New Year Tricks by: Artemis

Chapter three: The Trip

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

No sooner had the last 'h' in their scream ended, when a blast of ice-cold water came out from the hose.

~~2 minutes later~~

A cheery Mrs. Orimoto was washing the dishes in the kitchen. She hummed a tune as the suds in the sink floated around. It was about five thirty in the late afternoon, and the plump, kind-faced woman was due for a trip to Canada, with her husband, the next day. Ah, Canada, a place where she could relax whilst her huhspand went to business meetings, where she could get away from her daughter and her friends…

A burst of laughter erupted from the living room, reminding the mother of who exactly were lounging about in her house.

The Living Room.

Izumi shivered as she tried to untangle her wet, knotted hair with a brush. Her kind mother had oh-so-generously splayed Kouji and herself with a blast of cold water from the garden hose a few minutes ago. Some bath. Kouichi and his friends were visiting after school, and it didn't help that Hannah was taking a picture a minute, with her digicam. The girl wrapped the lavender towel tighter around her body, as she tried to ignore her present situation, and focus more on Takuya's hopelessly corny jokes. Suddenly, a message tone was heard ringing, along with a cellphone's vibration, and Kouichi flipped his tiny device open. He read the message aloud. It was from Mrs. Akiyama.

'Dear students,

Unfortunately, our dear principal, Mr. Wasabe, has been hospitalized due to a heart attack. He is recovering, in the hospital at this moment, and, in his kindness, has cancelled school for three weeks. Please pray that his condition will improve.

Mrs. Akiyama'

"Oh yes!" exclaimed James, a little too enthusiastically.

Kouichi's eyes widened.

"No school? Three weeks? Did our school principal have amnesia, or something?"

Kouichi was right to doubt the message. This fact was hardly believable, considering that the tyrant-principal, Mr. Wasabe, seemed to be the most ill tempered human being on the face of this planet. Was he actually giving them three weeks off?

Tommy nodded happily.

"Cool, isn't it?" He asked, his bangs nearly covering his eyes.

Izumi nodded, already imagining those wonderful days she could spend, doing nothing.

"I think I enjoy Wasabe more when he's sick." Agreed a drenched Kouji, wrapping a blue towel around himself. He then gave a slight smile, despite his present condition. This, of course, shocked everyone a good bit, since the loner never smiled, except on rare occasions, such as these. The event was so phenomenal, that the amateur photographer even snapped a picture of Kouji.

"Yes! I'll finally be able to upload all the pictures from the Christmas party and post it on the class site!" Rejoiced Hannah, tapping her faithful, and slightly battered digicam, with one finger.

"Oh no…" Said Kouji, as soon as he had heard this. 'Crazy girl's going to humiliate me in front of the while class again…stupid digicam…' He thought, menacingly.

"Oh yes!" snickered Takuya. He was going to enjoy this. It was a well-known fact that most of the pictures Hannah took, were embarrassing ones. And Kouji had two of them.

The friends laughed, and started to plan what they were going to do for the three weeks off. Junpei shared some information about a new movie coming out, a few days from the present. Tommy took out a deck of cards, and suggested that they break the world record for longest card game ever. Hannah supported Junpei's suggestion, despite the fact that she stubbornly insisted that Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, was the greatest movie in filmmaking history. Kouichi suggested visiting Mr. Wasabe, like the good-hearted person that he was, but, unfortunately, everyone turned it down, not wanting to increase the risk of their dear old principal regaining his memory.

It seemed like they were out of favorable suggestions, as the conversation dragged on. Tommy checked his watch. So much time had flown by, in such a short while. It was hard to believe that it was already seven in the evening. Maybe they could continue their planning session tomorrow, he thought. Suddenly, Izumi, who hadn't been contributing much to the conversation, until recently, bolted upright in her seat, beside Kouji, an excited look dancing in her emerald green eyes.

"I've got it!" she said, raising a finger. Everyone then turned his or her heads in her direction, wondering what it was that made the girl so ecstatic.

