Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Gifts From The Heavens

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"Gah!" Kouichi barely dodged out of the way as the stick came rushing towards him.

Mr. Saito swung again as he advised Kouichi, "Quiet your mind, Kouichi. You aren't concentrating, especially with that tornado of thoughts in your head."

"But…I…can't…clear it!" Kouichi managed to shout as he parried each of the blows. Just as he had gotten the last word out, Mr. Saito brought the stick down over Kouichi's head, stopping it an inch away before tapping his forehead with the tip. Kouichi winced at the light impact, then leaned on his stick, bowing in defeat and breathing heavily.

"You think you can use a sword with the amount of skill you contain, Kouichi?" Mr. Saito's voice pierced through his thoughts like a knife, "You have the potential, yes, but you never seem to reach it completely. What are you afraid of, Kouichi Kimura? Close your eyes and figure it out."

Kouichi watched as Mr. Saito headed towards the door, his eyes widened with each step his mentor took. "W-wait! Where are you going?" he exclaimed in a frightened tone. For some reason, Kouichi couldn't help but be himself around Mr. Saito. The man was his idol…and Kouichi was a child in comparison. The voices…I don't want to fight them just yet…

But the swordsman merely chuckled. "I'll go get us some tea. Surely you're hungry and thirsty after a bout like that…?"

As his stomach growled, Kouichi reddened and nodded, closing his eyes. As he heard the door shut, Kouichi could indeed see the maelstrom of thoughts in his head. But what amazed him more where the vivid memories of his childhood.

Why, he wondered, why my childhood?

I'm amazed at how I let a fool like you use my spirit.

Kouichi squeezed his eyes tighter. Get out of my head, Duskmon!

Your childhood. Everyday, you were missing something. Have you ever considered what? Duskmon asked, paying no heed to Kouichi's commands.

A…family. Kouichi winced as the words came out of his mouth. "F…family…s-so?"

He heard Duskmon snort. Even more than that. Open your eyes.

Mr. Saito said- That old food knows nothing. Open your eyes! commanded Duskmon.

Kouichi's eyes flew open in shock. But what shocked him even more was the fact that all his spirits of darkness stood before him, gazing at him calmly. "What…the…?"

"Now look at yourself," Lowemon whispered.

Looking down, Kouichi found his fractal code exposed. "W-what? But-how…I…" stuttered the boy.

"Don't looks so happy," Duskmon snapped, "it's missing something."

"What?" Kouichi looked down again, and found Duskmon was correct. Part of his fractal code was missing. "How…?"

Lowemon answered, elbowing Duskmon so the corrupted spirit wouldn't start snapping again. "It's because the entire time in the digital world, you were a spirit. As such, a part of your fractal code was sent to make your spirit in the Digital World. Lucemon scanned this data, and when the rest defeated him, for some reason, it never returned. Originally, half your fractal code was used for your spirit, but only half of that was in us, your spirits of darkness. That half was returned to you. The other half…remains…lost."

Kouichi frowned. "So…because I gave you spirits a fourth…and I gave you to Kouji before I was scanned…Lucemon had a fourth of my fractal code. But it should have returned to the Digital World! Or…me?" muttered Kouichi, trying to understand where his missing code could possibly be. "But…I don't understand! Is that bad?"

"YES," Duskmon interrupted before Lowemon could say anything. "It's terrible. Now you can't digivolve without some side effect!"

Lowemon glared at Duskmon. "They can't digivolve anyway!"

"Shut up! No one asked you!"

"That's it! I always knew you were a bad apple! JagerLowemon, let's take him out!"

"WOULD YOU ALL STOP?" Kouichi shouted, close to ripping his hair out. "How did this happen? I WANT MY FRACTAL CODE!" yelled the boy, wailing about countless things as soon as he started to rant.

Lowemon sighed. "Duskmon, you're truly a bad apple…such a bad influence on Kouichi. He's being so…childish."

Kouichi stopped and blushed. "Sorry…It's…just been a long time since I've seen you all, and…"

"The voices, dammit! Just talk to the voices!" growled Duskmon impatiently.

