of questions. About Cassandra. I came by with some friends-"
"I know who you are!" The man snapped. "What I don't know is why you insist on hounding me for answers about her." Izzy said nothing as he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Well, son, have a seat." There was nervous tension on the word 'son'. Izzy stepped forward and sat down on the barstool. "What would you like to drink?"
"Oh I don't drink. Can't hold my liquor well," Izzy laughed. The man shrugged and poured himself a drink from one of the miscellaneous bottles behind the bar. "Mr. Mizuhara, how'd you get custody of Cassandra?"
"How long have you been looking for her? How'd you get this address?" He asked, swirling his drink in his hand.
"We started last week, in Albany. We got a change of address at an old apartment complex." He paused realizing they were speaking Japanese. "How'd you know I spoke Jap?"
"You hide your accent well, but my ears are trained to hear it. Japanese is my native tongue, I speak it better then English at times."
"Mr. Mizuhara, how'd you get custody of Cassandra?" Izzy repeated his question.
"Why are you trying to find her?"
"Because she's my sister," Izzy stated hastily. "Please answer-"
"That's not a good enough answer. You're almost eighteen years old. Why are you waiting this long to find her?" The man snapped, coal eyes staring into Izzy's.
"How'd you know I'm almost eighteen-"
"Cassandra told me all about her twin brother. I know her age now so I figured your age is the same. Answer my question."
"Because I don't want to find her!" Izzy snapped as he slammed his fist on the bar. "I have to find her, it's a duty I have to fulfill, otherwise I would not be here!"
"That's an interesting answer, Koushiro Izumi. Is this for the DigiDestined?" His coal eyes glowed as he took in the shock in Izzy's face. "You not going to get any information from me son so go home. Although I'd place a call to your folks. They may know some things you'd find relevant." The man lit a cigarette. "It was nice seeing you again. Good luck in Baton Rouge." With that the charcoal-eyed man went back to his reading.
"Bye," Izzy whispered. He stood up and walked out of the house, mind working over the entire conversation.
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He ran his hand over the bare arm that encircled his waist. "Will you just go to sleep?" She whispered to him. "You're starting to tickle me." With a sigh he sat up, then pushed himself out of bed. "Izzy?" She asked sitting up.
"I'm going to make a phone call. Just go to bed, I'll be back in a few minutes," he whispered, pulling on a white muscle shirt. He padded out to the living room and sat down on the couch beside the phone. Picking up the receiver he punched in the number he wanted.
"Hello?" Came the comforting voice of his mother.
"Hi mom, its Koushiro," he greeted.
"Oh, baby its so good to hear your voice!" She sounded delighted.
"Its good to hear your voice too."
"How have you been? How is everybody? Do you have enough money? Are you finding everything you need? Tai and Matt haven't gotten you into any trouble with the law yet, have they?" His mom bombarded him.
"I'm good, everyone's good. Yeah we have enough money. Gennai's paying for everything, remember? And no, Tai and Matt haven't gotten me in trouble with the law. Not yet at least. I've found everything I needed, sorta." He sucked in his breath. "Mom, can you answer a couple of questions for me?"
"Sure honey. Anything you need."
"Why was my sister and I separated? How did she get to America?"
"Oh, that sort of question," his mother muttered. "Izzy, you were given to us by your father. But your father kept Cassandra and moved to America when you were four."
"Did I know my father or Cassandra before they moved?"
"You knew Cassandra."
"What's my real name? When I was born what was the name I was given?"
"We kept your fist name. You were born Koushiro. Your last name was Mizuhara."
"Did you say Mizuhara?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." They fell into silence.
"What happened Koushiro?" His mother asked.
"I met him, I met my father," he replied.
"Oh."
"Mom, I gotta go. Some one needs to use the phone," he lied. "Bye I love you!" He quickly hung up.
"Who needs to use the phone at midnight 'Shiro?" A voice asked.
He looked up and saw Sora in the doorway. "You heard the entire thing?" He asked. She nodded. "That guy, that's what he refused to tell us. He's my real dad." He stood up and walked over to her.
"How do you feel about that?" She asked, her brow creased in worry over him.
