Title: Restart, Rebirth, Remembrance

Author: isumi'kivic'

Characters/Pairings: Kouji + Kouichi brotherly love, slight tiny bits of Takuya/Izumi; OCs.

Rating: Gen, I'm trying my best to keep it gen.

Warning: See previous chapters. Also, for this chapter, beware of the length and the too-many-unimportant-stuff-happening. Sorry, I wanted to build a base for the kids' relationship.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, and I don't own The Last, either. I'm just writing a fic out of another brilliant fic. This fic is a continuation of The Last by Gemini Star01, which means that you're required to read it before delving into this fic. It's an awesomely sad one-shot that you could find in her author page. And while you're at it, read her other amazing works, too.

A/N: So, totally late. Again. Wanna know why? Cause midterm exams happened. –sighs- Actually, I still have the last midterm exam for Sociology Economy in… seven hours, and I'm supposed to be asleep, but my teeth hurt so bad I can't even fall count the sheep properly. ;A;

Thank you for those who had reviewed the last chapter, I believe I replied to you all unless you anonymously reviewed ;D This chapter would be dedicated for yue-chan, the lovely anonymous reviewer for staying since the first chapter, and Gemini Star01 for simply still reading, and it means so much for me. This fic is, after all, some kind of tribute for her The Last. :]

Without further ado, enjoy this chapter!

Restart, Rebirth, Remembrance

A Digimon Frontier Fanfiction

For Each is Their Problem

Small fingers hovered hesitantly above the screen on his table; green eyes slowly shifted as he read the question over and over again. His English wasn't what people would call helplessly bad—at least he was sure he was still better than Kouichi-san—but he had always have problems with grammar.

Question 16: Which of the sentences below is written in past perfect tense?

His lips thinned, before finally deciding to land his finger on choice (b) I had not watched nor listened to the baseball game last night, Tokiya slid his finger upwards to move on to the next question. The screen on his table flickered, and a warning came up: reminder from the teacher that they only had ten minutes left for the test. The boy hastily closed the warning, just at the exact time something hit him softly on the back of his head.

Swallowing a surprised exclamation, Tokiya slowly turned—ah, of course. Akihiko. Akihiko, who was raising an eyebrow and directing him a glare holding a promised of something bad. That particular classmate of his did tell him before the test—or rather, ordered—that he was expecting Tokiya to share his test answers. Suppressing a sigh, Tokiya shifted on his seat so he didn't seem conspicuous, and started giving his friend the signals.

One finger up for choice (a), two fingers for choice (b), three for choice (c), and four fingers up for choice (d).

Trying not to attract attention—he instantly froze when the teacher's watchful eyes glided over to him—Tokiya slid one finger of his other hand downwards on the screen to check his answers. His left hand was still hidden behind his back, so that he could give signs to Akihiko. He was halfway through when he heard the sharp sound of someone clearing their throats, and he immediately froze.

His teacher—wait, since when did Sensei stand behind him?

"Himi-kun," he flinched at the heavy voice. "Tamura-kun. Stand up, leave your screens on the table, and please go to Chiyo-sensei's room. Both of you would earn zero point in today's test for cheating."

"But Sensei-!" Akihiko was protesting, but Tokiya's shoulders already sagged. Both guilt and worry—and maybe fear, a little, because Akihiko's friends were sending him angry looks—bubbled up his throat. He swallowed again, before raising to his feet at his teacher's next bidding and stumbled out his seat, following Akihiko's steps.

Predictably, his classmate was furious. He was immediately subjected to an intense glare once they were out in the hallway—Chiyo-sensei's room was just down the hall—and Akihiko gritted a "You can't do anything right, can you Tokiya?"

"I—" Tokiya stammered, face paling. "I tried, Aki-kun… I didn't notice Shimizu-sensei at all. I—I'm sorry…"

"God!" Akihiko threw his hands up in exasperation, and stomped down the hallway first. "I just asked you to give me the answers! It's that easy and you screwed up. And you're not even the smartest one in class!"

Tokiya bit his lips, unable to let out the biting remark scratching at the back of his tongue: it wasn't like I was glad to give you answers, I didn't even want to!, and fell into small steps—Chiyo-sensei's room seemed to loom at the end of the hallway, and it scared him.

-o0o-

The youngest member of their group was definitely out of whatever it was they were discussing—which was, to Kouichi's dismay, important enough as it was regarding the recent development in the Digital World.

"Tokiya-kun," he said gently, and raised an eyebrow to see the smaller boy flinched in surprise. Had he been so deep in thought that a mere call would startle him so much? "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, buddy, are you even here?" Takuya elbowed his younger friend gently, eyes looking down in concern. Tokiya looked up to offer a hesitant but reassuring smile, but before he could speak up that he was okay, Kouji gave a sniff. "Kid, you have zero talent in lying."

"Kouji-kun," Suzumi furrowed her eyebrows, and Tokiya looked down again in dismay, making Kanpei mutter a "But Kouji's a kid, too."

