Frontier 02: Home Frontier – Chapter 21: Hero/Heroine
madjack89: Hi everybody! Time for chappie 21! Hope you're all fired up, because Takuya's cousin is finally stepping into the spotlight!
Takuya: Oh, come on! First the twins, then JP, add in some Shino and a hint of Kira, and now me!
Kouji: Was that a recipe, or you complaining?
JP: Little of both, I think.
madjack89: You're overdue, Taki. Don't worry, after this, things will really kick off!
Shino: They haven't already?
Kouichi: This is gonna be a long fanfic…
Zoe: It kinda already is.
Kouichi: Good point.
Tommy: I wanna be in the story again!
madjack89: Stop complaining or I'm killing you all off in this chapter!
Everyone: …
madjack89: That's better. Okay, review time!
*break*
JewelledTears: That is a cute picture! Awww! But sorry I didn't exactly update soon. Don't hate me! And thanks for reviewing!
hazeleyedharmony: I had much fun with that particular part of the chapter, and I had even more fun with this chapter (heh heh heh)! And Michael Lindsay is an interesting proposition. Anyway, thanks for the review!
greywindfalcon: That is an interesting idea, but I have no clue who could pull off any of the characters! But I'll have to put some definite thought into it! And I checked out your account on youtube. You're a guy! (I didn't know!) Not that it matters. I'm a girl, so yeah. Thanks for reviewing!
garnettfox: Are you a Tommy fan by any chance? (heh) But anyway, he's in the story now, and his brother's gonna come into play to, so look forward to the coming chapters! Thankies!
Kayland Elric: I see. I actually have only seen about six episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist, but so far it's pretty cool! Because he's Vic Mignogna! (sp?) lol But anyway that's cool, I'll have to check out your stories once I understand more of the plot of the show! Thank you!
kyokoaurora: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Hope you like this chapter too! Thanks!
GoldenDragon326: You don't know those voice actors! They're awesome! Actually, if you've ever seen the Digimon Frontier Dubbed movie, then listen to Bearmon, because he's played by Wendee Lee. For Yuri Lowenthal, he's Sasuke from Naruto. Kari Wahlgren plays a whole buttload of characters that I don't feel like looking up, but she's cool too! And I commented back on your comment. Thanks so much!
*break*
madjack89: Alright, let's get to the chapter!
Takuya: Why…?
—
DING DONG
The messy-black-haired boy rang the doorbell several times. The door opened, and he smiled at the middle aged woman that answered the door.
"Hey there, Aunt Yuriko. Just thought I'd pay you guys a visit. Week off in college and all."
Mrs. Kanbara smiled. "You never did get to the point easily, Chikao. Do you want to stay here?"
"That would be nice," he said, grinning back. "I'll just get my stuff from the car then?"
"You can stay in Takuya's room if you like. I'm sure he'll be excited to see you after so many years."
"Where is he, anyway?" asked Chikao, slowly walking down the front steps toward his car.
"Well, tonight he's sleeping over with his friends. He'll be back tomorrow."
Chikao's eyes narrowed. "Really," he muttered. "Hey, do you mind if I pick him up? You know, as sort of a surprise?"
"I'm sure he'd enjoy that," said Mrs. Kanbara. "I'll give you the address when you get inside," she called, closing the door behind her.
Chikao stared at the door for a moment, and then smiled wickedly. "That was almost too easy," he said, chuckling to himself.
He walked over to the trunk of his car and popped the hood open, revealing two Digimon crouched in the back, one wrapped in rope.
"Here's our stop," said Chikao, gesturing for the wizard-like Digimon to hop out. "Just climb in the second window on the right."
"Thanks," replied Wizardmon, grabbing Gatomon and hoisting her gently over his shoulder. Despite this, she squeaked in pain. Wizardmon flinched. "Chikao," he murmured, glancing at the boy beside him. "Are you sure about this? About helping me exact my revenge? They will get hurt, after all."
Chikao cackled quietly. "Do you assume I care? As far as I'm concerned, everyone can live or die. It doesn't really matter to me. I'm just along for the ride."
He chuckled again. "Now, I wonder how my old buddy Takuya's doing."
—
"Damn it, this is hard!" exclaimed Takuya, slamming the textbook he had been reading onto the floor of Kouji's bedroom.
