Author's Note: I wouldn't really say this is my absolute first Digimon fic, because it's not. I have a strange history with the TV show, both the Japanese and English version. In fact-- I was the biggest fan in the world, and then got hypnotized by a certain movie… and never watched the show again. But, I'm back to grace you with my presence! Don't ya just love me?! (people can be seen fleeing) …I see how you stay…
Unnecessary Disclaimer: I don't know why I even bother with this stuff. I mean, you know I don't own Digimon or anything closely affiliated with it. So why must I bother saying it so many times?
MINOR notes: I'm using the Japanese names. Why? Because I can. I'm also mixing in a few of the 02 characters, for reference and maybe some references to other characters. Why? Because I can. Also, because if I just used plain Frontier people, Izumi would have no friends that were girls. Odd, isn't it? So… I think that's about all you have to know-- OH! This is a Takumi fic, btw. It ends up that way, no matter what you seem to think. It's also slightly AU. They're in high school. I don't know where they live, but I used Odaiba because it was the first thing within reach =) And… I made up Takuya's family for the fun of it.
BTW, the 3 dots-- … --in italics, mean there's a flashback. Just… heed them. Thanks.
It Might Be You
Chapter 7
Hitei
"Oh my God, so is it really true?" Hirose asked her cousin, fervently. Hirose was Tayumi, Takeyo and Takuya's cousin. She came over every Monday, at exactly 8:00AM. Hirose had a job just a few blocks away from their house, and dropped by to say hi once a week. She was 21, like Takeyo, but took a job with an apprenticeship, without going to university like Takeyo. She sipped on her drink, and looked at Tayumi, who was sitting across from her, anxiously.
"Of course it is!" Tayumi said, in a hushed type voice. "Everyone knows it's the truth, but it's been a day, and he hasn't even talked about it at all! Mom and Dad are trying to get it out of him, but you know Takuya-"
"Stubborn Takuya," Hirose added. "He knows I'm a gossip freak! Why won't he just tell me?"
"Hold up," Takuya interrupted, setting down his bowl of cereal. Tayumi and Hirose looked at him, as if he just entered the room. In reality, he'd been there the whole time… He looked at them both, oddly, "Hirose, I knew you were a freak, but you never said anything about gossip…"
"Oh shush, Takuya," Hirose smiled, edgily. She moved a bit closer to him on the sofa, Tayumi on the other side, and smiled even more. "…so… you slept with some girl, right?"
"Oh God," he almost choked, and sat up. Hirose was always the prying type. She'd get something out of you, even if you didn't wanna tell her. "Who told you that I slept with some girl?" he asked, eyes almost darting to Tayumi on purpose.
"Some girl?" Hirose repeated, standing up. "I can't believe you'd say that about Izumi Orimoto! You're so… dumb…"
"Tch, yeah, I knew that," Takuya retorted, crossing his arms.
"Takuya, Izumi's dad-- not her stepdad, her real dad-- owns one of the biggest companies in Japan! She would be rich, if her parents didn't get divorced! Izumi's dad always talks about her in his monthly magazines, and that's what made her nearly famous! He never really shows any pictures of her, otherwise she'd be stalked and followed all day. He calls her… Izzi."
"Izzi?" Takuya repeated, finding it hard to believe her.
"Yeah," Hirose nodded. "Just like how I used to call you Takki." She giggled a little, but Takuya stayed unmoved. "I didn't know you guys were still friends." She nodded, changing the subject. "…or are you?" she smiled. "Maybe you're just in it for the-"
"Hirose, I might be a bit sick-minded, but I am definitely not Daisuke," Takuya told her. "…and…"
"And?"
"…and I'm gonna be late for school," he added, hastily. Hirose frowned. Takuya picked up his bag from the sofa and headed towards the door. He obviously knew where this conversation was going. "I'll talk to you later, if you're lucky. Tayumi, you coming?"
