Now, as always, I do not own any of these characters and/or places associated
with the game, show, manga, etc.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************
RP: Quite interesting how this fic has gone from Koushirou's search for his biological parents to an actual search for Koushirou.
Koushirou: (Muttering) I call it unrealistic...
RP: Pipe down, redhead. I have to do something with you to make this fic more angst, or whatever it is I'm writing. Besides, I wanted to get Jou in here somehow.
Koushirou: (Sighed) Whatever you say...
RP: You don't sound all that enthusiastic about how this fic is turning out, Izumi...
Koushirou: Well, I for one find this entire situation of my "disappearing" impractical! I would never do such a thing and I would never worry my adoptive parents like that!
RP: I suppose you are right, but your anime self knows of your adoption and you probably wouldn't do such a thing since you accepted the fact that you were adopted, and that no one would think of you as strange because of it. They came clean with you, but in my fic they didn't and they still haven't and you still have your adoption complex and how you feel that you don't belong. You just couldn't take it anymore and decided to, (eerie voice), end it all.
Koushirou: What!! You mean I committed suicide! RP-san, what were you thinking! I would never resort to such a thing! No matter how depressed I may become!
RP: I wouldn't do that to you. I believe in one valuing their life too much to have someone kill him or herself. Anyway, the only characters that I know of that seemed suicidal is Ken, and Juri tried to commit suicide from Tamers, but never mind that since that's pretty much a spoiler to those who are watching the dub of it...
Koushirou: What about that "end it all" statement?
RP: What I meant by "end it all," is in the sense of you ending the lies and such, but never mind that. Don't want to spoil it for everyone.
Koushirou: I have another question...
RP: Okay, shoot...
Koushirou: Why is Mimi-san out on a date with Yamato-san?
RP: Because he asked her to and it's an "outing" not a date...
Koushirou: But why did you have her accept it?
RP: I dunno, it just seemed appropriate, I suppose...
Koushirou: This whole fic is crazy, so unrealistic! (Muttering) Mimi-san going out on a date with Yamato-san...I'm missing...my mother is pregnant...
RP: Why don't we leave Koushirou to his thoughts while you all read
on…
****
It didn't take the group long, but they finally made it to Jou's place.
They told him what had happened to Koushirou, minus the part about his
being missing on the early news and him being a "missing person."
Jou hadn't heard the news since he had been studying for an upcoming test of his the entire afternoon. He was off from his part-time job at the Grocery Store nearby and was really planning on getting a lot of studying done. Along with him were both Eijiro and Malissa. They were studying along with him since they knew that dragging Jou away from his books wasn't going to work.
It was Jou's idea for the study group session. Jou, to some, was pretty strange. He finished taking all of his exams, which is common for this time of year for High School students, yet he always wanted to study to further his education. Only those who were quite lazy in school or made bad marks themselves thought this way. Then there are some that just went to school, just to go to school and were pretty average, but still hated the idea of studying all of the time.
"Missing? Koushirou is missing? What are you all talking about?"
"Just like we said, he's missing!" Daisuke repeated.
"Is this some kind of a joke to drag me away from my books like you always try to do?," Jou asked, giving Taichi a look.
"Do we look like we're joking?" Taichi inquired seriously.
The boy looked over the group and saw that none of them looked as if they were playing or joking around.
"Wow, you guys are serious!"
They all explained how there was a missing person's report out on Koushirou and how they were planning on finding him.
"I personally do not feel that Koushirou-san has run away like the police are assuming," Iori said. "He is just unaware of his not being around causing everyone to worry about him."
"I've known him for a while; it isn't like him to just run off like that, let alone 'run away,'" Jou said, still trying to make sense of the situation. "I bet he is just out and doesn't want to be bothered.
"But someone should let him know that his parents are worrying over him!" Sora spoke up.
"I'm sure he'll come home eventually," Jou assured her. "I wouldn't be surprised if he were home already. He probably just got hung up someplace."
"I hope you're right," Miyako quietly responded.
"I probably am," Jou said confidently. "Now you all run along so I can finish studying for my practice Biology Examination."
"You study too much…" Daisuke muttered.
