Disclaimer-Why doesn't Digimon air 24/7? I don't own Digimon. Simple as that.

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And The Clock Is Ticking Away

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Izumi walked beside Kouji quietly, a thousand thoughts flowing through her mind.

Kouji…he's so sweet. And understanding. He never loses his temper, sure, but he doesn't know how to date properly, either, a voice whispered in her head.

Another voice argued, Then again, I'm more patient with him. Around Takuya…I…I just used him. I never considered him a boyfriend. Not how I should have, anyway.

But Takuya shouldn't have lost his temper at first! It's his fault you're with Kouji! Not that you care.

But I'm the one who hurt Takuya!

Izumi, would you get a grip!

Izumi, you're so stupid!

Izumi!

"Izumi!" Kouji exclaimed, waving his hand in front of the girl beside him. "Are you okay?"

Snapping out of her reverie, Izumi nodded somewhat absentmindedly. "Uhm, I'm just a bit tired, that's all," she lied smoothly.

Kouji smiled. "Yeah…I even forgot about homework!" he joked.

With a giggle, Izumi teased back, "Don't you always?"

"Hey…" he growled lightly.

"What time is it, anyway?"

There was silence. Then, "Uh…"

"Kouji, what is the time?"

"Well, promise you won't get mad?" asked the bandana boy sheepishly.

Izumi tilted her head to the side. "So…?"

"Well, it's around eight."

"WHAT?"

He winced. Plugging his ears and shuffling a few feet away, he whined, "You promised you wouldn't get mad."

"But…but…eight! I have to do homework! I have to practice piano! My parents will lecture me for hours! I won't be able to do anything!" she wailed.

Kouji cringed. "I'll talk to them, I promise. It's my fault, anyway. And Kouichi says he doesn't have that much homework. So you shouldn't."

Izumi glared at the boy. "But I study."

"Oh…right…."

She broke into a small smile. I can't stay mad at him for long…kind of like Takuya…

"So what now? You want to go home?" Kouji asked, concerned.

"No…that's okay, I've got time. If I go home at nine, I can get my homework done in an hour." Izumi flashed him another smile.

Sighing, Kouji nodded. "That's good."

"Are you okay, Kouji?" she suddenly asked. "You seem…well, tired…and…worried."

"Remember how I told you I was scared of girls…or…scared of Aono, at least?"

Izumi tensed up, unsure of what to say.

"Well, I had this weird dream…I think it was a memory of my past."

"What was it about?" she asked hesitantly.

Kouji frowned as he tried to remember the details clearly. "I was in my room, and Dad came up to me and asked me if I was okay. Then I told him that Aono knocked me out. And…he seemed…surprised."

"Oh," the girl replied softly as she looked away, troubled.

"I asked Mom about Aono today morning and she broke a plate because she was so surprised. It kind of scared me…"

Izumi's mind was sent into turmoil once more as she sent the details into her head.

See! Kouji's infatuated with finding out about Aono, who is REALLY SUMI!

Shut up! He just doesn't know what's going on! Wouldn't you be the same way!

Oh, yeah, use that excuse…when you know Sumi is in love with Kouji and Kouji wants to know about her! Yeah, that's just a great excuse.

Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!

ADMIT THE FACT!

NEVER!

Izumi gasped as a hand appeared in front of her face.

"…you spaced out again," Kouji commented, withdrawing his hand. "Sorry about that."

"Oh…I…It's okay. Anyway, uh…I…Kouji, uhm, what do you want to do now?" Izumi asked, laughing nervously.

"What do you want to do?" he countered.

"Huh?" Confused, she turned to look at him, expecting a grin, but only found a solemn face looking back at her. "Uh…talk, I guess. I don't know…"

"Are you sure?"

Izumi took a step back, hitting the wall to her side. "Uh…yeah…" HE'S CREEPING ME OUT!

Kouji placed his hands on either side of her head on the wall and leaned closer. "Really?"

Ignoring the blush that crept up her cheeks, Izumi glared at him. "Of course I am! Stop it, Kouji, you're freaking me out!"

He smirked and moved in closer, now an inch away from her. "How so?" he asked in a mock innocent voice.

"K-…Kouji…"

He continued to move in, smirking, before he shut his eyes and pushed off the wall to lean against the space beside her.

That didn't really annoy Izumi much. It wouldn't have, really…

Had he not been laughing.

Red faced and angry, Izumi watched as Kouji clutched his stomach and doubled over in laughter.

"Oh, you should have seen your face! It was great! I haven't seen anything that funny since…well…since forever! It's better than tha-"

Before Izumi even thought to slap him, Kouji fell silent.

