Sorry I haven't updated in so long, Minna! I've been working on my other stories (not Digimon ones, sorry) and I almost forgot about this one! If I do that sometimes, please e-mail me and remind me that I still haven't finished this one! Well, Jyou enters. Sorry, Taichi and Yamato fans, they're not in this one. ;_; I know, I love them too. But this was getting long, so here it is.
Why the heck was he here? There wasn't really any point in his returning to Odaiba. There wasn't anything there for him anymore. All his friends had changed or somehow become...less like the people he remembered. It was almost as if there never had been a Digiworld, a Digidestined team, a time when they'd all been kids trying to do what was right.
Jyou clenched and unclenched his fist, a habit he'd found himself doing more and more since he'd left the boarding school he'd been staying at in England. He was supposed to have finished college there, but...he'd lost interest, gotten bad grades, and left before he could be kicked out. Well, no one ever said he was as smart as Koushirou was.
Damn. There he was thinking about them again. Thinking about Koushirou again.
He'd deliberately hidden his whereabouts, even from--especially from--the ever seeking Koushirou who seemed to be searching for him almost everyday. Jyou had wanted him to stop. Even so...it struck a chord in Jyou when Koushirou had ceased looking for him. Almost like his friend had given up on him. But that wasn't the important thing.
He'd been watching his friends from a distance, watching them change, watching them--Koushirou and Mimi mostly, but all of them to some extent--lie about their lives. Of course, there were those times he wanted to step in, to help them through whatever was going on. That was only natural.
But how could he face them? How could he go to them and say, ok, I'm here, what's wrong?
Well, at least he wasn't the only one who was living a lie.
His computer beeped once, notifying him that he had a new instant message. While he wasn't as skilled as Koushirou with technology, he did have some skill, and he used it whenever he could.
ComputerWhizKid4: Jyou, is that you?
DontRelyOnMe6: Who's
this?
ComputerWhizKid4: Koushirou. Remember
me?
DontRelyOnMe6: Yeah. It's me.
Did he remember him? Of course not. That's why he thought about him everyday.
ComputerWhizKid4: You've been gone for awhile,
Jyou.
DontRelyOnMe6: Guess so.
ComputerWhizKid4: You ok, Jyou?
Couldn't he just get to the point on why he started looking for him?
DontRelyOnMe6: Fine.
ComputerWhizKid4: ...Interesting sn you've
got.
DontRelyOnMe6: What about it?
ComputerWhizKid4: Nothing, just thinking about
it.
DontRelyOnMe6: Any reason you wanted to talk?
ComputerWhizKid4: ...Would you rather I left
you out?
Jyou shook his head. Koushirou was worrying about him?
DontRelyOnMe6: Whatever.
ComputerWhizKid4: No, seriously, Jyou, do
you want me to leave you out of this?
DontRelyOnMe6: Whatever.
ComputerWhizKid4: Jyou, what's wrong?!
Jyou didn't answer for a moment. There was so much he wanted to say. There wasn't anything he COULD say.
ComputerWhizKid4: Jyou?
DontRelyOnMe6: Nothing.
ComputerWhizKid4: Jyou, listen. There's
been some problems lately...
DontRelyOnMe6: And?
ComputerWhizKid4: I know, you probably don't
want to get involved, but I wanted to know if you could come back to Odaiba
for a little bit.
What irony.
DontRelyOnMe6: And?
ComputerWhizKid4: I...kinda wanted your help
with something.
DontRelyOnMe6: What?
ComputerWhizKid4: I don't want to burden you
with it if you're not interested, Jyou.
DontRelyOnMe6: Tell me.
ComputerWhizKid4: ...I was doing some research
on some people.
DontRelyOnMe6: Me. And...someone else. Yamato?
ComputerWhizKid4: Kind of...
DontRelyOnMe6: And?
ComputerWhizKid4: I found out some stuff on
Yamato, but...I wanted your help. But if you don't want to come back
to Odaiba it's ok.
DontRelyOnMe6: I'm already in Odaiba.
DontRelyOnMe6: I'm already in Odaiba.
Koushirou stared at the words on the screen, then laughed a bit bitterly. Of course Jyou was back in Odaiba. That made so much sense. Well, maybe he'd be able to help anyway. Maybe they'd be able to clear this whole mess up.
ComputerWhizKid4: Oh.