"Is Daisuke there?" Tayumi called, shoving the rest of her books into her bag. She flicked open her mirror and checked to see if her hair was okay. She smiled, and then shoved it into her bag again. Takuya didn't answer.
"Tayumi, you really have to accept the fact that-" Takuya pulled open the door and paused. There, standing at his doorway, hand stretched out to where the doorknob would've been… was Koji. Takuya wanted to scream. But he remembered, just at the last second-- It could be Kouichi. That's right. Koji cut his hair, so now he and his brother look almost identical… okay, they look identical. Isn't there anything distinguishable about them? …wait. Kouichi's face is fatter than Koji's, but only when you compare… I have nothing to compare with. …damn. Takuya couldn't seem to find his words. Koji/Kouichi wasn't speaking either. They both just stared at each other for the longest time. "…uh…" Takuya gulped, uneasily. "…y-you're Kouichi, right?" Please say yes. Please say yes.
Koji/Kouichi didn't reply right away. He stuttered as well, "Na uh… it's Koji."
"…oh." Takuya muttered. SHIT!!! He screamed and began to panic. He's gonna kill me! He's gonna kill me! He's the grim reaper, and he came to kill me! It's Monday, I'm gonna die! I can't die on Monday!! I was born on a Monday! It's bad luck to die on the day you were born!!
"God-- um… …okay, shut up!" Koji snapped. Takuya shut up instantly. He muttered a very wobbly "okay" and said nothing. "Um… we haven't really ever talked before." He began, slowly. "But there's something really important that I need to talk to you about."
Talk… talk… "…okay…" he whispered. Koji looked at him, strangely. "…o-on the… way to school… then?" he mumbled, sniffing a few times. He has a knife.
"…uh, sure," Koji nodded.
"…one second- Tayumi!" Takuya called, rushing back into his living room, where she was getting ready to leave. "Tayumi…" he gave her a quick hug. "Hirose…" he gave his cousin a hug too. "I'm probably not gonna come back today…" he mumbled, regrettably.
"What the hell are you talking about, Takuya?" Hirose asked, confused.
"Tell mom and dad I love them a lot," Takuya nodded, ignoring Hirose. "Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't be the son they always wanted me to be… and tell Takeyo he was a really good role model. I always wanted to be like him… Tayumi, you were always my favorite sister…" he sniffed. "And my only sister, but that's not the point. The point is… that I really cared about you a lot. And I don't mind if you get to be Peaches… you deserved it, I guess. I was born at the wrong time. And Hirose… you're still a freak, but that's what I always liked about you." He smiled, and headed back to the doorway. "…have a good day." He nodded, before disappearing past the wall.
The both of them remained quiet.
"…let's go," Takuya muttered, solemnly as he and Koji disappeared down the hall, Takuya-- silently praying to himself.
****
"Daisuke-- you've always been my best friend. Have a good life without me. Love you, man," Takuya clicked off his cell phone. Koji looked at him oddly.
"Are you done yet?" Koji asked. He and Takuya were in his car, harmlessly driving to school, but he couldn't help but notice Takuya was calling people as if he wasn't gonna be around for more than the ride to school. Takuya nodded, but said nothing. "Okay, well-"
"Is it about Izumi?" Takuya asked, suddenly. Koji looked at him, suspiciously. Well, it looked suspicious to Takuya anyway. He whimpered, helplessly.
"Yeah, it is," Koji replied, calmly. He couldn't seem to figure out why Takuya was hyperventilating. It's the hair. Should've kept it long. "Listen, um… see. She hasn't talked to me since that one day… when you got knocked out with the-"
"I know, I know, just get it over with," Takuya prodded, eyes shut.