"You're the one who wanted to wait until the last minute to do this report, Takuya," said Kouji, putting his own textbook down. "It's not like we have to help you, you know!"
"You call this helping?" Takuya retorted, holding up a blank sheet of paper. "I have absolutely nothing!"
"And whose fault is that? Oh, that's right, yours!" yelled Kouji, glaring at Takuya.
"Weren't we here to prevent them from fighting?" muttered Kouichi, blocking out Kouji and Takuya's bickering.
"Yup," replied JP, taking a sip of his soda.
"We're not doing a very good job," Kouichi sighed, sifting through the papers on the ground.
Something colorful suddenly caught Kouichi's eye in the pile and he picked it up. He realized it was a picture of what looked to be Takuya at a younger age and an older kid standing next to him.
"Hey Takuya?" he yelled over the argument that was still going on. "Who is this?"
Takuya's head jerked up to the picture that Kouichi held. His eyes widened.
JP stared intently at the picture. "Yeah, Taki, who is this guy? You got some sort of long-lost brother thing going on like the twins here?"
Kouji and Kouichi glared at him.
"It's no one!" said Takuya quickly, grabbing the picture swiftly from Kouichi's grasp and shoving it firmly into his backpack. "I don't know how that got here," he muttered quietly to himself.
The other three stared at Takuya suspiciously. "You know Taki, if your getting grief from anybody, we could easily rough em up," said JP, flexing his muscle.
"It's nothing like that," said Takuya, sighing heavily. "He's my cousin."
"I thought you looked alike," said Kouichi.
"Well, if he's your cousin, why are you getting all apprehensive about mentioning him?" asked Kouji bluntly. "Did something happen between you two?"
"Well," began Takuya, debating on whether to tell his friends or not. Ever since that day with Chikao, he had never wanted to mention his cousin again mostly because he didn't want to admit to the selfish nature he knew he possessed. He didn't want his friends to know this either, but since Kouji had confessed to his fear, he supposed he should…
Suddenly Takuya's cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket, playing the ring tone he had set for when Tommy called.
"Oh, it's Tommy. Better answer it," said Takuya, sighed in relief to himself.
He flipped open his phone. "Hi Tommy," he greeted Tommy cheerfully. He couldn't help but be in a good mood when it came to his surrogate little brother. He was always so innocent and honest.
"Hi Takuya," answered Tommy, sounding tense.
"Tell the kid to hurry up and let you go so we can finish your 'masterfully crafted' report," Kouji said sarcastically, holding up Takuya's blank paper for emphasis.
"Shut up, Kouji," Takuya snapped. "What's wrong, Tommy?" he asked, turning his attention back to his phone. The other three gathered around Takuya, anxious to hear what had happened.
"Well, my brother's visiting from college this week, and he showed up today," Tommy began, pausing before continuing. "He said-he said that his classmate was going to visit some relatives, too."
"Who's his classmate?" asked Takuya nervously, suddenly getting anxious.
Tommy took a breath and continued. "It's…your cousin."
Takuya dropped his phone, sprang up, and ran out Kouji's door. A moment later, the rest of them heard the front door open and close.
"What the hell?" muttered Kouji.
"Takuya? Takuya?" Tommy's anxious voice came from the phone.
JP quickly picked it up. "Kid, I'm sorry, but that wasn't the best reveal I've ever heard. Work on it."
Kouichi grabbed the phone from JP. "Tommy, why would the news that Takuya's cousin is here make you upset?" he asked, curiosity sparked.
"He's going into Nancy Drew mode," said JP, chuckling.
Kouji punched his arm. "Shut up," he growled.
"Well, it's not that Takuya's cousin is here. I've never met him before. But my brother seems really jumpy and nervous about it, and that got me nervous. Where did Takuya go?" asked Tommy anxiously.
"He just kind of left," said Kouichi slowly, pondering what had just happened.
"Should you be Ned, or should I?" JP asked Kouji.
Kouji punched his arm again. "Idiot," he murmured to himself.
"Well, while Kouichi unravels this case, what do you say we see what our friend Takuya is up to?" JP offered to Kouji, rubbing his arm.
"That's the first good idea you've had all night," Kouji said, getting up and looking at his clock. It was 7:11. "Of course," he muttered, glaring at me. (I couldn't help it!) "Well, we should probably fabricate a lie so that my dad and Satomi don't call the cops like last time."
