Boku-tachi/Atashi-tachi
Oi oi! Lumi here. First of all, biiiiig apology. People who have read my fic before will know what I'm talking about, people who's first time reading this should skip this part so you won't know what a horrible person I am.
Ever since Christmas, there has been a big period of...well, nothing. I can justify that with a long list of legitimate reasons, but I don't think you'd want to hear it anyway. So, yeah. I'm postponing the Christmas fic until Christmas of 2003. Why? So I'll be able to get something that's a bit more than half-assed, and would be on time for Christmas. The results will be kept, although suggestions for plot and settings could still be sent in. Sorry for all the fuss and inconvenience. Sorry sorry.
And...recognition of new reviewers: fan of boku-tachi/atashi-tachi, Angel Reaper, Angelic-Yuki, Gohan SSJ2, A.J, Kai, Sera, Savoan Locc, aiko, xluvablexlilxgrlx, Pinali, Relaxing Pikachu (hi hi!), hannah, Ladychichi, windedlove, Princess Roly, and Saiouri 17.
Whew.
Anyway, I'm going to try to keep writing this fic in a usteady/u pace, but I can't guarantee the one chapter per week thing anymore.
Enough blabber.
Any * marked items might not be familiar to some people, and it explained at the bottom.
Disclaimer: If Digimon was mine, I would never touch the dub. Therefore, it is not mine.
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Episode 7: Shinjuku chase
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Ken quickly scribbled the last few words before grabbing the paper, stuffing it into his bag (Kei insisted that over the backpack. A stronger image of a girl, says he.), and runs off from the classroom seconds after the periodic bell rings. Immediately after exiting the classroom, he looks to both his sides. Numbers and formulae, namely the Pythagorean and a several others, ran through his head.
Left side...approximately...230 metres.
Right side...about...240 metres.
Ken swore silently, keeping the indecency a secret. Quickly from his pocket he pulled out a coin, 100 yen. Right arm held out and eyes closed, he quickly assigned a face to either side.
Plop.
Ken opened one eye. The coin landed on his hand.
On its side.
Now, Ken didn't feel the intent to shake it or topple the coin so that it would land on a decisive side. Doing so would make the result entirely based on how exactly he contacted the coin, and not up to advantages or fate. Speaking of fate, Ken also wanted to question why it was being so humorous today, in that a coin landing on its side is a ridiculous probability even lower than rolling six dices and getting all the same number at the same time.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Plop.
The coin finally fell to a side, revealing designs of metallic sakura*. Ken rushed to the right.
"Aa, Ken-chan!"
Ken mumbled another vulgarity. He found himself to be often repeating this new found habit ever since he had played this little game of 'I'll dress up and you can watch me as I walk around talking to others and pretending that I'm female you sick bastard'.
"Un, what is it?" Ken turned politely towards Miyako.
"Do you want to help me today again?" Miyako asked.
Ever since a bit ago, Miyako had requested 'Kenko' to join her in her quest to search for Ichijouji Ken, miraculously the same person as Kenko and not found out. Ken wasn't sure why. As Ichijouji Ken, he had met Miyako for...15 minutes, along with a phone call that resulted in less than that amount of time. If for some reason, Ken had proposed a marriage to Miyako (providing that she agreed), and that Ken had ran away, it would be understandable. But, this case is much lighter. Ken wonders if he actually found someone more ill than Kei.
Ken self-consciously placed a finger beside his head while brushing away locks of hair. "Umm, today? I don't think..."
"Oh." Miyako blankly said. "If you can't come, that's alright. Too bad, though, I'm going to go see if he's at his house today."
"I don't think that I can't go!" Ken forcefully improvised.
Miyako wrinkled her brows at the odd wording.
"Yeah, if I think you'll need some help if you're going to do something like that..." Ken laughed nervously.
Ken believes that Miyako will seriously go to his house and turn the whole place around if she needs. Although quite a trouble for himself, he is quite able to go and pretend to help, as he is secretly destructive to her progresses.
Miyako's continuing words become increasingly indistinct to Ken as he guiltily looked aside.
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-Ken&Miyako@Library-
"Where do you think the phone book usually is?" Miyako turned around in circles to look. "It's not like I usually come to the library..."
"I'll go find it, then." Ken calmly volunteered. "What do you need it for?"
"Ah, just to find Ichijouji Ken's address."
"Oh. I'll just do that for you."
"Ah? Okay, thanks!"
Ken uncomfortably glanced around as he headed towards the counter with several phone books stacked neatly on top of each other. He awkwardly pulled one off the top (probably due to the weight and his reduced strength) and started to flip through the pages.
If I get lucky enough, I might be able to pull this off...
Ken glanced behind himself at Miyako, then quickly backed at the phone book before anyone noticed.
She doesn't seem to be the brightest, but she might catch on quickly if she remembers.
Now...
Ken stopped at a page, then trailed down the dusty page with his index finger down to one name.
Yes. This will do for now.
"Yo!" Miyako suddenly jump-hugged Ken, with her arms around his neck. "Did you find it?"
"U...un." Ken stuttered. It was a common 'girl thing' to do (guys certainly didn't do this to each other), but Ken is still far from getting used to it.
Slowly removing Miyako's arms one by one, Ken then pointed on one line on the page.
"There?" Miyako's eyes followed Ken's finger.
The name corresponded, 'Ichijouji Ken'. And on the right of that, past the numbers...
"Eh?! Shinjuku*?" Miyako exclaimed, her eyes widening. "But I thought he lived in Odaiba..."
"Hmm, I guess not. You know, if you think Shinjuku is too far, then we don't have to-"
"No, that's alright with me." Miyako paused for a second. "Are you okay with it?"
"Ahahaha, as long as you're okay with it..." Ken's cheek twitched as he forced a smile.
Ahahaha, we're so going to get into trouble...
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-Ken&Miyako@Train-
Ken worriedly around his surroundings; everyone was barely managing, everyone barely had their own space to move around, but enough to not get squished. He glanced at the Baby-G on his wrist (again, Kei insisted something slightly more girly than the alternative), reading 4:32, with a smaller counter displaying 45 and consistently increasing. Ken was thankful; it's not yet time until adults get off their job and go to happy hour.
"Should we call Sora-chan and the others to tell them that we're going to be in Shinjuku?" Ken asked Miyako. He was still uncomfortable calling someone not so familiar -chan*, especially a senpai*. Damn those twisted school rules that need getting used to.
Miyako started to move her hands around her hips, mainly around her pockets, as if to agree to what Ken just said.
"Yeah...sure. I'll get my cell..." Miyako replied in doubt as she tries to search through the possible holding areas in her clothes for her cell, then tries one more time.
"Hmm. Are you sure? Maybe you left it somewhere?" Ken suggested, then looked around, mainly at the windows, as if implying 'Well, it's not like you can go get it now.'
