Disclaimer: I don't own digimon or the characters or anything else that belongs to someone else.
Chapter two: You're kidding, right?
You may not know,
I'm there with you,
Protecting you,
…Watching over you...
"You're kidding me, right?" Izumi asked desperately but with false hope. "No, I'm not. Remember last month when she went
to have a doctor's checkup? Well we got the results yesterday evening, and it turned out that she has a very rare disease that
has no known cure till now. You might say that she looks fine now, but the doctor said that once she starts to look sick we
must take her to a hospital right away, for she will only have about less than a week left to live." Izumi began to laugh very
awkwardly after a minute of silence. "Izumi are you alright?" her father asked her worriedly, but she just continued to laugh
even more awkwardly. She grabbed her bag, and ran out the door still laughing.
When she got to school she began to laugh again. Her friends asked her what was so funny, and she would just tell them,
"Didn't you know? Ayame is dying!" and then she would laugh even harder. They would laugh with her assuming it was just a
joke. But when she began to interrupt classes with sudden giggles, some began to become worried. Then in English, the last
period, she began to laugh again. Only this time she didn't stop. "Izumi! What's so funny! I've heard from several teachers of
your strange behavior! Would you mind explaining yourself to the class?!" her English teacher Mrs. Honey screamed at her.
This time, her laughter was accompanied by trembling. Then she looked up at her teacher horrified yet laughing face and
began' "Haven't you heard?" her voice was trembling now, and tears were forming in her eyes, "Ayame … she's ...ddd…
dying..." She broke out into tears, and let her heart cry out all the pain she felt regardless of all of the eyes that were on her.
She didn't care about what they thought anymore. Nothing mattered to her anymore. If Ayame was going to die then her life
wouldn't have anymore meaning to it. "Izumi", Mrs. Honey addressed her with sympathy. "Why don't you go with Amaya to
wash you face and calm yourself down? I think you've had a rough day". She nodded silently and followed her best friend
Amaya to the washroom.
Izumi followed Amaya to the girl's washroom, then stopped in front of the sink and stared blankly at it. "Can you believe it
Amaya? She's really dying…" she said after some time. Amaya looked at her best friend with sorrowful eyes. She didn't
know what to say to her, and then she finally asked in a soft tone, "Izumi, why were you laughing about it before?" When she
didn't answer, she wished she had never asked, but then Izumi suddenly blurted, "I couldn't believe it Amaya, I just didn't
want to…, I thought if I just pretended it was some nasty joke it would be easier to cope with.., but I was wrong! It just
made things harder and worse!", then she broke down in tears again. Amaya looked down at her friend pitifully, then bent
down and said in a soothing voice, "Oh Izumi you mustn't cry, you'll just scare Ayame. You must be strong for her, your and
everyone's sake. Wash your face now and calm down before the bell rings, okay?" Izumi looked up at her friend's sincere
eyes, then smiled and said, "Okay…thanks Amaya. You're a true friend". Amaya smiled back.
As the days went by, Izumi kept a forced smile on her face. She was still trying to convince herself that this was just one of
those nightmares that you can't escape, but when Ayame finally had to be sent to the hospital her faith began to fade away.
Five days passed after Ayame had been put in the hospital. Izumi was at school now. It was recess and she was talking to
Amaya with a gloomy face. "I visited Ayame yesterday", she said to Amaya. "Really, what happened?" "It was terrible…'
(FLASHBACK)
Izumi was sitting in the chair beside Ayame's bed and held her hand. Ayame looked absolutely terrible. She had many cords
attached to her body, and her skin was very pale, with hints of light purple and blue.
"Izumi…" Ayame said weakly. Izumi held her hand more tightly, but gently, and said, "Yes Ayame?"
-"Are you mad at me?"
-"What? Why would I be mad at you sweetheart?"
-"Because I broke my promise."
-"Huh? What promise?"
-"I told you that I would watch over you until you find your special person, but…, I won't be able to a...a...after I dd…die."
Tears formed in Izumi's eyes. She couldn't believe it. Why did someone so young, innocent and pure hearted have to die.
This thought angered her. She looked at Ayame with serious eyes and said, "You're not going to die Ayame, I'm the one
who's supposed to be watching over you and protect you, not the other way around. I will make sure you live a long and
happy life. You will survive this disease, I promise." Ayame smiled faintly, and then drifted off into a deep sleep.
Izumi smiled sadly at Ayame's now sleeping body. 'She looks so helpless', Izumi thought, then she silently left the room, and
saw a small group of doctors standing in the hallway talking silently among themselves. "…such a shame she has to go through
all that pain at such a young age…" she heard one of them say. She felt her face heat up and her earlier anger increase as she
walked up to them. "You're all failures!" she spat at them. They all lowered their heads sadly, and didn't make any sign that
they were going to retaliate. "It's your fault she's going to die! You're the ones who should find a way to cure her, not me!"
she screamed at them, and turned and ran out of the sick place.
(END FLASHBACK)
It began to rain lightly outside, so they began to walk back towards the school. "I shouldn't have said that to them, it's not
their fault she's dying, it's mine". Amaya was angry now. "Izumi, it's not your fault! You have to stop blaming yourself all the
time. It's nobody's fault. She's going to die and you can't change that! You have to put an end to your weaknesses, before
your wounds become too deep, beyond repair. You've got to move on with your life and have fun, not fall into all of its
holes!". 'Great time for your riddles, Amaya', Izumi thought angrily. "Why do you have to make things harder? Can't you
see I have enough on my shoulders already! Why can't you be a good friend for once?!" she shouted at her. But the moment
the words came out, she regretted them greatly. Amaya made a hurt face, and then walked away. "Wait Amaya! I didn't
mean to…" But Amaya just continued to go away. 'Well who needs her anyway!' she thought angrily, 'she's just a no
good…', but then someone interrupted her thoughts. "Izumi, there you are! Your mother just called. She said that you are
needed at the hospital right away. She said it was urgent", a teacher told her. Have being brought back to reality; she
wondered what could be so urgent at the hospital. Then in sudden realization, she exclaimed, "Ayame!", and began to run to
the front gates. She didn't bother to go to the office to sign out since she was too afraid that she was out of time. She ran
blindly through the rain as fast as she could. And desperate as she was, it was sort of normal for her not to notice the two faint
lights that were heading towards her. 'I'm so sorry Ayame,…I've broken my promise', those thoughts were the last things
that passed through her head, before her world blacked out.
I don't know if you guessed it yet or not, but the REAL story starts in the next chapter. Please review to tell me what you
really think of it.
