Okay, this is going to be my only published digimon fic that has entirely nothing to do with any of the series other than the characters.  At least I say that now.  You never know, I might come up with a nice little season three story that only involves the characters.  Depends.  Anyways, this is the story of the two original forgotten crests and the power they held.  It brings in two original characters (one really doesn't have as much significance in my story as it does in babypink_Yuna's.  That character was invented by her and won't show up until the last chapters of this story.)  It's not finished yet, but I all ready have the whole thing planned.  You have to bear with me, because between a pregnant math teacher, a gay (and I'm serious) English teacher, and a bitchy science teacher, I have trouble finding story time through all my home work.  My, God, if I keep this up my author's note will be longer than the first chapter.  Oy.  I need to go to a rambling fic.  I might have to switch over to FF10 mode for a minute and work on The Result of Two Authors Drinking Kool-Aid at 2 A.M.  Well, when I do get back to this, it will be good.  I promise.

Disclaimer: I'm in high school.  Do high schoolers ever own anything?  I rest my case.  All I have is the FREE school spirit pom-pom I got at a basketball game sometime last November, so there.  And I own my song, "The Road I've Never Seen."

Chapter 1:

At First Glance

"Hey, Dad.  What are you doing home so early?" Matt asked as he walked into his and his dad's apartment.

            "I took off early so I could be here when you got home," his dad replied.  "I've got a surprise for you."  He held up two tickets and handed them to Matt.  Matt read the print and his jaw dropped.

            "These are tickets to Cherry Blossom Glory!" he exclaimed.  "Front row, center!  This is great!"

            "You and Tai have a good time."

            "Aren't you coming?"

            "Can't.  I've got to work.  Just do me a favor and don't let Tai drool too much when he sees those girls."

            "I won't.  Wish you could go.  They're the best girl band and this is their farewell concert.  The lead singer is moving back to her hometown from Hiroshima and they won't see her enough to practice anymore.  Too bad.  They're awesome."

***

            "Matt, how did your dad get such great seats?" Tai asked as he made his way to their chairs.

            "He didn't say, but does it matter?  You'll have a great view of Cheyenne.  Remember?  The drummer?"

            "Sh-h-h!  She'll hear you!"

            "Think she cares?"

            "Shut-up, man.  It's about to start."

            The lights in the arena shut off with a tremendous click.  Only dim floorlights allowed them to see the outlines of the girls as they moved to their instruments: a drumset, a bass guitar, a keyboard, an electric guitar, and two back-up singers at their mics.  Several instruments were left lying about the stage.  Among them were an acoustic guitar and a tambourine.

            "What are the extra instruments for?" Matt mumbled to no one in particular.  The guy on the other side of Tai answered him.

            "Kaiya plays them.  I've seen every one of their Japan performances.  Every one's different, but she always picks up a couple loose instrumental parts."

            Finally, the spotlight flicked across the stage and then settled on a curtained door, center stage.  The keyboardist began, and the stage exploded in fireworks as the guitars joined.  Kaiya ran out of the curtains and filled the arena with her silky voice.  Matt stared at her black leather pants and tight, sequined tank top.  Her dark, corkscrew curls were half-held in a butterfly clip, leaving a few thick strands to dance over one of her cheeks.

            "Whoa," Matt breathed.

            "Yeah, you may like her," Tai yelled over the music, "but, damn!  Cheyenne looks pretty good in her own right!  Too bad that we don't have a chance."

            "Yeah," Matt mumbled, mesmerized again.

            The music stopped abruptly.  Kaiya and her band stood frozen.  Then Kaiya sang a piercing note and the song ended with another flame burst.

            "Well," Kaiya yelled into her mic over the crowd.  "Looks like we're off to a good start.  Who do we have out here in Tokyo tonight?"  The audience erupted with screams.  Kaiya leaned away from the mic in her hand and struck a pose, one hand on her hip and cocking an eyebrow.  "Hmmmm…. Let's see.  Do we have…the usual random groupies?  We all know that I mean the peeps who haven't been with us before.  Can I get a scream from my random groupies?"  Tai and Matt whistled loudly toward the girls.  Kaiya brought a hand to her ear.  "And the press says I sing high-pitched.  Ease up down there, boys." She grinned and winked right at Matt.  He came close to overheating.  "I see a familiar poster back there.  I want a scream from Sadira and Jess's fan club up top."  The balcony boys screamed.  "And to make it quicker, I'll put our lovely guitarists together.  For Kaori and Ayame?"  More screams.  "And last, but most certainly not least for the wonders of all wonders: our keyboardist, Leilani, and the drummer, Cheyenne!"  Tai whistled and hollered for Cheyenne as loud as he possibly could.  "Hey, Cheyenne!  You've got a cutie down front.  One of the boys that can whistle higher than a dog can hear."  Cheyenne blew Tai a kiss.  He nearly fainted.