Kouichi smiled, cutting in before anyone could react further at Kouji's poorly shown concern. Almost like a second nature; he used to do this all the time, too, back then: rephrasing what Kouji said so people would understand that the harsh words his brother used didn't necessarily ill-meant. "What Kouji wanted to say is," he said, trying to catch Tokiya's eyes, but the boy seemed to resolutely keep his eyes down. "Tokiya-kun seemed to be really out of it and something might have happened. Do you want to talk about it?"

For a moment, silence ruled over them. Tokiya fidgeted with his digivice, seemingly torn between keeping his mind to himself and telling the rest of the children about his problem. But Takuma's presence next to him was comforting, and so were Kanpei, Suzumi and Kouichi's concerned eyes, and even Kouji's watchful look. The youngest of them took a breath, as if trying to release something that was tied up in him.

"I—well, I got in trouble at school." He mumbled, keeping his eyes down, half-hoping that the other would leave it at that. But when the silence that followed seemed to be prompting him to elaborate the story, he sighed. "I gave my friend some of my answer for an English test, and Sensei caught me in the act."

"Ouch," Takuma grimaced. "What bad luck."

This earned him a swift elbow in the stomach, hard, causing him to hack before turning with an expression of protesting towards Suzumi. The girl merely looked at him pointedly, mouthing a soundless that's not what you're supposed to say, idiot!

He didn't take it lying down, though. Suzumi might be right, but Takuma wasn't going to judge Tokiya just because the norms in society said cheating was a bad thing. He retorted instead: "What? Everyone knows that cheating's bad, but some of us still do it when we didn't have any choice, right? Besides, Tokiya was the one giving answers—he couldn't have wanted to do that." Takuma peered at the Spirit of Ice wielder. "Right, Tokiya?"

A tentative shake of the younger boy's head confirmed it. Kouichi frowned. "Why didn't you refuse then, if you didn't want to?"

"I—" Tokiya stammered, looking guilty. "I couldn't. Aki-kun's so much bigger, and he's had judo training, and he has a lot of friends, too. I… didn't want him to hate me—everyone will hate me too if he does…"

Kouji made a sound at the back of his throat. "But he'd hate you nonetheless, now that you've gotten him caught, too."

Tokiya stiffened, and Kanpei threw Kouji an exasperated glare. "Come on, Kouji! That's no way to comfort someone!"

The Spirit of Light wielder was about to open his mouth and retort, but once again Kouichi was faster, cutting him before he could get another word out. "What happened then? Did you get punished?" the dark-haired boy stared at Tokiya carefully, trying to see any trace of physical punishment. Back in his school days, there were still teachers who punished the students by slapping their hands with rulers, and being the receiving end of the rulers was quite a painful experience. Especially when they used iron rulers. Kouichi wasn't sure if such methods were still used in this era, but he would need to know if Tokiya was injured anywhere. He didn't want to gamble by sending one of them to battle while injured, after all.

Tokiya shook his head again. "Chiyo-sensei is a family friend," his voice turned smaller and smaller, with a note of fear underlining his words now. "She told my family about it. She said they know better how to handle my punishment."

"Oh my," Suzumi gave him a sympathetic look. "Your father didn't punish you too hard, did he Tokiya?"

"No—I mean, I only got lectured…" the small voice trailed off in the end, and Tokiya looked more uncomfortable than ever, before continuing with an even smaller voice: "…just… I don't like it when they lectured me." He stopped then, and by the look on his face, Kouichi was sure Tokiya wouldn't elaborate more on the topic. So the elder boy merely nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

Takuya patted the smaller boy's back gently, his grin lightening the somber mood. "That's okay, that's okay, Tokiya! See, my brother yell at me all the time, the nosy person he is. Man, you wouldn't believe it, he gets so angry whenever I forgot to bring my umbrella. Said I'd get sick and all, completely forgetting that I'm a boy." He sniffed indignantly. "Boys don't get sick that easily."

"That's baseless generalization." Kouji deadpanned, but Takuma waved his statement away. Kouichi let a soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips at that.

"Cheer up, Tokiya," Kanpei ruffled the boy's hair, causing Tokiya to yelp in surprise. The bigger-built boy grinned widely, eyes dancing when Tokiya scrunched up his face trying to smooth his disarrayed hair back. "I know just the thing to make you feel better. How's a free ticket for the amusement park sound?"

Tokiya looked up in interest, and the others perked up. "Amusement park?"

Kanpei's grin turned victorious. "I won a bet against my Dad, and asked him to get me free tickets for us to Odaiba Sea Amusement Park. Thought it'd be a great way to spend time and, y'know, team-bonding! It's going to be fun!"

"No way! I'm in, I'm totally in!" Takuma's voice boomed, raising in excitement, leaning forward with huge eyes that spelled out holy-shit-free-tickets-are-you-serious clearly. Kanpei looked smug, apparently happy to get his friend so excited, and turned towards Suzumi with a hopeful look in his eyes. "Suzumi-chan, you're coming too, right?"

Suzumi put on a thoughtful look, but everyone could see the amusement and excitement tugging on the corner of her lips even before she gave Kanpei a wide smile. "Well, I'm free this weekend, so I guess that's okay. We wouldn't get back too late, would we?"

Kanpei visibly brightened. "Really, Suzumi-chan? Uwaaah, now I'm ecstatic! I'll make sure we won't get back too late, promise! And my Dad will be driving us there, so no worries about the transportation." He turned to Tokiya. "Think your Dad would let you come with us?"