"Huh? Got what, Izumi?" asked Junpei, hoping that she hadn't lost her mind, since her hands were empty.

"We can go to China, to follow that old man who sold me this snake!" She raised her wrist, showing the little dark green piece of cloth, a near-perfect imitation of the real reptilian animal, with every scale, an exact replica of the real thing.

"Wait a minute…how sure are you that he's in china?" Asked Kouji skeptically. Sometimes, Izumi thought too fast, and often got them into sticky situations. But, he thought, that was also Takuya's problem.

"Well, he's not in his shop anymore…" Said Izumi thoughtfully. "And, judging from the fact that he never reappeared after the New Year's Festival, he could have gone back to China."

"Izumi-Chan is right!" Agreed Junpei.

Takuya shot him a look. "How would you know?"

"Well, when we were in the shop, I was looking at the mooncakes, which were near the cashier. The old shop owner was there, scribbling some notes. A fat envelope was there, too, and I saw that it contained a bunch of bills, and a plane ticket to China, scheduled for the next morning." Explained Junpei, to the quiet group.

"Yes, Junpei IS right, you know." Agreed Kouichi, checking his watch.

"Well, it is worth a try, but who will pay for the hotel rooms, and the trip?" Asked Takuya, adjusting his goggles.

"Hey, scratch the hotel. I'm paying for the trip." Said Hannah firmly.

The rest of the people looked at her, in surprise. The girl, unperturbed by their gazes, calmly took out a small box from her bag, and revealed it to be a money-container, which held A LOT of money, in Euros.

"Wait, you have THAT much money?" Asked James, crossing his arms. The fact that his best friend had a small fortune, and didn't tell anyone, bothered him.

"Yeah. How much do you think people pay me for taking embarrassing pics of Kouji?" She countered, smirking. Ah, but that girl was crafty. She knew that people, especially the girls, would pay her big bucks to take pictures of the elusive and mysterious Kouji Minamoto.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Kouji's eyes were wide in shock, as he began to turn slightly red, both from anger and embarrassment.

"Never mind" said Hannah, smiling. She replaced the box in her bag, and put it away.

"Okay, with the money settled, we can leave tomorrow, same time as mom does…" said Izumi, remembering her parents' business trip to Canada.

"That way, we get to save on gas." Said Junpei, matter-of-factly. "I can go online and reserve tickets now, if you like." He said, eyeing the Orimoto's PC, which stood in a corner.

"That would be great, Junpei, thanks." Izumi looked at him gratefully.

"Wait, where will we stay?" asked Tommy, worriedly. His parents would let him go, but not without knowing the who, what, why, where, and how. And, there was the fact that locating the shop owner would not be a piece of cake. Rather, it would be a piece of overripe bittermelon, if you will.

"Surely, there are a million shops all over China. How can we find that old man all in one day?"

Takuya nodded. "Tommy's right."

At that moment, the doorbell rang, and all their prayers were answered.

"Answer the door, Izumi." Called a voice from the kitchen, which was Mrs. Orimoto's.

Instinctively, Izumi got up, dragging Kouji with her, and turned the doorknob, to see none other than Kirschey Kuniyoshi, her classmate. The cheery girl lived next door, and was a new student at Shibuya High. Kirschey was carrying something with her, in a tote bag. She smiled at them, her blue eyes flashing.

"Hey, Kersh!" greeted Izumi, smiling. Her new neighbor didn't visit often, despite the fact that her mother had been asking her to do so, for the past few days.

"Hi Izumi! I brought cookies my mom baked, she said to give you some." The girl handed Izumi the object she was holding, a box filled with cookies.

"Oh, thank you!" Surprised, Izumi accepted the box, wrapped in shiny green paper, while Kouji looked over her shoulder.

"TY! Come on in, Kirschey, the others are here."

The new girl nodded, and followed the two inside. She was greeted by an ecstatic Hannah, a calm John and Kouichi, a friendly Junpei, an excited Tommy, and, after a few moments of nervous silence, Takuya, who nearly fell off his chair. Izumi unwrapped the box, and served the cookies, a delicious bunch that Mrs. Kuniyoshi had whipped up herself.

