Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Daisuke was in class, watching the people around him train with their abilities. Howard, one of the best students in the class, was creating ice using waves from his hands, and his loyal girl fans crowded around him, awe-struck. Daisuke ignored the squeals of the girls when Howard successfully created a small ice sculpture. Instead, he looked to his right and saw Takuya sitting beside him, seeming to be as bored as he was.

When he saw the spiky haired teenager looking at him, Takuya grinned. Daisuke had probably been staring at Howard again, the stupid show-off who was also quite a ladies' man. All of those wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for his annoying behavior, always thinking that he was too good for lower classed boys. Sadly, Howard's definition of lower classed boys were people like Daisuke and Takuya. What exactly made him think like that was a mystery to him.

"Bored?" Takuya asked his friend, who was yawning for the fifth time that day.

"What do you think?" Daisuke replied, trying his best to not look at a girl's desperate attempts to have Howard's attention. Honestly, why do girls treat Howard like a king, when he definitely doesn't deserve that kind of treatment?

"I can destroy Howard's sculpture," Takuya hinted, making Daisuke grin at him. One of their favorite things to do when they were feeling bored was probably trying to make Howard's life a living hell. Not that it actually worked, of course, since Howard had too many people worshipping him to even pay attention to their actions. Still, it was worth a try…

"Are you absolutely positive that you'd be able to do this without one of the teachers noticing?" Daisuke asked, getting more attached to the idea.

"Have I ever failed you before?" Takuya said as a form of reply.

They both grinned stupidly before Takuya got up from his table and walked towards Howard. Daisuke watched as Takuya talked with the dark-haired boy while making sure that no one was paying any attention to him.

Then, before anyone knew what was happening, Takuya had fired a ball of flame at the ice sculpture. The sculpture exploded into tiny ice fragments and all the girls screamed as they stared at the fragments in horror. It all happened so fast that no one really realized what caused the explosion, though Howard was quick to guess who had done it. That was to be expected, especially since things like that happen to him at least once every two days.

"You did that, didn't you? Stupid Kanbara!" Howard shouted, not bothering to lower his voice despite the fact that there was probably a teacher walking outside the classroom. Daisuke rolled his eyes. It was so typical of Howard to shout when he was angry or dissatisfied. That boy would do almost anything to gain the spotlight.

"Oh, Howard! How could you say that? You didn't even see me doing anything. I was just having quite an enjoyable conversation with you," Takuya replied, desperately trying not to laugh. The gobsmacked look on Howard's face when his piece of art shattered into pieces was priceless. Daisuke just wished he had brought along a camera. Then again, if he did bring a camera, everyone would know that he and Takuya, the famous duo, was the one who had caused the incident.

"You think I'm so stupid, don't you? Well, newsflash! I know you did it and I'm going to prove it!" Howard shouted yet again, bugged that none of the teachers seemed to rush to his aid.

"Really? How?" Takuya asked, fairly amused. He was sure that no one in class had saw him do his dirty work, so watching Howard try to do so would be a great way to spend his time.

"Well, who else can create fire in this class, smarty-pants?" Howard pointed out. He was practically smirking when pupils in the class started to whisper and talk to one another, agreeing with the boy's previous statement. Takuya just shrugged and smiled cynically.

"Do you have any proof?" Takuya asked. The color drained out of Howard's face when he realized that little fact. He gritted his teeth in fury before shouting at him, "I know it's you! Just wait till I tell the teachers!"

Daisuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even Shinya behaved better than that, and he's four years younger than all of them. Howard was acting like a brat, and it didn't take him long to know that all the boys in his class thought of the same thing… but he forgot how persistent Howard's fan club can be.

"Howard's right! Who else would do such a mean thing?" Diane, the club's president, said in an attempt to protect her hero.

"Why are they making such a big deal out of this? It would just take him ten seconds to create a new sculpture," a boy standing near Daisuke whispered to his friend. Daisuke had to agree. As much as he hated Howard, he wouldn't do such a mean thing like ruin his precious things. The only reason why Takuya shattered the ice sculpture was because they both knew that Howard wouldn't need much effort and time in order to make a new one.

