Queen Cow: I apologize for the late chapter. Something's came up but here it is! Enjoy the great chapter!
Disclaimer: None of us own Digimon.
Kimochi Hakken Suru
Chapter 8: Searching
By imuzuok
Kouichi kept searching for Izumi, more determined than ever. "I have to find Izumi. She's with a guy named Akumu and who knows what might happen to her. I don't like that guy, something feels strange about him."
Kouichi ran to the field and saw a slight movement. "Wait a minute, someone's there."
Kouji lay quietly in the grass as tears crawled down his cheeks. "What have I done? Izumi… I have to find her." He dried his tears and stood up. He started walking when…
"KOUJI!"
Kouji turned to look at where the voice came from. "Kouichi."
Kouichi ran to Kouji. "Bro, we've been looking all over for you. Where the hell have you been?"
Kouji sighed. "Sorry. I needed to collect my thoughts."
Kouichi put a hand on Kouji's shoulder. "What happened, Kouji? Why did you do it?"
Kouji looked down. "It was all a blur to me. I don't know what drove me to do such things. All I remember was this guy with red eyes and that he was serving drinks. After taking a sip of the drink I felt light-headed and didn't feel like myself. I don't know what got into me but I accepted his dare, but I came to my senses before 'accomplishing' the dare."
Kouichi looked at his brother obviously intrigued by what Kouji has just said. "Hmm. A guy with red eyes huh. Wait a minute, what dare are you talking about?"
Kouji looked at Kouichi, "He dared me to-to ruin Izumi's innocence."
Kouichi stared at his brother in agape, "WHAT! And you accepted it? This all happened because you accepted a DARE!"
"Calm down Kouichi. I-I didn't know what I was doing. I told you, I didn't feel like myself. It was like I was being controlled or something." Kouji sighed, "Kouichi, I regret doing ANY of what I did. I hated the fact that I made her cry, which is why I'm looking for her, in order to be able to clear things up with her."
"What are you going to tell her? That you almost ruined her innocence because you accepted a dare from the red eyed guy. That wouldn't work brother, it would make it worse." Kouichi shook his head. "How do you think she'd feel if she learnt that she went through a horrible… incident because of a DARE?"
Kouji stood silent for a while and Kouichi sighed. "Don't tell me you don't know what you're going to say to her."
"I do. I'm going to tell her that I really like her that my feelings for her are more than that of a friend. I've just realized it but, Izumi means everything to me."
Kouichi grinned. "Touché my dear brother, you rest your case. At least now you finally realize your feelings for Izumi." Kouichi messed Kouji's hair. "Aww… My little brother's growing up."
Kouji turned slightly red. "Kouichi!"
Kouichi laughed at his reaction. "Anyway, let's go back and meet the others. They might've found something about Izumi's whereabouts."
Kouji nodded in approval, "Let's go." They both took off and went to meet the others. As they got nearer to there destination, Kouichi quickly notices Zephyr. "Zephyr…" he whispered quietly. Kouji looked at his brother. "Kouichi? Did something happen with Zephyr?"
Kouichi sighed and slowed down. "We had a misunderstanding. I'm afraid that she-" Kouji quickly cuts him off. "Fix it." Kouichi looked at Kouji. "What?" Kouji stopped running which made Kouichi to do so as well. "Kouichi, I don't know what happened but I think you should admit your feelings to her. Based from what's happening to Izumi and me, I think you better confess fast or you just might regret losing her. It doesn't matter whether it's a misunderstanding or not. The important thing is to tell her how you really feel." Kouichi fell silent.
Kouichi then burst into laughter. Kouji looked at his brother suspiciously while asking, "Have you gone nuts!" Kouichi halted his laughter. "I'm sorry Kouji. I can't help it. I never thought that YOU of all people would lecture me about relationships, thanks, Kouji." Kouji looked at his brother. "Hmph."
"KOUJI! KOUICHI!" Takuya shouted. "Come over here! We've been waiting for you."
Kouji and Kouichi ran towards the group, namely Tammy, Takuya, Mika, Tomoki, Junpei, Zephyr, Daisuke, Hikari, Sora, Taichi, Mimi, Yamato, Yolei, and Ken. Kouichi was first to talk. "Did any of you see Izumi?" Everyone shook their heads. "Then let's start looking again!" Junpei said.
