Hey everyone. Surprising where Koushirou was, right? I knew using a computer lab would be way too obvious so I decided to use the Star thing. I find it rather interesting actually, his being interested in stars and stuff.

Oh and as for the "Sutaa" and "Mi" thing. Together, it says, "Sutaami." That's the Japanese spelling for the Pokemon, "Starmie." The 'aa' sound makes sort of an 'ar' sound. I forgot to mention that in the last part when hinting so if you didn't get it, no big deal. ^_^

I am glad that you all are still reading this and I am also glad that I haven't bored you all yet and I also would like to thank Shikou for the typo I made. ^^ The parts are getting written and put up a bit faster because I am still on my Spring Vacation. Too bad that will all be over later on this week. -_-

Anyway, as always, I do not own anything dealing with Digimon in general...
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Part 26: The Presentation & Introduction! "Boku wa Izumi Koushirou desu!"

It was now Friday, March 20, 2004, the day of Mr. Ishidzuka's last period history class presentation. Mimi was a bit nervous, which was a first for her. Normally, being in front of people didn't bother her too much and she was pretty much a natural when it came to giving presentations in front of her peers. She was hoping that she and Koushirou had enough information about Mr. Fukami and Ms. Misayoshi to get a good grade.

The girl was also nervous because Koushirou had asked her before class to give the actual presentation by himself and how he had made his "final decision."

Mimi sat and awaited the start of his presentation, not really understanding what her friend meant entirely. She noticed that Koushirou didn't have his laptop with him; instead, he just had a few sheets of paper.

"Okay, Mr. Izumi," Mr. Ishidzuka said, holding a pen and a writing pad. "We are all ready for your presentation."

The boy nodded and started to give his presentation. The entire presentation was good overall, but one main thing Koushirou did surprised Mimi tremendously. He gave her recognition, of course, but instead of mentioning how successful Hiroaki was or how great a teacher Miki was, he spoke of Masami and Yoshie Izumi. He spoke of their histories, like the schools they attended, their majors, how they met etc. Not once did he mention his biological parents.

After his simple, to the point presentation, Mr. Ishidzuka told Koushirou that he had done a very good job on it and that pairing him up with Mimi was a good choice. Mimi got her extra credit and Koushirou got a 95% for the assignment since he was pretty thorough with his information, but he didn't bore anyone or drag it on too long.

"Great job Izumi," the man complimented. "I'm proud of you! You finally did a family based project that was worthy of an A."

"Thank you, Ishidzuka-sensei," he said quietly.

The man smiled.

"Well, class is over everyone! I must say that I am very glad and pleased with your work on these assignments and I must say that Ueda and Tomokazu's assignment was one of the most creative I have ever seen in all my years of teaching."

Both Seki and Yuuji stood up and bowed.

"Arigatou, Ishidzuka-sensei!" the two said.

"But you do know that this entire thing was my idea so I should get more credit or nearly all of it anyway..."

"You would say something like that," Seki muttered, rolling his eyes in annoyance at his cousin.

"Of course! It's true because I do deserve most of the credit!"

"Ueda-kun, you both get the same amount of credit," the man said while massaging his temples from the headache he was starting to get from Yuuji's silliness. "I don't know what made you think that you would get more."

"Aww man!"

Both Yuuji and Seki partnered up for the assignment. Yuuji figured that since they were both from the same family anyway, why bother doing two separate projects. Seki agreed and both put together a slide show for their presentation. Seki did the narration while Yuuji did the slide show.

"Okay, class dismissed everyone!" Mr. Ishidzuka annoucned. "I hope to see you all in April after your early Spring Break as rising seniors!"

Everyone gave the teacher a look who laughed.

"I'm just kdding. I hope to see you all as seniors after Spring Break! Enjoy your extra time off! You guys are lucky that Spring Break is starting early this year."

The bell rang and the entire class cheered and rushed out of the room happily. Their long awaited vacation had finally arrived. The now empty classroom, since their teacher had left, just had Koushirou in it now, who was still getting his books together.

