Boku-tachi/Atashi-tachi
Hello everyone. Okay, first, I suspect that this fic will be a little late. Because, you know. Mood swings, and all (Lumi is using that excuse again. Lumi must be destroyed.) There's also a project and a few tests, you know. The pre-Christmas rush. But anyway.
So, it was finally the Christmas break, then my mom starts getting all sensitive about my sleeping time (my inspirational period is after midnight) and my sister uses the computer when I'm writing for hours. The amount of stuff I get done really pisses me off. Etc, etc. /excuses
Firstly, acknowledgement of new reviewers: Fox.of.Many.Faces, Catchan, MoMo- ChAn, The digital duo, artis, and hulkgameedge@hotmail.com (I'm sorry, I can't e-mail you when the new chapter comes out. ^_^;;) .
Also an apology to Azn Angel Hikari, I'm sorry. I usually only recognize people by alias, but not their account number or e-mail account. Oh well, at least now I know.
And to reply to some reviews:
Sunshine Anderson: ...Earlier in this chapter, you started talking about decibels, what are they?
Lumi: Well. Decibels are a unit of sound intensity. Basically, a unit of how loud things are. Hope that cleared things up for ya.
taiora lover: ...isnt it ironic how mimi JUST CANT COOK when in the end of the season she hosts a cooking show???
Lumi: Yep. I guess. But you know what they say, practice makes perfect (which, really, I don't believe), so probably Mimi worked really hard at it. Not to mention that this is AU, so the ending doesn't really have to apply. Plus, the 02 ending sucks anyway, so it's not real. =)
And of course, a thanks to all the compliments from our fellow reviewers. Thank you, thank you.
Just want to tell you about this chapter: this title is used for times where the chapter is based on a normal day (normal in the Boku/Ata sense), and I may use it multiple times for various chapters that focuses on no point at all. These are usually quite light-hearted, and might or might not have as many jokes.
I also managed to find a way to put italics and all that fancy crap in here, so I think I'll try it this chapter.
And, and, Christmas is also coming. I did say that I'll try to sneak in some extra chapters between the weeks, I'll do that. But to be more celebrative, because we're all Christmas people (except those that aren't), I want to write a one-shot fic for Christmas. Now, as indecisive as I am, I can't choose a couple. When you review (and I urge that you should and must for this chapter, because of this), please state what kind of coupling you would want and in what, generally, what situation this fic is placed in (it should be Christmas related, of course). I'll probably take the coupling that a majority has chosen and find a really good situation that a review has stated; because it's not likely people will think of the same situation, making it impossible to poll. The couplings should be pretty easy to have multiple reviewers requested, since I think we're all mainsteam people. Probably nothing strange like Taichi/Miyako, or Sora/Mugendramon. Please do put a distinguishable name when you review, or else I might not count it. Now go review and vote. =)
Disclaimer: Digimon isn't mine. No, I'm not lying. Stop looking at me weird.
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Episode 6: Ano hi... (In Takeru's life...)
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Takeru looked up at Mrs. Chidoki, who was handing out the quiz papers. She looked back with a disapproving look. Takeru was laying his head onto his arms, quite obviously tired, since he isn't responding much, and it's the start of a quiz. Her look seemed to say Oh my, you haven't studied again, now if only you would study. It doesn't take a whole much of your time, just take about 15 minutes or so. I'm sure you're a bright young girl, now if only you could review some of the contents before the quiz. But probably, instead, you're out hanging out with your friends, youngsters these days.
Of course, that look of Mrs. Chidoki's also contained a several dozen other essays relating to the same topic, but Takeru chose to ignore.
A glance at the paper.
//Oh fuck. Moles. What the hell are moles? I remember she mentioning them last day, but I only recall that she had made some really horrible joke about it not being the English word that corresponds to that little animal that digs underground...
Takeru started to quietly mumble to himself. Or so people thought.
[(Takeru - Kei) Hey.]
[Morning.]
[What are moles?]
[Moles are units that measure substances.]
[Umm. Sure. What do you do with them?]
[Huh. Good question. What DO you do with them?]
[Dammit. Connect me to Yamato.]
Yamato, who was sitting two rows in front of Takeru (the teacher had arranged seats by last name), looked back over his shoulder at Takeru, seeming to say 'What the hell?', then quickly turned his head again so that he wouldn't get failed for looking around.
[(Takeru - Yamato) What do you do with moles?]
[You convert them into mass. Or atoms. You know, all that fun stuff.]
[How do I go upon doing that?]
[You know. Do that thing with the unitary rates.]
[Oh! That thing where one number goes on top of another number without doing the jiggy thing.]
[Umm. Sure.]
[So, number two would be...C, wouldn't it, nii-...er...nee-san?]
[No. It's B.]
[No way. I calculated it, and that's what I got.]
[What do you think I did? Wish to god that he would shoot a correct answer into my head?]
[But, see, in this part here...]
15 minutes later...
"Okay. Hand your quizzes in." Mrs. Chidoki raised her voice to the class, at which students quickly stood up and placed papers on to her desk.
Yamato and Takeru froze.
Takeru looked down at his paper.
The name is there.
The date is there.
The first question is done.
Other than that, the paper is perfectly reusable. Not to mention blank.
They had been arguing about number 2 for the whole time.
Shades of dark appeared on the forehead of the siblings.
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"Are you okay?" Hikari asked Takeru as they were talking out of class. The period was over. "You look a bit...I don't know."
"Dead?" Takeru suggested, his eyes glued stationary.
"Yeah. Kind of." Hikari continued to try to read Takeru's face, lifeless and indifferent.
"Oh good. I don't want to look like anything else." Grumbled Takeru as he continued down the hall.
Hikari bit her lip for, mainly, facing Takeru's very very grumpy, for a lack of a better word, grumpiness.
"What's wrong?" Hikari took a step out faster than Takeru, and jumped in front of him, trying to suspend him from movement. Takeru, of course, took a slightly angular turn and simply walked past Hikari.
Hikari stared upwards, slightly peeved of being silently snapped at.
"Today's quiz." Takeru started. "I failed."
Hikari nodded pensively.
"That's okay." Hikari comforted. "Marks aren't that important anyway."
As far as Takeru recall, Hikari got perfect on every assignment and test given, in the classes he had with her anyway. Except for that last last quiz in Japanese.
Where she got 110%. Anyway.
Takeru immediately stopped walking, the rubber portions of his running shoes squeaking as they caused friction against the hard floor.
"Really?"
Hikari gave a really apologetic look.
"Not really..."
Takeru continued to storm on through the hallway. Those in his way were quickly launched to the wall to dent it, or to be stuck on it for the purpose of being a dartboard.
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Takeru turned the dial to his lock.
Twenty-six. Forty-eight.
Thirty-two.
Pull.
Takeru found his pull to be stopped by the lock not budging at all.
Deep breath.
Takeru tried the combination again.
To find that the lock had not did whatever it was supposed to do to unlock the thing.
Takeru then proceeded to beat the crap out of the lock.
A tap on the shoulders.
