Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Approaching…

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"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Kako gasped, breathless as she ran through the door. "I got caught up in a school proje-Hideki? Where's Dad?" She looked up expectantly at her older brother who stood in front of her.

Hideki turned to his younger sister with a tired look on his face. "He had another unexpected meeting somewhere in China."

"AH! I'm sorry!" the girl apologized, reddening as she slipped out of her shoes and ran into the kitchen, calling back to her brother, "I'll make dinner ASAP!"

"Kako, it's fine. Rai made some when she came over, so I'm fine…"

"Rai?" Kako repeated, running out of the kitchen. "Where is she?"

"She left, but there's a note for you in your room. And-Kako! Pay attention!" Hideki groaned, slumping over and sinking down on the couch. He watched Kako race into her room and muttered, "God, she has too much energy."

Kako bolted into her room, thanking unseen forces that the door was open. Her hands reached for the letter, which lay on her bed, fumbling with the paper before opening it, falling on her bed, and reading it.

"'Dear Kako, you know as well as I do'…'keep Hideki safe'…hehe…'and most importantly, follow your instincts and heart.' The usual. I was hoping she'd tell me the opposite," Kako grumbled, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "She always ends with the same sentence. I wonder why…? Mom told me that, too…"

Sighing again, Kako got off her bed and headed to the living room, pausing as she wondered whether she should ask Hideki why Rai had come over. Mind made up, she opened her mouth, but quickly closed it and smiled when she realized her brother had fallen asleep. "Good night, Hideki," she whispered, walking back into her room quietly. And may you have those dreams that you had before…

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When Kouichi woke up, it was 2 AM in the morning. When he went back to sleep and woke up again, it was 4:53 AM in the morning. And when he tried to go back to sleep, he found he couldn't.

What was worse was the fact that he had gotten even more sick instead of getting better. So from the time he woke up to the time Kouji and his mother woke up, he was coughing and sneezing every other second while playing videogames, only a cup of tea beside him.

Why is it getting worse? Kouichi wondered as he began to race his chocobo. And why is this stupid wonderful chocobo so slow? God, my green chocobo has better stats than it does! And my black chocobo deserves better…

Coughing, Kouichi placed the controller down and glanced at the time. Only…5:23. Joy. No one's up yet. Mom'll get up in a few minutes…Kouji'll be up in an hour…and-why is the doorbell ringing? Frowning, Kouichi got up and opened the door, finding a completely unexpected visitor at his door. "What…? Go away, Ai," he tried to growl, but found it hard as a cough interrupted him.

Ai rolled her eyes. "That's so pathetic. I've come here to make a proposition, anyway."

"What?" I don't really care…

She smiled and asked sweetly, "Would you like to help organize the theme for our Valentine's Day dance?" Ai handed him a packet with a small smirk.

Trying to suppress laughter and many coughs to come, Kouichi sneered, "You're kidding, right?"

"NO."

"Go ask Kouji. I haven't gone to a single dance this year, he's gone to all of them. And I don't plan to, either," snapped the boy coldly, shutting the door in Ai's face. That was the stupidest reason someone's ever come over. Even Kouji can scrap up something better than that, he thought, returning to his tea and game. "Now…one more race until S class…"

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"SWEET! YOU MEAN YOU REJECTED A CHANCE TO ORGANIZE A DANCE AND I CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE?" Kouji asked, clearly excited.

Kouichi held his breath and took a quick sip of tea before answering, "Yeah. Do you wanna lower your voice? It makes me want to cough…"

"Oh, sorry. That's perfect, because I have the greatest idea for a dance!"

"Oh really?" Kouichi muttered, sipping his tea again. Can't…cough…don't cough…

Kouji just grinned. "And you have to come!"

"NO!" Kouichi shouted, jumping to his feet. "THERE IS NO WAY IN-" Before he could finish, Kouichi broke out into a series of coughs, slowly sinking back into his seat. "No…way…that I'm…going," he finished, gasping for breath as he tried to hold back the coughs that threatened to come up. Finally regaining control of his breath, Kouichi asked weakly, "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch!" Kouji recited. "Just kidding. It's around 6:72, why?"

Kouichi rose an eyebrow. "6:72? Can you tell time?"

"Yep! In other words, it's 7:12!"

"We need to run…"

"I was kidding," groaned Kouji in an exasperated voice. "It's only 6:51."

The older twin stared at his brother for a solid minute, before getting up and putting on his backpack. "I'm heading out. I don't trust you anymore," he announced, heading for the door.

