Disclaimer- Oops. Almost wrote Duskmon. Anyway, I don't own Digimon.

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Night Of Fate

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Sumi kept running until she reached Kouichi's house, unsure of what to say as she rang the doorbell three times. Several seconds later, when Kouichi opened the door, she shoved the bags Takuya had given her in his hands and said breathlessly, "Help, please…it's Tak-"

"Sumi, I already told you, I can't help you!" Kouichi exclaimed, staring at the bags in horror. "And I don't take bribery!"

She growled, "Don't flatter yourself! Takuya's off to murder himself! I could care less about Kouji right now!"

Kouichi placed the bags on the couch calmly before putting on his jacket and walking out. "Which way did he go?"

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The blade never touched him.

Takuya stared at the knife, suspended an inch away from him. Do it, Takuya! Spare everyone else, a voice yelled angrily.

But he couldn't. There was something holding him back.

Something…but he didn't know what.

Closing his eyes, Takuya inhaled deeply. "Let's rethink this," he whispered to himself, pocketing the knife miserably and heading out of the alleyway.

As he walked the almost empty streets, the goggle boy wondered what he was doing to himself. Part of him wanted to just jump off a cliff while the other half wanted him to live and just smile at his friends, even if he was truly unhappy. After all, what was the point of living if he couldn't see his friends? Kouichi would certainly help him through such matters.

And the others…they'd be willing to help, too, wouldn't they?

Takuya shivered and glanced at his clock. Nine…it only felt like two minutes, though, he thought with a sigh.

The shadows seemed to laugh at him, pull him into darkness…

So, Takuya, a voice laughed, how do you plan to kill yourself now?

Takuya bit his lip and looked around. The streets were almost clear. He'd think of a plan then.

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"Where'd he go?"

"That way!"

"What! I swear, he went that way, though!"

Izumi and Kouji looked around for any sign of Takuya. Kouji growled and slammed his fist into a nearby wall. "Dammit! Where is he!"

The girl fell quiet. "He looked…"

"Huh?"

"Takuya…he looked so sad…but happy…I'm worried," Izumi said softly, looking down. He wouldn't…would he?

With a sigh, Kouji placed a kiss on her lips. "Look, we'll find him, okay? Don't worry…I promise," he whispered, wiping her eyes.

"B-but…"

"He'll be fine. Takuya wouldn't do something so outrageously stupid like kill himself. I'll tell you what, we'll get Kouichi and then find Takuya. We could use a few more eyes."

A voice interrupted anything Izumi planned to say. "You've got them right here. Where the hell is that dork?" Kouichi growled as he walked up to his brother, looking around the now emptying streets.

Kouji shrugged. "Izumi and I have been looking for him for the past half and hour or so."

"When did you start?"

"Eight, eight-fifteen-ish."

"Kouji," Kouichi said, getting irritated, "It's nine."

"WHAT!" Izumi yelled, covering her mouth in surprise.

Kouji suddenly spotted Sumi. Pointing to her, he exclaimed, "You're his cousin! You know where he is, don't you?"

In response, he received a cold glare.

Dropping his hand, Kouji looked to his brother. "Wait…why's she mad at me?"

"Because," Kouichi said simply.

"Because…?"

"Sumi, now would be a good time to tell him, don't you think?" Kouichi said, not bothering to look at either his brother, Sumi or Izumi.

Sumi said nothing for a long while. Finally, she snapped, "Takuya first."

Quietly, Izumi tapped Kouichi's arm. "I think we should split up."

"…what?" Kouichi asked in a disbelieving voice.

"We should split up."

"But…who with whom?"

"You go with Kouji, I'll go with Sumi."

"That's not exactly the brightest idea…" Kouichi shifted uncomfortably, looking around for any other sign of life. "How about Sumi and Kouji, I'll go with Izumi?"

Kouji blinked. "Uh…can we just get searching? I really don't want Takuya to do something stupid…"

Kouichi suddenly twitched. "THEN JUST GET GOING! Come on, Izumi!" he snapped, running off in the opposite direction with Izumi following behind, leaving Kouji and Sumi to stare at each other.

"We…better start looking," Kouji murmured, clearing his throat and tearing his gaze away from Sumi's eyes.

Same cowardly maneuvers. And yet…he's not scared, Sumi thought, tilting her head to the side. "How is it that you can be so calm when you know Takuya's out there with a knife, ready to kill himself?" she asked softly.

Kouji stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

Sumi felt the urge to slap her forehead. So he didn't know.

"In that case, let's hurry up the search…where'd you see him last?" Kouji asked, looking around helplessly.

