BTW, how was the last part? I hope it wasn't too unrealistic. The only thing I know about pregnant women is that they do tend to get a bit emotional during certain situations and I think that Mrs. Izumi having mixed emotions would be a tad bit realistic, until I watched an ep of Digimon. I hate it when I do that. I watch an ep, and then I think I have the characters portrayed OOC.
Sorry I'm dragging this out so much. I just keep getting more and more ideas, which is causing this fic to end up so long. I just hope you all haven't grown bored of this fic yet. Let's just call this a short Epic. :-p Okay, maybe not an Epic, how about a short Fan Novel. :-p
Okay, I'll pipe down now. Now, as always, I do not own any thing
Digimon related and if I did, I would be one very happy, not to mention
rich, girl and I wouldn't be writing fics. ^_^
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Mimi, who had just finished talking with Yamato, made one last call, it being to Yuko. She had no idea what the girl could have wanted, but she felt that she should return her call if she had gone through the trouble to make it.
When she called Yamato, he had told her that Koushirou was looking for her. The girl was really curious now. What could Koushirou have wanted with her? She tried calling him through his cell phone, but she didn't get an answer. Something else her and Yamato talked about was what they could do after the dance and how him, Taichi, Sora, and a few others were going to hang out for the night. The girl agreed to all of it, of course. It sounded like fun and Mimi never turned down having fun. It didn't take the girl long, but she finally got an answer from the Sasaki household.
"Konban wa, Sasaki-san," Mimi greeted. "How are you?"
"Hi, Mimi," Mrs. Sasaki greeted back. "I'm doing quite alright, thanks for asking. How about you?"
"I'm doing okay. I'm just so glad that our Spring Break is coming up soon."
"I don't blame you for your wanting to see your Spring Break. You guys are doing a lot of testing this year."
"Sasaki-san, is Yuko-chan there? My uncle told me that she called earlier looking for me, but I wasn't home."
"Oh, yeah, she's here. Let me go and get her."
The woman put the phone down to go retrieve her somewhat lazy daughter who was lying around watching television and snacking on chips. In no time at all, Yuko had picked up the phone with a mouth filled with potato chips.
"Mimi-chan, I am so glad you called," the girl answered, her voice a bit muffled from the mouthful of chips.
"Huh? Is this Yuko-chan?" Mimi questioned.
"Sorry," the girl apologized as she swallowed her chips. "I said that I am so glad you called!"
The girl took a drink of her cola as she listened to Mimi talk.
"So, what's up?"
The girl finished her cola and got a mischievous smile on her face.
"That's what I should be asking you!" the girl cunningly replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard about you today," she told her. "If she knew that Miyako and me were spying on her, she'd kill us!" the girl thought as she grimaced.
"Heard about me?"
"Yeah, about your going to the Senior Dance Friday night!"
"Oh, that," the girl responded as if it were any other dance. "It really isn't all that big a deal…"
As of right now, it really wasn't that big a deal. She really wanted to show Koushirou what she had found and share the information that she had.
"No big deal?" Yuko asked in surprise. "Are you kidding me!?! You're going to one of the biggest events ever held at our school! And to make it even cooler, you are going with Yamato-san of the Teen-Age Wolves! How can that not be a big deal!?!"
"I guess I'll never be able to see what you all see in Yamato-san because to me, he is just a really good friend."
"Wish he was my very good friend," the girl said dreamily.
"I wonder how good a friend she means," Mimi muttered to herself since Yuko was so boy crazy. "It really isn't all that big a deal that we are going to a dance together. He probably would have ended up asking Sora-san if Taichi-san hadn't and if not her, probably Chizuru-san."
"I still think you guys are lucky to know such a boy!"
"Don't worry, I am sure that for our Senior Dance next year that some nice, handsome boy will ask you, or maybe Seki-kun or Yuuji-kun."
The girl turned a beet red after Mimi said that.
"Na-nani?!?" the girl nearly shouted out in nervousness. "Those two doofuses! I wouldn't want to go out with them to a dance! No way, no how!"
"Whatever you say, Yuko-chan," Mimi said, a smug smile spread across her face.
"So, where were you this afternoon?" Yuko asked, trying to get off the subject of Seki and Yuuji being potential dates for herself. "You just took off."
"I had to work on that project again."
"Oh, homework with Izumi again," Yuko verified. "Please, let me in on your secret. How do you do it?"
"Do what?" Mimi laughed.
"Hook two guys who don't act all obsessed over you…"
"Yuko-chan, I can assure you that Yamato-san and me, just like Koushirou and me, are nothing more than friends."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they liked you. I'm not so sure about Yamato-san, but I think the nerd does. I mean, why would Izumi hang around you so much or offer to take you out to dinner if he didn't like you?"
"Take me out to dinner? I never mentioned that to you."
