First of all I would like you to know that I am very sick right now. I was in a bad state when I did my last chapter and let me tell you, not all of my chapters are five star. Alright?
Second, I am introducing a couple new characters here that are based off of real people. Bet you can't guess which one is me?
Enjoy
We stepped through the gate and were greeted by Tai.
"Hey, where are the digimon?" He asked.
"They had to stay behind to help Gennai out with the area." Said Davis.
"So what did you learn?" Tai asked.
"Shadow blocked the sun as a sign that he can block the light. It's like a show of power or something." Said Yolie.
"Everything that entered the Digital world, like the Night Walkers and Blood Harvesters, were sent there as an army for Shadow." Added Ken.
"An army? For what?" Questioned Tai.
"To take over the worlds and cover them in darkness. They want to rule" answered Davis.
Everyone went silent and looked to the ground.
"Anything else?" Asked Tai, not looking up.
There was a short pause, then Davis spoke up.
"Yeah, We found out Kari can pick a cat fight." He said humorously.
Tai looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, she really mouthed of to Megara." Said Cody. I crossed my arms to keep them from twitching.
"She pissed me off." I mumbled.
Tai grinned.
"Gee Kari, I wouldn't have thought you'd try and actually pick a fight with the bad guys."
"Well Come on! Who wouldn't get pissed at her explanation?" I said.
"We know Kari. It's a big deal, and we're all upset about it. Just try and cool down, okay?" Said Ken.
"That's not it." I mumbled, looking away.
They didn't here and continued discussing Megara and Shadow. I tuned them out sat silently. Finally I got up to walk around.
"Where are you going?" Asked Yolie.
"Just to walk a bit. I need to clear my head."
They nodded and let me leave.
I left the house and began to walk around, taking in the cooling July Air.
'What's the Matter?' asked Karakin in my head.
"She's lying." I answered.
'I know.'
"What do they really want?" I asked.
'I don't know.'
"Shouldn't you though?"
'I know much, but not everything.'
"Of course."
I stopped walking.
"Karakin? Who is Megara? How do you know her?" I asked.
There was a short pause.
'We worked together once. We never liked each other very much.' Karakin answered.
"What did you do?"
'You'll see later. Come on. It's getting cold.'
"But it's 68 degrees."
'Yeah, it's getting cold. Let's go.'
I turned around and went back in the house to join the others.
---
"Sonya dear? What's wrong?" asked Mairéad.
Sonya didn't answer. She continued to stare out the window blankly, like she had for the past hour.
"Sonya?" Mairéad tried again.
Sonya shook her head a little, keeping quiet and continueing to stare.
"Well then, at least come and have something to eat. You haven't had anything to eat at all today or last night." Insisted Mairéad.
Sonya blinked and nodded.
Mairéad sighed at her failed attempt to speak to her daughter and left the living room.
Sonya rested her head on the window sill and sighed.
'T.K. and Kari are hurt or in trouble. What else is going to happen to them? Can I really help?' she thought to herself.
"Yes you can." Came a male voice. Sonya shot her head up and turned around.
Shadow stood against the opposite wall with his hands crossed.
Sonya stood quickly and held ground.
"Why are you here?" She asked the man.
"To give you your first task." He said with a smile.
Sonya turned her head slightly and looked him over suspiciously.
"I want to you go to T.K and Kari in Japan. Meet them, befriend them, learn about them." He said promptly.
"Go to-. But Shadow, My parents would never allow me to leave Ireland, or the TOWN for that matter!" Sonya argued.
Shadow shrugged.
"Find a way to sway them. Make something up if you have to." He said matter-of-factly.
Sonya looked at him sternly. "Shadow, I will not lie to my parents so I can go on a fool's errand for some dark man who's afraid of a little sunshine."
Shadow's eye twitched visibly.
"Sonya, you don't have to lie if you don't want to….You said you've never been to school, ask to join there." Suggested shadow.
"What? They'll never let me go half way across the world to take lessons." Said Sonya, crossing her arms.
"Why would you want me to travel so far to meet them anyway? I could easily do that on the phone, or through letters or Email." She told him.
"Not soon enough to learn about them"
"What do you want me to learn? Are you spying on them or something?" Sonya growled a little. She was startled at her own aggression toward the man.
Shadow smiled gently.
"I've told you before, They're hurt, they're in trouble. You must learn more about them so you can find a way to help them." He softly. "And besides. I'm sure you'd love to see your real family for yourself, wouldn't you?"
