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 7
Calm down Sora, it's okay. It's perfectly normal that there's a guy with no shirt next you. Yeah, it's not important that he's one of your worst enemies ever, oh, and the fact that he beats you up a lot…
The hairs on the back of her neck certainly stood as Taichi shifted in bed. His arm slung over her waist.
I wonder if this can count as unconscious sexual harassment? She shook her head. Stay focused! Okay… what happened? We were being chased by some guys… and he threw me into the river…
Flashback
"What're we going to do?" Sora whined. "My clothes are all wet!"
"I have a relative's place nearby, we can crash there for the night," the boy began walking without getting her consent.
End Flashback
It was then she recalled that she had showered first, and then passed out onto the bed.
Taichi stood up, his drowsy eyes staring at her.
"Uhh…" Sora's eye twitched. "Hi?"
He shuffled out of bed, dragging his feet to the bathroom, brushing his teeth, and then drinking some bottled water. Sora stared at him, until his eyes grew big.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!"
"Slow," she muttered.
"Oh right, yesterday…" he nodded.
The girl sat up and brought some of the covers to her. "Thank you for letting me stay here. And hey, listen… I just wanted to make sure… that…" Her cheeks heated up. "Nothing happened last night, right?"
The boy tilted his head back and then stared straight at her face. "You were… much wilder than I thought." The way she looks when she sleeps. "And louder, too." Her sleep talking.
"…" Sora turned very pale and exploded, "YOU JERK!"
The next thing Taichi knew, a table was thrust with great force onto him. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"
"I'm going to tell the police… you don't do THAT KIND OF STUFF when a person's sleeping!"
"Why the hell would I do something like THAT with you?" he retorted. "I was KIDDING, dumbass." Misinterpretation…
Sora stormed into the classroom, taking a seat next to Mimi.
Mimi arched a brow at the red-faced girl. "Wow, girl, you look like someone blew your fuse."
"Yeah, well…" Sora felt something move as she placed her books in her desk. A snapping noise could be heard.
"EEEK!" Mimi screamed. She scurried to the corner of the room. "Sora, what're you doing!"
The gray scooted back, her hands gripped to her seat and staring at her plant-infested desk. "What the…"
"She struck!"
"She's a bit late on timing, too." Someone declared.
"Ivy," someone whispered.
Koushiro tapped her shoulder. "Check inside the desk for the note."
In that? Sora shuddered, but reached in anyway. She felt the roots of the plant spread over her arm. "OW! It has thorns!" She retreated her hand, and along with it was a letter that seemed to be torn.
Congratulations, you're invited to my masquerade party. You better be there. The address is on the back, see you later. – Ivy"Who's Ivy?" Sora inquired Koushiro.
"A bully, and a very cruel one at that. She's been known to manipulate people very well. She's called Ivy because of all the mysterious vicious plants she employs on her victims."
The redhead scrunched her nose. "This is dumb, why would she invite me to her party?"
"Don't forget, you're very popular now since you've converted so many people. It's probably a trap to get rid of you."
"Then I'll know what to expect. If we take her down, lots of girls will probably turn Gray."
"I don't know, Sora, she's tough…"
"Alice! Wait!" a young redhead ran to keep up with a girl.
Sora and Koushiro leaned against the windowsill on the second floor. They looked down in the courtyard.
"You're too slow, Juri," the blonde girl replied coldly. "Can't you see that if you can't keep up, you'll only get yourself hurt?"
"But I left my puppet behind in class so I had to get it…" the redhead held up her right hand. As told, her yellow puppet covered her hand neatly.
"Alice looks much older than Juri, what grade is she in?"
"Sophomore, I think Juri's from the middle school… they must be childhood friends or something."
"She's so rude to her," Sora scoffed.
Alice smoothened her black skirt and tightened her high ponytail. "Juri, grow up."
"I'm… sorry…" Juri looked down at the ground. "But, you gave it to me when we were little…"
"Yeah, but we're older now Juri, get over it!" the cold girl stomped away, leaving her 'friend' behind.
Yamato walked down the halls, his hands stuffed neatly in his pockets. He azure eyes caught those of the smaller girl with the same piercing blue color. Her black uniform clashed with her pale blonde hair.
"If I could handle her then, then I can handle her now." She mumbled with a grin. Her eyes glanced for a moment as they intercepted each other.
His ears registered her words, and immediately his fists clenched. When he turned the corner, he ran straight into someone, catching him off balance.
"Sorry!" the girl muttered, grabbing all her papers off the ground. "Oh, Yamato…?"