"Dunno, but let's get some sleep. We're leaving for Baton Rouge in the morning." He led her back into the bedroom and they lay down together. Her head and hand rested on his chest and her fingers played with the crest he wore around his neck. "Sora."
"Hmm."
What did you call me when you walked into the living room?" He asked.
"Um," she whispered, thinking back. She was half asleep and it took her a moment. "'Shiro, why?"
"I don't know, it just sounded…"
"Weird?"
"No, familiar. But that's weird too." He kissed the top of her ginger hair and her fingers slowed, twisted in his crest. "Goodnight Sora."
"'Night…"
I hope you liked this chapter. I'm debating whether I did or not. And to Cherry_Seraphym, no I wasn't talking from experience from last chapter. That would be funny though.
Searching
They passed the Washington monument as they walked through Washington D.C. Matt stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You hear everyone talk about how big all this stuff is, but when you've fought a monster that can take up five Odiaba blocks standing up and sitting down, this all seems average."
Tai stopped and saluted the monument. "Doesn't make what they stand for any less/"
"I guess," Matt shrugged.
"Are we almost at this girl's house?" Tai asked as he kicked at the ground.
"Almost," Izzy replied. They entered a nice looking neighbor hood. Large green trees lined the street and stood like a canopy over the two story houses that occupied the lots.
"Wow," Matt smirked. "How plush. This girl's got it good."
"There it is," Izzy pointed out. The three other's looked up at a two-story house painted white with four windows decorating the front.
"Looks cheery enough," Tai observed as they walked up the drive. Izzy nodded, but kept his eyes on the brown front door. "So how did this Mizuhara guy get your sister anyway? I mean, why didn't your parents take her too?"
"Uh I don't know," Izzy replied with a shake of his head. "I'll have to ask my parents."
"Well, are you gonna ring the bell or what?" Tai asked impatiently.
"Oh yeah." Izzy pressed the orange illuminated doorbell beside the door. They could hear a muffled 'ding dong' from inside.
The door opened to reveal a tall, black haired man. He stared at them through charcoal colored eyes, with a look on his hard, slightly aged face, that was warm. "Yes, can I help you?" He locked eyes with each of them, freezing on Izzy's.
"Uh hi, my name is Koushiro Izumi and I-" Izzy started.
The man's eyes widened. "What? Repeat your name."
"Koushiro Izumi." When the man didn't say anything Izzy continued. "I'm looking for a girl by the name of Cassandra Mizuhara. Does she live here by any chance?"
The man's eyes seemed to ignite at the name. "No Cassandra doesn't live here. Now please go away."
He tried to shut the door, but Matt put his foot in the way. "Listen sir, you know more then you're telling us. Now we've come a very long way and the fact is you're our only lead on this girl. Please help us out." It wasn't a question; it was a demand.
The man could see the fire in Matt's eyes, knowing the blond teen would not back down and gave a defeated sigh. He stepped out of the house, briefly glancing over his shoulder, back inside. Izzy followed the man's gaze and saw into the kitchen of the house where a woman was shuffling around. The man closed the door, blocking any further view. "Listen, I haven't heard from Cassandra in almost eight years. I doubt there's anything I can do for you." He locked eyes with Izzy again. "What do you want?"
"Is there an address you can give us where we could find her?" This time Sora spoken and silently Izzy thanked her because for some reason he couldn't find his voice. The fact that every three seconds the man would look at him, trying to eat through his skin or something with his charcoal eyes.
"Uh, last I heard she was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But that was eight years ago. Let me get the address." He turned and walked inside, closing the door behind himself.
"What is with this guy?" Matt asked.
"I don't know, but if you ask me he keeps giving Izzy here the look down. Some body has the hots for Izzy," Tai laughed.
"He's hiding something," Izzy reasoned.
"Forever paranoid, aren't you?" Tai rolled his eyes. "But you're right, he's hiding something. What do ya suppose-"
The door opened and the man walked out carrying an envelope. "Here," he said as he closed the door. "This is the address of the foster home." His voice had been reduced to a whisper.
Izzy took the envelope. "Foster home?" He asked.
"Yes, Cassandra was part of the foster care system," the man replied. "Now will you please go away and leave me be. You've got what you want." He went back into the house, slamming the door in their faces.
"He sure was friendly," Tai said sarcastically.