Sonya looked away and began fiddling with her necklace.
"I know you do. Your words say no, but your body says yes. Come now, Sonya. Go to your brother, help him, console him, be his sister." Said Shadow kindly. She tried to find a break in his words, a signal to show that it was a trick of some kind.
She made a mental note to step in front in front of a bus later.
"I'll do it." She said. "But how can I go?"
Shadow walked up to her. Sonya's face slowly turned into what looked like a pout or scowl as he came closer. He stopped a few feet in front of her and pulled a pamphlet from his sleeve and handed it to her.
She took it carefully and read the title.
DUBLIN HIGH SCHOOL FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Sonya shook her head.
"Shadow, foreign exchange programs are only for kids in school. I'll never pull this-" she looked up to find that he was gone. "-off."
She pouted and sat roughly on the window sill and began to flip through the pamphlet. She raised an eyebrow when she came to a highlighted area and her jaw dropped.
'I can't believe I'm doing this.' She thought as she hit her eyes with her hand.
(30 minutes later)
"The program allows students unable to attend the school here to go to another school."
Sonya explained to her parents.
The pair were looking through the little book in confusion.
"It's not that you're unable to go, sweetheart." Started her mother.
"We don't let you because of the nonsense they teach nowadays." Finished Patrick gruffly.
"Yes…but mom, dad, if you don't let me get an education, I'll never truly make it in this world. You can't get anywhere without a high school diploma anymore." Sonya reasoned.
"You can get enough by staying here." Patrick said shortly.
Sonya held back a groan.
"But dad, I don't want to stay here. I want to go out and make friend, explore a little, learn something different." She said, emphasizing her words.
Mairéad looked up at Patrick. "Patrick, she has a point. She needs to go to school. And we have denied her much freedom outside the town." She said.
"No. Absolutely not." Said Patrick.
"But Patrick."
"If she want to go so bad, she can go here. But I will not pay to see her off across the world like Amelia Lockhart and suddenly hear the end of it."
"Is that really what you're afraid of, dad?" asked Sonya, doubting his statement.
Patrick paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say.
"Dad? Please?" Sonya gave Patrick a pair of sad eyes.
His face softened slightly, then he hardened again and coughed.
"This booklet here says that you need to stay with another family in the country. Who do we know in Japan that will have you?" He argued.
He looked at Mairéad.
There was a short silence.
"I know someone." Sonya spoke up.
---
(T.K.'s POV)
I walked around the living room in a sad and sorry attempt to exercise my legs.
I had refused to use my crutches, even under the pressure that Matt what giving me and him not wanting to take me to the hospital again.
I pretty much just rolled my eyes at him and kept limping.
"So, I hear Tai and the others went to the digital world today." Said Matt.
"Yeah. Yolie had called and told me about it. They were going to find out more about Shadow." I said.
"I hope they'll be alright. From what you told me before, it's sounding pretty rough there for the Digimon." Matt looked up at the ceiling, a worry crease forming between his eyes.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. We've been through much worse." I said.
"I know, but something just feels off about this whole thing. I just know that something is going to happen and we might not be able to change what ever it is. It scares the hell out of me, you know?"
I slowed down, then continued.
"Yeah, I do." I thought about Kari and how the incident with her dad will never be changed.
"Oh, Hey! T.K. I totally forgot! Social Services called about where to house you." Matt said with a grin.
"Oh really?" I asked unenthusiastically. "And what is so intriguing about this call that is making you grin like that?"
"They said that since you can still get a stable job and are of age, you're able to keep the apartment for yourself and live on your own!" Said Matt excitedly.
I nearly fell over at the news.
"Are you fucking serious?!" I shouted.
"Yeah, dude. Mom's account automatically switches to you, too. Remember, several years ago when she signed up for that Family Benefit deal? Well it's been transferred and is accessible to you now! After all, that's pretty much what the program is for." Said Matt. "So, ya up to it?"
"Hell yes!" I shouted happily
"Hey what about mom?" I asked, the question suddenly coming to my head. "Any news on her?"
"Nothing other than their going to keep her in prison a while longer. I don't know what they'll do with her after that, but don't worry. They won't let her near you."
I sighed and smiled, happy that things were finally going right for me.
Suddenly the phone rang and both of us looked at the caller ID. It said it was an out of state call and we looked at it confusedly.
