Man, this is turning out much longer than I expected it to. That always happens I notice.

Hey, here is a question for all of you readers, do you think that the characters in this fic are too out of character? I'm just curious what you all think. I am one of those people who like to try to portray the characters the way they are originally, which is why Daisuke isn't portrayed as a jerk for any of my fics like the dub and the dub characters make him out to be, and stuff like that. Daisuke still acts silly for the original, but the others don't think of him as a "jerk" and he doesn't act stupid or anything and Takeru and Daisuke don't hate each other, like some people make them out to be. As a matter of fact, the two are pretty good friends. Takeru seems to hang out at the Motomiya home quite a bit.

Like I was saying, I try to keep them as close to "in character" as I can get them, unless it is for humorous situations, like that goofy Piedmon fic of mine, or how I personally think that particular character would react to a certain situation. I probably won't go back to the other kids for a while now, for the sake of your not getting too bored since parts with Tai or the other Chosens, Mimi's friends, her admirers, etc., always ends up being extra long. :Looks over this part: Okay, this part is a bit lengthy too. Sorry about that. I know how some people really dislike reading long, detailed parts. I introduce a new character in here who talks and complains a lot about his family, which is why it ends up so lengthy.

Now as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Digimon anime in general, so ya can't sue me Toei since I put up the disclaimer and gave ya recognition. :~p
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Part 15: University Mishaps...

It didn't take the two long, but both Mimi and Koushirou had reached Odaiba University. Mimi was willing to take a taxi and kept herself content and calm during the entire ride. Koushirou kept looking over at her during their ride feeling incredibly sorry for her and was a bit worried. He wasn't sure if the way Mimi was acting to what had happened was normal or not. He wasn't very knowledgable on that subject. Math, puzzles, and computers were his thing.

"Here you are, Odaiba University," the driver said. He then looked at Koushirou and Mimi, noticing their clothes. "You guys sure look young to be college students and your clothes don't look college like. They look more like regular school uniforms."

"We aren't college students," Koushirou said while handing the driver the fare. "We're visitors."

The two hopped out of the taxi. Mimi had a distant look on her face and she looked a bit paler than what she would normally as she looked down a few blocks.

"Um, well, we better get going, that is if you want to, but if you don't..."

"Stop talking crazy!" Mimi cut him off while forcing on a smile. "Let's go!"

The girl walked ahead of Koushirou and entered the large building. He just shrugged and followed behind her. The two stared in awe at all that they saw.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Yeah, it looks bigger on the inside than what it does outside!"

"Now that we are here, where do we go?"

"When I was looking up information at their site, before your boyfriends showed up..."

Mimi blushed nervously from the statement. She always semi liked the attention, but she wasn't sure if Koushirou was saying that jokingly or out of annoyance or maybe even jealousy from all of the attention she got from boys in general, but she ruled out the last possibility. She didn't think that it was too likely. This was Koushirou here. He would rather crack a computer code than to voluntarily associate with a person of the opposite sex, mainly because he wasn't too social.

The main reason for his lack of interaction with girls in general was because Koushirou was very shy around girls, except for the ones of the Digidestined group, but there were only four of them. People never seemed to take that into account that Koushirou was just shy around girls, not that he had no interest in them what-so-ever, which is what quite a few people believed, like Ukyo had pointed out about the rumors to Seki and the others. Koushirou, on the other hand, was oblivious to all of these so called rumors about him.

"...I read that we would have to go to the information desk. It should be right in front of us since we came in through the front door."

"I don't think that was the front door we came through. There sure are a lot of students just hanging around doing nothing..."

"And eating! Look at all of those food places!" Koushirou cried. His stomach then growled. "That reminds me, I didn't eat anything today..."

A student with short, brown hair, wearing a pair of long khaki shorts, an orange sweatshirt with a hood, and thin framed glasses, clumsily bumped into Koushirou and Mimi, but turned to apologize and to greet them.

"Oh, I am sorry. I am such a klutz!"

He picked up his book bag and slung it over his right shoulder, but all of his books and notebooks fell out of it. He sighed as he started to pick the books to stuff back into his book bag.

"I was in such a hurry and here I am, late again," he complained out loud. "I hate taking evening classes, but I have to if I want to get enough credits to graduate from here! I can not go home with bad marks. My parents will disown me if I do! Damn those three older brothers of mine, always doing well in their academics and sports, now my parents expect the same of me, graduating with all honors like they did!"

The boy picked up his book bag, but noticed he left his notebook on the floor. When he kneeled to pick it up, the books he had just spent his time putting into his bookbag, fell out. He sighed and went back to complaining about his family and stuffing the books back into his book bag.

"I sure to do feel sorry for my younger brother and my younger sister. They are probably going to be tortured just like me; well, maybe not my brother won't since he's already favored by them and maybe not my sister since she's the only girl of the family. They will probably expect her to do something boring and traditional since she is a girl. Either a housewife, or a nurse, or something like that. My parents are so old fashioned! They really need to join the 21st century! They should know that I do not want to become an engineer! I want to take up art or either become a fiction writer!" He then muttered as he stuffed in the last book, "Stupid parents..."

