I'm back! Sorry for taking a little longer to update! Couldn't decide on what choice to do since there was a tie for D and E. However, a friend of mine gave me a great idea that works with D. So I'd like to apologize to those who did not vote for D. Sorry FULLMETAL, PrincessKaze, and lone wolf. But DigimonDestined, Ravenmon, enjoy! And thanks a ton to Betty for the idea!

Here comes the dreaded part of the chapter… and…

I'm skipping it. I've written it a billion times. Anyone in his or her right mind would know Digimon does not belong to me.

So here comes the chapter!

Last chapter

Kouji's POV

I sat up in a tree this time, leaning against the trunk and letting one leg dangle off the side as I wrapped one arm tightly around Izumi's egg, being careful not to drop her. One more night… and Izumi will be back to normal…

Chapter 8

On the 20th day…

Kouji's POV

I woke up, surprisingly still in the tree where I had fallen asleep last night. Quickly looking down to check that Izumi was still in my arms, I stifled a yawn and jumped off the branch. Hearing Izumi yawn, I told her the usual telepathic 'good morning' that we had used for the past 19 days.

She replied sleepily with an 'Ohayo Kouji-kun' as usual and ushered me to wake the others up.

As usual, my too-good-to-be-true brother, Kouichi, was making us breakfast. How does he manage to wake up so early every morning without an alarm? I let that thought linger in my mind for a moment before walking over to Junpei and Takuya to wake them up. The usual shout of 'FOOD' instantly brought them all out of their slumbers. It's a lot safer to call them pigs rather than humans.

It was the 20th day since Izumi had turned into a Digi-egg, and I was more than thrilled to see her back in her real form. Of course, the others need not know that, but I could tell Izumi heard that as she flashed pink. Being quite accustomed to our newfound closeness, I didn't blush, but gave her a smile instead.

Breakfast soon went by and the day followed uneventfully. Even if anything had happened, I would not have noticed. I spent almost every second, staring at Izumi's egg, as if waiting for her to hatch. It was nearly nightfall and still, I was staring at her egg. I had nearly tripped over a few things for not paying attention to the path we were walking, but I chose to ignore it anyways. The day seemed to last forever as we continued walking, occasionally coming to a few stops.

The sun eventually set and we started up yet another campfire for our dinner, and I had started to worry. I had no appetite, so I continued staring at Izumi. She occasionally flashed pink, feeling slightly uncomfortable by my stares. When she did, I would look away for a while, only to look back once she felt comfortable again. She had complained a few times about my stares, calling me a pervert. But my worry took over, and I chose to ignore her insults, never stopping my intent stare. She tried comforting me a few times, assuring that she would hatch soon, but I still stared at her. It wasn't until after dinner did she finally lose it.

"Kouji-kun! I'm going to hatch eventually! You staring at me won't make this process go any faster! It's uncomfortable! Stop it!" she nearly screamed, rather annoyed. I looked away, apologizing, but said nothing else.

"I'm sorry Kouji, I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just unnerving you know? As much as I love looking into your eyes, staring at you 24/7 is rather scary. You've got a very strong stare you know that?" Her voice softened, slightly teasing. I smirked.

'A strong stare you say? If you think my stare is that scary, you should see my glare.' I replied, returning the teasing tone that she had used on me.

'No thanks… I'd rather not…' I heard her mumble. I laughed slightly, causing the group to stare at me. Ignoring them, I waved them off, telling them I was going for a walk with Izumi before we disappeared from their gazes behind the trees. I could practically feel the goofy grins that Takuya and Kouichi were giving without looking at them. Sighing lightly, I walked deeper into the forest, ignoring the two idiotic guys who were supposed to be my twin brother and best friend.

After walking a safe distance away from the others, I climbed up onto another tree, sitting smoothly on the protruding branch, staring at the moon as Izumi's egg sat quietly in my lap. We sat in silence for a while before I decided to break it.

"It's almost midnight Izumi. I'm worried. I don't want you to be stuck like this because of me." I admitted, not meeting the invisible gaze that I felt she had on me.