"Mmmm. This is good!" said a hungry Takuya, taking three cookies at a time. "Your mother sure knows how to bake, Kirschey!" he said, grinning. The girl simply nodded and smiled, watching all of them eat, contentedly, as early evening dragged on.

5 minutes later…

"Hey Kirschey, do you think that you could let us stay in your house, in China for a few days?" asked Hannah, taking a bite out of her Ebi Tempura, which they had for dinner in the Orimoto residence that night.

The girl nodded, obviously puzzled at the reason why these people had to go to China. Takuya noticed this, and explained to her the story behind Kouji, Izumi, and the cloth snake. When all was cleared, the German-Chinese-Japanese girl was more than willing to let her friends lodge in her home, if, that is, her parents agreed.

"Sure! When?" she asked, scribbling all the details on her notepad.

"Tomorrow."

"…"

"I bet you weren't expecting that, huh?" asked Junpei, drinking deeply from his glass.

"No I wasn't. Sure you can stay, I'll ask my mom…" finished Kirschey, reaching for her bag.

She brought a cellphone out of her bag's backpocket, and dialed her mother's number. Daughter conversed with mother for a few minutes, then she hung up, her face glowing. The response was positive.

"She said okay."

"Yes!"

The Next day, 3:34 .06 a.m.

The teenagers piled into the silver SUV, parked in the Orimoto's garage. Their luggage was strapped onto the roof of the car, and some were loaded into the back. Like the past two days, the boys slept on the living room floor, in the Orimotos' house last night, only to be woken up a few hours later, by a frantic Mrs. Orimoto, who has afraid that the flight would be missed. Groggily, each got up, after a good deal of prodding from the impatient mother. Izumi herself didn't get much sleep, and there was only so much that she could do, to keep herself awake. Altogether, there were six passengers, and one driver. The car was then reduced to a five-seater, since the luggage took up almost all of the back.

"Okay … you guys may have to squeeze a bit, Tommy, you can sit in between Takuya and Junpei. Izumi,.. There, that's it, all right, Kouji, you'll have the window seat. " Mr. Orimoto had tried to figure out a way to squeeze five people into three seats. So far, his efforts were in vain. For a few mintues, he had the already grumpy teenagers climbing in and out of the car, until they fit perfectly. It was hard, but in the end, they were finally able to squish together. The vehicle then pulled out of the street, and drove onwards, to the airport.

In the car

"Ouch, Takuya, your elbow's jutting in my rib." Complained Junpei, gesturing for the goggle-head to stop bugging him. Inside the small vehicle, they were cramped, tired, and grouchy.

"Sorry. I didn't think you'd feel it, since you're so fat." Retorted Takuya, irritably, pulling away from the older boy, as far as he could.

"WHAT?"

"Guys, now is hardly the time…" protested Tommy, grabbing his bear, and trying to get some peace.

So far, things were not exactly going too well. Everyone was cramped; it was 3:30 in the morning, and a three-hour drive to the airport. The fact that the road was very bumpy did not help at all, since the five people at the back were thrown in and out of their seats, continuously. The only one who didn't seem to be stressed was Izumi, because she was sound asleep, beside Kouji.

In the front seats:

"Ken! Watch out for that curve ahead!" Mrs. Orimoto pointed to a sharp twist in the road. The risk of crashing into something else was relatively high, in this route to the airport, so they had to be careful, especially with a carload of complaining teenagers at the back.

"Okay, Suzie, I'm working on it." Mr. Orimoto gripped the steering wheel, and veered left, all of a sudden.

At the back:

"Hey guys, why don't we sing a song?" Suggested Tommy, seeing that all his older friends were upset and stressed. The youngest member of their group then started a simple melody:

"Five hundred bottles of juice on the wall, five hundred bottles of juuuuice, one fell down and…WOAH!"