Koushirou and Mimi gave the boy a nervous look and started to back away slowly.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," the boy said nervously. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything. Just ignore my complaining. I'm just a bit stressed out." He noticed the clothes that both Mimi and Koushirou were wearing. "You guys aren't from around here, are you? Those uniforms are kind of kiddy looking. You have to be Junior High students."

The two nodded.

"Well, pleased to meet you anyway. My name is Fujitani Keisuke and you two look a bit lost. Need any help?"

"Cool!" Mimi exclaimed.

"What?" Keisuke asked.

"My father's given name is Keisuke."

"Cool, what a coincidence," Keisuke said. "I guess the name is pretty common."

"Must be," Koushirou said plainly.

"Now, do you two need any help?"

"Yeah, we are looking for the information desk," Mimi explained.

"You guys are a little ways off from there. This is the commons room. Everyone comes here to hang out or study before heading on to their dorms. You guys got lost pretty quickly."

"I guess we were so busy admiring the school, we got lost," Koushirou said with a nervous chuckle.

"No problem, follow me, I can take you there. So what if I am late...again."

The two thanked the boy and followed him.

"What brings you two to Odaiba University anyway?" the older boy asked during their walk. "Looking for an older brother or sister?"

Mimi shook her head.

"Are you a part of a group and you just got separated from it?"

"Well, no actually," Koushirou said.

"You came here on your own?!?" he asked in surprise. "Wow, I know that you are supposed to look into colleges and universities during your Junior High years, but you don't have to literally go to them."

"We're just trying to obtain some information," Koushirou explained. "Tokyo University is next on our list."

"Tokyo U!" the boy whistled. "You have to be a genius to get into that school! What are you, a couple of brainiacs?"

"No way," Mimi said while pointing to Koushirou. "He's the genius of the group."

"I am no genius," Koushirou said while shaking his head.

"What are you talking about? You always make good grades."

*"I am no genius...I am just passionetly curious."

"I guess...you do seem to be your smartest when you act all curious about things and try to figure them out."

"I hate it when people just assume that I am some kind of a genius when I am really not. I just have a good memory and am curious about a lot of things which makes me knowledgeable on that particular subject. That does not make me overly smart in any way. I am not the type to study nonstop or anything. I don't go around reading the dictionary or quoting the encyclopedia or solving unsolvable chemical equations just for fun."

"That's true," Keisuke laughed, agreeing with Koushirou. "If you don't do stuff like that you can't be a super genius!"

"Anyway, we are just looking for some information," Koushirou told him. "It is really important that we obtain it."

"Sorry for being so nosy, but what kind of information? I might can help you out with it."

"I doubt it," Koushirou said while shaking his head. "You are too young."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," he smiled. "But I did have three older brothers who went here. My oldest brother is already in his early 30s and all of them went here. My oldest brother is about...33 or 34 now. Maybe I can answer your questions based on the boring stories they used to tell me."

"I doubt it," Koushirou said again. "We are curious about a teacher that used to teach here years ago."

"What year?"

"He stopped teaching here, due to unavoidable circumstances, back in 1990," Koushirou explained.

"My older brother was going here back then. There's a lot of us as you already know."

As Keisuke started to mention his family, he took out photos from his wallet to show Mimi and Koushirou, who had stopped walking towards the information center to converse.

"My oldest brother is Kyuwa and he should be turning 34 this year. He is married and he is a medical doctor. He lives in Osaka. The medical jobs are good there. Oh, he started here in about--I was about 7 at the time--oh yeah, in 1988. He graduated from here in '92, but continued his education to become a medical doctor, even though he had already started raising a family a couple of years later."

The man had the same kind of hair like Keisuke, only it was a bit longer, and he seemed short compared to Keisuke. In the photo, along with Kyuwa, was his wife, who had long auburn hair, and they had two children standing in front of them. A boy and a girl. The girl, who looked to be the youngest, looked to be about seven or eight and the oldest looked to be about nine or ten.

"It was pretty tough for him, but he never gave up! Something us Fujitanis are known for, our devotion and never giving up no matter how difficult the situation may seem!"

Keisuke changed the photo over to show another Fujitani brother.

"Next in line is my brother Masaki and he should be turning 30 this year. He isn't married or anything. He attended here in '92 and graduated in '96. He's a professor at Harvard in America. It has been a long time since we all have seen him last."

The man in the photo was wearing a suit and looked to be really neat. His hair was perfectly trimmed, his tie was perfect, and there wasn't a single wrinkle in his suit. He too seemed short compared to the tall, slim Keisuke. Masaki also seemed to be a bit on the husky side compared to the other brothers from what they had seen so far.

"Next is my 26-year-old brother, Toru. He isn't married or anything either. He attended here in '96 and graduated from here in '00 with lots of honors. He was thinking about going pro for Soccer, but he finally decided on a career and decided to get into Anthropology and Archaeology. He has always been fascinated with history and geology. He studied abroad for his final two years in Arizona in America. He was going to some archaeology school or something. He is still there and is still furthering his knowledge in Anthropology and Archaeology."