"You're so unbearable, Takuya! No wonder your mother dumped you in the trash can when you were little!"

Silence.

Takuya's face reddened in both embarrassment and anger. Though all the pupils in the class always have different opinions, they all agreed that Howard had gone too far to make that kind of remark, but did the boy care? Absolutely not! In fact, Takuya's face just made him continue on taunting him.

"And Shinya's not even your real brother, is he? You're not related by blood. If I give him this piece of information, I wonder if he would ever think of you the same way again…" If looks could kill, Daisuke was sure that Howard would be dead by that time. Daisuke hadn't seen Takuya mad for so long that he almost forgot how intimidating Takuya looked when he was angered.

"Shut up!" Takuya said angrily in a highly threatening way.

"What? Is little Takky angry?" Howard asked, enjoying his little game.

Takuya would have killed Howard if it weren't for Daisuke stopping him by grabbing his wrist.

"Takuya, stop it. He's not worth it," Daisuke attempted to calm his friend. He didn't expect Takuya to actually listen to him, but for some reason, he did. Howard was about to say something before Daisuke cut him off.

"If you don't want to die, I think you should shut your big mouth," Clearly taken aback, Howard quickly shut up. Before they could do anything else, someone entered the room, opening the door with such force that it shocked the pupils inside the class.

"Sorry, the door was kind of stuck. What are you all staring at?" Mrs. Grey, one of the most respected teachers in the whole school, asked them when she saw that crowd which was gathered in the middle of the classroom. Each of the pupils went to their own seat. If there was one thing that they all should know about Mrs. Grey; it was the fact that they should not make her cross or unhappy, or else…

"You okay?" Daisuke asked Takuya, who was staring at the floor while muttering a few curses under his breath. Takuya hesitated for a while before nodding a bit.

"Just don't stop me from murdering him the next time he says something like that, alright?" Daisuke grinned. He was glad that Takuya was feeling better. For a minute there, he actually thought that Takuya would shout at him for not leaving him alone. He needn't worry about Daisuke stopping him if Howard ever bring up the subject again; he would be more than glad to do the job for him.

"May I speak to Mr. Daisuke Motomiya?" the teacher asked, eyeing the pupils with a wondrous expression on her face. Daisuke sighed. Whatever the teacher wanted to talk about, he was positive that it was about his new job. Takuya muttered a 'good luck' as he stood up and walked towards Mrs. Smith, who gave him a warm smile. He found it quite difficult to return the same act. So he was finally going to know what his first mission was going to be, huh?

"Please follow me," Mrs. Smith said as she opened the door and walked outside the door. Daisuke followed her, wondering what sort of thing he was supposed to do. Finding the stones was, of course, his main job, but where was he going? Maybe somewhere outside New York? That would be seriously amazing.

"So, I guess… you are the chosen one," Mrs. Smith said suddenly, taking Daisuke by surprise.

"Uh… the chosen one?" Mrs. Smith chuckled when she looked at Daisuke's face. It was obvious that he had no idea on what she was talking about.

"Well, we can't just choose someone to gather the stones randomly. We need someone with potential and talent. One who would most likely succeed, do you understand me?" Mrs. Smith explained, trying to make herself as clear as possible.

"No, not really," Daisuke admitted. Chosen one? And he and Takuya actually thought that they just picked a name from the list of students or something. Him? Chosen? Nah, it couldn't be. That was just too good to be true.

After walking for several minutes, they stopped outside the huge meeting room. Usually, the ones who used this room are VIPs or extremely important people. He couldn't believe that he was actually going to enter that room. Mrs. Smith knocked at the door and waited for someone to greet them.

"Come in," this was probably the response that she was waiting for, because as soon as she heard that, she opened the door and invited Daisuke in. Daisuke entered the room gingerly, eyeing the things around him as he entered the room. There were lots of expensive things, most of them were made were fragile objects such as pottery and glass ornaments, making him feel very uncomfortable when he was inside the room.

"Ah, Mr. Motomiya, I see that you are here at last. Please have a seat," The principal of the school said to him. Daisuke thanked him and sat at an armchair, shifting nervously in his seat ever so often. Why were there so many people there? It was like all the teachers in the school were gathered in that particular room.

