Saturday August 21, 2004
Ebacusta: [dives into room wildly, lands on her knees, and slides across the floor while begging] I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY! Please forgive me. I meant to update this weeks ago, but, my cat had kittens and I've been so busy taking care of her. Please, please, please forgive me. I'm updating A Mistake Can Last A Lifetime too, so, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.
Oh, but yesterday, I got to see my brand new, rebuilt school. It looks awesome. And, it's huge! But unfortunately, so is the gym. Oh well. I'll survive. I'll have to if I want to make it to the next grade.
ALSO, this is very important, I advised you all to go back and reread the fourth chapter, but then I realized, that I was in such a hurry when I last updated, I forgot to reload that chapter. Okay? I'm really sorry. I feel like I'm turning into an old woman, forgetting things left and right, but I just have so much stuff on my mind right now. Please forgive me for this minor error. Okay, um, angewomonandme please com up here and assist me today.
Angewomonandme: Well, since you asked so nicely... Okay, [takes piece of paper from ebacusta and reads] ebacusta and friends would like to thank:
Celloboy- Hey, thanks. I stay up to read fics too. I shall finish this story, and I hope you guys will like the ending.
Midhun- Thanks a lot. Details are important for a story to make since, and if a story lacks in detail, it's like a summary. Summaries are suppose to be somewhat vague so you don't give away all of your story, but you can give away enough of it to get people interested. I'd love to read your story. Let me know when you put it up.
Dbzgal99- NO ONE IS MORE EVIL THAN I! But I welcome you to join my club. It's called the Cliffhangers Club. In it, we plot how to make perfect cliffhangers. I'm the only member so far. And, here's the next part for ya!
Moonlight-Miko- Meh. Imagining it in blood makes the scene cooler sounding though. Oh, me too. How gross. To see your future blood all over the floor. I'd never eat again. Ha ha ha. Thanks.
Final Genesis- What a cool name. And thanks. Takari is the best couple of seasons 1 and 2, I totally agree! And thanks a lot. Wow, these reviews certainly do mean a lot to me.
Taky Glu- Sorry about misspelling your name. Here's the next chapter!
Lynn-MinMay- I like this name. Its got a nice ring to it. Lynn-MinMay. Lynn-MinMay. Well anyway, thanks a lot. And thanks for giving me the permission to put you in my disclaimers. I really should ask shouldn't I? Well, I'll ask now. EVERYONE! I have to ask. Is it okay if I use you in my future disclaimers? Please tell me.
RogueSummersLover- Hmmmmmmm, you're name means that you like X-Men, and you support Rogue and Cyclops together? Well, my brother loves X-Men. I like it too. I wish I could update this story everyday too, except I don't have that much to write about in this particular story without making it sound redundant. Peace in! (.)
DragonTidalWaves- Then in the disclaimer you shall be! [embarrassed ebacusta] Blaze, sorry for calling you a guy. I didn't know you were a girl. I just thought that since you had the name Blaze that you were... well you know. Forgive me? Ha ha ha. BELT OUT THAT DISCLAIMER GIRL (or boy depending on your gender.)!
Death-by-illusion- Hmm, sounds cool. To die but not really die because it's an illusion. But also, that would be pretty scary.
MistiWhitesun- Hmmm... Well I didn't think it was too confusing about Kari being able to see? Just kidding, just kidding. Hmm, maybe I should shut up. Well, anyway, what do you mean. Why Kari can see what? Oh, I get it. Well, actually, well, I can't really tell you. You'll have to wait and find out. Technically, you're right. I shouldn't use all caps if I'm using italics for emphasis, but, I don't know, to me, all-caps, and italics have a different meaning. Italics is emphasis, while most of the time all-caps means yelling/shouting/screaming. I hope that makes sense.
And really, I hate English, I don't really pay attention. I just write stories. Well, I don't hate it, and I pay attention, but I also write stories on papers hidden in my binder. So... And yeah, when I get excited, my eyes skip over some grammar mistakes that when I read later I just want to scream, "YOU IDIOT!" But, you know, I can't have it all can I? Though I wish I could.
Miaow227- Wow, 829. Amazing. How many do you have now? Actually, that's a stupid question. But anyway. Yeah, in a way, it kind of was depressing. Going back into the past and finding out more about how they died. WHAT?!?! TK AND KARI SUPPOSEDLY KISSED AT THE END OF HIS MASTER'S VOICE! [ebacusta starts cursing the American translating company that brought Digimon over.] Seriously. Compared to the Japanese version, the English version of the series is looking pretty bad right now. What was so bad about a kiss they had to chop it out. Argh. Curse the anti-Takari people in that company. I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!
