Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon…only the plot of the fic.
Author's Notes: Ugh…this chapter…drove…me…insane. I swear, it really did. I'm still not entirely too thrilled with it, and I don't think that it's my best chapter in this fic at all…but…(shrugs) You guys might feel differently when you read it-I don't know, maybe it's because I've held onto this chapter for so long that I'm glad to be moving onto the next one…to me it seems to be missing that special spark I always get during each chapter I write…blah. Ah, well, I'll stop complaining and let you guys read the fic and judge this chapter for yourselves…Katsume explains it all…well…most of it anyway…it's all being unraveled bit by bit, piece by piece…you guys really didn't think that I'd just give it all to you in one big bunch, now did you? (winks)
Rating: PG13
Warning, warning: Fic contains slash/yaoi, and some yuri here and there-if you're not a fan of that kind of stuff, hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page please…and run far, far, away…
Pairings: Takuya/Kouji, Kouichi/Izumi, Taichi/Yamato, Rei/Katsume, with Ruki/Juri here and there and small hints of Jenrya/Takato
Time Setting: Five years after Eternity
ForevermoreAuthor: Angel Spirit
Chapter
16: Dangerous Truths
When Kouichi woke, at first he thought that there was an angel standing above him.
However, after blinking several times to clear his still sleep filled eyes, he saw that the angel was only Izumi-but he still gave her a goofy smile anyway, one that she looked relieved at seeing as she grasped her warm hand into his cold one as her bright blue eyes shined happily.
"You're finally awake! I was starting to get really worried Kouichi-don't you ever do this to me again!" Immediately Kouichi's smile from before vanished as he saw that Izumi had been really worried about him, and tried his best to soothe and calm her down as his mind continued waking up a bit more.
"Izumi…it's okay…I'm okay…" He murmured, as she leaned into him while he hugged her close. Izumi for her part, was trying to hold back the tears of relief that threatened to come, not wanting to seem like a weakling in front of her boyfriend. Knowing that if Kouichi knew what she was thinking, he'd scold her for it. But he'd scared her so much…
"I'm alright, okay?" As she pulled back slightly, she nodded as she brushed back a strand of blond hair that had fallen into her face and grimaced. She needed a shower…she hadn't left the hospital since she'd gotten the call from Alec when he and Rei had found Kouichi. A part of her knew that she was forever in their debt too for having found Kouichi in the way that they had. They really hadn't needed to go into that old dormitory.
Which, reminded her…
"Kouichi?" She whispered, feeling a bit uneasy as to what she was going to ask him next, but she-like everyone else-had to know.
"Yeah?" It was almost as though Kouichi sensed what was coming, for he looked away from her and his breathing hitched a little bit as his mind tried to regain some footing-trying to remember exactly what had happened to him so that he could be at least some help.
"What…what happened? Rei and Alec found you so far away from the dorms and the school…in an old abandoned dormitory that the school hasn't used in years. I know that you wouldn't have gone off yourself…so what happened?" Kouichi licked his dry lips, and swallowed hard as he tightened his hold on Izumi's hand.
"I…I for some reason don't remember a lot. I remember voices though…and a scuffle. I hadn't wanted to go with them…I was on my way back to the dorms after having studied a bit with some of my other classmates from that French class that I'm taking…I had decided that I'd stop by there and drop off my stuff before meeting you for lunch-I-I hadn't forgotten about that Izumi." Izumi only nodded, knowing that he hadn't. It hadn't been his fault that he hadn't shown up for their lunch date.
"There was a small gang-they were on motorcycles…I…I think that they thought that I was Kouji or something. When I tried to run, they managed to stop me and in the end I ended up having to try and fight them off. They knocked me unconscious-I couldn't see who they were because they had helmets on. When I came too, I found myself lying on the floor of that old dormitory…I wasn't sure where I was then, but now that you've told me I know. I was by myself in the room…until the gang's leader came in with some of his buddies-" Kouichi's eyes widened in horror as he came to a sudden realization and he quickly turned to face Izumi. As he did so, he pulled the stitches a little bit and winced at the pain he felt from having done so, but at the moment what he'd just remembered was a lot more important.
"Izumi! Izumi, where's Kouji?" Izumi smiled softly as she brushed back some hair that had fallen into his eyes.