"Let's just leave that to Chief. He's smart; he'll figure something out," said JP, shoving Kouji out the door. He didn't feel like brainstorming possible lies tonight.
"Hey JP, wait a minute! What do I say?" Kouichi dropped Takuya's phone, trying to stop JP's frantic retreat.
"JP!" Kouji tried to get around JP, but his arms were being held to his sides.
"Later!" JP called, slamming Kouji's bedroom door shut.
Kouichi stood in the middle of the room, staring at the door. "Perfect," he said, hanging his head. "I always get the least desirable job."
"Hello? Kouichi? Are you still there? Hello?" Tommy voice came from the neglected cell phone sitting on the ground.
—
Takuya sprinted down the sidewalk, passing house after house. He slowed down, turned a corner, and continued on at full speed. He knew where he had to be, and he had to get there now.
"Chikao," Takuya grumbled, gritting his teeth. "Why are you here, now?"
His eyes began to well up when he thought of his cousin. He shook his head roughly, stopping the tears. "Not today," he growled.
He was finally going to see his cousin after all these years. He would be able to confront him for the first time.
He brought his hand up to his goggles, making sure they were still there, unlike last time. Of course, that had been a dream…
Or at least, he wished it could have been all a dream.
—
JP and Kouji walked down the street at a more leisurely pace, not quite sure which direction they were going in the first place. They thought they should start at the park and continue on from there.
They walked in silence for a while, JP humming to himself. He glanced at Kouji every once and a while, looking like he was about to say something, but then changed his mind and continued to hum.
Kouji sighed. "Okay, JP, you keep staring at me. Just spit it out, will you?"
JP chuckled. "You always do like to get straight to the point." He stopped by the first park bench they came to, motioning for Kouji to sit down next to him.
Kouji looked at him skeptically. "Um, I thought we were trying to find Takuya, not take a stroll on the town. Besides, I'm not really on THAT side of the fence, if you know what I mean."
"What?" exclaimed JP, confused by Kouji's assumption. "I just wanted some advice!"
"Oh," Kouji said, sitting down. "Uh, sorry. So, what do you need to ask?"
JP fiddled with his thumbs for a minute, wondering where to begin. He finally took a deep breath and said, "I need…women advice."
Kouji's eyes widened, not understanding why JP would want his advice with this subject.
JP smiled. "C'mon, Kouji, is it that hard to process? You did have a girl, after all."
Kouji looked away, hiding the depressed look on his face when JP mentioned Seiko. JP winced. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"No, it's fine," Kouji murmured, turning back around to face JP. "I guess I might be able to help you, depending on what the situation is."
JP sighed heavily. "Well…it's…it's…" He took another deep breath and whispered Zoe's name under his breath.
"What?" asked Kouji, not hearing what JP had said.
"It's Zoe, okay!" JP suddenly exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I just don't know what to do! I still love Zoe, but I can never have her! Your brother's assured that for me, even if I already knew myself that we'd never be together! I just wanted to hold on to the slim hope that I had a chance, but I never did!
"And just to add fuel to the fire, Kouichi's always so damn nice to me, making it impossible for me to hate him! I just hate this situation in general, but most of all I hate the person who got me into this; me!
"But it doesn't end there! I still have Tomoyo clinging on to me, thinking she's my girlfriend, when I just have her around for self assurance of my own worth! And I keep trying to get rid of her, but nothing works on that girl! She just keeps coming back for more of the same; rejection! And somewhere deep down, I feel good about it, because I feel like I'm getting back at the world for dealing me such a sucky hand!
"So I've come to you, Kouji, begging you to help me! You know what it's like to loose someone you love. You know what it's like to possibly develop feelings for another girl. You understand more than anyone what I'm going through! So please Kouji, please help me!"
JP ended his tirade, breathing hard and looking anguished.
Kouji stared at him in stunned silence, not knowing that JP had been shouldering all these mixed up emotions for so long without telling anyone.
"JP…I didn't know…I'm sorry…" Kouji whispered, not knowing where to begin.
"No Kouji, it's not your fault; it's mine," said JP, voice trembling and cracking as if he were about to lose it. Which, in actuality, he just might.