"Oh!" Miyako snapped her fingers and swung her arm. "I remember now. The teacher was walking by, so I put the cell in my binder in a hurry, and I probably put it into the locker after class and forgot about it. Damn it, Miyako, damn it!"
Ken laughed slightly at her exaggerated reaction. "It's okay. I'll call them."
Ken reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cell (Kogepan* themed shell, because Kei said so for girly, and Kogepan is not as girly as other things, but girly enough), then pressed a button beside the relatively large screen.
"Home." Ken said into the mic, followed by tones emitted by the phone.
"...Eh?" Ken accidentally voiced, took a glance at Miyako, then quickly turned so his back faced her.
"What are you doing, Gabu?" Ken whispered. "Put Take on the phone. What? Just do it. Huh? ...I'll think about it. What? Meat? Fine, fine. I'll try."
Ken looked over his shoulder while he waited. Miyako wasn't paying attention to him, and he looked back.
"Take-chan?" Ken unnaturally said into the phone. "Miyako-chan and I are going to be a bit late. Why? Oh, there's just this little thing that I have to do. Oh, and when Kei...-niisan* gets back, can you tell him to...uh, do something about the current situation?"
It would probably be less fishy to Miyako in the case that she overhears that Ken calls Kei '-nii-san'. Ken looked to the side to see the still bug, floating in the air. Normally, if Kei was there, he'd make the bee fly around and be annoying, but it seems to be on autopilot for now. Perhaps he's on some long ass lunch break.
"Aa. Thanks." Ken ended the call with a button press.
"So..." Miyako focused on Ken as he pocketed his cell.
"We're all good." Ken nodded. "We won't have to hurry now."
"Ah, that's good." Miyako nodded as well.
"..."
"Hahahahaha..." Ken and Miyako both nervously laughed at the same time.
Oddly, there began to exist an odd awkward silence that Miyako never thought existed between girls. And it continued.
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-15 minutes later-
Ken continued to look down at his feet. He wished that Shinjuku would be soon, but the train continued on. What was it? Boredom? Tiredness? Discomfort? Whatever it was disturbed Ken.
...U...uh?
Ken peered behind him to find a middle-aged bald man standing right behind him.
Thi-This is...
And feeling a certain pair of hands touching around down at his...behind.
Oh no...
Not only touching, but also a bit of...massaging. Ken blushed.
Ken positioned his feet to turn around quickly when he felt a particularly sharp object pointed at his back.
"Don't shout, little miss. Or else, I don't know what might happen."
Ken shot a look at the zoned out Miyako, but she continued to look elsewhere, as no large action served as a stimulus for her to react.
[Don't worry.]
Huh?
[That knife is retractable. One of those toy ones. A bit more pressure and it'll retract into the handle. The guy is probably afraid to be caught with a real knife.]
A familiar mini flying object flew in front of Ken's eyes and started to wave its hands.
"Are you sure? How do you know?" Ken anxiously questioned, but quietly.
[Well, very rarely do you have a knife with a handle that's longer than the blade, that's not very efficient. So, I'm guessing...]
"Guessing?! What if I die?"
[Well, if you like what's happening right now, there won't be a risk at all.]
"Oh, screw it." Ken swiftly made a half turn, surprising the man. He quickly dropped the false blade.
Miyako looked to the blade drop, more so to the sound of it.
"What's wrong, Ken-chan?" Miyako asked, worried at the odd air between Ken and the man.
"He was groping me." Ken calmly said. "What should I do?"
"Oh, please don't shout or tell the police! If you do, my wife will-" the man pleaded.
"Oh. Alright." Ken understandingly agreed. "But you better not shout either."
These past weeks, Ken has been under tremendous stress. The workload at Sakura high wasn't any easier than his previous school, and his disguise put him into constant paranoia. Not to mention the occasional times like these where he has to accompany Miyako.
Ken's knee lifted.
"Argh! I hate gropers!" Miyako exclaimed. And she helped out.
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"Upcoming station: Shinjuku."
Sounds of sliding doors.
Murmurs.
Sound of a falling object.
Mixing of various conversations.
"Hey, what happened?"
"Someone fainted!"
"They look beat up!"
"Let's get out of here!"
"Un."
"Are you okay?"
"Someone call the ambulance."
"I'm on it, I'm on it!"
Sounds of sliding doors.
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-Ken&Miyako@ShinjukuStation-
"Phew, that was close." Ken wiped his hand over his forehead, removing the sweat.
They just left the train, and is standing in the middle of the station, standing beside a pillar.
"Geez. I didn't know he would faint that easily." Miyako cracked her knuckles. "But that old guy deserved it. I hate gropers."
"I could tell..." Ken chuckled. "I only kneed him once."
"I was just a bit..." Miyako puffed up her face, not knowing how to end the sentence.
Miyako stared at Ken, slightly annoyed, as if saying 'What the hell?'.
"Eh? What is it?" Ken looked over himself, trying to figure out what Miyako was staring at.
"Why did that old guy grope you?" Miyako complained, her tone whined.
"...What?" Ken stared back at Miyako with a confused look.
"I was right beside you. Why did he prefer you?"
"Uh...that's...uh.." Ken tried to think up a valid reason.
Miyako whipped her hand out and, quite casually, slapped Ken's butt. She then looked back at her hand.
"Miyako-chan!"
"Well, I guess I can't compare." Miyako said dully and started walking towards the stairs.
"Wait, you're not mad, are you?" Ken ran up to her.
"No, I'm not mad."
"Really?"
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The streets were uncomfortably crowded with constant bypassers, and cars moved slowly, one car length at a time. The sun shined brightly as it is late spring, and nearing summer. The air was filled with an unexplainably typical chatter and the occasional cigarette smoke. People stopped and gathered inside stores and in front of crosswalks; more noises gather around there. And two rests in the moving blur of colours.
"Say, Miyako-chan." Ken changed the topic.
"Hmm? What is it?" Miyako light-heartedly answered.
"Why..." Ken awkwardly said. "Why do you want to find Ichijouji Ken?"
"Eh?" Miyako's face reddened. "I told you before. It's because he didn't phone me back. Plus, don't you want to stand beside him? And I can see how similar you too look." Miyako joked.
"That's it?" Ken's expression turned very serious. "I don't look that much like Ichijouji Ken, do I?"
After the keen observations noted by the girls, Kei had given Ken some fairly convincing make-up, which seemed to make the eyes bigger and the nose a big smaller, much more girlish.
"Well...I guess not." Miyako looked aside. "You know what? That's...not important for now. What we should do now is find him first." She took out a piece of folded paper, and began to unfold it.
Suddenly, a boy, much about the size of Ken, ran out and took the piece of paper, then ran off into the crowd, disappearing.
"That! That was Ken!" Miyako jumped and pointed. "We have to go catch him!"