Yuko got an "oops" look on her face and sweat dropped nervously.
"Yuko-chan!"
"Um, I didn't say anything," the girl said quickly, trying her best to get off of the topic. "Boy oh boy, I can't wait until Spring Break, how about you?"
"Who told you that Koushirou had taken me out to dinner?"
"Okay, I won't lie, it was Miyako-san."
"What else did she tell you?"
"Nothing actually, just that you and Izumi had been hanging out quite a bit due to your project for Ishidzuka-sensei."
"Oh. Well, yes, he has taken me out to dinner a couple of times to be nice. The first time, it was starting to get late and neither one of us had eaten, so he offered to take me out to dinner, and the second time, since we were running late, he just offered to take me out to dinner again."
"Sugoi!" the girl squealed. "Izumi so likes you, Mimi-chan!"
"Does not!" Mimi retorted.
"Does too," Yuko teased in singsong. "Izumi has a thing for you..."
"You are just crazy," Mimi said with a slight blush.
"Isn't it ironic that he decided to take you to Hikarigaoaka on White Day? Maybe that was his gift to you! Sunday was March 14!"
"He didn't take me out to dinner on the 14th, he took me out on the 15th."
"It was just a trick so you would think it was nothing!" Yuko theorized. "You are just making excuses. You didn't even talk about your White Day presents because you were so hung up over Izumi's!"
"My room was filled with them when I got home," Mimi said, ignoring the last statement Yuko had made about her being "hung up over Izumi's" present. "My aunt and uncle brought them in for me. I really dislike it, in a way. I always get a bunch of presents, never Obligation Chocolates or candies. It would be nice to get that just once instead of presents from love-crazed boys who want a relationship."
"But Izumi took you out to dinner! An even better present, not to mention romantic!"
Mimi sighed as Yuko laughed at Mimi's sudden silence since she couldn't think of a way to defend herself.
"I'm sorry, Mimi-chan," Yuko apologized, her laughter subsiding a bit, but not completely. "I didn't mean to tease."
The girl finally stopped laughing and spoke in a calmer manner.
"Well, I have to get going," Yuko told Mimi. "I'll talk to you in school tomorrow."
"Okay, ja ne."
"Sayonara."
Both girls hanged up the phone.
"I should have known that it had something to do with a boy," Mimi said as she shook her head at her friend. "I wonder how she found out about my date with Yamato-san anyway..."
She hanged up the phone and picked it up again, getting a dial tone. Next on her list to call was Sora.
"Maybe I should just catch her in the morning instead of calling her now. It is getting pretty late and if she wanted to blab about her date, then she would have called me."
The girl made up her mind to talk with Sora in the morning. Besides, she had to figure out a way to approach Koushirou. She was wondering if he was still sore at her. She really wanted to talk to him, alone. She then got an idea.
"Hey! I know! I could just go over to the Izumi's and talk with him then. Koushirou probably went to bed early just to get to school early. I can walk with him tomorrow morning to school. I'll just walk the way he would instead! It's strange how I never actually thought to stop by in the mornings. He is the closest to me compared to the others."
The girl started to go through her clothing.
"I better get ready for bed if I want to get up early in the morning. Besides, we only have 1 day left to work on this project!"
The girl hurried to take her bath and into her bedclothes where from
there, she hopped into bed and fell into a deep slumber…
****
The next morning, Mimi had done exactly what she had set out to do.
Get up early to get a head start on school. Getting up early wasn't
one of her best habits, but she had been working on that lately.
This particular Thursday morning was just the perfect opportunity for her.
She had no idea what she was getting herself into, though, by going over to the Izumi home. She didn't know about the big argument that had occurred there that preceding night.
The girl ran down the stairway of her aunt and uncle's home and into the kitchen. Her aunt was already up along with Isako. Mimi normally got up when her aunt was on her way out. Her uncle was normally up by that time. She scared her aunt when she walked into the kitchen.
"Ohayou Gozaimasu!" she greeted cheerfully and loudly.
"Neechan!" Isako cheered as she ran up to Mimi, giving her a big hug.
"Mimi, you scared me!"
"Gomen, obachan, I didn't mean to scare you."
"That's alright." The woman looked down at her watch, wondering if she was running late since Mimi was up. Due to her job, she had to get up very early. "You're up much earlier than usual. You're normally getting dressed when the children and me are heading out."
"I wanted to get to school early," she told her as she took out the juice pitcher from the refrigerator.
"Any particular reason why?" Sué asked while making toast for both Ton and Isako.
"I wanted to meet up with Koushirou," she explained. "I couldn't get him on the phone last night. I even tried his cell phone, but it just stopped ringing abruptly."
"Is Kou-chan sad again?" Isako asked.
"No, I doubt it," the girl shook her head. "I just have some information for him for the assignment we are working on."
