Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon, obviously, but that would be cool if I did.

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To Be Or Not To Be? Let's Rethink This Question…

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Kouji groaned as he slammed his locker shut. They were back in school. Being back in school meant homework. And homework meant no time to even edit his plans.

His plans, of course, which involved spending time with Kako to annoy both her and Kouichi to death, but that was beside the point.

No, what Kouji really feared was any mention of Lucemon, even the slightest hint that Lucemon could be in the real world. It just didn't seem possible. But he would have time to worry about that later. There were even more pressing matters at hand.

"You never finished your project," Kouichi remarked, walking up to his twin with a blank face. "Good luck lying to the stupid teacher of ours."

Rolling his eyes, Kouji stuck out his tongue and opened his locker. "I have it…it's somewhere in my locker…that's it…"

But the older twin just shut the locker and replied, "It's in my locker. I finished it for you last night."

"LIFESAVER!" exclaimed Kouji, attempting to hug his brother.

Quietly, Kouichi pushed Kouji away and headed to his locker to get the project. He passed Takuya and Izumi with the same dead silence.

Takuya walked over to Kouji, a glare on his face that clearly said, 'I-told-you-we-went-too-far.'

Izumi, however, frowned as she looked from the grinning Kouji to the glaring Takuya. Growling, she asked impatiently, "Alright, spill. What's going on?"

Kouji put on his most innocent smile and calmly replied, "Nothing."

"KOUJI MINAMOTO GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" Kako yelled, running over to them and pushing Takuya out of the way so she could grab Kouji's collar. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT YOUR DAD KNEW MY GRANDFATHER?"

"I do recall stating that at the beginning of the year," Kouji said, blinking and staring at Kako before grinning. "Hey, do you mind letting go? People are staring."

She just glared at him before letting go of his collar and kicking his shins. "Idiot."

Trying to hold in his pain, Kouji forced a smile. He dragged his hurt leg as he walked over to Kouichi's locker in an attempt to find his project and get away from both Kako and Izumi, but failed as soon as Takuya opened his mouth.

"It's Kouji's fault, I didn't do it," was all the goggle-boy said before marching off angrily.

Izumi looked at Kako in confusion. Kako stared at the ceiling, pretending to be interested in it as much as possible. As soon as Izumi cleared her throat, the younger cousin winced. "I…didn't do it…Kouji's forcing me to do it!"

"WHAT?" growled Izumi, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Oops?" Kako gulped as the bell rang. The first day of school after holiday break was definitely bound to be interesting…

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"All right class, Mr. Ogata isn't here today, so I'll be taking over. Isn't that great? Get out your projects, now," Ms. Kawai said.

Kako looked up to make eye contact with her brother's former girlfriend, but found that the friendliness that was once there was replaced by a professional look. With a sigh, she got out her project with everyone else.

Ms. Kawai walked up to the desk, then examined the paper that was on top of the mess. "So apparently he wants you guys to read a play…we'll skip that. I never liked Romeo and Juliet. And since he's in Hawaii for most of the month, we're safe. Actually, I want to do a bit of a history lesson with you guys…"

Everyone rose their eyebrows and stared as Ms. Kawai collected their projects.

Fujitaka rose his hand. "Ms. Kawai, what do you mean 'history lesson?'"

"Well, I'm going to let you pick a topic you guys want to preview before next year so you'll be masters of that subject. It's only fair, considering Mr. Ogata doesn't even teach. So, any suggestions?" asked their teacher.

There was silence.

Finally, after a few seconds, Kouichi rose his hand.

Ms. Kawai smiled triumphantly. "Yes, Kouichi?"

Kouichi was quiet for a moment before he murmured, "Napoleon. His role with France after the French Revolution."

Everyone burst out into small conversations, unable to understand what Kouichi was talking about.

"Wait…who?" Kouji whispered to his brother.

"Napoleon," the older twin repeated. "Napoleon Bonaparte. That…military guy…I can't explain it so you'll understand," he finally said, flabbergasted with the look on Kouji's face.

Kako turned from Kouichi, to Kouji, to Ms. Kawai. "Why not…the entire French Revolution, then?"

Kouichi nearly choked. "Uh…no."

"Why not?" Kako snapped.

He paused, not sure what to say. Even when he answered, he just mumbled, "It's…suit yourself. But you won't like it."

"Well not all of us read ahead like you do."

"I don't. I just happen to be more informed than the rest of you."