Toru had long brown hair, slim and tall like Keisuke, and also had a round baby face like Keisuke and he also wore glasses, but he didn't really look like Keisuke. His hair was tied back into a single pony tail like most guys with long hair. The photo was of him in front of the Grand Canyon holding a rock and a chizzel.

Mimi stared at the photo and found Toru to be extremely cute to her. She laughed to herself, imagining how Yuko would react to the photo.

"This is my younger soon to be 20-year-old brother, Yeijiro. He started here a year ago and still goes. He is probably up in his dorm studying. So far, he is making great grades, like always. So far, he is into researching and science and wants to become a chemist. I have this feeling that he is going to study abroad in America as well. He has always talked about America and how he has always wanted to go there ever since he was a child."

The photo of Yeijiro was a nice one. It was his high school graduation photo. He had short brown hair and didn't look a thing like Keisuke or the other brothers. The other brothers all looked a bit similar, but Yeijiro was definitely the odd one looks wise. His height was average and so was his weight. Mimi figured that Yeijiro just took after his mother more than his father or vice versa.

"Last, but not least, is my younger, 19-year-old sister, Izumi. Well, she will be 19 later on this year."

"What a coincidence," Mimi said, pointing to Koushirou. "That is his family name."

"Cool. Anyway, Izumi hasn't started any colleges or universities yet," He rolled his eyes. "My parents haven't decided on her future yet. My sister and me are the black sheep of the family. Threatened to be disowned constantly because of what we enjoy."

The photo of Izumi showed a girl that looked exactly like Keisuke. She had the same round face, long brown hair, and a really nice smile. She was a bit tall for your average girl, but she was a nice, normal looking size.

"And you already know me. I'm 23 and I started here two years ago. I spent my year after my graduation arguing with my parents to take up Art & Literature until I finally gave in to their wishes and expectations of me and decided to get into chemical engineering. My sister is going through the same thing right now. She wants to become a song writer and musician, but my parents don't want her to. I really sense flower arranging in her future if it were up to my parents or modeling. Something girly or traditional like."

Keisuke shook his head in annoyance at the way his parents acted.

"I just don't understand my parents. With my oldest brother, they were behind him 100 percent with his medical career saying stuff like, 'It is good to become a doctor because you are helping people.' Same thing goes for Masaki, they were behind him 100 percent too with his choice. What is totally surprising is how they were with my brother Toru on his decision.

"For one, they aren't all that keen on us moving away to America so far away from them, but Toru-niisan wanted to become a pro Soccer player! Do you know what the chances of anyone going pro anything is!? My parents were for him, but were happier when he decided to take up some form of a science. It just isn't fair! They use that, 'What are the chances of your becoming a professional artist,' and 'There is no future in becoming an artist since they all starve,' or 'What are the chances of your getting published if you become a writer,' and comments like that. Same thing for my sister and she has a lot of musical talent! She can write music, play instruments, and has a great singing voice!"

Keisuke was about to continue on, when he noticed the looks on Koushirou and Mimi's faces, which clearly meant, "Why is he telling us this?"

"I'm sorry again for rambling," he aplogized.

"That's okay," Mimi said, giving him a nervous smile. "We don't mind listening to you ramble."

"I really shouldn't be. It's a habit I've always seemed to have, talking more than what I should," he said. "Well, come on, let me get you to the front desk."

The three started off again towards the information desk.

"Hey, you never did tell me who the Professor was that you were wondering about."

"Oh, his name was Fukami Hiroaki. Do you know anything about him or do you remember any of your brothers mentioning him?" Koushirou asked.

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Kyuwa may know though. What did he teach?"

"He was a Mathematician."

"Hmm, sorry. I was so young when he attended here. He did complain about his math and science courses, though, but that's not saying much because Kyuwa never cared for math or science much. I do remember him complaining about that, but I don't remember what his professors' names were. Strange how he became the doctor of the family."

The three had finally arrived at the information desk. The two were on the other side of the school. How they got way over there to the other side of the school was a mystery to them.

"Here you go, guys." Keisuke noticed the lady sitting at the front desk and frowned a bit. "Good luck getting any information out of her. Anje-san is here and not the other lady."

"What do you mean?" Koushirou asked.

"Yeah, what is wrong with her?"

"That lady isn't the nicest person in the world. I heard that she was fired for insulting one of the students' younger siblings and is finishing out the week and is snapping at everyone, but I don't know if it is true or not, you know, that being the reason. I also heard that she's had a bad romantic life, which is why she treats everyone like crap in general. She is pretty weird and she seems to hate children for some odd reason."

"If she is so mean, how did she ever get a job having to associate with other people?" Mimi asked.

"I have no idea. She must know someone who works here or something for her of all people to get that job or maybe, at one point in her life, she was nice. Too bad I have never seen her acting nice. Did you hear about what happened near here yesterday? Some girl was attacked and Anje just scoffed at the whole thing saying that the girl probably deserved it!"

Mimi almost blew up from that statement, turning a bit red in the process. She definitely did not want to meet this "Anje" person, in fear of yelling at her. Koushirou was surprised as well. He couldn't believe that someone could think that way.