I picked it up.
"Hello?"
"T.K?" came Sonya's voice from the other end.
"S-Sonya! Hey, hi! I wasn't expecting you to call!" I greeted.
Matt leaned in with a grin on his face, nwing who it was.
"Actually, I kind of wasn't either. Um. May I ask something of you?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure. Anything."
"Uh, There is a foreign exchange program going on and I was planning on joining. I was wondering if I could stay with you and your family?" she asked.
It took me a second to register her question.
"Uh, s-s-stay with us? Here? For the school year?" I began to feel excited. Uh, two seconds, let me ask."
"Okay."
I held the phone to my chest.
"Dude, Matt, Sonya's joining a foreign exchange program and she wants to stay with us." I said with a wide grin. His grew wider he nodded.
"Yeah, Sounds great! Isn't there some kind of paperwork we need to fill out?" he asked.
I held the phone to my ear.
"Sounds good! We need to fill out some papers, though." I said.
"Oh, yes. We can take care of that. Thank you so very much, T.K!" She said excitedly on the other end. Her accent increased with her happiness and her voice rang like bells again. I smiled at the thought.
"I'll Tell my mom and dad. I'll call you later?" She asked.
"Of course." I said.
"Okay. Thank you so much T.K and Matt!" She said and hung up.
"How did she know that I was here?" asked matt.
I shrugged set the phone down.
"How is able to do the program? I thought you said she's not in school." Matt questioned.
"I dunno. And who cares?" I asked with a happy grin on my face.
"Have you told Kari about Sonya yet?"
"Kinda. She pretyy much found out about her on her own." I answered.
"Huh. Was she jealous?" matt teased.
I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh Come on! How can you not tell she likes you?! And who can't tell you like her, either?" Matt went on.
"Oh shut up Matt." I said and threw a throw pillow at him.
---
(Kari's POV)
Tai and I were walking home from Cody's house. I was listening to my iPod, tuning out everything around me and trying to think.
I noticed Tai was taking glances at me every now and again.
I felt aggravation at his staring and I knew Karakin was the one feeling it. She seemed to make me turn my head to him and snap "What? Why do you keep doing that?"
"Doing? What?" He asked defensively.
"Looking at me. It's starting to really annoy me." I said involuntarily. Karakin had spoken then, but through me. I didn't know how she was doing it, and I knew that I should have freaked out or deeply disturbed by the notion, but I wasn't.
"Kari, are you okay? You've been acting very weird lately." He asked.
I looked away, regaining my own voice.
"Im fine." I said. I felt as though I were lying.
"I don't know Kari. It doesn't look like you're getting any better from the last I checked on you." He stated.
"Meaning?" I asked monotonously.
"You're still burning up, your attitude is much more aggressive, you're zoning out all the time, you're acting like you've come down with something and I'm worried!" Tai said.
"Look, I'm alright, Tai. I've just had a lot on my mind is all." I said gently, trying to keep us both calm.
Tai looked up from me and I followed his gaze. I felt my arm twitch as I saw two girls crouching on the sidewalk, looking as though they were plotting something.
"Who are they? I haven't seen them around here before." Asked Tai.
I looked closer, making out details in the girls. The shorter blond girl wore baggy blue jeans, a ratty white tank top and an unzipped black short-jacket with red designs on the front. Her hair reached her mid-back and half was pulled back in a messy ponytail. The other was taller ad brunette with red tips. She wore black baggy jeans with chains and a one sleeved shirt with netting on her arms. She resembled an emo greatly. I raised an eyebrow in recognition.
"Oh, That's Leiko and Gayle. They're foreign exchange students from America. They're both nuts." I said.
"Leiko and Gayle?" Tai blinked.
"Yeah. They're both seniors, too. Leiko has some obsession with Japan and insisted that they both take the program and come here." I explained. He nodded and we passed them.
Gayle looked up at us and grinned at me.
"Hey! What's up Kari?" She greeted happily.
"They speak Japanese?" Tai looked at me.
"A little. Not much, and you?" I greeted her back.
Gayle and Lieko stood.
"Not a lot. We've already hit every Manga book store in Obaida and Leiko getting desperate." Said Gayle, point at Lieko. Lieko hit Gayle roughly in the shoulder.
"Shut up! Am not!" Lieko objected.
"What are you doing?" Gayle asked us.
"Heading home." Tai answered.