"In front of that store." Sumi pointed to the shop where she had seen Takuya last before she ran over to Kouichi's house for help.

"And then which way did he go…?"

"Down that way."

The two followed the path down the road, looking in every nook and cranny possible, continuously looking through even the slightest shadows.

They searched quietly for the most part until Kouji asked, "I know you, don't I?"

"Maybe…" was all Sumi murmured in response.

"But…see, I don't recall a Sumi…there was a girl, though. Aono. You remind me a lot of her…"

Sumi said nothing.

Kouji sighed. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"What does it look like? Shut your mouth and search instead," she snapped back, heading into an alleyway in search of her cousin. "Shinya would really be useful now," she murmured softly to herself.

"He would…"

Sumi glared at Kouji. "I wasn't talking to you."

Kouji merely shrugged. "So…" he murmured, hoping to start a conversation.

"What?"

"Uh…any brothers or sisters?"

"Older sister. What do you care?"

Shifting uncomfortably as he searched behind a trashcan, Kouji winced at the sharp edge of her tone. Living with her, I'm wondering why Takuya doesn't attempt suicide for OTHER reasons…

Chuckling at a few things he thought up, Kouji entered an alleyway, taking a leisure swat at the shadows not expecting to find anything. Instead, he hit something that emitted an 'ow.' Yelping, the bandana boy jumped back, pushing Sumi in front of hit. "It's gotta be a ghost or something!" he whimpered.

Sumi growled and pushed Kouji away, then took a closer look at what it was. "N-No way!"

"Wait…is that…?" Kouji's eyes widened.

"TAKUYA!" both chorused.

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"So, did you make your choice?" Kouichi asked, looking up at the sky.

"Start searching!" Izumi snapped, looking around furiously.

Kouichi shrugged. "So did you or did you not?"

"Why don't you care what happens to him? Aren't you his friend?"

"Why do you care what happens to him?" he countered smoothly.

Izumi's throat went dry. "I…"

He chuckled, "Precisely. You see, I know that Takuya won't kill himself. He's got enough common sense not to commit suicide. So there is no reason for me to be worried.

"Worrying about Takuya is like worrying about…well, a star. Stars are unpredictable. We don't even know much about them. Sure, science explains all, but what about the simplicity of a star? Takuya's pretty much that simple. So simple, it's complicated.

"Anyway, have you made your choice?" he asked again, smiling at Izumi now.

She merely shook her head. "I'm too afraid…"

"…we're all afraid. Of stupid things, too. We're afraid of death, even though we don't know what it will be like. We're afraid of what's going to happen when the sun turns into a red giant. We're afraid of what's going to happen when there is no sun. We're afraid of growing old. We're afraid of never growing up. Izumi, picking one over the other isn't going to hurt the other. The other will understand. Sure, Takuya's having problems. It's hard. He felt he hurt you with all the mistakes he made, and he's thinking suicide's the easy way out. But he won't die tonight. He's not that stupid." Under his breath, so Izumi couldn't hear, Kouichi added to himself, "At least I hope he isn't."

"What if he is that stupid?" Izumi asked miserably. "How would I explain it to his parents? And Shinya? And Sumi…"

Exhaling sharply, Kouichi closed his eyes. "I don't know, Izumi…I don't know. We'll figure everything out when the time comes."

If it ever comes, they both thought as they continued to search for the goggle head boy.

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Takuya stared at his cousin and Kouji. "What are you two doing here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Get back home, goggle head, it's past curfew," replied Kouji good-naturedly.

"No."

Sumi growled, "Takuya, go now. I'll force you if I have to!"

"So try. I'm not moving until I figure out what the hell I'm doing."

"You're letting icky little bacteria and virus things enter your body-" Kouji started.

The girl rolled her eyes. "They're called pathogens, in case you don't read."

He snorted, "So what if I don't? Anyway, you're getting yourself sick, Takuya. Now that we figured that out-"

"Oh, so obvious."

"Would you shut up?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because you don't deserve what you want," she returned coolly.

"Sumi, that's enough!" Takuya snapped. "Get out of my way, both of you!" Angrily, Takuya walked past them, heading further away from his house and anything he cared for.

"Takuya, what do you think you're doing? Home is that way!" Kouji groaned.

Impatiently, Takuya yelled back, "I'm going away. And never coming back! It's better that way, you'll see!"

"Don't be stupid!" Sumi and Kouji chorused before exchanging glares.

Takuya stopped in the middle of the road, a small smile on his face. "I'm not. I'm actually happy." He turned around to look at them both, the cheerful look still on his face. "You see, I finally figured out what I'm going to do. It's really thanks to you, Sumi. I hope you gave everyone their presents."