The girl grabbed a piece of toast and swallowed down the glass of juice she had poured earlier.
"That's all for me. I better get going. My guess is that he is going to school early since his folks said that he was asleep when I called last night."
The girl ran to the door and stepped into her shoes.
"Matte...Mimi-chan!"
*Note: Matte means, "wait"*
She didn't hear her aunt call for her. She just ran out the door and shouted, "ja ne!"
"She should eat and drink more than a slice of toast or a glass of juice."
"Neechan must have some money on her to get some snacks like candy and cookies and brownies!"
The girl smiled at the idea and got a sparkly look in her eye.
"Ooh, can I have some candy and ice cream for breakfast mamii!!"
"That's even worse," the woman laughed. "No you can not have all of those bad foods for your breakfast. Stick to your toast and cereal."
"I don't want any cereal today!"
"Your brother likes it."
The girl looked over towards her brother who was making more of a mess than actually getting the cereal to his mouth.
"Cereal is baby food!"
"Then I must be a baby too because I love eating cereal."
Mrs. Nishimura sat down and started to eat out of bowl filled with dry cereal.
"Okay, maybe it isn't baby food," the girl said, gulping down a spoonful of her cereal.
"That's my girl," Sué smiled at her. "Reverse psychology works every time," she complimented herself.
The woman stopped eating her cereal to help Ton with his.
"But ice cream and candy still tastes better," the girl muttered as
she went back to her cold breakfast…
****
Mimi had finally made it to the Izumi home with lots of time to spare.
She still had a good 45 minutes or so before she had to even get to school.
The girl knocked on the door of the Izumi apartment. It took a while,
which surprised her, but Mr. Izumi groggily answered the door.
"Ohayou, Izumi-san."
"Good morning, Mimi," the man yawned.
"Since you told me Koushirou was asleep when I called last night, I figured that he was planning on going to school early. I decided to walk with him today."
"Sure, come on in," the man told her, trying his best to act as if nothing had happened the previous night.
The man walked over to Koushirou's room and knocked on the door while Mimi looked around. She sensed that something was wrong.
"Koushirou, Mimi is here to see you."
He didn't get an answer. The man rolled his eyes and sighed out, "Not again." Mimi didn't get what he meant and shrugged to the whole thing.
After a couple of minutes of knocking, Mr. Izumi opened the bedroom door. Mimi went in with him, even though she knew that there was a chance that Koushirou could've been wearing his bed clothing. What they found when they entered the room was a Koushirou-less one. He wasn't there and by the looks of the room, he had left earlier than she had assumed.
"I guess he left for school earlier than usual."
"Well, it's my fault. I should have called to let him know that I was planning on coming over."
"No, that's okay. He doesn't usually leave this early," Mr. Izumi told her. "Do you want me to get you to school since you came all the way over here?"
"No thank you. I'll just go by myself," she said, almost regrettably. She still didn't like to be by herself much.
The girl waved to the man and walked off. She wanted to hurry and leave. She was feeling a lot of tension from Mr. Izumi. He didn't seem like his usual self and she was surprised that the normally cheery Mrs. Izumi hadn't answer the door, which was something that she normally did. She also knew Mrs. Izumi to be the type to get up early, according to Koushirou anyway. She just found it very odd that Mr. Izumi seemed a bit distant and that Mrs. Izumi was no place to be found in the apartment, unless she did sleep in.
She decided not to worry herself over it and head on to school. Since she had quite a bit of time left, Mimi took her time walking to school. When she got there, she ran into Miyako. She was glad to see a happy face, so she went over to greet her. The smile Miyako had been wearing, didn't last too long. When Mimi greeted her, Miyako told her that she had other things to do and walked off.
"First Koushirou, now Miyako-chan! It's like people are ignoring or avoiding me today!"
That feeling of being ignored and avoided didn't last too long. Next to show up was Yamato.
"Hey, Mimi!"
"Yamato-san, ohayou"
The boy started to talk with Mimi, but the girl had tuned Yamato out a bit. He kept trying to get her attention, but one good, 'Mimi!' snapped her out of her pondering state.
"Oh, gomen," she apologized.
"What's wrong?"
The two started to walk down the hall of the big school while Mimi told Yamato what was bothering her.
"I was just wondering where Koushirou could be. I really need to talk with him."
"I haven't seen him since Monday or Tuesday. Why are you looking for him anyway?"
"We were partnered up for this assignment and it is due tomorrow!"
"Oh," the boy said plainly. "Anyway, if you aren't doing anything today, want to hang out after school?"
"Sure, but I hope I can get a hold of Koushirou first and hope we don't have to work on anything after school..."
"You'll probably be fine; besides, you two have the same classes."
"Oh yeah, that's right!" Mimi said with a laugh, feeling foolish for forgetting such a thing.