"What is it?" Takeru snapped, turning vigorously.
"That's...um. My locker."
Embarassed, Takeru stepped away from the item he performed sadistic acts from, crossed between angry and sorry.
"That's okay..." Hikari replaced Takeru's position, and calmly turned the dial.
Takeru felt truly angry. Partly angry at himself, but more at circumstances. If it weren't for the circumstances, he wouldn't have to act like such a tard.
Takeru glanced at the school clock, hanging strongly on the wall. There's still time. Takeru left abruptly to the washroom.
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Takeru looked around. The girls' washroom was not large at all; there was no one in it.
Despite his identity being relatively safe, Takeru still felt that it's rather risky to go to the bathroom of girls, since the only other bathroom available is the male employee's bathroom. It's not like there weren't doors or anything, and it wasn't like that people share stalls, but Takeru feel that accidents could happen very easily. Also, after all, it uwas/u the girl's bathroom, if he suddenly died of blood loss while overhearing or accidentally seeing something, they would have to send him to the hospital, even though he's dead, and if inquiries pop up, the doctor uwould/u say that he's a guy. That's no good. Even though he might be dead.
Takeru stretched his head out the stall to insure that no one is there, then closed the door and locked it.
Sounds of a stream hitting a pool of water.
Door opens.
Takeru frets.
A bunch, Takeru is not sure of how many, but a lot, of girls suddenly rushed in, probably because they like to go to washroom in mobs or something.
Takeru looks at himself. He's still going at it. He's also in the standard 'man' position.
Quickly, adjacent stalls are occupied, and it seems that many girls are still left waiting for stalls.
Knock knock.
"Hello, is someone in there?" A girl asks.
Takeru opened his mouth for a reply, but found no voice to do so. Probably due to the terror he's experiencing.
"Just take a peek under the door to see if anyone's there." A deeper voice suggested.
Takeru is so butchered if they see heels facing them, and not toes.
//Argh! Hurry up, hurry up! How much water DID I drink?
"Oh, I guess." The girl crouches down and bends her head sideways to see low enough.
"Huh." The girl stands back up.
"What's wrong?"
"...There's...no one in there."
Takeru presses the walls of his stall heavily for balance. His feet are up on the rim of the toilet.
//Almost done, almost!
Flush.
"Sorry for keeping you." Takeru walked out of the stall, laughing sheepishly.
"Eh?" The girl immediate before the stall looked at Takeru, then back in the stall. "There wasn't anyone here when I looked!"
"Oh..you probably just didn't see my legs..." Takeru's eyes well up, horrified for having to say such an embarrassing excuse. "I...have... to lift my legs when I go pee, or else I can't go."
The bunch of girls before the stalls looked at each other strangely, seeming to believe 'Takeko''s story, and seeming to say that 'Takeko' is a freak.
"So..umm, enjoy!" Takeru slid-stepped to the side, allowing others to go in.
The girl, the one that looked under the door, walked into the stall casually.
Takeru peeked over her shoulder, afraid that there is some evidence that he had missed and left in there. He couldn't think of any, after all, it's not quite possible to leave an essential portion of his anatomy in there.
"What?" The girl turned around again, curious at Takeru's stares.
"Nothing."
Dash.
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Sweating, Takeru ran into the Japanese classroom.
Only was it a split-second after that the bell sounded.
Takeru found out that, even without mistakening someone's locker for his own, a sadistic beating still had to take place.
"Take a seat." Ms. Kamiya warmly ordered.
Takeru found it amazing for someone to say that without any slight harshness.
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Everyone laughed.
Takeru simply chuckled.
The joke, or rather, humorous coincidence, was not very funny itself. The mood of the classroom, of the class, however, helped push that joke to be funnier than it is.
Takeru, on the other hand, wasn't very in the mood. Although he did find his emotions to be fairly lightened up.
He carefully listened to all the spoken words. But to him, they are, after all, just words, nothing more. Words without meaning. A series of sounds. A series of sounds that he found him self lulled by.
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Vocal: Sepia no hi - Card Captor Sakura
"..."
Takeru looked. Where is this?
Quiet wind bells.
A soft breeze.
The silent sun.
Takeru ran. He ran through the tall green, cool grass. Each time he crossed a row, drops of water from the grass stuck to his clothes. His bare feet repeatedly stepped on the soft, but solid soil.
Where was he running to? He was not sure.
Each sensation tingled his tender skin, and marks of nature remained on his body.
He tripped and fell.
And he stared at the shallow lake immediate from his face.
Was this here before? He wasn't sure. He would've noticed it if it was. Right? Was it?
Takeru drowned his head within the crystal water and pulled out again; beads and chains of water flew in a graceful string. He watched at the still water reflected his image.
Large, bright green eyes.
A round, short face.
A very tiny, but slightly sharp nose.
And his even smaller mouth, his lips flattened by each other.
A drop of water falls from the bang hanging in front of his eye into the lake water, causing waves to flow through the lake.
Takeru looked at his hands.
Short chubby fingers, connected to his arm of straight lining. Lacking signs of any explicit muscles.
He stood up and stared down at his feet.
His toes were also short and stubby, his feet so very small. Like his arm, his legs doesn't show any indications of development.
Purity perfection.
He was young.
Takeru held his face in his hands. It was different than he remembered.
He tried to recall. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember how he looked like, he couldn't remember anything before. The more he pondered, the more right he felt. This was exactly him. Nobody else.
He pulled the leg of his shorts even further up; it was at his knee.
He suddenly felt a light fabric hug around his head. He reached for it and pulled it off.
A white hat.
An innocent giggle.
Takeru looked in front of him. A small brown haired girl in a white robe.
She smiled at him.
She spoke.
Takeru listened. Words came out of her mouth. Takeru could hear none of them.
The ticking of her tongue.
The whistle from the air she exhaled.
She put a finger on Takeru's face, and slowly trailed in strange patterns.
She held out her hand.
He took it.
They ran.
She laughed.
She laughed.
Her laughter starts to dissolve as a part of another laughter.
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Takeru opened his eyes. They were laughing, still.
The class was the same when he returned as he had left it, still exploiting points of interest then laughing at whatever jokes that came up. Apparently, there were a lot.
Reaching into his back pocket, Takeru pulled out his cell, and held it below the desk.
11:46 a.m., the cellular illuminated.
Takeru returned his phone. Half an hour has passed, although everything seemed to have been the exact same.
Yamato, who was sitting in front of Takeru, turned around, and let out a little grin, as if mocking him for napping or something.
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Takeru winced. He worriedly glanced at everyone that chuckled at him as they pass by him in the hallway.
//What's with these people? Is it so obvious that I slept in class?
Takeru paced faster to his locker, hoping that the humiliation would end when he reaches it. He's not sure why, if it did, that it would, but he would be thankful.
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Takeru held a hand out against his locker for support as he leaned. He felt like he was chased. Chased didn't really seem like the correct way of phrasing it, since the people he escaped from came in the direction he was running. All those murmurs and laughs made Takeru very nerve-wrecked. And he doesn't know why.
Hikari walks away.
