'Blood is Blood'
By Kaizer K-chan and FireDemon
Warnings: Suicide, Death, Angst, Drug-use, Yaoi (We can't resist) Mentions a lot of not nice stuff. This is a serious fic.
Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or the song "Blood is Blood" by Nerina Pallot, but we suggest you listen to it. The storyline and all original characters belong to us, or the respective people they're based on. Please don't take them without permission.
For the real Ben, rest in peace man.
Chapter 2: Blood Will Flow, That's All It Knows
"A tragic incident took place yesterday at Odaiba High School," The young reporter began, trying to look remorseful about the death of a boy she'd never even met. "Hysterical students and staff banded together for comfort, the school becoming a safe haven for the hundreds of fragile souls affected by the tragedy," The woman gave a smile, "We go now to Christine Hackett who will be talking to a couple of the boys close friends."
~
"So, what are your thoughts on this incident?" Asked the woman, giving her immaculately groomed peroxide-blond hair a swish.
"He was a great guy. He was friends with everyone." Guy replied with a shrug, "It really makes you wonder."
~
"I can't understand why he'd do something like that. It's kind of stupid if you ask me. I mean Ben had the perfect life." Candy exclaimed, "I think suicide is totally selfish"
~
"I don't think I'm ever going to be able to go into the boys toilets again, it'd just freak me out, I mean yuck!" Bozzie exclaimed in disgust.
~
"He was a good team mate," Tai replied simply, "I wish he had have said something. Maybe one of us could have helped him."
~
"Well, I dunno, I didn't really know him that well, but I guess it just goes to prove you can never completely know anyone. I mean even his best friends didn't know," Canvas said glibly.
~
"Am I on T.V.? Hi Mom!" Ron exclaimed, waving furiously at the camera, "We're supposed to be talking about that dude eh? Er," He shrugged, "Never met him, but Motomiya plays soccer with him, you should ask him!"
~
"Just fucking get out of my face you insensitive pricks," Davis yelled, "He was a fucking brilliant guy. Can't you just let him rest you vultures?" There was a crackle as his fist connected with the camera.
~
The woman froze with the cigarette halfway to her lipstick coated lips, "Shit! Are we on?" She tossed the half finished cigarette away, "Those were some very interesting comments," She shot a glare at someone off camera, then hastily forced a practised smile onto her face, showing her perfectly straight white teeth, "We'll leave you now with images of the distraught teens." The screen faded to black, then pictures of students huddling out the front of the school, some crying, some ranting, but a lot of them just wandering around with dazed expressions, not knowing what to do, filled the screen.
~~~
Joe flipped off the TV in disgust, he had to agree with Davis's comment, he remembered Ben from last year.
They'd had a couple of 'deep-and-meaningful's when Ben had been caught cutting class and Joe had been assigned detention duty. He was an alright guy, Joe had really opened up to him during one of their conversations on the woes of the world.
For such a cheery guy he seemed to have very melancholy moments. For some reason his suicide didn't surprise Joe as much as it should have.
He wondered how Tai and Davis felt, unlike him they were actually friends with the boy. He briefly considered calling them, and then he shook his head: It had been way too long.
~~~
Ken walked down the hall; his mind whirling, to think this time yesterday things had been normal. He tried to ignore the gossipping students, he supposed it wasn't their fault, class had been cancelled, and nobody had anything else to do. School-provided counsellors waited in their offices, but nobody wanted to be the first to break down. The gossipping was just their way of coping.
He'd only ever really met Ben once, yet every time they passed in the hall Ben had said hi. It never failed to surprise him that the older boy actually remembered his name.
He walked out of the hall to see the A-Block Boy's toilets and froze. There was crime-scene tape around the door, preventing students from entering. This was definitely ironic, as the place of Bens death was where their one and only meeting had taken place.
//Flashback//
Ken stepped out of the cubicle, wrinkling his nose at the distinct musty sweet smell of marijuana that always permeated this particular toilet- block. Usually he avoided these toilets, but he was in a hurry today.
He sighed when he spotted the young man slouched against the sink, a silver pipe decorated with blue and pink star-sequins that had obviously been glued on, held lightly in his hand. Here was the culprit of today's freshening of the odour.
Ken washed his hands, avoiding eye-contact in the hope it would discourage the boy from talking: No such luck.
"Hey man, don't I know you?" The black-haired stoner asked.
"No." Ken said shortly, punching the button of the hand drier in a futile attempt to get it to work for more then 2 seconds.
"Dude don't even bother, that thing hasn't worked since, I don't know..." He trailed off giggling.
Ken tried to ignore him, "Oh."
"Hey, aren't you that guy that's always watching Motomiya at our games?"
Ken inhaled sharply; "I don't know what you're talking about." He said a little bit too quickly.
"Me either. I'm Ben." He tried to put on a suave and debonair voice, "Ben Elliot," The boy held out his hand, "I would say James Bond, but some asshole stole my name."
Ken couldn't help but smile, reaching out to shake hands politely, "I'm Ken Ichijouji."