"What?" Ken blinked. The vision of the boy was not very clear to him. "How are you so sure?"
"He just resembles Ken! And his hair, I mean, how many boys have such girly hair?" Miyako grabbed Ken's hand then started to run. "Come on!"
"...Girly hair..." Ken mumbled darkly to himself while being dragged.
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As Ken started to run, he catches more and more impressions of the boy. That body type. That height. That hair. The complete reminiscence of Ichijouji Ken.
Running through the Shinjuku streets was a problem due to the amount of people there, but more for Ken and Miyako than for the boy, as they are running together, and is more easily intercepted (accidentally, of course) by pedestrians. Lots of them.
The two of them constantly bumped into bodies, and most of them had a strong stopping power (occasionally accompanied by words of vulgarity), and is starting to increase the distance between Ken and Miyako, and the boy.
"No...!" Miyako panted. "I *cough*, can't hold on any *cough*, longer. I'll wait for you here." Miyako let go of her hand, and dropped onto a sitting position from her fatigue.
Ken gave a quick glance at Miyako behind him, then started to sprint faster ahead. His locks of hair conveniently found their way to flow with the wind and out of Ken's sight. Without Miyako, he was more able to avoid the obstacles in his way, and found the boy closer to him.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Ken took on a rhythmic pattern in dodging, which was surprisingly effective. The boy was in perfect view. The resemblance was flawless from the back.
The boy pushed away pedestrians in his way, and, Ken behind him was not burdened in speed due to the cleared path he was given. Ken acknowledged the arms length distance.
Who are you?
Ken reached out, and the boy fell down along with him. Still feeling the boy's waist, Ken didn't hurry to get up to full readiness.
"Hehehe."
"You! Who-" Ken found himself interrupted by a familiar smiling face. He quickly looked back to see if Miyako was in range. She was left far behind.
"What are you doing here?!" Ken angrily shouted as he pulled the wig off the boy.
"Whaaa? Is that how you thank me?" Daisuke groaned as he rubbed his head in pain of having his disguise so violently removed.
"Thank you?! Why should I thank you?"
"Let's continue this after we get up."
Ken looked around.
Girl on boy.
A lot of looks.
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Daisuke and Ken found a close corner of a restaurant, then started to relax from their chase.
"No wonder it was you." Ken brushed his hair carefully with his hands and the mirror image from the glass of the restaurant. "I didn't think there were such good runners anymore."
"But anyway." Ken slammed his hand on the wall beside Daisuke. "Explain why you're here."
Daisuke looked away with a silly expression. Ken followed his eyes with an even angrier look.
"Alright, alright." Daisuke pushed Ken's hand down from the wall, reducing the slight hostility. "That guy, what's his name? Kei. He told me to come here. By the way, why aren't you wearing a skirt right now?"
"Kei?" Veins popped in Ken's forehead. It wasn't the first time Kei troubled him. "Why did you follow what he said?"
"Of course I asked him the reason as well before going ahead. I'm not going to do something so ridiculous for no reason."
"Which were?" Ken pressed on.
"Okay." Daisuke held up a closed fist, then started to spread his fingers as he counted. "One. He said that you asked for him to help you."
"... can you tell him to...uh, do something about the current situation?"
"That, that's-How is this helping?" Ken stuttered.
"Two." Daisuke pointed out his index finger. "If I take your sheet of paper, then you don't have to go to that fake address that you put down and make lots of trouble."
Ken's eyes widened in shock. "How, how..."
"Kei-san looked back on the video that when he returned. He said something like...'Ken-san must be misleading Miyako-san to Shinjuku, because his address must be listed under his father's name, not his.'...or something." Daisuke recalled.
"Third." Daisuke continued before Ken can budge a word in. "The simultaneous existence of 'Ichijouji Ken' and you will eliminate any possibility of the two becoming the same entity."
"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Ken asked, stunned.
"Oh, I just memorized what Kei said." Daisuke shamelessly replied.
"..."
"And one more." Daisuke lifted up his ring finger. "That me talking to you right now will make the girl stay longer in Shinjuku, and you won't have enough time to continue searching in Odaiba for today."
"I thought that one up." Daisuke smiled brightly.
"Heh." Ken found himself lightened up. "You came all the way here for me?"
Daisuke cupped his chin in thought. "For you and for Ichiyo Higuchi*."
Ken whacked Daisuke from upside the head.
"I came here in a hurry, so I forgot my wallet. I need to go back to Odaiba or else I'll miss my soccer practice." Daisuke tapped his watch.
"What? You're way late!" Ken took out his pocket and started to look through his coins. "Why don't you get Ichiyo Higuchi to pay for your train fare?"
"Pfft. Stop fooling around and hand it over." Daisuke snatched the messy coins from Ken's palm and threw the wig at Ken, then started to run back to the train station.
"Stop getting into trouble!" Ken shouted.
Daisuke responded with single wave behind him.
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"Ken-chan!" Miyako yelled over the crowd as she saw him. "Did you get it back?"
Ken made an exaggerated movement by shaking his head as he headed even closer towards Miyako.
"He was too fast." Ken panted fakely. "Couldn't catch up."
"He is a great soccer player, after all." Miyako said, defeated. "But why did he do that? And how did he know that we're going to find him?"
"Eh, let's not worry about that for now." Ken waved it off. "Now that we don't have the paper anymore, we should go-"
"Actually." Miyako looked up. "I think I remember the street. We can just ask every single house."
"What? You're not serious..."
"Of course I'm serious."
And Miyako dragged Ken off.
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Ding-dong.
"No, there's no one like that here."
Ding-dong.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. I'll have to check through the employee list, please wait."
Ding-dong.
"Huh. I don't know. But do you wanna join our party-shut up, Ichiro, we know you're stoned, stop repeating. Huh? Wait, where are you going?"
Ding-dong.
"Ichi-who?"
Ding-dong.
"Oh? I don't think so. But feel free to come in and have tea. Are you sure? This is really good tea..."
Ding-dong.
"Yes? I am. What? I'm not lying! What? I'm too fat and bald and old...?! Get out!"
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"Looks like we checked up the wrong person." Miyako noted.
"Ah, it's all my fault..." Ken apologized.
"Don't worry about it, if it was me, I'd have probably done the same thing."
(Conversations in will be denoted as spoken in a language foreign to Japanese.)
"Excuse me." A blonde woman dressed in very American clothes approached Ken and Miyako. "Do you know English?"
"What is she saying?" Miyako whispered to Ken.
"A little." Ken spoke, an obvious Japanese accent and katakana broken English with his words. English wasn't necessarily his best subject, although he bettered a lot of people in it simply because of his higher intelligence.
"Do you know how to get to a bar? Like, where you have a drink and relax?" The woman blurted out quite quickly.