"It is a real shame. I feel sorry for the girl. I hope she is doing okay. I was out there too, but I couldn't get a good look at the girl or the guy that was with her. Just the jerk that attacked her. All I know is that the girl was really pretty, according to some of the witnesses around, and my best buddy, Yutaka, claimed that the boy was a redhead, but who knows, right? I still hope the girl is doing okay."

"I am sure that she is fine," Mimi said with no emotion, but trying not to cry at the same time.

"Mimi-san..." Koushirou started.

"Sorry, I am fine. I just dislike people like that, sorry," the girl said quickly.

"Leave it up to one guy to make us decent guys look bad, but this is something you guys shouldn't have to worry yourselves over."

Right at that moment, the clock chimed 5:30. Keisuke sighed, dreading what he had to do.

"I better get going, but before I go, what are your names? I spent so much time scaring you with my life story, I forgot to ask," he laughed.

"Izumi Koushirou..."

"Tachikawa Mimi..."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm sorry for boring you with my life story and my twisted family with their messed up priorities."

"That's okay," Koushirou told him. "Thanks for showing us here."

"No problem and good luck with Ms. Anje and if you ever need help with anything, just ask for me! I can ask my brother about that instructor you were asking about."

With that, the boy ran off, leaving the two at the information desk.

"He sure is a nice person," Mimi smiled.

"Yeah," Koushirou agreed.

"His brother, Toru-san, especially!"

"How would you know if you've never met him?"

"Ooh, the desk," the girl said with a nervous sweat drop, changing the subject abruptly. "Go on and ask!"

Koushirou gave the girl a look and shook his head at her as he walked up to the desk.

"Hi there, how may I help you," the woman asked routinely in a semi-annoyed manner while doing her nails.

Since Anje was doing her nails, she hadn't seen Koushirou or Mimi yet. When she looked up, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Um, hello. I am trying to obtain some information about a past instructor of yours," Koushirou told her.

"That so helps me," the woman sarcastically responded.

Mimi didn't care for this woman's attitude too much already. She really seemed quite annoyed and irritable, just like Keisuke had warned them.

"Why are a couple of kids snooping around here anyway looking for information on a past instructor. What makes you think that I would know about this person!?!"

"Maybe because this is the information desk," Mimi said in an unintentional smart-allecky manner.

"Whatever," the woman scoffed at Mimi. She then turned her attention back to Koushirou. "And whom do you want this information on?"

"Fukami Hiroaki. He was a Mathematician here, but he stopped teaching here almost 14 years ago because..."

"Why do you want this information about him?" the woman interrupted.

"For my own personal use?" Koushirou asked with a shrug. "I am working on something and I need some information about him or a photo, or anything you can find on him! It is very important that I obtain this!"

"You sure are rude," the woman muttered sourly.

"Old hag," Mimi muttered in English.

"What did you say!" Anje demanded.

"Oh, rad!" Mimi said in English nervously.

"Whatever," she said again, growing to hate Mimi more by the minute. "Why in the world do you want a picture of a man who no longer teaches here?"

"Because I do, that's why!" Koushirou said, growing annoyed.

"You have no right walking up in here acting disrespectful to me! Don't you know that you are supposed to respect your elders, boy!"

"It is very difficult to respect or consider you an elder when you are acting like a child yourself," he responded cooly.

"That does it! I can't stand kids! I came here so I wouldn't have to bother with them!"

"That's not fair!" Koushirou protested.

"It isn't fair that kids like you exist! What happened to controlling the pet population! There are too many of you!" The woman then raised her voice, literally shouting at the two. "Now get out of here you redheaded brat and take your ugly bimbo looking girlfriend with you!"

Students who had been walking by, heard what Ms. Anje had said to both Koushirou and Mimi and muttered things amongst themselves about how Ms. Anje shouldn't even be allowed in the building. Keisuke had also come back and heard what she had said. He was on his way back to the commons area to get a bite to eat since he had forgotten that his evening class had been cancelled. Keisuke didn't have the best memory in the world.

Both Koushirou and Mimi got looks of surprise on their faces as Keisuke walked up to the two. This woman wasn't just rude, but she was downright disrespectful. Keisuke hadn't prepared them for that. Mimi didn't know how to respond to such an insult, seeing as how she had never received one before; not like that anyway. She was ready to blow her top at the lady and to give her a piece of her mind! She was already mad at the fact that Anje felt that "the girl attacked probably deserved to be," but that insult was just as bad. One advantage of living in New York was that she had toughened up quite a bit. She would have said something if Keisuke hadn't spoken up.

"Anje-san, how could you talk to them like that!?! Just because you dislike children doesn't mean you should take it out on them!"

"Stay out of this!" Anje snapped at him. "Stop getting on my case for stating the truth! That boy is a redheaded brat and so is that annoying, ugly girl with him!"

Keisuke, as well as the other students around, was upset at the way that Anje was treating them. Koushirou, on the other hand, had grown terribly annoyed with this woman and for once dropped that polite and courteous persona that he was well known for.

"Look here, lady, I don't care if you dislike children or not, but you have no right to go around insulting us just because we are still 'children' in your eyes! How dare you insult Mimi-san like that! She is prettier to me than you'll ever be because she is nice to everyone and has a nice personality and she is definitely no bimbo because bimbos are brainless and dumb! You are quite ugly with that attitude of yours! Ten times it in fact!"