The two spent the rest of the morning talking together in the gym, Mimi getting her mind off of Koushirou and more interested in Yamato. She had never really had a conversation with him before without the others around. It was nice to talk with Yamato for a change. She had no idea he actually had stuff to talk about. She always saw him as a lone wolf and a bit antisocial, but around her, it was the total opposite of what she had always thought of him.
Mimi also realized that the two had quite a bit in common, from the kind of music they enjoyed, to their semi dislike of attention from crazed fanatics. They also discussed what they could do after school. Yamato wanted to take a walk in the park with Mimi, but he didn't mention that. The park was for couples, "pigeons and lovers," and he knew that him and Mimi were just friends. They both decided that they could hang out at the mall, for a while, get a couple of snacks, and maybe catch a movie, if they had the time.
The two talked so long, that Mimi had forgotten all about her wanting to meet up with Sora. The bell rang before she could do anything about it, so she told Yamato, "Bye" and ran off to her Homeroom class. She joined up with Ayame and Yuko, like she always did. Ayame started to tease about "Izumi's late White Day present," to Mimi. Yuko had given Ayame her theory on Koushirou's taking Mimi out to dinner and Ayame, apparently, agreed with it.
"No matter what, you always get White Day gifts, even from boys you didn't give presents to on Valentine's Day and the only guys you actually get Obligation Candies, or Marshmallow Candies from are your 'Male Chosen Friends.'" Yuko sighed. "I envy you..."
"Don't, I hate all of that attention sometimes."
The two girls looked at Mimi in surprise.
"What do you mean you dislike the attention," Yuko asked. "I would love to have that kind of attention from all of the guys in school!"
"Like I told you before, Yuko-chan, I dislike all of that extra attention because of how the boys act."
"I still wish I could have it," Yuko muttered.
"Yeah, but all of those boys want to get into a serious relationship with me and none of them actually know me. The only thing they know about me is that I'm 'pretty,' supposedly. The White Day gifts shows that they are interested on trying to become my boyfriend and feels that by giving me such presents will impress me enough to consider it. Unless I get an actual boyfriend, they will probably never leave me alone, but those same boys never seem to hear me when I say, 'I am not interested in starting a relationship.'"
"I always thought you liked the attention all of the boys gave you," Ayame stated.
The girl got a half smile and looked at her two friends.
"Well, I sorta do, just not all of the time," she told them. She then said to herself, "But because of Sunday, I wouldn't mind not getting that kind of attention at all..."
Before either girl could respond to Mimi's comment, the second bell rang and their Homeroom Teacher entered the room to start taking the role.
He was a tall, dark haired man who looked as if he was always depressed or didn't care about anything in general, his job as a teacher included. He always acted as if he regretted ever becoming a teacher and always muttered about how many years he had left until "this nightmare is over."
"We better quiet down," Ayame warned. "Zeshin-sensei is taking the role, and we all know how he is if we aren't quiet when he's taking the role."
"Yeah," Yuko agreed, rolling her eyes a bit. "He is truly annoying and is terribly boring! He talks as if he's dead!"
"Akahito Yuya-san..." the man called.
"Present!"
"Mushano Koji-san…"
"Present!"
"Ueda Yuuji-san..."
"Here!!!" Yuuji shouted.
"My ears, Ueda-kun...there is no need to yell."
"Sorry, Zenshin-sensei," the boy apologized.
The man sighed and continued on.
"Tomokazu Seki-san..."
"Present!"
The man went through the rest of the list and finally got to Mimi and her friends. The role was set up by the way the students were seated as opposed to their family names.
"Tachikawa Mimi-san..."
"Present!"
"Sasaki Yuko-san..."
"Present!"
"Shinohara Ayame-san..."
"Present!"
"Good, I'm done, now all of you get ready for your---"
The man stopped talking abruptly as he saw an arm being waved around in his face. The man sighed in annoyance and called on the student. Everyone in class knew not to get on Mr. Zeshin's bad side or to ask him questions in general since he would snap at you. Everyone felt that Yuuji was brave to raise his hand voluntarily to be called on.
Yuuji had surprised himself as well that he had spoken up to all people for a fellow student; a fellow student he was quite jealous of, yet he would never admit that to the student or let anyone else know it...
"What is it, Ueda-kun?"
"You forgot someone."
The man sighed in annoyance, wondering why he had even agreed to get out of bed that morning.
"What are you talking about? Everybody is here, now stop holding up your class. I never make mistakes."
"No, you forgot someone!"
Everyone gasped at the way Yuuji was insisting that Mr. Zeshin had made a mistake.
"Okay, who? Who am I missing if you are so smart, which you probably aren't."
The boy was expecting him to give one of his cold statements and ignored it.
"I-I-Izumi," Yuuji stuttered nervously. "He isn't here."
