Kaze Chibi: I'm SO sorry for taking such a long time to update! Everything was all hectic for a while with final projects and exams and everything... and I've been typing up like dozens of new kouzumi fanfics XD! However, since none of them are fully written nor edited, I probably will take a while to post them all...

Kami Chibi: ... but you've finished this chapter a long time ago! You could've posted earlier...

Kaze Chibi: I know... but I had to get it edited!

Kami Chibi: You told me you already edited it months ago.

Kaze Chibi: Hush! ...The readers don't need to know that!

Kami Chibi: Too late.

Kaze Chibi: ... Sorry guys... I guess I was just being really lazy with the updating xP... anyway, here's the chapter! Enjoy!

Last time

His eyes widened in realization as it finally registered in his mind what the item was.

It was a key chain.

A small metal piece, painted pink.

And it was shaped like a cat.

Chapter 4

The one he had gotten for Zuki some ways ago. He stood there in shock, unable to move for a moment before he finally snapped back to reality, backing away slowly. Unfortunately for him, his foot chose to give him away as he stepped on a twig, causing the girl's head to shoot up and stare at him with widened eyes.

"Kouji! What are you doing here?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice

"I-I was just- I have to go!" he stuttered before turning around and quickly walking away as though nothing had happened.

"What's wrong with me!" he screamed at himself mentally. "Why can't I talk to her?"

He slowed down his pace once he was out of the park, releasing a sigh of relief. However, thought still remained in his mind.

"Is she Zuki? But I thought Zuki was in Italy! Izumi did say she was from Italy…" he drifted off. "If she is Zuki, then she would've known I was Fai after she found my wristband! If she knew though, why wouldn't she tell me?" his mind raced. "But if she's not Zuki, how did she get that key chain?" his mind continued to ramble. Gods this was confusing.

"Oh my god. Did Kouji see the key chain? Does he know I'm Zuki?" she thought, both her mind and her heart racing. "He did freak out and leave… or maybe he was just in a rush to be somewhere… but where could he go this late at night?"

"Hey Izumi!" A familiar voice spoke on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Kouichi. What's up?" she asked absentmindedly with the cordless phone tucked between her ear and shoulder as she fumbled around to make herself a lunch.

"I was just thinking-" he started.

"AH!" a shout sounded from her end of the line as she dropped a fork, causing a chain reaction as she jumped, dropping the phone and the food she was preparing.

"Izumi! Are you okay?" Kouichi's worried voice shouted into the phone as the sounds reached his ear.

Scrambling to clean up the mess, she quickly picked up the phone, muttering a quick 'I'm okay' and an apology for worrying him.

"Are you busy or something? If so, I could call back later and-"

"No, it's fine Kouichi." She interrupted. "I was just making something… what was it you wanted to say?" she changed the topic.

"Well, I was just calling to see if you were busy this weekend. Takuya and I just decided we would try to get the gang together for some sort of activity." He told her.

"Oh, well it would be nice seeing everyone again. When and where are we going?" she asked, once again the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder as she attempted cleaning up the mess on her floor.

"We were thinking this Sunday. We could go bowling or something. Or perhaps go skating. Which would you prefer?"

"I'd say skating. I've never really been one to be good at bowling." Izumi answered, smiling sheepishly. Kouichi laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not good at bowling either. But where could we go skating?" he asked again, this time his voice seeming to be deep in thought.

"I heard that there's a skating rink opening at that new mall a few blocks down from Takuya's place. We could go there." Izumi suggested.

"Well okay then, I'll tell Takuya. So how about we meet at my place this Sunday? Say, about 12:30?"

"Sure. See you then." She replied.

"See you." They exchanged their goodbyes before finally hanging up.

"Hey Izumi-chan." A voice greeted as she entered Kouichi's small apartment. Izumi sweat dropped. Why does he keep calling her that?

"Hey Junpei." She answered, pretending not to care about the honorific he had added once again to the end of her name. "I'm not the last one here am I?" she asked looking around as she dropped her pink bag on the floor beside her.

"Nope. Takuya's still not here yet." Kouichi's voice answered. He was sitting on the couch beside Junpei.

"The goggle-head's always late." His twin added on, who was standing beside the couch and next to his mirror image with a black bag slung over one shoulder.

"Kouji doesn't seem to be acting differently." Izumi thought. "So maybe he didn't see the key chain the other night." She muttered to herself.