"Dude, you're THE Ken. I thought you were like Motomiya's stalker or something, but you're Ken. That's so cool." He pumped Kens hand furiously.
Ken tried to pry his hand away from the boy, "That's right. You're the vice- captain of the soccer team aren't you?"
"I am? That's pretty cool. You're pretty smart Ken, you must be some kind of genius!"
Ken smiled at the irony, "Actually I am."
"That's cool," The boy nodded, "Wanna choof?" He offered Ken the gaudy pipe.
"No thank you." Ken replied politely.
"You don't mind if I stand here and blow it in your face then do you?" He asked taking a toke and blowing the fumes into Kens face.
Ken spluttered, his eyes watering from the smoke, "I really have to go."
"Dude, you've just been. Got the runs have you?" He asked.
"No," Ken replied awkwardly, "I have a class." He quickly made for the door.
"You're not going to leave me all alone are you?" There was something in the voice that stopped Ken in his tracks. It was the same tone Davis used when he was asking for something but didn't want anyone to realise how much he wanted it.
Ken sighed and released the knob, "Alright, I'll stay."
The boy grinned at him, "Cool. Sure you don't want a toke?"
Ken sighed, "Okay, maybe one. I don't want to get high."
Ben grinned, "Sure, sure, but I should warn you, I've got good shit."
Ken took a long breath, and felt his lungs contract as they filled with smoke, he spluttered loudly, his nose running.
"That's the way man, take it all in," Ben laughed, thumping him on the back.
Ken slumped down next to the boy, "No more!" He gasped.
Ben took a deep breath through the pipe, swallowing the noxious gas as though it were oxygen, "Whatever you say. Man I can't believe you and Motomiya..."
Ken blushed, "We're only friends."
"...Are friends," He blinked, "Huh? I never said otherwise," The boy gave him a sideways look, "You like him!" He accused triumphantly.
"No!" Ken denied pathetically, perhaps he shouldn't have had the one puff.
"Oh, you can spill it all to your good friend Ben." Ben said draping an arm around his shoulders, "I'm gay you know."
Ken flushed, "Are you really?"
"Only when I'm *really* happy," He giggled, "Now spill the beans my good friend Ken."
"Good friend?" Ken questioned.
"This conversation has lasted more then 5 minutes, that makes us good friends." Ben explained confidently.
"Oh, okay then Good Friend Ben," Ken giggled at him rhyme, no wonder he was acing English.
"So, what do you like about him?" Ben questioned, "His eyes? His smile? His hair?" He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "His tight little butt? Hi smooth supple golden skin?"
Ken felt like his cheeks were on fire, "Everything," He whispered.
Ben burst out laughing, "Whipped, Whipped!" He screamed.
"Shoosh!" Ken yelled even louder, "I'm the one with the whip."
Ben laughed even harder, "I like your style Good Friend Ken."
"Well I think you're loud Good Friend Ben."
"Loud?" Ben questioned, "You should hear me in bed."
Ken blushed again.
"So why haven't you made a move on him?" Ben asked
"I...I couldn't. What if he said no? What if he never wanted to talk to me again?" Ken replied.
"Pfft!" Ben dismissed, "There's something more! Why haven't you asked Davis Motomiya out?" Ben yelled.
"Shh!" Ken lunged forward to cover Bens big mouth, surreptitiously checking to see that the cubicle really was empty.
"So why?" Ben asked more quietly.
"My parents they... they wouldn't like it. Sam was straight so I have to be straight too."
"Oh. Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm trying to finish Yr 12 since Levi didn't get the chance. My parents tell me that's what he wanted to do, more then anything."
Ken noticed the sadness in Ben's voice and put his arm around Bens shoulder too, "Great. Now we're sad," Ken bemoaned.
Ben offered Ken the freshly packed pipe, "Want another toke, Good Friend Ken?"
Ken accepted, "Okay Good Friend Ben."
//End Flashback//
That was the only time he'd smoked marijuana, and despite the fact that he'd gotten caught and gotten into a hell of a lot of trouble with his parents, he didn't regret it.
Sometimes it helped to air things out before putting them back away. He knew that he and Ben had similar problems, Ken couldn't help but wonder if he'd be the next one they took out of the toilets in a body bag. Maybe Ben was right... Maybe life wasn't worth living. Especially if it wasn't your life you were living.
~~~
"Davis!" Yolei cried, "Are the rumours true?"
Davis pulled a sour face, "I've heard enough rumours thank you very much."
Yolei rolled her eyes, "But I need to know," she pleaded, "Did you really try to strangle reporter-barbie with her microphone cord?"
"Unfortunately not," Louie cut in, "We tried, but she was just too fast."
"Damn," sighed Shannon, "I wish I could run that fast in heels."
Yolei shot the blond a look, "You do realise you're a guy?"
Shannon looked down, "My god, 'Lei you're right! I never even noticed. So that's what it is. So now that I'm a guy and you're a girl..."
Yolei scowled.
"Let's hop on the good foot and do the bad thing."
The entire group ignored him, "Davey did punch out the camera," Dee informed helpfully.