"…okay." Koji mumbled, confused. "Well, I really wanted to talk to her, and tell her that I was sorry and everything, but she seems to be avoiding me. A lot. And everyone says that they see her around school nowadays with you, so-" Takuya covered his eyes, bottom lip trembling. "…uh…" Koji continued anyway. "Do you think you could tell her… from me… that I'm really, really sorry and I really want us to be friends again. …are you okay?" he added, noticing Takuya was now curling up in the seat, and sucking his thumb.
"Peachy." He answered, nonchalantly. Koji shrugged but didn't say anything. Takuya waited. He was done talking a long time ago, so why didn't he kill him yet? Takuya opened one eye and looked over at Koji. He wasn't speaking. "…where's the knife?"
"What knife?" Koji asked, absently. "Takuya, what are you talking about?"
"The knife!" Takuya exclaimed. "The knife you're gonna pierce through my head! … you're supposed to kill me-- I slept with your girlfriend!"
"What?" Koji asked, edgily, stepping on the brakes, quickly. Takuya screamed and began to panic even more. Why did I tell him?! WHY?! Now he's gonna kill me faster! No!! I'm too young to- "You slept with Ruki?"
"…w-what?" he mumbled, still shielding his eyes. "…Ruki?"
"Yeah."
"…w-what-- no," Takuya stuttered, opening his eyes, slowly. "…I was talking about Izumi."
"Izumi?" Koji asked. "…Takuya, Izumi's not my girlfriend."
"What?" Takuya almost yelled. He was frantic. He almost couldn't believe what Koji was saying. If that's what he was saying… "…so… then…"
"Me and Izumi broke up around 3 months ago…"
*****
"Dude, you okay?" Daisuke asked, noticing Takuya had just sat down between him and Ken. "You left me like 15 of those annoying "I love you" messages…"
"You sent him 15 and you sent me 21?" Ken asked, still deleting messages from his phone. "What do you mean enjoy the rest of your life without me? What's going on…?"
"Koji and Izumi broke up 3 months ago…" Takuya said, quickly. Daisuke and Ken looked at him, oddly. Takuya wasn't aware he said anything serious. Until he rethought it over.
"You like her that much that you'd lie about her relationship with Koji?"
"Daisuke, I'm not lying. And it's a really long story, so I don't really think I have the time to explain it." He said, shrugging.
Ken sighed, "Lunch hour is called lunch hour because it's an hour."
"…okay fine." Takuya sighed. "So, I'm at home right? And my cousin is there with my sister and they're talking about how I slept with Izumi-"
"You slept with Izumi?" Daisuke asked, smiling. "So I was right."
Always right… damn. "Anyway," Takuya continued, trying to ignore him. "Then the bell rings. It's Koji. I freak out and think he's gonna kill me or something, but he doesn't want to. He drives me to school and he said he wanted to talk to me. He says that I should tell Izumi something for him, because they don't talk that much anymore. He told me to tell her that he's really sorry and that he still wants to be friends with her. I freak out, and ask him when he's gonna kill me. He asks why. I say-- it's because I slept with your girlfriend! And then he's like, "Who, Ruki?" And I'm like, "No, Izumi." And then he's like, "Oh, me and Izumi broke up 3 months ago." And then I'm like Whoa. And he tells me the whole thing-- like how she's been avoiding him, and they don't really talk much. I asked him-- what the hell's with all the making out on my locker? And he's like "that was my locker" and then he tells me they kept their whole breakup a secret because of the annoying gossip rumors, which was another reason why they had to be seen together a lot. Making out and whatever else, around the school. And then I'm like- "Who are you guys, Jennifer Lopez and all of her husbands?" and he says-- "it was her idea"."
Daisuke and Ken said nothing. They looked at Takuya, slowly thinking how he could create such a lie. But it seemed real too, when you gathered all possible hints of evidence.
"…but…" Ken spoke up. "Why would she be lying about everything-"
"-and then say that she's going out with you?" Daisuke added. "I just don't get it."
Takuya sighed, and looked around the field, "Neither do I."