"You don't need to worry about Kouji, Kouichi. He's back at the dormitory with Takuya, Rei, and Alec…they headed that way late the other night-they all looked exhausted, especially Kouji and Rei. I'm sure that Takuya and Rei will watch over Kouji, no worries-you just have to worry about getting better Kouichi." But Kouichi shook his head, and placed his thumb and forefinger from his free hand on her chin so that he could make her bright blue orbs look into his own dark blue ones as he shook his head.
"Not good enough Izumi. Not good enough-because…because I know who's going after Kouji now. And now, that they think that I'm dead-that Kouji's dead-he's going to be in even more danger when they find out they nabbed the wrong twin." Izumi looked puzzled at first, and then frightened as she realized what it was Kouichi was telling her.
"Kouichi…you know who Kouji's stalker is?" Kouichi nodded, a mixture of emotions-mostly fear and anger-rushing through him.
"Yeah, I do-and he's been within plain eyesight the whole entire time and we never noticed it. Izumi, Kouji's stalker is…"
"You mean to tell me…that everything that I thought I knew about you was nothing but a lie?" Rei murmured, not realizing that shortly after Katsume had told them everything, that Kouji, Takuya, Ruki, and Juri had at some point in time drifted off and out of Ruki and Juri's dorm room-giving Katsume and Rei some time alone.
"Rei…maybe," Katsume whispered back, but raised a hand when Rei went to speak again, stopping the petite brunette from interrupting her. "But, my love for you is not a lie." Rei only shook her head though.
"I don't understand…I mean…what in the hell are you doing here in the first place?" Katsume flinched. Great…now Rei was pissed. But then again, Rei had every right to be severely ticked off at her. Heaven only knew, that if Katsume were in Rei's shoes, she probably wouldn't be sitting here right now listening to what she had to say, giving her a second chance. Why Rei was still there, Katsume didn't know…yet.
Gently rubbing her forehead with her fingers, Katsume sighed and tried to think of the best way to explain to Rei again why she had had to enroll at Shibuya University, why she'd fallen in love with Rei…
"Rei…my father has been following this gang who's been causing nothing but trouble in both Shinjuku and Shibuya for quite some time now-about four years to be exact. We've been tracking down their members one by one, but some of them were trickier than others. Rei, these gang members are very dangerous people, and some of them aren't even all the way there mentally. When my father found out that some of them were enrolled-god only knows how-in this University, he played the only card he knew he could play. Even though I'm still also enrolled at the Academy, I've nearly completed most of my classes-my father just believed that I could finish my courses here at the University as they'd transfer over." Katsume paused for a second, allowing Rei to process some of the information before she continued on.
"He was correct…so I was enrolled here under a slightly different name, I had to change my appearance, everything…even my own personality. Rei, trust me that I didn't use to be the cold hearted person that you first knew-in a few ways Rei, you changed everything. When I met you that first time that you were standing in the doorway of our dormitory…I lost all thought. The moment my eyes met yours, I knew that I wasn't about to go anywhere without your friendship." The blonde was silent as she fingered her silky hair, looking at it disdainfully. Her hair had once been a very light auburn…not the blonde color it was now.
"Why me?" Rei whispered, and Katsume shook her head.
"There was something about you Rei. I could just feel your aura…full of danger, anger, fear…sadness…and so much more. Yet, you managed to hide it all so well. After those cold hateful words that you all but spat at me the first conversation we had, I knew that I couldn't leave until I had you figured out. And eventually…slowly…you started opening up more. We grew closer…too close. What I didn't know was that my father had spies hidden in the University, thinking that I wasn't fully doing my job as I slowly and stupidly stopped sending as many reports as I used to on those who I was really supposed to be paying attention to. And then one of those spies found out I was in love…found out that day I kissed you on the bleachers in front of the whole cheerleading squad." The look in Rei's dark brown eyes seemed to change, and she chuckled softly.
"You certainly have a way with telling someone you love them that much, you know that?" Even Katsume chuckled as she shook her head.
"Ai, now I know." Softly biting down on her lower lip, Rei sat deep in thought for several minutes.
"There's something I don't quite understand though Katsume-there weren't very many students there that day when you came by to confess that I was yours and no one else's…so…who was it that was spying on you for your dad?" Katsume snorted and crossed her arms, suddenly looking a bit pissed off herself.