"You don't have to be so tensed. We are just going to tell you about your mission. I assume that you are already aware of what you are supposed to do?" Daisuke nodded, and the principal took several papers from his drawers. He examined it carefully before handing it to Daisuke.

"The green marks on the map are the location of the stones. You might have noticed an odd thing about the locations,"

"Why are all of them located in Japan?" he asked, puzzled.

"Indeed, that is the thing that had confused us the most. We thought that the stones would be somewhere in America, but there isn't even a trace of those things in this country. Although it would be a better idea to ask a Japanese to search for these things, it is too late to make any changes," Daisuke felt intrigued to ask the principal why he couldn't make any changes, but he managed to restrain himself. Out of all the other famous countries, why did it have to be Japan?

Perhaps it was quite a good idea for Daisuke to come back to Japan and see her again, but honestly, he was afraid that she would find out about him.

"We managed to buy your plane ticket, but we couldn't seem to find a place for you to stay. However, we have recently found out that you have a few close friends there. Is this information correct?" the principal asked. Daisuke nodded hesitantly, wishing that the principal wouldn't ask him to do anything stupid such as telephoning them or something.

"Do you mind if we ask you to stay with them for the time being? I'm afraid we have no other choice,"

Daisuke closed his eyes as he thought for a moment. Would he really mind? The answer would definitely be yes, he would mind. But he did promise… Going back there would be a good chance to fulfill it.

"Okay, I guess," he replied.

"Hearing you say that makes me feel less worried. Please write a letter to your closest friend and inform him or her of your situation. Best do it before Thursday, as you will already be in Japan on that day. Oh, almost forgot. As Mr. Takuya Kanbara also used to live in Japan, we have decided that it would be a good idea for him to go with you. Please inform him of this news. You are now dismissed,"

Daisuke sighed in relief when the meeting was finally over. He was feeling so nervous that it was hard for him to breathe in that room. So Takuya's going along with him? That was good news. At least he didn't need to worry about being alone and completely helpless.

A letter…

That would be difficult to write, especially since he hadn't even contacted them in four years. And who should he be writing to? Ken would be a possible choice, but Daisuke wasn't exactly sure that they would get along after all those years of not seeing each other. So that just leaves her then… Would she mind? After all, he didn't even call her ever since he arrived in America. This was so tough! He didn't expect that meeting up with old friends would be that difficult.

"Get the mail!"

That was what her mother asked her to do when she woke up. Was it so hard to do those kinds of things by yourself once in a while? Sometimes she wondered; if she went to boarding school, what would happen to her family? They obviously couldn't survive without her around.

Yawning a bit, she walked slowly towards the mailbox and retrieved the envelopes from inside it. It was mostly the usual bills that they get every month. The electric bill, the phone bill, the gas bill… She might as well give them to her mother. Heading back towards her house, she went through all the envelopes again and saw that there was one that was addressed for her.

'Weird… who would give a letter to me?'

She glanced at the name written on the envelope again.

Shiori Okimi

Yup, that was definitely her. She opened the envelope and read the letter. She read through it once and stopped when she saw a familiar name on the bottom of the letter. Then, she once again read the letter, this time more slowly and more carefully.

'It couldn't be…'

She stared at the letter in total disbelief.

"Daisuke?"

Review Responses:

Dark Qiviut: Aw-shucks… You're making me blush. Thanks a lot for your very sweet review. To be honest, I was quite nervous. I mean, I'm just thirteen and English is not my mother tongue, so I was worried that I would make some seriously stupid mistakes! Let's just hope that I won't make too many mistakes! Oh, and you didn't get me down. It was quite the opposite, actually.

S.Stryker: Thank you! Please keep on reading and reviewing!

A/N: Hmm… I always wondered what it would be like if Taichi, Takuya and Daisuke were in the same class… but since Taichi is Hikari's older brother, I guess I couldn't add him into the mix. Still, the two troublemakers above would do, I guess. Sorry if some part seemed stupid or rushed. R & R please. I know I'm weird, but bear with me, okay? By the way, I accept constructive criticism, not flames.