Chapter Nine: In Shock

Izumi flung her head at the direction of the door. It was a guy

"What are you doing here?" Izumi screamed

The guy gave a puzzled and frazzled look and ran out the door

"Stupid men are always so gross," Izumi thought as she looked in the mirror.

The door opened again. Guess who was at the door. It was Kouji. Izumi just stared. He looked rather handsome to her, especially at the fact he was dressed up. Kouji was thinking the exact same thing. Orimoto looked like a jewel. A very beautiful jewel. He just gawked at how exquisite she looked in her outfit. Izumi realized what she was thinking about and gasped. She grabbed her purse and ran out the door embarrassed, with her hand over her eyes. She ran past Kouji, avoiding glancing at him. She was red-hot from embarrassment. She walked quickly.

"Why did Kouji enter the girls' bathroom—" Izumi turned around while walking and looked at the door. It said 'Men' on it. "Darn! I was stupid enough not to read the door!" she thought, and ran back into the banquet hall and quickly sat down, still red all over.

Kouji still stood in the restroom. He was still stunned. "Orimoto… what was she doing the men's restroom?" he thought. "Perhaps she didn't read the door?" Kouji thought. "Nah, Orimoto is too smart to not read a door sign." Then a lavender phone caught his eye. It was left by the sink. "Orimoto left her phone?" he thought again. He took it and put it into the pocket of his black pants, and walked out of the bathroom. He looked around for Orimoto in the hallway. She wasn't there. "Where is she?" he thought. He walked back into the banquet hall and sat with his parents. Izumi turned around and saw the back of Kouji's head. She immediately turned around, as traditional cuisine was placed in front of her. The emcee in the front of the banquet hall, started talking in front of the crowd. Izumi didn't pay attention and kept calling herself stupid because of what just happened. Kouji ate a couple of appetizers when his mother glanced at Kouji's pants. A fuchsia item was sticking out of his pockets. "Kouji, what's that?" Mrs. Minamoto asked.

"What's what?" Kouji asked. He knew he was being asked about the phone.

"This purple plastic thing in your pocket," his mother pointed out again.

"Oh, this?" Kouji pointed to with his finger. "Oh, I'm holding it for… Takuya," he lied.

"Why would Takuya want a purple phone?"

"I don't know, you ask him," Kouji said, not looking at his mother.

"Why would he want you told hold it?"

"He just told me to hold it," Kouji said, munching on more appetizers so he wouldn't have to talk more.

Mrs. Minamoto eyed him like he made that entire thing up, but it didn't seem to be a huge deal. "It must belong to a girl," she thought, and talked to the woman next to her.

All the while, at Izumi's dining table, she wasn't very hungry. She was still perplexed about what had just happened. She looked into her purse. Her phone was nowhere to be found. "Oh no!" she thought. She even looked on the carpet to see if she dropped it. Then she remembered she had set it on the sink counter of the men's' bathroom.

"Crap," Izumi thought.

She lost her phone. She didn't want to risk running in there to get her phone with a man urinating in there. But her parents might get angry with her for being so irresponsible and losing it in a restroom. Izumi got up from her chair, removed her jacket from her chair, and put it on. She walked off and asked a man who just left the men's' bathroom if there was a phone on the sink. He said there was none. She sighed with disgust and walked outside to the veranda. She stood next to a shining lamppost, just gazing at the night sky. The veranda was a white stone walkway, with stone marble slab banisters. She leaned against one just thinking and her liking for Kouji. Kouji finished eating, when the emcee of the banquet started his dull presentation, so he walked outside. It was probably one of his father's projects for his company, he didn't bother to find out what it was. He didn't want to look in the direction of where Izumi was sitting. He too was still flustered about seeing Orimoto where he least expected seeing her. He walked around the hallway, just the exterior of the banquet hall. He just stood there. He was bored out of his life. He looked around, when a girl wearing a luminous indigo dress was standing outside. Of course, it was Orimoto. He'd better give the phone back to her before she started worrying about it. Izumi stood outside, looked down, and just sighed. Maybe if she thought she could do it, her feelings towards Kouji would eventually leave her heart. Just then, a person wearing black and gray holding a fuchsia phone stood next to her. Kouji was standing next to her. She slowly turned her head to him. "Kouji?"

He didn't say anything and held out her phone.

Izumi took it from his hand. His hand was warm, and her hand shook for a second, her muscles suddenly just stopped, but she slowly retained her phone from him. "Why are you here?" she asked, trying to start a conversation since there was nothing else better to do.

"My father is with his friends and co-workers for a business dinner," Kouji answered calmly. "You?"

"Oh, my father's here for a business dinner too. What a coincidence."

There was an uncomfortable silence, like always when they talked to each other.

"Thank you so much for bringing my phone back to me. I was afraid I would have to go back in the men's restroom and fetch it myself. And my parents would have been steaming at me if I lost it," Izumi said, smiling.

Kouji smirked back, but didn't say anything.

Izumi needed something to talk about. Being silent was too discomforting for her.