Davis held out his bloody hand for inspection.
Yolei let out a low whistle, "Shit Davey-boy, maybe you should go to the nurse's office and get that checked out."
Davis shook his head resolutely, "Nu-uh, I wanna see this 'Lei."
"What?" Yolei questioned, peering past Davis, "Hey! You're not supposed to have those at school!"
Kai's green eyes flickered up to Yolei; "You got a problem, deal."
"No problem," Yolei quickly replied. While the rest of the group was weird, Kai was just plain freaky.
Kai dismissed Yolei as unimportant and went back to her cards. She was sitting cross legged in the centre of the school oval, her 'altered' school uniform might have brought stares, had it been anyone else.
"You guys?" She brought the groups attention back to her as she dealt her angel cards.
"What does it say?' Davis crowed excitedly.
Kai bent over her cards, "This card's out of context. It's the one I use to symbolise Dan. And this one's Ben," She pointed out the two cards, "There's something here about a message..."
~~~
Jess ran through the gates,
"Oh, I'm late, I'm late!" She cried through the piece of toast clenched between her teeth.
She skidded to a halt, noting that while it should have been halfway through first lesson, nobody seemed to be in class.
She recognised one of the girls standing next to the building, Sora Take-a- something from her Home-Ec class. They'd talked about Sailor Moon once or twice.
"Sora, what's going on?" She asked.
"Yo, Jess right?" the girl asked, "Didn't you hear? Ben Elliot killed himself-"
Sora broke off as the girl's face crumpled, and she remembered that Jess was actually one of the dead kids friends, "Oh shit Jess I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that."
Jess let out a horrified scream, "No! Ben!"
Sora watched in horrified shock as the girl slumped to the ground that eerie wailing unceasing.
"Is this one of your friends?" It took Sora a moment to realise there was a camera in her face, and the question was directed at her, "What's her name? How does she know Ben? Were they lovers?" The blond woman asked breathlessly as the camera-man swung the camera round to focus on Jess.
Sora's control snapped, and she grabbed the woman by her fake blond hair, "Get bent bitch!" She brought the woman's head down on her knee, there was a tiny squeak, Sora dissatisfied by the noise threw the woman at the camera- man sending the expensive machinery crashing to the floor. "Heartless motherfucks," she brought her foot down on the camera, blinking as the blood lust cleared from her eyes.
The two reporters stared up at Sora, terrified. She smiled sweetly, "I would say sorry, but I'm not. I believe Principle Kennet warned you that some students might become violent, maybe next time you'll take him more seriously."
She stalked away, ushering Jess forward, "C'mon let's go find your friends," She said, still feeling incredibly guilty over causing the girl such grief.
~~~
Cody carelessly flicked through the channels, he had the chicken pox and his mother had refused to let him go to school.
Idly he reached out to scratch his arm, something glittery green caught his eye and he scowled seeing the note his mother had written on his hand - No Scratching.
His eyes flickered up to the television screen and he let out a yelp of surprise as he recognised one of his friend's many older sisters, Louie Jones. She had a trolley pole tucked into the back of her pleated skirt and looked like some twisted avenging angel as she spray-painted 'Nosy pricks' onto the bonnet of a the Channel 7 car while other male students jumped up and down on the roof, or attacked it with their own trolley poles. There was a voice talking over the action,
"While some students mourned quietly, others felt the need to lash out at innocent bystanders."
The scene changed and Cody felt his jaw drop open,
"Just fucking get out of my face you insensitive pricks," Davis yelled, "He was a fucking brilliant guy. Can't you just let him rest you vultures?" There was a crackle as his fist connected with the camera.
"Some reacted violently, and without provocation,"
The scene changed again,
Cody felt his jaw drop to his knees as Sora's normally smiling face flashed onto the screen and heard the unnaturally explicit language coming from the bearer of the crest of love.
"Get bent bitch!" The very angry looking Sora brought the woman's head down on her knee.
Cody watched in shock as Sora threw the woman at the camera-man sending the expensive machinery crashing to the floor. "Heartless motherfucks," she brought her foot down on the camera.
Maybe he didn't know the digidestined as well as he'd thought. Since when had Sora had a violent streak towards innocent reporters.
"No provocation my eye," He muttered, idly scratching several of the itchy red dots, "Wish I knew what had really happened."
~~~
"Miss George," Izzy asked concernedly, "Are you alright."
The woman sniffled, "I'm fine Izzy, just a little... shocked is all. Ben was a good kid; he was very good at communicating with people. He always listened to my problems, I was his care teacher, I should have taken the time to listen to his."
Hesitantly Izzy placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault."
"Maybe if I hadn't pushed him so hard to finish year 12..." She murmured.
"That is a highly illogical assumption," Izzy corrected gently sitting down beside his favourite computer teacher.
"I know, but I can't help but feel it's my fault."
Izzy sighed and looked down at his lap, unable to think of a response.
~~~
Kari looked up, as Mary-Jane walked through the gates, halfway through lunch, not that it really mattered since no one was going to class anyway.
"Hey MJ, I thought you'd be at home today."