Glaring, Lowemon turned to Duskmon. "He didn't finish his sentence!"

"I don't care! I don't want to be here! You know the only reason we're here is because that old hag Ophanimon-"

"LADY OPHANIMON IS NOT A HAG!"

Kouichi broke into a smile as he watched the two spirits argue, the beast spirits remaining silent and unmoving. "The fractal code was stolen…and scanned, huh?" he asked softly.

Duskmon whacked Lowemon with the flat of his blade before turning to Kouichi and nodding. "Now you get it?"

"The voices…are those of the thief?"

Lucemon nodded and bashed Duskmon with his shield. "The kid's a natural genius."

"And they want more?" Again, Duskmon nodded. Kouichi sighed. "If it's scanned, how do I get the fractal code back?" he asked in a discouraged voice.

"Scan Seraphimon's," Duskmon muttered, grumbling as Lowemon elbowed him again.

Exasperated with the corrupted spirit of darkness, Lowemon said, "Not Seraphimon. You need to scan the data of the thief or somehow have them release your data, and it will come back to you."

"Gah, that damn Saito's coming: Duskmon muttered, fading into the shadows.

Lowemon nodded and followed Duskmon's example. "Tell no one, Kouichi. No one, unless you can trust them with all you've got," was all he said before disappearing.

Kouichi nodded and watched as the beast spirits came towards him. "Wh-what is it?" he asked, uncomfortable with their silent behavior.

JagerLowemon answered first, "You will need all the strength you can get."

"So we will join you with you," Velgemon added as they both fused into Kouichi.

Kouichi gasped as a chill overcame him, blinking in surprise and looking around, only to find he was alone. He smiled and stood up, feeling rejuvenated, more refreshed than he had felt in a long time. As Mr. Saito opened the door, Kouichi realized he should have stayed down, but bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry I-" he tried to apologize.

But Mr. Saito waved a hand dismissively. "Sit. I have some tea and cookies. Not the best combination, but they definitely can heal a hungry stomach, wouldn't you agree?"

Laughing and nodding, Kouichi sat down in the chair in the corner of the room as Mr. Saito placed the trays on the table and sat down in the opposite chair. "Did you make these?" asked the boy.

"Family recipe. Big secret," Mr. Saito replied with a wink. "I'll tell you sometime. So, Kouji's going out with Kako?"

"Uh huh!" Kouichi affirmed, reaching for a cookie. "And Kouji's forcing me to sing at the Valentine's Day dance, and Izumi's forcing me to go to the entire dance."

With that, Mr. Saito smiled slyly. "Come up with a plan to get her back?"

"No, I'm ju-huh?" Kouichi was caught off guard by the question and completely confused.

"Surely you wanted to date Kako?"

"Well…if she and Kouji are happy, that's fine with me," Kouichi replied, taking a large bite of the cookie.

Stirring his tea lazily, Mr. Saito questioned further, "You aren't jealous?"

Kouichi shook his head and swallowed. "Nah. It's pointless for me to be jealous. Besides, Kouji's my brother." Reaching for the tea, he added, "And I've got other things to worry about besides being jealous. As long as those two are happy, so am I."

Drawing a breath, Mr. Saito let out a long sigh. "Kouji's very lucky to have you as a brother. I just wish…"

"Huh?"

"Well, I am 26…my brother…he…" Kouichi looked up at Mr. Saito in confusion before the man shook his head and murmured, "Never mind. You should head home, now."

"Oh, right," Kouichi said in realization, standing up and bowing in thanks. "Thanks for the lesson."

"Just remember to come back next week."

"I will! Thanks, Mr. Saito!" Kouichi called out as he headed out the door.