Grumbling, Kouji grabbed his own bag and followed his brother out only to nearly bump into him halfway through the doorway. "What the hell? Kouichi, what are you doing?" Kouji yelped, skidding to a halt before he toppled over the older boy.

Kouichi pushed his way in past Kouji. "I forgot the debate paper…on my desk…" he murmured, attempting to make his way to his room.

Kouji watched his brother nearly collapse, holding onto the couch for support while coughing. He's gonna cough his trachea out one of these days…whatever a trachea is. "Here, I'll get it," said the younger twin, heading into his brother's room and opening the door.

"N-no! It's okay, Kouji, really I can-" Kouichi tried to stop his brother, wincing as the door opened.

A frown appeared on Kouji's face as he entered the room, coming back out with the papers. As he closed the door, he just shrugged and handed the papers to his brother. "I hope you know," he said slowly, "that your room is way messier than mine…"

Through gritted teeth, Kouichi let out a hollow laugh. "Precisely why I didn't want you to go in there…precisely…why…"

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For some odd reason, everyone had decided to meet up at Kouichi's house just as they were about to leave for school so they could all walk together. Even Kako came, chatting lively with Izumi about matters no one could comprehend.

Kouichi, however, lagged behind the rest of his friends, coughing every once in a while, breathing heavily as he struggled not to collapse.

Kako frowned as she saw him struggling. Walking up to him, she tilted her head to the side as she asked, "Kouichi, are you okay?"

"I'm…fine…" he replied stiffly, but Kako could hear the irregular patterns in his breathing.

"Are you sure you're okay? We have plenty of time, you know, you c-"

"I'm fine," he snapped a bit rudely this time, trying to step around her to continue walking.

Kako's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing on Kouichi angrily. Bringing up her hand, she slapped him before storming off ahead.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kouji saw his brother stop and shut his eyes. Biting his lip, Kouji forced a smile, tears nearly spilling out of his eyes. "Damn it's cold! I'll race you all to school!" he shouted.

Takuya narrowed his eyes as Kouji wiped his eyes, but said nothing to address the matter. Instead, he shrugged and responded, "Sure, why not? It'll warm us up…if Izumi's up to it." He grinned and looked at Izumi who turned red.

"But I'm not wearing my running shoes! This is cheap! But whatever, you're on," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Kako shrugged. "Whatever."

Junpei stared at Kouji before asking, "What are you up to, Kouji?"

"I'm not plotting anything! You up for it, Kouichi?" Kouji asked, grinning at his brother.

"I…uh…don't think I should…" Kouichi muttered, a hand against a nearby building for support. "You can go on ahead…"

"If you're…sure…" Kouji murmured in return. "On your mark get set go!" Kouji yelled quickly, racing off.

Izumi watched as everyone raced ahead and rolled her eyes. "Tch. What children. Are you sure you're okay, Kouichi? Kako doesn't slap people for no reason…unless she doesn't know them. But that's another matter."

Letting out a shaky breath, Kouichi shook his head. "It's okay…it doesn't matter…"

"Don't lie to yourself, Kouichi. You know as well as I do that you have inner demons ready to eat you up. It's not like I haven't noticed," Izumi whispered softly.

Whimpering, he shook his head again, this time murmuring, "Izumi, please don't tell them…"

"I won't," she promised. "You have to do that yourself."

"I don't want to!" he suddenly shouted clutching his head. "I want them gone!"

Biting her lip, Izumi walked up to Kouichi. "Come on, you big baby. We have to get to school."

Kouichi nodded, trying to gain control of himself. "I just…don't know what to do anymore, Izumi," he murmured as they started walking.

Izumi let out a small laugh, "You'll know soon enough. For now, though, Kouichi, concentrate on feeling better."

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"And I win!" Kouji shouted, rubbing his eyes again. "My nose and eyes are still cold…"

"We can tell," Junpei muttered, "you look completely blue, especially with that outfit."

"Hey! Blue's my color!"

Kako rolled her eyes and looked around, suddenly twitching. "Izumi ditched…"

Shrugging, Takuya replied, "She did say she didn't have her running shoes on…" And she probably wanted to talk to Kouichi. I hope he's okay… Flashing a look at the laughing Kouji, Takuya sighed. Hopefully Izumi would make things more clear for Kouichi and everything would get better. One could only hope.

"Tomorrow's the debate!" Kouji cheered. "This is just great…I hope Takuya and Kouichi go against each other! That'll be just awesome…oh, and I hafta judge that match…"

"Hah! That's funny," Izumi laughed as she walked up to them. "Takuya couldn't debate Kouichi unless the world ended tomorrow."