"If I want to make excellent grades, I must go to seminars and lectures and cram school and take practice exams to help prepare me for college. I can't spend all of my time goofing off and worrying over nothing," Jou told them. "I am sure Koushirou will come home when he feels he is ready. He just wanted some time to himself, probably. I already goofed off yesterday by hanging out with Malissa and Eijiro and few other classmates from my school and a while before that, attending Sora's party and before that, the karaoke bar..."
"Yeah, something you need to do more often, goof off," a person interrupted, walking up to the group.
"Eijiro, you know we have to study."
"A break wouldn't hurt, you know," said the girl who had walked up with Eijiro. "Maybe we should help them look for your friend."
"Who was he again?" Eijiro asked.
"The redheaded one I introduced you and Malissa to when we went to the karaoke bar."
"Oh, the one that was beside that cute girl! Mimi was it?"
The glasses-wearing boy shook his head at how Eijiro acted when it came to a pretty girl. Age just didn't matter to him, even though the two weren't that far in age.
"Yes, it was Mimi-kun," Jou sighed.
"Well then, we should help them and go out and find Mimi! I am sure that she would appreciate my finding her!"
Everyone sweat dropped from the way Eijiro was acting.
"We are looking for Koushirou, not Mimi-kun!"
"Oh yeah, that's right," Eijiro smiled foolishly.
"Besides, she is out with my brother right now."
Eijiro looked over at Iori, Hikari, Daisuke, and Takeru and asked, "Who are you guys anyway?"
"Sorry for being so rude, Eijiro-san, Malissa," Sora apologized.
The girl started to introduce everyone to Eijiro and Malissa.
"This is Yagami Hikari. She is the younger sister of Taichi."
"Hello," Hikari smiled sweetly.
"The person beside her is Takaishi Takeru and he is the younger brother of Yamato, the singer you met the other night."
"Hi," Takeru greeted.
"So you're Ishida's brother, huh," Eijiro noted.
Takeru nodded.
"Do you sing too?"
"Nope, niisan has all of the musical talent, I seem to have all of the sports and athletics talent."
"Next to him is Hida Iori. He is a good friend of Miyako-chan and lives in the same building as her and Takeru-kun. He also studies Kendo with his grandfather."
"It is a pleasure meeting you," the boy bowed.
"And last, but not least, is Motomiya Daisuke. He is a pretty good friend of the Yagami family and is a really good soccer player at Odaiba Elementary."
"Hey!!" the boy cheered hyperly.
"He is quite energetic," Malissa smiled.
"Yep, he sure is," Sora said with a laugh. "He always keeps you on your toes, that's for sure."
"Nice to meet you all. My name is Tezuka Eijiro and this is our friend, Malissa Smith."
"Hi everyone," Malissa said to them.
"Tezuka Eijiro-san?" Iori questioned.
"Yep, that's my name."
"Are you related to an aqua-haired girl by the name of Tezuka Eiji who goes to Odaiba Elementary who is about to start grade 5 after our Spring Break?"
"Yeah, sounds like my younger cousin."
"So, you are the older cousin that she speaks of. After we ran into Mimi-san yesterday afternoon when she was at our school, she mentioned that she had met a boy with the same family name as hers. After that, Eiji-san spoke very highly of you and how you are a very wise person."
"The girl is quite sharp. She's always been like a kid sister to me and we get along pretty well."
"That is what she said as well, she also said---"
"Okay, enough with the introductions," Miyako interrupted. "Let's go search for Izumi-senpai!"
"Gomen," the two apologized.
"I still think you all should just leave him alone," Jou advised.
"No way!" Miyako retorted. "If he knew how worried his parents were, he would be back by now."
"Please help us, Jou-san," Iori requested. "We could really use the extra help."
"Onegai," Hikari pleaded.
The older boy sighed and gave in.
"Okay, okay, I'll help you, but I am not leaving and going along with you."
"Okay, fair enough," Taichi said, respecting his request.
"First of all, where would Koushirou go?" the older boy asked.
"That's an easy one!" Daisuke smiled proudly. "His computer!"
"Thank you Sherlock!" Miyako responded sarcastically.
"Well, it's true," the goggle boy muttered.
