Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Digimon seasons or any of its characters. The plotline is based off a Manga titled "Penguin Brothers", which has not been licensed in America. I don't own that either.

Shades of Gray: Chapter 6
Sora stared at the two notes which were placed nicely on her desk. One was imprinted with neat, obviously female handwriting, as they had dotted their i's with hearts. The other was written in a slightly messier handwriting; it was ambiguous which gender had written it.

An overwhelming feeling swept over the Gray. There was fear in what would come next; however, there was an excitement on her next challenge: Resist the trials forcing her to leave and to find out who was probing her memory.

Izumi strolled through courtyard, making her way to a cherry blossom tree that stood in an obscure corner. A smile formed on her lips as her aqua eyes perched onto the boy she was looking for. "Found you," she sang happily.

The boy scoffed at her cheery-ness. He looked away and muttered, "What do you want?"

"You're so mean, Kouji," she pouted. "Anyway, we have to go scout for more Grays-to-be. You're pretty good when it comes to asking the girls…"

"I'd rather not," he stated firmly. "It's getting tiring."

"But we've gotten so far!" she exclaimed. "You can't stop now."

He challenged, "And why not?"

"Well… then we can stop the violence between the two clans. And then we won't be segregated anymore… and…"

"Maybe later, if you stop giving me the same reasons…"

The blonde walked over and pinched his ear, dragging him away from his quiet spot. "No, we're going to start now!"

"Ow!" he cried. "I get it, I get it! Let go!"

"Hey there, don't you have some money to give us?" a Black taunted a small White.

"Yeah," his friend said, "C'mon, little squirt, give us the dough!"

The small White closed his eyes as the started to tackle him and steal his wallet.

"Score!"

"Not so fast!" Sora said from the building's roof. She stood victoriously on the rail with a camcorder on her right hand. "I don't think stealing is a smart move. Chiro, you're applying to University of Tokyo, aren't you? And Yoko, isn't your girlfriend's father a police officer?"

"Damn!" Chiro cursed. "How do you know that?"

"Piece of cake for a mind like me," Koushiro said as he leaned against the rail. "Now, if you don't to lose your ineligibility or your girlfriend, respectively, I would agree to be a Gray if I were you."

"Argh, this way is so worthless!"

Sora tilted her head, "Maybe. We've got most of the bullies down, so there's nothing for you to worry about."

"Don't forget your personal reputations," Koushiro grinned.

The two Blacks gave in.

"Excellent," the female Gray smiled.

"Excuse me," the small boy said meekly. "But you're the one who saved me from Taichi-senpai, right? On the soccer field?"

She thought for a moment, and recalled that she had challenged Taichi and set him free from any injuries. "That's right! You haven't been bullied by him, have you?"

"No, but I would like to become a Gray…"

"Hold on, I'll be right down! Let's go, Koushiro."

"His name was Hida Iori," Koushiro told Jyou. "And we got some other students too. First were two bullies, then Iori, and then six girls came up to Sora and asked to be her followers."

"Amazing," Jyou looked at the spreadsheet. "At this rate, we'd have way more Grays in 3 weeks!"

"Prodigious, I know," the redhead smiled. "Sora's doing a good job. By the end of next week, Ruki will probably step in."

Jyou pondered, "I wonder what she'll do…"

"Hey, we goin' out tonight or what?" Mimi chimed. "Let's go Karaoke!"

Izumi giggled. "Figures. I heard you're so good at singing."

"Yeah, that concert was great!" Miyako smiled.

The pink-haired girl blushed. "Thanks girls!"

They nodded happily. "Where's Sora and the rest of the Grays comin' out tonight?"

"I'm here," Sora said from behind.

"Us too!" cheered the Grays following her. "Let's party!"

Soda pops, pastries, and junk food were scrambled across the table in their little private room of FUEL, a club for mostly teenagers their age. In their room, there was a medium-sized flat-screen TV for entertainment or for karaoke. Mimi was standing on a small table with a microphone in hand. A few boys and girls were gathered around to hear her singing. In another corner, Sora, Koushiro, and Jyou were discussing recruiting plans for the week.

"Since the bullies around have been converting a few Grays back to their color, we have about 52 Grays from this school and 62 from Odaiba Middle School. That totals 114 Grays. Takuya mentioned that Ruki brought down the limit to 200 Grays, so that will be a lot less to get for her assistance," Koushiro explained. "Also, we have not tallied the number of bullies we converted yet."