"She was standing practically right in front of us the whole time, her jaw dropping with the rest of the cheerleading bimbo's out there on the field…can you figure out who? Oh, and she's not a cheerleader more like, a cheerleader wanna be." It took Rei a couple of minutes, but her eyes widened and that allowed Katsume to know that she had figured it out.
"The…the cheerleading coach?" She stammered, and Katsume nodded.
"Bingo-Rei answers the thousand dollar question. It was the cheerleading coach-still is the cheerleading coach. I was surprised she didn't pass out when I kissed you like that actually." Katsume would've laughed, if the situation wasn't as serious as it was.
"But…Katsume, you told me that you walked out on your own father…he's still got spies-like the cheerleading coach-here at the University…won't they try to drag you back?" Rei whispered, fear suddenly filling her eyes and Katsume found herself nodding slowly.
"They very well might. But I don't plan to be the good little girl and go with them. Rei, one of the reasons why I enrolled here at Shibuya was to filter out those who belonged in that gang and keep an eye on them-find out their hangouts, extra curricular activities…anything out of the unusual, report it and then figure out a way to get their sorry butts in jail for the past crimes that they had committed. When one of them started making a move on Kouji, I knew I had to stay longer and fulfill my duty more than what my father had wanted me to do. I wasn't about to put other's lives in danger." Things were all starting to fall into place now…the puzzle pieces coming rapidly together so that now there were so few left…
"So that means that whoever is stalking Kouji…is attending Shibuya University, and has been here the whole time?" Katsume nodded at Rei's stunned surprise, looking even more serious then before.
"Yet another thousand dollars for Rei. Damn Rei, I think you would've made a good detective…all along you've seemed to be figuring things out a lot quicker then some other people. You're almost there." Rei sighed and hugged herself.
"Yes, but I'm not there yet…" They were interrupted though, when Kouji suddenly burst through the door, holding his cell phone in one hand. Both girls realized that he had an incredibly relieved look on his face, and his eyes seemed to shine with happiness.
"Kouichi's woken up…Izumi says that he's okay!" Both Rei and Katsume sighed in relief and Rei grinned as she reached over and pulled Kouji into a hug.
"That's fantastic! Are we going to go and see him?" Kouji nodded, a smile appearing on his face as he pulled away from Rei's embrace.
"Yeah, we are right now-I thought I'd come up to tell you guys if you wanted to come with us…oh, uh…?" He'd accidentally forgotten that when he and Takuya had left Rei and Katsume, that they hadn't been on the best of terms. However, when he saw Katsume reach out for Rei's hand-and saw Rei reach out in turn and grab a hold of it-he sighed and shook his head, some of his dark raven blue hair falling into his eyes as it got loose from his bandanna that he'd decided to wear that day.
"Come on you two…lovebirds." He added as an afterthought, and Rei glared at him as she released Katsume's hand, and chased after him.
"Get back here Minamoto, or I swear…!" Katsume held back her laughter as she watched Rei chase Kouji down the stairs of the dormitory, and only shook her head as she closed the door to Ruki and Juri's room…reminding herself that she needed to thank those two later for allowing her to use it so that she could talk privately with Rei.
Everything seems to be going okay now… She thought, as she met up with Takuya at one point, who grinned and gave her a thumbs up sign. She nodded and smiled back at him in return-feeling the smile reach her eyes…something she hadn't felt in a long time. And it felt good.
Even Takuya seemed to notice the sudden change, as he did a double take.
"You know Katsume…something…"
"Looks different?" She added, as Takuya seemed to muse over what it was he was trying to say. Takuya grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, that's it." Katsume chuckled.
"Good different or bad different Takuya?" Now Takuya joined in with her laughter as they headed down the rest of the stairs to catch up with their mates.
"Good. Trust me, it's good." Again, for a second time, Katsume smiled-and meant it.
"Thanks Takuya." She murmured, and Takuya nodded.
"Anytime, hey listen I-" Takuya didn't get to finish his sentence, as gun shots suddenly rang out in front of the dormitory they were in. Both of them turned to each other, their eyes opening wide as they suddenly scampered down the rest of the flight of stairs, at each others heels-frantically moving toward the doorway as Katsume was slightly ahead of Takuya since she'd jumped the last five steps, landing squarely on her feet. Only one thought was on their minds as they made quickly for the opened door-that Kouji and Rei were outside…
They never saw it coming. Not one bit.