"Did you catch that?" Ken looked at Miyako.
Miyako shook her head.
"Oh. I know." Ken took out his cell, then pressed a few buttons.
The screen flashed out 'Translator', then a warning window: 'Still being beta-tested.' Ken ignored it. He handed the phone to the woman.
"Press...what you want to say...on phone." Ken struggled. His English course was quite straightforward, and only asked for the memorization, much less the usage of the syntax of English.
"Oh, I see." The woman took the phone, then fidgeted for a while on the small keypad before handing it back to Ken.
Ken took the phone and pressed 'Translate'.
Miyako moved her head in to see.
'Do you know how to get to the refrigerator in the men's room of the library?'
Sweatdrop.
Ken mumbled and typed in a response into the phone. "To get to the men's room in the library, go up to the second floor and take a left." Ken quite distinctively remembered from his last visit and the complexity of the structure in the library.
The woman looked at the phone, puzzled. Her friend, also foreign, moved in to look at the phone.
'To get to chocolate in Hell, roll down the stairs when you see the blue dodecagon sign.'
"What is he talking about?" The second woman asked in a tone of absolute confusion.
"Maybe this 'Hell' is a place name or something." The woman suggests. "I'll ask him."
And she starts to type on the keypad again.
Ken looks at the phone again, hoping that it would be settled soon.
'Where is the library?'
"To get to the library, take a left when you get to the corner at the end of this street, and it will be straight ahead." Ken recited before he pressed a button and handed it back to the woman.
'To get to Hell, stand in the middle of the street, and wait for two minutes or so.'
The woman threw the phone back at Ken and commented a few choice English words that even Miyako could easily recognize and stormed away.
"Well, that was odd." Ken turned to Miyako.
Miyako slowly nodded, not sure of what happened. "It's a bit late. We should get back."
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-Ken&Miyako@GlassCafé-
"So we'll just wait for Hikari-chan to finish before we get home." Miyako repeated to Ken.
Miyako swiftly entered the doors and gave Hikari an excited greeting before helping herself to a small table.
Ken, on the other hand, simply politely waved at Hikari before following Miyako to a seat.
"Hikari will probably be done in...maybe 15 minutes or so." Miyako estimated.
"Ah, that won't be too long." Ken said, about to sit down.
"Mm. Come over on this side." Miyako patted the seat adjacent to herself, suggesting Ken to sit there rather than the one opposite.
"Umm. Okay." Ken sat down.
Miyako rested her head on Ken's shoulder.
"Uh? Miyako-chan?" Ken carefully looked over at his shoulder.
"You don't mind, do you?" Miyako slurred. "I'm just tired."
"No, I guess I don't mind." Ken uncomfortably shifted.
"Thanks, Ken-chan." Miyako sighed. "You're such a good friend. And we haven't even met for that long."
Ken's conscience stirred.
How come...This is so odd. Do girls often do this to girls? It's not a same gender thing, I've never seen boys do this to each other. How...strange. Maybe it's just a girl girl thing. But...
Ken took a quick glance at Miyako's head on his shoulder.
It's such a comforting thing to do. Between friends? Between lovers? I don't think it matters. It's just...that, why don't boys do it too?
A picture of Daisuke leaning his head on Ken's shoulder flashed through his head and he kept himself from shuddering.
"So." Ken broke the silence. "You still didn't tell me why you wanted to find Ichijouji Ken."
"You really want to know?" Miyako mumbled without moving.
"...A bit." Ken admitted, staring straight across the table.
"It's just that...did you ever have a fantasy when you were little, and that fantasy seemed to still make such perfect sense to try to act out in real life even when you're older?" Miyako attempted to describe.
"...No, I don't think so." Ken frankly answered. He wasn't sure even what Miyako was saying.
"I guess maybe you won't understand, then." Miyako stopped, then the silence returned.
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"Miyako-chan, I'll be ready in about 2-" Hikari said from two tables away.
Ken crossed his lips with his index finger, and pointed to the sleeping Miyako on his shoulder.
Hikari nodded, then quietly walked back to the counter with two handfuls of trays.
Ken regretfully looked at Miyako's sleeping face.
If, perhaps, we were in different circumstances...
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"-decide." Gabu patted Ken's back. "Remember what you promised me for tonight."
"I remember." Ken nodded, his face slightly troubled.
"I'll try." Ken stressed again.
"Minna-san*, it's dinner time!" Sora projected from the kitchen.
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"Ne, Take." Ken went and sat beside Takeru on the bunk bed.
"What is it?" Takeru looked at Ken. "You're forgetting your -chan again."
"Forget about those things." Ken grumbled.
"Um, okay."
"What do you feel about this?" Ken plopped his head onto Takeru's shoulders.
Takeru's forehead darkened. "Um...uh, well, that is...I'm really happy that you feel that way about me, but I don't think I can accept your feelings..."
"Not that." Ken pointed to the contact point between Ken's head and Takeru's shoulder. "This."
"Oh." Takeru pondered. "Well...er, seriously, it doesn't feel bad at all."
"Really?" Ken raised an eyebrow.
"Just a bit odd coming from you."
"Well, night." Ken lifted his head and climbed into the top bunk.
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"Who are you?"
I'm Ichijouji Ken.
"That's not true! You can't be Ichijouji Ken."
I am him.
"You can't be him! Because I am him!"
You? Ichijouji Ken? You're not.
"I am! Look at me!"
Who are you trying to lie to, you fake?
Ken opened his eyes. They closed, seconds later.
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"Do you want to come with me again today?" Miyako ran up to Ken.
It was only a semi-minute after the after school bell had rang. Ken didn't have any attempts to escape.
"No, I think I'm going to pass."
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Tuduku.
BGM: Aban 02 - Digimon 02
Next Episode:
Yamato: A two-part episode, Taichi finds himself struggling with school, and Sora helps him out, but Taichi doesn't intent to get help from her. Also, a substitute? This person...
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* Glossary
1) In one of the Japanese coins, sakura is printed on one side.
2) Tokyo is separated in to several districts. Odaiba being one of them, as well as Shinjuku.
3) -chan is an 'ending' used along with someone's name. Usually for girls, and definitely between very familiar people. Has a bit of a 'cutesy' intent.
4) A senpai is basically a senior (in that they probably have more experience than you, rather than be really old), possibly at school, work, or anywhere else.
5) Kogepan is a girl item much like Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, Pochacco, and others. It's a piece of burnt bread (and tries to warn of other young breads not to get burnt!).
6) -niisan after someone's name tells of that they are the older brother of the speaker.
7) Ichiyo Higuchi is a historical figure (female) printed on a 5000 yen bill. Daisuke saying that is much like saying 'George Washington' for whatever bill he is printed on (I'm not sure because I'm Canadian =p).
8) Minna-san means everyone, simply.
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So...yep. Please review.