The other students, who had been wrapped up in their own little conversations and worlds, noticed that Yuuji was right. Koushirou wasn't there.
"That's a laugh!" he cruelly laughed at Yuuji. "Izumi has had perfect attendance since he first started attending this school. He probably went to the restroom before class."
Another boy spoke up, a bit nervously. He never liked speaking up to Mr. Zeshin either.
"I think my cousin may be right, sir," Seki responded hesitantly.
"What?"
"I didn't see him this morning and he isn't here now," Seki said, getting a bit more nerve. "He isn't the type to be late to class, especially Homeroom since that is where one's attendance counts the most."
The boy turned to Mimi who was a few seats behind him.
"Mimi, have you seen Izumi?" Seki asked. "I know you are paired up with him for that project."
The girl shook her head guiltily. She was so wrapped in herself, she had completely forgotten about Koushirou.
"Izumi isn't here?" the man asked in surprise. "This is a-a, well I don't know what to call this! He has never missed a day of school! I just marked him down as here since it is a force of habit."
The man went to his roster and but a big "A" for absent for Koushirou since he wasn't there. Mimi was now a bit worried since he wasn't there.
"I wonder where he could be if he didn't come to school?" Mimi asked herself in worry. "I hope nothing has happened to him..."
Ayame and Yuko looked over at Mimi who seemed to have an uneasy look about her face. The two figured that she was worried about Koushirou and she wasn't the only one. The rest of the students of their class were somewhat worried too. They weren't good friends with Koushirou, but they still respected him as their fellow student and they knew that Koushirou wasn't the type to miss school. They all found it just as strange and also hoped that he was alright.
"Don't worry, Mimi-chan," Yuko said while giving her a smile.
"Yeah, he is probably just coming in late today," Ayame added, hoping to ease Mimi's worries.
The girl gave her two friends a forced smile. She knew that they were just trying to cheer her up, but Mimi knew something had happened or had either gone wrong. The way Mr. Izumi was when she went to the house gave her that impression and there was still the fact that Mrs. Izumi wasn't up and about like her usual, cheery self.
The day went on, Koushirou still didn't show up at school. Everyone else just figured he was taking a sick day, even though Mimi knew better. When Miyako found out that Koushirou didn't come to school, she was a bit concerned too, although she wasn't as concerned as Mimi. As of lunch that day, she was on speaking terms with Mimi again. An e-mail had convinced her of that.
During her homeroom, she decided to check her e-mail through her D-Terminal.
She saw that she had one from Koushirou and answered it back in record
time of course...
~*~*~*~
Miyako-kun,
I am sorry for the way I acted and treated you last night. I didn't mean to seem so rude, but I really was in a hurry and I really needed to get in touch with Mimi-san. Unfortunately, I never did. As you probably already know, Mimi-san is my partner for our History project. I wouldn't be surprised if she told you that already. I had to discuss with her about our presentation and at the time, I had to hurry and get off of the phone.
So once again, I do apologize for my being so rude and impolite. I hope I did not jeopardize our friendship with my rudeness. I would have apologized in person, but something came up, unfortunately, keeping me from doing so.
So, no hard feelings?
~Koushirou~
~*~*~*~
After she got the e-mail, she felt that she owed Mimi an apology for
her "coldness" towards her, even though Mimi admitted to not really noticing.
Mimi had just figured that Miyako had been preoccupied with something that
she just didn't want to talk about.
By the time school ended, Mimi was ready to run over to the Izumi's place to see if Koushirou had gotten home, but she was startled by a few friends of hers...
"Hey, Mimi, do you still want to hang out with me this afternoon?"
The girl turned to see a tall blonde-haired boy standing behind her along with three other people.
"Yamato-san..."
"Hey."
"You all scared me," Mimi told them, holding her chest, gasping for air.
"We're sorry," Sora apologized. "We didn't mean to."
"That's okay."
"So, are you still up to hanging out this afternoon?" Yamato asked again.
"I'm not so sure," the girl frowned slightly.
"Aww, c'mon," Yamato urged. "You could use a little relaxation. According to everyone, you've been acting a bit stressed out. You even missed Sora's party this past Sunday. You really ought to unwind for a while."
"But what about Koushirou? What if something has happened to him? I have this terrible feeling that something is wrong."
"It's probably just your imagination since you, as well as everybody else, isn't used of him missing school," Taichi told her. "You should go along with Yamato."
"Yeah, it'll help to ease your mind," Miyako added.
"I really don't know…"
"Well, we do! Go on ahead, Mimi-chan!" Sora smiled. "You know you love to shop and hang out at the mall."
"Yes, you're the accessorizer out of the group, you have to go out there and accessorize; especially, since you are going to the dance tomorrow night."