"Koushirou, don't waste your time," Mimi told him. She then looked over at the lady. "She's just jealous because I actually have friends, unlike her."

All of the students who were gathered around, along with Keisuke, clapped for the crack Mimi and Koushirou had delivered to Ms. Anje.

"Why you little..." the woman growled.

The lady took out a phone and was about to call security, when a heavyset man walked up to them.

"Is there some kind of a problem here?" the man asked, noticing the crowd.

"Yes, Mr. Toshika! There are," the woman gagged temporarily and pointed to Koushirou and Mimi, "children on the grounds causing trouble!"

"This lady here insulted us and refused to help us," Koushirou said in defense. "Just because of our age, she treated us disrespectfully."

"Children are meant to be seen, not heard!"

"You know, Anje-san, that is what we call discrimination," Keisuke said, giving her a smug look. "You can get into a lot of trouble for that."

"Why don't you go back to your class that you are probably flunking! You are one of those Fujitani brothers, are you not?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You are the one that is bringing shame to your family, aren't you? The big disgrace of the family!"

All of the other students gasped at what Anje had said.

"I know all about you! You stand out like a sore thumb with all of your brothers being successful and worth something, but you are the complete opposite! You have a younger brother that goes here, all honors, great at sports, and then there is you! I wouldn't be surprised if you never graduated from here! Well, if you had extra money I am sure that you probably could! You could pay people off to get you out of here!"

The boy was growing red with anger, but kept his cool. He was wondering, pretty much, how his brother, Yeijiro, would have responded if he had been around.

"Hey, don't get mad at me just because you can not get along with people and I choose my own path! Just because they were all great in whatever it was they were interested in does not mean that I will be all that great in something that does not interest me at all!" He told the woman. "That does it! I am switching my major and I am going to study literature! I hate Chemical Egineering! I want to become a writer! If my parents disown me for that, then too bad!" he told himself.

"Another child that would be better off not exisiting..." Anje muttered.

"Hey, I am in my 20s! I am no child!"

"Look here you four eyed---"

"That is enough!" Mr. Toshika shouted before Anje could finish her sentence. He then turned to all of the students who were watching. "Okay everyone, get going, there is nothing more to see here."

The students started to disperse the area like the man had ordered them too. The only ones still there was Keisuke, Koushirou, and Mimi.

"That goes for you too, young man," he said, looking over at Keisuke.

"Hai, Toshika-san."

"I do apologize for her behavior," the man apologized to Keisuke, but low enough so that Anje wouldn't hear.

"No problem," he smiled. "The sooner she is gone the better!"

"Come with me, please," Toshika said to the two OJH attendants.

The man pulled both Mimi and Koushirou aside.

"Please, ignore her. This was supposed to be her last week here anyway for her insulting and snapping at people and that overall bad attitude of hers. The way she just carried on was just uncalled for and she just cut her week short. I will be sure to report her to the head of the board. I am sure that they will agree with me about getting rid of her early. But never mind all of that. I am Mr. Toshika, head of the Admissions department here at Odaiba University. Now what is the problem?"

"That lady!" Mimi muttered to herself with her arms crossed in annoyance.

"Are you two ready to experience the college life already?" the man asked giving them a proud smile.

"No sir, we are trying to find some information on a past instructor," Koushirou explained.

"A past instructor?" he asked while rubbing his chin. "Hmm, I might can help you with that. I have been around here for a long time and I got to know the instructors just as if they were family."

"Thank you! I am Izumi Koushirou and I am trying to find information on the Mathematician, Fukami Hiroaki. He taught here for a while until his unexpected expiration, back in April of '90."

"Oh, I remember him," the man said sadly. "He was very young when he taught here. He was a great man, Fukami. A really dedicated teacher he was. The last time I actually associated with him was at that party that everyone threw for him and his family after they returned from that conference in America."

The man started to scratch his balding head as he tried to think of what he could possibly say about him.

"I don't know what kind of information I could give you about him other than the obvious. He died years ago along with his girlfriend in a really bad car crash. We were all pretty good friends. They also had a child, but who knows whatever happened to him. I heard that the boy was with them when they died, but survived the crash somehow. I don't know anything more about that. I am assuming they found a home for the child." He looked over at Koushirou. "Other than what I said, what can I get for you?"

"I was wondering exactly why my fa....Fukami-san decided to teach here, how he came here, stuff like that or photos, anything like that."

"He came here because of his love for mathematics and his wanting to share his knowledge of mathematics with others. His teaching methods were also kind of different. He wasn't the type to just have you open up your textbook and work from the chalk board. If the students couldn't figure out his math problems, he would let the students quiz him and his work wasn't always right when he worked them out, but I think he did that on purpose to give the other students some confidence because when the students took it, they always brag that they scored better than 'Fukami-hakase.' As for photos, no, I am sorry. I do not have any photos of him and I don't think the school does either. No photos that I can think of, anyway, but there was a mermorial dedicated to him a short while after he died, but that was taken down years and years ago. Who knows where it is now..."

"Thank you, sir," Koushirou frowned slightly.