-Lumi
Oi oi! Lumi here. First of all, biiiiig apology. People who have read my fic before will know what I'm talking about, people who's first time reading this should skip this part so you won't know what a horrible person I am.
Ever since Christmas, there has been a big period of...well, nothing. I can justify that with a long list of legitimate reasons, but I don't think you'd want to hear it anyway. So, yeah. I'm postponing the Christmas fic until Christmas of 2003. Why? So I'll be able to get something that's a bit more than half-assed, and would be on time for Christmas. The results will be kept, although suggestions for plot and settings could still be sent in. Sorry for all the fuss and inconvenience. Sorry sorry.
And...recognition of new reviewers: fan of boku-tachi/atashi-tachi, Angel Reaper, Angelic-Yuki, Gohan SSJ2, A.J, Kai, Sera, Savoan Locc, aiko, xluvablexlilxgrlx, Pinali, Relaxing Pikachu (hi hi!), hannah, Ladychichi, windedlove, Princess Roly, and Saiouri 17.
Whew.
Anyway, I'm going to try to keep writing this fic in a usteady/u pace, but I can't guarantee the one chapter per week thing anymore.
Enough blabber.
Any * marked items might not be familiar to some people, and it explained at the bottom.
Disclaimer: If Digimon was mine, I would never touch the dub. Therefore, it is not mine.
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Episode 7: Shinjuku chase
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Ken quickly scribbled the last few words before grabbing the paper, stuffing it into his bag (Kei insisted that over the backpack. A stronger image of a girl, says he.), and runs off from the classroom seconds after the periodic bell rings. Immediately after exiting the classroom, he looks to both his sides. Numbers and formulae, namely the Pythagorean and a several others, ran through his head.
Left side...approximately...230 metres.
Right side...about...240 metres.
Ken swore silently, keeping the indecency a secret. Quickly from his pocket he pulled out a coin, 100 yen. Right arm held out and eyes closed, he quickly assigned a face to either side.
Plop.
Ken opened one eye. The coin landed on his hand.
On its side.
Now, Ken didn't feel the intent to shake it or topple the coin so that it would land on a decisive side. Doing so would make the result entirely based on how exactly he contacted the coin, and not up to advantages or fate. Speaking of fate, Ken also wanted to question why it was being so humorous today, in that a coin landing on its side is a ridiculous probability even lower than rolling six dices and getting all the same number at the same time.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Plop.
The coin finally fell to a side, revealing designs of metallic sakura*. Ken rushed to the right.
"Aa, Ken-chan!"
Ken mumbled another vulgarity. He found himself to be often repeating this new found habit ever since he had played this little game of 'I'll dress up and you can watch me as I walk around talking to others and pretending that I'm female you sick bastard'.
"Un, what is it?" Ken turned politely towards Miyako.
"Do you want to help me today again?" Miyako asked.
Ever since a bit ago, Miyako had requested 'Kenko' to join her in her quest to search for Ichijouji Ken, miraculously the same person as Kenko and not found out. Ken wasn't sure why. As Ichijouji Ken, he had met Miyako for...15 minutes, along with a phone call that resulted in less than that amount of time. If for some reason, Ken had proposed a marriage to Miyako (providing that she agreed), and that Ken had ran away, it would be understandable. But, this case is much lighter. Ken wonders if he actually found someone more ill than Kei.
Ken self-consciously placed a finger beside his head while brushing away locks of hair. "Umm, today? I don't think..."
"Oh." Miyako blankly said. "If you can't come, that's alright. Too bad, though, I'm going to go see if he's at his house today."
"I don't think that I can't go!" Ken forcefully improvised.
Miyako wrinkled her brows at the odd wording.
"Yeah, if I think you'll need some help if you're going to do something like that..." Ken laughed nervously.
Ken believes that Miyako will seriously go to his house and turn the whole place around if she needs. Although quite a trouble for himself, he is quite able to go and pretend to help, as he is secretly destructive to her progresses.
Miyako's continuing words become increasingly indistinct to Ken as he guiltily looked aside.
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-Ken&Miyako@Library-
"Where do you think the phone book usually is?" Miyako turned around in circles to look. "It's not like I usually come to the library..."
"I'll go find it, then." Ken calmly volunteered. "What do you need it for?"
"Ah, just to find Ichijouji Ken's address."
"Oh. I'll just do that for you."
"Ah? Okay, thanks!"
Ken uncomfortably glanced around as he headed towards the counter with several phone books stacked neatly on top of each other. He awkwardly pulled one off the top (probably due to the weight and his reduced strength) and started to flip through the pages.
If I get lucky enough, I might be able to pull this off...
Ken glanced behind himself at Miyako, then quickly backed at the phone book before anyone noticed.
She doesn't seem to be the brightest, but she might catch on quickly if she remembers.
Now...
Ken stopped at a page, then trailed down the dusty page with his index finger down to one name.
Yes. This will do for now.
"Yo!" Miyako suddenly jump-hugged Ken, with her arms around his neck. "Did you find it?"
"U...un." Ken stuttered. It was a common 'girl thing' to do (guys certainly didn't do this to each other), but Ken is still far from getting used to it.
Slowly removing Miyako's arms one by one, Ken then pointed on one line on the page.
"There?" Miyako's eyes followed Ken's finger.
The name corresponded, 'Ichijouji Ken'. And on the right of that, past the numbers...
"Eh?! Shinjuku*?" Miyako exclaimed, her eyes widening. "But I thought he lived in Odaiba..."
"Hmm, I guess not. You know, if you think Shinjuku is too far, then we don't have to-"
"No, that's alright with me." Miyako paused for a second. "Are you okay with it?"
"Ahahaha, as long as you're okay with it..." Ken's cheek twitched as he forced a smile.
Ahahaha, we're so going to get into trouble...
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-Ken&Miyako@Train-
Ken worriedly around his surroundings; everyone was barely managing, everyone barely had their own space to move around, but enough to not get squished. He glanced at the Baby-G on his wrist (again, Kei insisted something slightly more girly than the alternative), reading 4:32, with a smaller counter displaying 45 and consistently increasing. Ken was thankful; it's not yet time until adults get off their job and go to happy hour.
"Should we call Sora-chan and the others to tell them that we're going to be in Shinjuku?" Ken asked Miyako. He was still uncomfortable calling someone not so familiar -chan*, especially a senpai*. Damn those twisted school rules that need getting used to.
Miyako started to move her hands around her hips, mainly around her pockets, as if to agree to what Ken just said.
"Yeah...sure. I'll get my cell..." Miyako replied in doubt as she tries to search through the possible holding areas in her clothes for her cell, then tries one more time.
"Hmm. Are you sure? Maybe you left it somewhere?" Ken suggested, then looked around, mainly at the windows, as if implying 'Well, it's not like you can go get it now.'