The girl shrugged, her brown hair looked unbrushed, her make-up suspiciously absent. "I just had to get out. Everyone's there, and they can't even wait till he's in the ground before they start in on me. It's fucking disrespectful." She said blankly.
"Are you alright?" Kari asked hesitantly.
MJ burst into tears, throwing her arms around Kari's shoulders, "No, I found this," she thrust the piece of paper into Kari's hand, "I haven't told Mum yet, it's his will. He's been planning this for so long that he had his own fucking will written out."
She pulled back to look at Kari, "What sort of sister am I? I didn't even notice he was sad. He was always smiling. How could I have known?" Her voice cracked as she practically begged for Kari to tell her it wasn't her fault.
"It wasn't your fault," Kari complied, hugging the girl again.
T.K. noticed the dishevelled reporters heading for Kari and the sobbing MJ and hastily cut them off, flashing the bloody nosed blond woman his most dashing smile, "What a bitch of a day to get dumped by your boyfriend." He said trying not to laugh at the woman's missing clumps of hair and the camera mans torn and stained clothing. It looked as if the two were doing on report on world war 3, rather then the death of a single high school student.
The woman looked at him in surprised distaste, "Excuse me?"
"Mary-Jane," He gestured to the crying brunette, "That's my girlfriend comforting her. Her asshole of a boyfriend just dumped her," He grinned at the camera man, who was eying him fearfully through his two black eyes
"So, do you want to interview me?"
"Did you know him?" She asked eagerly
"Hell yes. Beautiful kid. Tall like a basketball player. Also a gay alien."
The woman snapped her mouth shut, hiding the fact that she was missing one or two of her teeth, "Thank you for your comments, but I think we have enough."
T.K. smirked as the two oozed away, inordinately proud of himself. Those anger-control classes were really paying off. Maybe he should wheedle Davis into going. If the rumours he'd heard were true it was his fault that there were a few 'less then healthy' reporters wandering the school.
He was headed towards the two girls when one of his team mates rushed up, "Dude, did you hear? Sora Takenouchi decked that blond reporter bitch."
T.K. laughed, sweet little Sora in a fight with that bitch, it's a good thing he hadn't placed bets because he would have lost.
"Go spread the word my main man," He replied, still grinning, "I think she broke the sluts nose. I'll be with Kar and MJ."
Guy suddenly looked grim, "Look after her man," He held his hand for their elaborate parting shake.
With one final salute Guy headed across the oval towards the biggest gossips in the school.
T.K. walked over to the two girls and hugged them both in turn,
"Hey MJ, I'm sorry."
She looked at T.K. with tear filled eyes, "Not as sorry as I am."
~~~
Dan hurried across the oval, past the few stragglers heading out the gates and towards Kai who hadn't moved all day.
He dropped the bundle of photocopies in Kai's lap. "This is all I could afford. So what do we do now?"
With a tired sigh Kai touched the pile, "This isn't enough."
"But what do we do?"
"There's a photocopier in the front office, you don't have to pay to use that." Yolei suggested
Kai nodded at the girl, "Yes."
Dee helped her up while Dan and Davis gathered up the 300-or-so copies of the letter.
Yolei bent to pick up Kai's cards and the girl slapped her hands away.
"My cards," She growled.
Dee grinned at Yolei's slightly hurt face, "Ignore Kai. She's paranoid. She thinks her cards are going to leave her for someone else."
Yolei nodded, "This way," She led the group towards the office.
They walked for about a metre before Dan stopped in his tracks, "Louie, why is there a trolley pole in the back of your skirt?"
"Just in case my peroxided-friend turns up again," She said, a fox-like grin on her face.
"Don't hold your breath," Dee warned.
Louie sighed happily, "We can always Dream."
Authors Notes: To begin with, we feel the swearing was necessary for the reader to truly experience the type of thoughts one has when something like this happens.
Neither K-chan nor I believe drug use is a good thing. Ken is a bad boy, he should be punished, but we'll leave that to Dai. The Kensuke was an accident, Scouts Honour!
The original characters well they're needed and we hope you love them as much as we do. Sorry for there being so many.
Next chapter everyone actually will get the letters. We ran out of time - and patience - glares at song title "Patience". We'll definitely have the letter next chapter, we didn't realise how much we had to have happening this chapter.
And finally, the media, forgive us if we seem a bit harsh on them, this is our revenge, since this fic deal with 'issues' we decided it was best to get rid of certain festering wounds. While no one at K-chans school actually bet up any reporters, the channel 7 car (minus the spray paint) did actually happen. What can we say, we're savages, we live at the bottom of the world. ^_^'
No reporters were actually harmed in the writing of this fic *wistful sigh*
And for anyone who doesn't know what a trolley pole is, it's the plastic handle of the shopping trolleys you can get at any good shopping mall. We hear Woolworths/Safeway are the best, as they don't shatter on impact. If you don't live in Australia then we can't help you.
By the way, T.K.'s description of Ben is from Cowboy Bebop which we don't own. We hope we got the quotes right, it's been a while and we only saw it in Japanese anyway.