"Forget him," Matt snapped brashly. "We got what we came for." The man's attitude had got to him.
They started to walk out of the neighborhood. "So we're off to Louisiana?" Sora asked.
"Yep," Izzy nodded. "I'll call in the tickets and see when we can go."
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"Come on Matt!" Tai yelled as he pounded on the bathroom door.
Izzy rolled his eyes as he passed the two. He entered the living room where Sora sat on the phone. "Yes mama, Koushiro and the other boys have been taking care of me. No we haven't had any trouble and Gennai is paying for everything." She put her hand over the receiver. "Izzy, where are you going?" She asked in a hushed voice so her mother wouldn't hear she wasn't listening.
He sat down beside her. "I'm going back to that guy's house. I have a couple of questions to ask him," Izzy replied as he pulled on his shoes.
"Yes, mama, I'll tell him. Yeah, he's right here." She pulled the phone away from her ear. "Izzy, she wants to talk to you."
He took the phone and held it to his ear with his shoulder. "Hello Mrs. Takenouchi. How have you been?"
"I've been good and yourself?" Came the sweet voice of Sora's mother.
"Good, busy," he answered.
"I see you're still not very talkative. I thought maybe America would have changed you, or my daughter would have." They both laughed. "Well, I just want to wish you good luck with the rest of your search and thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"Your welcome, although you really don't have to worry about Sora. She has a way of taking care of herself."
"Well thank you anyway."
"Mrs. Takenouchi, as always it was a pleasure talking to you, but I have to go so I'm gonna give the phone back to Sora."
"Wait before you go there was something I wanted to talk to you about first. Now I know that you and Sora are grown up now, but I don't want you taking advantage over her."
"Wha-what?" Izzy gasped, nearly dropping the phone. "Mrs-Mrs. Takenouchi, you have no reason to be worried. I would never- I swear, I mean." He calmed himself down. "Don't worry. She's safe."
"Thank you Koushiro, you can give the phone to Sora again."
Izzy pulled the phone from his ear and handed it to Sora. She put her hand over the receiver again. "Did she give you the talk, Izzy?" She asked her red-faced boyfriend.
"Yeah, pretty much," he replied as he finished lacing his shoes.
"Sorry," she laughed. "Go ahead and take the car. Matt, Tai, and I are just going to go do to the White House. I'm going to drag Tai through the three o'clock tour." She put the phone to her ear. "Yes mama, I'm still here."
He got up and kissed her before walking out of the hotel room. He walked out to their Passat parked outside and drove back to the man's house. He hopped out of the car and rang the doorbell.
A brunette woman opened the door, a large friendly smile on her face. "Hi can I help you?"
"Uh yeah, is your husband home by any chance? I was hoping to talk to him," Izzy said politely.
"Yes, he's home. Come on in." He stepped inside the cool house and she shut the door. "Follow me." He followed her down a blue painted hall lined with family photos. Their footsteps echoed on the wooden floor as she led him through the house, into the kitchen. She stopped at a door inside the kitchen. "He's down stairs in his study, go on down."
He nodded. "Thank you." He opened the door and walked down the stairs. At the bottom he turned into a large room. The room looked like a cross between a bar and a library. One side of the room was covered in books and a desk faced the stairs. One the other side was a bar and three maroon booths. The man sat at the bar; drink in hand, reading a thick book. "Excuse me," Izzy announced.
The man's head snapped up. "How'd you get down here?"
"The-the woman upstairs led me down," Izzy replied.
"Well then what do you want boy?"
"I want to ask you a couple of questions. About Cassandra. I came by with some friends-"
"I know who you are!" The man snapped. "What I don't know is why you insist on hounding me for answers about her." Izzy said nothing as he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Well, son, have a seat." There was nervous tension on the word 'son'. Izzy stepped forward and sat down on the barstool. "What would you like to drink?"
"Oh I don't drink. Can't hold my liquor well," Izzy laughed. The man shrugged and poured himself a drink from one of the miscellaneous bottles behind the bar. "Mr. Mizuhara, how'd you get custody of Cassandra?"
"How long have you been looking for her? How'd you get this address?" He asked, swirling his drink in his hand.
