Okay guys, here we go. Chapter 3 is up. Gonna have a little more fun messin' with Takuya as well as a few other things. Also, I know there has been a few concerns following Kouichi's character. My co-writer, FernClaw, has written a response to these concerns.

To those of our readers CONCERNED with Kouichi's Character,

While Kouichi is passive and quiet within the realms of the Frontier story, we opted to branch out and let him develop more. By our guess, Frontier likely took place in the spring, given choice dialogue cues and the human world appearance. From this fast forward a few months into early fall and the start of Secrets. Kouichi has had ample time to grow and become more outgoing with his friends. I chose his personality to mirror Kouji's and keep the Yin-Yang thing they have going for them. Also it drives Kouji bananas, so an added bonus there.
In addition, Kouichi's character was very flimsy during Frontier, mostly because he was worrying the entire time about something (IE Cherubimon, Duskmon, not having a body, etc.), not being overly important (Takuya and Kouji kinda take the spotlight and run with it by the time he joins the team, leaving the others in the dust), and we don't get to see much about his life besides his mother and grandmother- all terribly sad. You don't get to see what makes him happy/insecure/annoyed/whatever simply because they didn't show it to us.
I sincerely hope you guys can understand our reasoning for what we did mostly because we didn't explicitly given exact timing on the event of our story compared to Frontier's. Give it a chance, mostly because we have a good deal of this written and have no plans to change it, and the fact his character is really fun to interpret.
With that said, please try to embrace/ignore our version of Kouichi. He's very lovable and mischievous. Like a kitten! Who doesn't like kittens?

-Fernclaw, the OTHER author.

And with that said and done, let's get on with the show shall we?

Chapter 3: Call it What You Want

The group made their way to Kouji's house and true to his word the house was empty, save for the hyperactive dog that lazed about waiting for someone to come home.

Kouji's dog immediately perked up after hearing them arrive at the door way and started to bark excitedly. The dog circled around the group, jumping up around them.

"Wow Kouji, you got one really peppy dog." Tommy stated, trying to keep the dog from knocking him over in his hyperactive state.

"Wolf! Sit! Stay! Stop it!" Kouji tried futility to calm the over excited canine who bounded from person to person, wanting to lick their faces off. Wolf jumped up on Takuya with the same happy attitude, but suddenly backed off, growling at the brunette.

Takuya felt threatened by the dog's sudden hostile behavior, backing up against a wall. Kouichi and Kouji managed to drag Wolf by the collar out into the back yard where he couldn't love everyone to death. Or maul in Takuya's case.

"I have never seen that dog growl at anyone like that before..." Kouji said softly, "And he knows you Takuya."

"I didn't do anything either…" Takuya answered, feeling shocked by the dog's sudden change in attitude in his presence.

Wolf had always been a hyperactive nut and not once had he done that whenever the gogglehead came over before. "Takuya? Are you going to be okay?" Tommy asked seeing the look on Takuya's face.

Takuya remained speechless and stepped away from the wall, feeling a little more at ease not having Wolf growling at him.

"Y-yeah.. I'm okay. Just... that was different." Takuya said softly as Kouji lead the group into his bedroom, just on the off chance that his stepmother came home while they were talking or if something else happened.

Kouji sat at his desk, turning the chair around as the rest of the group found places on his bed or on the floor. "So.. What to do with Takuya... Your mother is going to freak out over that eye."

"Crap… I didn't even think of that." Takuya muttered, smacking his forehead. He had completely forgotten that his mom saw the black eye. "How in the world am I going to explain that to her… and Dad. Oh man, this is so not good."

"Easy there buddy. Just put cover up or something to make it look like it's still there." JP suggested. "So don't worry about the black eye thing."

Takuya gave JP a look to show that he wasn't completely satisfied with that answer. "And where am I supposed to get this stuff? And furthermore I do not use make up."

"Aww Come on Takuya- a lot of people do that to hide a black eye." Zoe said while she rummaged through her purse again, "Here we are!" She pulled out dark purple eyeliner and cover up.

Takuya immediately tried to escape before she applied that to his face, but she was too quick. She smeared some of the dark purple around his eye to make it still look bruised before applying a heavy coat of the liquid foundation to make it look a normal.

"Perfetto!" She exclaimed in Italian, "How does he look guys?" Zoe backed away so the others could see.

"Wow… that's really good. It looks so real." Tommy answered in awe.

JP grinned at Zoe's handy work. "It looks fantastic Z. Takky's mom's definitely going to buy that. How's it feel Takuya?"

"I feel silly." Takuya grumbled and resisted the urge to rub his eye. "Did you really have to be so rough with that?" he asked, looking annoyed up at the blond.

She gave him a serious look, her tone was flat. "We all know you would have jumped out of that window regardless of if I asked nicely."

Kouji and Kouichi snickered lightly. "It does look good Takuya. Your mom should buy it so long as you don't rub it." Kouichi said, trying to help convince the brunette this was a good idea.

"Or get it wet. It'll run" Zoe added.

"When did you learn to do that?" Kouji asked the blonde.

"A girl has her ways."

"How do we explain the teeth though?" Tommy asked.