Serious-klutz- Thanks. Most people at my school, are pretty dense when it comes to this stuff and don't get it. Oh yeah! I really agree. A little craziness can go a long way. Really, I would get along with your friends? If I opened up and wasn't to busy staring at the ground, I bet I could get along with your pals. I'm too shy for my own good sometimes. Thanks for the compliment. Hmm, is this reminder enough, or did you want email reminder? If you want that, you can use author alert.
ArchSeraphimon- Ol' pal, ol' buddy. What's up? I loved the Takari pic you sent me. I might just have to put it on my website along with the Angewomon picture you drew. I fell in love with that picture. More intense Takari? What do you mean? Like more kissing? Or what? Let me know ASAP okay? Thanks for the suggestion! And I love your fic too! EVERYONE! YOU HAVE TO CHECK OT ARCHSERAPHIMON'S DIGIMON FIC, WILL LOVE SURVIVE THE ULTIMATE TEST? (I think that's the title.) IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
Hikari- So do I. It would be just awful to grow up without parents and having everyone who takes you in get killed. Oh my god, I'd go suicidal. Thanks a lot though.
Wkw- Well, I'm just curious. If you found out that in the future you died, and you wrote something on the floor with your blood and then you actually go to the future and see it, wouldn't you feel a little sick or grossed out? Concerning the fact that Kari threw up in the beginning, as uninteresting as this answer is, it was due to the extremely high fever she had. Thank you by the way.
Angewomonandme- Thank you. I do, I really do appreciate these reviews. I mean, it lights up my day when I get them. And concerning the fic, I am proud of it. I'm proud of myself for conveying my ideas in a way that people other than me and my brother can understand them. Thanks a lot. All of you guys. I don't know where I'd be without you.
Mimi: Well, I do. Up the river reviewless and without a paddle.
Ebacusta: WHO ASKED YOU? [By the way, contrary to popular belief, I actually like Mimi a lot. She just seems like the only one of the DigiDestined girls who would punch someone out for being stupid. Well except for Yolei.]
Yolei: (punch!) What's that suppose to mean?
Ebacusta: (flying into the distance) Exactly what it sounds like! (WHAM!) OW!
Thanks a lot for the review.
sHiPpO9113- Sorry, I made you wait. I didn't mean too. Please forgive me.
Rayless-Demon- Thanks a lot. Your name is cool sounding too.
Fox of Light- lol. Thank you.
...- I'd think so too. Oh, really. You thought the picture book was cute? Wow.
Ebacusta: (pulls herself out of a hole) Okay, DragonTidalWaves, please come do the disclaimer.
DragonTidalWaves: Ebacusta does not own Digimon! Though if she did it would be way cool!
Ebacusta: Thank you. And finally, Final Genesis!
Final Genesis and TK: FIC TIME!
You Could Save Me If You Really Wanted To
By ebacusta
Chapter 8
Part 2
The Truth Will Set You Free
Tina nodded. "It's the book you wrote for me, saying you would be with me foreverm and, of course, through something beyond your control neither you nor mom could-" Tina said, but Kair interrupted covering her mouth.
"Excuse me." She slid out of the booth and left the cafe.
"Mom," Tina called after her.
"What's wrong with mom?" Kei asked looking at TK.
"She's not feeling very well," TK said. "Here's some money to pay for our food, excuse me. Maybe we can get together some other time." He slid out of the booth and followed Kari out.
The Next Day
Kari still hadn't shown TK the picture. She looked at them before she went to sleep. Watching her self struggle to stay alive so she could be here to take this picture. This didn't make sense. How did Tina have this picture if it was taken this year? 5 years after, TK was dead, and four years for her.
Of course, this would make sense that everything in a way is preplanned, but that couldn't ... possibly be ... Maybe she should show this to TK. But he was gone. To do whatever it was he was doing today. He hadn't told her.
She considered going down to his room and checking out what he had found. She didn't know because they hadn't talked about it since her outburst in her future garden. He hadn't come to talk to her like he normally did before they went to sleep, and it was probably because he felt responsible for the icky mode she was in most of yesterday afternoon.
There was a knock on her door. "Come in," she said.
Mizuki entered. "Are you feeling better today?"