"I…" Tokiya seemed torn. "I want to go, I really do. But… after yesterday, I'm not sure he'd let me…"

"I'll get Kazu-nii to help asking your Dad about it." Takuma nodded confidently as Kanpei chimed in: "And I'll get my Dad to pick you up!"

Green eyes looked up, half in disbelief and half in delight as a shade of red spread on Tokiya's cheeks and a pleased grin bloomed without restraint. "R-really? You guys would? Th-then, I'd—I'd like to come!" He looked down again, seemingly embarrassed with his too excited respond, but Takuma slapped his back gently, good-naturedly, before winking at Kanpei, who was also beaming. "It's decided then, this weekend we'll go to Odaiba Sea!"

Kouji shook his head, sniffing again, and Kouichi could practically see him slowly putting back the wall between him and everyone else. It made his throat constrict, and it was all he could do not to reach out and clasp Kouji's shoulder (maybe to make sure that he was here, that he wasn't going to go away, or disappear somewhere, but…). But this wasn't his Kouji. This Kouji could stay aloof and cold if he wanted, Kouichi didn't have any right to try and change him. Nonetheless, he couldn't stop a frown from forming, but Kanpei beat him to it before he could even open his mouth. "What, Kouji? You're coming too, right?"

"No. I have things to do." His tone was clipped, his arms crossed on his chest and his expression had turned indifferent. Closing his eyes, Kouichi found himself wishing he couldn't recognize those signs—those exact same signs he noticed when his Kouji was trying to close himself off from everyone else. It hurt to see someone else could pull it off flawlessly, in a painfully precise and detailed way.

"Of course you do," his tone sarcastic,Takuma rolled his eyes, as if he'd just heard the most ridiculous thing in his whole life. "Kouichi, you're coming, right?"

Kouichi stared at the ground, pondering the situation for a moment. This was a chance for them to forget their responsibility, a chance to pause and take a break from everything. A good chance for some team-bonding as well, as Kanpei had said, and it was just as important to let them goof off now and then—they were still children after all. Weren't there a lot of times in Digital World back then when they would all have fun and forget about the danger, too? Tokiya would cheer up again, and Suzumi would be more inclined to come out of her cocoon of shyness, but—

Did he need to come, too?

Did he need to get even closer to them, anymore than this?

"Sorry," he said, with an apologetic tone and a soft smile. He was glad his voice came out steady, despite the sliver of fear sneaking into his chest. "I suppose I could go, but I would need to come back to the Digital World soon and report—"

"But you just said that we can take our time earlier. No rush, right?" the pointed look Kanpei gave him told him that he wasn't about to let Kouichi off so easily. It only got worse when Takuma nodded in agreement and continued, "You can do it any other day, Kouichi. Come on, it's free! You haven't been there, have you?"

"Well," he hesitated, and cursed himself when his eyes shifted sideways to look at Kouji out of habit. He used to glance at Kouji whenever he had to make a decision by himself, back then, to see if his brother was also thinking what he was thinking; but this Kouji wasn't his, and therefore his glance was returned only with a thoughtful look. He hastily threw his gaze another way. "Um, well, I—"

"It'd do you good to relax a little, too, Kouichi-kun." At Suzumi's voice, he looked up, to see the girl staring at him hopefully. She stammered, though, when their eyes met. "I—I just think that—well, it must be hard for you… since everything, you know, so…"

She wasn't making any sense, but Tokiya was already chiming in. "Please, Kouichi-san? It'll be fun if everyone comes!"

Tokiya's huge puppy eyes were too similar to Tomoki's pleading ones; and Kouichi knew he was lost.

-o0o-

It came as a shock to him, when he realized that he was pleasantly surprised to see Takuma smugly dragging Kouji over to the group; today with the addition of Kanpei's father leaning on his anti-gravity SUV.

The triumphant noise Kanpei made didn't stop the corners of his mouth to twitch up a small smile, absently remembering how Takuya used to be able to drag Kouji out of his shell, too. Back then, once or twice, he'd found himself jealous of how effortless it was for Takuya to persuade Kouji to be more of a social person, or how Kouji seemed to be at ease when Takuya hung out with him, or how well the two of them seemed to be able to work together. A silly thought it was, he'd realized later when Kouji ditched Takuya's birthday party in favor of keeping him company when their mother was hospitalized.

Takuya was always Kouji's best friend, but Kouichi was also his twin brother. Takuya wasn't the one Kouji would randomly call up after school to share random happenings of the day with, Takuya wasn't the one Kouji would gladly take countless train transfers to visit, and Takuya definitely wasn't the one Kouji would allow to cuddle him when another nightmare occurred—of Duskmon, of failing to defeat Cherubimon, of a miracle that didn't happen and Kouichi who wouldn't open his eyes back to life—

It made him happy beyond words, though, that one time when Kouji and Takuya had a huge fight, and the two of them had separately came to Kouichi to ask for his advice—Kouji asking him because he had a habit of letting Kouichi in every single element that made up his life, and Takuya because, as the brunette said simply, "You and Kouji are both my best friends, but really, you know Kouji better than I do and Kouji knows you better than I do, so what do you think I should do now?"