While Koushirou was frowning, Mr. Toshika started to study Koushirou's features.

"That boy sorta looks like Miki with that red hair of his," he said to himself.

The boy walked out slowly with Mimi a short ways behind him. They started by the information desk and saw Anje scowling at them. Keisuke was a little ways away as well. He was going to offer them some dinner since they had had such a rough evening.

"Koushirou-kun, Mimi-kun..."

He ran up towards the two, but before he could say anything else, Anje started up.

"Did you get your worthless information on your old teacher!" the woman asked in a smart-allecky fashion while filing her nails.

Keisuke rolled his eyes at the way Anje was acting when she spoke to them and was about to say something himself, but a certain redhead beat him to it...

"Yes, I got information on my father that I tried to get by coming here yesterday, but of course some idiot had to cause trouble by being sex crazed, hindering my search even more!" the boy said, growing angered, releasing all of the anger he had in him due to the previous day. "Yes, I got information on the man I never had the honor of meeting because I never knew he existed since I never knew I had been living with people who kept this great fact from me! About them not being my real parents!"

At this point, Koushirou was extremely angry and continued on.

"Living a lie my entire life about who I really am and where I come from! Yes, I did find out about him! I now know why I have a love for math and computers and why I have this yearning to obtain and retain knowledge! Yes, I got some of the information that I have been seeking for, no thanks to you, you, you..."

Koushirou refrained from finishing and yelled out in frustration to keep himself from saying something that would make Mrs. Izumi ashamed to associate with him.

"His father...yesterday?" Keisuke asked.

Koushirou ran out the front door, leaving the woman who looked a bit puzzled.

"Father?" Anje asked.

Keisuke saw Mimi give him a look and frowned. She then ran after Koushirou.

"Poor kid," Keisuke said as she saw the two run off. He then thought for a moment, coming to a surprising realization. "Wait a second! Mimi-kun must was the one that was attacked! Yutaka knew what he was talking about afterall! Koushirou is a redhead and Mimi is quite pretty for a girl her age! That is probably why she got all weirded out when I mentioned it! Oh man and I just had to go and talk about it!" He smacked his forehead in stupidity. "Keisuke baka!"

"What happened?" Mr. Toshika asked, walking up to Anje.

"Father?" the woman said again. "That spoiled brat said something about the teacher he was asking about being his father..."

"His father?" Mr. Toshika asked.

He then thought for a moment, coming to a realization.

"That's the child!" he said in surprise to no one in particular. "That's the child that Fukami brought back after the conference! No wonder he resembles Miki so much! It is her son! That boy can't be no older than 14 or 15 years old! Of course I wouldn't recognize him! The last time I saw that child he was under a year old and I barely remember what he looked like from then, only that Fukami had a son!" Mr. Toshika turned to Anje angrily. "You really blew it, Anje! You had no right to prevent him from getting any information on Fukami! I am sure that he is turning in his grave right now for the way you treated that boy! That boy's mother and father were killed in a car crash shortly after they came back from America!"

"A car crash?" Keisuke asked himself, overhearing.

"People die, who cares!" she scoffed. "At least they died together as a loving couple," the woman said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

The man shook his head at the bitter lady in disgust...
****
"Koushirou, chotto matte!"

*Note: That pretty much means, "Koushirou, wait up!"*

The last thing Mimi wanted was to walk on a street by herself. She just didn't feel all that "safe" anymore due to what had happened to her the previous day. It was almost 6:30 in the evening.

Koushirou stopped running and let Mimi catch up with him.

"That old bi...er...jerk!" Koushirou nearly cursed, only catching himself since it wasn't like him to resort to name calling and insulting. "I should give her a computer virus that'll wipe out her entire hard drive and no matter how hard she tries, nothing will be able to be restored!"

"Calm down! At least you know what your father was like...sort of. You learned that from Mitsuishi-san."

"One measly photo...that is all I ask!" the boy sighed. He then shouted, "Why in the world can I not find one!"

"We will, you just have to remain positive. I know that we will get all the information that you need to find out about your real parents and I promise to help you!" the girl smiled. "Besides, I could use the extra credit," she added on quickly to herself.

"Thanks."

"You know, we have a lot of information about them already, thanks to Mitsuishi-san. We even found out about how you are part American, in a way. Now, how about we go and get you something to eat?" the girl offered. She the laughed. "Your stomach is growling so loud I can barely hear myself talk."

"Ah, gomen," the boy smiled with a sweat drop, embarassed over his stomach.

The two walked off to go to the nearest fast food place.

"Hey, Koushirou, what is your opinion on Misao-kun, Yuuji-kun, Seki-kun, and Ukyo-kun?

"They're okay, I guess," Koushirou muttered.

"Do you really think they were going to hurt you?"

"No, not really. Takamatsu is not the type to fight. He wasn't even swinging hard."

"I didn't think so. I think I will forgive them. They were just concerned about me."

"I guess..."

"But I'm not going to say or do a thing until they apologize first, to you of course!"

"That's nice..."

The girl realized that the conversation wasn't going anyplace and changed the subject.

"You know, we are getting all this information for our project, but we haven't come up with a way to present it. We have until the end of the week!"

"That's right!"