"Well you also happen to-"

"Actually, I think it's better if we just do the Napoleon part of the French Revolution. Basically, the entire revolution was bloody," Ms. Kawai announced, shifting uncomfortably, "and you wouldn't exactly want to read about it. So, Napoleon it is. Unless there are other suggestions?"

Shocked, Kako opened her mouth in outrage, but quickly closed it, looking out the window angrily.

Ms. Kawai caught this. "Kako, I need to talk to you right now, if that's okay with you. And now, since we don't have the packets, I'm letting you all have some free time. So you can do whatever you want so long as you don't go outside the classroom or cause too much damage."

Everyone cheered. Kako walked up to Ms. Kawai, a blank look on her face.

Izumi, on the other hand, was lecturing Takuya and Kouji in great length. But the two boys were merely thinking up ways they could escape their torture.

"Kako…please, understand," Ms. Kawai murmured, "that you can't act like this."

Kako's expression turned cold. "I don't care."

Her teacher sighed. "You know what happened with your mother. I'm in her situation at the moment. It just can't be helped," replied Ms. Kawai in a quiet voice.

"That…doesn't matter! You can fight it, can't you?" Kako cried, running out of the room.

Ms. Kawai sighed again and looked around the room. No one was listening…good, she thought, nodding to herself. Laying eyes upon Izumi who was strangling Kouji, the teacher gave a small smile. "No one except the usual," she murmured, her eyes turning to Kouichi, whose gaze was glued on her. "Eh, Mr. Darkness?"

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"So…I was like, 'No, flutes are hotter.' And then she said, 'No, drums.' But everyone knows that the guitar players are the cutest!" Ai announced to her friend as they all made their way to the music room. She then turned to Kako. "Oh, yeah, Kako, what instrument does Kouichi play?"

Kako blinked several times before answering, "Umm…he's…he plays a bit of everything, I think…"

A smirk slyly creeped up onto Ai's face. "But…I thought you two were going out. Shouldn't you know?" she asked with mock innocence.

Kako turned beet red. "N-no! I'm…going out…with…uh, oh shi-I mean…DAMMIT ALL!"

"Stop cursing," Kouichi murmured as he passed her, not meeting her eyes. "It's not healthy."

Ai snickered as Kako turned even more crimson.

"I'm not going out with anyone," Kako growled, stomping ahead of Ai. Looking down, she wondered why people would just assume things such as that, but then again…

Had it not been for her, Kouichi wouldn't seem so far away.

Kako immediately snapped out of her thoughts as she felt something grab her hand. She nearly shrieked as she turned around and saw Kouji. "Gah!" yelped Kako, yanking her hand away, "don't sneak up on me, Kouji!"

Kouji smiled, but said nothing. "So…tonight sound good?"

"Busy."

"Tomorrow afternoon?"

"Busy then, too."

"Fine…when are you free, Kako?" Kouji grumbled, looking unhappy.

Sticking out her tongue, Kako refused to answer. Instead, she took a seat. "You know what I find weird?"

Taking a seat beside her, Kouji asked, "What?"

"The fact that we haven't had music class since…well, the first week of school."

"Oh. Didn't notice."

"You don't notice anything." Because you're a dork who insists on torturing his brother, she added to herself silently.

Kouji smiled. "If you're thinking what I think you are, I do notice. I told you, I have my reasons. So I suggest you go along with it. Unless, of course, you want me to-"

"Shut up?" Kako interrupted sarcastically. "Oh, sure, go ahead. Be my guest."

"…kiss you and make it look like we're going out?"

"NO WAY!"

Everyone turned to Kako, who had fallen out of her chair to avoid Kouji and anything he might try. Feeling the eyes on her, Kako laughed nervously, gulped and sat down in her seat, blushing as she did.

Kouji chuckled quietly, but kept his eyes glued on the teacher as Mrs. Nakamura entered the room.

"Alright, who can play what? Get to the point so we can hurry this up. Not like we have much time, anyway," Mrs. Nakamura grumbled.

Kako tilted her head to the side. She's…older than I remember. It doesn't matter, as long as I don't…get…stuck with Kouji. Kako suddenly turned to Kouji. "Kouji, let go of my hand," she hissed, using her right hand to pry Kouji's hand off her left hand. "I mean it."

Kouji said nothing, but instead, ignored her.

"Well…I can play the drums!" Takuya volunteered.

Izumi shrugged and raised an eyebrow at her struggling cousin. "Does it matter? I'm more of a piano person, right Kako?"

"Y-yeah. Uh…I play piano," Kako said, hastily sitting to face the front and acting casual as everyone looked at her again.