The boy was glad that he had gotten the presentation out of the way and that the entire nerve-racking ordeal was over.

"At least it's over," he sighed out in relief.

The boy was about to leave the classroom, until he was greeted by a familiar music-loving girl. He could tell that she was about to question him about the presentation he had given.

"You don't have to say a thing," Koushirou said before she could speak up. "I already have an idea as to what you are going to say."

"Oh, so you do," the girl said, crossing her arms.

"It's probably about my presentation, correct?"

She nodded.

"What about all of that research we went through to find all of that information about your biological parents! We got a lot of stuff! Especially on Misayoshi-san! How could you not use it!"

"Well, this assignment was for us to talk about our true families and thinking about it now, my adoptive parents are my true family. That was the decision I had made, to talk about the Izumis instead of my biological parents. The decision I mentioned to Miyako-kun was whether or not I should tell the Izumis about what I had been doing for the past few days in hopes of getting everything back to normal and I had made my decision not to, but you talked some sense into me.

"The Izumis have taken care of me for years like I was there own. We may not be related entirely by blood, my mother especially, but they're the only family I have ever had and they are the only family I have ever known...and I love them as if they were my real parents and I know that my mother doesn't want to disown me just because of her being pregnant or ignore me or think that her soon to be child will be more important to her than I..."

"I guess," the girl said slowly, taking in all Koushirou had said, "but what about all of the stuff about your real parents that you found?"

"Is it wrong to keep that for my own personal knowledge?"

"I guess not," she muttered. "But that was a lot of work we went through..."

"I really appreciate what you did for me, Mimi-san. I don't know many people who would put up with me the way that you did."

Mimi didn't know how to react. She wasn't mad at him and she wasn't annoyed with him. She was just surprised at herself for not being neither mad nor annoyed with him. A few years ago, she probably would have complained about doing all of the work for nothing, but Mimi realized that the time that the two spent together wasn't a total waste.

Their friendship improved tremendously because of their traveling and hanging out together. The two were definitely a lot closer, and Mimi always felt that friendship was very important and finding new ways to improve your friendship was even better.

Another thing that made Mimi glad of was due to Koushirou's views and how they had changed. He was all for Mrs. Izumi's pregnacny and he stopped acting spoiled over it. She was also glad that Koushirou finally realized that even though he may be adopted, that there was nothing wrong with it as long as those raising him loved him very much.

"I am sorry for wasting your time," Koushirou apologized, noticing the distant look on her face. He figured that Mimi was so angry with him, that she couldn't even speak.

The boy turned and started to walk off.

"No, Koushirou, wait," Mimi called, breaking away from her thoughts.

He stopped and turned to face her.

"What is it?"

"You didn't waste my time," the girl smiled at him. "I chose to help you, remember? I could have turned down the offer to help, but I didn't and helped anyway. I didn't mind helping out. I am a bit surprised that you didn't use any of the information we found, but I am glad that you are happy even more. I am also glad that because of this project, we are better friends."

"Better friends?"

She nodded.

"That's enough for me. I love making new friends..."

"But I'm an old one..."

"...or getting closer to an old one."

The boy smiled nervously. He was glad that he had grown closer to Mimi too, but deep down, he wished that they could be a bit closer. Maybe something beyond friendship. He would never admit it to Mimi nor himself, though.

Mimi looked down at her wrist watch and realized that time was slipping away.

"I have to to get going. I have to get ready for the Senior Dance," she told him.

The girl then got a starry-eyed look as she thought of how exciting it was going to be.

"This is going to be so exciting!" she exclaimed. "At least if I go this year, I'll know what to expect when I go next year." She gave Koushirou a gentle smile. "I would be honored for you to be my partner for our Senior Dance, but first, let's go to our upcoming one for the new school year. The one that is always held towards the end of the Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) around the end of April. You should go to the Cherry Blossom Festival when it comes around. The bloom is going to be really nice this year. You can join me if you want. We can make a group thing of it. A Chosen Children get together."

"You would actually want to go with somebody like me to a dance!?!" Koushirou asked, shocked that Mimi would want to go with him of all people to a social event.