"Because the deal was the majority of Grays in the High School, if each Gray from our school gets at least 2 people per week, we should reach about 156 Grays by next week. If both school commit to that, we'll total to 328 Grays," Jyou calculated. "Pretty good, since we have a month and a half left. So if there are any mistakes, we'll have time to recuperate."

Sora nodded. "That's good. I think if we clear out the bullies next week, it'll be easier to recruit Grays."

The two boys nodded in agreement.

"C'mon, Koushiro!" Mimi jumped over hyperactively. "Come sing with us!" she placed an arm around him and dragged him to the microphone

His cheeks tinted of red. "Uh, no, Mimi! That's okay. I don't karaoke."

"No fun…" she cried. "C'mon, you can sing with me!"

"I'm afraid my voice would devastate your in-tune singing."

In the end, Koushiro ended up singing quite well with Mimi, a surprise to everyone.

"Let's sing some more…" Mimi cried, tugging Sora's arm.

"It's getting late, and we have school tomorrow, remember? It's Sunday, not Saturday," Sora tried to take a step forward, but Mimi's strength was great. "Let goooo."

"Ah," Koushiro scratched behind his head. "Mimi, I'll escort you home, in case some of the Whites are around."

"Eh? Well, it's alright, my house is only a few blocks down…"

"It's fine. You said you wanted bodyguards when you turned Gray, right?" he smiled.

Mimi smiled weakly. "I suppose so…"

"I need to return some books in the local library, so I'll need to be heading the other way," Sora explained, bowing to the group that was still left. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"

"Be careful," Jyou warned.

She flashed a smile. "I know."

Koushiro walked with Mimi down the crowded streets. His eyes caught hold of two people in front of the cinema. Ishida and Yagami? Inconceivable!

And indeed, the two adversaries passed, and muttered a few words to each other in front of the movie theater. It seemed they had some serious conversation, though nothing violent emerged.

"Koushiro?" Mimi poked the boy. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" He snapped back his attention to the girl. "Yeah, sorry, just thought I saw someone I knew."

"Okay!" Sora said triumphantly. She had returned the borrowed books before the due date, so now she wouldn't have to worry about the fees.

The girl glanced at her watch beneath a lamppost. "9:47 PM." She told herself. "I should be home in 10 minutes if I take the shortcut."

She began to walk, until she heard knuckles cracking and chuckles from the nearby alley. It was dark, so she couldn't take a glimpse of the people. She wondered if she should take the route, yet curiosity roused her. In the end, this was the path she had to take in order to reach home the quickest.

"Yo! Red," a boy taunted. "Looks like you're here alone. How unfortunate for you."

The girl took a step back, but never let her guard down. "Who are you?"

Suddenly, lampposts flickered on. Sora could see the gang more clearly.

"That's for you to figure out," another boy said, his blonde hair spiked upwards as if it could stab someone.

Could these people be the gang that was assembled to scare me away? Sora thought about the note she had received a few weeks ago.

She let her guard down the moment she had pondered this. Two of the boys had come up from behind her and pushed her into the alley.

A brunette knocked her down, placing both her arms behind her. Another boy pinned her feet down against the ground. She couldn't move.

"We're to take her out so she can't go to school tomorrow, right?"

One scolded him, "You moron, don't give away our mission!"

"Who sent you?" she asked, though not very loudly as her lungs were pressed against the cement.

"Quiet!" the brunette smacked her head. "Or else the pain will hurt more."

"Hey! New girl!" a very familiar voice called.

Sora looked up to the tone and saw Yagami Taichi, leaning calmly against the wall. "I'm not that new!"

"Yeah yeah," he waved his hand and dismissed her statement. He jumped in front of her, bending down as the gang stared. "You're in some position, Piyo."

"Don't call me that either!"

"Oh, well, too bad, Piyo. It's not my fault you got pink feathers stuck to you that day and looked like a bird."

Yes it was! She thought angrily. "Were you the one who sent them?"

"What? I'm not with them at all," Taichi said.

She didn't believe him. "Yeah, right! I bet you wrote that message in girly handwriting to conceal your identity, so I wouldn't be on the lookout for guys!"

"What message? It just coincidence that I passed by here."

The brunette lost his temper. "Hey you! SCRAM!"

"Hmm," the Black leader stood and placed his hands behind his head. "Well, bye then!"