****
…
"Well, and then I told him, Forget it, if that's all you ever think about. That was the last thing I told him actually. There was much more… um, swearing and yelling involved, but to conclude it, I told him I didn't wanna go home with him and I didn't want him to drop me off at home… I got so angry."
"When was that?"
"…today."
…
"…lied about everything…" he repeated to himself, absently. He couldn't remember where he was, just that he was still in school. His head was shrouded in thoughts and flashbacks. "Even that too? …that means they never really did have a stupid fight that day… and it was just a big excuse to stay over at the hospital room… so she really did lie to watch me sleep." How boring. "…how strange."
…
"Well, what do you want me to say?" he shot back. "I sorta don't have a car. Maybe you could call your boyfriend or whatever to pick you up."
"…we got into a fight, re-" she stopped herself, and sighed. "…of course you don't remember. You haven't been listening to me."
…
"Oh God…" Takuya mumbled to himself. All these annoying flashbacks were destroying him. Now he actually knew what was going on, and he wished he didn't. He felt so used. So useless. So- "So Gullible!" he gasped. "Did I actually believe her?" He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that she and Koji were in a fight and they weren't talking. He wanted to believe that because he wanted her all for himself…
"Well, you got what you wanted, Takuya," he muttered, turning to grab hold of his lock. "Now pigs fly, and sheep can swim. And there's a million dollars in your shoe." He began to twist it and spell out the combination. It, once again, didn't open. "Not today. Not now." He grumbled, pulling at the lock.
"…uh… excuse me," someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, and stood face to face with Koji. Again.
"Hey Koji," Takuya said, absently.
"…it's Kouichi." The "Koji" replied. Takuya said nothing. "…don't worry about it. It happened twice today."
"Oh… okay."
Kouichi nodded, slowly. "So… locker won't open, huh?"
"Yeah," Takuya answered, spelling out the combination again. "Don't know what's wrong with it."
"I do," Kouchi said. "It's because it's mine."
Takuya dropped the lock. Not again… why does the world suck today? "…crap it." He slowly edged away from the locker. "Sorry." He looked at the locker number. 400. "…damn." He sighed, and began walking, as he continued counting. "…401…402…403…404…405…406…"
4 minutes later…
"…489…490…491…492…493-- oh! God… hey," he stopped walking briskly, before he almost bumped into Izumi, who was conveniently standing by his locker. She smiled, weakly, but said nothing. "…problem?" he asked, slowly. She didn't reply. He swung open his locker door and began to search for his books. "…need someone to talk to?" he asked again.
Izumi sighed, arms still crossed. "If you wanna listen." She said, quietly. "The only catch is, you have to listen. It's really important."
"How important?" he asked, turning to look at her. She looked incredibly saddened and depressed. "…fine, I'll listen." He agreed, suddenly.
Think, Izumi… you're not gonna tell him. Hikari's right-- he'll probably freak out. Okay… "…you remember…" she began, slowly. "When we were kids… and we used to watch all those cartoon shows every single day and never do our homework? And then we used to go to school the next day, and somehow bribe Ken or Takeru if we could borrow their homework to "check ours over" and then we'd just copy the whole thing?" she smiled. "Those days were fun."
"…what are you getting at?" Takuya asked.
"We used to be friends." Izumi said, suddenly. "Doesn't it bother you that our friendship just went away one day?"
"Ah-" Takuya shut up before he spoke. He didn't wanna say anything stupid, because it did bother him. It bothered him a lot, but he couldn't do anything about it. He thought about what good friends they used to be, but then remembered he didn't know how it all changed… and then he remembered what Koji said. "…Koji says he's sorry. He said he still wants to be friends with you."
"Tell him, I know, and I'm sorry too and I'll stop ignoring him." She explained. "And… wait." She paused, and looked at Takuya with wide-eyes. If he knew that much, he must know everything else… "…what did he tell you?"
"Only everything else that you left out of our conversations," he told her, sharply. It hadn't intended to turn out sharp. But he could do nothing about it anymore. "You lied to me."