"Miyako-chan, I don't think 'accessorizor' is an actual word," Sora laughed.
"Well, maybe it isn't, but Mimi-oneesama really should go just to calm her down a bit."
"I guess you all are right..."
"We know we are!" Miyako smiled.
"Spend the afternoon with Yamato," Taichi told her. "Don't worry about Koushirou. We all know that he missed a day of school. He probably just decided to take a sick day. Everyone deserves a day off sometimes."
"So, are we still on for this afternoon?" Yamato asked hopefully.
"You really want me to hang out with you?"
The boy smiled at Mimi.
"What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't? I meant it when I asked you this morning and you know I'm pretty serious when it comes to friendships."
The girl knew how Yamato valued his friendship with all of them, but she was a bit skeptical about going now. She couldn't help it, though. Over the years, she had become much more helpful and considerate towards others and always wanted to try and cheer people up or help them. Deep down, she knew that something was wrong with Koushirou, that he was going through some major crisis and needed some guidance or someone to talk to at least. That's what she was feeling. She didn't sense that he was hurt or in any danger or anything like that.
The girl thought for a while and then gave in. Maybe she was worrying over Koushirou too much. When she knew something was wrong with Miyako, she hadn't worried over her as much as she was Koushirou. She also thought that it was really sweet that Yamato was being so nice to her. She then smiled at the older boy.
"Okay, I'll go!"
"Great! Let's get going! I don't have a practice today since I cancelled it."
The boy playfully put out his arm and Mimi accepted it.
"Wow, you're the perfect gentleman!" Mimi laughed.
"I learn from the best."
"Me!" Taichi shouted out.
"No way!" Yamato said. "I learned from oyaji (pop), of course!"
Taichi, Sora, and Miyako laughed.
"Have a good time," Sora shouted to the two. "Enjoy the movies."
"Don't worry about Izumi-senpai, oneesama! I'll find out what's wrong! He should be answering my e-mail sooner or later."
The girl smiled and walked off with Yamato, trying to get her mind off of her redheaded companion, which wasn't going to be quite easy. After the two were far out of sight, Sora spoke up.
"You know, I don't blame Mimi-chan for being worried."
"Neither do I," Taichi agreed. "From what you guys are saying, something is stressing Koushirou out tremendously and since Mimi is hanging around the most with him, it's having a big effect on her."
"His adoption, I guess," Miyako assumed.
"Oh yeah, that's right, Sora told me that Koushirou was adopted."
"Well, he had found out a lot about his biological father, but
hardly anything on his mother and for some odd reason, Koushirou-kun refused
to go to the one place
that would probably have a lot of information about her."
"Where was that?" Taichi asked.
"Odaiba Elementary," Miyako told him. "Apparently, his mother was a teacher there before she died."
"Mimi-chan went there yesterday. She must've found something since she is so anxious to find Koushirou-kun."
"Must be," Miyako agreed.
"With his weird moods lately, I hope he doesn't do anything rash," Sora said, a bit concerned.
"What, like suicide?" Taichi asked, surprised at Sora. "I doubt that my buddy would do something like that."
"I wasn't thinking of anything that extreme!"
"But where could Izumi-senpai be?"
"It isn't like him to run off like that."
"The news about his missing school got around," Taichi said. "It is quite surprising that he is nowhere to be found. Anyway, if he was going to goof off like this, he should've invited me along!"
"Taichi!"
"Just kiddin', Sora, but it is a bit of a shock that he didn't show up today."
"I really wish Koushirou-kun wouldn't do such things."
"He's worrying everyone!" Taichi said. "The Izumis are probably going frantic, hoping that he comes home, unless they already know where he is. Mrs. Izumi gets frantic whenever the he sneezes," he finished up with a small chuckle.
"The impression I got from oneesama is that they don't know a thing. She said that she went to the Izumi's this morning and Mr. Izumi just figured that Izumi-senpai left for school earlier than what he would normally."
"I'm still curious as to why he would run off like that," Sora said.
"Maybe he needs more information for that project they were working on?" Miyako inquired.
"Nah, I doubt he would do that either," Taichi said. "Koushirou is the considerate type."
"Yeah, that's true," Miyako concurred.
"Not with the way he's been acting lately," Sora pointed out. "It's like his entire mood is changing."
"I hope he comes back soon to help calm Mimi down," Taichi said. "We had to force her to go to the mall and the movies with Yamato and Mimi never turns down going to the mall."
"Hey guys, what's up!" the three heard a girl say.
The three turned to see two girls looking over at them.
"Chinatsu-san, Chizuru-neechan."
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Chizuru greeted. "Why are you hanging around here?"
"No reason, actually," Miyako informed her sister. "We were just talking about some things. What are you two doing here still?"
"I was just working on some decorations for the Senior Dance tomorrow and was about to go home," Chizuru explained. "I am head of the decorations committee. We were just adding on the finishing touches."