"Did you say something Izumi-nee-chan?" The youngest boy spoke standing.

"Nothing Tomoki. I didn't say anything!" Izumi answered, waving her hands in a dismissing manner. The others seemed to raise a brow at her behavior, but said nothing.

"She's acting strangely today." Kouji thought. Releasing a sigh, a thought resurfaced once more. "Is she Zuki?"

Looking around, Izumi noticed that Kouichi, Junpei and Tomoki didn't have a bag like she and Kouji did.

"Are you guys renting skates from the arena?" she asked, facing Kouichi.

"Yeah. I don't skate often, so I don't have a pair of my own." He answered. "But you skate occasionally right Kouji?'

His twin nodded.

Ding. Dong.

"You're late." Kouji stated simply, as he opened the door to the apartment.

"Sorry." the auburn haired boy muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey Takuya-niichan!" yelled the youngest boy, launching himself at his 'brother' and supposed idol to give him a hug.

"Hey, hey Tomoki. Long time no see." The elder boy laughed, ruffling the younger one's messy brown hair. Tomoki wasn't wearing his usual orange hat. "So we ready to go?" the leader asked, looking around at everybody. Seeing no objections, he opened the door.

"Well then let's go!" he spoke, pulling his red sports bag onto his back before strolling out the door.

After a while of walking, the gang finally arrived at the large mall. Finally reaching the arena on the second floor, they lined up to rent three pairs of skates for Kouichi, Junpei and Tomoki.

Receiving their skates minutes later, the gang sat down, each tying their own skates before getting up and waiting for the others.

"Hurry up Junpei!" Takuya's voice spoke. Everybody had their skates on and were all standing at the edge of the ice, waiting for him.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" the older boy retorted, scrambling in a futile attempt to get his skates done. After a few minutes of useless struggling, Izumi let out a sigh before walking over and tying his laces for him, leaving him blushing in embarrassment.

Finally getting onto the ice, the leader zoomed off on his skates before falling suddenly, seeming to be familiar with the sport yet not too great at it. Kouji stepped into the rink next, gliding across the arena without any trouble at all. Tomoki was after him, scrambling to stay standing on the slippery surface. Izumi got on next, skating smoothly across the ice as though she had done it many times. Kouichi and Junpei were the last to enter, the dark haired boy gliding slowly but steadily as the older boy slipped upon entering the rink.

"It seems Takuya, Izumi and my brother are good at this sport." Kouichi complimented. Typical. His twin never was particularly bad at anything. Except at cooking. Takuya had told him what happened in the Digi-world when they were trying to make burgers. He smiled at the thought.

"Bye guys!" Junpei and Tomoki waved as they turned to head towards one of the mall's exits. They both had to head home.

"I have to be going as well." Kouichi spoke next, starting to walk in the direction another exit. "See you guys another time!"

"My exit's that way." Kouji pointed out next, "I should be leaving as well. Bye." He spoke before turning a corner to leave.

"Bye!" Takuya waved to their retreating friends before turning to face Izumi. "Well? You're leaving too right? I'll walk you home." He offered.

His offer didn't go unheard by Kouji's sharp ears as he turned back to look around the corner. Observing quietly, he tried not to make himself visible.

There was a sigh from Izumi before she finally answered him.

"Takuya… look, I just don't feel the way I'm supposed to when I'm with you… I'm sorry. We shouldn't be together…" she told him, averting her eyes.

There was a soft chuckle, causing her to look up, surprised.

"I understand." Takuya spoke, smiling sadly. "I- I have to go." He told her, turning to leave.

"Wait Takuya!" Izumi quickly called to him, grabbing his wrist and turning him to face her. "Please, don't feel bad. Our relationship, it's more of a brother and sister one. So let's keep it that way. Okay?" she asked, her eyes pleading.

"Yeah..." He replied, smiling slightly. "Just give me some time. I'll be okay." He told her before pulling his arm away and turning to leave.

Releasing a deep sigh, Izumi lowered her gaze, turning to leave, heading towards Kouji's direction.

Quickly seeing this, Kouji turned around and walked away, pretending as though he had seen nothing.

"Kouji!" Izumi's voice called, causing him to stop and turn around. She was walking towards him now, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"I thought you were leaving?" she asked as she caught up to him.

"I just felt like walking around a little more before heading home." He lied.