"Preparations for Halloween?" JP suggested, not really able to think of a way to hide the sharp teeth.

"Unless you can find a way to keep from grinning… which I highly doubt."

Takuya sighed and looked to Zoe. "I don't suppose you have some sort of miracle item in that purse of yours do you? Seems like you got everything in there."

"Sorry- I may be prepared, but nothing short of filing them- which will hurt." Zoe replied sadly, pulling him into a hug.

"Still leaves us with a problem," Kouichi said, trying to think of a solution for the brunette.

Kouji tilted his head, thinking, "You could crash here tonight if you want- Try to avoid your mom that way."

"Uh… are you sure about that? I mean, would your parents be okay with that?" Takuya asked, looking up at Kouji. "I don't want to impose or cause any trouble. Especially if Wolf's going to be hostile to me like he was before."

"Well, Dad's out of town for the next couple days, my mom seems to like you, and Wolf stays downstairs at night. You're not imposing on me, I'm trying to help." Kouji explained quickly, "Plus no need for the cover up."

"Then I can go ahead and wipe this crud off my face. No offense." Takuya stated, adding that little bit at the end as to not offend Zoe, and started to rub the make up off his eye.

"Don't you think you should make sure it's okay with your parents before you wipe that stuff off?" Tommy asked.

Takuya stopped and nodded. "Good catch Tommy."

The younger boy grinned as Takuya quickly pulled out his cell and dialed up his home phone.

Takuya waited patiently till he heard someone pick up the phone. "Hey Mom I…"

"Takuya, there you are. I know you're with your friends now but we need to talk about what happened yesterday. What's this about you getting into a fight at school?"

The gogglehead's eyes widened, not expecting his father to pick up the phone. "Uh… h-hey Dad… uh… sorry, I just… didn't want to run late… and I'm really busy right now… Just wanted to tell you guys that I'm crashing at Kouji's tonight… i-if that's alright?" Takuya answered nervously.

"No it is not. Not until you explain yourself about that incident at school yesterday. I want to know, Right now, what happened." Mr. Kanbara stated evenly. "I want you home and I want the truth."

Takuya swallowed, now he was in trouble. If only his mother had picked up, she might have let him off the hook until tomorrow.

"I uh... This guy was bullying a younger student. He was about to hurt him, so I got involved. That's all. I didn't fight back..."

"Save it. I want to hear it from you face to face. Come home right now and no stalling. Do you hear me young man?" his father interrupted. "You can hang out with your friends later but only after we talk about this. Understand?"

Takuya bit his lip. He knew better than to disobey his father. It'd only further elevate the problem and lead to a really nasty scolding. "Y-yes Dad. I'll come home right away."

"Good. Now hurry up. I will not be kept waiting all day."

Takuya nodded. "Alright." And with that he hung up and released a pent up sigh. He looked to his friends to see the concerned look on their faces. "I… I gotta go. My dad's really mad."

"About yesterday?" Kouji inquired, becoming concerned. He'd been present for a few of Takuya and his father's shouting were not pretty.

The brunette nodded sullenly. His body was tense, and he looked upset.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Zoe offered, trying to comfort the boy again.

The others nodded. "If it'd make you feel better, we'd be happy to accompany you." Kouichi added, smiling softly.

Takuya shook his head, "Nah- You guys go find something fun to do. I'll go face the music."

"You sure Takuya?" Tommy asked, giving his friend a chance to change his mind.

Takuya patted Tommy on the head. "Yeah. I'll be fine." He said, forcing a smile to make it look like he'll be okay. "Don't worry about me okay?"

"If you say so…" Tommy answered, not buying the smile Takuya gave him. JP patted the gogglehead on the back. "Good luck buddy."

Takuya simply nodded and forced himself to move. "See you guys later." He said before leaving the Minamoto residence and making his way back home.

His father was seated in the kitchen, reading the newspaper when Takuya entered the house. "Takuya." The man's tone was unreadable yet icy. Takuya swallowed as he quickly removed his shoes and entered the kitchen.

"Sit." the man instructed, not looking up from his paper. Takuya did as he was told. After a moment, Mr. Kanbara folded the paper and laid it aside, laying his eyes on his eldest son. He glanced at the boy's "injury" but said nothing.

Takuya stayed quiet during the examination, knowing better than to speak before getting permission. The last time he had spoken out of turn, things had gotten really ugly. He didn't like to think about it often. He just knew he had to wait in order to stay on his father's good side, or at least get closer to it.

After a minute, his father finally gave him permission to speak. "Tell me everything that happened from beginning to end."

Takuya gulped and nodded before speaking. "Well… I was on my way to get my gym clothes when I saw some upper classman picking on a kid Shinya's age. He was going to hurt the kid if I didn't do anything… but I swear I didn't lay a finger on him! I just called him out and he punched me!"

The man remained silent, not betraying anything he might be thinking. After a moment of silence, "That was everything that happened?" He didn't fully buy Takuya's story.

Takuya nodded weakly. "Y-yes sir. I swear- that's all that happened," he stammered, starting to feel intimidated by the blank look his father wore. He tried his best to remain calm and keep quiet.