"Can we follow? We're not doing anything else and we're bored!" Asked Gayle.
"Eh?" Tai and I both raised a brow.
"Please? It's just a little stalking." Gayle put her hands together. Everyone, including Leiko, stared at the blond girl.
"Whatever. I said and turned to leave. Tai followed and we heard a giggle from behind us.
Tai almost looked back. "Don't. They're just looking for attention, don't give it." I said and Tai looked ahead again.
"So you've already met them?" he asked.
"Yeah. Gayle's plays Alto Saxophone and is in the High school band she comes by the music store a lot.
"Speaking of which, you haven't gone for a couple of weeks." He said, referring to my job at the music store.
"Yeah. I informed the boss that T.K. and I need to prepare for school and we were going to come back to work the next break." I informed him.
"Ah." Tai nodded.
I heard feet behind us move quickly back and forth in what seemed to be a bee line.
I rolled my eyes at how Gayle actually decided to follow us.
"Dude, just walk with us, guys! You're giving me a headache." I said over my shoulder. There was a giggle and Leiko and Gayle ran to our side. They were both linking arms and walking in sync.
"So, Gayle You're in band eh? How long have you played for?" Asked Tai.
"Since the Fifth Grade!" answered Gayle with a smile.
"What about you Leiko?" Tai looked at the brunette.
She shook her head.
I was in band for a little bit, but I didn't like our music teacher, so I quit." She said.
"Yeah, quitter." Gayle mumbled.
Leiko hit her again.
"If it were any other teacher I would have stayed! I don't see why you didn't quit either." She said.
"I love music to much to let some fat ass get in my way." Gayle argued.
"Whatever, Gayle." Said Leiko.
"You two fight often?" I asked.
"We never hung out that much in early high school, so we're doing all our fighting now." Said Gayle.
Leiko rolled her eyes to the sky and shook her head.
"What?" Gayle snapped at her.
"Nothing."
I looked up at Tai and he shrugged at me.
"Hey, Where's T.K?" Gayle asked.
"Bed ridden." I answered. I noticed Leiko's cheeks turn bright red.
"Why?" I asked.
"No reason. Leiko's question." Gayle said uninterestedly.
Leiko hit her once more.
"Ow! Would you stop?!" Gayle shouted.
"No!" Leiko jabbed a finger into Gayle's side and she jumped away with a squeal.
"You two are really weird, you know that?" I said.
"Yeah, but that's why people love us so much." Gayle beamed.
"You're proud of being different, aren't you?" asked Tai.
"Of course! Nobody's the same, every one is different, and I believe that if you try to be like everyone else then you have no soul and you should be taken out back shot." Said Gayle. Tai and I looked at her as if she were a limp and bleeding Bat from Hell.
"Yeah, Gayle is kind of a freak like that." Said Leiko, trying to explain her friend simply.
"I see that." I said,. Looking forward.
"So what are you girls into?" Tai asked.
"We like music, art, soccer, art, and pretty much art. Leiko likes boys." Gayle pointed over her shoulder.
"Just because you like girls." Leiko laughed.
"Hey, I'm not Gay. I'm Gay-le." Said Gayle.
"Which explains much." I said.
Gayle shrugged with a smile.
We continued walking in silence. Gayle looked over at my iPod.
"What do you have there?" She asked. I handed her the iPod and an earpiece. She put the ear piece in and began flipping through the songs.
"You like Cascada?" she asked with a grin.
"Yeah." I answered.
"I like the remixes she does. Have you heard her version of What Hurts the Most?" Gayle asked.
"Yeah, I have it on there, too." I answered.
"Sweet. Do you like the Sick puppies?" she asked.
"Who are they?"
"A really good band. Their most famous song that I know of is All the Same. Very good." Gayle explained. I nodded.
"You have some good music on this." Gayle stated as she went through my songs.
"Thanks."
We reached our apartment complex and Gayle looked up.
"This is our stop." She beamed.
"Seriously? This is where we live, too." Said Tai.
"Really? Cool!" Leiko and Gayle said in Unison.
"Well, be seeing you." I said and Tai and I left for our neighbors apartment.
"Yeah, See you at school!" Gayle shouted and left with Leiko.
"They seem nice." Commented Tai.
"Yeah, weird, but nice." I agreed and we entered the apartment.
Please review. once again, very sick, sorry if it's not 'up to snuff' for you. At least it's an update.