Izumi wanted to cry. And then she wanted to hug him. And then she wanted to cry. She wanted to kiss him again, and tell him that she was sorry. She really was. And even though those urges were undying, she had to somehow bring herself to terms to say something. Anything. "…Takuya…" she began, slowly. "...I don't really know what to tell you…"
"It was strange, you know," Takuya sighed, turning back to his locker to pull out his textbooks. "I almost completely believed all that crap Daisuke was telling me." He shut his locker, and clicked the lock on. "See you later, Izumi." He mumbled, before walking away.
Izumi said nothing but a quiet "bye" as he left. She wanted to cry. And she was probably going to. Just not in the middle of the hallway. I don't care anymore, she told herself, leaning against the set of lockers. She looked down and closed her eyes. One single tear slowly weaved its way down her face. And she thought.
…
"Hey, it's Takuya. Call me back, okay?" The answering machine beeped off. Izumi lay on her bed, flipping through her framed pictures. She only framed the pictures that were important to her…
Her and Takuya at Takuya's house last summer…
A picture of Takuya at the soccer finals…
A picture of Megaman… (Truth be told, she did have a crush on Megaman and thought the was pretty cute.)
A picture Izumi took of Takuya sleeping…
She didn't know why she kept them. They had strange sentimental values to her. She was in 5th grade, and completely in love with her best friend. She didn't know why. She heard those kinds of relationships with friends can ruin your life. But she couldn't help it. She'd always liked him. Since the first day of grade 1, when she was new and didn't know anyone, up to that day.
Yesterday.
She remembered giving Takuya her purse to hold for a few seconds, while she went somewhere. She'd remembered that in her purse, she kept pictures of her, her family and of him. She'd only remembered when she came back and he gave her the purse back, smiling strangely at her.
"…TK, what'd you see?" Izumi asked, edgily, taking the purse back from him.
"Nothin'." He answered, smiling.
Izumi was scared. What if he saw everything? She flipped open the purse and scanned through all the pictures. Normally, she'd remember to empty out all her pictures of Takuya when she gave it to him to hold, but this time… she forgot. There they were, all 5 of them, all visible in her purse. She felt like she was gonna cry. Instead of crying-- she screamed.
And she hadn't talked to him since yesterday. He'd called a few thousand times, and left around 35 messages, but she refused to talk to him. She figured he hated her, and was calling just to make sure she knew. She was watching Megaman. She didn't know why. She had no one to talk about it with the next day. She sighed, and changed the channel. It was Sailor Moon. She'd never watched it before. She didn't know why she was watching it now… hey… it actually looked pretty cool.
"Get the phone! I've talked to that kid enough times today!" Izumi's step-dad called to her mom. Mrs. Orimoto picked up the phone and sighed. They both knew it was Takuya. "Hello?" she asked.
"Hi, Mrs. Orimoto," Takuya said. "Izumi's still there, right? Can I talk to her? Can you tell her it's really important? Tell her… um… my catfish died."
"Okay, one second," she sighed, walking over to Izumi's room. "Izumi, pick up the phone, it's Takuya."
"I don't wanna talk to him, he's just gonna yell at me, he doesn't like me anymore." She said, all too quickly.
"He says it's important." Mrs. Orimoto nodded. "He says his catfish died."
"Tell him, he doesn't have a catfish." Izumi said. "And tell him to stop calling, too."
She sighed, and brought the phone to her ear, "Takuya, she says you don't have a catfish. She also wants you to stop calling."
"I can't stop calling. I have to ask her an important question about Megaman. Daisuke's not home, Ken's busy and I don't wanna talk to JP." Takuya explained, quickly. "She is watching Megaman, right Mrs. Orimoto? Right?"
"Um…" Mrs. Orimoto peered off at Izumi's TV. It was set on Sailor Moon. "…no, she's watching something else. Sailor Moon, I think."