"Yes," Kari said. She moved her feet and offered him a spot on her bed. He sat, and looked at her.
"You know if something's bothering you, you can always talk to me about it," he said. She loved his green eyes, almost as deep as TK's blue ones. She thought for a minute and then took a deep breath.
"Actually, there is something I could use some help with," she said.
He cocked his head. "What?"
"Well, if you found out something about someone, and it was making you uncomfortable, should you talk to them about it?" she asked.
"Like what?" he asked.
"Like, you found a something they owned, and it was an interesting something, that held information, you thought you should have known about," Kari said. She was confusing herself.
"Okay, you found, something, that, hmm, how shall I put it ... explained, something, you thought you should have known about. And you want to know if you should talk to that person about it?"
"Yes," Kari nodded. "But, I'm worried that if I say something, they'll think that I've betrayed their trust."
Mizuki frowned for a minute, "Well, one could play both sides of the argument, that you had a right to know about it, but it was still an invasion of privacy. How important is this thing to you?"
Kari thought for a moment. "Very, I guess."
"Then, I say that you should put the trust of you on the line and talk to them about it. If the person is reasonable then, he'll listen to what you have to say rather than just judge. Who does it concern?"
"Uh, TK," Kari lied.
"Well, he seems pretty reasonable," Mizuki said. He stood up and headed towards the door.
"Wait," Kari said. "I, uh, have something else to ask?"
"What?"
"Uh, well, do you think if someone's father is reasonable, then, his off spring would be as well?" Kari asked.
Mizuki looked at her. "Well, probably not. Every person, whether flesh and blood or not, has their own personality. Some may be more reasonable than their parents, while others may be less, and some just the same as their parents It all depends on the person. Does that help?"
Kari nodded. "Uh, yeah. Thanks." She bit her lip. So she should mention it, at least that's Mizuki advised. But there was another question bothering her. Mizuki had already left, and she didn't want to disturb him from doing what ever he was doing. Now that she thought about it there were two questions.
"I figure them out by myself," she said, yet twenty minutes later she found herself knocking on Mizuki's door.
"Who is it?"
"Um, Kari," she said, feeling a little embarrassed that she was here.
"Oh, hold on a minute please," he said. She heard him moving in his room. Then she heard a door lock click, and the door opened.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Um," she said biting her lip, "I have some more problems I need help with, actually never mind." She turned to go back to her room, but Mizuki grabbed her elbow.
"If you need help then you shouldn't hesitate to ask," he said. She let him lead her into his room. She noticed he had hastily shoved some papers underneath a book on his desk. "Um, please sit down." He gestured towards the bed. She sat slowly. "So what do you need help with?" he asked.
"Uh, conscience," she said. "My conscience is bothering me about something, but it makes no sense."
"What do you mean?" Mizuki asked.
"Well, shouldn't talking to this person and telling them what I found get it off my conscience?" she asked.
"Not necessarily," Mizuki said, "It really does depend. If the thing that's really bothering you is just the thing you found then that should eventually fade, but if it's something else then it might not."
"But if it is something else does that mean it will haunt me forever?" Kari asked.
"Not forever, no, but probably for a little while unless you talk it out," he said.
"And one more thing," Kari said. "Time."
"Time?" he asked puzzled.
"How does it work? Time travel, I mean, how does it work? Or how do you think it works?" Kari asked.
"Well, that's an interesting question," Mizuki said. "I guess, there are two ways to describe it."
"Well which way do you like the most?" Kari asked.
"I guess the one that seems the most plausible to me is that, I dunno. It's complicated to explain. Okay, it's like the frames of an anime. Every second is a frame and when put them together, you get minutes, hours, days, months, and years; or at least those are the only time measurements that we care to name, in reality, there are many more. Time traveling to me, is when you jump from one frame to a different frame, and unless you appear in the exact same frame as when you left, you'll either be in the past or future.
"These frames go on for eternity. But, just because these frames exist doesn't mean what happens in the future can't be changed. For example, in the future, you might get sick with some disease, but in the present you can protect yourself from getting that disease by getting a vaccination and then in that same future frame, your future self will change from being sick to healthy. Does that make sense?" he asked.
"So you think of each second of time as a frame, and these frames build up to make minutes and stuff? But, under that assumption, my self five minutes in the future is still moving forward at the exact same time I am," Kari said.