//What was that?
Perhaps it was purely coincidental, but it seemed as if Hikari walked away as she noticed him there.
One thing struck Takeru's mind.
Avoidance.
//What was it? Was it because of what everyone was laughing at me? Was it because my eyes fell out of their sockets? Why should I care anyway?
Takeru smacked himself in the head for thinking such thoughts.
He quickly put his stuff back into his locker, and rushed off to guitar class.
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Takeru shifted uncomfortably. People again, gave him those looks.
He was standing in the guitar closet. He didn't necessarily want to be standing, but he's currently in a line, so he had to be patient unless if he was to run the others over with a truck.
Girls in front of him occasionally looked over their shoulders to see Takeru, then whispered to each other. How annoying, Takeru thought.
Was his hair messed? Was his shirt inside out? What is possibly so laughable?
Takeru reached his hand up to grab a guitar. He didn't try it out to see if it sounded good, since there were nice ones and bad ones in there. But it looked nice. Not always does a pleasant looking guitar sound equally pleasant, but a wrecked up guitar usually doesn't sound wholesome.
He paused as something strange caught his eye.
His palm.
It was smeared in black.
Why?
He felt great suspicions and started to logically solve any mysteries.
Which, of course, led him nowhere, and he paused physically which resulted in people behind him kicking him in the ass and telling him to keep going.
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"Ne, nee-san?" Takeru poked Yamato, who was strumming.
The class was left idle, as the teacher had gone out to run some errands. But after all, it proved little difference. With the teacher there, the class played guitar. Without the teacher there, the class played guitar.
"Hmm?" Yamato responded, biting his lower lip.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
Yamato raised his eyebrow at that question. He certainly knew what Takeru meant, but the question was phrased a tad...serious? Perhaps.
"What do you mean?"
Takeru heard a laugh. A very slight laugh, but notable, between Yamato's words. Yamato was lying.
Yamato wouldn't tell him. Beating the information out of Yamato was definitely not an option, since Yamato could easily fold Takeru into a box.
Takeru frowned. A couple of girls behind him giggled again. Although the amount was decreasing, it was still occurring.
This bothered Takeru, more over the cause than the effect. If everyone so easily laughed at him, there must be something with his appearance.
Takeru looked around the room. The teacher wasn't there.
If he left the room now, he would be leaving without permission.
His brain twitched again in curiosity.
Oh, he didn't freaking care any more.
Takeru ran out of the classroom, hoping to reach the washroom.
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Takeru walked to the first mirror.
It was covered in vulgarity.
He sidestepped.
The second mirror.
He saw an image.
His face. A moustache was drawn in, much like the one of Mr. Pringles. Then a word bubble beside his lips.
'I am a transsexual.'
It was written very badly, probably because Takeru's face is not flat.
Not to mention all sorts of turd drawn around his face in different colours.
It must have been done while he was sleeping.
Who could have done it?
The person sitting in front of him?
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"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Takeru held the neck of the guitar with both hands, holding it behind him much like a sledgehammer as he dashed towards Yamato.
Yamato looked up, and stopped strumming. Still sitting cross-legged.
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The guitar is covering the top half of Takeru's head. It seemed as if Takeru wore the guitar from the sound hole like a hat.
It wasn't difficult to guess what happened. Takeru was thankful for the shallowness of the guitar's depth. If it had been any deeper, it would cover his nose as well, which will result in him having difficulty breathing, then probably dying.
"Wow, this is going to be hard to fix." The nurse commented.
"I suppose it is."
"Hmm." The nurse tried to insert a finger between Takeru's head and the sound hole, but found there to be no space available at all. "I think I'm going to need a chainsaw."
"WHAT?!" Takeru shouted. His face was relatively still; any excessive facial expressions will cause really big pressures on his face.
"Don't worry, we're not going to cut your face. Just the guitar."
"I know THAT!"
The nurse stood up and walked over to the phone nailed to the wall and called the office.
She seemed to ask for a chainsaw.
"What if you accidentally cut me?!" Takeru raised his voice again.
"Don't worry. I won't." The nurse paused. "Unless my hand slips, of course."
Takeru gulped.
Screams echoed.
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Takeru sighed.
The 'operation' was mostly successful. Although Takeru nearly fainted due to the closeness the chainsaw blade shaved by. His face was also fixed. However, it was done in some weird ink, so the nurse resorted to scrubbing with something that resembled sandpaper when good ol' water didn't work.
School was long over, for about half an hour.
Takeru felt more relief as he walked down the hall without anyone laughing in his face.
Then again, the hall was silently empty.
Stomp.
Stomp stomp stomp.
Not silently anymore.
Takeru watches as a figure runs down the hall, towards his direction; her coat flying like a cape behind her.
His eyes trailed her, and she quickly passed him like a blurred image before stopping.
Miyako's long hair still continued to swing from the momentum. Her face was red, obviously from running.
"Oh, Take-chan. Tell Hika-chan that I can't be with her today, I have something urgent to take care of." Miyako blurted.
Miyako quickly continued in her path.
"Wait!" Takeru halted Miyako, who only stopped and looked over her shoulder, wanting to continue running. "Where is she at?"
"The photo room." was her answer.
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Takeru looked at the map, which was included in his agenda, then at his surroundings again.
Somehow, he had gotten lost despite his attempt to follow the map completely.
It was like some kind of maze- No, he corrected himself. Labyrinth, this path to the photography room. Not only does one have to walk through all these similar pathways with only sharp right angle corner turns - which gives no help as to any markings of where he might be - but there are also stairs, dozens flights of stairs of different lengths, going down and up (all symbolized by the same little diagram of stairs on the map, which, again, helps none in figuring out positions) and possibly into some fourth dimension.
Also, this pathway doesn't only lead to the photography room, but also to other areas. Takeru was not sure where else it could have led to, but he swore that he saw elves, which means Santa's workshop is probably around here somewhere too.
Takeru's eyes glinted.
Before him was a door that's labelled 'Photography room'. This has to be it. Unless this leads to some dreadful hall, which could possibly, but not certainly, lead to it.
The door opened.
Takeru entered.
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This was certainly it, there were people here looking at pictures, and negative films.
Hikari.
There.
Takeru walked up to approach her, she was talking with some other girl.
"...And then I opened the door, and she covered it and screamed..."
Blood squirted out of Takeru's nose.
"But I didn't know that she was in there opening her film, right? So even if it got exposed, it shouldn't be my fault..."
Hikari nodded, and the other girl went away after a few seconds.
Hikari looked and noticed Takeru's presence.
"Oh. Hey, Take-chan. What are you doing here?"
Takeru scratched his head. "Oh...um, Miya-chan told me to tell you..."
Hikari waited for Takeru to finish his sentence. Which he didn't.
"Told you to tell me...?" Hikari urged Takeru to continue.
Takeru's mind blanked. What DID Miyako tell him to tell Hikari? For the most part, Takeru only remembered Miyako telling him that Hikari was in the photo room, and...something...
...What was it? How could it not be remembered?
Takeru tried systematically to recall.
//
Miyako running by.