Mr. Saito watched as Kouichi walked out the door before standing up and following him in a brisk pace. "Kouichi," he called out before Kouichi turned the corner. The boy turned around to face his mentor. "Bring your sword next week. I want to see what you can do…"

Kouichi's expression changed from one of confusion to great joy. Nodding, he turned around and dashed off. Mr. Saito sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry…so sorry…" he whispered up at the darkening sky. Maybe…there will be another day…

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"It's too bad Kako couldn't stay," Takuya muttered as he snickered while creaming Kouji in yet another game of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Junpei was off babysitting for a neighbor, Izumi had piano lessons, and Tomoki had homework. But Takuya and Kouji, being the slackers they were, stayed at Kouichi's house, engaged in a four-hour playing marathon of Super Smash Bros. Melee. And so far, Takuya was winning.

Kouji never took his eyes off the screen. "Oh yeah? Why is that?" he challenged the bandana boy, pressing the correct buttons so his Kirby swallowed Takuya's Link.

Cursing, Takuya took his eyes off for a split second and stuck his tongue out at Kouji. "Cuz we'd totally cream you!"

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Just as the door opened, both boys had their characters on the very edge of the platform.

Kouichi watched for a split second before the power went out. There were two angry screams, and then everything returned to normal, even the T.V. screen was as it had been before the power outage.

"Uh...I don't wanna know," Kouichi said bluntly, heading to his room.

Pressing furiously on the buttons, Kouji called out to his brother, "Kako left her Napoleon papers on your bed. And she agrees with me! You're room is messy."

With a roll of his eyes, Kouichi walked into his room, feeling a strange warmth wash over him, calming him as he lay down on his bed, picking up the Napoleon papers and quickly read through them. Closing his eyes, Kouichi yelled back, "Kouji, I need you to give me the lyrics and music in advance if you want me to sing."

Kouji ran into the room, three papers in hand. "That's great, because I have just the songs! Either Innocent, Into The Blue, or one of your pick. You have to choose two, though. We're the opener and closer for the dance."

Kouichi shrugged as he sat up and opened his eyes. "I've got no songs in mind...we'll just do those, I guess."

"Cool! Cuz we've practiced since..."

"Last, last, last year," Takuya cut in. "Every other Saturday."

"Two minute practices," Kouji murmured dreamily, "with no homework and the rest of the time spent on videogames and-"

Takuya elbowed Kouji. "Shut up! That was you and Junpei! I had three minute long practices, thank you very much!"

"Actually, Junpei had a minute forty-two practices."

"Whatever...oh, Kouichi, you missed Izumi's lecture about playing videogames! It was hilarious! Mostly because I was creaming Kouji at the time...but it was funny!" Takuya babbled.

The bandana boy snorted, "I was creaming you, thank you very much. And it was stupid! Tell her to shut up for me sometime! She's stupid!"

"And Kako's not?"

"Izumi's evil!"

"And Kako's not?"

"Izumi's got no life!"

"And Kako does?"

"AND WOULD YOU TWO STOP INSULTING THEM?" Kouichi snapped, glaring at the two. "They're talented in their own ways...just...Izumi's...the smarter of the two. But Izumi's older, so it balances. Kako's got the gaming talent. And they're both...uhhh...annoying in their own ways, too."

Takuya and Kouji looked from Kouichi to each other before snapping at each other, saying in sync, "My girlfriend is better!"

"NO! MINE!" Kouji snapped.

Glaring, the goggle boy yelled, "IZUMI'S COOLER!"

"SHE'S A DEMON!"

"KAKO'S A MONSTER WITH TEN BILLION HEADS!"

"WELL AT LEAST SHE CAN GAME!"

"AT LEAST IZUMI GETS GOOD GRADES!"

"WELL I DON'T CARE! WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?" Kouichi screamed, reddening as Kouji made his next comment. "Take it outside."

As they walked out of Kouichi's room, the two boys burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs and doubling over. Kouichi slammed the door and looked at the lyrics that Kouji had given him. "Debate or music...?" he quietly questioned, the debate papers in one hand, lyrics in the other. "Debate..." he finally decided. "Music tomorrow."

But instead, Kouichi threw the debate papers aside and examined the music. "Nah, music's better," he said aloud with a grin. "So what's this third page about...?"

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"Break up into your debate partners. Judges, pick two groups to judge and start the debate!" shouted the teacher above the buzzing conversations at the start of class the very next day.