Mizuki scrunched up his face, "Well, time travel is complicated. Well, yes, in a way. I guess it would be more plausible to say that all frames that happen in the future are in suspended animation but then that doesn't really make much sense. So ... let's put it this way. There is a Kari that is one second ahead of you, and she always will be. Just as she goes to the next 'frame' you enter the one she just left, and there's a line of this, so this Kari is always gonna be a second ahead of you unless you time travel a year in the future and leave her behind."
"But when you die..." Kari trailed off.
"When you die, all future versions of yourself disappear," Mizuki said. "In essence, right now, you and I have future selves that will be a second ahead, and they are future versions of us in every frame past this one, and on into forever, but when we die, the frames ahead of us disappear. Do you get it?"
"Yeah, I think so," Kari said. "So what you're saying is that ahead of me, are millions upon billions, upon trillions of future versions of myself that stretch on into eternity, but when I die in seventy years or so, all those ahead of me will disappear?"
"Yes," Mizuki said nodding, clearly excited that she had understood him.
Kari went on, "And that there's a Kari who is always going to be one second ahead of me that as soon as she leaves a frame I enter it."
"Yes," Mizuki said.
"But wait," Kari said. "Then that would mean that if you had a kid with a girl, take me for instance. If you and I had a kid, then something happened to take me to the future, or the past. Okay no scratch that. If you and I were going to have kid in three years but then we went to the future and met our future kids, if we stay here for three years, then our children would disappear and they'd reappear at seventeen, for example, seventeen years from where we were."
Mizuki looked at her. He was blushing profusely. "Okay, wait, you're saying, that if you and I were to conceive a kid tomorrow, but then we went to the future, and met the kid we are going to conceive then if we didn't return in time to conceive that child at the exact same moment as it was originally suppose to be conceived then the future version of the child would disappear?"
"Yes," Kari said nodding, "And if we conceived instead 20 years from tomorrow, than the seventeen year old we were suppose to conceive tomorrow would reappear at the age we just met, seventeen years ahead of where he or she was."
"Let's use numbers it makes it easier," Mizuki said holding his head. Kari laughed.
"Okay," she said. "Let's take the year 2024. You and I are supposed to conceive a child tomorrow on Monday the 7th of May. And we are taken to the year 2044 and meet our twenty year old, son! But, if we don't get back in time to conceive that twenty year old son, then he'd disappear. But if we instead conceive the son at our age, 17, in the year 2044 on the 7th of May instead of the year 2024 then he would reappear in the year 2064 as the twenty year old son we met."
"Yeah," Mizuki said, his face still red.
"Right, I'm glad we cleared up that mystery," Kari said. Mizuki and her started laughing.
"But," Mizuki added, "if we did get back in time to conceive the child tomorrow on the 7th of May, then he would still be in the year 2044 as a twenty year old."
"Yes," Kari said nodding. "But, if for some reason we were tossed into the future, returning..."
"The best time to return is a second before the exact time you left," Mizuki said. "So for example, if in Frame A, you were transported to the year 2044, then you would want to return to Frame B, so then it will be like you never left, and you become like the future that's ahead of you right now. And to the Kari a second behind you, you're her future Kari."
"Wow," Kari said in awe. "There are millions of Karis living all at once, and millions of Mizukis."
"Yep, and those past Karis and Mizukis could do something that could change us, so let's hope they make smart decisions," Mizuki said.
"Yes," Kari agreed.
"But," Mizuki said, "Rarely ever do past versions of yourself change what you've already done. Only the version that was the original one born can really change the future."
"What?" Kari asked.
"You see," Mizuki said. "You were the original Kari born. All the past Karis are versions that you created yourself, and thus, they are forced to follow in your footsteps. All future Karis foretell possible outcomes, but only the original can decide. That's why the saying, You pick your destiny exists."
"I see," Kari said. "So anything I do, the second behind me has to do, and the second ahead of me is only a possible thing that could happen. Then the future is like a big web that connects to all the other future frames, and you, the original, pick the path you choose?"
"Yes," Mizuki said. "And once the original has picked a path, all the other versions of it disappear. Behind you there is only one path, in front of you there are many. A great writer name ebacusta once wrote that. Well ebacusta was her pen name. And unless the original, or another interloper, goes back in time to alter the path chosen as a third party, then you can't go back."
"Wow," Kari said. "Interesting."
Mizuki sighed, "Like I said, time is a complicated thing to try and explain. Some things are just better left alone, and unexplained."