'I'll be okay. It's not your fault anyways. Stop blaming yourself. Your making me feel bad.' She half said and half whined. Mentally imagining the cute pout she was wearing right now, I continued.

"But even Bokomon said that digi-eggs are supposed to hatch on the 20th day, and I'm sure I haven't miscounted. I even wrote it down on this paper I had in my pocket. I hope nothing goes wrong…" I drifted off, unsure of what to say next.

I felt a little movement in my lap as Izumi's egg floated up in front of my face. It glided towards me and gently nudged my left cheek in a comforting matter.

'Nothing's wrong Kouji. Stop taking things for the worst. It can be possible for a Digi-egg to hatch a day or two late can't it? I'll be fine.' I heard Izumi's voice say reassuringly before she floated back into my lap and nudged herself into my arms once more.

I stayed silent for a while before I started talking again.

"But Izumi-chan… last time I was a digi-egg, I hatched the second it became the 20th day. You're nearly into the 21st day. This is all my fault." I whispered, a few tears slowly making their way to my eyes. Izumi gasped and quickly tried to comfort me, but it was no use, the tears were now flowing freely out of my eyes as I tried to turn around in an attempt to save whatever pride I had left. I had never cried like this before. But just the thought of Izumi being stuck in that form for the rest of her life, was enough to break my heart into a million pieces. Izumi had heard that. She flashed a pretty shade of pink, but I didn't say anything.

Izumi's POV

I heard Kouji's boyish sobs continue for a while as I tried my best to comfort him. But in this form, I really couldn't do much but say comforting words and try to nudge myself deeper into his arms. I eventually gave up trying to tell him to stop, and let him cry on instead, hoping he would feel better afterwards.

I stiffened when I heard the sound of a snapping twig a few feet below our perch on the tree. I looked to Kouji, but he didn't seem to notice it. I looked down again to see a dark figure with piercing red eyes stare at us. I nearly screamed.

'KOUJI! There's something below us!' I screeched. His head immediately shot up and looked down, but before he could make any move, what ever it was shot something at the branch Kouji sat on, causing the two of us to plunge towards the not so welcoming ground. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact, but none came. I landed softly in a bush with a thud and rolled off next to the trunk of a large tree.

Unfortunately for Kouji though, he had landed unpleasantly on his side right at the foot of the tree, leaving a few small scratches on his knee and palm. My eyes widened as I saw the shadow emerge from the darkness of the trees. It was DarkTyrannomon, a large dinosaur like digimon.

I screamed Kouji's name as loud as I could, as the raging digimon launched itself at Kouji. Kouji stood up from his spot on the floor, but made no attempt to digivolve, nor move out of the way. His eyes were still red from crying, but had pretty much glazed over. Was he still worried? This is definitely not the time to act all emotional!

'KOUJI!' I screamed once again, but to no avail. He didn't move. DarkTyrannomon charged at Kouji's form, swinging its overly large tail at Kouji. As a last attempt to save him, I threw a large rock at DarkTyrannomon's head, hitting it right above it's eyes. It roared, looked to my side, but only seeing a digi-egg, ignored me and turned back to Kouji.

It swung its tail at Kouji, flinging his frail body across the small area. I screamed Kouji's name again as his back smacked across the trunk of a tree next to me. He didn't move. DarkTyrannomon's mouth glowed orange, gathering energy for his final blow. I yelled to Kouji again, trying to snap him out of his little trance. He didn't budge.

My mind raced, absolute panic and horror struck hard as I tried to think of a way to save Kouji. I can't let him turn into a digi-egg again! What will I do?

'Kouji… please…snap out of it…'

Ooh… another pathetic cliffy! I couldn't help myself! I'm not so hyper right now… I can't write emotional or angst stuff when I'm hyper… it'll turn into a parody. So read and review people! The more reviews I get, the faster the update! I know I took a while to update this chapter, but that was because the voting thing came to a tie! I'll update much more quickly next time if I get a few reviews for this chapter:D that's a promise!