"Neither Ayame-chan nor Yuko-chan wanted to help, but I was getting everything organized for the Volleyball Club this upcoming school year since I am going to be the captain of it for this school year."
"Congratulations, Chinatsu!" Taichi said proudly. "I knew you could do it!"
"Thanks," the girl smiled with a slight blush. "I couldn't have done it without you!"
"Nah, don't give me any credit," Taichi told her. "You did all of that on your own."
"I'm not surprised that she became captain," Sora said, giving her a proud smile. "She is always practicing and trying to improve her game."
"A true, dedicated player and a great asset to the team and this school," Taichi nodded in approval.
"The coach just informed me of my being coach for the upcoming year. I never would have believed it! She says that I work very hard and that I really deserved it! Oh, and I have some more news! It's for Mimi-chan! Has anyone seen her? I heard she was still hanging around the campus."
"She just left with Yamato-san," Miyako informed her.
"Oh yeah, her afternoon date," Chinatsu remembered. "I'm surprised she went, actually, with her being worried about Izumi. She wasn't her usual cheery self at all during lunch."
"It's strange how Koushirou-kun didn't come to school at all today," Chizuru said. "Maybe he's sick."
The others shrugged as Chizuru looked around as if she were looking for someone. She then smiled as she saw a car pull up to the curb.
"Oh, great, he's here!"
"Who's here?" Miyako asked.
"My date for tomorrow night," the older girl smiled.
Miyako stepped up to her older sister and got into her face, throwing out question after question.
"You finally got a date! Who is it!?! Who is it!?! Why didn't you tell me! Mom and dad approves of your going out with a boy that is old enough to drive!?! You have to be 18 to get your license here!"
"Calm down, nosy baby sister, 19 isn't that old." The girl then smirked at Miyako. "Besides, you will soon see, that is if you decide to hurry up and come home. He's staying for dinner tonight."
"I'll be home later."
"Okay, okay. I'll catch you later then. Sayonara."
A boy driving an old '98 Toyota Corrola, honked the car's horn.
"Chizu-san, let's go!" the boy shouted out the car window.
"Okay, okay! I'm coming, I'm coming…"
The girl ran off towards the car and got in.
"Talk to you later, Miyako!"
With that, the car pulled off with Chizuru in it.
"He sounds familiar…" Miyako muttered.
"I guess I can tell you all what the news for Mimi-chan is and maybe you all can pass it on to her. I have so much to do tonight, I don't think I'll have the time to call her or anything just to let her know. The coach really wanted me to inform her of this."
"What do you want us to tell her?" Taichi asked.
"Coach Kouchi wants to see Mimi-chan tomorrow before school, she wanted me to tell her that. She has a surprise for her. I am going to be captain for the upcoming year, but Mimi-chan is going to be the co-captain of the Volleyball Club!"
"Cool!" Miyako exclaimed.
"Mimi? Head of a sports club?" Taichi asked, having a hard time believing the news Chinatsu had just delivered to them. "I thought I'd never live to see the day where she would become the captain of something other than that girly stuff she likes."
"I never really saw her as the sports type either, but she really does like Volleyball."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, Sora-san," Chinatsu agreed. The girl looked down at her watch. "Hey, I have to get going. I'll talk to you all later. If Coach Kouchi decides to call her tonight and she let's you all know, tell Mimi-chan congrats for me. See you all later."
The three waved Chinatsu off.
"Wow, that's pretty cool about Mimi-chan becoming co-captain of the Volleyball Club."
"Yeah, it is," Taichi smiled, still finding the news unbelievable. He then clapped his hands together. "So, what do you all want to do now?"
"We should probably just go home. It's getting late now anyway."
"You just want to see who that boy was that picked up your sister," Sora said while giving the younger girl a sly look.
"I may be nosy, but I'm not that nosy," she said while crossing her arms. The girl then smirked. "Besides, I do have other ways of finding out."
"Momoe-san?"
"Bingo!" Miyako smiled while giving the Victory Sign.
The older girl laughed as she turned to Taichi.
"Well, Taichi, we should probably head on home."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Right before the three could leave, they heard a familiar voice shout out "oniichan"! This, of course, caused Taichi to turn to see who it could be seeing as how he was the only "male" there who could be referred to as "oniichan."
"Oniichan! Oniichan!"
The person was Hikari, Taichi's younger sister. She was riding up towards Odaiba Junior High on her bike, along with Daisuke, Takeru, and the 10-year-old martial artist, Iori, who were also riding their bikes."
"What are you four doing here?" Taichi asked.
They all stopped and got off of their bikes.
"To tell you the news!" Daisuke exclaimed.
"What news?" Miyako asked.
"About Koushirou-san!" Iori spoke up.