Kari nodded, "I agree. Unless you want to give yourself a huge headache!"
"Yeah!" Mizuki agreed. "Let's go get some aspirin." He and Kari both stood and headed towards his door. Kari grabbed his elbow. He turned.
"Uh, Mizuki ... thank you ... for helping me ... understand what I'm feeling," Kari said. "You were really helpful and polite, and you didn't beat down my ideas."
"Thanks," Mizuki said blushing. "I want to be a psychiatrist when I grow up."
"You'll make a great one," Kari said. She followed Mizuki out of the room, and down the stairs towards the kitchen's medical pantry.
Later...
There was a knock on her door. "Come in," Kari said cheerfully. Since her long chat with Mizuki, she was feeling much better. When TK timidly poked his head into her room she smiled.
"Come in," she said waving him into her room.
"Are you feeling okay?" TK asked.
"More than okay! I'm feeling great!" Kari exclaimed.
"Really?" TK asked. "Why the sudden change?"
"While you were out, I went and talked with Mizuki and he helped me sort things out in my head, so, I've decided that I want to show you something," she said.
"What is it?" he asked sitting on her bed.
She reached under her bed and pulled out her bookbag. From it, she pulled out the picture she had found in Tina's room. "This." She showed it to TK.
TK watched as Kari struggled to stay in the picture and then she faded out. She pushed the papers she printed out into his hands. He looked at those too.
"What does this mean?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," Kari said. "So, I'm gonna ask one of the DigiDestined kids about it. I'll call Jake and see if he can't get the others together." A sudden idea popped into her head. "TK, do you have your D3 and D-terminal?"
"Uh, yeah, they flew into my hands on my way to this place," TK said.
"Then, we'll go to the Digital World. See Gatomon and Patamon," Kari said. "They have to still be alive. And if not they'll have simply been reborn. They must still remember us. I bet they returned to the Digital World after our future selves died."
"I bet you're right," TK said. "Oh yeah." He pushed the folder into her hands. "This is what I found, in our future bedroom." Kari looked at it. She opened the folder and saw a piece of paper. There was neat hand-writing on it. It read:
Digital World
United States of America
France
"What does this mean?" Kari asked.
"I don't know," TK said. "Look at the date."
"Today's Sunday," Kari said. "And, this is dated a five years and two weeks ago."
"Hmm, if we look at the handwriting, it was definitely feminine," TK said.
Kari thought for a minute and the she snapped her fingers. "TK! I know what this is!"
"What is it?" TK asked.
"Don't you get it? Five years and one week ago, your future self was killed. That means when this was written you were still alive. I bet this was a note that my future self wrote to your future self," Kari said.
"About what?" TK asked blankly.
Kari looked at the note and then looked at TK with excited eyes. "About places to hide."
"Hide?" TK asked.
"I bet, our future selves made this list because..." Kari grabbed the folder out of TK's hands and flipped through the pages until she found a copy of a note. "Yes!" she exclaimed.
"This all makes sense now! Well except for the picture. This note." She shoved under TK's eyes. "It's a death threat and look when it's dated."
"April 22nd 2019," TK mumbled.
"And you died April 29th 2019. Five years ago, our future selves received this note and made a list of places they could hide if they found out someone was after them. A week later, the murderer caught your future self off guard and shot him, and then he went after me. And then Tina and Kei."
"How did you know this?" TK asked.
"Know what?"
"When I died," he said.
"Oh!" Kari exclaimed. "You haven't seen the article yet." She reached under her bed and produced her scrapbook.
"Article? What article?" TK asked.
Kari pulled out the clipping and shoved it into his hands. He read it with wide eyes and when he finished he put it down.
"Why?" he asked.
"That's the only thing we don't know," Kari said. "But I bet if we asked Jake or one of the others, they'd know something."
"I bet your right," TK said. "Call them now."
Kari pulled out her cell and called up Jake.
"Hello?" a voice asked.
"Jake?"
"Who is this?"
"It's Kari," Kari said.
"Oh. What do you want?" Jake asked. He yawned.
"I was wondering if you can get the other DigiDestined kids together by five tomorrow." Kari said.
"DigiDestined kids? How did you-"
Kari interrupted him, "And tell them to bring their digivices. Five o'clock in the park across from Bow Tie Café."
"How did you know?" Jake finally managed to stammer out.
"I told you I was a friend of your dad's. So can you do that?" Kari asked.
"I'll try," Jake mumbled.