Takuya reddened. "And why is that?" he growled.

Giggling, Izumi replied, "Cuz you're Takuya Kanbara, and you lose debates to your brother."

"THEY DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!" he screamed, turning an even deeper shade of crimson.

Kouichi shrugged. "That tends to happen a lot. Little kids have un-debate-able arguments."

"There's such a word?" Izumi asked with a grin.

"Nope."

"…you're talking about Kouji, aren't you?" Takuya asked with a laugh. "Hah, your brother just reduced you to a kid, Kouji."

"Oh shut up!" Kouji snapped. "At least I don't lose debates to him!"

Izumi coughed, "Actually…"

Everyone but the twins and Kako burst into small coughing fits.

Kouji turned crimson. "So what? He's the older twin!" he exclaimed childishly, pointing at Kouichi with an accusing finger.

Kouichi shrugged and headed to his locker. "Okay," was all he said in reply.

"What's his problem?" Kako muttered, glaring at Kouichi's retreating figure.

"You have no idea," Izumi whispered, "no idea…"

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"So…who can tell me what a pathogen is? Mr. Kimura, since you've decided to sleep, why don't you go ahead and tell us?" Ms. Kawai asked, an amused look on her face as she stopped in front of Kouichi's desk.

Kouichi sat up, eyes wide as he looked up at Ms. Kawai. "I…uh…" he stuttered, turning red. "A pathogen? A pathogen is an agent that causes a disease such as a virus or bacteria. In other words, it can be almost anything that harms the normal function of your body."

"Very good, but I suggest you stay awake in class or would you like to go to the-"

"I'm fine," Kouichi interrupted softly, looking at his desk. "It won't happen again."

Ms. Kawai frowned at Kouichi. "If you're sure…" she said, not believing him as she headed to the front of the classroom. "Anyway, that's the lesson for the day. Break up into your Napoleon debate teams and Kouichi, do you mind coming over here for a second?"

With a sigh, Kouichi rose out of his seat and walked over to Ms. Kawai, wincing at the thought of the consequences he might have to face. "Y-yes…?"

His teacher sat down in the chair and frowned. "Kouichi, you know you shouldn't be in school right now," she told him straight off. "I don't think it's a good idea, either. Even if-…well…" Sighing, Ms. Kawai closed her eyes. "You can't keep running."

"I'm not…" Kouichi whispered, wincing as if he had been stabbed. Am I so easy to read…?

"You are," she whispered back gently, "and you're hurting yourself in the process. Fight those voices, master the darkness. Don't let it master you."

At this, Kouichi's eyes widened. Puzzled, he stuttered, "How…what…how do you know?"

But Ms. Kawai merely smiled as she responded, "Some things are better left untold, Master of Darkness. Now, unless you want me to call you that in class, I suggest you figure out a way to get rid of those voices that are about to drive you insane. Fight back, Kouichi. That's it."

Kouichi staggered back to his seat and got out his Napoleon papers. "That's it. I'm way too easy to read, isn't it…?" he muttered to himself.

"Would you hurry up? You spent all of fifteen minutes talking to Rai, and we only have half our debate done," Kako snapped with a scowl.

Snapping out of his daze, Kouichi nodded and handed her the papers. "This is what I have so far…"

Kako's jaw nearly dropped. "Is that how you got sick? Did you stay up all night doing these or something? I mean, honestly, twelve pages…"

Rolling his eyes, Kouichi replied, "When you get sick, you find you can't sleep often. When you can't sleep often, you find that you get bored. When you get bored, you find you get desperate to do something. Thus I have spent my time working on the debate, and various other things, which you don't need to know. Read through and highlight anything you would find useful in our debate."

Embarrassed by the stares she was receiving, Kako clenched her hand and returned to her desk behind Kouichi, getting out her highlighter to find any useful parts.

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"AND I HAD TO HIGHLIGHT EVERY SINGLE DAMN WORD!" Kako screamed, storming out of the class.

Naoko winced at the volume. "Hey, Kako, I thought you liked Kouichi…"

"W-What? When was this?" Kako suddenly asked, looking around nervously.

"Uh…the beginning of the year?" Naoko replied as if it were obvious. "I mean, you two were really close and now…"

"Kako! I need to talk to you for a second!" Kouji yelled, running forward and dragging Kako back. He shot Naoko a quick glance before murmuring, "I talked to Ai, and I get to organize the Valentine's day dance."