"Sure, why not," she smiled.

The girl gave Koushirou a quick kiss on the cheek and a playful giggle, which left the boy red. She then took off to get herself ready for her big evening.

A lot of students saw Mimi give Koushirou this kiss. Everyone started murmuring to themselves about it and the word was getting around the school. Of course, the more and more the rumor spread, the more and more exaggerated it became.

After Koushirou got over the shock that this had been the most kisses he had ever gotten from a person of the opposite gender, he started to head home. He noticed that a lot of students looked at him and then started to talk amongst themselves as he would pass them. The boy had an idea as to what was going on, but dismissed the thought since he had more important things to worry about.

His walk didn't last too long since he was stopped by a jealous, lovesick fanboy.

"Ueda-san," Koushirou said, recognizing the person who had stopped him.

"Izumi, what is your secret?" Yuuji asked.

"My secret?"

"What is it about you that Mimi-chan likes so much!?!"

"Nani?"

"I want to know so she can like me too!" Yuuji whined, streaked tears streaming down his face.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"We all know that she kissed you!"

The redheaded boy got a somewhat cocky attitude and smirk after Yuuji mentioned that. He was actually enjoying the jealousy that Yuuji was showing this particular time, although he wished that it was Misao there instead of Yuuji since he personally found Misao more annoying when it came to his attempts.

"So?" Koushirou responded cooly.

"So!?! She has kissed you! Do you know how many boys would love to get a kiss from Mimi-chan!!"

"I'm sure there are quite a few boys who would love Mimi to use her 'kiss attack' on them, but we are only friends, Ueda-san."

The boy hurried himself along to get away from Yuuji and other students of their school. During his walk, he saw Miyako who was just a few paces ahead of him.

"Miyako-kun!" he called to her.

The girl turned around to see Koushirou running towards her. She forced a smile on her face when he caught up with her. She heard about what had happened, but from what she was told, it was an all out romantic kiss shared between the both of them, not a simple friendship kiss from Mimi to him.

She, as well as many others, knew that something like a kiss is meaningful and normally only used in the romantic sense, which is why everyone was so suspicious over the two and why Miyako thought the way that she did. She then thought about how Mimi did spend a good amount of time in America, and also heard how kisses were common there and shared between friends. She hoped that that was the deal.

"Izumi-senpai, hi. How are you?"

"Fine," he stated plainly. "It sure is a nice day today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure is," she said quietly.

"Want me to walk you home or something?" he asked. "It's on my way since I am planning on dropping by Odaiba Elementary before going home."

"Sure, I guess so," she replied nonchalantly.

The two started to walk. Koushirou noticed that Miyako was pretty quiet, which was pretty much a first for her.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not really," she said as she held her books up to her chest as she walked. She then sighed. "Just wondering about something..."

"What about?"

"Mimi-oneesama...."

"Mimi-san?" Koushirou asked in surprise. "No, I can't handle something like that! She couldn't be romantically interested...could she?" Koushirou thought, feeling a bit worried.

"Yeah, I really envy her."

"Oh...I thought she was going to say something else," the boy thought, feeling foolish for what he was thinking.

The boy was surprise to hear that Miyako was envious of Mimi and didn't know exactly what to say to such a response.

"Um, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

The boy got a somewhat annoyed look from the younger girl after he said that.

"I guess not," he muttered. "What is there for you to be envious about?"

"I guess," she started, staring up at the sky as she walked, "I wish I could be her. Every boy likes her, no boy likes me." She then chuckled lightly, feeling a bit embarassed. "I don't know why I told you that."

He didn't know why either, but he tried his best to cheer her up and give her some kind of words of encouragement.

"That's alright, I am sure lots of boys like you. You are a very nice girl and so is Mimi-san." He then smiled nervously. "Maybe they are just shy."

"They sure aren't 'shy' when it comes to oneesama!" she retorted. "Even Yamato-san has a thing for her! I know that Sora-san, Chizuru-neechan, and me were other choices for him to ask out, but he asked Mimi-oneesama first anyway!"

