The Secret Life of Akane Ichijouji

Disclaimer: (in a southern accent) Now why would eh-nee-one wanna sue lil' ol' me?  It's not like ah own Digimon or som'thin'. (G: Ok, what are you on this time, Gaia?) Why, shuga', shuga'. (G: *shakes head slowly* I just had to ask…)

A/N: And to think, this story came about because I was thinking of my high school's "no foreign floppy disks policy"… *shakes head* You'll see what I mean in this chapter.

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Chapter 2 – Busted Again

"Could you just set those over there please, Morrie? Thanks," Detective Ken Ichijouji directed his assistant, who had just stopped by his desk with a stack of paperwork.

He sighed as he glanced from the new pile of papers on his cabinet to the case report he had to type up on his computer.  Ken had been doing nothing but paperwork all day, and it looked like he was going to spend the rest of his afternoon doing more.  

The indigo-haired detective reached down and shook the insect digimon sleeping at his feet.  "Psst, hey, Wormmon."

"Hmmm?" Wormmon groaned awake.  Blinking crystal blue eyes up at his partner, he asked, "What is it, Ken?  Have we been assigned a new case?"

Ken shook his head.  "'Fraid not, buddy.  It looks like I'm stuck here for much longer with nothing but deskwork.  Better go on home and tell Yolei that I'm going to be late again."

Wormmon stretched out all ten of his pods.  "Should I hide all the pots this time so that she doesn't throw them at you for letting your dinner get cold?" 

Ken gave the little, green digimon a jovial smile.  "It's all right.  If Yolei can't find anything to throw at me, she might resort to using the kitchen sink."

Chuckling, Wormmon scuttled towards the elevator.  "Okay, but don't blame me when you get a black eye."

"Deal."  Ken was about to turn back to his work when he remembered something. "Oh, and Wormmon--!"

"Silk thread!"  The rookie-level digimon spit a line of sticky webbing up at the elevator button.

"--Wait for someone to press the button for you…" Ken finished deflatedly and sighed once more.  It looked like he was going to have to clean up after his partner before someone got glued to the elevator button again.

"Sorry, Ken," Wormmon apologized as he crawled into the half-filled elevator.

"It's okay." Ken stood up and was about to head over to the floor's nearest restroom to grab some wet paper towels when the phone on his desk rang.

Hoping that it would lead him to something more exciting than paperwork, the bored detective stopped and took the call.  "Hello, Detective Ken Ichijouji speaking."

"Mr. Ichijouji?  Hello, this is Mr. Morinishi, your daughter's guidance counselor at Odaiba High School."

This wasn't exactly what Ken had in mind.  Worried that Akane was in some sort of trouble, all he could think of to say was "…Oh?"

The man on the other line continued, "Yes, I was wondering if you could stop by this afternoon.  We have something to discuss about Akane's…um…extracurricular hobbies."

Ken could feel his face flush slightly, and he detected that his pulse rate had just gone up a few dozen beats.  Now he was hoping that this wasn't about what he thought it was.  "I-I'll be right there."  Nervously, he hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. 

Grabbing his long coat and briefcase, he hurriedly gathered up a few of his papers and headed for the elevator. 

On the way there, he passed by his assistant.  Half turned backwards while still walking, he called, "Morrie, something's come up with my daughter.  If I don't come back by five, fax some of that stuff to my home, and I'll look it over and come in early tomorrow morning."

"No problem," the young man replied. 

"Thanks." Still agitated, Ken was reaching for the down button on the elevator when he heard Morrie shout to him.

"Detective--!"

"Yes?" Ken looked over his shoulder as he pressed the button.

"--Watch out for Wormmon's silk…"

Ken snapped his head back around and looked down to find his right index finger stuck to the elevator button.  "Oh, crud, Morrie--?"

"Yeah, I know, hot water with lots of soap and some paper towels," his assistant ran off as fast as he could to retrieve the necessary cleaning materials.

