Hey people! I'm back! Sorry I forgot to update as I had promised in chappy 5. I got grounded so I couldn't go on…--; but since I left my last chappy as a cliffy, I'll make this disclaimer short by saying it… so read this well… I won't say it often…

Disclaimer: 'sigh' I sadly do not own Digimon Frontier…

Last time…
Kouji's POV

I quickly reached down to pick up my D-Tector when I saw Kimeramon launching an attack at me. I froze, my mind panicking on whether I should just run or that I should get my D-tector and then run. D-tector first. I quickly dived for it, a wave of relief washed over me as it came into my hand, but my relief quickly dissipated, my eyes widening as the attack came straight at me, not leaving me enough time to escape.

I closed my eyes and braced myself for the pain once more, but it never came, instead, I felt myself being pushed out of the way. My eyes shot open as I saw Izumi in my place, the attack hitting her head-on.

"NO!" I screamed as Izumi's fractal code appeared around her and Kimeramon scanned it. In her place left her fuchsia hat, her D-tector and a violet digi-egg.

Chapter 6

Kouji's POV

I sweatdropped. Talk about role reversal. I snapped out of my thoughts as I saw another attack headed towards her digi-egg. Quickly diving for her egg and her belongings, I grabbed them and dodged the attack.

"Get her to a safe spot!" I heard Takuya yell as he digivolved into BurningGreymon and fought Kimeramon.

I quickly ran into the forest until I came upon a clearing where I finally stopped and looked down at Izumi's egg. It was violet with a pair of pink fairy wings etched into the side. I tried to remember how it was that I had felt when I first became a digi-egg and how I learned to communicate with Izumi. My mind came to a blank so I decided just to try talking to her to see if she would respond.

"Hey. Izumi-chan. Can you hear me?" I asked, trying to hide the uncertainty in my voice, hoping against all odds that she would respond. For a moment, there was no answer. My hope faded away as I looked down, guilt washing over me. That was until her egg finally flashed pink her voice faintly said, 'Kouji-kun.'

My head immediately shot back up and looked at her egg.

"Izumi-chan?" I asked, unsure whether she had actually said it or that I was imagining it.

"That's me." I heard her voice reply in my head. I sighed a sign of relief.

"I'm glad your okay. But you shouldn't have jumped at me! What were you thinking?" I asked her, my tone changing immediately.

"What? You did that last time!" she replied, whining childishly.

"So now we're equal." I said, a smirk returning to my face at her presence. At this, we both burst out laughing until Takuya and the others jumped into the clearing.

Takuya's POV

I ran through the forest with Junpei, Tomoki and the others right behind me. We all ran at our top speeds, worry for Izumi filling our minds. Kouji was all right when he turned into a digi-egg, so Izumi should be okay too right? But we can never tell for sure…

We burst into the clearing, Junpei shouting.

"Is Izumi-chan alright?" he cried worriedly.

We all looked at Kouji and Izumi's digi-egg just in time to see him say something to Izumi and then burst out laughing. We fell backwards anime style. Kouji? Laughing? Now that's a first. But that must mean Izumi's all right then right? That's good to know, I told myself, smiling inwardly.

I got up from my spot on the floor, an idea coming into my head. So the entertainment I get out of teasing Izumi won't have to end after all. Only this time, I'll have a LOT more fun… teasing Kouji.

"So Kouji…" I started, "can Izumi hear us? Or is it just you two lovebirds who can communicate again, like last time?" I asked, smiling from ear to ear.

"Yea little brother, can your girlfriend hear just you? Or can she hear us as well?" Kouichi asked teasingly.

"What? No way! Izumi's NOT Kouji's girlfriend!" shouted Junpei, fuming causing little Tomoki to laugh at him.

Kouji's POV

I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I turned a deep shade of red. Turning around to hide it, I took Izumi's digi-egg into my arms.

"So Izumi-chan, can you hear Takuya and the others?"

She flashed red as I heard her say 'no'.

"She says she can't hear you." I told Takuya, still flushing as realization hit me. The next 20 days, are gonna be very, very long…

I looked up to confirm my suspicions only to see him grinning like an idiot.

'Shit. So this is how Izumi felt when I was a digi-egg.' I thought, cursing under my breath.

'Don't swear Kouji. But now do you believe me? It's the worse time of your life, traveling with Takuya and Kouichi.' I heard Izumi say.

'Yea.' I thought as I suddenly realized. 'Wait… did I say that? Or did I think that? I'm sure I thought that, but how did Izumi hear me?' I wondered.

'I can hear your thoughts as well.' Replied Izumi, answering my questions.

"What?" I asked, eyes widening. "I couldn't read your mind when I was a digi-egg!" I shouted out loud before a thought finally hit me.

"When did you plan on telling me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her suspiciously. She giggled.

'I don't know, I could have had a little fun first, no?' she teased, giggling at the thought. Giving her a small pout, I was just about to complain when I finally noticed the others had heard my half of the conversation. Takuya grinned.

"Mind-reading? So now you're both telepathic? When I said that you and Izumi were getting closer, my meaning was you starting to call her Izumi-chan, and her starting to call you Kouji-kun! Telepathy isn't exactly what I had in mind!" Takuya asked, smiling stupidly.

I flushed at this and I heard Izumi gasp as she read my mind and found out what Takuya was saying. Her egg immediately flashed pink. At this, Takuya's laughter only became louder, my right eye twitching uncontrollably at his inability to control himself.