Almost immediately, Kouji grabbed his brother's sleeve. "Whom can you debate against…? And it's gotta be good…"

"Ai," Kako muttered, glaring at the girl in front of her.

Smiling and waving to the twins, Ai asked innocently, "Do you mind if we join?"

Kouichi narrowed his eyes on her, but said nothing. Instead, Kouji shrugged and replied with much enthusiasm, "Sure, why not?"

"So let the debate begin," Eri murmured in a monotone voice as she brought out her papers. "Ready?"

Kako reddened as Kanaye walked up to Ai and murmured something in her ear. Looking at Kako intently, then nodding to Ai, Kanaye walked off. "Kouichi, you have my debate papers, right?" she whispered nervously as Kouichi finished helping his twin arrange the tables and handed her the papers. Drawing a breath, Kako nodded. "Yeah, we're ready."

Kouji motioned for all four of them to sit down. "Aff, you're up."

"Aff?" Kako asked, suddenly feeling stupid. Wincing, Kouichi whispered in her ear, and she blushed as she mumbled, "Oh...affirmative…haha…knew that…"

Ai smirked as she stood up. "Napoleon was in fact a defender of the revolution. Of course, simpletons such as my opponents there may not understand, but he was, and I have the proof for it. This is why my partner and I stand to affirm the resolution, 'Napoleon upheld the ideals of the French Revolution and did not betray them.'"

As Ai continued her reasoning, Kako quickly jotted down her notes, frowning as she did. Loopholes, loopholes, she thought, smirking.

Kouichi tapped her arm. "Since we have no proper line up, you present your reasoning, then I'll do the rebuttal," he told her in a low voice, staring menacingly at Ai. "And yes, I know…there are loopholes everywhere. Obviously not well written on purpose. She wants us to fall into her trap." Kako gave him a confused look, but he merely stated, "I'll explain later. Concentrate on perfecting our arguments."

Whimpering as soon as Ai finished, Kako stood up. "My opponent has obviously provided a well written case. However, it has many flaws that my partner will soon cover. For now, I'll go over our arguments. Napoleon was a defender, yes, it's true…but only to his throne as emperor. He cared for nothing else. Yes, it's true, and you can find it on the very first document Ms. Kawai gave us. This is the main reason we stand to negate the resolution today.

"A majority of the reasoning comes from the motto of the French Revolution; 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.' Napoleon did betray these ideals, especially that of Liberty. We find an example of this…"

Kouichi smiled victoriously as Kako continued hammering the case with arguments. This is perfect. I may be no better than Napoleon…but…at least I pick my fights carefully, he thought, rising to his feet as Kako finished. "Thank you, now I'll be refuting each and every single point…"

Ai frowned and looked over her shoulder, shooting a look at Kanaye. Apparently, things weren't going as she expected them to.

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"Well, we did pretty well," Kouichi sighed, stretching as he stood up. "Didn't win, though."

Kako dropped her hands into her lap. "W-we didn't?"

"Nope."

"Oh…" murmured the girl, sighing and resting her head on the desk. "Damn…I'm stupid…"

Kouichi shot her a questioning glance. "What?"

"I'm an idiot…a dork…a stupid dumb girl who can't do the simplest thing," she muttered bitterly.

"Kako, our grade isn't dependent on whether we win or not, if that's what you're worried about…"

Kako looked up and wiped her eyes, ignoring the tears that spilled out again. "N-not the debate…in general…I'm stupid…"

"Uh…" Kouichi frowned, unable to understand what she was talking about. "Kako…what…?"

"Oy, move it. We're moving back the desks!" Fujita shouted from across the room.

Getting out of her seat, Kako trembled as she murmured, "I failed my test. I was supposed to stop him, but I didn't…he wasn't…supposed to pass…and I couldn't break it…and…I failed," she burst into tears, crying into the arm of his jacket.

Surprised, Kouichi wrapped his arms around Kako, rubbing her back to calm her down. "It's okay…there's always next time," he said in an optimistic tone. "You'll pass…whatever it is…then…"

"I don't wanna," Kako replied in a hushed voice. "I'm quitting."