Dropping her hand down to her side, Izumi examined him. "Kouji? Are you okay?" she asked in surprise.

Kouji shut his mouth and closed his eyes, which had been wide open. "I'm fine. I just…get this feeling…and, well…Sumi's glaring at me."

"Huh?"

"Across the street," he murmured softly, raising an arm and pointing to where Sumi stood, glaring at the two angrily, and, if Izumi was correct, somewhat sadly.

Izumi bit her lip, then looked at Kouji. "Well, I'd slap you, but since you're so down, I'll yell at you. DON'T EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!"

Wincing, Kouji shut his eyes and edged away from the ranting Izumi. Yet he really wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying. Instead, he was thinking about Aono…

And Sumi.

They seemed so alike. Both picked on him, they even both looked alike, according to his memories.

Not that he had a great memory, anyway.

"And it was just plain freaky, too! KOUJI! Are you listening!" Izumi asked, exasperated.

Kouji looked at her somewhat surprised. "Huh? Oh, yeah, listening. Of course I am."

"Don't lie. You seem really out of it, today."

"And you don't?"

"Uh…well…"

"How's this, we come to terms with each other, okay?"

Izumi bit her lip. Although she loved Kouji, she didn't have the heart to tell him why she was really acting as she was. So, drawing a breath, she lied, "I'm just worried. I don't know why."

"Oh…"

"And you?"

"I…I keep wondering about Aono. It's that dream. It's been bugging me, and my parents won't tell me anything, I know. And I want to know…" Kouji stared at the sidewalk thoughtfully, a sad smile on his lips.

"Kouji…" Izumi sighed. Is what I'm doing the right thing? Shouldn't I give Kouji a better chance?

Shouldn't you have given Takuya a better chance?

Enough Takuya!

No! They're the same case! It's your fault, Izumi. If it weren't for you, everything would be perfectly fine. Maybe Kouji would have even remembered Sumi! It's your own fault, and you know it.

"Why don't we go for a walk before we head home?" she suggested, taking hold of his arm and pulling it slightly. "We'll discuss it then."

Kouji looked up and nodded. Chuckling, he muttered under his breath, "But it was still funny."

"STUPID PERVERT!"

"It wasn't perverse, it was supposed to scare you!"

"Yes! I was scared that you were a pervert!"

"HEY!"

Izumi laughed as Kouji's face turned crimson as a few passersby stared. Smirking, Izumi whispered, "Take that, bandana boy."

"That was just cruel," he grumbled, looking at the sky and coughing to avoid attention.

"An eye for an eye!" she sang back

Almost unexpectedly, he turned to her and kissed her, smiling as he withdrew and whispered back, "And a kiss for that."

After a moment of silence, Izumi finally rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder. "And a hit for that. Pervert."

"Hey!"

"Hormones getting to you?"

"That's just evil!"

Izumi continued without mercy, "Guess that means you're a hormonal pervert."

Whimpering, Kouji yanked her hand. "Come on, stop…"

"Hormonal-"

Swiftly, he covered her mouth with a hand after sneaking behind her, then growled, "That's worse than Lucemon, Izumi. Now stop."

"Mmmf…mmm…mm. Mmmm!" Izumi tried to say something, but it came out muffled, due to the hand.

Kouji removed his hand with a sigh, then continued walking. Izumi whacked him across the side of his head. Letting out a surprised cry, he turned to her and glared as he remarked, "Play fair, Izumi!"

"It is playing fair!"

"But I can't hit you back!" he whined.

Izumi shook her head. "You could, but it wouldn't be very polite, now would it?"

"YA THINK!"

"Well…"

Kouji opened his mouth, about to say something before he turned to face the street across from them. His eyes widened considerably as he whispered something. Then, turning to Izumi, he murmured, "Hey…"

"What?"

"Isn't that Takuya?" Kouji asked anxiously, pointing to the boy across the street.

Equally surprised, Izumi nodded. "I could tell those goggles from five miles away."

"And…what's he doing? The arcade is the other way. In fact, everyone's house is the other way, too. Should we…"

"Yeah….we should." Takuya…what is he doing? I hope he's okay, Izumi thought, feeling a bit guilty for some reason she couldn't comprehend.

The two exchanged worried glances before heading to the nearest crosswalk to follow Takuya.

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"Sumi! Can you please go get Takuya?" Mrs. Kanbara called out from the kitchen. "It's past dinner time and he still isn't back!"