"Is your arm okay?" turning her body direction towards Kouji, her elbow leaning against the marble banister.

"Yes, Orimoto, it's fine." Kouji replied. He was getting tired of being asked the same question ten times a day.

Izumi smiled.

Kouji usually didn't like starting conversations, but he did say this to Orimoto, "Orimoto, I…I'd just like to thank you. Thank you for all your concern and everything you've done for me. If it weren't for you, I'd probably have died on the street. I just wanted to say this, and I'm very sorry if I took forever just to tell you," and for once, he smiled to Orimoto.

Izumi stared at him. "He usually doesn't smile," she thought, but smiled back. "You're welcome, Kouji," she replied back to Kouji's genuine gesture. Kouji and Izumi both knew their feelings they had for each other, but still thought that none of their feelings were returned back. They just stared into the small garden just below of the stairs. There was a small pond with carp fish swimming in it, the quiet flowing stream making everything calm. There were some beautiful plants and shrubs, and a crystal fountain sprouting in the middle of the garden. Izumi walked down there quietly, Kouji reluctantly following her because obviously he wanted to be with her, but didn't show it. Izumi walked to the pond, staring at the carp swimming around. Kouji stood right next to her. "These carp," Kouji started saying. Izumi's eyes lit up, as she wanted to hear what Kouji had to say. Kouji continued talking, "They remind me a lot of our lives. They work so hard to survive, like we do with our jobs and school. They work so hard to protect their young, as a mother would for her child, and the children of the carp do not know their mother, like the most of us do when we are born because the mother lays its eggs and leaves. Just like some people who were left as orphans when they were young. Then when the carp grows older, it becomes better of its instincts and becomes wiser. Like we do. Although we look nothing like fish, we are like the animals, just thriving for survival and a way to live, although we people are sometimes cruel and insensitive." Kouji said, staring at the carp in the pond.

Izumi stared at him. "He is really intellectual," she thought. "Kouji, you are very knowledgeable, you know that?" Izumi said to Kouji's relation to life. Kouji blushed and looked up. "Thanks, Orimoto. I guess, since I didn't spend a lot of time talking to people I spent more time thinking, contemplating, and reading since I forced myself to like the solitude. I guess the going to the Digital World changed my image a bit."

The both of them slowly sat down on some large rocks that were in the garden, the both of them sitting next to each other, unaware of the time.

Izumi smiled, "I think going to the Digital World changed my image too. All of us had problems when we were led there, except that knucklehead, Takuya. You had a hard time talking and liked to remain quiet, Junpei's way of getting attention and getting friends were not entirely right and had the habit of solving his problems with chocolate. Tomoki always let people step on him like a doormat, and you met your brother, Kouichi. Before, I had a hard time making friends wherever I went to for school because many assume things about students from other countries. Just because I went and lived in another country does not mean I think I am better than you, but they all came up with that reason just not to get to know me better. But after being in the Digital World, I learned to not mind what they think, and just wait or find someone who comes along who is not an ignorant person; and he or she is willing to be open with me, and be a true friend rather than bailing out on me because of what everyone else thinks. Isn't it kind of funny, since one minute in the real world equals one day in the Digital World, although it felt like being gone from our family forever, we learned how to be better people within twenty minutes," she said after her long talk and smiled.

Kouji stared back. "She is very intellectual herself," Kouji thought, and smiled back. They talked some more while everyone else up in the banquet hall and their parents were too busy chatting and carrying on.

While in the garden, Kouji thought something of himself. He usually never talked this much but when he was with Orimoto he felt just fine talking and sharing his thoughts with her. She seemed to be the only one who understood him since she too moved from somewhere else, and Kouji likewise, his parents moved quite often and Kouji decided that making friends was useless when moving somewhere else again.

Izumi stood up, "My legs are falling asleep, do you want to walk around?" Kouji agreed. Izumi began to think. This was the first time she conversed in depth with someone so much and could relate to. She knew she liked him. She was just too afraid, and somehow kept convincing herself that Kouji would not like her back. Kouji and Izumi walked around, silently talking while walking out of the small garden, out of the area of the banquet building, and walked outside onto the sidewalk, looking very refined and elegant. While walking around the sidewalk, they talked about several little things; likes, dislikes, school, and they felt they could share anything with each other. Izumi and Kouji stood at the corner of an intersection, just gazing at each other. Kouji never looked more handsome to Izumi in her life. He looked slightly different without the bandanna, but he looked just fine without it. Kouji was also precisely thinking the same thing. Izumi looked so lovely, and she was even wearing the color he wore all the time, indigo.

"I really… want to tell…" Kouji thought. The moon shone brightly. If she did not feel the same way as he did to her, he would just drop it and just get over his feelings. He sighed, "Orimoto…" he started.

"Yes?" she asked in a nice tone, smiling with her eyes twinkling.

Just when Kouji thought he could tell Izumi, a noise was heard. Kouji moved his eyes to the right. He heard someone moving fast towards him.

End Chapter Nine: In Shock

Onto Chapter Ten.