"Not to worry, though. I'm sure we can come up with something."

The two came to a pizza place. The semi fancy kind where you have a waiter.

"In the mood for some pizza?" Koushirou asked.

"I don't mind, but aren't these places kind of expensive? I don't have that much extra money on me."

"No big deal, let's go. I will pay."

The two walked in and were led to a booth and given a menu. The two ordered a couple of colas and decided to share a deep dish extra cheese pizza, although Koushirou could eat an entire one to himself. The two were now waiting around for their order.

"I can't believe that rude lady!" Mimi complained. "Insulting us like that!"

"Yeah, I know! Just to think, she is supposed to be our role model and mentor since she is our elder! I wonder what she has against children anyway?"

"I don't know, but it was really nice how Keisuke-san came back and defended us too. I wonder if his brother, Toru, is the same way..."

"What is with you and Toru-san?"

"So, how should you show off your presentation?" Mimi asked, changing the subject abruptly again.

"I don't know. I really hadn't given it much thought. I guess a Power Point presentation'll be okay. Something nice and simple to tamper with."

"But don't you need pictures for that?"

"Yes, but I am bound to find something."

The two were quiet once again, until Mimi broke the silence.

"Um, Koushirou-kun...you never did tell me what happened yesterday with the sargeant," she said, feeling a bit nervous.

"I didn't think that you would want to get into that."

"You're right, I don't, but I feel that I should know."

"If you say so," he sighed.

Koushirou started to run his hand through his short, spiky hair, trying to think of where to start his story.

"Well, Lieutenant Tsuya came over to my place yesterday instead of Sargeant Manabu. He was way too busy to show up. Luckily, my folks still weren't around..."

"Why is that lucky?"

"Because they don't know that I know, remember? They don't know why or where I went yesterday and I do not feel the need to tell them either."

"Oh."

"Anyway, all she did was talk about that reward that I specifically said I did not want any part of, but she kept insisting anyway. We also talked about the press and I asked her to remind them that whatever they write, to make us anonymous. I am sure you don't want something like that known all over school and I wouldn't want all of that attention either, but I really said it mainly because of you and your state. I feel that you should be able to talk about these kinds of things when you are ready, not by force...I know I would dislike it."

"That was nice of you," the girl said slowly.

"I wasn't sure what to do. I just felt that it would be better for you if we weren't mentioned."

"How much was the reward?"

"Huh?"

Before Mimi could ask again, the waiter came back with their pizza and both of them thanked him. It was now a little after 7. The pizza took a while to cook and there was a lot of business that evening. After the waiter had walked off, Koushirou jumped right into it, but stopped abruptly. He wasn't sure how much Mimi ate and he knew that it would be impolite to eat first, even if he was hungrier.

"Here you go," he said, cutting off a slice for her and setting it down on her plate.

"Thank you," Mimi said, surprised by his actions. She then started to eat on the slice he had cut for her.

"No problem," he said in English.

Koushirou put about four slices on his plate, which caused Mimi to sweat drop at the scene.

"He has such a big apetite for such a small guy. He is like a garabage disposal! The weird thing about him is that he never seems to gain any weight," Mimi said to herself as she watched the boy consume the food. "Well, how much was the reward?"

"If you must know, it was $5,000 American. That's what I figured it out to be after converting it over to American currency."

"That's quite a bit, but why did you waste the time to convert it over to American currency?"

"I just needed something to do to get my mind off of everything, so I sat around and converted the amount to American currency; besides, it was good practice for me. That English exam of ours is coming up."

"True."

"I wonder why they changed the curriculum. We don't normally get exams this time of the year."

"It is even more unfair that only our school district is going through this!"

The girl had been eating on her one slice pretty slowly and she had quieted down a lot. For once in Koushirou's life, he noticed. Normally when it came to food, he tuned the rest of the world out.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not really." She then frowned. "Just thinking about yesterday and about how guilty I feel."

"Guilty?" Koushirou asked as he finished up his third slice and started on his fourth. "What for?"

"For not telling my aunt, mother, father, or uncle what happened. My aunt was so worried about me last night, she called my mother and she was talking to me." Mimi then sighed. "For once in my life, I am homesick for America. I wish my mother were here. I need her right now, my father too, but not as much as my mother."

The girl was trying to keep herself from crying and Koushirou, who had just finished up his fourth slice of pizza and was about to cut himself a fifth, wasn't sure how to respond to Mimi's statement. Everything was just getting so difficult for him with her. He was starting to miss the good old days where they would only talk about fun things, even if he couldn't relate to everything she found fun and vice versa for her with his computer obession.

"Well, um...what do you want to do?"

That was the best he could really come up with.

"A part of me wants to tell them and then another part of me doesn't because they would worry and probably baby and shelter me, thinking that is a way of protecting me. I do not want that; not again. My own parents made that mistake with me and look at all of the trouble it caused!"

The boy could only shrug. He had no idea what the tan haired girl was talking about.

"The,Digital World," she told him. "Our first time there."

"Oh, that. Well, I don't think that should really count. None of us were prepared for such an adventure."

Mimi finally finishing her first slice and was now cutting herself a second.