"I'm more of a guitar," was all Kouji said.

"Violin," someone else said.

As the entire class went around stating the instruments they played, Kako tried her hardest to release her hand from Kouji's grip. Her attempts proved fruitless however, and she nearly screamed in pain as he tightened his grip when Kouichi spoke.

"I…" Kouichi murmured, "I'll play anything."

Mrs. Nakamura rose an eyebrow. "Anything, you say?"

He nodded.

"So…you could play every single instrument I gave to you, then?"

Kako nearly choked. She sounds so…amused. And my hand…and…Kouichi…why does he look like that? She frowned as she saw the empty look in Kouichi's eyes.

"Probably."

The teacher laughed, "Don't give yourself so much credit, kid."

Kouichi just shook his head. "I never said I'd play them better than another person in the room. By 'I'll play anything,' I meant if you give me an instrument, I'll learn it to the best of my abilities and play it. Obviously, you couldn't comprehend what I said," he replied with a simple shrug.

It was then that Mrs. Nakamura smiled. "Very good. Very, very good. Now this is what we'll do. For today, I'll let you borrow instruments. And unless you're a piano or drummer, you can either bring instruments, or borrow them from me. As for now, I'll assign instruments."

As the entire class broke into separate conversations as Mrs. Nakamura went around listing the instruments they would play, Kouji loosened his hold on Kako's hand.

Kako whimpered as she rubbed her hand, sore from the excessive pressure that had been applied. "Idiot, why'd you do that?"

But Kouji just shrugged. "Hm. I felt like it."

There was a silence between them before Kako remembered what he had said before she had thoroughly embarrassed herself.

"About what you said earlier," she murmured. Kouji turned to her as she continued, "You weren't serious, were you?"

He chuckled. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Shivering, Kako tried to take the matter off her mind by discovering who would play what instrument.

"Ai…you'll play the flute," Mrs. Nakamura announced. "And so will Kouichi. Kako, you and Izumi will play the piano."

Kako's eyes widened. NO WAY CAN SHE PLAY THE FLUTE WITH KOUICHI, Kako thought jealously, NO WAY.

Kouichi's expression, however, was blank.

Mrs. Nakamura continued, "Kouji, you will accompany Takuya on the drums."

Kouji nodded, obviously okay with the change. He stood up, preparing to go join Takuya, but first turned to Kako, a small smile on his face. "I'll be home pretty much every day this week until I go to kendo lessons at five. Whenever you can, come over. I need to talk to you about something," he told her before walking off.

Kako winced as she nodded and snuck a glance at Kouichi. The same vacant expression still stayed on his face, causing her to wonder what exactly he was thinking.

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The very next day, Kouichi walked into the classroom, worrying immensely. They were learning about Napoleon, true, and he was actually going to be interested.

But yesterday, seeing Ms. Kawai talk to Kako…after that, he was incredibly worried about what she would do. The last thing he wanted was to be paired up in a group with Kouji or Kako.

How unfortunate for him, though, that that's what Ms. Kawai had planned.

"Okay, so today, there are Napoleon packets on your desks! Isn't that great? And now you'll get your debate partners. I drew them up randomly yesterday, and there's still strange pairs…" Ms. Kawai trailed off to stare at Kouji and frown. "Anyway, we'll be having a debate. Anything you need to know is in the packet and now I'll read the groups. Izumi, you're with Kouji. Kanaye with Yuki, Eri with Ai, Kouichi with Kako, Fujitaka with…"

Kako stared at Kouichi's stiff figure. Oh…no, you're kidding. NOT HIM! I'm doomed, she thought, sniffing a little. Incredibly doomed.

As soon as Ms. Kawai finished announcing the names, she cleared her throat and waited for the excited conversations to die down. "I've put whether you're negative or affirmative on a paper that I will post up later. For now, read through the information and you can check after lunch. You'll have your debate in two weeks. If I didn't call out your name, you're a judge. Judges meet me at my desk, and everyone else, meet with your partner."

Everyone bolted out of their seats to meet with their partner or run to the front desk. Kouichi was semi-relieved to see that Kouji was judging, as he could never understand his brother's logic. Swallowing, he was even more determined to make amends with Kako as he turned around and tried to talk to her. "S-so…umm…"

"Er…right. So…" Kako mumbled, looking down at her desk.

Kouichi looked out the window. "We're going to be negative."

Kako looked up at him. "Really? How do you know?"

"I just do, I guess. So…let's look at the resolution, then."