Mr. Kanbara stared at Takuya a while longer, but decided that this wasn't worth grilling the boy for pointless details. "You're free to go."

Takuya fought hard to keep from leaping out in joy of having the terrifying interrogation over. He quickly stood up and made his way to leave the kitchen but stopped, remembering his plans with the gang. He slowly turned to face his father. "Is it okay… if I spend the night at Kouji's?"

Mr. Kanbara looked up from the paper to his eldest. He shrugged and went back to his paper. "Sure."

Takuya couldn't help but smile. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." And with that he hurried back outside before his father could change his mind

He sighed in relief, glad to finally breathe without the stress and fear bearing down on him. Now there was the issue of what to do about what was going on with him.

The brunette ran upstairs to grab a few things to stay and hide out at Kouji's house tonight- and maybe figure out what was happening to his body. He stuffed a change of clothes and something comfortable to sleep in as well as his toothbrush into a backpack. He grimace thinking about his teeth and hope that his dad didn't notice.

For fear that his father may have seen something, Takuya fled the house as silently and swiftly as possible. He sprinted the majority of the way to Kouji's house, slowing once he found his way to Kouji's street. He stopped suddenly, realizing he just ran maybe 20 or so city blocks without breaking a sweat.

Takuya never had this kind of energy before. Well, he did when he was a Digimon… That thought, along with every other oddity that had occurred –the fire, the healing, the impossible jump, the teeth- had further cemented that this had something to do with the Digital World, and was escalating fast. Who knew what would happen next or how drastic his body would change.
The gogglehead sighed and walked to Kouji's front door, knocking on it. "Kouji, guys! I'm back!"

Kouichi answered the door, covered in flour. "We're making pizza," he explained shortly at Takuya's puzzled expression. "Zoe is the kitchen dictator," Kouichi added, "But don't tell her I said that!"

Takuya laughed, entering the house and laying his things near the door. The was a steady stream of laughter and orders being given coming from the kitchen as the they approached. They entered a flour coated chaotic kitchen with Zoe trying to teach the boys how to make pizza the proper way. They found more fun in flinging flour all over each other.

"Takuya's back and he's still clean!" Kouichi announced before duck for cover. Four pairs of eyes turned on him, a mischievous glint apparent. Flour was flying- again.

It took a good hour before the flour war had finally ended, with everyone coated with a thick layer of the powder. They had decided that it would be easier for them to order pizza due to; one, their appetites grew as did their laziness, and two there was little to no flour to be used to make any.

After doing their best to dust off all the flour and cleaning up the kitchen, the group had settled down in the living room, watching whatever movies they could get their hands on.

Takuya sighed contently, taking his seat at the end of the couch, and continued to shake his hair to remove any remaining flour that could be lost in his unruly locks. "We so do not belong in the kitchen."

"None of you do- I'm just glad the kitchen isn't burnt down or anything drastic." Kouji replied, running a comb through his hair, letting down for once.

"Kouichi started it!" Tommy said, prodding the accused in the stomach.

Kouichi grinned, "Twas fun and you know it. I will now accept my award."

"What award." Kouji said flatly.

"Funnest twin award." the elder said simply, grinning widely.

The younger gave him an unamused look, "Funnest isn't even a word."

"My point exactly." Kouichi finished, earning a few laughs from the others.

"You really are the life of the party Kouichi." JP commented before shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth. "We need to hang out more." He said with a mouthful.

"Save some for the rest of us JP." Takuya added with a laugh, taking another slice for himself.

"But Takuya, you're eating a lot too." Tommy piped in, keeping tabs on how much everyone's eaten.

"Zoe still had the most though."

Takuya chuckled and whispered. "Not surprising. Remember all those plates of curry she had to get those Trailmon tickets?"

"What are you trying to say Takuya?" Zoe asked dangerously, trying to scare the boy.

Kouji took the opportunity to get Takuya back for waking him up so early, "Yeah Takuya- tell us what you really think."

The boy's face became bright red with embarrassment "I.. Uh... Um..." he noticed that Kouji and Zoe were trying to contain their laughter. "Damnit guys! That's not funny!" They burst, laughing at Takuya's expense. "That's so mean."

"Takky, dude. You really need to chill." JP stated, trying hard not to laugh at the priceless look on Takuya's face.

Takuya snorted indignantly. "We'll see who's laughing when I get back at you guys."

"Look what you got him started on." JP sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"Shut up JP." Takuya grumbled and turned his attention to the movie they had put on and proceeded to ignore them.

"Takuya, knock off the attitude, We were just playing." Kouji said sharply.

Kouichi took a gentler approach, "We get your stressed out, we're just trying to get you to have some fun."

"Yeah Takuya. Kouichi's right. Let's just enjoy the movie and have some fun." Tommy added to support his friend.

Takuya sighed and reclined in his seat. "Fine."

"Come on Takuya." Tommy persisted, trying to brighten Takuya's mood.

The gogglehead sighed again. "Alright. Alright. Sorry. I'll try to lighten up." He smiled lightly to stress his willingness which seemed to be approved by the youngest who turned his gaze back to the TV. Maybe some peace would do him some good. God knows he really needs it.