"No! Because you aren't going anywhere!" Sumi called out, taking a step towards him.

A light appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly, Kouji looked up at Takuya. "Takuya…"

Takuya smiled. "Later, Kouji."

"Move…"

"I hope you and Izumi have a great time together."

"Get out of the way!"

"I guess I'll see you guys, anyway. Since-"

"NOW!" Kouji yelled, running towards Takuya and pushing the goggle boy out of the way with all his might. Damn you, Takuya…didn't I already warn you…? That was the last thought in his mind before everything faded black.

Takuya fell onto the pavement, his eyes wide with horror. This time, there was no second chance. Not like in the digital world.

The car hit Kouji and screeched to a stop. Sumi fell to her knees, eyes wide.

"K…Kouji…why is it…every time…all those times I've been so close…" Clenching his fists, Takuya yelled, "DAMN YOU KOUJI! I SWEAR, IF YOU DIE, I'LL KILL MYSELF!"

Again…why is it happening again? Silent tears filled Sumi's eyes as she stared at the scene before her. They were calling the paramedics. Again.

It was happening all over again. Only, this time…

This time, she felt helpless.

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Kouichi sighed impatiently as they looked everywhere by the closed arcade. "Why'd it have to close at nine?" he grumbled, scratching his head.

Izumi looked at her feet silently until she heard the sounds of a nearby siren. "What…?"

Both their eyes widened as a van passed by them, sirens on and lights flashing on top.

"Takuya…"

"He didn't…"

"HE WOULDN'T!" Kouichi yelled angrily, racing after the siren's sound.

Izumi followed closely behind. Takuya wouldn't have…no…please…Takuya, no!

As soon as they reached the scene, Kouichi's eyes widened even more. "What…Kouji…Sumi, what happened?" he sputtered, running over to his brother, who lay on the stretcher.

Takuya, who had been sitting on the pavement, staring at Kouji endlessly finally stood up and ran over to the unconscious bandana boy. "Idiot! Play hero, why don't you! WHY CAN'T YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! ANSWER ME!" he yelled, attempting to punch Kouji.

Kouichi held him back. "He really doesn't need to lose any more blood than he has to, Takuya! Calm down, now! What the hell happened?"

"Kouji…he did play hero. He always does," Sumi murmured, rising to her feet and wiping her face, trying her best not to bawl out loud. "He pushed Takuya out of the way and got hit by the car instead."

"Wh…" Izumi's eyes widened. "Takuya…why did you…why are you doing this?" she whispered, stepping away from the scene.

Their eyes met for a brief second before Takuya looked down, ashamed. "Izumi…go home."

"No."

"Now."

"You need help, Takuya…you can't keep doing this to yourself!"

"I DON'T NEED HELP! I'M PERFECTLY FINE, OKAY?"

"YOU DO NEED HELP! Remember what happened when you made that plan to defeat Duskmon? Kouji got hurt instead! Takuya, we don't want to lose you or Kouji. We don't want to lose any of you! So please, just stop!" she cried, running up to him and burying her face in his jacket.

Takuya took a step back from the impact and looked down at Izumi, who had broken out into sobs. "I'm sorry, Izumi," he whispered softly. I wish…it hadn't happened this way…

Silently, after talking to the paramedics who left with Kouji, Kouichi walked over to everyone else. "I don't know his condition…we'll have to see tomorrow." His voice was barely audible, and even in the dark, everyone knew he had been crying. "We'll visit him after school finishes. But for now, Sumi and Takuya, walk Izumi home. I need to go tell Dad and Mom…"

Everyone winced, but nodded.

Takuya watched Kouichi walk away before looking up at the stars that shined so brightly despite the fact that Kouji was near death. Stars. Death. Destiny. Fate.

Indeed, he thought dismally as he wrapped his arms around Izumi subconsciously, it's been one fateful night.

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A/N-

…that could have been written better. I think it kind of lost edge in the yelling part. Or did it? Everyone seems to be getting sick. Not a good thing. Oh, if you're also reading 'Not The Bandanas 2,' I'm sorry I couldn't post today. I'll either post tomorrow or Monday/Tuesday of next week. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's really emotional, huh? But it could have been written better. I just feel really sorry for Kouichi. I mean, he has to tell his parents that Kouji got hit by a car. For the second time in his life. Idiot. XP Just kidding, Kouji. Well, review or flame. I think the ultimate pairing is getting a bit obvious here….:grin:. Hey, I just noticed! Kouichi got a new topic for all his analogies! Space!

Review or Flame.