By Kaizer K-chan and FireDemon
Warnings: Suicide, Death, Angst, Drug-use, Yaoi (We can't resist) Mentions a lot of not nice stuff. This is a serious fic.
Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or the song "Blood is Blood" by Nerina Pallot, but we suggest you listen to it. The storyline and all original characters belong to us, or the respective people they're based on. Please don't take them without permission.
For the real Ben, rest in peace man.
Chapter 2: Blood Will Flow, That's All It Knows
"A tragic incident took place yesterday at Odaiba High School," The young reporter began, trying to look remorseful about the death of a boy she'd never even met. "Hysterical students and staff banded together for comfort, the school becoming a safe haven for the hundreds of fragile souls affected by the tragedy," The woman gave a smile, "We go now to Christine Hackett who will be talking to a couple of the boys close friends."
~
"So, what are your thoughts on this incident?" Asked the woman, giving her immaculately groomed peroxide-blond hair a swish.
"He was a great guy. He was friends with everyone." Guy replied with a shrug, "It really makes you wonder."
~
"I can't understand why he'd do something like that. It's kind of stupid if you ask me. I mean Ben had the perfect life." Candy exclaimed, "I think suicide is totally selfish"
~
"I don't think I'm ever going to be able to go into the boys toilets again, it'd just freak me out, I mean yuck!" Bozzie exclaimed in disgust.
~
"He was a good team mate," Tai replied simply, "I wish he had have said something. Maybe one of us could have helped him."
~
"Well, I dunno, I didn't really know him that well, but I guess it just goes to prove you can never completely know anyone. I mean even his best friends didn't know," Canvas said glibly.
~
"Am I on T.V.? Hi Mom!" Ron exclaimed, waving furiously at the camera, "We're supposed to be talking about that dude eh? Er," He shrugged, "Never met him, but Motomiya plays soccer with him, you should ask him!"
~
"Just fucking get out of my face you insensitive pricks," Davis yelled, "He was a fucking brilliant guy. Can't you just let him rest you vultures?" There was a crackle as his fist connected with the camera.
~
The woman froze with the cigarette halfway to her lipstick coated lips, "Shit! Are we on?" She tossed the half finished cigarette away, "Those were some very interesting comments," She shot a glare at someone off camera, then hastily forced a practised smile onto her face, showing her perfectly straight white teeth, "We'll leave you now with images of the distraught teens." The screen faded to black, then pictures of students huddling out the front of the school, some crying, some ranting, but a lot of them just wandering around with dazed expressions, not knowing what to do, filled the screen.
~~~
Joe flipped off the TV in disgust, he had to agree with Davis's comment, he remembered Ben from last year.
They'd had a couple of 'deep-and-meaningful's when Ben had been caught cutting class and Joe had been assigned detention duty. He was an alright guy, Joe had really opened up to him during one of their conversations on the woes of the world.
For such a cheery guy he seemed to have very melancholy moments. For some reason his suicide didn't surprise Joe as much as it should have.
He wondered how Tai and Davis felt, unlike him they were actually friends with the boy. He briefly considered calling them, and then he shook his head: It had been way too long.
~~~
Ken walked down the hall; his mind whirling, to think this time yesterday things had been normal. He tried to ignore the gossipping students, he supposed it wasn't their fault, class had been cancelled, and nobody had anything else to do. School-provided counsellors waited in their offices, but nobody wanted to be the first to break down. The gossipping was just their way of coping.
He'd only ever really met Ben once, yet every time they passed in the hall Ben had said hi. It never failed to surprise him that the older boy actually remembered his name.
He walked out of the hall to see the A-Block Boy's toilets and froze. There was crime-scene tape around the door, preventing students from entering. This was definitely ironic, as the place of Bens death was where their one and only meeting had taken place.
//Flashback//
Ken stepped out of the cubicle, wrinkling his nose at the distinct musty sweet smell of marijuana that always permeated this particular toilet- block. Usually he avoided these toilets, but he was in a hurry today.
He sighed when he spotted the young man slouched against the sink, a silver pipe decorated with blue and pink star-sequins that had obviously been glued on, held lightly in his hand. Here was the culprit of today's freshening of the odour.
Ken washed his hands, avoiding eye-contact in the hope it would discourage the boy from talking: No such luck.
"Hey man, don't I know you?" The black-haired stoner asked.
"No." Ken said shortly, punching the button of the hand drier in a futile attempt to get it to work for more then 2 seconds.
"Dude don't even bother, that thing hasn't worked since, I don't know..." He trailed off giggling.
Ken tried to ignore him, "Oh."
"Hey, aren't you that guy that's always watching Motomiya at our games?"
Ken inhaled sharply; "I don't know what you're talking about." He said a little bit too quickly.
"Me either. I'm Ben." He tried to put on a suave and debonair voice, "Ben Elliot," The boy held out his hand, "I would say James Bond, but some asshole stole my name."
Ken couldn't help but smile, reaching out to shake hands politely, "I'm Ken Ichijouji."