"TK's still not here." Yamato pointed out. Mimi nodded. "He asked us to wait for him here."
As everyone discussed the matter Kouichi went to Zephyr. "Uhm… Zephyr. I uh-"
Kouichi was cut off once more. "GUYS! I SAW HER! I SAW IZUMI! C'MON!" Takeru said as he ran towards the group.
"Woah. Calm down TK." Hikari said. "Hey, is that Koushiro over there?"
Koushiro nodded. "At your service, Takeru called me up."
"I did. And we better hurry up. Let's go!" Takeru said as he ran. The others followed him albeit they had no idea what the hurry was about.
Izumi woke up. She opened her eyes to find another pair staring back at her, the red piercing eyes of Akumu. "Akumu? What happened?" Izumi asked. Akumu smiled. "Don't you remember? You fainted after we shared a lovely kiss." Izumi shivered at the mention of the kiss. She looked around. She couldn't tell where she was but she's sure that she was in some sort of room since it was so dark.
"Akumu, where are we?"
Akumu smiles smugly at Izumi. "In a place you know very well."
Izumi looked at Akumu confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean, Akumu?" she asked.
"You'll know soon enough." Akumu answered the now furious Izumi. "What do you mean I'll know soon enough! Tell me! WHERE AM I?"
Akumu fell silent. Izumi glared at the red eyed boy. "Tell me or I'll scream."
Akumu laughed. "No matter how much you scream my dear Izumi no one will hear you, just some creatures' maybe, but surely not people." This time it was Izumi's turn to fall silent. 'What did he mean by that? Are we in some kind of forest? It's all so confusing. I'm scared. I don't want to be around Akumu. I need my friends.'
"Oh Kouji." She said unconsciously. Akumu grabbed Izumi's wrist at what she said. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
Izumi was surprised by his sudden actions. "Why do you still think about Kouji when he almost ruined your innocence! Why Izumi!"
Izumi looked straight into his eyes. "I hate Kouji for what he did…" she looked down. "But I love him. I know Kouji wasn't himself at that time. Something must've happened to him, something that pushed him to-to do those things."
Akumu became furious and tightened his hold on Izumi's wrist. Izumi tried to break away from Akumu's grip. "Let go of me, Akumu. You're hurting me!"
"Wait a minute. I never told you anything about what Kouji did to me. I never told you anything. How did you know? Do you have anything to do with why Kouji was acting that way? Answer me, Akumu!"
Akumu glares at Izumi, her wrist still locked within his hand. "Let go. It hurts, Akumu!"
Akumu let go harshly. Izumi held her aching wrist. "How did you know Akumu? Tell me Akumu. You had something to do with Kouji's strange behavior. You did something, didn't you!"
Akumu gave Izumi a smirk then started walking away. He opened the door and looked directly at Izumi. "You can't erase the fact that he did something to you Izumi. It was KOUJI MINAMOTO who did it." He closed the door behind him, leaving Izumi with his last words playing back in her head. "I know it was Kouji, but, my feelings toward him are stronger now. I love Kouji. I believe in him. I know there's a reason why he was acting like that." Tears started to flow from her cheeks. "I'm scared. I'm all alone in this place. I don't even know where I am. Where's everyone? Kouji, where are you? Kouji…"
Kouji stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong Kouji?" Kouichi asked.
Kouji looked at his brother. "I thought I heard Izumi calling me."
Kouichi nodded. "Then we better hurry." They started running once again. Takeru was leading them. They didn't know what happened, all they know was Takeru saw Izumi.
They arrived in the school's computer lab. "This is the computer lab. Takeru, why did you bring us here?" Kouichi asked.
"I saw Izumi. She was unconscious and being carried by a guy who I believe was named Akumu." Takeru answered.
"Ok, so why the computer lab?" Takuya asked.
"Akumu opened the gate to the Digital World, therefore…" Takeru said.
"She's in the Digital World." Kouji finished for him, getting a glare from the younger blonde.
"How is that possible? How come Akumu can open the gate to the Digital World?" Yamato asked.
"It doesn't matter right now. What's important right now is to get Izumi back." Kouji said.
Everyone nodded. "Then it's time to go to the Digital World!"
'Wait for me, Izumi. I'll save you from Akumu. Then I can tell you…'
Queen Cow: And now you have a wonderful chapter written by imuzuok. R&R for her please!