"Tommy, I don't think it ended with a W-- yaaagh!" correcting the younger boy, Junpei was suddenly cut off by the unexpected lurch.

The vehicle veered left, without warning, and with a bump, caused all its contents to fall to one side. Unfortunately, that was the side on which Kouji was seated on."Aaargh!" yelped Junpei, as he bumped into a sleeping Izumi, who was pushed into Kouji's arms. The anguished boy shook his head, to see if he was still sane, then found Izumi, sleeping peacefully on his shoulder.

"Not again…" he mumbled, tugging at his wrist, which was held in an iron grip, by his slumbering friend.

Then a great weight was thrown onto both the sleeping girl and the lamenting boy, when Junpei, Tommy, AND Takuya all tumbled onto the left side. It was hard to describe what they all looked like, since you couldn't really tell who was landing on who, and which arm was yours.

"Gaaah! Need.. Air…" Kouji's eyes went wide, because of the immense load that was heaped onto his body. He was on the verge of yelling, and would lose his mind, if something good did not happen soon.

Then the car veered to the right…and all slipped, like a pile of dominoes, to the other side. Kouji, for a moment, regained his breath, while another was held victim of the winding roads.

"OUCH! MY BACK!"

Takuya tried with all his might, to get Tommy, Junpei, Izumi, and Kouji off of him. But to no avail, this indicated that the fat one had to scrape off a few excess pounds…

And then the road led to the left again…

"Arrgh!" yelled Kouji, trying to push Izumi off of him. If this insanity kept up any longer, he would have wished that the Chinese had never existed… especially that guy who sold Izumi the snake.

Then right…

"Tommy!"

Then left…

"This is pure torture…"

then left again…

"ugh..*coughcough* I'm not feeling to well…"

'splat.'

"Umm, Takuya? Was that you?"

3 hours later..

The silver vehicle pulled up in front of the big, shiny, glassy airport. Mr. Orimoto unloaded the bags at the back, while five tortured and dismal friends got out of the car queasily. Takuya held his stomach, as Tommy smiled weakly. Mrs. Orimoto handed everyone some tissue, to wipe off the mess that the goggle-boy had made on their shirts.

"Well, at least the worst is over."

Then, what used to be a blue morning sky, suddenly darkened, and it began to rain in torrents. Coal- black clouds hovered along the horizon, threatening to strike anyone below, with a lightning bolt.

"You spoke too soon, Tommy" said Takuya, taking off his hat, and wringing it, watching the rain wash off the puke on his shirt.

"Hmph. At least that's clean." He said, putting his hat back on.

They were in a dire condition. Each's Hair was all messed up, and clothes were rumpled. The sudden storm had drenched their bodies to the very bone. Kouji's bandanna was crumpled into a small tight ball, and squished into his pocket. Tommy's hat was flattened, and Izumi's was filled with candy wrappers.

"What? Candy wrappers?" she asked, her green eyes widening.

"Why are there candy wrappers in my hat?" demanded the girl, eyeing her friends suspiciously. None answered immediately, except Takuya.

"Well, Junpei and Tommy finished the supply of Road Trip junk food, about fifteen minutes into the ride. I, however, remain innocent before your highness." Said Takuya, taking a bow.

"Hmmm.." Takuya never did talk like this before, unless he was guilty of something. And that particular thought had just entered Kouji's mind..

"Wait. I think Takuya was the one."

"WHAT?"

"He ate the candies, and stuffed the wrappers into Izumi's hat."

"Then, what about Junpei and Tommy?"

"Yeah, they Ate some too, but Takuya was the one who put the wrappers in."

The girl raised a frustrated brow.

"….Well?"

Izumi glared coldly at the nervous goggle-head, who was now fidgeting guiltily.

"How do you plead, Mr. kanabara?" asked Junpei, smirking.

"I—"

"HEY GUYS! IHAVEYOURTICKETSTOCHINARIGHTHERE, YOURPLANESWAITINGOVERTHERE!!! GUYS?"