"What about him?" Sora asked.
"He's missing!" Takeru told them.
Taichi laughed.
"So you heard he didn't come to school too? News seems to travel around here fast."
Miyako laughed along with Taichi.
"I bet if it were Jou, this entire country would get worried," Taichi joked.
The four younger children didn't crack a smile. Taichi noticed.
"You are just exaggerating and worrying over nothing," he told them. "Koushirou has been a bit down lately and just took the day off."
"No, oniichan, it's more serious than that. He is literally missing!"
"You'd never believe it!" Takeru said.
"There is a missing person's report out!" Hikari explained.
"On Koushirou-kun?" Sora asked in disbelief.
Iori nodded.
"His parents are commencing a search party to find him," Iori said, obvious worry in his tone. "He has vanished!"
"What!?!" the three asked in unison.
"It's true!" Daisuke said. "Nobody knows where he is, his parents included, so cops are looking for him all over the city!"
"It was on the early news! Since you hadn't come home, we figured that you and Yamato-san were still here in school and felt that we should let you know," Hikari explained.
"The police came to our apartment complex, asking around for him only because they knew he had friends there," Iori added. "They are probably going to search all over Odaiba until they find him."
"I hope Mimi-chan doesn't hear about this," Sora said, worried as to how Mimi would react to such news.
"Where is she, anyway?" Hikari asked.
"With Yamato," Taichi told her.
"Niisan?"
"Yep," Miyako nodded.
"I thought he had a band practice today," Takeru said.
"He cancelled it to take Mimi-oneesama out."
"How does he do it!" Takeru muttered to himself jealously.
"What do we do?" Taichi asked. "I had no idea that his not being in school was going to end up this serious!"
"Well, I think we should help the Izumis look for Koushirou-san," Iori said quite seriously. "With all of us together, we could all come up with ideas as to where Koushirou-san could be. I really do not feel that he has run away like the police are implying. They think that it is a 'runaway case.'" he informed the older ones of the group. "Why would the Izumis assume that he did anyway," the boy wondered in thought.
"I agree, I don't think Koushirou-kun has 'run away' either or is even 'missing' for that matter. He's been going through some things lately and probably wanted to be by himself for a while, but I still feel that we should go out and find him to let him know that his family is worrying about him. If he knew that, then he would probably come straight home. I also feel that Jou-senpai is the perfect person to go ask for help from! He could find us some better transportation if it does require us having to search around."
"Like that Moped of his!" Daisuke yelled excitedly.
The boy pulled the goggles he normally wore on his head, onto his eyes.
"Cool!" he said, his imagination starting to go into overdrive, which was a common thing with him.
Daisuke started act as if he were riding on the Moped and started to make a bunch of motor sounds…
"Goggleboy coming through! Get out of my way! Move it or lose it, granny!!"
The boy then started to make horn-like sounds…
"Beep Beep! Don't make me run you down! I know where you live you little---"
He then laughed dementedly before finishing his last statement.
"Who's the king of the road now! Who is your king now!! Hahaha!!! Oh, trying to out run me, eh!! I'll get you Mister!! No one escapes the Speed Demon, Motomiya Daisuke!! Mwahahaha!!!"
Everyone sweat dropped at Daisuke's behaviour nervously, all thinking different things, mostly of how they thought of Daisuke as "crazy."
"I pray that he never gets a license or a vehicle to drive in the future," Miyako muttered.
"One word...Ritalin...he needs it…" Takeru said to himself.
"I don't know him..."Sora muttered to herself, staring out into space.
"Crazy...he is crazy!" Iori said to himself, staring at the boy in disbelief. "The Digital World was saved by him?!?"
"One good whack ought to calm him down," Taichi thought as he bawled up his right fist.
The boy noticed their looks and his mentor's bawled up fist and calmed down. He cleared his throat nervously and took off the goggles.
"Um, yes, that would be a good idea," he said, much calmer and less hyper than what he was earlier.
The group started to head towards Jou's place. Since he was older, he had gotten a place of his own. His parents pay some of the rent, but he paid the majority of it since he had a part time job and walked to school so he wouldn't have to worry about public transportation fees.
The Moped once belonged to his oldest brother, Shin, but he let Jou
have it after he moved out and started going to medical school a few years
earlier. Shuu wasn't
the type to ride, which is why he hadn't bothered giving it to him.
Besides, for a graduation present, his parents had gotten Shuu a 2000 Volkswagen
Beedle, but
after he changed his major from Medical to Japanese Folklore and his
father "disowned" him pretty much, he had to finish up the payments
himself.
After that, Shuu didn't speak with his father for a while, but the two patched things up once he understood that he had to let his sons choose their own paths and to be successful in whatever they were best in.
"Let's go find Koushirou-san, guys! Off to senpai's we go!" Daisuke announced.