"If that were the case, he would be at home and we wouldn't be searching for him," Hikari told Daisuke.
"He could have his laptop with him," Takeru said.
"Maybe we could try e-mailing him," Iori suggested.
"I already have, but I guess Izumi-senpai was too busy to e-mail me back."
"What else does your friend like to do other than surf the net?" Malissa asked.
Everyone looked over at Miyako.
"What?" she asked, noticing the stares. "Why are you all looking at me?"
"Well, you do hang out with him the most compared to everyone else," Daisuke said.
"And Mimi-chan has a lot lately too, but she isn't here to ask, so…"
"…what else does Koushirou like to do that you know of?" Taichi finished up.
"I honestly don't know," the girl shrugged, trying to think of something. "He could like almost anything and I just don't know it."
"Maybe he went to the library," Jou said.
"We're looking for Koushirou, not you," Taichi joked.
"He's got you there, Jou," Eijiro laughed. "If you ever turned up missing, that would be the first place we would start looking!"
"Well, I don't know where he could be then!" Jou said in slight frustration. "I don't know him as well as you all do. I rarely even see you all anymore."
"That is true," Sora sighed.
"I guess coming here was of no help," Miyako muttered, slightly annoyed.
"We are sorry to have troubled you, Jou-san."
"That's all right, Iori-kun. I don't mind. At least you all had a logical reason for coming over instead of trying to get me to goof off and ignore my studies."
Jou got quiet and thought for a moment. He then smiled.
"You know what, I have a great idea as to what you all could do!"
Everyone leaned in to hear what the older, wiser boy had to say.
"Go home and hope everything goes well."
Everyone of Taichi's group, minus Iori, Sora, Hikari, and Miyako, face-faulted.
"That's the best advice you can give?!?" Taichi groaned.
"Yes, go home and study!" the boy told them.
"But it's the end of the school year!" Daisuke pointed out. "We don't have anything to study! Anyway, we're going to a public school, not a private one."
"It's never too soon to start getting ready for High School and college entrance exams," the boy said, sounding wiser than what he ever had before. "There are lots of practice exams you can take to help you prepare for the real thing and---"
"You know, I think we should just get going," Takeru interrupted, not wanting to hear a lecture from Jou on the importance of studying and going to school.
"Yeah, all of this talk about studying is too much for me," Taichi complained.
"Well I'm looking into the future and trying to prepare myself for it," Jou said, as serious as can be. "What's wrong with that? I cannot worry about petty little things like Koushirou being missing when it is quite obvious that he just wants to keep to himself for a while. Everyone deserves to have time away from his or her parents and families. That is why I live by myself. I wanted to get away from my father and mother for a while and it will also help get me prepared for when I am fully ready go out and be on my own."
"Wait a minute, Jou-senpai…are you saying that you think Koushirou-kun has gone out in search of a newer place to live to get away from his friends?" Sora asked.
"No, I'm just saying that maybe he wanted some time away from his family and friends to work through something. I disagree with his missing school to do it, but that is what I think. Besides, Koushirou seems like the sheltered type to me. He would probably miss his mother way too much if he did that."
"Definitely!" Taichi laughed, recalling all of the times where he had seen Mrs. Izumi baby Koushirou.
"Then again, he does seem like the independent type," Jou said, thinking to the way Koushirou acted. "I guess, to me, he is a mix of both. Independent, yet not…"
"Well, if Jou-san feels that it is a good idea not to go out and look for Koushirou-san, then I guess we all should just go home and hope for the best."
"At least Iori-kun agrees with me," Jou smiled at him. "Just go on home. I'm sure he'll probably be back later on in the evening."
The others agreed that they all should just dismiss the search for Koushirou just as Jou had suggested. Besides, they had no idea where to start looking for him.
Miyako still found the entire situation strange and "unkoushi" like.
Koushirou just wouldn't run off like that, but, apparently, if no one else
was making a big deal over it, why should she?
****
Meanwhile…
"Hey, Mimi, which movie would you like to see?"
The girl, who was licking on an ice cream cone, thought for a moment and then spoke up.
"It doesn't matter to me, as long as it isn't a really violent one," she smiled.
"Sure thing."