That was the time he realized how important Takuya and the others had been to him.

He remembered, the time when he told Izumi that she was probably the most important girl for him after his mother, and how Izumi had blushed and awkwardly laughed, chiding him because that sort of thing should only be said to a girl you like, Kouichi-kun! The pause that followed the statement had been a long one, in which Kouichi could only think how dear Izumi was—to him, to Kouji, to Takuya and Junpei and Tomoki—and how she had taken a great care of them all, almost like a Mother herself, and suddenly the words were out of his mouth even before he could think of it.

Izumi paused, then said with a hesitant air around her: maybe they should try. Maybe it'd work out. There was nothing to lose anyway.

He thought he saw Izumi's eyes flicker to where Takuya and Tomoki were flying the kites, but the girl was already taking his left hand and giving it a good squeeze, before grinning up at Kouichi and told him with bright, bright eyes the green color like the deepest lake: I really like you, Kouichi-kun!

It took Takuya two months, two weeks, five days and twelve hours to look Kouichi in the eye; gaze hard and determined and at the same time full of guilt, asking him to let Izumi go because Takuya was helplessly head over heels for her.

Next to him, Kouji gave a quiet laugh, Junpei looked at Takuya in horror, Tomoki gaped, and Izumi turned a pretty shade of red to the tips of her ears, before standing up and demanding Takuya to shut up. Kouichi had laughed himself, albeit a bit uncertain, because even though Izumi had been his girlfriend, nothing had changed between them (except the occasional hand-holding, but even that felt odd to Kouichi for some reason). He sat down with Izumi by the end of the week, had the talk for about an hour, and gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek when the talk ended.

He let her go. And she went. It wouldn't work, would never work, because both of them knew that Izumi would always be Takuya's girl until the end.

The week following their break-up had been interesting, but Kouichi would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed it. Tomoki gave him random calls, asking if he'd like to go out to play and get some ice cream, while Junpei kept inviting him to come over for movie nights. Takuya couldn't quite decide whether he should be happy or guilty and had bugged Kouichi endlessly asking if there was anything he could do for Kouichi and throwing apologies one after another. Then Kouji threw him a good punch to make him stop apologizing, and Kouichi had laughed, amused, before telling him that it was really okay and he'd be very happy if Takuya would stop being a wimp and ask Izumi out already.

After Takuya had left, Kouji had turned and dragged him back to the living room, muttering that he was going to get back the times Kouichi had spent ignoring him and indulging Izumi the past two months. They spent the whole night up playing games and talking about nothing, stealing midnight snacks from the kitchen and had a small feast. He was pretty much amused at the whole situation—despite what the others might have thought, he wasn't actually broken-hearted after the break up, but to have his friends and brother showering him with exaggerated attention endlessly was very nice. He decided to just enjoy it while it lasted, in the end.

"Earth to Kouichi!" Takuya's voice and Tokiya's waving hand right before his eyes drew him back to reality. He blinked, laughed a little at the odd faces the two boys were making in their efforts to snap him out of his reverie. They were crossing the Odaiba Bridge now; the anti-gravity SUV making a comforting hum as it maintained its pace. Kanpei sat on the front with his Dad, while Kouichi himself and Kouji had taken the rear seat, leaving the rest of the three sitting in between.

"You," Takuya said with all seriousness in his voice, "are totally out of it, man."

Kouichi softly smiled—he'd been too engrossed in reminiscing about the past that he didn't even notice they almost arrived at Odaiba Sea. Tokiya threw him a bright, excited look as he pointed out of the window, voice tinkling with naïve happiness as he urged Kouichi to pay attention to him. "Look!" Kouichi could clearly hear the giddy note in Tokiya's voice. "We can see the tower from here!"

True enough, when Kouichi leaned forward to peer out of the window, the Odaiba Sea Tower stood majestically in the center of the amusement park—the roller coaster track looping on its background, and the ferris wheel was just off to the side. Most of the amusement park was still obscured by the skyscraper buildings, but at least they could see the beach from there; the sea a color of dazzling blue, sparkling under the gentle winter sun, enchanting all eyes that happened to fall upon it.

Kouichi paused when he felt Kouji moved next to him, their shoulders touching as the long-haired boy leaned closer to have a proper look of the park. For some stupid reason, warmth flooded his chest then, and he suddenly wanted to kick himself.

"Let's go here again on summer next year!" Suzumi declared, cheeks tinted with a shade of red as her light brown eyes danced, indicating the barely contained excitement in her chest. "We can go swimming!"

"That's a good idea!" Takuma agreed instantly, and Kanpei's expression turned into a dreamy one. "Man, that means I can see Suzumi-chan in swimming suits!"

They all laughed; even Kouji's lips twitched up into a smirk.

Understandably, the roller coaster was their first choice of ride; the adrenaline rush and high tension providing a great start for everyone to unwind. Apparently once was not enough, Suzumi of all people suggested they go for a second round. And go they did, shrieking their way along the roller coaster track as their scarves flapped and the winter chill bit through their jackets, and if anyone noticed the remnants of terrified tears on the corner of Kanpei's eyes, they never brought it up. Takuma managed to win a teddy bear at a shooting stand, proudly presenting it to Suzumi who chose to give the bear to Tokiya, who later offered it to Kouji thinking the sullen boy would cheer up a little. Kouji had sputtered at the unexpected gesture, and it was such a phenomenon even Kouichi couldn't help but chuckle.