"But it took me a longer time to grasp onto reality because of how sheltered I was! Moving back out here has given me that sense of independence and my aunt and uncle really believes in me when it comes to my independence, but if I tell them this, they'll probably start treating me like Isako or Ton who actually needs to be watched over since they are little kids."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I know of your aunt and uncle and I don't think that they would try to keep you in the house just because something so unfortunate happened."

"I guess..."

Koushirou had just finished up his fifth slice and was ready for a sixth, but there was only one slice left. Mimi continued to eat on her second slice slowly. Koushirou wasn't sure if he should take the last slice or not, Mimi noticed.

"Go ahead..."

The boy smiled and took the last slice of pizza while Mimi continued to eat slowly on hers.

"Arigatou!"

The two continued to eat until they both finished.

"Gochisosama," Mimi said while patting her stomach. "Oy, I'm full. I drank too much."

*Note: Gochisosama is what one says after he/she finish his/her meal. It means, "That was a great meal," pretty much.*

"Yeah, I'm full too," he lied.

"Let's see," Mimi said while going through her purse, "how much was it..."

"No problem, I said that I would pay."

"No, it wouldn't be fair."

"It is no problem...besides, I want to..."

"That's nice of you. Thank you."

The two stood up and Koushirou left the pay. The two then left the place to head on to their homes. They took a taxi back and got dropped off in front of Mimi's place. It was almost 8:00. Koushirou paid the cab fare and hopped out of the taxi.

Right at the front door of the Nishimura home was Miyako and Sora. They had just knocked on the door and were let in by Mrs. Nishimura, who was getting a bit worried that Mimi wasn't home. Miyako and Sora then heard a car pulling up and looked through the open window, seeing two familiar figures getting out of it.

"Is that Mimi-chan?" Sora asked.

"It looks like it," Miyako said, trying to get a better look.

The two watched Koushirou and Mimi as they talked.

"I'm sorry that we didn't find out all that you wanted today."

"That's all right," Koushirou said. "Like you said earlier, we learned a lot from Mitsuishi-san."

"So, what are we going to do tomorrow?"

::RP cues the Pinky & the Brain theme::

"The same thing I try to do every night, Mimi-san...try to take over Microsoft!"

"Huh?" Mimi asked while looking around. "Where is that music and bad singing coming from?"

::RP does the cut thing to the throat which stops the music and she stops singing::

"Um, I mean the next school on our list."

"Oh-kay," Mimi said, still trying to recover from the bad singing. "Anyway, do we go tomorrow after school?"

"If you want. We can take the bus there tomorrow. It would be quicker that way."

"Okay."

The two stood there for a while in silence.

"Well, I guess this is good night," Koushirou said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow in school and let's talk during lunch."

The boy nodded.

"I will meet you in the computer lab," she informed him. "How is that?"

"Sure thing."

The girl then started to walk backwards towards her door and waved at Koushirou.

"Thank you for dinner!" she called out.

"No problem!" he called back. "If you would like, we could go out again tomorrow, my treat. You can also choose the place if you would like!"
****
Back in the house...

"Dinner!?!" the two girls asked in unison.

"They went out on a date!?!" Miyako asked.

Right at that moment, Mrs. Nishimura walked back in.

"Did you girls mention something about a date?" she asked.

"Oh, no! We were just trying to..."

"...think up suitable dates for Sora-san for her upcoming Senior's Dance this Friday!"

"I really hate the fact that Mimi is coming home so late," Sué said, not really listening to the two. "Well, I know that it isn't late but she normally always tell me or Kichibei where she is going and when she is coming back. This is definitely not like her, but I guess it is okay since you two said she was hanging out with her friend, Koushirou."

"Well, Mimi-chan is here," Sora told her. "She's on her way in now."
****
"Sure, okay!" Mimi called back to Koushirou. "See you tomorrow at lunch!"

The girl smiled a little and walked into the house to face an exasperated aunt, a curious Sora, and a nosy Miyako.

"Oh, so you finally decided to come home," Sué said sternly.

"Obachan, gomen nasai!" she apologized. "I lost track of the time! I didn't mean to worry you!"

"Mimi-chan, with you living here you have to realize that your uncle and me are responsible for your well being and safety. It is very important that we know where you are going to be."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I know that you have never done this before so I am going to let it slide, but promise me that you will never do that again. If you are going to be late coming home, call and let me or your uncle know. School let out over four hours ago and you are just getting home!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I am just glad that Miyako and Sora came over and told me that you were hanging out with your friend, Koushirou. But it still would have been nice to hear that from you." She gave Mimi a hug and smiled at her. "I am just glad that you are home. My brother would never forgive me if I let something happen to his little girl."

With that, the woman left the three to converse. Mimi invited the two up to her room where they all talked...
*******************************************************************************************************************************************

Comments

Note: Hey everyone. I did not find that Einstein quote on my own. We must all thank Guardianmon for passing that quote on to me. I would like to thank them very much for it. I agree entirely that, that quote describes Koushirou perfectly! He is no "genius." He has always just been curious about things, which is what makes him knowledgable since he always tries his best to find out all that he can about whatever it is he is curious about. Thanks again, Guardianmon. ^_^