"Kako!" Kouichi withdrew his arms, placing his hands on her shoulders and shaking her vigorously. "Snap out of it! I don't know what this is about, but you've never been a quitter before! Don't start now!" he told her firmly, dropping his hands to his sides and sighing. Damn, I forgot…we're in class, he thought, feeling a blush crawl up his cheeks as he received a few stares. Clearing his throat, he pushed a desk forward. "C-come on. We better help put the desks back in order."

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"Daah…damn it, that was a horrible debate. Kouichi, you totally creamed them!" Kouji grumbled. "You should've debated Kanaye. I heard he's a hell of a debater."

Kouichi shrugged as he leaned against the wall while he, Kouji and Kako waited for Takuya, Izumi, and Junpei. "We still lost."

"No!" insisted the younger twin, "You guys won! Those two were freakin' clueless!" Kouji opened his mouth, ready to ask Kako to back him up, but instead found her in her current state. "Kako?" he murmured quietly, a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh…huh…" Kako looked up at Kouji. "Heat of vaporized atom is the bond strength for metallic bonds…changing metals…into…oh, ignore me…I decided to get an early start in Chem," she murmured, mostly to herself.

Worried, Kouji allowed his hand to slip down her shoulder and into her own hand. "Hey...are you sure you're okay?" he asked in a low voice, tugging lightly on her hand.

Kako nodded and blushed, embarrassed. Quietly, so as to not worry Kouji, she murmured, "I'm...just out of it."

Kouji smiled. "Great! So you can come over to help me cream Takuya!"

"No...I...need to go somewhere right now."

"Oh...dammit, but it's Friday!" he pleaded.

Kako looked at the cement ground in front of her. "I'll come over tomorrow...or try anyway..."

"Great!" Kouji gave her a quick kiss on the lips before turning to his brother. "What about you?"

Kouichi shrugged. "I'm heading to the bookstore. I need a new book to read."

Kouji grumbled, "Stop spending your money on books and give it to me for my birthday!"

"Why?" asked Kako, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at Kouji.

"Because then I can pay him back for the window."

Kako broke out into laughter. "You're so pathetic! It makes me wonder why I'm dating an idiotic dunce like you...I'll catch you two later. Oh, and when Izumi comes out, can you tell her I'm sorry?"

Kouji's face fell. "Sure...but...I'm not an idiotic dunce!"

Smiling, Kako waved before walking off, her head bowed low as she looked at the ground in front of her.

Kouichi sighed as he looked behind his shoulder. "Where's Takuya, anyhow?"

"Izumi! WAAAAAAIIIIIIT!" the twins heard Takuya yell as he scrambled after Izumi, who was stomping out of the classroom.

Izumi turned around and threw Takuya's goggles in his direction. "Shut up! I hate you, Takuya! Just...just go away!" she yelled, storming past the twins, shouldering Kouji.

Junpei winced as he edged towards the twins timidly. "What...happened?" he asked, shivering as the scene replayed itself in his head.

Takuya fell to his knees, staring at the goggles that lay a few feet in front of him. "I...damn it all..."

"Uh, I suppose now would be a bad time to ask if you want to come over to-" Kouji started.

"No, I don't!" Takuya snapped, his face contorting into one of pure hate and anger. "Just leave me alone!"

Kouichi frowned as Takuya picked himself up, slung his backpack on and stepped on his goggles, breaking the glass lens. "If you're sure," he murmured quietly as Takuya passed him. "Junpei, I'm assuming you two are going to pick up Tomoki and drag him over to game?"

The older boy nodded. "Yep. Takuya was supposed to, too...but...uh..."

"Okay, then I'm heading to the bookstore," Kouichi interrupted, heading off in the direction Kako had walked off in. "I'll catch you two in an hour or so."

Kouji nodded, watching Takuya's retreating figure before gazing over at his brother's. "He better get a hang of those songs soon..."