Why did he have a feeling that today was not going to be a good day for him? 

~~~

Why did she have a feeling that this was going to be the worst day of her life?

Akane anxiously drummed her fingers on the cold, plastic armrest of her chair.  She was trying to drown out what should have been a quiet ticking of the clock across the room but which was sounding more and more like a death toll for her every minute.

Her face felt as if it were on fire, and her stomach chose a fine time to practice somersaults.  She was sure she was going to be sick.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?  A cup of water perhaps?"  Mr. Morinishi offered from behind his desk on the other side of the tiny office.  He was a short, middle-aged man with glasses and a bald spot that students swore grew larger by the year amongst his short black hair.

"No, I'll be fine," Akane mechanically answered.

A sudden knock on the door nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"That must be your father," the guidance counselor chirped and stood up to get the door to his right.

'Wonderful…' the fourteen-year-old thought sarcastically.

"Ah, come in, Mr. Ichijouji," Mr. Morinishi greeted and shook the shaky hand of a flustered Ken.  "Please, have a seat there next to your daughter."

As Ken pulled up one of the cheap, plastic and metal chairs, he gave Akane a look that clearly asked, "What have you done now?"

The indigo-haired girl just blushed pinker and tried to avoid eye contact.

Once Ken was seated in front of the counselor's desk, with Akane stubbornly remaining where she was near the back of the room, Mr. Morinishi said, "I'm sure you're wondering why I've asked you to come in."

'No, I'm here to get an ice cream cone,' Ken sardonically thought, but he just weakly smiled and nodded.

The stout counselor cleared his throat.  "As you know, it's in our computer policy that any external floppy disks are strictly forbidden to be used in the school's computers for risk of viruses…"

The gears in Ken's brain started to turn rapidly.  'Uh-oh, floppy disks have only enough memory to store small files like documents.  Documents can contain stories.  Akane isn't allowed to work on her stories at home.  School is not at home.  Crud…!'

Inadvertently, he turned around and shot a glare at his daughter, who was currently in the process of making herself as small as possible.

"…The teacher on duty was too late to stop her from using her disk, and by the time she had gotten there, Akane had already opened one of her…erm…what did she call them? Oh, yes, stories."

Even though his head was face-forward towards the counselor, Ken could sense Akane cringing even more from where she sat.  Almost as nervous as she was, Ken clenched and unclenched one of his fists, hoping beyond hope that they hadn't read one of her stories.

"Unfortunately with that…document…came a new virus, which has now been found to be acquired through ads on high traffic sites.  From what the computer technicians tell me, the virus is unwittingly downloaded when a person loads a page with an infected ad and spreads to all of the computer's files, programs, documents, etc.  It isn't too harmful, mind you; it just tends to make the computer freeze up at random times.  And well, it just happened to freeze the computer she was working on while she was in the middle of editing her document…"

Ken's eyes went as wide as saucers, and he could have sworn he heard Akane whimpering behind him.

"I don't know if you're aware of the content of those documents or not, but from what I hear, the teacher was deeply…disturbed by what she read on the screen at the time."

Even though it was a nice, autumn day outside, Ken could have sworn it was the hottest, driest day of summer.  He suddenly felt the urge to loosen his tie so that he could cool down and get more air.

"We hate to do this to such a bright, promising student, but we're going to have to suspend her from school for two weeks for violating our computer policy and for damaging school property."

Ken looked down and nodded.  "I understand," he answered in a dangerously composed voice. 

Relieved that this seemed to have gone over better than expected, Mr. Morinishi concluded, "Good.  In the meantime, I suggest you have a serious talk with your daughter and then bring her in for some counseling regarding her 'stories.'"

In the back of the room, Akane immediately shot up out of her seat, a shocked look plastered all over her face.  "C-counseling?" she sputtered out in disbelief.  "I thought I was just going to be suspended!"

"My dear," Mr. Morinishi said over Ken's shoulder, "you have to admit that the content of what you've written has made us wonder what's going on with you outside of school.  I'm sure your father would agree that perhaps you should seek some professional--"

"That won't be necessary," Ken interrupted him lowly and stood up with his head still bent down and wavy hair covering his eyes.  "I'm sure that what I have to say to her will set her straight."  With that, he lifted his head and turned around, his stern gaze boring into Akane's uneasy eyes.

Seeing the flashes of lightning in his twin indigo orbs, Akane started to wonder whether she should thank her father later or start praying for her immortal soul.

She gulped.  "You know dad, maybe Mr. Morinishi's right--"

"Let's go, Akane.  You're officially suspended now, remember?"  Ken said sternly and started leading her towards the door by the arm.

As he pushed her out and hastily proceeded to follow, the agitated detective felt a light tapping on his shoulder.

"Um…if you don't mind my asking, Mr. Ichijouji…" Mr. Morinishi started.  When Ken turned his head around to face him, the short counselor stretched up and whispered a long question in the younger man's ear.

Ken's eyes widened, and his face instantly flushed crimson.  "No, we do not own a whip or chains!" he defensively snapped at Mr. Morinishi.  "And even if we did, I would never use them like that on my wife."

With a huff and a likewise blushing Akane in tow, Detective Ichijouji quickly stomped to the nearest exit towards his car.

They were going to have to have a serious talk all right.

***

G: *is putting her clothes in a suitcase*
Gwen: *walks in* Whatcha doing, G?
G: What does it look like, 'lil Miss Nosy?  I'm packing, of course.
Gwen: Well, yeah, I can see that , but what for?
G: Duh!  I'm sick of working for Gaia and helping her out with her spur of the moment ideas.  I'm quitting.
Gwen: (incredulously) You're what?!?
G: You heard me.  I'm finding another author to be a muse for. *grabs her cap and suitcase and heads out the door*
Gwen: But what do I tell Gaia?
G: Whatever you want, just so long as it involves me leaving. *slams the door behind her*
Gaia: *strolls in* Hey, Gwen, have you seen G around?  I need her to check if this dialogue is in character for Ken.  If she doesn't, I'm not feeding either of you for a week.
Gwen: (whimpering quietly) ….Why me…?