Miyako opened her mouth.
"...
Her lips moving in small motions.
..."
Takeru tried to connect the frequencies which made up the words.
"She told you to go fuck yourself." Takeru finished.
"Wait." Takeru insisted to the confused Hikari, realizing the illogic in that.
He closed his eyes again.
//
"...
Miyako moved her lips so delicately.
..."
Her lips said...
"I'll be waiting for you in bed." Takeru read.
"Wait, that's wrong too."
Click.
"She said that she can't accompany you today, she has something urgent to do."
"Oh, I see. Thanks." Hikari jutted out her lips thoughtfully.
Blink.
Blink.
"Oh, thank you." Hikari repeated, almost intended as a dismissal.
"What do you do here?" Takeru ignored it, and questioned further.
"This is the photography room." Hikari introduced. "And back there is the dark room. Where we develop our film and print them."
Point.
"Ah. I see."
"I'm printing right now, waiting for the print to show up. But that takes a minute or so, so I'm just waiting out here. I don't like being in the dark that much." Hikari explained.
"Can I go see?" Takeru requested curiously.
"Sure."
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Takeru rolled his head around in all directions like a child discovering a new place. All sorts of unfamiliar things were here, but he couldn't really see it.
Visibility was low; any light provided for vision was only given off by the red rays reflected off the ceiling from the tube.
//This is so cool, it's like in the movies...
"Oh, it's done." Hikari remarked. She quickly grabbed a picture from underneath a pool of what appears to be water (since a tap is constantly providing the liquid), and used something that is similar to those rubber wipers used for washing car windows, only smaller, and scraped any excessive liquid off, then walked outside.
"Huh..." Takeru let his hands simply wander, helping him examine his environment. However, any machinery is easily seen, and his hand avoided those.
Plunk.
Splash.
"Ah!"
Apparently, Takeru accidentally knocked over some chemical from above, and he's soaked in it. Thankfully, it wasn't something like hydrochloric acid, although how that could be used for photography is beyond anyone.
Hikari rushed in swiftly, her hand still holding the photo.
"Oh no. What happened?"
Takeru simply moved his hand down his body, showing the obvious.
"You better go get a shower." Hikari suggested, although not fiercely.
Takeru nodded in agreement, and ran off in fear of some effect to the prolonged contact with the chemical.
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Knock.
"Who's in there?" Takeru shouted, rushed.
"One sec."
Flush.
Gabu opened the door and walked past Takeru.
Takeru just stared.
//How did he...?
No matter.
Takeru quickly rushed in the bathroom and closed the door.
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Takeru stripped of all his clothes. His wig is still on. Hesitantly, he took it off, deciding that it would be better to wash it separately.
He looked in the mirror.
Didn't he take off the wig already?
He looked at the wig in his hand.
Realization struck.
This was actually HIS hair. Yes. Whatever the hair stylists did, it now grew in shape and is perfectly congruent to the wig.
It was long to his shoulders, and shined lightly, more than the wig.
To this, Takeru felt positively and negatively.
Positive: A wig isn't needed to be worn anymore.
Negative: Oh fuck, not only does he need to be a freaking drag queen, but now he grew his own girly hair.
Takeru tossed the wig aside, deciding that it won't be needed anymore.
Opening the door to the shower, Takeru stepped in and turned on the water.
-cut- (The following scene is to graphic to be described in detail in a PG- 13 story)
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"Phew..." Takeru stepped out of the shower, rubbing the towel against his hair.
A high pitched scream.
//Shit. I thought there was no one else in the house.
Takeru observed: the bathroom door was opened.
//Could it have been Hikari? Maybe she came to check on me and found me here. Shit. How the hell do I fix this?
Wrapping the towel around his hips, Takeru quickly ran out to find a girl covering her mouth in shock.
Or the apparent girl anyway.
"Ken..." Takeru mumbled in relief and defeat. "What the hell was that?"
The disturbed Ken shakily spoke. "I...I saw your thing, and I..."
"What? Don't you have a thing?"
"Yes, but you had one, and then your hair was l, long and all, and it looked like that you were a- it was just so disgusting, and I just-"
Ken quickly rushed into the bathroom.
Sounds of vomit.
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Everybody wasn't here.
Takeru sighed as he leaned against the glass panel of the balcony.
Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Mimi. Absolutely no idea where they went.
Miyako was still on that errand of hers.
Ken got called by Miyako to help her.
Hikari is probably still in the photo room. The school opens late to encourage extracurricular practice on academic studies.
"What the hell..." Takeru mumbled to himself.
He continued to stare blankly at the plain white wall.
Stare.
Stare.
Flash.
Takeru blinked.
He swore that he saw something. The white wall suddenly flashed, and a silhouette of him was projected onto the wall for a brief decisecond.
Takeru quickly stood up and turned around.
Hikari.
On the balcony.
Hikari lowered her camera and laughed, at being discovered, and playfully stuck out her tongue.
Takeru slid open the glass door, which separated himself and Hikari.
"What-how'd you get up here?" Takeru asked frantically.
"Oh, I have my ways." Hikari stared down the balcony. Not too impressive, but not simple either. A mediocre height.
"What were you doing?" Takeru continued on to the next question, his mind popping too many wonders for him to ask all at once.
"I saw your back on the glass. I found it interesting, so I took a picture of it." Hikari winked, holding her small rectangular camera.
Suddenly, all the questions in Takeru's mind seemed to dissipate.
Maybe it was because of her straightforward and simple answer.
Maybe it was the scene of her, standing in front of the dark night with lights of schoolrooms illuminating across.
Takeru felt so many encounters of uncertainty lately.
"So, how about it?" Hikari broke the silence.
"Huh?"
"Model for me." Hikari said plainly.
"What? Why me?!" Takeru overreacted.
"I find that...well. How do I say this?" Hikari looked to the sky, pondering for the right words. "You seem...very masculine for a girl. Masculine like a teenage boy. You feel like...a very youthful, well. Tomboy, even if you don't dress like one. Very cute." She winked.
"Wha-what? I'm not modelling!" Takeru stuttered.
Takeru suddenly realized that his wishes for company a few minutes ago were answered, and he is now simply rejecting it. But it was too late now, his words are already spoken.
"What about for a small fee?" Hikari tempted.
Takeru stopped to think.
"...Okay, fine, then."
Maybe it wasn't the money that he wanted, but it certainly gave an enough excuse.
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"Move your waist to the right a bit."
"No! That'll show my belly button!"
"That's what I'm trying to do!"
Flashes.
Laughs.
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Takeru, very quickly, neglected the fact that there is, always, a third spectator.
Kei smirked.
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Tuduku.
BGM: Aban 02 - Digimon 02
Next Episode Preview:
Ken: In frustration for being ignored, Miyako decidedly searches to search for 'Ichijouji Ken'. And keeps pulling me along. I hope nothing bad happens...
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Okay, that's all.