That day, smiles and laughter were exchanged, grins stretched from ears to ears, with voices blanketed with so much delight they were like tinkling bells of summer, and the honest happiness dancing in different pairs of eyes. It was almost like a celebration of being alive, and maybe it was, in its own way. They were young and happy and so full of life it blinded Kouichi at times, but it was also unbelievably warm to be there among them he couldn't think much about it anymore.

"I'm glad we came here today." Tokiya said into his gloves much, much later when the sun was a little past the point above their heads, eyes peering up at Kouichi who was sitting next to him. Kanpei and Takuma had just gone off to the Haunted Mansion, dragging Kouji along as they made a bet to scare Kouji shitless. Suzumi had excused herself to buy some drinks, and seeing the long line at the closest vendor, Kouichi supposed it would take her some time before she could return with their drinks.

Kouichi gave him a small smile. Bundled up in white and green winter jacket with a long, obviously hand-knitted scarf in the same color rounding his neck and a wool hat atop his hair that was pulled down so low it covered his ears, Tokiya seemed a bit bigger than he usually looked. The younger boy looked up and gave him a hearty grin, a shade of red spreading on his cheeks and nose, most likely caused by the chilly winter wind. "It's cold."

"It is," Kouichi agreed, adjusting the old scarf he had on, accidentally brushing his fingers on Kouji's—his Kouji's—old yellow-and-blue bandanna. He ignored the almost sinking feeling on his stomach—the longing that pooled somewhere deep inside his chest had started bubbling up since the day he met Minashiro Kouji, and sometimes it became unbearably painful. Silently casting a gaze up to the sky—it was cloudy today, the winter sun peeking shyly from behind white clouds drifting lazily like cottons—he took a breath, letting the icy winter air fill his lungs to drown the dull ache pounding to the beat of his heart.

This warmth that enveloped his entire being just moments before—it would end up hurting him in the end, when he had to watch these kids leave. And it simply wasn't fair, not to his Kouji, not to Takuya and the others, because they can never be replaced by anyone, and Kouichi's heart really had not the ability to love any other person anymore. He'd divided his heart into five pieces, and each had gone with the death of his brother and best friends, and he didn't think he had anything left to love.

"Kouichi-san?" the tentative tone underlining Tokiya's voice was what brought him back to earth, and he looked down to find a pair of worried green eyes—so identical to Tomoki's, to the same exact shade and the innocence they held—peering back at him. The corners of his mouth automatically turned upwards to make a bland smile. Tokiya obviously didn't find the smile reassuring, because he then tilted his head thoughtfully and said: "It's very nice to spend time together like this, isn't it?"

He said it the way someone who knew the whole situation would say, all knowing and surprisingly confident. Kouichi was about to open his mouth and lied with a smile that yes, it was very nice to spend time together with them like this, but Tokiya beat him to that. "At least Kouichi-san really looks like you're having so much fun. I've never seen you laugh so much before."

There was no chance to react to that, even if the statement left him dumbfounded—laughed so much? Had he really been laughing?—because from the corner of his eyes, he caught the familiar figure of Kouji walking towards them briskly, mouth set into a scowl that didn't seem as threatening as when Kouichi first met him. Tokiya waved him over, looking puzzled since the long-haired boy was alone.

"Where's Takuma-oniisan and Kanpei-san?" Tokiya asked, once Kouji sat on the bench next to Kouichi. "Didn't you all go into the Haunted Mansion?"

"I ditched them." Kouji shrugged, looking irritated, but Kouichi was amused to see the slight humor in his eyes. "They kinda freaked out halfway through and bolted God-knows-where. Probably still inside, flipping out and scared half to death."

Tokiya laughed, the sound rich and warm, before jumping up to his feet. "Then I'll go wait for them at the exit!"

"Make sure you tell them they owe me dinner." The smirk on Kouji's face was smug and achingly familiar. Tokiya gave a salute, grinning so wide Kouichi wondered if his cheeks would hurt later, and took off.

Then it was just the two of them, and the tension returned. It grew, thick—like blood, Kouichi thought, and wasn't it appropriate because they were of the same blood? Except this Kouji wasn't his Kouji, and he should really stop being carried away with this temporary, blinding, yet painful hope.

Even though the proximity between them was nothing that a stretched arm could not bridge, it felt painfully far away.

"Seriously, what is it with you?"

What made him flinch was not the question itself; it was more the half-annoyed, half-angry tone sneaking into the long-haired boy's voice. He turned his head a little, keeping his gaze down—if he stared into those eyes that were so identical to his own, he would probably lose himself right then and there. Nonetheless, he replied, quietly, "What do you mean?"

Kouji leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, and Kouichi was glad the other boy seemed so determined to keep his gaze ahead, locked onto the people milling around—the little kids running, unhindered by the freezing air, the couples of teenagers wrapped up in thick jackets pressing close and giggling as their hands entwined intimately, parents chasing their kids with weary faces that spelled happiness nonetheless. Mundane, every day things, and Kouichi found himself following where Kouji's gaze landed. He had long forgotten how it felt to be a part of those ordinary things.