Sumi nodded. "Sure, just give me a second!" Quickly putting away her books, she ran out of her room, slipped on her shoes and dashed outside.

After walking several blocks to get to the arcade, she entered the building and looked around for any sign of her goggle-headed cousin.

…now we need a song. Oh where, oh where has Takuya gone? Oh where, oh where can he be? With his brain cut short and his ego cut long, oh where can that loser be, Sumi sang in her head, rolling her eyes when she couldn't find Takuya anywhere in the arcade.

Running outside the building and further down the street, Sumi let out a curse and stopped, looking at the darkening sky. Takuya was nowhere to be found, she still had homework, and it was past eight. There was no way she could finish her homework now.

Smiling wryly, Sumi continued walking, looking on both sides of the street. Oh, yeah, perfect excuse. 'Mr. Amano, I didn't do my homework because my idiot cousin decided to go out for a walk and I had to look for him!' Oh, and then Mr. Amano'll-wait a second…

Stopping somewhat suddenly, Sumi stared across the street in disgust. Kouji had pinned Izumi to the wall, and was leaning in. "Sick bastard," she muttered as he rolled over to the space beside Izumi to laugh. "What the hell does he think he's doing?" She glared at Kouji as he looked up, her gaze never leaving him.

She just couldn't forget…

She would never forget. No matter how much she wanted to…

Kouji had saved her. She did owe him. She didn't care, however, if he didn't return her love. She could easily move on. It wasn't like Sumi didn't have a life.

Takuya. There's Takuya, remember? Sumi reminded herself of what she was really supposed to do as she tore her gaze away from Kouji and continued walking, muttering curses as she did.

Coming to a sudden stop, she sighed and looked at the building beside her. A jewelry shop. A shop…with a goggle headed boy at the counter, purchasing something. Raising an eyebrow, Sumi entered the shop, placing her hands on her hips and standing in the middle of the doorway as Takuya prepared to exit the shop. "ACHEM."

"Sumi…oh, good. I need you to do something for me," Takuya breathed. He sounded somewhat relieved.

Sumi was taken aback. Confused, she asked, "What is it?"

Handing several packages to her, he replied, "Give these to my friends, would you? Or Kouichi. He'd know what to do. Anyway, later."

Taking the packages, Sumi found herself pushed aside as her cousin exited the store. "Wait! What do you mean, later! Your Mom wants you to come home!"

"Tell her sorry for me, will you?"

Her eyes widened. "Takuya…wh-what are you talking about?"

As Takuya turned around to face her, his hand reached into his pocket and retrieved a small blade. "I can't really take it anymore, Sumi. Sorry. Tell everyone sorry for me, will you?" he said softly, pocketing the blade once more.

"T…Takuya! You're an idiot!" Sumi growled angrily, shoving the packages back at him. "Give this to them yourself!"

"But they wouldn't let me end myself, then, would they?"

Sumi clenched her hands as she shouted, "Don't talk like that! You have no reason to end your life! What, was Izumi your life!"

"Yes…"

Again, she was taken aback. Takuya used that moment to give her the packages. "Make sure they get them. Shinya's is in there, too. Later, Sumi. I hope you get what you wanted."

Sumi watched in silent horror, unsure of what to do. Takuya…how could I get what I want…if you aren't here…it doesn't matter…

Biting her lip, Sumi turned around and ran.

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Smiling softly to himself, Takuya entered a seemingly deserted alley, taking out the knife he had. Where to strike? What would you say, Agunimon? No…you'd tell me not to kill myself. What would Lucemon say? He'd probably tell me I'm an idiot, too, thought the boy, examining the knife.

Lifting the knife to his heart, Takuya sighed and shut his eyes. Quietly, he brought the knife out, and in one quick movement, yanked it towards him, squeezing his eyes shut.

What now? Takuya thought, milliseconds before the blade touched him.

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A/N-

Evil cliffhanger! I actually think it's a cool cliffhanger! Go Takuya. Being depressed…it's made me get into his mood a bit more. Yeah, I've gone depressed today. A lot of times. I felt really bad, because I broke one of my brother's b-day presents by accident…and then, well…yeah. Being depressed is supposed to be bad for your health. Oops. Anyway, ignore my 'depressedness' stories, not Takuya's. Review or Flame. Two more chapters, I think.

Not getting that many reviews...reviews would be nice. I have fun reading them. Oh, remember, I answer them at www .:dot:. livejournal .:dot:. com .:slash:. users .:slash:. dragonsunlight

Speaking of which, I'll go answer the reviews I got right now. My French teacher is stupid. grr...