Remember to review, and when you do, please put in your suggestions of a Christmas fic! Please do!! Remember to specify what two characters and what situation! (Not connected to Boku-tachi/Atashi-tachi)
-Lumi
Hello everyone. Okay, first, I suspect that this fic will be a little late. Because, you know. Mood swings, and all (Lumi is using that excuse again. Lumi must be destroyed.) There's also a project and a few tests, you know. The pre-Christmas rush. But anyway.
So, it was finally the Christmas break, then my mom starts getting all sensitive about my sleeping time (my inspirational period is after midnight) and my sister uses the computer when I'm writing for hours. The amount of stuff I get done really pisses me off. Etc, etc. /excuses
Firstly, acknowledgement of new reviewers: Fox.of.Many.Faces, Catchan, MoMo- ChAn, The digital duo, artis, and hulkgameedge@hotmail.com (I'm sorry, I can't e-mail you when the new chapter comes out. ^_^;;) .
Also an apology to Azn Angel Hikari, I'm sorry. I usually only recognize people by alias, but not their account number or e-mail account. Oh well, at least now I know.
And to reply to some reviews:
Sunshine Anderson: ...Earlier in this chapter, you started talking about decibels, what are they?
Lumi: Well. Decibels are a unit of sound intensity. Basically, a unit of how loud things are. Hope that cleared things up for ya.
taiora lover: ...isnt it ironic how mimi JUST CANT COOK when in the end of the season she hosts a cooking show???
Lumi: Yep. I guess. But you know what they say, practice makes perfect (which, really, I don't believe), so probably Mimi worked really hard at it. Not to mention that this is AU, so the ending doesn't really have to apply. Plus, the 02 ending sucks anyway, so it's not real. =)
And of course, a thanks to all the compliments from our fellow reviewers. Thank you, thank you.
Just want to tell you about this chapter: this title is used for times where the chapter is based on a normal day (normal in the Boku/Ata sense), and I may use it multiple times for various chapters that focuses on no point at all. These are usually quite light-hearted, and might or might not have as many jokes.
I also managed to find a way to put italics and all that fancy crap in here, so I think I'll try it this chapter.
And, and, Christmas is also coming. I did say that I'll try to sneak in some extra chapters between the weeks, I'll do that. But to be more celebrative, because we're all Christmas people (except those that aren't), I want to write a one-shot fic for Christmas. Now, as indecisive as I am, I can't choose a couple. When you review (and I urge that you should and must for this chapter, because of this), please state what kind of coupling you would want and in what, generally, what situation this fic is placed in (it should be Christmas related, of course). I'll probably take the coupling that a majority has chosen and find a really good situation that a review has stated; because it's not likely people will think of the same situation, making it impossible to poll. The couplings should be pretty easy to have multiple reviewers requested, since I think we're all mainsteam people. Probably nothing strange like Taichi/Miyako, or Sora/Mugendramon. Please do put a distinguishable name when you review, or else I might not count it. Now go review and vote. =)
Disclaimer: Digimon isn't mine. No, I'm not lying. Stop looking at me weird.
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Episode 6: Ano hi... (In Takeru's life...)
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Takeru looked up at Mrs. Chidoki, who was handing out the quiz papers. She looked back with a disapproving look. Takeru was laying his head onto his arms, quite obviously tired, since he isn't responding much, and it's the start of a quiz. Her look seemed to say Oh my, you haven't studied again, now if only you would study. It doesn't take a whole much of your time, just take about 15 minutes or so. I'm sure you're a bright young girl, now if only you could review some of the contents before the quiz. But probably, instead, you're out hanging out with your friends, youngsters these days.
Of course, that look of Mrs. Chidoki's also contained a several dozen other essays relating to the same topic, but Takeru chose to ignore.
A glance at the paper.
//Oh fuck. Moles. What the hell are moles? I remember she mentioning them last day, but I only recall that she had made some really horrible joke about it not being the English word that corresponds to that little animal that digs underground...
Takeru started to quietly mumble to himself. Or so people thought.
[(Takeru - Kei) Hey.]
[Morning.]
[What are moles?]
[Moles are units that measure substances.]
[Umm. Sure. What do you do with them?]
[Huh. Good question. What DO you do with them?]
[Dammit. Connect me to Yamato.]
Yamato, who was sitting two rows in front of Takeru (the teacher had arranged seats by last name), looked back over his shoulder at Takeru, seeming to say 'What the hell?', then quickly turned his head again so that he wouldn't get failed for looking around.
[(Takeru - Yamato) What do you do with moles?]
[You convert them into mass. Or atoms. You know, all that fun stuff.]
[How do I go upon doing that?]
[You know. Do that thing with the unitary rates.]
[Oh! That thing where one number goes on top of another number without doing the jiggy thing.]
[Umm. Sure.]
[So, number two would be...C, wouldn't it, nii-...er...nee-san?]
[No. It's B.]
[No way. I calculated it, and that's what I got.]
[What do you think I did? Wish to god that he would shoot a correct answer into my head?]
[But, see, in this part here...]
15 minutes later...
"Okay. Hand your quizzes in." Mrs. Chidoki raised her voice to the class, at which students quickly stood up and placed papers on to her desk.
Yamato and Takeru froze.
Takeru looked down at his paper.
The name is there.
The date is there.
The first question is done.
Other than that, the paper is perfectly reusable. Not to mention blank.
They had been arguing about number 2 for the whole time.
Shades of dark appeared on the forehead of the siblings.
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"Are you okay?" Hikari asked Takeru as they were talking out of class. The period was over. "You look a bit...I don't know."
"Dead?" Takeru suggested, his eyes glued stationary.
"Yeah. Kind of." Hikari continued to try to read Takeru's face, lifeless and indifferent.
"Oh good. I don't want to look like anything else." Grumbled Takeru as he continued down the hall.
Hikari bit her lip for, mainly, facing Takeru's very very grumpy, for a lack of a better word, grumpiness.
"What's wrong?" Hikari took a step out faster than Takeru, and jumped in front of him, trying to suspend him from movement. Takeru, of course, took a slightly angular turn and simply walked past Hikari.
Hikari stared upwards, slightly peeved of being silently snapped at.
"Today's quiz." Takeru started. "I failed."
Hikari nodded pensively.
"That's okay." Hikari comforted. "Marks aren't that important anyway."
As far as Takeru recall, Hikari got perfect on every assignment and test given, in the classes he had with her anyway. Except for that last last quiz in Japanese.
Where she got 110%. Anyway.
Takeru immediately stopped walking, the rubber portions of his running shoes squeaking as they caused friction against the hard floor.
"Really?"
Hikari gave a really apologetic look.
"Not really..."
Takeru continued to storm on through the hallway. Those in his way were quickly launched to the wall to dent it, or to be stuck on it for the purpose of being a dartboard.
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Takeru turned the dial to his lock.
Twenty-six. Forty-eight.
Thirty-two.
Pull.
Takeru found his pull to be stopped by the lock not budging at all.
Deep breath.
Takeru tried the combination again.
To find that the lock had not did whatever it was supposed to do to unlock the thing.
Takeru then proceeded to beat the crap out of the lock.
A tap on the shoulders.
"What is it?" Takeru snapped, turning vigorously.
