Unmei: Okay, so I'm super sorry that I haven't updated since forever! Even though it's summer I've been very busy with vacations, retreats, etc. Hopefully I'll be able to update quicker though now that everything is done. Once again I'm so sorry it me over two months to update! Oh, and before I forget, disclaimer:

Jyou: Unmei no Hana do not own any seasons of Digimon or the characters… but she thinks that would be awesome.

Unmei: Eheh, yeah. Anyways onto the story!

Of Clones and Outcasts

Chapter 8: Of Festivals and Unpleasant Surprises

Unmei no Hana

The next day, Hikari laid in bed, strands or hair sticking to her sweaty, red face, futon upon futon on top of her, thinking back to the kiss. Just thinking back to it made her lips tingle as she remembered the softness and warmth of his lips upon hers and the strange sensation of his tongue both forcing the pill into her mouth, but also exploring its depths. It was so strange, so abrupt, so unexpected, yet so sweet, but at the same time so disappointing. For Hikari knew if had been under any other circumstances, Takeru wouldn't have done such a thing—right? He hated her, or at least Hikari believed he did. But in the last couple of days, Takeru had gone and turned Hikari's view of him upside down. Everything she thought she thought about him, everything she thought she knew about him, everything she just believed him to be, everything seemed all wrong. What once seemed to be the truth appeared to be a lie, and what once appeared to be a lie seemed to be the truth. Hikari was confused to say at the least. As much as she tried that day to figure him out, the more he became a mystery to her.

"I wish he would do it again…" Hikari whispered to herself. However, when she realized what she had said, her face turned bright red and she chided to herself, "Wait, what are you thinking Hikari? What am I thinking! I hate him. Yes, I hate him. This fever is just making me feel weird things. I don't feel anything for Takeru but hate, nothing else. Remember that Hikari, you hate him… you hate him…don't get confused…you mustn't, don't let things become like it did in the past."

The next day, Hikari's fever was finally gone, due partly to the strange medicine Mimi had given her and the care Miyako had provided, making Hikari extremely grateful to her. Although Miyako and Ken had officially become a couple and were spending much more time together, Miyako had canceled all her appointment the last few days in order to take care of Hikari, and for that reason Hikari felt greatly indebted to her.

'I'm so glad I have such great friends like Miyako and Mimi…Sora as well.' Hikari thought to herself as she walked slowly to work the next day. It felt so odd to outside and to be breathing fresh air, but compared to the stuffy air in her room, Hikari much preferred it. Her legs were stiff from the lack of use, forcing Hikari to walk slower that day. As she did so, she looked at the scenery and realized that this was the first time she actually spent time to take in everything that was going around her. Although she had already been living in Mura no Yume for almost half a year, everyday she rushed to work or some other place and ignored everything happening around her. 'Time really does fly doesn't it… I can't even remember how Odaiba looked and my old apartment as well.'

When she got to Junsuisa bakery she was surprised to find it busier than ever. There was twice the amount of people there normally was in the kitchen helping a very distressed Mimi bake different types of pastries, cakes, etc. The store was bustling with activity that no one noticed Hikari as she slipped into the backroom. As she finished tying the ribbon on her apron Minami walked in and noticed Hikari. Her face immediately light up and she threw her arms around Hikari.

"Oh Hikari-chan, you're finally better! That's a relief. Everyone was so worried about you." Hikari found herself laughing with joy and realized just how much she had missed everyone at the bakery.

"I'm so glad to see you Minami-chan! I missed everyone. How is everyone doing?" Minami let go of Hikari and together the two of them sat down on a bench to talk.

"Fine, fine. However, things are getting more stressful seeing how the Day of Founding is coming around and with it comes the Sakura Festival."

"Day of Founding? Sakura Festival? What are those?"

"I keep forgetting you weren't here with us this time last year. Three days from now is the date when Mura no Yume was founded. We call that day the Day of Founding. And the day afterwards we have our famed Sakura Festival named after the giant Sakura tree in the middle of the town square. People from other outcast villages come and celebrate it together with us. It's a huge event. And so every year around this time Junsuisa bakery, being Mura no Yume's most famous bakery, is bustling with activity preparing."

"You mean there are going to be outcasts from other villages?" Hikari asked, her eyes growing wide.

"Yep."

"But, but, how do they travel without going unnoticed?"

"Well, you see… The village sends out groups of three to five people every other hour as not to be suspicious. Each group follows a different route to the village so to be even more inconspicuous. The women are just fine, they just say they're traveling with their friends and the outcasts… well, they're all not happy about it, but they're forced to well cross-dress." At this statement she and Hikari burst out giggling uncontrollably. An image of Takeru cross-dressing crossed Hikari's mind and she fell into another heap of mirth.

"You're kidding, aren't you Minami?"

"No, I'm really telling the truth. They hate it, but they really have no other choice. Some of the luckier ones get to ride inside the cart some of the groups bring full of food and gifts. But the majority are forced to cross-dress." The two of began to laugh once again when Mimi's voice rang out.

"Minami, are you done yet? I need your help out here!" Minami's head snapped up and she yelled a reply. She then turned to Hikari and tugged on her hand, pulling her up.

"Come on Hikari. Everyone will be so happy to see you." Hikari let herself be dragged out of the dressing room and into the busy front room. There, Minami shouted out to all the employees to inform them of Hikari's recovery. As expected, they all were glad to see Hikari, however they were soon distracted by their own work and quickly went back to their work. Mimi walked up to her, an apologetic look upon her face.