The girl cried, "You're going to listen to what they say? EVEN IN MY POSITION?"

"Well then, why don't you say, 'Oh Taichi, please save me! I'll do anything you ask since you've saved my life!'?"

"You've got to be kidding," Sora said flatly.

The boy ruffled her hair. "Well then, dear Piyo, you're pretty screwed, right?"

"I told you to leave, dumbass!" a redhead punched the boy to the ground.

A vein popped on Taichi's forehead. "Why, you!" He returned the assault with a kick into the stomach and brought a fist down onto the boy's head. "That'll teach you to mess with me!"

The mop-head turned on his foot and high-kicked another boy who had been approaching from behind. He then made a move to punch and knock-out three other boys.

Ah, even for a stubborn fellow, I see how he can be a leader now. After watching this, I can tell he didn't impose all his strength on me. I would've been dead! Sora was amazed at the sight.

Taichi finished the last of the boys, sliding his hands against each other to wipe the dirt off. "Child's play."

"You're arrogant," she muttered.

"What's that?" he glanced over to her. "You want to wipe the dirt of my shoulders, the one who saved your life?"

"No, not at all."

"Hey you!" a new boy called, with a few of his friends behind. "Looks like you made quite a mess."

"Damn, he called for his friends," Taichi mumbled. "Not good."

"H-hey!" Sora took a step a little behind the Black leader, "Why don't you go beat them and…"

"Idiot, there's too many of them for me. I can't take this many on at once."

Her heart thumped loudly. "So… what do we do?"

"RUN!"

Taichi started on his rampage, and Sora followed behind. "Nooo!"

"Don't let them get away!" a boy shouted.

"Why does this happen to me?" Sora cried. "Are you sure you didn't send them?"

He snapped at her, "IDIOT! Why would I be running my ass off right now?"

The two temporary allies ran behind another small alley. Taichi panted and wiped his perspiration away. "Damn it… not good." He sat down on one knee and his hands pressed against the other.

"Injury?" Sora questioned surprisingly. "What's wrong? Did you get hurt?"

"It's one from the past," Taichi explained. "I've exhausted my legs too much. You should run for now, or else they'll catch you."

"But…"

"Just go!" he looked at her straight in the eyes. "I'll recover after I stay still for a while."

Her eyes seemed to be dancing with flames. She ran the other direction.

"Wait, not that way!"

She skidded into view of the gang pursuing them. "Oops… Wrong turn. Though I bet you can't catch me!"

"Get her!"

Taichi had been recovering for about 5 minutes when Sora returned.

"I've lost them," she panted. "Hurry, let's go. I'll help you."

"You expect me to cry and say thanks?" he glared.

"No. I could care less of what happens to you. However, since you did save me earlier, I'm not just gonna run away like a coward."

He stayed silent. She leaned down and placed his arm around her shoulder, helping him stand up. "Why do I have to be helped by the likes of you…"

That's my line Sora thought numbly. You're the one who saved me first, how embarrassing.

They stopped by a bridge. The sounds of the water below seemed to calm both of them down.

"Hey…" Sora asked. "What did you mean when you said I reminded you of a girl you knew from a long time ago?"

He looked away. "It's nothing. The girl I knew wasn't as stupid as you."

She clenched her fists. "You--! Hey!"

Taichi lifted her up, bridal-style, and did the unthinkable.

He threw her over the bridge and into the water.

"…!" Sora was screaming in her mind. DUMBASS! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! However, she did see him follow after her. She splashed into the water, and soon he landed next to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he covered it so she could not speak.

"Are you sure they were here?" a boy asked.

"I really did seem them…"

"Look more carefully! Let's hurry!"

Sora was dazed. "I really thought I would die…"

"Dying was more likely up there!" Taichi scolded.

"So? Don't just pick me up and throw me over like a piece of trash or something!"

Both swam over to the grass slope. Sora spread her arms out as the water dripped into the ground. "Man, we're all wet now…"

The redhead opened her eyes slowly. The room was dim; only a slit of light pierced through the window between the curtains. Her body was aching.

"What time is it…?" she placed a hand to her head, "Where am I?"

She then noticed an arm was behind her, on the pillow she had rested on. She looked to her right and saw Yagami Taichi next to her.

He had no shirt on.

… What's going on? Sora's eye began to twitch. WHAT HAPPENED?

To Be Continued…