"That's...um. My locker."
Embarassed, Takeru stepped away from the item he performed sadistic acts from, crossed between angry and sorry.
"That's okay..." Hikari replaced Takeru's position, and calmly turned the dial.
Takeru felt truly angry. Partly angry at himself, but more at circumstances. If it weren't for the circumstances, he wouldn't have to act like such a tard.
Takeru glanced at the school clock, hanging strongly on the wall. There's still time. Takeru left abruptly to the washroom.
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Takeru looked around. The girls' washroom was not large at all; there was no one in it.
Despite his identity being relatively safe, Takeru still felt that it's rather risky to go to the bathroom of girls, since the only other bathroom available is the male employee's bathroom. It's not like there weren't doors or anything, and it wasn't like that people share stalls, but Takeru feel that accidents could happen very easily. Also, after all, it uwas/u the girl's bathroom, if he suddenly died of blood loss while overhearing or accidentally seeing something, they would have to send him to the hospital, even though he's dead, and if inquiries pop up, the doctor uwould/u say that he's a guy. That's no good. Even though he might be dead.
Takeru stretched his head out the stall to insure that no one is there, then closed the door and locked it.
Sounds of a stream hitting a pool of water.
Door opens.
Takeru frets.
A bunch, Takeru is not sure of how many, but a lot, of girls suddenly rushed in, probably because they like to go to washroom in mobs or something.
Takeru looks at himself. He's still going at it. He's also in the standard 'man' position.
Quickly, adjacent stalls are occupied, and it seems that many girls are still left waiting for stalls.
Knock knock.
"Hello, is someone in there?" A girl asks.
Takeru opened his mouth for a reply, but found no voice to do so. Probably due to the terror he's experiencing.
"Just take a peek under the door to see if anyone's there." A deeper voice suggested.
Takeru is so butchered if they see heels facing them, and not toes.
//Argh! Hurry up, hurry up! How much water DID I drink?
"Oh, I guess." The girl crouches down and bends her head sideways to see low enough.
"Huh." The girl stands back up.
"What's wrong?"
"...There's...no one in there."
Takeru presses the walls of his stall heavily for balance. His feet are up on the rim of the toilet.
//Almost done, almost!
Flush.
"Sorry for keeping you." Takeru walked out of the stall, laughing sheepishly.
"Eh?" The girl immediate before the stall looked at Takeru, then back in the stall. "There wasn't anyone here when I looked!"
"Oh..you probably just didn't see my legs..." Takeru's eyes well up, horrified for having to say such an embarrassing excuse. "I...have... to lift my legs when I go pee, or else I can't go."
The bunch of girls before the stalls looked at each other strangely, seeming to believe 'Takeko''s story, and seeming to say that 'Takeko' is a freak.
"So..umm, enjoy!" Takeru slid-stepped to the side, allowing others to go in.
The girl, the one that looked under the door, walked into the stall casually.
Takeru peeked over her shoulder, afraid that there is some evidence that he had missed and left in there. He couldn't think of any, after all, it's not quite possible to leave an essential portion of his anatomy in there.
"What?" The girl turned around again, curious at Takeru's stares.
"Nothing."
Dash.
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Sweating, Takeru ran into the Japanese classroom.
Only was it a split-second after that the bell sounded.
Takeru found out that, even without mistakening someone's locker for his own, a sadistic beating still had to take place.
"Take a seat." Ms. Kamiya warmly ordered.
Takeru found it amazing for someone to say that without any slight harshness.
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Everyone laughed.
Takeru simply chuckled.
The joke, or rather, humorous coincidence, was not very funny itself. The mood of the classroom, of the class, however, helped push that joke to be funnier than it is.
Takeru, on the other hand, wasn't very in the mood. Although he did find his emotions to be fairly lightened up.
He carefully listened to all the spoken words. But to him, they are, after all, just words, nothing more. Words without meaning. A series of sounds. A series of sounds that he found him self lulled by.
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Vocal: Sepia no hi - Card Captor Sakura
"..."
Takeru looked. Where is this?
Quiet wind bells.
A soft breeze.
The silent sun.
Takeru ran. He ran through the tall green, cool grass. Each time he crossed a row, drops of water from the grass stuck to his clothes. His bare feet repeatedly stepped on the soft, but solid soil.
Where was he running to? He was not sure.
Each sensation tingled his tender skin, and marks of nature remained on his body.
He tripped and fell.
And he stared at the shallow lake immediate from his face.
Was this here before? He wasn't sure. He would've noticed it if it was. Right? Was it?
Takeru drowned his head within the crystal water and pulled out again; beads and chains of water flew in a graceful string. He watched at the still water reflected his image.
Large, bright green eyes.
A round, short face.
A very tiny, but slightly sharp nose.
And his even smaller mouth, his lips flattened by each other.
A drop of water falls from the bang hanging in front of his eye into the lake water, causing waves to flow through the lake.
Takeru looked at his hands.
Short chubby fingers, connected to his arm of straight lining. Lacking signs of any explicit muscles.
He stood up and stared down at his feet.
His toes were also short and stubby, his feet so very small. Like his arm, his legs doesn't show any indications of development.
Purity perfection.
He was young.
Takeru held his face in his hands. It was different than he remembered.
He tried to recall. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember how he looked like, he couldn't remember anything before. The more he pondered, the more right he felt. This was exactly him. Nobody else.
He pulled the leg of his shorts even further up; it was at his knee.
He suddenly felt a light fabric hug around his head. He reached for it and pulled it off.
A white hat.
An innocent giggle.
Takeru looked in front of him. A small brown haired girl in a white robe.
She smiled at him.
She spoke.
Takeru listened. Words came out of her mouth. Takeru could hear none of them.
The ticking of her tongue.
The whistle from the air she exhaled.
She put a finger on Takeru's face, and slowly trailed in strange patterns.
She held out her hand.
He took it.
They ran.
She laughed.
She laughed.
Her laughter starts to dissolve as a part of another laughter.
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Takeru opened his eyes. They were laughing, still.
The class was the same when he returned as he had left it, still exploiting points of interest then laughing at whatever jokes that came up. Apparently, there were a lot.
Reaching into his back pocket, Takeru pulled out his cell, and held it below the desk.
11:46 a.m., the cellular illuminated.
Takeru returned his phone. Half an hour has passed, although everything seemed to have been the exact same.
Yamato, who was sitting in front of Takeru, turned around, and let out a little grin, as if mocking him for napping or something.
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Takeru winced. He worriedly glanced at everyone that chuckled at him as they pass by him in the hallway.
//What's with these people? Is it so obvious that I slept in class?
Takeru paced faster to his locker, hoping that the humiliation would end when he reaches it. He's not sure why, if it did, that it would, but he would be thankful.
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Takeru held a hand out against his locker for support as he leaned. He felt like he was chased. Chased didn't really seem like the correct way of phrasing it, since the people he escaped from came in the direction he was running. All those murmurs and laughs made Takeru very nerve-wrecked. And he doesn't know why.
Hikari walks away.
//What was that?