One second Rei was chasing after Kouji…
And the next thing Rei knew, Kouji had quickly wheeled around and quickly grabbed her, spinning enough so that by the time he had her safely in his arms they'd fallen down to the ground together-and Kouji rolled over enough so that he was protecting her…
From the gunshots that suddenly rang out in the nearby distance.
Both teens winced at how close the bullets sounded, but didn't bother getting up-unfortunately, both Rei and Kouji suddenly realized that they were still quite out in the open. They would be easy targets for whoever was firing of that gun, or guns actually now that Kouji was hearing correctly.
Underneath him, Rei whimpered and managed to cover her ears…and as Kouji glanced down at her, he was surprised to see that she was shaking-and looked quite frightened actually.
"Rei? Rei, are you alright?" Rei's response was a soft whimper as the gunshots rang out again through the street-this time a lot closer, and Kouji managed to pull Rei up to her knees with him as he started to stand. Her hands were still clamped over her ears and she was shaking her head, her dark brown eyes were squeezed tightly shut.
"Not again…oh please no…not again…" She whispered, and Kouji raised an eyebrow as he wondered what was wrong with his best friend.
"Come on Rei…Rei, we've got to get out of here…" Kouji murmured to her, as the gunshots were fired once more and this time when Kouji looked up, he saw a big black van swerving down the road and out of control.
"Rei…Rei, we need to move…NOW!" Kouji hollered, barely managing to get a good grip on her, as he pulled her completely off the ground and hurtled the two of them behind a car that was parked on their side of the street; bracing them as close to it as he could.
Rei in turn, only grasped tightly to him, trying to gain her bearings.
She could not freak out now, she would not freak out now. Rei thought, and managed to control herself…glancing quickly upwards in enough time to watch the van continue it's tirade down the street-as bullets randomly flew in every direction possible. It was almost as though it were some kind of illusion, as the tinted windows to the black van were barely rolled down-so one couldn't see any signs of guns from within the car…
The glass windows to the car that they were hiding behind shattered, and both Kouji and Rei covered their eyes to protect themselves from the glass that rained down upon the two of them.
When the glass cleared and both teens were able to see again, Rei gasped in surprise as she clutched tightly onto one of Kouji's arms, shaking it a little to get her friend's attention.
"What?" Kouji whispered, but she still heard the panic in his voice as she nodded her head in the direction of the van.
"Kouji…Kouji, I know that van! That's the same van that almost hit me that one night if Yamato hadn't shoved me out of the way, I KNOW that it's the SAME van!" Rei realized that she was almost to the point of hyperventilating, as she and Kouji clung together tightly.
Out of all the miracles that could've possibly occurred that afternoon, Kouji managed to catch a glimpse of three numbers of the license plate that was still mostly covered with mud-but it was starting to slowly fall off as it was getting dryer now that the rain had stopped.
"-301…301, Rei, help me remember that!" He whispered frantically, and Rei nodded as the two of them continued to mentally repeat it over and over again in their heads, committing it to memory…hoping that it might be of at least some help to them later on…
If anything, Kouji prayed that those three numbers would somehow help the police-or even Katsume at this point in time now that they knew who she really was-track down who was hurting him and his friends.
A few more gunshots rang out, a couple of the bullets impacting the other side of the car that Kouji and Rei were hiding behind and they flinched, but then all was quiet.
Quiet until Katsume and Takuya came dashing out of the dormitory's.
When the shooting had started, Katsume had instantly grabbed hold of Takuya and nearly tossed him back inside the dorms…as much as she hated to do it, she'd closed the doorway to protect them-and everyone else-inside…leaving Rei and Kouji outside.
Katsume had only prayed that by any and all miracles, Kouji and Rei hadn't gotten hurt…
And seeing them both conscious and physically moving, Katsume's panic lightened a little bit as she was led to believe that her prayer was answer. But…that still didn't mean that she couldn't be worried about her girlfriend.