The boy was stoic, kneeling down to help her without saying a word. A shiny piece of paper marked "invitation" caught his eye. He picked it up and stared at the statement. "You're going?"
"Yes, I am…"
"Idiot, can't you tell it's a trap?"
"Listen, I need to bring her down and get more Grays." She snatched the paper back into her possession. "After that, I'm going to find out… about this note," she handed him the piece of paper that referred to her memory. "Goodbye, Yamato."
"You know, Mimi's really good at last minute dress preparation…" Sora chuckled as she walked through the crowd. Koushiro was also dressed up nicely, a mask placed on the bridge of his nose that veiled his identity. Sora's masquerade mask was decorated with pink feathers to match her pink gown. "Though I think I did too much just to walk into a trap…"
Koushiro stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Alice is very rich, and not to mention spoiled. Her parents left her alone with this big house because they couldn't stand her anymore."
"Hello everyone," Alice stood calmly at the podium. She donned a gothic black dress; its borders were aligned with pure white laces. On top of her hair she wore a black and white headdress, adorned with two resilient red roses on each end. "Thank you for attending my masquerade party. I have a lot of stuff planned for tonight."
Sora felt Alice's cold eyes fall on her. There was definitely something bad brewing.
"But most importantly, I would like to introduce someone you may all already know. My dear rival from elementary school, the goody-good girl that everyone was annoyed of. The girl who's here now, causing more trouble than before. Who knew she'd be back, and with such a temper?" Her black boots clicked annoyingly at the ground.
Sora frowned. Am I supposed to know her? What's with these people? Is she one of the people who wrote that they would bring my memory back?
Suddenly, Sora's world went black as a sack covered her head. Her arms were forced behind her, and her body was slammed into the ground. "What is this!"
"Takenouchi Sora," Alice said with poison in her voice. "No one will be more threatening than me, not even you. The person people will fear is not the Gray girl, but the girl known as Ivy."
"You know, if you were just going to hurt me because of your reputation, you're pretty messed up!" the Gray muttered. Koushiro, where are you?
"It's not only that," the blonde girl giggled. "I do believe you bothered my boyfriend last night, and he wants payback."
"That's right," a familiar husky voice said, "I would attack Yagami first, but you know what they say: ladies first."
Sora clenched her teeth as a foot began to crush her back. Her chest pressed against the ground, barely preventing any air.
"I really wouldn't do that, Zack," Sora's savior proclaimed. Peering through the holes of the bag, she saw Koushiro leaning over the second-floor rail. He had a camcorder in his hand. "This camera is recording everything happening. Everything you say and do is being transmitted to your parents at this moment."
Sora took the opportunity to strike. She swiftly thrust her leg to her left, allowing the grasp over her hands to be free. She knocked one of her arms behind her, causing Zack to lose his balance. The girl pushed herself off the ground and removed the sack. She ran up the stairs, giving a thumbs-up to Koushiro. "Nice work."
Alice broke into a sweat. Suddenly her reputation was going down the drain. After watching this, her parents would definitely take the house and money away from her. "Takenouchi, you'll pay!" She strolled down the podium steps, reaching down at her boots. In her hands now was a shining dagger, sharp and lethal.
"She's nuts!" Koushiro exclaimed. "Sora, behind you!"
"What?" the girl turned around, only to meet with a blade coming towards her. Sora couldn't move; she only stood there, closing her eyes shut. Surprisingly, Koushiro had leapt and pulled her down to avoid the blade.
"Sora, are you okay?"
"I'm… I'm fine…" Opening one eye, she saw a masked person stand in front of her. The person wore a cloak and a hood, concealing the color of their hair. In their hand was clenched around the blade, bleeding.
A deep voice was revealed. "Be careful next time," Her savior muttered as he threw down the blade. He fled from the scene. Minutes later the police arrived, arresting the gang members and Alice…
I wonder who that was… Sora's head felt dizzy. Her hand reached out to grab him, but she fell back into darkness.
Flashback
"Hey, are you alright?" the little Sora asked. She was swinging slowly on the playground.
"Mm," the voice answered. But no one was there.
"Didn't I say I'd protect you? You better keep going to school!"
There was silence, and then, "I know. But I don't like those kids…"
She looked to her left, where the other swing was. Empty. It was moving slowly, though there was no wind. "So what? I'll be there for you!"
"You won't always be there, you know." The voice answered coldly, "No one will always be there…"
The girl jumped off the sing angrily, stalking to the left and grabbing the chains. "Why don't you look at me when you speak?"
And for a brief second, a pair of azure eyes gazed back at her.
End Flashback
To Be Continued….