"Maybe it's not like that. Maybe he only asked her along because he has known her longer and Taichi-san asked Sora-san according to what you have told me. Mimi-san probably wouldn't have gone at all, you know, unless she was asked, which she was. If not Yamato-san, I'm sure that someone would have asked her eventually," he quieted down a bit, "like maybe me, perhaps," he then added on quickly, "or any of her other friends."

The girl looked over at Koushirou in surprise. She then started to ask a question.

"Well...Izumi-senpai," the girl started slowly and nervously, "do you think that, well, you could like, um..."

"Do you think I could like what?"

The girl shook her head and sighed out.

"You know what, just forget about it!" she said, exasperated over the entire situation.

With that, the girl ran off, surprised that she was going to ask him if he could ever like a girl like herself. Koushirou could only shrug at Miyako's sudden urge to run off.

"What does Izumi-senpai really think of her? Could he see me the way he sees her?" she thought as she ran away. "I have this strange feeling that he likes her from what oneesama has said about him. He has been going out of his way just to be nice to her..."

After Miyako ran off, Koushirou continued the walk by himself to Odaiba Elementary. He was planning on giving Ms. Hanada a visit. Mimi told him a lot about her, including the stuff about her wanting to take him in after his parents had died and also why his mother didn't have many photos of herself; she hated taking them. He found it so strange, in an ironic way, how he was so close to a person who could have saved him a lot of travel time, yet so far away.

It didn't take him long, but he finally reached the Elementary school he had graduated from just a couple of years earlier. He entered the school and went straight to the library, hoping to find Ms. Hanada there. He too recognized the name, but didn't know her by face. He could only go by the photo he had of her with his biological mother. He really wanted to meet this woman.

When he got to the library, he looked around to surprisingly find Ken in the school's library. He was playing chess with a woman who resembled the woman in the photo that he had.

He could tell that the game was close to finished. Both Ken and the woman were down to their Rooks and the woman still had two of her power pieces left included with that. Ken only had one included, his Queen. As they played, Ken had ended up capturing both of the woman's Rooks.

"Hmm, I don't have much of a choice of moves, you know, Hanada-sama."

"My old friend Miki-chan would figure out how to get out of the mess that you are in, Ichijouji-kun. I am sure that you can figure out how to get me into Checkmate using your two Rooks and your Queen against my two Bishops. You have a big advantage over me."

Ever since the stuff dealing with Ken's Dark Seed, he wasn't as "spectacular" as all had thought of him to be. Since it no longer served any purpose, the Dark Seed's powers no longer worked. Ken was just as average as any other person when it came to school, sports, and anything else. He was the way he was before he was infected with it...average. One of the things he enjoyed playing when he was younger was Chess. His older deceased, brother, Ichijouji Osamu, had taught him how to play and he was an okay player, but Osamu was tons better.

Every other day after school, recently, Ken would come to Odaiba Elementary to get tutored in the game by Ms. Hanada. Ever since the Dark Spore incident and its powers being deactivated pretty much, Ken had lost his power to concentrate on stuff in general and Chess was one of them because of how it reminded him of his brother so much. He just recently got back into the came of Chess when he played against Miyako in a game and lost.

Even though it had been a couple of years since they encountered the stuff dealing with the Dark Seeds and Spores, Ken still hadn't fully recovered emotionally from the trauma he had gone through.

The only thing that was still the same without the Dark Spore's power, was his still being a girl magnet. Just like with Yamato and Takeru, all of the girls loved him.

"Come on, Ichijouji-kun, I know you can get this," the woman said with encouragement. "I only have two Bishops left here and no Pawns that can actually help aid me any. What could you do to get me into Check and then into Checkmate."

The boy thought for a moment and started to see what the woman meant.

"Okay, I'll move my Rook...here," he said, picking up the rook. "B5 to B2."

The boy moved his Rook to the row in front of where Hanada's King sat. The woman smiled. She then moved one of her Pawns up, but they didn't aid to her any.

"Okay, now I'll move my Queen...here...A5 to F5."