"Dude, you're THE Ken. I thought you were like Motomiya's stalker or something, but you're Ken. That's so cool." He pumped Kens hand furiously.
Ken tried to pry his hand away from the boy, "That's right. You're the vice- captain of the soccer team aren't you?"
"I am? That's pretty cool. You're pretty smart Ken, you must be some kind of genius!"
Ken smiled at the irony, "Actually I am."
"That's cool," The boy nodded, "Wanna choof?" He offered Ken the gaudy pipe.
"No thank you." Ken replied politely.
"You don't mind if I stand here and blow it in your face then do you?" He asked taking a toke and blowing the fumes into Kens face.
Ken spluttered, his eyes watering from the smoke, "I really have to go."
"Dude, you've just been. Got the runs have you?" He asked.
"No," Ken replied awkwardly, "I have a class." He quickly made for the door.
"You're not going to leave me all alone are you?" There was something in the voice that stopped Ken in his tracks. It was the same tone Davis used when he was asking for something but didn't want anyone to realise how much he wanted it.
Ken sighed and released the knob, "Alright, I'll stay."
The boy grinned at him, "Cool. Sure you don't want a toke?"
Ken sighed, "Okay, maybe one. I don't want to get high."
Ben grinned, "Sure, sure, but I should warn you, I've got good shit."
Ken took a long breath, and felt his lungs contract as they filled with smoke, he spluttered loudly, his nose running.
"That's the way man, take it all in," Ben laughed, thumping him on the back.
Ken slumped down next to the boy, "No more!" He gasped.
Ben took a deep breath through the pipe, swallowing the noxious gas as though it were oxygen, "Whatever you say. Man I can't believe you and Motomiya..."
Ken blushed, "We're only friends."
"...Are friends," He blinked, "Huh? I never said otherwise," The boy gave him a sideways look, "You like him!" He accused triumphantly.
"No!" Ken denied pathetically, perhaps he shouldn't have had the one puff.
"Oh, you can spill it all to your good friend Ben." Ben said draping an arm around his shoulders, "I'm gay you know."
Ken flushed, "Are you really?"
"Only when I'm *really* happy," He giggled, "Now spill the beans my good friend Ken."
"Good friend?" Ken questioned.
"This conversation has lasted more then 5 minutes, that makes us good friends." Ben explained confidently.
"Oh, okay then Good Friend Ben," Ken giggled at him rhyme, no wonder he was acing English.
"So, what do you like about him?" Ben questioned, "His eyes? His smile? His hair?" He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "His tight little butt? Hi smooth supple golden skin?"
Ken felt like his cheeks were on fire, "Everything," He whispered.
Ben burst out laughing, "Whipped, Whipped!" He screamed.
"Shoosh!" Ken yelled even louder, "I'm the one with the whip."
Ben laughed even harder, "I like your style Good Friend Ken."
"Well I think you're loud Good Friend Ben."
"Loud?" Ben questioned, "You should hear me in bed."
Ken blushed again.
"So why haven't you made a move on him?" Ben asked
"I...I couldn't. What if he said no? What if he never wanted to talk to me again?" Ken replied.
"Pfft!" Ben dismissed, "There's something more! Why haven't you asked Davis Motomiya out?" Ben yelled.
"Shh!" Ken lunged forward to cover Bens big mouth, surreptitiously checking to see that the cubicle really was empty.
"So why?" Ben asked more quietly.
"My parents they... they wouldn't like it. Sam was straight so I have to be straight too."
"Oh. Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm trying to finish Yr 12 since Levi didn't get the chance. My parents tell me that's what he wanted to do, more then anything."
Ken noticed the sadness in Ben's voice and put his arm around Bens shoulder too, "Great. Now we're sad," Ken bemoaned.
Ben offered Ken the freshly packed pipe, "Want another toke, Good Friend Ken?"
Ken accepted, "Okay Good Friend Ben."
//End Flashback//
That was the only time he'd smoked marijuana, and despite the fact that he'd gotten caught and gotten into a hell of a lot of trouble with his parents, he didn't regret it.
Sometimes it helped to air things out before putting them back away. He knew that he and Ben had similar problems, Ken couldn't help but wonder if he'd be the next one they took out of the toilets in a body bag. Maybe Ben was right... Maybe life wasn't worth living. Especially if it wasn't your life you were living.
~~~
"Davis!" Yolei cried, "Are the rumours true?"
Davis pulled a sour face, "I've heard enough rumours thank you very much."
Yolei rolled her eyes, "But I need to know," she pleaded, "Did you really try to strangle reporter-barbie with her microphone cord?"
"Unfortunately not," Louie cut in, "We tried, but she was just too fast."
"Damn," sighed Shannon, "I wish I could run that fast in heels."
Yolei shot the blond a look, "You do realise you're a guy?"
Shannon looked down, "My god, 'Lei you're right! I never even noticed. So that's what it is. So now that I'm a guy and you're a girl..."
Yolei scowled.
"Let's hop on the good foot and do the bad thing."
The entire group ignored him, "Davey did punch out the camera," Dee informed helpfully.
Davis held out his bloody hand for inspection.