"Thank you so much Jake," Kari said. She hung up. She turned to TK and told him, "It's set."
"Excellent," TK said.
The Next Day
Kari could hardly wait for this day to end. After her shower she got dressed and ran down the stairs into the kitchen nearly trampling Mizuki and his mother.
"A bit enthusiastic, are we?" his mother asked.
Kari couldn't hold back the ear to ear grin she held on her face. "Definitely. Today is the best day ever." And then she rushed off into the kitchen. She ran around the other maids already in the kitchen. Cooking as fast as she could. She made the box lunches so fast that she didn't pay attention how many she had made.
"Whoops," she said. The maids began carrying to the dishes into the dining hall. Kari followed them and it took everything she had not to start jumping in the corner and encouraging Mizuki's family to hurry up. When they were finished eating, Kari sprinted out of the dining room and came running back down holding her school bag, Mizuki's school bag, and his father's briefcase.
She passed his father and stopped. "Here you go sir," Kari said as she pushed his briefcase into his hands. She ran into the kitchen and returned with his box lunch. She bowed. "Have a good day."
"A bit enthusiastic isn't she?" she heard his father whisper to his wife. His wife smiled. Mizuki came out of the bath room wiping his hands on his pants. Kari handed him his school bag and box lunch.
"Come on!" Kari said grabbing his hand and sprinting out the door. She looked back long enough to see Mizuki's mother and father come out of the house with bewildered expressions on their faces as they waved.
Kari stopped, "Wave Mizuki." She smiled and waved with Mizuki and then ran around the garden wall and his parents disappeared from sight. They came to the sidewalk to see him off.
"Kari!" Mizuki yelled. "I don't have my shoes."
Kari stopped and looked at his feet. "Why didn't you say so? Wait here." She turned and ran back down the sidewalk, skidded past his parents, ran in, and grabbed Mizuki's school shoes. As she passed back by his parents she heard them mumble, "So much energy."
She ran to where Mizuki was. As he put on one shoe, she put on the other. "Now, come on!" She grabbed his hand again and began running.
"Why are you in such a hurry today?" Mizuki asked after a minute.
"Today's a wonderful day. And, I'm feeling a little hyper," Kari admitted. The school gates were coming into view. As they got closer, Kari could see Mizuki's friends waiting for him by the entrance. When they saw Kari and Mizuki coming towards them, they pushed off the wall.
"Hey Mizuki," she heard them say as they passed.
"Wave Mizuki," she said. He barely had time to wave at his friends before he disappeared into the school. Kari could hear the jealous girls whispering.
"Who does she think she is? Treating Mizuki like that."
"Argh. Spoiled brat." But she didn't care. Nothing could ruin her good mood, and she meant nothing. She ran up the stairs to the third floor and into their homeroom. The thing that greeted her inside only made her day better.
"TK!" she exclaimed letting go of Mizuki's hand. Mizuki leaned against his knees and panted as he caught his breath. "How did you get here? This is a private school."
"I know, and that's where I was yesterday. I took a test and my grade was so good, I got a scholarship to the school," TK said grinning. Kari nearly choked him when she jumped on him with a hug.
"That's wonderful TK!" she exclaimed.
"I know," TK said. Mizuki walked over to his desk and sat down. Kari dragged TK up the stairs and forced him into the seat next to hers, which was next to Mizuki's.
"Kari, you know how they do school. I have to go wait outside," TK said.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kari said. TK got up and left. Mizuki's friends entered the room, and came up to the stairs to where Mizuki was sitting.
"Dude, you didn't even stop to say hello to us," Kyoshiro said.
"Kari was in charge. She was so hyper this morning it wasn't even funny. Nearly killed me this morning running to the kitchen, and after all the running she did this morning, she didn't even break a sweat," Mizuki said.
"Seriously?" Ryo asked.
"Yeah," Mizuki said nodding.
"Today is a happy day!" she exclaimed leaning onto Mizuki's desk.
"And look at how much energy she still has," Mizuki said.
"Good god. What are you the energizer bunny?" Keisuke asked. Kari just smiled.
Math
Kari entered the Math room with TK and Mizuki. It was set up like a college classroom, with desks sitting in rows, each row above it higher than the last. Tina was already there sitting on the sixth row. Kari, TK, and Mizuki sat on the row behind her.