"You're weird." It was odd, to hear the thin frustration hidden in Kouji's voice. Kouichi wondered why it was he could recognize the subtle tones and gestures this Kouji used, even though this wasn't his Kouji, and it was just so… unfair. "I mean, you're originally weird, coming out of nowhere saying that you're from the Digital World and asking us to fight."

A child tripped and fell down face first in the crowd; her mother quickly bent down and pulled her back to her feet even as she started to bawl.

"But you're—even now, you're weird. You'd… you'd do things, and gets all protective of us so many times, and you'd tell us to get closer. You'd do that, you'd get close to us, and yet…"

Kouichi swallowed, fingers raising to touch the bandanna tied on his arm; a desperate attempt to find reassurance and retaining the calm demeanor.

"Yet you're—see, you're doing it again." The clipped statement made him wince, and Kouichi couldn't help but to raise his eyes only to find identical midnight-colored eyes looking back sharply at him. There was frustration in Kouji's gaze—and a little bit of anger, and... was that desperation? But why? Head suddenly reeling, Kouichi had to clear his throat (it felt sand-papery all of a sudden) before croaking out, "Doing what?"

"That. Being distant, drawing away!" Those midnight eyes narrowed, a familiar death glare that Kouichi knew never had an effect to him. "You've been laughing the whole day, obviously enjoying yourself, but now you're doing it again. Seriously, what is it with you?"

His first instinct was to bite back—why do you care?—but Kouichi managed to wrench his eyes away from the boy almost identical to him, blinking back the heat that had suddenly burnt the back of his eyelids, and turned his head another way. What came out, though, was a weak, "I don't own you any explanation."

He thought he could see Kouji's face turned a shade of faint red—not necessarily by cold, because his Kouji's face usually turned that shade of red when he was angry but this wasn't his Kouji so it could have been the cold, couldn't it—and it suddenly felt like he was thrown back in time, years and decades ago, one time where Kouji's eyes had turned angrily to him, snapping out as he had rebuked him with biting remarks. Everything was exactly the same: the biting winter air, the somber winter sky, Kouji's hair blown playfully by the winter wind, unkempt without his bandanna, and Kouji's expression—his face, his eyes, his gestures—

Years. Years, and decades upon decades ago.

-o0o-

He'd forgotten his bandanna at home, having sprinted off the house the second he heard the news over the phone. It didn't even matter now—he was lucky he'd had the sense to snatch his jacket at all, or the other boy would be pissed seeing him out in the chilly winter with just slacks and t-shirt. By the time he'd arrived at the subway, puffing out white mist as he panted for breath, face pale with exertion and panic.

Two pairs of identical midnight eyes met, and he visibly deflated with relief. It didn't last long, though, because his brother threw him a sheepish grin from his seat on the waiting bench, surrounded by a teenage girl and two other younger boys. The childish part of him flared rather unexpectedly, giving life to unreasonable irritation.

"Why is it that you always have the need to test whether the gravity is working or not?" he was surprised himself when the words came out in a near growl—but he had been scared. He'd picked up his cell phone expecting his brother's voice to greet him, but instead it was an unknown girl's, telling him that his brother had fallen down the stairs at the subway closest to his home on his way to visit him and was unconscious. It was the worst kind of déjà vu, and he had expected his nightmares to come alive that very second—of watching his brother on the patient's bed, unmoving, unseeing, not breathing, and would not breathe ever again.

His brother frowned, a graceful narrowing of his eyebrows. "Kouji…"

"I'm so sorry!" The girl—he recognized her voice, she was the one who called him earlier—bowed low and started babbling, seemingly flustered at his angry tone. "My brother was losing his balance when he ran down the stairs, and your brother was trying to help steadying him, but he lost his balance and fell down instead—but don't worry! He was unconscious for a while, and I found your number on his wallet, listed as emergency number so I called you, but there was a doctor just now. He left already, but he made sure there's no concussion… just a sprained ankle, and I'm so, so sorry!"

"It's really nothing, Kawamura-san," his brother—too good for this world, really—chose to smile reassuringly at the girl. As if he hadn't been the one with a sprained ankle. As if he hadn't been the one who collapsed and scared Kouji out of his wits. Kouji watched, as his brother sent the girl away with reassuring words that she didn't need to pay him back for his help, and even waved them with a grin. Only then did he comment, admittedly snarkily, "Of course, falling down the stairs and knocked unconscious is nothing."

His brother turned him a steady gaze. "Look, Kouji, I know you're upset, but…"

"Upset?" his voice rose higher than he intended, but hell if he cared. He was terrified, and his brother just couldn't see that, could he? "I asked you to call me once your train arrived so I can pick you up, but all I got was that girl telling me my brother had an incident. Sure, Niisan, that's a stupid thing to get upset about, isn't it?"

"I never said that. And I told you that you don't need to pick me up. It's not like I'll get lost on the way to your house."

"No, but you might just fall and kiss the earth and decided to never come back, is that it?" he bit out, channeling the fear left in him out as sizzling anger. "I'm your brother, Niisan, I'm supposed to keep an eye out for you, worry about you, protecting you!"