"Oh!" Miyako snapped her fingers and swung her arm. "I remember now. The teacher was walking by, so I put the cell in my binder in a hurry, and I probably put it into the locker after class and forgot about it. Damn it, Miyako, damn it!"
Ken laughed slightly at her exaggerated reaction. "It's okay. I'll call them."
Ken reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cell (Kogepan* themed shell, because Kei said so for girly, and Kogepan is not as girly as other things, but girly enough), then pressed a button beside the relatively large screen.
"Home." Ken said into the mic, followed by tones emitted by the phone.
"...Eh?" Ken accidentally voiced, took a glance at Miyako, then quickly turned so his back faced her.
"What are you doing, Gabu?" Ken whispered. "Put Take on the phone. What? Just do it. Huh? ...I'll think about it. What? Meat? Fine, fine. I'll try."
Ken looked over his shoulder while he waited. Miyako wasn't paying attention to him, and he looked back.
"Take-chan?" Ken unnaturally said into the phone. "Miyako-chan and I are going to be a bit late. Why? Oh, there's just this little thing that I have to do. Oh, and when Kei...-niisan* gets back, can you tell him to...uh, do something about the current situation?"
It would probably be less fishy to Miyako in the case that she overhears that Ken calls Kei '-nii-san'. Ken looked to the side to see the still bug, floating in the air. Normally, if Kei was there, he'd make the bee fly around and be annoying, but it seems to be on autopilot for now. Perhaps he's on some long ass lunch break.
"Aa. Thanks." Ken ended the call with a button press.
"So..." Miyako focused on Ken as he pocketed his cell.
"We're all good." Ken nodded. "We won't have to hurry now."
"Ah, that's good." Miyako nodded as well.
"..."
"Hahahahaha..." Ken and Miyako both nervously laughed at the same time.
Oddly, there began to exist an odd awkward silence that Miyako never thought existed between girls. And it continued.
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-15 minutes later-
Ken continued to look down at his feet. He wished that Shinjuku would be soon, but the train continued on. What was it? Boredom? Tiredness? Discomfort? Whatever it was disturbed Ken.
...U...uh?
Ken peered behind him to find a middle-aged bald man standing right behind him.
Thi-This is...
And feeling a certain pair of hands touching around down at his...behind.
Oh no...
Not only touching, but also a bit of...massaging. Ken blushed.
Ken positioned his feet to turn around quickly when he felt a particularly sharp object pointed at his back.
"Don't shout, little miss. Or else, I don't know what might happen."
Ken shot a look at the zoned out Miyako, but she continued to look elsewhere, as no large action served as a stimulus for her to react.
[Don't worry.]
Huh?
[That knife is retractable. One of those toy ones. A bit more pressure and it'll retract into the handle. The guy is probably afraid to be caught with a real knife.]
A familiar mini flying object flew in front of Ken's eyes and started to wave its hands.
"Are you sure? How do you know?" Ken anxiously questioned, but quietly.
[Well, very rarely do you have a knife with a handle that's longer than the blade, that's not very efficient. So, I'm guessing...]
"Guessing?! What if I die?"
[Well, if you like what's happening right now, there won't be a risk at all.]
"Oh, screw it." Ken swiftly made a half turn, surprising the man. He quickly dropped the false blade.
Miyako looked to the blade drop, more so to the sound of it.
"What's wrong, Ken-chan?" Miyako asked, worried at the odd air between Ken and the man.
"He was groping me." Ken calmly said. "What should I do?"
"Oh, please don't shout or tell the police! If you do, my wife will-" the man pleaded.
"Oh. Alright." Ken understandingly agreed. "But you better not shout either."
These past weeks, Ken has been under tremendous stress. The workload at Sakura high wasn't any easier than his previous school, and his disguise put him into constant paranoia. Not to mention the occasional times like these where he has to accompany Miyako.
Ken's knee lifted.
"Argh! I hate gropers!" Miyako exclaimed. And she helped out.
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"Upcoming station: Shinjuku."
Sounds of sliding doors.
Murmurs.
Sound of a falling object.
Mixing of various conversations.
"Hey, what happened?"
"Someone fainted!"
"They look beat up!"
"Let's get out of here!"
"Un."
"Are you okay?"
"Someone call the ambulance."
"I'm on it, I'm on it!"
Sounds of sliding doors.
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-Ken&Miyako@ShinjukuStation-
"Phew, that was close." Ken wiped his hand over his forehead, removing the sweat.
They just left the train, and is standing in the middle of the station, standing beside a pillar.
"Geez. I didn't know he would faint that easily." Miyako cracked her knuckles. "But that old guy deserved it. I hate gropers."
"I could tell..." Ken chuckled. "I only kneed him once."
"I was just a bit..." Miyako puffed up her face, not knowing how to end the sentence.
Miyako stared at Ken, slightly annoyed, as if saying 'What the hell?'.
"Eh? What is it?" Ken looked over himself, trying to figure out what Miyako was staring at.
"Why did that old guy grope you?" Miyako complained, her tone whined.
"...What?" Ken stared back at Miyako with a confused look.
"I was right beside you. Why did he prefer you?"
"Uh...that's...uh.." Ken tried to think up a valid reason.
Miyako whipped her hand out and, quite casually, slapped Ken's butt. She then looked back at her hand.
"Miyako-chan!"
"Well, I guess I can't compare." Miyako said dully and started walking towards the stairs.
"Wait, you're not mad, are you?" Ken ran up to her.
"No, I'm not mad."
"Really?"
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The streets were uncomfortably crowded with constant bypassers, and cars moved slowly, one car length at a time. The sun shined brightly as it is late spring, and nearing summer. The air was filled with an unexplainably typical chatter and the occasional cigarette smoke. People stopped and gathered inside stores and in front of crosswalks; more noises gather around there. And two rests in the moving blur of colours.
"Say, Miyako-chan." Ken changed the topic.
"Hmm? What is it?" Miyako light-heartedly answered.
"Why..." Ken awkwardly said. "Why do you want to find Ichijouji Ken?"
"Eh?" Miyako's face reddened. "I told you before. It's because he didn't phone me back. Plus, don't you want to stand beside him? And I can see how similar you too look." Miyako joked.
"That's it?" Ken's expression turned very serious. "I don't look that much like Ichijouji Ken, do I?"
After the keen observations noted by the girls, Kei had given Ken some fairly convincing make-up, which seemed to make the eyes bigger and the nose a big smaller, much more girlish.
"Well...I guess not." Miyako looked aside. "You know what? That's...not important for now. What we should do now is find him first." She took out a piece of folded paper, and began to unfold it.
Suddenly, a boy, much about the size of Ken, ran out and took the piece of paper, then ran off into the crowd, disappearing.
"That! That was Ken!" Miyako jumped and pointed. "We have to go catch him!"