Yolei let out a low whistle, "Shit Davey-boy, maybe you should go to the nurse's office and get that checked out."
Davis shook his head resolutely, "Nu-uh, I wanna see this 'Lei."
"What?" Yolei questioned, peering past Davis, "Hey! You're not supposed to have those at school!"
Kai's green eyes flickered up to Yolei; "You got a problem, deal."
"No problem," Yolei quickly replied. While the rest of the group was weird, Kai was just plain freaky.
Kai dismissed Yolei as unimportant and went back to her cards. She was sitting cross legged in the centre of the school oval, her 'altered' school uniform might have brought stares, had it been anyone else.
"You guys?" She brought the groups attention back to her as she dealt her angel cards.
"What does it say?' Davis crowed excitedly.
Kai bent over her cards, "This card's out of context. It's the one I use to symbolise Dan. And this one's Ben," She pointed out the two cards, "There's something here about a message..."
~~~
Jess ran through the gates,
"Oh, I'm late, I'm late!" She cried through the piece of toast clenched between her teeth.
She skidded to a halt, noting that while it should have been halfway through first lesson, nobody seemed to be in class.
She recognised one of the girls standing next to the building, Sora Take-a- something from her Home-Ec class. They'd talked about Sailor Moon once or twice.
"Sora, what's going on?" She asked.
"Yo, Jess right?" the girl asked, "Didn't you hear? Ben Elliot killed himself-"
Sora broke off as the girl's face crumpled, and she remembered that Jess was actually one of the dead kids friends, "Oh shit Jess I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that."
Jess let out a horrified scream, "No! Ben!"
Sora watched in horrified shock as the girl slumped to the ground that eerie wailing unceasing.
"Is this one of your friends?" It took Sora a moment to realise there was a camera in her face, and the question was directed at her, "What's her name? How does she know Ben? Were they lovers?" The blond woman asked breathlessly as the camera-man swung the camera round to focus on Jess.
Sora's control snapped, and she grabbed the woman by her fake blond hair, "Get bent bitch!" She brought the woman's head down on her knee, there was a tiny squeak, Sora dissatisfied by the noise threw the woman at the camera- man sending the expensive machinery crashing to the floor. "Heartless motherfucks," she brought her foot down on the camera, blinking as the blood lust cleared from her eyes.
The two reporters stared up at Sora, terrified. She smiled sweetly, "I would say sorry, but I'm not. I believe Principle Kennet warned you that some students might become violent, maybe next time you'll take him more seriously."
She stalked away, ushering Jess forward, "C'mon let's go find your friends," She said, still feeling incredibly guilty over causing the girl such grief.
~~~
Cody carelessly flicked through the channels, he had the chicken pox and his mother had refused to let him go to school.
Idly he reached out to scratch his arm, something glittery green caught his eye and he scowled seeing the note his mother had written on his hand - No Scratching.
His eyes flickered up to the television screen and he let out a yelp of surprise as he recognised one of his friend's many older sisters, Louie Jones. She had a trolley pole tucked into the back of her pleated skirt and looked like some twisted avenging angel as she spray-painted 'Nosy pricks' onto the bonnet of a the Channel 7 car while other male students jumped up and down on the roof, or attacked it with their own trolley poles. There was a voice talking over the action,
"While some students mourned quietly, others felt the need to lash out at innocent bystanders."
The scene changed and Cody felt his jaw drop open,
"Just fucking get out of my face you insensitive pricks," Davis yelled, "He was a fucking brilliant guy. Can't you just let him rest you vultures?" There was a crackle as his fist connected with the camera.
"Some reacted violently, and without provocation,"
The scene changed again,
Cody felt his jaw drop to his knees as Sora's normally smiling face flashed onto the screen and heard the unnaturally explicit language coming from the bearer of the crest of love.
"Get bent bitch!" The very angry looking Sora brought the woman's head down on her knee.
Cody watched in shock as Sora threw the woman at the camera-man sending the expensive machinery crashing to the floor. "Heartless motherfucks," she brought her foot down on the camera.
Maybe he didn't know the digidestined as well as he'd thought. Since when had Sora had a violent streak towards innocent reporters.
"No provocation my eye," He muttered, idly scratching several of the itchy red dots, "Wish I knew what had really happened."
~~~
"Miss George," Izzy asked concernedly, "Are you alright."
The woman sniffled, "I'm fine Izzy, just a little... shocked is all. Ben was a good kid; he was very good at communicating with people. He always listened to my problems, I was his care teacher, I should have taken the time to listen to his."
Hesitantly Izzy placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault."
"Maybe if I hadn't pushed him so hard to finish year 12..." She murmured.
"That is a highly illogical assumption," Izzy corrected gently sitting down beside his favourite computer teacher.
"I know, but I can't help but feel it's my fault."
Izzy sighed and looked down at his lap, unable to think of a response.
~~~
Kari looked up, as Mary-Jane walked through the gates, halfway through lunch, not that it really mattered since no one was going to class anyway.
"Hey MJ, I thought you'd be at home today."