"We started last week, in Albany. We got a change of address at an old apartment complex." He paused realizing they were speaking Japanese. "How'd you know I spoke Jap?"
"You hide your accent well, but my ears are trained to hear it. Japanese is my native tongue, I speak it better then English at times."
"Mr. Mizuhara, how'd you get custody of Cassandra?" Izzy repeated his question.
"Why are you trying to find her?"
"Because she's my sister," Izzy stated hastily. "Please answer-"
"That's not a good enough answer. You're almost eighteen years old. Why are you waiting this long to find her?" The man snapped, coal eyes staring into Izzy's.
"How'd you know I'm almost eighteen-"
"Cassandra told me all about her twin brother. I know her age now so I figured your age is the same. Answer my question."
"Because I don't want to find her!" Izzy snapped as he slammed his fist on the bar. "I have to find her, it's a duty I have to fulfill, otherwise I would not be here!"
"That's an interesting answer, Koushiro Izumi. Is this for the DigiDestined?" His coal eyes glowed as he took in the shock in Izzy's face. "You not going to get any information from me son so go home. Although I'd place a call to your folks. They may know some things you'd find relevant." The man lit a cigarette. "It was nice seeing you again. Good luck in Baton Rouge." With that the charcoal-eyed man went back to his reading.
"Bye," Izzy whispered. He stood up and walked out of the house, mind working over the entire conversation.
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He ran his hand over the bare arm that encircled his waist. "Will you just go to sleep?" She whispered to him. "You're starting to tickle me." With a sigh he sat up, then pushed himself out of bed. "Izzy?" She asked sitting up.
"I'm going to make a phone call. Just go to bed, I'll be back in a few minutes," he whispered, pulling on a white muscle shirt. He padded out to the living room and sat down on the couch beside the phone. Picking up the receiver he punched in the number he wanted.
"Hello?" Came the comforting voice of his mother.
"Hi mom, its Koushiro," he greeted.
"Oh, baby its so good to hear your voice!" She sounded delighted.
"Its good to hear your voice too."
"How have you been? How is everybody? Do you have enough money? Are you finding everything you need? Tai and Matt haven't gotten you into any trouble with the law yet, have they?" His mom bombarded him.
"I'm good, everyone's good. Yeah we have enough money. Gennai's paying for everything, remember? And no, Tai and Matt haven't gotten me in trouble with the law. Not yet at least. I've found everything I needed, sorta." He sucked in his breath. "Mom, can you answer a couple of questions for me?"
"Sure honey. Anything you need."
"Why was my sister and I separated? How did she get to America?"
"Oh, that sort of question," his mother muttered. "Izzy, you were given to us by your father. But your father kept Cassandra and moved to America when you were four."
"Did I know my father or Cassandra before they moved?"
"You knew Cassandra."
"What's my real name? When I was born what was the name I was given?"
"We kept your fist name. You were born Koushiro. Your last name was Mizuhara."
"Did you say Mizuhara?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." They fell into silence.
"What happened Koushiro?" His mother asked.
"I met him, I met my father," he replied.
"Oh."
"Mom, I gotta go. Some one needs to use the phone," he lied. "Bye I love you!" He quickly hung up.
"Who needs to use the phone at midnight 'Shiro?" A voice asked.
He looked up and saw Sora in the doorway. "You heard the entire thing?" He asked. She nodded. "That guy, that's what he refused to tell us. He's my real dad." He stood up and walked over to her.
"How do you feel about that?" She asked, her brow creased in worry over him.
"Dunno, but let's get some sleep. We're leaving for Baton Rouge in the morning." He led her back into the bedroom and they lay down together. Her head and hand rested on his chest and her fingers played with the crest he wore around his neck. "Sora."
"Hmm."
What did you call me when you walked into the living room?" He asked.
"Um," she whispered, thinking back. She was half asleep and it took her a moment. "'Shiro, why?"
"I don't know, it just sounded…"
"Weird?"
"No, familiar. But that's weird too." He kissed the top of her ginger hair and her fingers slowed, twisted in his crest. "Goodnight Sora."
"'Night…"
I hope you liked this chapter. I'm debating whether I did or not. And to Cherry_Seraphym, no I wasn't talking from experience from last chapter. That would be funny though.