Then for the first time in his life, he saw his brother's eyes turned cold; traces of hurt and anger dancing like a winter blizzard. The words that followed chilled him, hitting him hard like a thousand tons of bricks, piercing his very existence because deep down, he knew. He knew that his brother was right, and he was overreacting—had been since that fateful incident where his brother sacrificed himself to keep all of them alive.

"I'm not weak, Kouji." The tone was clipped. It scared him even more. "I don't need you to protect me."

-o0o-

The tension was broken completely when Kouichi abruptly rose to his feet.

"I'm—going to help Suzumi-san with the drinks."

Then he was gone, leaving Kouji to blink. His brain was working too slowly, sluggish like it had just dig something really old from the deepest archive of his memory, and it left his mind reeling—what was that he'd just remembered?

And more importantly, did he make up at all with his brother?

Frustration bubbling up his throat, Kouji made a 'tch' noise and leaned back, covering his eyes with a hand. It was getting more and more frequent now, those flashbacks. Flashes of memories he didn't feel like belonging to him, flashes of feelings he never remembered having before. He would be thinking odd thoughts afterwards, as if the flashes really had been happening to him. It was frustrating, because he knew very well he didn't have any of those memories happened to him before. And he certainly didn't have a brother. Also, why the hell was his in-memories brother wearing Kouichi's face?

It didn't make any sense. He'd never met Kouichi before this whole Digital World incident. And yet…

A hand raised up to touch his chest, as if he was trying to physically feel the indescribable feelings whirling around inside right now. Those flashbacks—they always left him feeling disconcerted, giving him so many feelings that never had anything to do with his current situation. The other day, it left him with a strange feeling of missing someone, and he suddenly felt this weird urge to call Kouichi just to check on him. Or maybe tell him what was going on in his everyday life. For days, the feeling made him unsettled. Now, the flashback left him with a strong urge to reach out and keep Kouichi close—an almost overprotective feeling, a bit of worry, and this inexplicable fear gnawing at him.

None of it made sense. It made him frustrated. Kouichi was the one distancing himself away from the group—even Kouji had started becoming more open and relaxed at the presence of the other chosen children—so why did it have to be him who felt uneasy and agitated?

-o0o-

When she saw the huge red, fiery sphere that was the sun kissed the horizon line from the highest point of the ferris wheel—the six of them seated comfortably in the compartment watching layers of reds-oranges-yellows spreading out the blue canvas that was the sky—Suzumi felt a contented smile blossomed on her face, and couldn't think of the last time she had had so much fun.

Oh, it was still noisy, all right. Takuma and Kanpei couldn't seem to shut their mouths up more than five seconds, and Tokiya for once looked indescribably happy and enjoying himself he was even laughing loudly. Kouji was still Kouji, with that almost permanent scowl on his face that Suzumi had already gotten used to—she had even been surprised herself when she came to think Kouji's petulant manners were somewhat adorable—but at least he never resorted to anger anymore when Takuma and the others bugged him endlessly (not that it had stopped Takuma before, particularly, but still). They had come together pretty well as a group of mismatched kids, and Suzumi liked to think the three months they had spent fighting and hanging out together had forged some kind of a bond between them.

Perhaps it wasn't yet a strong one, but she would like to strengthen it together with them, too.

Her eyes, glided to the opposite corner of her seat; Kouichi wasn't watching the sunset like the others were, he was watching the rest of them with a small, soft smile on his lips. A smile that slowly faded, and Kouichi's expression slowly turned somber. Thinning her lips, Suzumi fought hard not to blush—under the soft orange rays of the setting sun, Kouichi looked… ethereal. Like he was not someone from their world—okay, technically he wasn't, but Suzumi's point stood. He was—beautiful.

She cast her gaze downward, feeling heat crawling up her cheeks and spreading to her ears, and fervently wishes that no one would see it. No such luck, because next to him, Takuma suddenly shifted and glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Suzumi? You okay?"

"Huh? Um—yes, of course I am, ahaha!" But her answer came out stuttered, and it had drawn the others' attention. She tried hunching her shoulders, wishing she could escape her friends' curious eyes, but Takuma was leaning closer.

"Really? Your face is really red, y'know? Feeling okay?"

"I—I am okay, Takuma, really!" The boy raised one hand, though, trying to touch Suzumi's forehead, and instinctively Suzumi batted the hand away, flustered at the noises the others made. "Takuma!"

"Hey, I was just concerned!" The boy scowled thinly, leaning back on his seat. Suzumi straightened, lower lips jutting out a little, and Kouichi really just had to choose that exact time to voice out his concern: "You're not running a fever, are you, Suzumi-san?"

"I—" before she could finished, Kouichi was leaning forward, swiftly putting one hand on her forehead. She froze, feeling the heat on her cheeks intensified she wondered if her brain was on fire, but Kouichi leaned back, nodded in a way a doctor would after checking his patient, and said, "No, your temperature's normal. Maybe it's the cold wind."

"U-um. Yes, it is, hahaha." Suzumi bit her lips, willing the heat to fade, and averted her eyes from Kouichi's. She turned to Takuma, about to chide him not to do anything weird again, but stopped when she saw Takuma's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

What?