            "Hey, we can't leave any members out!" Cheyenne exclaimed.

            "Here it goes," Kaiya groaned.

            "What about the fans for our lead singer, Kaiya?" Ayame yelled.  The stands erupted.  Matt yelled and let out another piercing whistle.  Kaiya rolled her eyes.

            "Okay, okay, that's enough.  Especially with the whistles!" she looked down at Matt with a sarcastic grin.  "Will you cut that out all ready?"  Matt nodded sheepishly, but whistled a loud, low note just to push his luck.  "Oy.  On with the music!"  Kaiya walked across the stage and picked up the acoustic guitar.  "This is a new one, and this is the only place you're ever gonna hear it, so listen well.  Sadira, Jess, and I wrote it last night while we were eating pizza in our pajamas." 

            "There's your mental picture for the night," Leilani mumbled into her microphone.

            "Shut-up," Kaiya continued.  "Anyways, this is about never knowing what you love until you've lost it.  We've only practiced this once, so it's not that great, but it comes from the heart."  She turned a few knobs on the guitar and began to play.  The song was slow and the melody was simple, but the tune was beautiful even before Kaiya began to sing. 

"I've spent my life

Following one dream 

I never really saw

All the things that I've seen 

I used to believe

My life was complete,

But now I'm falling down

A hole I cannot see."

Sadira and Jess joined with Kaiya to sing the chorus and Leilani joined the melody with her keyboard.

"I'm losing all I've loved

I'm lost inside this dream

My life is going down

A road I've never seen

My heart is so used to

This same sad dream

I'm scared to walk down

That road I've never seen

Fear is gripping me

Like death upon a child

The fear to lose it all

Could not be set as mild

I'm scared to walk away

From the life I've always known

And I feel I'll never say

The things I have not shown

I'm losing all I've loved

I'm lost inside this dream

My life is going down

A road I've never seen

My heart is so used to

This same sad dream

I'm scared to walk down

That road I've never seen

Oh, yeah,

The road I've never seen."

            The crowd cheered even before the last notes faded.  Matt stared, unable to register how anyone (or any three people) could write something like that in one night.

A moment later he joined the rest of the cheers as Kaiya replaced her guitar and stood up.

            "Well," she began.  "I think that all of the sadness in that song needs to be over-shadowed.  This concert is supposed to be a celebration!  We can't have a sad audience at a celebration!  I say it's time for our little surprise.  As most of you know, none of our performances are the same.  I must warn you that this one is going to be insane, so any of you who can't handle my wild side; I suggest you remove yourself from this arena."  No one moved.  "Okay, then.  You can't say I didn't warn you."  She stepped back to where Sadira stood and began to explain.  "Today each of us has prepared a special event to occur at some point in the show.  We each have a favorite place that we've visited and each one of us is different.  Except for me and Leilani.  We have the same favorite.  Now, as our tribute to the fans, we are going to bring the best part of each of these places to you.  Oh, and I hope you kiddies aren't afraid to be out late.  This will be a long night.  We now will each pick out a volunteer to join in the fun for my tribute."  The audience howled with anticipation.  Kaiya hung back until the rest of the girls had left after their volunteers, then walked to the very front of the stage and bent down close to Matt.  "Let's go whistle-boy," she grinned, stretching out her hand to him.  Shocked, he put his hand in hers and let her pull him onto the stage.

            When all of the band members returned with their volunteers, Kaiya arranged the boys in a row and stepped back behind them, out of view.  Tai grinned to Matt.  He'd been pulled up by Cheyenne and was "happy as a clam."