"What?" Ken blinked. The vision of the boy was not very clear to him. "How are you so sure?"
"He just resembles Ken! And his hair, I mean, how many boys have such girly hair?" Miyako grabbed Ken's hand then started to run. "Come on!"
"...Girly hair..." Ken mumbled darkly to himself while being dragged.
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As Ken started to run, he catches more and more impressions of the boy. That body type. That height. That hair. The complete reminiscence of Ichijouji Ken.
Running through the Shinjuku streets was a problem due to the amount of people there, but more for Ken and Miyako than for the boy, as they are running together, and is more easily intercepted (accidentally, of course) by pedestrians. Lots of them.
The two of them constantly bumped into bodies, and most of them had a strong stopping power (occasionally accompanied by words of vulgarity), and is starting to increase the distance between Ken and Miyako, and the boy.
"No...!" Miyako panted. "I *cough*, can't hold on any *cough*, longer. I'll wait for you here." Miyako let go of her hand, and dropped onto a sitting position from her fatigue.
Ken gave a quick glance at Miyako behind him, then started to sprint faster ahead. His locks of hair conveniently found their way to flow with the wind and out of Ken's sight. Without Miyako, he was more able to avoid the obstacles in his way, and found the boy closer to him.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Ken took on a rhythmic pattern in dodging, which was surprisingly effective. The boy was in perfect view. The resemblance was flawless from the back.
The boy pushed away pedestrians in his way, and, Ken behind him was not burdened in speed due to the cleared path he was given. Ken acknowledged the arms length distance.
Who are you?
Ken reached out, and the boy fell down along with him. Still feeling the boy's waist, Ken didn't hurry to get up to full readiness.
"Hehehe."
"You! Who-" Ken found himself interrupted by a familiar smiling face. He quickly looked back to see if Miyako was in range. She was left far behind.
"What are you doing here?!" Ken angrily shouted as he pulled the wig off the boy.
"Whaaa? Is that how you thank me?" Daisuke groaned as he rubbed his head in pain of having his disguise so violently removed.
"Thank you?! Why should I thank you?"
"Let's continue this after we get up."
Ken looked around.
Girl on boy.
A lot of looks.
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Daisuke and Ken found a close corner of a restaurant, then started to relax from their chase.
"No wonder it was you." Ken brushed his hair carefully with his hands and the mirror image from the glass of the restaurant. "I didn't think there were such good runners anymore."
"But anyway." Ken slammed his hand on the wall beside Daisuke. "Explain why you're here."
Daisuke looked away with a silly expression. Ken followed his eyes with an even angrier look.
"Alright, alright." Daisuke pushed Ken's hand down from the wall, reducing the slight hostility. "That guy, what's his name? Kei. He told me to come here. By the way, why aren't you wearing a skirt right now?"
"Kei?" Veins popped in Ken's forehead. It wasn't the first time Kei troubled him. "Why did you follow what he said?"
"Of course I asked him the reason as well before going ahead. I'm not going to do something so ridiculous for no reason."
"Which were?" Ken pressed on.
"Okay." Daisuke held up a closed fist, then started to spread his fingers as he counted. "One. He said that you asked for him to help you."
"... can you tell him to...uh, do something about the current situation?"
"That, that's-How is this helping?" Ken stuttered.
"Two." Daisuke pointed out his index finger. "If I take your sheet of paper, then you don't have to go to that fake address that you put down and make lots of trouble."
Ken's eyes widened in shock. "How, how..."
"Kei-san looked back on the video that when he returned. He said something like...'Ken-san must be misleading Miyako-san to Shinjuku, because his address must be listed under his father's name, not his.'...or something." Daisuke recalled.
"Third." Daisuke continued before Ken can budge a word in. "The simultaneous existence of 'Ichijouji Ken' and you will eliminate any possibility of the two becoming the same entity."
"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Ken asked, stunned.
"Oh, I just memorized what Kei said." Daisuke shamelessly replied.
"..."
"And one more." Daisuke lifted up his ring finger. "That me talking to you right now will make the girl stay longer in Shinjuku, and you won't have enough time to continue searching in Odaiba for today."
"I thought that one up." Daisuke smiled brightly.
"Heh." Ken found himself lightened up. "You came all the way here for me?"
Daisuke cupped his chin in thought. "For you and for Ichiyo Higuchi*."
Ken whacked Daisuke from upside the head.
"I came here in a hurry, so I forgot my wallet. I need to go back to Odaiba or else I'll miss my soccer practice." Daisuke tapped his watch.
"What? You're way late!" Ken took out his pocket and started to look through his coins. "Why don't you get Ichiyo Higuchi to pay for your train fare?"
"Pfft. Stop fooling around and hand it over." Daisuke snatched the messy coins from Ken's palm and threw the wig at Ken, then started to run back to the train station.
"Stop getting into trouble!" Ken shouted.
Daisuke responded with single wave behind him.
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"Ken-chan!" Miyako yelled over the crowd as she saw him. "Did you get it back?"
Ken made an exaggerated movement by shaking his head as he headed even closer towards Miyako.
"He was too fast." Ken panted fakely. "Couldn't catch up."
"He is a great soccer player, after all." Miyako said, defeated. "But why did he do that? And how did he know that we're going to find him?"
"Eh, let's not worry about that for now." Ken waved it off. "Now that we don't have the paper anymore, we should go-"
"Actually." Miyako looked up. "I think I remember the street. We can just ask every single house."
"What? You're not serious..."
"Of course I'm serious."
And Miyako dragged Ken off.
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Ding-dong.
"No, there's no one like that here."
Ding-dong.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. I'll have to check through the employee list, please wait."
Ding-dong.
"Huh. I don't know. But do you wanna join our party-shut up, Ichiro, we know you're stoned, stop repeating. Huh? Wait, where are you going?"
Ding-dong.
"Ichi-who?"
Ding-dong.
"Oh? I don't think so. But feel free to come in and have tea. Are you sure? This is really good tea..."
Ding-dong.
"Yes? I am. What? I'm not lying! What? I'm too fat and bald and old...?! Get out!"
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"Looks like we checked up the wrong person." Miyako noted.
"Ah, it's all my fault..." Ken apologized.
"Don't worry about it, if it was me, I'd have probably done the same thing."
(Conversations in will be denoted as spoken in a language foreign to Japanese.)
"Excuse me." A blonde woman dressed in very American clothes approached Ken and Miyako. "Do you know English?"
"What is she saying?" Miyako whispered to Ken.
"A little." Ken spoke, an obvious Japanese accent and katakana broken English with his words. English wasn't necessarily his best subject, although he bettered a lot of people in it simply because of his higher intelligence.
"Do you know how to get to a bar? Like, where you have a drink and relax?" The woman blurted out quite quickly.
"Did you catch that?" Ken looked at Miyako.