"TK, those two who just entered are brother and sister. They're twins. The boy is named Ikeda (E-kay-DA) and the girl is named Rina. And the girl behind them is Ikeda's girlfriend, Marie. She was an exchange student in France a few years back," Kari said pointing. Suddenly waves of students came stampeding into the room and taking seats.
When the teacher entered, the class president, who Kari pointed out as Evelyn, led the class in a bow to the teacher, and then they sat down.
"Good morning class," he said. "Now today, we're going to start Advanced Algebra." TK groaned.
"I hate Math," TK whispered. The teacher started his lecture but ten minutes into it a scream echoed through the classroom.
"What is Wendy?" the teacher asked.
Wendy, a girl with pink hair, stood and pointed at the window as she stammered, "Th - There was a – a –a man with a mask –on the window sill."
"Right. Wendy please sit down," the teacher said.
"But sir, I'm not kidding. There was a man with a mask on the window sill," she said.
"Right. Please stop making up these fairy tales and pay attention," the teacher said. But, now, no one was watching the board or the teacher. They were all watching the windows. As soon as the teacher started again, some girls screamed.
"What is it now?" the teacher asked angrily. But then a man with a mask burst through the window, showering those sitting near it with glass. They tried to protect themselves with their school bags or by going under their desk. He reached down and grabbed a girl with short black hair and purple eyes from under her desk. It was Marie.
"NO!" Ikeda yelled standing up.
The boy smirked. "Well, since you love her so much, are you willing to kill for her?"
"Please, I'll do anything. Just leave her alone," Ikeda pleaded. The boy tossed a sword on the ground.
"Kill your sister," he commanded. Everyone else in the room gasped. Rina stood up frozen with fear. Ikeda picked up the sword and advanced to her. She tried to back away but tripped, crashed into a desk, and stumbled down the steps before falling on her rear.
"No, Ikeda, please don't," she said, backing up, until she felt a solid object behind her. She was finished. Ikeda drew back the sword and was about to thrust forward when a voice met his ears.
"What do you think you're doing?" He looked. Tina was standing up staring at him. People gasped in shock.
"Can you believe it? Tina actually spoke up with something that didn't involve her."
"Wow." People whispered.
"I'm going to kill Rina," he gasped. Tina lowered her head, her hair covering her face.
"Why?" Kari asked standing up.
"Why?" the boy asked.
"Tell us why," TK said standing up beside Kari.
"Because..." the boy choked. "Because I will stop at nothing to get my girlfriend back." He pulled back his hand and was about to thrust forward when suddenly Tina threw herself in front of the girl. People had been so busy staring at the boy they hadn't noticed Tina run down the stairs, but what they saw her doing was the most shocking thing in this whole turn of events.
"I don't know what's scarier," one girl whispered. "The fact that Tina's showing emotion or this boy was actually going to kill his sister in front of everyone."
"WHY?" Tina demanded tears were streaming down her face. "Why would you do such a horrible thing?"
"I'd do anything for my girlfriend," he sputtered.
"You should never take them for granted!" Tina yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the boy said.
"There is nothing more important than family! NOTHING!" She dropped to her knees. She began to cry harder. This finally got the boy as he dropped the sword and fell to his knees as well. Tina bent over burying her head in her knees, her body shaking from sobs.
TK and Kari rushed down the stairs and kneeled down beside her.
"But..." the man with the mask began.
Tina interrupted screaming, "NEVER! NEVER take them for granted because... because... you never know ... when you might lose them." She buried her head back into her knees.
And slowly the class came to the same realization: Tina was normal, lonely girl with feelings that had been through some tough times. The class rushed down the stairs to stand beside her.
"Oh Tina," chorused through the class. The man holding Marie let go of her and fell to the floor.
"What have I done? I was so wrong," he gasped. He took off the mask. It turned out to be student. "Just because she rejected me when I asked her out. I can't believe, I can't believe what I almost did."
"I want them back," Tina mumbled.
"I know," Kari said. "I know." She and TK both felt a twinge of guilt.
"Would you please proceed back to your seats?" the teacher asked. Everyone ignored him. "Back to you seats. Ms. Takaishi can go to the nurse's office." Nobody moved.
"BACK TO YOUR SEATS," he roared. Not one person so much as looked at him. "Argh, I give up." He stomped to this desk chair and sat down. They spent the rest of class trying to comfort Tina.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Okay guys, I gave you the next part. Review and I'll get the next part up as soon as I can. And don't forget to go back and reread chapter 4, and this time I've updated it.
ebacusta