The boy was crossing his arms, stubbornly looking outside the window, and next to him Kanpei looked like he was more than a little angry. She could feel the atmosphere changed abruptly—the two most lively members of their group were disgruntled, and she didn't even know why. So she laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere and said, "Wouldn't it be nice to have some ice cream after this? Kanpei, you wanted some didn't you?"

Just like that, Kanpei brightened. Takuma didn't, but the tight look on his face faded, and the atmosphere returned to normal.

In the end, the night was growing pretty late when they all dropped Tokiya in front of his house (or rather, the gate). Suzumi had wanted to be dropped by the station first—she really do have a reason for not wanting to be anywhere near Tokiya's house, mainly because the name Himi—but what could she do? Tokiya's parents were strict, and she didn't want the younger boy to get in trouble again for being late, so she hadn't protested when they passed the station and stopped at the Himi residence.

"Thank you very much," Tokiya bowed to Kanpei's dad through the car's opened window, just as the huge gate of his house opened. A boy their age appeared, dressed in simple yukata—an older and stricter and more confident version of Tokiya—and bowed to Kanpei's dad. Suzumi let out a surprised gasp, grabbed Takuma's arm and forcefully shielded herself from view.

Takuma made an odd noise in his throat. "Su—Suzumi?"

"Nothing," she hissed, eyes fixed at the boy as he neared their window, presumably to tell them thank you for looking after Tokiya. "Just. Don't let him see me."

"…uhh. Okay..?"

"Good evening." The boy bowed again, and Takuma straightened, shielding Suzumi so she can't be seen clearly. Kouichi, having heard and seen Suzumi's odd behavior, took control of the situation: leaning forward and smiled at the boy.

"Good evening. Ah, we're Tokiya's friends."

"Yeah, I've seen you guys the last time you were here. Didn't get the chance to say hi, though. Thanks for looking after my brother. I'm Yuuta."

"No, it's really our pleasure." Kouichi neatly sidestepped the introduction. "We have to go really soon before it gets too late, so…"

"Oh, of course! Sorry I kept you back. Thanks again!"

"Bye, everyone," Tokiya chirped; happiness still radiating around him and it was just so contagious the others couldn't not chirp back their goodbyes and see-you-laters. Only then did Kanpei's dad maneuvered the car and swiftly left the Himi residence.

And only then did Suzumi let go of Takuma's arm.

"What was that?" Kanpei demanded, curiosity won the best of him. "It's just Tokiya's brother, Suzumi-chan."

Suzumi fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, and laughed uncertainly. "Sorry. I'm—uh. I know Himi Yuuta-kun, and—well. We go to the same school, so.."

Kouichi tilted his head, but it was Kouji who spoke up. "Why didn't you greet him if you know him?"

"It's… not that simple. I—you know, the day when we all met…" she could see the station; good, she would be the only one getting off the car at the station so she could avoid more curious questions. She knew she had to at least give them a satisfying answer before she was gone. "The day we met—well. I was a wreck, right? Himi-kun kind of…. Um. I—when I confessed to him, he rejected me."

"What?" the chorus came from both Takuma and Kanpei.

She grinned. "Nah, it's fine. I'm not really that hung up on him. It was just a crush—he's the most popular boy in school and I think every girl at least fell for him once. " A smile blossomed on her face. "Besides, thanks to Kouichi-san, I could stand back up on my feet in no time."

Kouichi seemed surprised. "Me?"

"Because you gave us the Spirits." She ducked her head, trying not to blush again, but her efforts were in vain. It was pretty dark though, so hopefully no one saw her red face. "I'm not the smartest or the prettiest girl in school, and I almost always do something wrong. When Himi-kun rejected me, I feel really upset. I thought no one would ever like me, being a useless girl that I am, and no one would need me to do anything. But then I met you, along with Takuma and the others, and you said you needed us. I thought I was going to blow everything up again, but you said we did very well and—" she peered up at Kouichi, smiling gratefully. "It's… very nice to think that I could finally do someone good. Thank you, Kouichi-san."

She left it at that, because they had reached the station and no one had the chance to speak up. She bowed to Kanpei's dad, and gave the rest of the group a goodbye wave. She felt nice, and content, and glad that she could finally told the others about how she felt. It was certainly a bonus that Kouichi waved back, smiling softly at her.

"We all need you, Suzumi-san."

She treasured each and every single one of his smiles, so the happiness bursting in her chest was not inexplicable. She brightened visibly, a faint shade of red spreading on her face both in delight and a touch of shyness, and she laughed—a sound so happy she barely recognized her own voice.

"Thank you, Kouichi-san!"

None of them noticed the tight line of Takuma's lips, or the slight disgruntled expression on Kanpei's face.

-o0oendchapterfouro0o-

A/N: Oh boy, this chapter is terrible. I think I messed up the pace, and did a lot of perspective changes. I don't usually do that. ;A;

So, uhh. Leave me some reviews and tell me what you think? I'd love it if you give me some con-crits, since I know I hadn't done my best with this chapter, but honestly I can't think of any other way to make this better. And my teeth hurt so bad ;A;

Thank you for reading, please stay tune for the next chapter!

-isumi'kivic and Ilde-