"Mind if I walk with you?" she asked again, looking at him.

"If you want." He replied, not really caring. Taking that as a 'yes', Izumi proceeded to walk beside him, the two walking in complete silence before Kouji finally gathered the courage to speak again.

"I saw what happened between you and Takuya just now." He spoke softly. Her eyes widened, but she said nothing.

"Everyone's always thought you liked Takuya." He told her. She smiled softly.

"Maybe now's the time to tell Kouji." she thought before letting out a sigh. "Then I'll know for sure if he's Fai or not."

"The one I love… it's a long story. It started off years ago as an English assignment. We were writing letters to each other as pen pals with nicknames. We soon became best friends and before I knew it, I had fallen for him. We kept in touch even after the assignment and we were writing to each other until we lost contact about a month ago. His nickname was Fai. I never found out what his real name was." She spoke honestly, averting Kouji's gaze.

Kouji's eyes widened at her statement. She was Zuki! Did she know he was Fai? She was just trying to get him to admit it first right? Well two can play at that game.

"It's funny how my case seems ironically similar. I had a pen pal whom I had fallen for as well. We also started off as an English assignment, but kept in touch afterwards. She was nicknamed 'Zuki' and like you, her real name is still a mystery to me." He told her.

The two stopped walking. Turning to face each other but neither said anything. After a moment of silence, the two spoke up at the same time.

"I know you're Fai."

"I know you're Zuki."

The two blinked at each other's outburst before smiling.

"Why didn't you reply my letter?" Kouji asked, pulling Izumi into an embrace, not seeming to care that they were in the middle of a mall.

"What letter? I moved here to Japan, and I had sent you a letter telling you I'd be coming. But when I got to your house, some lady said you had moved. I was so scared I'd never hear from you again!" she cried, hugging the dark haired boy back.

"You'll never stop hearing from me." He grinned, pulling out their hug to wrap an arm around her shoulder before both proceeded to walk through the brightly lit mall.

"Well then keep talking. I still haven't heard the three words I've been waiting to hear." She retorted, slapping his arm playfully. He smirked.

"What could the three words be?" he asked sarcastically. She frowned before flipping his arm off her shoulder and turning away, pretending to be angry.

"Alright, alright, I'll say it." He chuckled. At that, she turned around to face him, her eyes full of hope.

"I love you, Zuki." He spoke, blushing madly as he suddenly found his blue and white trainers very interesting to stare at.

She squealed, jumping and wrapping her arms around his neck before answering happily, "I love you too Fai!"

"Is something wrong?" a male voice asked her worriedly.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking." She told him, her eyes distant as she sat quietly on the couch.

"Thinking about what?" he asked again, sitting down beside her before wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Just remembering how we first met." She smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"That was before we went to the Digital World…" he spoke, memories flashing back into his mind.

"Yeah. Before the Digi-World…" she drifted off, still deep in thought.

"It took us a while before we finally met as Zuki and Fai, remember?" he inquired subconsciously.

She nodded. "Things can be so ironic sometimes."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Both their thoughts were interrupted as a young girl with navy blue hair and aquamarine eyes ran to them, climbing playfully onto her mother's lap, a teddy bear dangling limply from one of her arms.

"Hey wait up!" a young boy's voice called after the little girl, his smile widening as he caught sight of her on their mother's lap. He quickly ran over, scrambling to climb onto their father's lap.

"Tag, you're it!" the young boy spoke, tapping his sister on the arm before pulling away quickly so she couldn't tag him back.

The two adults chuckled. Each wrapping an arm around the kids, the mother leaned her head onto her husband's shoulder, smiling at the scene before her. He then turned, planting a soft kiss on his wife's forehead before he smiled as well.

"Eww!" the kids chorused as they witnessed their parents' small action of adoration, the two scuttling quickly out of their parent's laps before they ran upstairs to resume their game of tag.

The parents shook their heads, smiling. "Kids these days."

Bring up an arm, the father wrapped an arm around his wife, causing her to she snuggle closer to him.

"I love you Kouji."

"I love you Izumi."

Kaze Chibi: Was it a crappy ending? Good? Bad? Please tell! The more errors you point out, the better the stories you'll get to read in the future!

Kami Chibi: ...I sort of found the ending rather corny too if anyone out there thinks so...

Kaze Chibi: Awww but I'd thought it'd be cute! Anyway, please review! Maybe I'll write a sequel...