The two were now at the Odaiba Cineplex and were trying to decide on a movie. They had spent the entire afternoon together at the mall, window shopping--even though Yamato wasn't the type to shop period--and had an early dinner, Yamato's treat. The girl was really enjoying her afternoon with the boy and wouldn't have traded it away for anything.
Yamato's intent was to get Mimi's mind off of a certain redheaded boy and more so on himself. He found it a bit strange that Mimi, lately, had been so concerned about him. Surprisingly, the older, handsome blonde was a bit jealous over the younger, nerdy Koushirou and all of the attention that Mimi had seemed to be giving him lately. Everyone had noticed it, actually, even before the two were given that history assignment.
"Okay, I have the tickets," Yamato informed his friend. "Let's go on in."
"Alright."
The two started to head into the movie theatre. Mimi smiled a bit as she felt relieved and stress free. The girl stopped walking abruptly.
"What's wrong?"
"Yamato-san…"
"Yeah?"
"I want to thank you for doing all of these kind things for me today."
The boy smiled and laughed nervously.
"It's no problem, Mimi. I was glad to do it."
"I'm glad."
She now had a nervous look on her face.
"I never knew you were so…interesting."
"Excuse me?"
The girl laughed nervously as she fiddled with her purse strap with her free hand without the ice cream cone due to her anxiety. She had no idea why, though.
"No wait, that's not what I meant," she said, trying to rethink what she wanted to say. "I mean…well, I don't know what I mean. I'm just glad that you are one of my good friends and I am even more glad that you invited me as your partner to the Senior Dance tomorrow night."
"I'm glad that I did too," the boy smiled at her.
Mimi gave him a smile back. She wasn't lying or anything and meant what she said.
"Your ice cream is melting..."
"Oh no!"
The girl opened up her purse with one hand and took out a kleenex to clean up the ice cream that was melting. She was close to finished with it anyway so she gulped down the last part of the cone and continued to clean herself up.
"Ick, all of this ice cream is too sticky to clean with just a kleenex. I'll be right back. I need clean this up."
She walked towards the lady's restroom to clean up the ice cream. When she was done, she walked back out where Yamato greeted her.
"All done?" he asked.
"Yep," she nodded.
The two were about to start towards the theatre room, when they saw a couple of policemen walking around, questioning people. Most of the people they saw the police questioning were young people about their age.
"I wonder what's going on…"
"Who knows," his tan-haired companion shrugged.
One of the policemen that were questioning everyone walked up to the two.
"Hello there, children," the man greeted.
"Hello, officer," the two greeted back politely.
"We were wondering if you were students of Odaiba Junior High. You look about the right age and if I'm not mistaken, that's OJH's, school uniform…right?"
The two nodded nervously. A cop had never approached them before, not in this fashion anyway. It was like they were looking for them specifically, the two felt.
"Hey, I found some OJH students," the policeman shouted to his partner.
"Good," he called back to him while walking over. "That's great!"
"Excuse me, but what is going on?" Yamato asked. "We have a movie to catch…"
"Sorry, excuse our rudeness, but we are going to all of the teen hangouts or places where children your age would hang out," the first policeman who had first approached the two, informed them. "We are looking for a child that goes to your school."
"I am Officer Noboru and this is my partner, Officer Mitsuo. We are only looking around for OJH students now, though. We will widen and broaden our search later if it is necessary."
"Oh-kay," Yamato said slowly, wondering why the policemen were so concerned with them and OJH students in general.
Mimi held her stomach a bit in nervousness. She had the gut feeling that these police officials were going to say something that she wouldn't want to hear, but she still remained optimistic, hopeful, and enthusiastic
"Who is the person you are look for, sir?" she asked.
"Some eighth grade boy," Officer Mitsuo told them. "Maybe you know him. What was his name again?"
"It was a common name," Officer Noboru said, trying to recall the person's name. "Oh yeah, Izumi Koushirou was his name."
"Koushirou!" both Yamato and Mimi said in surprise.
"Good, you two do know him," Officer Mitsuo smiled.
"What's wrong with him!?" Mimi asked in alarm. "What has happened to him!?"
"Settle down young lady," Officer Mitsuo said, trying to calm Mimi some. "We just have reason to believe that he has run away and we are asking fellow his classmates where he could have gone."