Kako made a face and muttered, "Ewww…I hate dances."

Kouji merely smirked. "You're attending, though. There's going to be three parts. First part, masquerade! It'll be awesome! Second part, concert with Kouichi singing. Third part, Valentine's dance," he told her in a low voice. "Oh, and sorry, but just so people don't screw up my plan…"

Without warning, Kouji kissed Kako quickly before dashing off to find Takuya. Kako stood there, rooted to the spot and blushing as she received several stares. Damn…him, she thought, her eyes flickering as she stomped towards Kouji. He's going to get what he deserves right now.

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All throughout lunch, Kouji complained his back was hurting. As Kako wanted to punish the bandana boy severely without making it look like punishment, she had him carry all of her books out of her locker and into the classroom, then back to her locker, etc. And so, Kouji's back ended up hurting.

"I swear! She's a monster," Kouji grumbled to Takuya as they finally sat down for lunch. Winking, he added with a grin, "Sometimes I wonder why we're together."

"Sometimes I wonder why I know you," Takuya muttered, edging away from the bandana boy. "I thought I was bad…sheesh!"

"Oh shut up!"

"No way!"

"Wanna make something of it?"

"You make no sense! That's it! Whoever beats their high score after school in the arcade today, wins!"

"You're on!"

"You're both pathetic!" Izumi snapped. "I can't believe you're doing this, Kouji!"

Kouji made a face. Whining, he asked, "What? This is the only way I can get my 'revenge.'" As he said the last words, he made quotation marks with his hands.

Izumi glared at him. "You mean when he's sick, close to insanity, and trying to get over rejection?" she asked him icily.

Gulping, Kouji nodded, turning pale as Izumi's glare intensified. "Call her off, Takuya…"

But Takuya frowned. "Izumi's right. Kouichi doesn't really deserve this."

"I'd say it's not much of a revenge," Junpei added.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just because your minds are so simple you can't understand a simple plan…" He trailed off as Kouichi walked over. "You'll see, I'll show you both!" snapped the bandana head as he got up. Now to find Ai and tell her the plans for the dance…

Kouichi stopped at the table his friends sat at and looked around. "Kako's not here?" he asked, disappointment clear in his eyes.

"Nope," Junpei replied. "Kouji should know where she is…he just left. Said something about how he needed to go over the organization of the dance during lunch with Ai. But that was earlier, I'm not sure about now."

"Oh…" Frowning, Kouichi studied the ground for a while before looking up at Izumi. "Hey, Izumi, if you see Kako before lunch ends, c-"

Izumi laughed nervously, "Well, she's right behind you…"

"Oh…" Kouichi turned around. "You highlighted every page…" he told Kako bluntly.

Kako twitched. "I know."

"So…then, since we aren't working on the debate after lunch, do you mind highlighting the more important parts now and giving me the papers later?"

"YES, I MIND."

Kouichi stepped back in surprise. "Okay…" he murmured quietly, "I'll…figure it out somehow, I guess."

"FINE," she snapped, glaring at him.

Kouichi shrugged and walked off. Kako vibrated with anger as she sat down where Kouji had previously sat. "He's so annoying! I swear, that stupid know-it-all, I mean every single point on those papers could be used, and he's telling me to highlight the more important parts…THEY'RE ALL IMPORTANT!"

"Kako, shut up," Izumi suddenly snapped.

Blinking, her cousin asked, "What?"

"I said shut up! You're hurting him, and it's annoying me! You and Kouji both! I can't stand either of you!" the older girl shouted, standing up and storming off.

Takuya pushed his goggles up. "She's right, you know. I think she knows how he feels better than all of us. I don't think she wants him to feel like she did. Being alone isn't the best thing in the world," he murmured quietly.

"Well it's his fault," Kako muttered quietly.

"No, Kako, it's all our faults. We can't be there for him, and he's decided to just take it solo. I guess there's nothing we can do," Junpei corrected.

Takuya shook his head. "Maybe not yet, but soon. Very soon."

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A/N-

.:glares at Kako:. That wasn't fun to write, I hope you know! You made me hurt Kouichi's feelings!

.:Kako:. Hey, they're your ideas, your fault!

Okay, so anyway, the plot is thickening greatly. Happy Halloween to all of you! XP I had colorguard practice until nine, so guess what? .:grins:. I didn't go trick or treating! Fun! Note sarcasm, please.

What was Kouichi on Halloween, you ask? .:grins again:. You'll see.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will have more soon.

Review or Flame as you wish.