Startled by the string of unintelligible words, everyone turned to face Hannah, standing under an umbrella, who had generously offered to pay for their trip, in exchange for a documentation of the whole escapade. That was courtesy of Tommy.

"Hi, Hannah!" greeted Izumi, smiling.

"Yo!" was the reply. The brown-haired girl was annoyingly cheerful today, despite seeing her friends' critical conditions. Well some things could not be helped. Hannah bent down and handed Tommy her digicam. The guy accepted it with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Be careful with it, little dude! I'm counting on you!" she winked at the younger boy, who nodded, and smiled, now understanding what she wanted him to do.

"I won't let you down!" he said, stuffing the camera into his already overstuffed backpack. The rest of the people greeted her in their own manner, Kouji barely mumbling an unintelligible 'hi'.

After receiving each's hello, Hannah stood up, now diverting her full attention to the task at hand,

"Your plane is waiting over there, here are the tickets." said she, handing them five pieces of paper. The girl pointed at a large plane, currently being fueled on the airfield. Printed on its side were big block letters, that said 'Singapore Airlines'. They were taking this plane, partly because Hannah's cousin was the boss there, and partly because the tickets were more affordable. After talking for a while, with Hannah, the five friends then said their good-byes, and proceeded into the airport, after getting hold of some umbrellas.

Boeing 747, flight 1120, going to China.

"Yes sir? May I see your ticket, please?" the overly made-up stewardess examined the sheet of paper, then guided the passenger to his seat.

"Next, please."

Junpei stepped forward, a dreamy look in his eyes. His gaze was for no one but the attendant. She was tall, gorgeous, had long blue hair, and most importantly, she was thin. Takuya noticed this, and laughed out loud, ruining the fat one's state of bliss.

"WHAT?"

"Nothing…"

"Sir," interrupted the attendant, as she looked uncertainly at the group of drenched teenagers, two of them bound together. 'Kids these days' she thought.

"Yes?" asked Junpei.

"Row M, seat sixteen."

"Thanks."

With one last glare at the mirthful Takuya, Junpei stomped off into the plane, formulating a detailed plot of sweet revenge, and making the other passengers jump.

"Next, please…."

The pretty flight attendant turned her gaze to the next people in line, Kouji and Izumi.

"Oh, my…shall I give you two seats or one?"

"Two." Choked Kouji, checking if he still had his sanity, after that horrific car ride, and the buckets of rainwater that the unmerciful storm had unleashed on him. He stole a glance at Izumi. At least she still looked fairly decent. The girl wasn't wearing her hat, due to the fact that it had been filled with trash a few moments ago, and because it would be utterly useless and stupid to wear a wet hat, in an air-conditioned environment. But his bandanna was not going anywhere, and Kouji was sure of that.

"Er…okay, seats 5 and 6, row K, please don't wring your bandanna during the plane ride, it will make a mess." Said the attendant, motioning to two seats nearby. After giving her a good glare, Kouji allowed himself to be dragged to his seat by Izumi.

One by one, all five of them got their seat assignments and the plane started to taxi…

Row K, seats 5&6

Izumi sat by Kouji, reading the in-flight magazine. She flipped the pages, filled with pictures of sunny beaches, lovely gardens, and the like. Staring out the window, the girl watched the clouds fly past, as a whooshing sound could be heard. The plane was airborne.

"Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts for the trip." The attendant's voice could be heard over the loudspeaker, as a loud sigh from Junpei reached Izumi's ears.

The Italian girl looked the other way, to come face to face with Kouji, who was sound asleep. Izumi smiled to herself. The guy was probably exhausted from the car ride. His cheeks were flushed, but his face muscles were relaxed, as his chest rose and fell with every breath.

The girl sighed and rested her head on the seat. It was going to be a short trip to China, but a long stay. She glanced at the cloth snake, which bound both hers and Kouji's wrists. Smiling, the girl stroked the tiny head with her finger. For some strange reason, she was glad that the Chinese man had pulled a trick on her and Kouji. For once, she appreciated the existence of the cloth snake. Izumi looked at Kouji, again. He was still napping.