The boy moved his Queen to the column beside the King so that way, Ms. Hanada wouldn't be able to move her King there if he got her into Check. She nodded in approval and moved her Pawn up another space. The younger boy smiled at Ms. Hanada and moved his second Rook onto the actual row that her King sat.

"H8 to H1" he said, moving the piece. He then got a Kaizer-like smirk and said, "Checkmate!"

"Good job, Ichijouji-kun," the woman congratulated him. "See, with the first Rook you moved, you made it so that I couldn't move my King onto the second row. With your Queen, you blocked me from going over to column f, and with your second Rook, you made it so that I couldn't run or get my King to safety."

"Thank you."

"Although, you could have done that with just one of your Rooks and the Queen, or just the two Rooks, but never mind that. It was still a pretty good move." She then gave him a smile. "See, you are not too dumb to play Chess. You just have to learn to concentrate. Considering your past, I can understand why you have so much distraction and why you have a difficult time concentrating sometimes. You still have your brother's death on your mind, I'm sure."

The boy frowned as he stared down at the chess board.

"Yeah, ever since he died, I never wanted to play the game again because it depressed me, but ever since I played a friend of mine, I realized how bad off a player I had become and felt that I should get tutoring so that I can get good again. He wouldn't want me to mope around and stop playing the one game I always enjoyed most with him, other than blowing bubbles..."

"You should always do something to remember your family and friends by if something happens to them."

The woman smiled a bit.

"The Lord knows that I always have. I always try my best to never forget my friend who died years ago. I loved her a lot. She was like a sister to me and my playing and teaching Chess is my way of remembering her."

"Wow, I guess you and I have something in common, Hanada-sama."

"It seems so. We both lost a person close to us that enjoyed a good game of Chess."

The boy stood up and shook hands with Ms. Hanada.

"Thank you very much, Hanada-sama. I really appreciate your reteaching me the basics of Chess."

"No problem. It's nice to see a young person interested in such a strategic game."

He nodded but didn't leave quite yet. Koushirou still stood at the library's doors, a bit too nervous to enter and speak to the two. He then shook off that nervous feeling he had just like he did before he gave his presentation.

"---and that was the year the big Chess Tournament was won by my friend!" Ms. Hanada finished up. "I ended up in the semi finals, but I wasn't good enough to even get a chance to play her."

"Wow, she was a great player!"

The two continued to converse until they heard the sound of someone clearing his throat.

"Hello there young man, how may we help you?"

The woman didn't pay attention to Koushirou at first since she was putting up the Chess equipment.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ken asked.

"I could ask the same of you, Ichijouji-kun. You are so far away from home and your school."

"Hanada-sama is reteaching me the game of Chess. She sets up different scenarios and I have to find a way to get her into Checkmate. Today, she used a simple and basic procedure, mainly because it is one of the easiest."

The woman looked up to get a better look at the boy that was talking with her pupil. She then looked at the boy's face and the red hair. She stood up immediately as she stared at him.

"Oh my god!" the woman said, excitement in her voice. "It's you, isn't it?"

Ken was a bit confused as to why Ms. Hanada was acting so strangely just because of Koushirou's being there. Koushirou, on the other hand, decided to make sure he had the right person.

"Hanada Sui-san?"

The woman nodded, incredibly speechless. Koushirou smiled a bit and introduced himself.

"Boku wa Izumi Koushirou desu, Hanada-san."

The woman looked as if she were about to cry.

"Hanada-sama, Hanada-sama," Ken called, growing a bit worried. He then looked over at Koushirou and asked, "What's wrong? What is going on?"

"I can't believe it!" the woman exclaimed, hugging Koushirou tightly. "It's Chibi Koushi! After all of these years, worrying about you, wondering if you found a good home, I finally get to see you again!" She let go of Koushirou, wiping away some newly formed tears. "It's been almost 15 years since I have seen you last!"

The woman wiped away some more tears of joy.

"I am sorry, Chibi Koushi," the woman apologized. "I am just so glad to see you!"

"You know him, ma'am?"

The woman nodded as she went for a kleenex.

"His mother and me were the best of friends as children."