"Do you know where this Izumi Koushirou could be?" Officer Noboru asked.
"You mean he hasn't gone home yet?" Yamato asked in surprise.
The two officers shook their heads.
"He didn't come to school today either," Yamato told them.
"I bet this is nothing but a runaway or either he just wanted to play hooky," Officer Mitsuo complained. "His folks called the station when the school called them and said he hadn't gone to school."
"No, Koushirou-kun wouldn't do that!" Mimi said, defending her friend. "He isn't like that!"
"Then you tell us where he is so we can all go home!"
The girl frowned and stared down at the ground.
"I don't know," she said quietly to Officer Mitsuo, unable to answer his question.
"Since he hasn't been gone for over 24 hours, I bet he was just playing hooky with some friends of his and just lost track of the time," Officer Noboru assumed.
"That's what I think has happened to him," his partner agreed, "but we were put on this case to look for the boy, so let us continue our search for him."
"I hope that boy comes back soon," Noboru grumbled. "This was supposed to be my day off…"
"You know the department only accepted this case and is sending everyone out because of who he is..."
"Definitely," Noboru agreed, "because any other time, the department would have followed the correct procedures if it was any other person."
The two cops left Yamato and Mimi to continue doing their jobs, even though they felt that it was a waste of their time.
Yamato was wondering what Officer Mitsuo meant with the statement he had made about why everyone was looking for Koushirou in the first place. He was wondering what made Koushirou so special that everyone would go out and look for him.
He was pretty curious about that, but before he could think any more of it, he noticed the look on Mimi's face and how she was getting into her "worried" manner. He wasn't sure if he wanted to continue with the movie or not, or if Mimi even felt up to it. He didn't want to seem selfish, but at the same time, he was annoyed with her always worrying about Koushirou. He really felt that she worried about and over him too much.
"She worries way too much over Koushirou," the boy muttered to himself. "Either she knows something about him that we all don't, or either she likes him more than what she is letting on."
"Yamato-san," Mimi started slowly, "I am sorry, but I have to go!"
"But what about the movie?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to look for Koushirou!"
"But nobody knows where he is…"
"That doesn't matter! Something is wrong with him! I just know that something is! He's been very moody and depressed lately. I hate not hanging around him when he is in that state since I don't know what he is capable of. Seems that Miyako-chan, Taichi-san, or I can get him out of it and actually get him to crack a smile."
"Don't you think you are worrying a bit too much over him? You should really calm yourself down over it. Who knows, maybe the others have found him or know where he is."
"I sure hope you are right, but I still feel that I should talk with him."
The girl started to walk off, until she felt that she was stopped.
"Mimi, wait," Yamato said while holding her arm. "Don't go."
"But Koushirou---"
"You should at least call one of the others to see if they know where he is or if they have found him before you run off to who knows where," he interrupted.
The girl looked up at the boy and nodded.
"You're right," she agreed. "I shouldn't jump to conclusions."
She took out her cell phone and decided to give Miyako a call. She figured that Miyako would know of the whereabouts of their friend.
"Hello?"
"Miyako-chan!"
"Mimi-oneesama, what's up!" The girl then asked craftily, "How was your afternoon outing with Yamato-san?"
"Never mind that for right now," the girl said, wanting to get right down to business. "I was wondering if you all found Koushirou yet."
"Nope, we haven't," Miyako said, wishing she had better news to deliver. "We haven't heard much of anything yet."
"A couple of policemen just talked with Yamato-san and me, wondering if we knew of his 'where-a-bouts.' There's a missing person's report out on him!"
"We were hoping you wouldn't find out about that…" the younger girl muttered.
"What?"
"I mean, we were hoping to find him before the cops did." She then laughed nervously. "It's like we are talking about a criminal here."
"Well, if you all haven't found him, then I plan to!"
"But oneesama…"
"My mind is made up! I am not returning home until Koushirou's search is over!"
The glasses wearing girl could only shrug. She knew how Mimi was, quite like herself. When Mimi gets her mind set to do something, she does it!
"Well then, my hopes are with you," she smiled. "I couldn't leave right now if I wanted to to go along with you."