Perhaps it was purely coincidental, but it seemed as if Hikari walked away as she noticed him there.
One thing struck Takeru's mind.
Avoidance.
//What was it? Was it because of what everyone was laughing at me? Was it because my eyes fell out of their sockets? Why should I care anyway?
Takeru smacked himself in the head for thinking such thoughts.
He quickly put his stuff back into his locker, and rushed off to guitar class.
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Takeru shifted uncomfortably. People again, gave him those looks.
He was standing in the guitar closet. He didn't necessarily want to be standing, but he's currently in a line, so he had to be patient unless if he was to run the others over with a truck.
Girls in front of him occasionally looked over their shoulders to see Takeru, then whispered to each other. How annoying, Takeru thought.
Was his hair messed? Was his shirt inside out? What is possibly so laughable?
Takeru reached his hand up to grab a guitar. He didn't try it out to see if it sounded good, since there were nice ones and bad ones in there. But it looked nice. Not always does a pleasant looking guitar sound equally pleasant, but a wrecked up guitar usually doesn't sound wholesome.
He paused as something strange caught his eye.
His palm.
It was smeared in black.
Why?
He felt great suspicions and started to logically solve any mysteries.
Which, of course, led him nowhere, and he paused physically which resulted in people behind him kicking him in the ass and telling him to keep going.
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"Ne, nee-san?" Takeru poked Yamato, who was strumming.
The class was left idle, as the teacher had gone out to run some errands. But after all, it proved little difference. With the teacher there, the class played guitar. Without the teacher there, the class played guitar.
"Hmm?" Yamato responded, biting his lower lip.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
Yamato raised his eyebrow at that question. He certainly knew what Takeru meant, but the question was phrased a tad...serious? Perhaps.
"What do you mean?"
Takeru heard a laugh. A very slight laugh, but notable, between Yamato's words. Yamato was lying.
Yamato wouldn't tell him. Beating the information out of Yamato was definitely not an option, since Yamato could easily fold Takeru into a box.
Takeru frowned. A couple of girls behind him giggled again. Although the amount was decreasing, it was still occurring.
This bothered Takeru, more over the cause than the effect. If everyone so easily laughed at him, there must be something with his appearance.
Takeru looked around the room. The teacher wasn't there.
If he left the room now, he would be leaving without permission.
His brain twitched again in curiosity.
Oh, he didn't freaking care any more.
Takeru ran out of the classroom, hoping to reach the washroom.
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Takeru walked to the first mirror.
It was covered in vulgarity.
He sidestepped.
The second mirror.
He saw an image.
His face. A moustache was drawn in, much like the one of Mr. Pringles. Then a word bubble beside his lips.
'I am a transsexual.'
It was written very badly, probably because Takeru's face is not flat.
Not to mention all sorts of turd drawn around his face in different colours.
It must have been done while he was sleeping.
Who could have done it?
The person sitting in front of him?
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"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Takeru held the neck of the guitar with both hands, holding it behind him much like a sledgehammer as he dashed towards Yamato.
Yamato looked up, and stopped strumming. Still sitting cross-legged.
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The guitar is covering the top half of Takeru's head. It seemed as if Takeru wore the guitar from the sound hole like a hat.
It wasn't difficult to guess what happened. Takeru was thankful for the shallowness of the guitar's depth. If it had been any deeper, it would cover his nose as well, which will result in him having difficulty breathing, then probably dying.
"Wow, this is going to be hard to fix." The nurse commented.
"I suppose it is."
"Hmm." The nurse tried to insert a finger between Takeru's head and the sound hole, but found there to be no space available at all. "I think I'm going to need a chainsaw."
"WHAT?!" Takeru shouted. His face was relatively still; any excessive facial expressions will cause really big pressures on his face.
"Don't worry, we're not going to cut your face. Just the guitar."
"I know THAT!"
The nurse stood up and walked over to the phone nailed to the wall and called the office.
She seemed to ask for a chainsaw.
"What if you accidentally cut me?!" Takeru raised his voice again.
"Don't worry. I won't." The nurse paused. "Unless my hand slips, of course."
Takeru gulped.
Screams echoed.
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Takeru sighed.
The 'operation' was mostly successful. Although Takeru nearly fainted due to the closeness the chainsaw blade shaved by. His face was also fixed. However, it was done in some weird ink, so the nurse resorted to scrubbing with something that resembled sandpaper when good ol' water didn't work.
School was long over, for about half an hour.
Takeru felt more relief as he walked down the hall without anyone laughing in his face.
Then again, the hall was silently empty.
Stomp.
Stomp stomp stomp.
Not silently anymore.
Takeru watches as a figure runs down the hall, towards his direction; her coat flying like a cape behind her.
His eyes trailed her, and she quickly passed him like a blurred image before stopping.
Miyako's long hair still continued to swing from the momentum. Her face was red, obviously from running.
"Oh, Take-chan. Tell Hika-chan that I can't be with her today, I have something urgent to take care of." Miyako blurted.
Miyako quickly continued in her path.
"Wait!" Takeru halted Miyako, who only stopped and looked over her shoulder, wanting to continue running. "Where is she at?"
"The photo room." was her answer.
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Takeru looked at the map, which was included in his agenda, then at his surroundings again.
Somehow, he had gotten lost despite his attempt to follow the map completely.
It was like some kind of maze- No, he corrected himself. Labyrinth, this path to the photography room. Not only does one have to walk through all these similar pathways with only sharp right angle corner turns - which gives no help as to any markings of where he might be - but there are also stairs, dozens flights of stairs of different lengths, going down and up (all symbolized by the same little diagram of stairs on the map, which, again, helps none in figuring out positions) and possibly into some fourth dimension.
Also, this pathway doesn't only lead to the photography room, but also to other areas. Takeru was not sure where else it could have led to, but he swore that he saw elves, which means Santa's workshop is probably around here somewhere too.
Takeru's eyes glinted.
Before him was a door that's labelled 'Photography room'. This has to be it. Unless this leads to some dreadful hall, which could possibly, but not certainly, lead to it.
The door opened.
Takeru entered.
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This was certainly it, there were people here looking at pictures, and negative films.
Hikari.
There.
Takeru walked up to approach her, she was talking with some other girl.
"...And then I opened the door, and she covered it and screamed..."
Blood squirted out of Takeru's nose.
"But I didn't know that she was in there opening her film, right? So even if it got exposed, it shouldn't be my fault..."
Hikari nodded, and the other girl went away after a few seconds.
Hikari looked and noticed Takeru's presence.
"Oh. Hey, Take-chan. What are you doing here?"
Takeru scratched his head. "Oh...um, Miya-chan told me to tell you..."
Hikari waited for Takeru to finish his sentence. Which he didn't.
"Told you to tell me...?" Hikari urged Takeru to continue.
Takeru's mind blanked. What DID Miyako tell him to tell Hikari? For the most part, Takeru only remembered Miyako telling him that Hikari was in the photo room, and...something...
...What was it? How could it not be remembered?
Takeru tried systematically to recall.
//
Miyako running by.
Miyako opened her mouth.