'He sure looks cute, when he's asleep' she thought, closing her eyes.

A slight tap on the shoulder woke him. It was the flight attendant. She handed him two breakfast packs, one for him, and one for Izumi. Kouji yawned, and stretched, sighing deeply. He spotted Takuya in the next row, playing cards with Tommy. The goggle head and the younger boy waved to him, and he acknowledged with a nod. The loner took a crumpled bandanna out of his pocket, then tied it firmly to his head. Having done this, he then turned his attention to his slumbering seatmate, whose head was leaning slightly to one side. 'She's quite pretty', he thought.

When they had entered the digital world, Kouji didn't really think of Izumi as a person he could actually 'like'. It was just in those situations when she displayed affection for him, that he blushed madly.

Looking at the sleeping Izumi, Kouji smiled faintly, reminiscing those happy times in the digiworld. His thoughts were then interrupted by an annoying voice.

"Are you going to eat that?"

The boy turned to face Junpei, who was eyeing the breakfast pack. He sighed.

"Junpei, isn't ONE enough for you?" he asked, noting the grains of rice surrounding the older guy's mouth. The fat one shook his head.

"Never mind. I'll go and ask the beautiful attendant for another pack. She can't possibly resist my manly charm," said Junpei, waltzing off into the aisle.

Kouji smirked, and opened his pack. While he was taking out his chopsticks, a sound from beside him caught his attention. Izumi was waking up. She gave a small yawn, and a smile, when she saw Kouji.

"Good morning. What's that?" she asked, looking at the packs.

"Morning. The attendant left some breakfast food." He pushed the plastic container towards her, as she took out the chopsticks.

Outside the window, the sun was rising, as the clouds parted for a moment, revealing the deep blue color of the Sea of Japan. Rays of sunlight reflected on the surface of the water, causing a blinding sight. Izumi sat there quietly, eating, thinking to herself. Kouji, at one point, wondered what was on her mind, and was on the verge of asking her. But he thought better of it, and didn't say anything.

A few minutes passed, and the plastic containers lay there empty. Kouji sighed, as silence took over. Only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard, as passengers slept, ate, and flipped through magazines in the cabin. Izumi broke the silence.

"Where is Takuya?" she asked.

Kouji shrugged. He peered into the row after theirs, and found the goggle-head in question, sleeping soundly, beside Tommy, who was sipping from a carton of orange juice. The boy inquired on their condition, and, after receiving a positive response, sat back again in the chair.

Izumi hummed to herself for a while, then talked to Kouji.

"So, um, do you think Takuya likes Kirschey?"

Kouji smirked. "Yes. Isn't it obvious?"

Izumi nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

The boy looked at her for a brief moment then asked a question.

"Izumi?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever been a loner, even once?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"I'm just asking…"

"Oh, well, yes."

"Why?"

"Well, most of the time, people jump to conclusions, thinking that I'm a rich spoiled brat, just because I lived in Italy for a couple of years. Without really finding out, they base my character on my looks. They think I'm a conceited snob, when I'm really not."

"Go on..."

"They ignored me, and there I stood, friendless….until I met you guys."

Kouji nodded, and averted his gaze from her for a while. So, she had been a loner, one time or another. Just like him…

"Yeah, I guess they didn't see your inner beauty."

"…."

Oops. Kouji had slipped. Big time. 'Please don't notice, please don't notice, please…' Kouji begged silently, noting the look of mixed emotions on Izumi's face.

Izumi was in a state of shock. She did not see that coming. Part of her wanted to hug Kouji to pieces, and part restrained herself from doing so.

Kouji was busy beating himself up for saying that.

'Kouji, you fool, WHY in the world did you say what you just said?! True, she has inner beauty, but WHY….?' That annoying second voice was scolding him again, just like it always did, when Kouji did something, uh, odd.

This time, however, he answered back.

'Because I like her, stupid.'