"So that's it." JP and Kouji turned, realizing that someone else had been listening to JP's entire speech. Tomoyo stepped out from behind a tree, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Tomoyo," Kouji murmured.
Tomoyo glared at JP, anger burning through her tears. "So that's all I am to you, huh? Assurance of your worth? Nothing more than a back-up girl? Like a tool? Is that what I am to you, JP? A tool?"
"Tomoyo, I didn't want you to find out…" JP began.
"Save it!" Tomoyo cried. "I'm done listening to your lies. You never took me seriously, so why should I?"
With that she turned around and ran back through the woods, headed toward the pond.
"Tomoyo, wait!" JP dashed off after her, leaving Kouji behind.
Kouji stood still for a moment, still trying to process JP's words. You know what it's like to loose someone you love. You know what it's like to possibly develop feelings for another girl.
Yes, he did know what that was like. The crushing, overwhelming pain he'd felt when Seiko had died. The small hope that had fluttered in his chest when Zoe offered him her hand, and he took it.
"What makes you think I handled things any better, JP?" he muttered, resolving to continue his search for Takuya and deal with JP later.
—
"Chikao!" Takuya rushed through his front door, causing it to slam against the wall and knock a family photo to the floor.
He didn't care. All that mattered right now was him and his cousin.
He scanned his living room first, realizing that the lights were all out and the place was deserted. A chill began to creep through him. Where were his parents? Where was his brother?
"Don't worry, they're fine. They just went out to eat."
Takuya turned around sharply, coming face to face with Chikao. His eyes narrowed, glaring angrily at his cousin. "Why are you here?" he asked under his breath, hands clenching into fists.
Chikao laughed, patting Takuya on the head. "Come on, buddy. We haven't seen each other in years."
"Because of you," Takuya growled, backing away from Chikao's touch.
"And you," Chikao shot back, putting the photo back on the wall and shutting the door quietly.
Takuya winced. Chikao chuckled. "Well, I guess there's no point in trying to make amends, is there? You still hate me, after all."
Takuya sighed. "I'm sorry Chikao, okay?" he said. "I just got a little mad, that's all. I don't hate you."
He held out his hand to Chikao. "It's good to see you, Chikao."
Chikao smiled. "Now, that's what I like to hear!" He gestured toward Takuya's bedroom, putting his arm around Takuya's shoulder. "What do you say we catch up a little? I made popcorn."
Takuya smiled slightly. "That sounds pretty good," he replied, letting Chikao lead him down the hall.
Chikao let go of Takuya, stepping into Takuya's room and turning on the lights. "C'mon in, buddy."
Takuya grinned back, stepping into his room…
…and instantly getting bashed on the head with a wand. He fell to the ground, slowly loosing consciousness. He swiveled his eyes, resting them on his attacker. Wizardmon.
"You…" he mumbled incoherently, slipping away faster now.
"Excellent work, Chikao," Wizardmon said, glancing at his cousin. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"No trouble at all, Wizardmon," said Chikao, grinning at Takuya. "No trouble at all."
Then everything went black and Takuya passed out.
—
"What?" muttered Shino to himself. "That can't be right."
He was alone in his room again, roaming the city for any trace of Wizardmon, or Gatomon and her tail ring. As it turned out, he had finally come upon a lead tonight. Coming from the direction of Takuya's neighborhood, maybe even his house.
Shino knew this had to be correct, but he couldn't believe it. "If Wizardmon is in Takuya's neighborhood, then Takuya might be…"
He didn't need to finish his sentence. He quickly walked over to his bed, slipping on his jacket. He was going out tonight, but for which reason he didn't yet know.
Was he supposed to be the hero, or the villain?
—
madjack89: There you go! Chapter 21 is finally completed!
Kouji: Took you long enough.
madjack89: Shut up, Kouji. Anyway, I kind of had a lot to do and then I had really bad writers block, so I'm truly sorry this chapter took so long! But once again, I got the story straight in my head, so things should run smoothly from here on out!
Takuya: Goody.
madjack89: Stop being mean, Taki. Just deal with what you got.
Takuya: A painful headache?
Kouichi: Because headaches are the worst head injuries you can get.
Takuya: Shut up, coma boy!
Kouichi: Darn…got me.
madjack89: Yeah, I'm gonna end the chapter now.
Takuya and Kouichi: Okay.
madjack89: See ya, everybody!