She laughed nervously. "Um, what's a resolution?"

"It's…basically the motion we're trying to negate."

"Oh." Kako flipped through her packet. "It's talking about whether he upheld the ideals of the French Revolution or not."

Smiling, Kouichi turned to his own packet and flipped through it, his grin widening. "Okay, we've got an easy case."

There was a pause.

"Kako?"

Nothing.

Kouichi turned around and found Kako twisting the paper around, attempting to understand what it said. "Uh…Kako, you know that won't help."

"I don't get it! What do we do?" Kako whined.

He sighed. This won't be easy, thought the boy as he opened her packet to the documents. "Look for examples of how Napoleon didn't uphold liberty, equality, or fraternity."

"Oh…okay." Shrugging cluelessly as Kouichi turned around, Kako proceeded to look through the packet.

"You know, Napoleon watched practically every play. And if he didn't like one, the playwright's career was ruined," Kouichi muttered aloud, scanning his book.

Kako shrugged again. "Napoleon reminds me of Shakespeare. Hah…'To be or not to be?' They should've both just not have existed."

There was silence. "Actually…" Kouichi murmured, "the character was supposed to be thinking of suicide when that line was written."

"Wh-…are you serious?" Kako exclaimed.

Kouichi nodded, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't know that!"

"It's…kind of self-explanatory."

"No it isn't! You don't think about these things in depth!"

"Uh…it's obvious. 'To be,' meaning to exist."

Kako glared. "So we're supposed to assume that?"

"No…" Kouichi rolled his eyes at this point. "It's a given."

"No it isn't!"

"Yes, it is."

"NO!"

"Yes."

"NONONONONOOOOO!"

"Yes."

"You're impossible!"

"What a coincidence. So are you," replied Kouichi in a bored tone.

"God, I can't believe anyone likes you!" Kako suddenly snapped, slamming her packet on the table.

Kouichi's eyes widened as he choked. He stared out the window, his eyes flickering as he tried to recover from the pain that had been dealt to him.

Kako covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said. "Uh…K-Kouichi, I didn't…mean…that…"

"Let's just get working, okay?" he replied icily, his gaze not leaving the window.

Bowing her head in silent shame, Kako nodded.

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"Hideki! I'm home!" Kako shouted, slinging her backpack off her shoulder and onto the ground with a dull thud. Looking around and finding no one, she frowned and headed to her brother's room, where she could hear muffled voices.

"…I don't give a damn about it! It's just a load of crap!" she could hear her brother say.

Well, he always was one for cursing, Kako thought, rolling her eyes. Who's he talking to…? Not Dad, obviously. Dad wouldn't allow that language. But then again, this is Hideki we're talking about.

There was a sigh. "I'm sorry, Hideki, but you know it just isn't possible. Think of what happened to your mother."

"Mom knew what she was doing!"

"And so do I! Listen, as much as I do love you, it's just not possible. I'm sorry, but you know our fates were the same. It was a mistake, Hideki. We can't be together."

Kako's eyes widened in realization. Angrily, she opened the door and glared at both Rai and Hideki. "But Mom managed to live this long and have both Hideki and me!" she cried angrily.

Rai merely smiled. "Kako that was when there was actually peace. After that…well, you know what happened. But I have a duty, Kako. And I must fulfill it."

Hideki looked at his desk, obviously irritated that he wasn't winning, while Kako stared at Rai with pleading eyes brimming with tears. "Couldn't you at least try?" whispered the girl.

But Rai shook her head and walked up to Kako and kneeled down. "Kako, there are some things you may not understand yet. But when a burden falls on someone, depending on who they are, they live their lives accordingly. I've tried to stay alone, but found it impossible. People like you and your brother are just too interesting," she said gently with a smile.

"Then why-"

"Because, I don't want to start something I can't finish in time." Ms. Kawai stood up and walked past Kako, gently ruffling the young girl's hair as she passed.

Kako stood there, looking at her brother with tear filled eyes. "Hideki…"

Turning to his sister, Hideki shrugged and looked at the ceiling with a sad smile. "I guess angels choose their commitments wisely, don't they?"

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A/N-

For those of you who realized a certain set up, bravo! For those of you who didn't, just wait! My back hurts, my arm hurts, and I'm mad at a certain boy who I guess I could consider a friend, but yeah, that's my boring life. I'll try to update ASAP, but I might not be able to, because my Dad's coming back from a trip today. Yeah, stinks, doesn't it?

Review or Flame. We're deepening the plot here.