"But since we can't hear you, are you guys talking about something inappropriate?" he asked again, continuing his teasing, his grin widening, a mischievous hint played at his lips.

'Okay. That's it. He's going down' I thought angrily deciding to teach him when to shut up.

'Wait. Let me do it.' I heard Izumi say, causing me to stop and watched her movements. Her egg flashed black and a rock floated up next to me. It zoomed straight at Takuya, creating a huge bump to form at the back of his head.

"That's not fair! That's Kouji's job! At least his ways won't leave a bruise on my head!" he whined. This gave me an idea.

"Maybe I should throw a rock next time then." I said in a suggestive tone, finally being able to form a comeback against Takuya's teasing without stuttering. Takuya's eyes widened.

"What? No, wait! I mean, never mind! I can deal with Izumi's blows thank you!" he said, his idiotic smile still on as he backed away slowly while raising his hands in a sign of defeat. I smirked.

"We should keep going if everything's okay." Reminded Bokomon, suddenly speaking up. "Kouji, would you like me to care for Izumi's egg? Or would you rather do it like the Izumi did?" he continued, facing me. I blushed.

"Like you said, she took care of my digi-egg, so I'll take care of hers. Thanks anyways." I replied, looking down at Izumi's egg in my arms. She flashed pink.

"All right then, if you need any help, just let me know." Offered Bokomon, smiling.

That night…

We set up camp in the middle of the forest. Bokomon and Neemon had brought some meat apples they had saved from the previous night so we prepared a fire to cook our food.

I was sitting on one side of the fire while Takuya was sitting on the other side, his teasing gaze never leaving. I ignored him and continued staring at my apple, being sure not to let it burn. Tomoki sat on my left, talking to Junpei, who was on his other side, while Kouichi sat on my right, lying on his back and staring up at the sky. Neemon, Bokomon and Patamon sat on Kouichi's right, staring at their apples hungrily. Izumi's digi-egg sat in my lap as I leaned against a tree, still staring at my apple.

'Is it just me, or do I sense unease in you?' she asked worriedly, flashing violet.

'It's nothing, it's just kind of hard to feel at ease with Takuya staring at me with that look in his eye.' I replied telepathically, not wanting the others to hear our conversation about them. Izumi laughed.

'You should be glad he's not saying anything. It could be worse.' She told me, still giggling.

'I guess so.' I thought, smiling slightly.

We continued to talk telepathically until we were interrupted upon a yell from Bokomon.

"Kouji! Your apple is burning!" It took a while to register in my head, but when it finally did, I jumped in realization and quickly dove for the apple. Thank god it wasn't too burnt. I ignored the odd taste of the burnt skin on the apple and continued eating as I set a second apple to cook. Izumi laughed.

'What's so funny?' I thought mentally, still taking a bite out of the apple.

'You're funny!' she replied, still laughing.

'Okay, how exactly am I being funny?' I asked, looking up from my food, giving her a slightly confused look.

'Never mind.' She said between giggles, trying to avoid the subject.

I gave her a slightly irritated look and raised an eyebrow again as I asked her, 'is this about me eating more than usual?'

I heard her giggle, but she didn't respond.

'If that's it, I haven't eaten in 20 days! Can't blame me for being hungry can you?' I continued, still giving her that annoyed look. She giggled some more and then said

'No. I guess I can't blame you. It's just very out of character for you though. Kouji. Chomping down food. Like those monsters sitting across from us.' She replied. Although I could not see her face, I could tell that she was still smiling stupidly, but I ignored her and continued eating.

The night followed along about the same way as before, Takuya and Kouichi teasing, Junpei fuming, Tomoki laughing, Bokomon, Neemon and Patamon watching amusingly while Izumi nearly knocked the breathing air out of Takuya just by throwing rocks.

I had taken the first shift guarding us, so I had sat against a nearby tree as usual with Izumi's egg in my lap. Takuya, Junpei and Tomoki were snoring soundly while Kouichi slept peacefully along with Bokomon, Neemon and Patamon on the other side of the small area.

Trying to help pass the time, I looked up at the sky and felt relieved for the first time since we've been in the Digital World. Somehow, looking up at the stars with Izumi sleeping in my lap was more comforting than I would ever admit to Takuya and the others.

Izumi's POV

I was having troubles falling asleep. I felt so helpless in my current state. Is this how Kouji felt when he was a digi-egg? But all at the same time, I still feel safe being in Kouji's hold. I looked up as Kouji shift a bit.

'Somehow, looking up at the stars with Izumi in my lap, is very comforting.' I heard him say in his thoughts. I did all that I could to sustain a blush from appearing and making the egg flash pink. Failing to do so, I flashed pink for a second before I quickly took control and covered it up.

'I'm glad he feels comfortable around me' I thought, before drifting off into a deep sleep once again.

Kouji's POV

Is it just me, or did Izumi just flash pink? Why would she blush? My eyes widened. Did she hear my thoughts? I thought she was asleep! I looked down at her to see if she was indeed flashing pink. Nothing. Perhaps it was just my imagination…

Someone reviewed saying my story was very OOC. They said Junpei would not give up Izumi just as Kouji would not stuff himself with food as if his stomach were a bottomless pit. Well, here we are! Kouji stuffing himself! Well… sort of. He's not exactly stuffing himself like Junpei would; he's just eating more than usual. But hey, you can't blame a guy for eating more after not eating for 20 days right :P? Seeing Kouji stuff himself really would be a funny scene though. 'Trying to imagine it'. That's why I couldn't resist the urge to put that into my story :D.