The girl shrugged, her brown hair looked unbrushed, her make-up suspiciously absent. "I just had to get out. Everyone's there, and they can't even wait till he's in the ground before they start in on me. It's fucking disrespectful." She said blankly.
"Are you alright?" Kari asked hesitantly.
MJ burst into tears, throwing her arms around Kari's shoulders, "No, I found this," she thrust the piece of paper into Kari's hand, "I haven't told Mum yet, it's his will. He's been planning this for so long that he had his own fucking will written out."
She pulled back to look at Kari, "What sort of sister am I? I didn't even notice he was sad. He was always smiling. How could I have known?" Her voice cracked as she practically begged for Kari to tell her it wasn't her fault.
"It wasn't your fault," Kari complied, hugging the girl again.
T.K. noticed the dishevelled reporters heading for Kari and the sobbing MJ and hastily cut them off, flashing the bloody nosed blond woman his most dashing smile, "What a bitch of a day to get dumped by your boyfriend." He said trying not to laugh at the woman's missing clumps of hair and the camera mans torn and stained clothing. It looked as if the two were doing on report on world war 3, rather then the death of a single high school student.
The woman looked at him in surprised distaste, "Excuse me?"
"Mary-Jane," He gestured to the crying brunette, "That's my girlfriend comforting her. Her asshole of a boyfriend just dumped her," He grinned at the camera man, who was eying him fearfully through his two black eyes
"So, do you want to interview me?"
"Did you know him?" She asked eagerly
"Hell yes. Beautiful kid. Tall like a basketball player. Also a gay alien."
The woman snapped her mouth shut, hiding the fact that she was missing one or two of her teeth, "Thank you for your comments, but I think we have enough."
T.K. smirked as the two oozed away, inordinately proud of himself. Those anger-control classes were really paying off. Maybe he should wheedle Davis into going. If the rumours he'd heard were true it was his fault that there were a few 'less then healthy' reporters wandering the school.
He was headed towards the two girls when one of his team mates rushed up, "Dude, did you hear? Sora Takenouchi decked that blond reporter bitch."
T.K. laughed, sweet little Sora in a fight with that bitch, it's a good thing he hadn't placed bets because he would have lost.
"Go spread the word my main man," He replied, still grinning, "I think she broke the sluts nose. I'll be with Kar and MJ."
Guy suddenly looked grim, "Look after her man," He held his hand for their elaborate parting shake.
With one final salute Guy headed across the oval towards the biggest gossips in the school.
T.K. walked over to the two girls and hugged them both in turn,
"Hey MJ, I'm sorry."
She looked at T.K. with tear filled eyes, "Not as sorry as I am."
~~~
Dan hurried across the oval, past the few stragglers heading out the gates and towards Kai who hadn't moved all day.
He dropped the bundle of photocopies in Kai's lap. "This is all I could afford. So what do we do now?"
With a tired sigh Kai touched the pile, "This isn't enough."
"But what do we do?"
"There's a photocopier in the front office, you don't have to pay to use that." Yolei suggested
Kai nodded at the girl, "Yes."
Dee helped her up while Dan and Davis gathered up the 300-or-so copies of the letter.
Yolei bent to pick up Kai's cards and the girl slapped her hands away.
"My cards," She growled.
Dee grinned at Yolei's slightly hurt face, "Ignore Kai. She's paranoid. She thinks her cards are going to leave her for someone else."
Yolei nodded, "This way," She led the group towards the office.
They walked for about a metre before Dan stopped in his tracks, "Louie, why is there a trolley pole in the back of your skirt?"
"Just in case my peroxided-friend turns up again," She said, a fox-like grin on her face.
"Don't hold your breath," Dee warned.
Louie sighed happily, "We can always Dream."
Authors Notes: To begin with, we feel the swearing was necessary for the reader to truly experience the type of thoughts one has when something like this happens.
Neither K-chan nor I believe drug use is a good thing. Ken is a bad boy, he should be punished, but we'll leave that to Dai. The Kensuke was an accident, Scouts Honour!
The original characters well they're needed and we hope you love them as much as we do. Sorry for there being so many.
Next chapter everyone actually will get the letters. We ran out of time - and patience - glares at song title "Patience". We'll definitely have the letter next chapter, we didn't realise how much we had to have happening this chapter.
And finally, the media, forgive us if we seem a bit harsh on them, this is our revenge, since this fic deal with 'issues' we decided it was best to get rid of certain festering wounds. While no one at K-chans school actually bet up any reporters, the channel 7 car (minus the spray paint) did actually happen. What can we say, we're savages, we live at the bottom of the world. ^_^'
No reporters were actually harmed in the writing of this fic *wistful sigh*
And for anyone who doesn't know what a trolley pole is, it's the plastic handle of the shopping trolleys you can get at any good shopping mall. We hear Woolworths/Safeway are the best, as they don't shatter on impact. If you don't live in Australia then we can't help you.
By the way, T.K.'s description of Ben is from Cowboy Bebop which we don't own. We hope we got the quotes right, it's been a while and we only saw it in Japanese anyway.