"…not watching Megaman?" Takuya almost screamed. It was like their tradition. They always watched Megaman at 5:00 in the afternoon. No matter what. "…wait, she's watching Sailor Moon? What's that?"
"Can't you talk to her tomorrow, Takuya?"
"Fine, but ask her something real quick, okay?" Takuya asked, before she hung up. "Ask her… if she remembers that girl that keeps hanging around Megaman in episode 10. Tell her they've become really good friends, and that I wanna know what she thinks would happen if she's kidnapped and he doesn't come to rescue her, or whatever. I wanna know what she thinks will happen if they completely stop talking to each other. Can you ask her, please?"
"…one second." Mrs. Orimoto sighed. She turned to Izumi, and recited everything that he told her.
Izumi sighed. "…tell him… that they won't be friends anymore. Now do you mind-- Usagi just found Chibi-Usa…"
"She says," Mrs. Orimoto replied, tiredly. "That they won't be friends anymore."
"…exactly." Takuya nodded. "Can you tell her that's what I said? And can you tell her that if she doesn't wanna talk to me anymore, I want my life back and all those pictures she still has of me! Bye, Mrs. O," and he hung up.
Izumi choked. Her mom turned to look at her, "He says-"
"I know what he said." Izumi whispered. "My phone's been on the whole time." She pointed to her phone where the button that flashed read "speakerphone ON".
…
Izumi was flooded in tears by then. She couldn't stop crying. She didn't want to stop crying. She wanted the whole world to know that her whole world went crashing down, and she went along with it. As long as they knew, she was happy.
*****
She went right home that day. She told Hikari she had something important she had to do, and then she went straight home. She went into her room, and shut her door. She didn't need any distractions. She just needed to think.
She sat down on her bed, and pried out her purse where she kept everything important to her. She unrolled the picture span and sighed, staring blatantly at the pictures she still had of Takuya. She didn't know whether to smile or whether to cry. Or to do both at the same time.
It was ironic.
She covered every single basic step into getting Takuya to be hers one day… but she forgot to add one last question in the FAQ section.
"What happens if nothing works and he finds out about everything?"
That was the one question she couldn't answer.
She sighed, and bent over her bed to retrieve something from underneath it. She brought out a crumpled up book, with some pages stapled in. On the front it said, "Strictly Megaman". She smiled. At the time, "strictly" was one of the most important words she knew, so she used it on everything. It was a journal she used to keep-- Takuya had one too. Every day after watching Megaman, she'd go home and write about it and what she thought. She flipped it open and read the first page.
"Takuya watches Megaman too! I think he'll be my best friend some day! We like the same things. I think he's the only boy I know who likes what I like. I think it's because I don't like Barbies. Megaman's cute!" She smiled, and flipped the page, reading the next one.
"I got to go over to Takuya's house today. We watched Megaman together. The space guy blew up and Megaman went back home. Megaman's cute and all, but I wasn't paying attention. I don't know why I have this staring problem whenever Takuya's around. Maybe he has psychic magnetic rays that always draw my eyes close to him, because I can't stop looking at him. I'm going crazy." She sighed, and flipped the page. It occurred to her, then, that all the entries she wrote in there weren't about Megaman. They were all about Takuya. She flipped to the very last entry and read it. It wasn't that long. It simply stated:
"I want him back." And it was true. She did.
*****
So here's the deal… NO! This isn't the last chapter! And
YES! I am ever so sorry for stalling.
I was writing. I was planning on chapter 7 being the last chapter. It was
deadly long. It was almost 32 HTML pages long… that was a bit long for my
writing style. So I took a few thousand chunks and split those into chapter 8.
This is the remainder of chapter 7. Chapter 8 will be out soon, hopefully.
And I refuse to say if it's the last chapter. Right now, everything's a bit looooong… review plz ^^ BTW, the chapter title means "denial"
