Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
Chapter 12: Tears and Songs
Gennai knew that Kiku was coming. He knew that she hadn't gone to the dance, and to the party instead, and he knew that once she arrived at the Digital World, she wasn't going to want to leave. Part of him knew that it was for the best, but another part of him couldn't help but feel bad for Kiku. Jealousy was such a powerful emotion, and could make even the nicest people seem rude; Kiku was no exception.
As he walked through the Digital World, Gennai ran into Taichi's Digimon partner, Agumon. The orange dinosaur looked up at Gennai with concerned eyes.
"Gennai," Agumon said. "I know that something happened to Taichi...Can you tell me what that is, or will I have to wait to find out from Taichi?"
"Agumon, Taichi won't be coming back to the Digital World," Gennai sighed. "I hope you gave him a proper good bye last time, because you won't see him again, ever."
Confused, Agumon peered up at Gennai, a strange look on his face. The Digimon knew that Taichi and he had a special bond, but he also had a feeling that Gennai was right. Taichi would not be returning to the Digital World, but the question was why...
"Gennai!" Kiku called as she ran up to him, black pigtails blowing behind her. "Gennai! I'm sorry I never listened to you!"
Kiku's arms flew around Gennai's neck and she hugged him tight, crying into his shoulder. Her hot tears soon soaked through his shirt. Gennai's face was classic, you could tell that he didn't know how to comfort the crying teen. Awkwardly, he patted Kiku's back.
"There, there," he mumbled. "It's okay. Don't cry."
All around them, flowers, trees, and grass began to die. It seemed that for every tear Kiku shed, something had to share her pain...So the area around her was dying. Fearing for his life now, Gennai pulled Kiku away from him.
"Kiku, please stop crying," Gennai begged. "Or you'll kill the whole Digital World."
Kiku's tears stopped. She looked up and around with red, puffy eyes. If she had been depressed before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. Not only had she been denied her only chance to be a normal teenager, but now she was killing the Digital World with her depression.
"I'm sorry," she told Gennai. "I'll stop."
The crystal around her neck became clear, and Gennai let out a sigh of relief, as did Agumon. Kiku noticed the Digimon for the first time.
"Who are you?" she asked pleasantly.
"Boku wa Taichi no Digimon desu (A/N: translation: I am Taichi's Digimon)," Agumon said.
Kiku's crystal became tinted blue, then went back to clear as she took a deep breath. She knew who Agumon was now. Taichi had talked about the Digimon before...
Gennai grabbed Kiku's wrist then began to lead her away.
"Come along Kiku, we have a nice place for you to stay at..."
Gennai led Kiku all through the Digital World. They passed a million places that Kiku was sure that Gennai would allow her to stay, but they continued on...Finally, they reached what looked like an old hotel. It was in good condition, so Kiku had no complaints about it.
"You wouldn't believe the trouble we had fixing this up," Gennai said. "Devimon decided to use this to trick the Digi-destined years ago..."
The two went inside, then up the stairs. After passing several rooms, Gennai finally opened one. Inside was a beautiful medieval looking bedroom. Kiku gaped, then ran around looking at all of it.
After she grew tired of looking, Kiku plopped down on the bed.
"Gennai, can you tell me why the Digi-destined around pure anymore?" she asked.
"Um, well, which ones do you want to know?" Gennai inquired nervously as he sat down next to Kiku. "It is kind of their business..."
"You're right...I was just wondering why I was invisible to Taichi-san," Kiku confessed. "It hurt when he couldn't see me..."
"Do you really want to know, Kiku?"
Gennai's voice was now no more than a whisper. Kiku looked over at him, her eyes wide. Her lips wouldn't move to form a word, so she just nodded. Gennai sighed, then began to speak.
"You've seen what the Digi-destined parties are like," he began. "So you know what Mimi is like. Well, Sora used to get like that too, before she and Yamato began to go out, and he didn't want that anymore. One time, Taichi let out those three words that can win over any girl, sober or, what's the term..? Oh, never mind, I can't keep up with you teens...Taichi's words were sincere, so you can imagine how happy he was when Sora insisted that they go to her room...Taichi had been driving her home..."
Gennai trailed off and looked over at Kiku. Her hands were in her lap and her bangs covered her eyes. Tears were streaming steadily down her face, but when Gennai looked out the window, nothing was dying.
"Kiku? Why aren't you're tears killing?" Gennai asked.
"Because, they only do that when I want someone to understand my pain...no one deserves this."
Quietly, Gennai left Kiku to sit on the bed and cry. He waited outside the door to listen to what she was doing. Instead of hearing screaming (which was what he expect) he heard the broken lyrics to a song...
"I told myself I wouldn't fall for you
I knew that you were too good to be true
But if tomorrow you would say
That you're going my way,
Then baby, tomorrow is too far away..."
Gennai smiled. He knew that Kiku was singing the song off of the top her head, it was something she had written. That made it worth hearing.
"Kiku has a lovely voice," Gennai thought. "I wonder..."
~Meanwhile~
"Hikari, will you please stop walking through the door?!" Taichi asked, rather annoyed.
Hikari stopped, then fell to her knees on the ground beside her brother. She sighed, and Takeru sat down next to her. All the Digi-destined were gathered around.
"That's it...I just won't go back to the Digital World," Taichi announced.
Everyone took a sharp breath.
"Taichi, you can't do that!" Sora insisted.
"I have to. I can't deal with Kiku after that," Taichi assured.
Everyone just stared at Taichi. It was silent for a good ten minutes before Koushiro spoke up.
"Can someone please get my hand out of this door?"
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A/N: Kinda a depressing chapter...But, don't worry, there is a happy ending to this story! Does the title makes sense now? ^^ Don't worry, the chapter title "The Hardest Question" will soon make sense too. Just wait, I have this all planned out. Thank you to those of you who reviewed!