"I hate to ask you this Hikari when you've just recovered, but seeing how we're short of employees, you're the only one left without a job. If you don't mind, I need you to go outside the borders to the forest and pick some wild berries. Mura no Yume is famous for their fresh wild berries and the forest right outside is the only place where we can get them. I wrote a note for you to give to the guards so they know it is alright for you to be outside the gates and asked them to lend one guard to accompany you." And with those instructions Hikari set out. In no time she had made it to the gates that led outside the village. There four guards were stationed. Hesitantly, Hikari walked up to one of them and handed him over her note. He read it through and motioned for one of his fellow guards. He gave him a couple instructions before he turned to Hikari.

"Please wait here for a moment, Miss. We are currently getting someone to escort you." Hikari nodded her head in thanks and stood quietly waiting for her escort to arrive. A couple minutes later Hikari heard a very familiar voice and felt the blood drain out of her face.

"Is this who I'm supposed to escort? Very well, let's go." Takeru told her roughly. Hikari however remained still, petrified. With an annoyed faced Takeru reached out and grabbed her wrist, dragging her behind him. "Are you deaf? I said let's go." Once they were a fair distance away from the gate, Hikari was shaken from her daze and yanked her arm from out of Takeru's grip. She whipped around to face him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm doing what I was ordered to do—escort you through these woods while you pick berries to ensure that you don't run away." Takeru replied calmly. Sputtering for words, Hikari shouted,

"How can you act this way?"

"Act what way?"

"This way! So… so, calm especially after that… that incident!" Hikari told him, her face turning red from embarrassment and frustration.

"What incident?" Hikari gaped at him after he said those words.

"That incident. Where you… you, you know… you." Hikari looked at the floor in embarrassment. A moment of silence followed afterwards. Curiosity getting the better of her, Hikari peered up through her bans. Instantly she wished she hadn't. Takeru was smirking, a mischievous glint present in his eyes. Slowly, he began walking towards her. Hikari suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu as she stumbled backwards with every step he took forward until she felt the roughness of tree bark behind her back. Panicking she looked up once again, fright present in her large eyes. However, Takeru did not notice and took another step forward, closing the gap between them. Hikari sucked her breath in quickly when she felt Takeru's hot breath against her ear as he leaned forward to whisper something in her ear.

"You mean… that incident. The kiss." Hikari meekly nodded. "Why are you so embarrassed about it? After all you seemed to enjoy it. Didn't you?"

"I…iie (1.)." She told him with little conviction.

"Is that so? You don't sound so sure. I guess we'll have to try it again so you can make sure." After he said those words, Takeru closed his eyes and slowly began to lower his face towards Hikari's. Hikari began to panic when she realized what was going on but found herself closing her eyes as well and tilting her face up to meet Takeru's. Just as they were about to kiss a loud sound erupted nearby and smoke began to fill the surrounding area. The two of them quickly jumped apart and began fumbling through the smoke. Hikari, although she couldn't see, felt Takeru's presence near her and reached out her hand towards him. But before she could, Hikari felt her eyelids droop and heard Takeru curse.

"Dammit, this is sleeping gas. I should've…" Hikari was unable to hear the rest of his sentence for she dropped down to the ground, unconscious.

Three cloaked figures approached the fallen bodies of Hikari and Takeru. A smirk formed on the face of one of them who appeared to be the leader.

"Take these bodies back to Odaiba. The mayor will be pleased to here that there indeed is an outcast village near here. I shall scout some more before I too return in order to determine just how large this village is." After the figure said these words the two other figures bowed and each one scooped up a body and quickly left. Suddenly, a large gust swept through the clearing and the hood of the figure fell down, revealing golden locks and cold, steely green eyes.

"Finally I have located Mura no Yume. Soon, I'll get my revenge on it for what those outcasts did to my precious baby sister."

1. iie: No

Unmei: Sorry it's so short, but I've just been so… unenthusiastic about writing. I've been so busy watching Korean dramas (they're really good!) and preparing for school (ugh…) that not only have I been disinterested in writing that I really haven't had the time to write them (I still have to finish my summer reading assignment that I don't get…). Once school starts I'll try hard to write on the weekends as much as I can but I can't promise anything, but I'll really hard to be quick! And I must thank all my reviewers. You don't know how much those reviews help me keep on going!

Moppy: Thanks for always reviewing! I'm glad you liked the edited chapter 7. I just felt the other one was a bit abrupt and such. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter as well!

Bob: Haha, I'll definitely continue this to the end even if it takes me years to finish (hopefully it won't.) Thanks for your support!

KARASU25: I'm so glad you really enjoy my fic! I'm always so worried that people don't like it. Thanks for your support; it really helps me keep on writing!

crazypicciloplayer014: Sorry it took me so long to update! Hopefully you don't mind too much… I'll really try to be quicker from now on. Hope you keep on reading, reviewing and of course enjoying this fic!

pain herself: Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy this fic and think it's awesome. It's reviews like these that really help me feel motivated to keep on writing. Hope you keep on reading and reviewing!

Karimon: Lol, I'm sure your siblings/family members aren't that much of barbarians. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing. Hope you keep on enjoying my fic!

Unmei: And for all the reviewers who reviewed on my previous attempt at this chapter, thanks so much for reviewing! Hope this chapter was just as good as the previous one in its place. Once again, thank you guys so much. Without you guys, I don't I could have progressed this far. I promise I'll continue with this fic till it's done, so I hope all of you keep on reading, reviewing, and most importantly enjoying this fic! Till next time, ja ne!