"REI! Oh god, REI!" Katsume was kneeling down next to them in an instant, and Kouji gladly turned a still shaking Rei over to Katsume…who quickly held her in a tight embrace the second Kouji released her. Katsume tried to soothe her distraught girlfriend as she gently rubbed her back and glanced up to see how Kouji was doing…now in the arms of Takuya…shaking a bit himself as Takuya ran his fingers through Kouji's hair trying to soothe him as well.
"Shhhh…Kouji, it's okay…thank god it's okay, and you're okay…" Takuya continued to murmur as Kouji eventually calmed down and the two teens-hands now clasped tightly together-glanced over to where Katsume was still sitting with Rei in her lap.
"Katsume, she's okay right? Katsume…?" Kouji whispered as he knelt down next to them, and gasped at what he saw. He had thought that he'd protected Rei enough so that she hadn't gotten hurt. But when he saw one of Katsume's hands applying pressure to Rei's upper left arm, he softly cursed as he took off his bandanna.
"Damn it…damn it! I'm sorry Katsume, I thought…I thought I'd gotten the both of us down in time…Rei…oh god…" Realizing that his friend might very well have a bullet in her arm, Kouji was relieved when Katsume allowed him to gently remove her hand as he tightly tied his bandanna around Rei's arm, causing her to flinch as she felt a momentary discomfort.
Finally coming fully to her senses and seeing the worried look in Kouji's eyes, Rei sighed and shook her head as she lightly pulled on his ponytail (to which she earned a playful glare at from Kouji for doing so) to get his attention.
"Kouji-Kouji, she's okay. Gods…I was scared there for a moment too when I finally saw the blood…there's no bullet Kouji, I checked. Trust me when I say that I checked it thoroughly. I'm assuming that one of those chunks of glass that fell from the car windows when the bullets when through them sliced her arm…she is wearing a short sleeve T-shirt…"
Realizing this, Kouji nodded. Whereas Rei was wearing a pair of light gray sweatpants, short sleeved white T-shirt, and a pair of jogging shoes that she'd slipped on last minute before leaving their dorms, Kouji had on a pair of cargo khaki's, a three quarter length sleeved denim colored shirt (that Takuya said brought out the color of his eyes-which, was one of the reasons why he wore it more often these days), and a leather coat over that-and of course, a pair of running shoes…so he could see what Katsume meant-he'd been a bit more protected.
It wasn't long before they heard the sirens of an ambulance tearing down through the street, a couple of police cars following it. Kouji sighed…
"Here we go again…" Takuya murmured, voicing Kouji's exact thoughts as he buried his head into Takuya's shoulder and nodded.
Moments later Ruki and Juri-as well as a few other students who they didn't know-came out to see what was going on. Ruki had called the ambulance as well as the police, after hearing the first round of shooting.
"My car…" One of the unknown students moaned, but Ruki didn't pay much attention to it, her focus mainly on Rei and Katsume who were still together on the ground. Rei's body was trembling-and Ruki didn't miss the dark stain that was starting to slowly seep through Kouji's bandanna that was tied around her arm…
She was snapped out of her thoughts of the danger Rei was possibly in, as no one had told her that Rei's arm had only been sliced by a piece of glass, when an officer came up with a med team quickly following behind him.
"Anybody hurt?" The officer questioned, and Ruki's amethyst eyes opened wide and she nodded silently, pointing in Rei's direction as Katsume answered the question with a bit more accuracy then their stunned friend.
"My girlfriend is…her arm got cut up by some of the glass that fell from the car, I didn't think that it was very deep… but I think she's gone into shock or something-she just passed out on me." Even though Katsume was saying this as calmly as she could, inside she was panicking even more as she held onto Rei's now limp body…
Hesitantly she allowed the med team to take over as they pulled Rei out of her embrace and onto a stretcher. Katsume moved to follow them, but was quickly stopped by Kouji.
"Takuya and I will follow you there with Kita, Kai, Ruki, Juri, and Junpei-we'll be there as soon as we can." Katsume nodded as she dashed off to climb into the ambulance before the doors shut on her, and Kouji, Takuya, Ruki, and Juri watched as it raced down the street.
When Takuya caught the eyes of the police who had assisted the med team with Rei, he sighed and shook his head.
"This is going to be a long afternoon…" He murmured, and the other's couldn't help but agree with him as he tightened his arms that were around Kouji once more…
TBC