"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine," Mimi assured her.
"Wish I could come along anyway. My mom won't let me go back out since I came home later than I was supposed to. I almost missed dinner since we visited Jou-senpai."
The girl then smiled to herself.
"At least it wasn't a total waste. I did get home in time to see my sister's mystery date!" she thought.
"You went to see Jou-senpai?"
"We were hoping that he could help us, but he said not to worry and to go home and study. All he does is study!"
"That's Jou-senpai for you," Mimi laughed.
"Well, good luck on finding him and threaten him real good for me for making me and everyone else worry. He worried people that don't even know him all that well."
"I surely will!" the girl said with determination.
Mimi hanged up the phone while Yamato just stood around patiently, waiting for her to finish.
"He hasn't been found," Mimi informed Yamato while putting her phone back into her purse.
"Oh," was all Yamato could say.
"I'm going to go look for him."
Yamato crossed his arms, somewhat frustrated over the entire ordeal and how Mimi was still acting overly-concerned about him. He was somewhat worried too, but not enough to go out looking for him.
"Maybe he doesn't want to be found."
"What do you mean," Mimi asked curiously.
"Exactly what I said. Maybe he just doesn't want to be found," he repeated. "Remember when Sora vanished on us after we all got separated after Taichi and MetalGreymon got taken back to our world after the defeat of Etemon? I pretty much said the same thing and it was true."
"But this is different. He is worrying his parents now! That's not like him!" Mimi told him, her knowing better than anyone how her short, redheaded friend would normally act. "Sora-san running off seemed pretty normal for a person like her. She hates to burden anyone with her problems, but Koushirou is different. He would just keep things to himself, not run away. If he wanted to get his mind off of something that is bothering him, he would just bury himself into his computer. I really want to find him, I'm sorry that it ruined our movie, but I feel that I must go. He is my friend, a very close friend."
Yamato stood there, not knowing what to say to all Mimi had just said. He was about to speak, but she didn't give him the chance since she continued on.
"Sure we may not have the same things in common, like I would rather play Volleyball, totally surprising, or shop at the mall for my fun, while he would want to sit around and crack some computer code or surf the net, but we can still talk with one another." The girl bawled her fist up and spoke in a determined manner. "I have to go find him and I'm not going to return until I do!"
The girl turned and started to walk off, which was quite surprising since after her encounter Sunday, she hated to go anyplace by herself. As she was walking off, she realized that she wasn't alone. She saw a tall blonde right by her side.
"I can't let you run off alone now, can I?" he smiled.
"Yamato-san…"
"It doesn't matter that we can't see the movie together. Let's go find our friend."
The girl eyes welled up with tears and she hugged Yamato tightly.
"Arigatou, Yamato-san!"
The boy hugged her back in surprise.
"What for?" he asked.
"For understanding how important Koushirou's friendship means to me..."
"You're welcome."
The girl let go of Yamato and wiped her tears away.
"Well, let's get going."
"But where do you think he could be?"
The girl shrugged and started to think for a moment; thinking back to conversations that the two of them could have had that could clue her in as to where the young boy could have gone. It took her a while, but she finally figured it out. She then gave Yamato the victory sign and shouted, "Bingo!"
"What, what!" Yamato asked, startled from Mimi's sudden outburst and Miyako mimic.
"I think I know where he is!!" the girl said in excitement! "Mimi baka! Why didn't I think of this earlier! I'm surprised Miyako-chan didn't think of this! He has to be there! He always talks about it! One of his favorite things to do when we have school vacations! I have no idea where he could have spent the entire day, but since night is approaching he has to be there!"
"Where? Where has he gone?"
"Yamato-san, we have to get going!"
"But---"
"Let's go, we have to go catch a bus to the outskirts of town!"
The girl grabbed Yamato's arm and started to pull him along, whom of which could barely keep up with the determined young girl.
"Go where!?! The outskirts of town! Your folks wouldn't allow you to go there this late in the evening!!"
Yamato noticed that she was pretty much ignoring him as she dragged him along.
"Mimi!"
"I'm coming, Koushirou! Just don't leave until I get there!" the girl said to herself, intent on finding her computer-oriented buddy…