"...
Her lips moving in small motions.
..."
Takeru tried to connect the frequencies which made up the words.
"She told you to go fuck yourself." Takeru finished.
"Wait." Takeru insisted to the confused Hikari, realizing the illogic in that.
He closed his eyes again.
//
"...
Miyako moved her lips so delicately.
..."
Her lips said...
"I'll be waiting for you in bed." Takeru read.
"Wait, that's wrong too."
Click.
"She said that she can't accompany you today, she has something urgent to do."
"Oh, I see. Thanks." Hikari jutted out her lips thoughtfully.
Blink.
Blink.
"Oh, thank you." Hikari repeated, almost intended as a dismissal.
"What do you do here?" Takeru ignored it, and questioned further.
"This is the photography room." Hikari introduced. "And back there is the dark room. Where we develop our film and print them."
Point.
"Ah. I see."
"I'm printing right now, waiting for the print to show up. But that takes a minute or so, so I'm just waiting out here. I don't like being in the dark that much." Hikari explained.
"Can I go see?" Takeru requested curiously.
"Sure."
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Takeru rolled his head around in all directions like a child discovering a new place. All sorts of unfamiliar things were here, but he couldn't really see it.
Visibility was low; any light provided for vision was only given off by the red rays reflected off the ceiling from the tube.
//This is so cool, it's like in the movies...
"Oh, it's done." Hikari remarked. She quickly grabbed a picture from underneath a pool of what appears to be water (since a tap is constantly providing the liquid), and used something that is similar to those rubber wipers used for washing car windows, only smaller, and scraped any excessive liquid off, then walked outside.
"Huh..." Takeru let his hands simply wander, helping him examine his environment. However, any machinery is easily seen, and his hand avoided those.
Plunk.
Splash.
"Ah!"
Apparently, Takeru accidentally knocked over some chemical from above, and he's soaked in it. Thankfully, it wasn't something like hydrochloric acid, although how that could be used for photography is beyond anyone.
Hikari rushed in swiftly, her hand still holding the photo.
"Oh no. What happened?"
Takeru simply moved his hand down his body, showing the obvious.
"You better go get a shower." Hikari suggested, although not fiercely.
Takeru nodded in agreement, and ran off in fear of some effect to the prolonged contact with the chemical.
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Knock.
"Who's in there?" Takeru shouted, rushed.
"One sec."
Flush.
Gabu opened the door and walked past Takeru.
Takeru just stared.
//How did he...?
No matter.
Takeru quickly rushed in the bathroom and closed the door.
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Takeru stripped of all his clothes. His wig is still on. Hesitantly, he took it off, deciding that it would be better to wash it separately.
He looked in the mirror.
Didn't he take off the wig already?
He looked at the wig in his hand.
Realization struck.
This was actually HIS hair. Yes. Whatever the hair stylists did, it now grew in shape and is perfectly congruent to the wig.
It was long to his shoulders, and shined lightly, more than the wig.
To this, Takeru felt positively and negatively.
Positive: A wig isn't needed to be worn anymore.
Negative: Oh fuck, not only does he need to be a freaking drag queen, but now he grew his own girly hair.
Takeru tossed the wig aside, deciding that it won't be needed anymore.
Opening the door to the shower, Takeru stepped in and turned on the water.
-cut- (The following scene is to graphic to be described in detail in a PG- 13 story)
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"Phew..." Takeru stepped out of the shower, rubbing the towel against his hair.
A high pitched scream.
//Shit. I thought there was no one else in the house.
Takeru observed: the bathroom door was opened.
//Could it have been Hikari? Maybe she came to check on me and found me here. Shit. How the hell do I fix this?
Wrapping the towel around his hips, Takeru quickly ran out to find a girl covering her mouth in shock.
Or the apparent girl anyway.
"Ken..." Takeru mumbled in relief and defeat. "What the hell was that?"
The disturbed Ken shakily spoke. "I...I saw your thing, and I..."
"What? Don't you have a thing?"
"Yes, but you had one, and then your hair was l, long and all, and it looked like that you were a- it was just so disgusting, and I just-"
Ken quickly rushed into the bathroom.
Sounds of vomit.
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Everybody wasn't here.
Takeru sighed as he leaned against the glass panel of the balcony.
Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Mimi. Absolutely no idea where they went.
Miyako was still on that errand of hers.
Ken got called by Miyako to help her.
Hikari is probably still in the photo room. The school opens late to encourage extracurricular practice on academic studies.
"What the hell..." Takeru mumbled to himself.
He continued to stare blankly at the plain white wall.
Stare.
Stare.
Flash.
Takeru blinked.
He swore that he saw something. The white wall suddenly flashed, and a silhouette of him was projected onto the wall for a brief decisecond.
Takeru quickly stood up and turned around.
Hikari.
On the balcony.
Hikari lowered her camera and laughed, at being discovered, and playfully stuck out her tongue.
Takeru slid open the glass door, which separated himself and Hikari.
"What-how'd you get up here?" Takeru asked frantically.
"Oh, I have my ways." Hikari stared down the balcony. Not too impressive, but not simple either. A mediocre height.
"What were you doing?" Takeru continued on to the next question, his mind popping too many wonders for him to ask all at once.
"I saw your back on the glass. I found it interesting, so I took a picture of it." Hikari winked, holding her small rectangular camera.
Suddenly, all the questions in Takeru's mind seemed to dissipate.
Maybe it was because of her straightforward and simple answer.
Maybe it was the scene of her, standing in front of the dark night with lights of schoolrooms illuminating across.
Takeru felt so many encounters of uncertainty lately.
"So, how about it?" Hikari broke the silence.
"Huh?"
"Model for me." Hikari said plainly.
"What? Why me?!" Takeru overreacted.
"I find that...well. How do I say this?" Hikari looked to the sky, pondering for the right words. "You seem...very masculine for a girl. Masculine like a teenage boy. You feel like...a very youthful, well. Tomboy, even if you don't dress like one. Very cute." She winked.
"Wha-what? I'm not modelling!" Takeru stuttered.
Takeru suddenly realized that his wishes for company a few minutes ago were answered, and he is now simply rejecting it. But it was too late now, his words are already spoken.
"What about for a small fee?" Hikari tempted.
Takeru stopped to think.
"...Okay, fine, then."
Maybe it wasn't the money that he wanted, but it certainly gave an enough excuse.
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"Move your waist to the right a bit."
"No! That'll show my belly button!"
"That's what I'm trying to do!"
Flashes.
Laughs.
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Takeru, very quickly, neglected the fact that there is, always, a third spectator.
Kei smirked.
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Tuduku.
BGM: Aban 02 - Digimon 02
Next Episode Preview:
Ken: In frustration for being ignored, Miyako decidedly searches to search for 'Ichijouji Ken'. And keeps pulling me along. I hope nothing bad happens...
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Okay, that's all.
Remember to review, and when you do, please put in your suggestions of a Christmas fic! Please do!! Remember to specify what two characters and what situation! (Not connected to Boku-tachi/Atashi-tachi)
-Lumi