"Izumi-san?" he asked.

"No, Miki-chan," she corrected him. "My old Chess playing friend."

"Misayoshi-san?" Ken asked in confusion. "Did Izumi-san change her given name as well as her family name when marrying?"

The redheaded boy, who had been quiet during this reunion, spoke up and answered Ken's question. As of right now, he didn't care who knew of his adoption and realized that informing people wouldn't be an embarassment to the Izumi name. His adoptive parents had accepted him, so he should as well and not care what everyone thought of it.

"No, she didn't change her given name when married," Koushirou explained. "You see, Ichijouji-kun, Misayoshi Miki is my real mother. She died when I was still that of an infant, she and my real father. The Izumis adopted me shortly after their deaths."

The boy was surprised to hear such news. Here he was, mourning over his brother because of something as trivial as a board game, while Koushirou had lost his actual parents and a very young age, meaning he never had the honor of knowing them.

"Wow, you are so big now!" the woman said, looking at how tall Koushirou was. She then laughed a bit. "I can't call you Chibi Koushi anymore."

"No, I don't mind. Call me whatever you are accustomed to."

The woman then started to cry again.

"If I would have been able to, I would have taken you in!" the woman said, feeling guilty. "Please, don't feel as if anyone abandoned you after your mother and father's deaths."

"No, I'm not upset with you or anything. I just wanted to meet you. Mimi-san told me everything that you told her. It is my responsibility to come meet someone who is as close to real family as I can get. According to Mimi-san, she said that my biological mother was like a sister to you."

The woman nodded and told the story of how she and Miki were great friends and why she had become a teacher. Ken hanged around too. This was all pretty interesting to him.

After the long, tearful reunion between Koushirou and Ms. Hanada--Ms. Hanada doing all of the crying--Koushirou invited her over to his place for dinner.

"Hanada-san, would you mind coming over to my home for dinner? My adoptive parents would love to get to know you. You are technically family to me since you know so much about my real mother and father. I am really glad that Mimi-san didn't stop searching and came here and discovered you."

"I just wish I would have known about your being here earlier. No one ever let me know of your where-a-bouts or anything like that after you were adopted. I was really concerned about your well being and wanted to take you in myself, but we all know what happened to that."

"Well, will you except my invitation, Hanada-san?"

"You know, since we are 'family,' stop calling 'Ms. Hanada,' okay," the woman requested.

"I am sorry," he apologized. "It is a habit to refer to adults in such a manner."

"That's okay," she said, understanding. "Why not call me your Aunt Sui?"

"Hai, Sui-obasan," he nodded.

The woman got teary eyed again.

"The Izumis did a wonderful job with you," she complimented. "You are so polite and well mannered. And yes, I would love to visit you and your family."

The boy smiled.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Hanada-san...I mean Sui-obasan..."

The woman smiled at Koushirou and smothered him in a big hug again.

"I am just so glad that you have been living a nice, healthy life."

Koushirou smiled nervously, and said, "So am I."

"Well, it's getting late around here and I should let you two go."

The woman was still very happy to see Koushirou and he could tell.

"I promise to visit you, Hana---I mean, Sui-obasan and dinner is tomorrow at my place."

The woman nodded. He got his address from Ms. Hanada and gave his to her, but he told her that he would come and fetch her. After the exchanges, he left the school along with Ken who had tons of questions for him.

"Wow, Izumi! I had no idea that you were adopted!"

"Don't sweat it, Ichijouji-kun," Koushirou said. "I never really mentioned it before since I never really had a reason to."

"Oh, but it's still surprising. I never really knew much about you. You never talk about yourself much. Every time I am around you, you are always theorizing or something like that."

"I guess I never felt that I had much to say about myself."

"So smart, yet you are so mysterious."

"Miyako-kun has told me that," Koushirou laughed shortly.

"Well, it's true," Ken said, agreeing with the description. "It's kind of weird meeting someone else that knows what it's like to lose a family member."

"I never thought about it that way before," he trailed off.