Miyako shook her head.
"Oh. I know." Ken took out his cell, then pressed a few buttons.
The screen flashed out 'Translator', then a warning window: 'Still being beta-tested.' Ken ignored it. He handed the phone to the woman.
"Press...what you want to say...on phone." Ken struggled. His English course was quite straightforward, and only asked for the memorization, much less the usage of the syntax of English.
"Oh, I see." The woman took the phone, then fidgeted for a while on the small keypad before handing it back to Ken.
Ken took the phone and pressed 'Translate'.
Miyako moved her head in to see.
'Do you know how to get to the refrigerator in the men's room of the library?'
Sweatdrop.
Ken mumbled and typed in a response into the phone. "To get to the men's room in the library, go up to the second floor and take a left." Ken quite distinctively remembered from his last visit and the complexity of the structure in the library.
The woman looked at the phone, puzzled. Her friend, also foreign, moved in to look at the phone.
'To get to chocolate in Hell, roll down the stairs when you see the blue dodecagon sign.'
"What is he talking about?" The second woman asked in a tone of absolute confusion.
"Maybe this 'Hell' is a place name or something." The woman suggests. "I'll ask him."
And she starts to type on the keypad again.
Ken looks at the phone again, hoping that it would be settled soon.
'Where is the library?'
"To get to the library, take a left when you get to the corner at the end of this street, and it will be straight ahead." Ken recited before he pressed a button and handed it back to the woman.
'To get to Hell, stand in the middle of the street, and wait for two minutes or so.'
The woman threw the phone back at Ken and commented a few choice English words that even Miyako could easily recognize and stormed away.
"Well, that was odd." Ken turned to Miyako.
Miyako slowly nodded, not sure of what happened. "It's a bit late. We should get back."
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-Ken&Miyako@GlassCafé-
"So we'll just wait for Hikari-chan to finish before we get home." Miyako repeated to Ken.
Miyako swiftly entered the doors and gave Hikari an excited greeting before helping herself to a small table.
Ken, on the other hand, simply politely waved at Hikari before following Miyako to a seat.
"Hikari will probably be done in...maybe 15 minutes or so." Miyako estimated.
"Ah, that won't be too long." Ken said, about to sit down.
"Mm. Come over on this side." Miyako patted the seat adjacent to herself, suggesting Ken to sit there rather than the one opposite.
"Umm. Okay." Ken sat down.
Miyako rested her head on Ken's shoulder.
"Uh? Miyako-chan?" Ken carefully looked over at his shoulder.
"You don't mind, do you?" Miyako slurred. "I'm just tired."
"No, I guess I don't mind." Ken uncomfortably shifted.
"Thanks, Ken-chan." Miyako sighed. "You're such a good friend. And we haven't even met for that long."
Ken's conscience stirred.
How come...This is so odd. Do girls often do this to girls? It's not a same gender thing, I've never seen boys do this to each other. How...strange. Maybe it's just a girl girl thing. But...
Ken took a quick glance at Miyako's head on his shoulder.
It's such a comforting thing to do. Between friends? Between lovers? I don't think it matters. It's just...that, why don't boys do it too?
A picture of Daisuke leaning his head on Ken's shoulder flashed through his head and he kept himself from shuddering.
"So." Ken broke the silence. "You still didn't tell me why you wanted to find Ichijouji Ken."
"You really want to know?" Miyako mumbled without moving.
"...A bit." Ken admitted, staring straight across the table.
"It's just that...did you ever have a fantasy when you were little, and that fantasy seemed to still make such perfect sense to try to act out in real life even when you're older?" Miyako attempted to describe.
"...No, I don't think so." Ken frankly answered. He wasn't sure even what Miyako was saying.
"I guess maybe you won't understand, then." Miyako stopped, then the silence returned.
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"Miyako-chan, I'll be ready in about 2-" Hikari said from two tables away.
Ken crossed his lips with his index finger, and pointed to the sleeping Miyako on his shoulder.
Hikari nodded, then quietly walked back to the counter with two handfuls of trays.
Ken regretfully looked at Miyako's sleeping face.
If, perhaps, we were in different circumstances...
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"-decide." Gabu patted Ken's back. "Remember what you promised me for tonight."
"I remember." Ken nodded, his face slightly troubled.
"I'll try." Ken stressed again.
"Minna-san*, it's dinner time!" Sora projected from the kitchen.
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"Ne, Take." Ken went and sat beside Takeru on the bunk bed.
"What is it?" Takeru looked at Ken. "You're forgetting your -chan again."
"Forget about those things." Ken grumbled.
"Um, okay."
"What do you feel about this?" Ken plopped his head onto Takeru's shoulders.
Takeru's forehead darkened. "Um...uh, well, that is...I'm really happy that you feel that way about me, but I don't think I can accept your feelings..."
"Not that." Ken pointed to the contact point between Ken's head and Takeru's shoulder. "This."
"Oh." Takeru pondered. "Well...er, seriously, it doesn't feel bad at all."
"Really?" Ken raised an eyebrow.
"Just a bit odd coming from you."
"Well, night." Ken lifted his head and climbed into the top bunk.
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"Who are you?"
I'm Ichijouji Ken.
"That's not true! You can't be Ichijouji Ken."
I am him.
"You can't be him! Because I am him!"
You? Ichijouji Ken? You're not.
"I am! Look at me!"
Who are you trying to lie to, you fake?
Ken opened his eyes. They closed, seconds later.
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"Do you want to come with me again today?" Miyako ran up to Ken.
It was only a semi-minute after the after school bell had rang. Ken didn't have any attempts to escape.
"No, I think I'm going to pass."
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Tuduku.
BGM: Aban 02 - Digimon 02
Next Episode:
Yamato: A two-part episode, Taichi finds himself struggling with school, and Sora helps him out, but Taichi doesn't intent to get help from her. Also, a substitute? This person...
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* Glossary
1) In one of the Japanese coins, sakura is printed on one side.
2) Tokyo is separated in to several districts. Odaiba being one of them, as well as Shinjuku.
3) -chan is an 'ending' used along with someone's name. Usually for girls, and definitely between very familiar people. Has a bit of a 'cutesy' intent.
4) A senpai is basically a senior (in that they probably have more experience than you, rather than be really old), possibly at school, work, or anywhere else.
5) Kogepan is a girl item much like Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, Pochacco, and others. It's a piece of burnt bread (and tries to warn of other young breads not to get burnt!).
6) -niisan after someone's name tells of that they are the older brother of the speaker.
7) Ichiyo Higuchi is a historical figure (female) printed on a 5000 yen bill. Daisuke saying that is much like saying 'George Washington' for whatever bill he is printed on (I'm not sure because I'm Canadian =p).
8) Minna-san means everyone, simply.
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So...yep. Please review.
-Lumi