Izumi was blushing madly, and she knew it. She tried to hide it by looking out the window. Did…he..Actually compliment her? The girl pinched herself, to check if it was a dream. Nope. It was not a dream. Inside, she smiled. Izumi knew all too well, her deep affection for her friend, Kouji. but what was it turning into, now? Probably just a silly crush.

A long silence of uncertainty ensued, as Kouji was trying to pull himself together, and Izumi, trying to contain her happiness. The chattering of other passengers could be heard, and, after calming down a bit, Izumi decided to listen to what they were talking about, and, coincidentally, so did Kouji.

An old lady, accompanied by her eighteen-year old granddaughter, occupied the row behind them. The lady was talking about the weather, while the younger woman was listening to heavy rock music, on her Discman. After a few moments of rocking her head back and forth, the granddaughter raised a thought.

"Ei, grandma?"

"What now, AnneMarie?" Snapped the old woman, who was probably in her early seventies.

"Its Ari, grandma." Sighed the girl, opening a heavily shadowed eyelid.

"What then, Ari?" asked the grandmother.

"Those two in front of us make a good pair." Replied the girl, turning her gaze to the younger fourteen-year-olds, sat in the row in front of them.

"eh? Whatever you say, girl. In my day, we weren't allowed to talk such silly nonsense."

"you're no fun, grandma." Laughed Ari, putting her headphones back on.

Kouji heard this, and did not know whether to curse or to be happy. First, his slip. Then now, passengers were talking about him and Izumi? Frankly, the boy really did not know what to think. He wasn't sure yet of his feelings towards Izumi, although he was sure that those feelings were present, and lingering. The boy wrung his bandanna, much to the distress of the flight attendant, then dried it for about five minutes. He then wore it, and was about to doze off again, when Izumi looked like she was going to say something.

"Hey, Kouji--" she started, but was then cut off by the pilot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Beijing, China in fifteen minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts.'

~~~

…And the author speaks…

Artemis: hello, peeps! :o) did you like that chapter? Sorry if it is not as good as the others. For the road trip, I was sort of on a sugar high..so if the quality isn't very good, sorry!!! did NOT expect the layout for the 2nd chapter to be soo….crappy! I'm sorry, that was totally uncalled for. I hope this chapter is long enough to satisfy your needs, even though it is my shortest… man…six pages…. All in one day…[pants] oh, and thank you for the info, that Chinese New Year is on January 22nd! Hehe…I didn't know…

What will happen to our unfortunate friends, and their twisted adventure? What did Izumi want to tell Kouji? Did Junpei succeed in getting another breakfast pack? Will they ever get the wretched snake off? Find out, when I post the next chapter..(dun dun dun…)

Btw, if you guys are wandering what sort of twisted creature I am, lets just say that I am a fledgling Istari, or, in laymen's terms, a rookie Wizard. To prove my lack of skill and experinece, I will share with you the story of how I burnt half the village, with my firebolt spell. Oops, never mind… that's for another time. [looks around]

OH no! what are you doing here!? Get away from me, foul creature!

…And the villain comes…

Ahhhh!!! Who let you in?!

Ebony: Tommy.

Artemis: Tommy?! Are you in love with my evil sister?

Tommy: she bribed me with cookies.

Artemis: [slaps forehead]* ah, nevermind.

Ebony: and now I will reveal to you all, my sisters' darkest secrets!!! First, she likes---mph! Shffth! mrph!! Grrr!

Artemis: [ties ebony to a chair and gags her] brat… you can be annoying for an eight-year-old…

Ebony: [menacingly] nine!

Artemis: ah, who cares?

Kouji: review, please.

Ebony: I swear, I will destroy your PC with my lightning bolt, just you wait!!!

Airtimes: ah, but the powers of lightning are inferior to fire…

Izumi: Artemis does not own digimon, us, or anything else. Just Hannah, James, Kirschey, and the extra, Ari.

Takuya:[faints]

Kirschey: o.O didn't know he liked me THAT much

…And the chapter ends…