DontRelyOnMe6: Mad at me yet?
ComputerWhizKid4: No.
Koushirou was a little surprised to find that was the truth. How could he really be mad at Jyou? There wasn't really a reason. He hadn't lied about it, he'd just not told anyone. Better than Koushirou himself. Better than Mimi too.
DontRelyOnMe6: What did you want me to do?
ComputerWhizKid4: ...If you're already here,
why don't you come over?
DontRelyOnMe6: It's the middle of the night.
ComputerWhizKid4: I guess you're right.
Besides, Koushirou thought, what am I doing inviting Jyou to my house? He shook his head. He didn't want to admit the hope he'd had that Jyou would've remained the same. Instead, Jyou had turned cynical, almost like Yamato had been back in the Digiworld.
DontRelyOnMe6: What do you want me to do, Koushirou?
ComputerWhizKid4: Maybe you could help me
with something.
DontRelyOnMe6: Yeah?
ComputerWhizKid4: How much do you know about
the Ishida's?
DontRelyOnMe6: Not much.
Koushirou sighed. Was he going to have to pry every word out of Jyou?
DontRelyOnMe6: What do you need to know?
ComputerWhizKid4: I...found out some stuff
about Yamato's dad, and I wanted to know if you could check it up for me.
DontRelyOnMe6: About what?
ComputerWhizKid4: Well, about the divorce
his dad and mom had.
DontRelyOnMe6: Messy divorce.
It took a while before Koushirou was able to type a reply, he was so shocked at that.
ComputerWhizKid4: How do you know that?
DontRelyOnMe6: You're not the only one who's nosy, Koushirou.
ComputerWhizKid4: So...what do you know?
DontRelyOnMe6: What do you know?
He should've known Jyou wouldn't give in that easily.
ComputerWhizKid4: Well...apparently, there
was a bit of a fight over the custody of the two kids--Yamato and Takeru--and
they each got one kid, but we already knew that. What I'm not sure
about is why the split. From all the records I've gotten, they had
a pretty happy family before the split. A lot of people were shocked
by it.
DontRelyOnMe6: So, you want to know about the split?
ComputerWhizKid4: Basically...
DontRelyOnMe6: How far back?
So, Jyou knew more than he let on. Koushirou was a little surprised he was getting this much out of him. First he didn't want to be found, now he was being more than helpful. Who said the Digidestined weren't strange?
ComputerWhizKid4: Well...as much as you know...
DontRelyOnMe6: Fine. I'll e-mail it to you later.
ComputerWhizKid4: Wait!
DontRelyOnMe6: What?
ComputerWhizKid4: Come over to my house. Please?
DontRelyOnMe6: What for?
ComputerWhizKid4: Just...to talk.
DontRelyOnMe6: Fine. I'll be over in a little bit.
ComputerWhizKid4: Promise?
DontRelyOnMe6: Yeah.
Koushirou sighed. Well, at least he'd gotten that much out of him. And at least he'd be able to--
A soft knock at his window shook him out of his thoughts, and he opened it slowly, faster when he realized it was Jyou at the window. "I thought you'd use the door," he whispered as Jyou entered cautiously. Did Jyou live this close, that he could show up in that short a time span?
"And risk waking your parents?" Jyou asked, also keeping his voice low.
"Well..."
"You wanted to know about Yamato's parents?"
"Yeah..."
"Listen, then," Jyou whispered fiercely, and they both sat on the floor together. "The split happened because of a couple reasons. Number one, money. They weren't making enough money to support Yamato and Takeru, and his mom got angry. She thought that Masaheru--Yamato's dad--was spending all the money. Which he was, to an extent. Number two, Masaheru had a hot temper. He tended to break inanimate objects--which is where most of the money went--and Yamato's mom got scared."
"So why's it so messy?" Koushirou asked, not quite understanding what was going on, or how Jyou knew all this. It didn't make any sense.
"Go to a couple of days after the divorce was finalized and custody determined. I'm not sure on the details," Jyou admitted, "but Yamato ended up in the hospital with a cut that needed stitches and bruises all over his body. The reason given was that he was beaten up on his way home."
"You don't believe it?"
"Not with Masaheru's history of his temper."
Koushirou stared at his friend. "You think Yamato's been abused by his FATHER?"
"It looks that way to me."
Review please, the more reviews, the faster I'll get out the next one! I promise!