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"Huh...well, they don't have that book...maybe I should get Kouji some Megatokyo for his birthday," Kouichi murmured to himself, scanning through the books. At last, his eyes fell upon a single book. Kouichi examined the book as he picked it off the shelf into his hands and read the title aloud, "The Secret Diary of Marise S. Huh. Interesting...it looks old. And...the title was scratched off...?"

Frowning, Kouichi held onto the book as he continued to examine some more, occasionally glancing around for a book of the same title. In the end, he just figured it was the last book of the title and the scratch was intentional.

With a sigh, he headed to the front to buy the book, wondering what exactly Izumi had been so upset about. Probably still upset about earlier this week, he decided, staring absentmindedly at the back of the person in front of him.

"Well, do you have it or not?" asked the rude voice.

Mr. Saito remained calm. "If it isn't on the shelf, then we obviously don't have it in stock. I advise you come and check at a later time," he replied, shutting his eyes.

The boy in front of Kouichi turned around with closed eyes, accidentally bumping into Kouichi. "Would you watch it?" the boy snapped, his eyes flying open. "Oh...you...you hang out with Kako, is that right?"

Kouichi examined the boy in front of him with a frown. Choosing his words carefully, he nodded as he answered, "Yeah, why?"

"I need you to give this to her. Tell her it's from Kanaye." He threw a folded up paper at Kouichi before turning to Mr. Saito and snapping, "I'll be checking tomorrow." Without another word, Kanaye left.

Mr. Saito merely shrugged and turned to Kouichi, who picked up the paper, a look of pure disgust on his face. "So, Kouichi, how may I help you today?"

"Uh...I'm going to buy this," Kouichi murmured, handing the bookstore owner his book. "What the...? That..." Struggling to get the words out, Kouichi crumpled the paper in his hands and stuffed it in his pocket angrily. "What kind of screwed up order is that? Stuck up," he muttered, pulling out his wallet. "How much is the book?"

His mentor ran his hands over the cover quietly, a small smile on his face. Finally, he sighed and smiled as he stated, "Free. The book is free."

"What?"

"Enjoy it. I'm not sure you will...but...it's not as dark as it seems. That accident was never supposed to happen..." Mr. Saito whispered to himself.

Kouichi accepted the book and put it in his bag. "Mr. Saito, are you okay?"

Closing his eyes, the man nodded. "Read it, and read it soon. As soon as you go home," he commanded harshly, his eyes flickering as he opened them.

Not understanding the importance of the matter, Kouichi nodded. "Sure, okay," murmured the boy. "I'll...see you later, then."

"May that book now never fall into the wrong hands," the clerk whispered, clenching his hands at his sides. "Marise, look over them..."

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Later that night, when Kouichi finally came home, he plopped onto his bed, Napoleon papers on the floor, music and lyrics scattered on his table, items half hidden in his closet. Pulling out the book from his backpack, Kouichi drew a breath, not sure what to expect. After what had happened earlier that day with Takuya and Izumi, then later in the bookstore, Kouichi was sure that the book would be just as strange.

Examining all corners of the book, Kouichi couldn't help but chuckle. He felt so ridiculous examining a book. He had never bothered doing so...he didn't even understand why he was starting now.

With a shrug, he opened the front cover, immediately stunned by what he found. Inside was a small pocket holding a note addressed to someone. Yet, through the loopy writing, he could see the name of the one it was addressed to.

"N-...no way..." Kouichi murmured, cringing as he tried to take out the brittle paper from the transparent pocket. Shivering as he pushed himself up to a sitting position on his bed, he whispered to himself, "There's got to be some mistake...or someone else. I don't know anyone named Marise. Why the hell is this addressed to me?"

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A/N-

.:was totally clueless about the Takuya part before:. I know what to do now! Oh! I have major cliffies all over the place! What does the paper Kako read say? What does the paper Kanaye gave to Kouichi say? What's the book about? What's the note in the book about? What's with Saito...and Kanaye? And Takuya and Izumi? And...at least half those cliffies shall be answered in the next chapter! .:will attempt to do so:.

For now, though...

Review or Flame.