The younger boy noticed that Koushirou didn't seem to be in the "talking" mood so he decided to leave him alone. To him, it seemed that talking about his adoption and his real parents still bothered him a bit--probably because of their dying--or either talking with those younger than himself in general bugged him, unless that person was Miyako.

*He had never seen Koushirou associate with those younger than himself voluntarily, except for Miyako, and be able to hold a steady, normal everyday conversation with them--not the types that involves him giving off one of his many theories.

"Well, I better get going. I have to go meet up with Motomiya, Hikari-san, and Takaishi. Talk to you later, Izumi."

The boy ran off as Koushirou waved to him and to continue home. He had quite a bit on his mind now, Ms. Hanada. He couldn't wait to tell his folks the good news and how she could come over. It was his mother's idea to invite her. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He just wanted to meet her.

His interpretation of Ms. Hanada was the same one that Mimi had of her, loneliness. He sensed it as well. She wasn't married, he found out, and she didn't have children of her own.

Koushirou had finally made it back home. Him and his parents may have made up, but he was still grounded for the next week for breaking curfew and being brought home by the cops. He was forgiven for everything else and all of his "secrets" since he had a reason and his parents were just as guilty since they were keeping a big secret away from him as well.

"Hi there Koushirou dear!"

"Hi, mom."

"You seem to be in a cheery mood."

"Of course! It is the last day of school! Time to relax the old brain until April."

"That's nice. You kids had a hectic week with all of those exams going on. Only High School students get exams at this time of the year."

The boy nodded.

"I really shouldn't be so friendly with you since you are grounded, but I just can't help it."

The woman smiled and hugged Koushirou.

"I'm just glad to have you back! I don't ever want you to do what you did again! If something is ever bothering you, come to us. Masami was wrong for keeping your adoption a secret from you. I wanted to tell you, but he didn't and I was silly enough to listen to him."

"I'm really sorry mom!" Koushirou apologized, hugging his mother back. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble and I didn't mean any of what I said Wednesday."

"I know," she smiled. "I didn't mean what I said either. I was just frustrated, sad, angered, embarassed, and upset all at the same time and I guess I just...exploded."

"I'm glad that you do still accept me as your son, even if I'm not a true Izumi."

"Even though you may not be mine by blood, I will always love you as if you were my very own and as if I had carried you for 9 months and had you myself," Mrs. Izumi wanted to make clear to her son. "That's how important you are to me, Koushirou. I don't ever want you to feel or think otherwise! It doesn't matter to me whether you are my son by blood or not, I will still love you just the same."

The boy nodded.

"Arigatou...okaasan..."

"What for?" she asked while wiping away her tears.

"For being there for me."

"You're very welcome."

"Oh, by the way, I talked with Hanada-san before coming home today like you suggested."

"Is she going to come for dinner tomorrow?"

He nodded.

"I'm to go get her tomorrow and bring her here," he explained. "It's the least I could do."

"That's good. I can't wait to meet her."

"She's a very nice lady. I can't wait for you two to meet her as well."

The boy headed off to his room to get ready to do his chores, but before he did, he sat down on his bed to think for a while, about what Miyako had said. Did Yamato really have a thing for Mimi and if he did, why was it bothering him so much?

He was with her when she found him at the Odaiba Observatory and he was told by Miyako that before Mimi had gone to look for him, she was out with Yamato on a late afternoon date. In the e-mail, Miyako put a lot of emphasis on the word "date."

"Could it be true?" he asked himself in thought. "Could Yamato-san have a thing for Mimi-san?"

The boy shook his head, trying to dismiss the "uncomputable" thought. He didn't want to believe it, but there had been a lot of evidence...
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Comments

Note 1: I never noticed this until someone else pointed it out. Koushirou really hasn't associated with those younger than himself voluntarily and have a simple everyday conversation with them. He seems to always talk to those older than himself or either those his age. I mean, it's obvious that him and Miyako hang out quite a bit, but that's about it for the younger kids. He didn't even associate with Iori much and he had the Digimental of Knowledge. ::Mutters:: I still think Miyako should've gotten the Digimental of Knowledge instead of the Digimental of Love...