            "All right," Kaiya called, still hidden.  "I'm sure you've all noticed the pattern here.  Every one of these boys has on a white shirt.  My favorite place on our trip was Hawaii, and what fun is Hawaii without…" Sadira and Jess appeared on either side of the stage in bathing suits and holding buckets filled with some liquid.  "WET T-SHIRT CONTESTS!"  Jess and Sadira dumped the buckets over the boys and Kaiya sprayed them with a water hose.  "Like I said, what fun is Hawaii without cute guys in wet white shirts?" The crowd screamed and howled in laughter, but Matt was busy watching Kaiya, who had reappeared in a dark purple and black bikini.  "Now, if I were a cruel person, I would make these boys go back to their seats soaking wet, but I'm not that mean.  They get a prize for 'volunteering.'  Every guy brave enough to face my wild side and not complain, which is every one of them, gets a free t-shirt, beach towel, and CD set from the band."  She passed out the prizes and sent them all back to their seats.  "Now back to the music."

            The rest of the concert moved quickly, but Matt noticed Kaiya glancing his way almost constantly.  When the last song was finished, Matt had been on stage three times.  Before she disappeared again, Kaiya blew a kiss his way, and threw off her hairclip.  It landed in Matt's lap and left him wondering if that's where she had intended it to go.

            "Hey, Matt, let's go!  The show's over!" Tai yelled, bringing him back to reality.

            "Yeah," Matt said, standing up and grabbing his stuff.  In the course of the concert he'd gained a cap, a jacket, two music gift certificates, and a video of their Alaska show, plus all the stuff from the wet t-shirt contest.

            They parted at the entrance to the arena, Tai heading for the subway and Matt taking the back alley by the building.  By the time he rounded the corner he was fully aware of Kaiya's voice filtering through the alley.

            "Go home, Eric.  You don't belong here."  She said calmly.  Matt crept toward the open door where her voice was coming from.  She was standing over a table with her back to a guy that very closely resembled a bear.  Matt assumed that was Eric.

            "No, I want an explanation." Eric demanded.  Kaiya turned abruptly.

            "Of what?" she cried.  "There's nothing to explain!"  He grabbed Kaiya's arm roughly.

            "Oh, I think there is."

            "Eric, that hurts!"  His grip tightened.  Kaiya's arm was white around his hand now.  "Let go!"

            "Tell me why." He stated simply.

            "You know why!"  Eric slapped her hard across the face.

            "Don't sass me, woman!"

            "HEY!" Matt yelled, running into the room.

            "This isn't any of your business," Eric fumed as Matt pushed him away from Kaiya.  "Leave me and my girlfriend to ourselves."

            "I'm not your girlfriend!" Kaiya spat.

            "Why you little…" Eric growled, continuing forward.  Matt stepped in-between him and Kaiya.  Eric stopped mid-stride, then pulled back his fist.  The security guard slapped a pair of handcuffs on that wrist just in time.

            "Let's go, Eric.  I think this is enough of your shenanigans.  Miss Kaiya, I assume you want me to have him arrested this time?"

            "Yes," Kaiya said shakily.  "I can't take any more of this."  The guard pulled Eric away.

            "This time?"  Matt asked, turning to her.  Her face was red where he had slapped her.  "Would you mind explaining why there's a 'this time?'"  Kaiya blushed.

            "He's my ex-boyfriend.  Hell, he's my ex of three months.  He wants to know why I dumped him, but there was a perfect example of the prime reason.  He's been following us around at our Tokyo shows for the past month.  I didn't want to have him arrested, but it's just too much."

            "I'll say," he reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, tracing his thumb over her bruising cheekbone.  "How many times has he done this?"

            "I don't know," she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing her cheek into his palm.  "Too many."  A few strands of her hair fell over Matt's hand, making him shiver.  It was then that he realized her hair was completely loose, the dark ringlets falling to the middle of her back.

            They both jumped at the sound of a car horn.

            "Hey, Kaiya!"  They turned to see the rest of the band grinning from the Mustang convertible sitting outside.  Sadira continued to yell.  "Let's go…unless you have a DA-TE!"  The girls whooped and hollered, Leilani whistling from the driver's seat.  Matt and Kaiya both turned blood red.

            "Guess I better go," Kaiya mumbled as she bent to pick up a backpack.  Matt stretched a hand up to scratch the back of his head.

            "Yeah, I guess so," he mumbled back.  Kaiya turned for the door, then turned back abruptly.

            "I…um, I didn't catch your name."

            "Yamato Ishida.  My friends call me Matt," he stated, a little nervous.  Kaiya hesitated for a moment more, then quickly kissed his cheek.  The rest of the girls shrieked from the car.

            "G'night, Matt," Kaiya called as she headed out the door to her friends.

Yes!  Six pages later, and I am finally done with chapter one!  Whew, this is gonna take a while.  Have fun, kiddies!