Chapter Twelve

Looking Beyond Purple

"I'm...not ready for this..." she whispered.

"Don't you love me?" He asked.

"...yes..." her answer came out just barely heard.

"Then prove it."

Her eyes shut tight, body tense as hands gripped her arms. I'm not ready. I'm not ready. Please, don't. Her Crest flashed and black leaked around the edges. Her hands grasped it lying on her sweaty skin as he slowly kneed her legs wider. Take me away. She begged.

& & &

"Yuuta!" Eri threw arms around her friend. With a startled cry, Yuuta pulled away.

"Dozo, do not do that." Yuuta pressed a hand to her wildly thudding heart.

"I'm sorry. I'm used to you hearing me come up from miles away. Are you alright?"

"Hai. I have been thinking rather deeply these days. Something has been...weighing on my mind lately."

"Does it have anything to do with Koushirou?"

"Iie...and hai...he brought it up one day...long ago..." her brown eyes faded remembering.

"Yuuta...are you keeping something important from me?"

"Iie."

'Yuuta-"

"Rokunda! The match is starting!" Shinichiro waved his racket.

"We'll continue this later. It's something important, I know it."

"It is nothing! Honto!" Yuuta shouted after her. At least...I think so... She chewed her lip.

With a sigh, she stood. Her feet trudged toward Chidori's mansion, a little apprehensively. Tension was a little thick between her and Koushirou.

"Hi. Yuuta" A quiet voice interrupted her disturbing thoughts. She turned, her brown eyes widening.

"Y-Yomoki-kun." She stuttered.

"You want me to leave?"

"Iie. I missed you and Gazimon." Yuuta quickly bent down. "Do you forgive me?"

"Duh. I've missed you, too." Gazimon ran to her, wrapping grey-furred forearms around her. "You're so thin, Yuuta."

"I have been rather malnourished as of late. All my homework has been piling up. I am almost caught up now. Fortunately, my brain is made of sponge-like material." She smiled wanly.

"You look tired." Yomoki knelt down next to the pair. "And Nekomon is nowhere in sight."

"Hai...she and the other Chosen Digimon have been distant. We are all falling apart at the seams. We are getting close to untying the knots, but some of the others are not really cooperative. Ishiida-sama, Takenouchi-sama, Kido-sama, and Hida-san, I believe, are getting further and further away. Something...something bad is going to happen." She pressed a hand to her forehead.

"You shouldn't take on such a heavy burden. Your schoolwork is large enough." Yomoki hesitantly laid a hand on her back.

"Doomo, demo... daijoubou desu. Honto." She started to rise when her legs started to collapse. "Ah-oof." She braced her hands against the concrete, Gazimon and Yomoki both quickly grabbing an arm each.

"Look, you can't even stand straight."

"I just got up too fast." Yuuta told him.

"And I'm Santa."

"Yomoki-kun..." She tried once again to rise and turned her head, feeling eyes on her. She blinked seeing wide black eyes. "Izzy-sempai? I was just going to see you."

"Daijoubou desu ka?" He stepped quickly to her side, glaring daggers at Yomoki.

"I didn't do anythin-"

"I know that." Koushirou interrupted. "You're working yourself too hard, Koku-kohai." She smiled up at him and let him help her up.

"I am not half as bad as you. At least I sleep." She turned to Yomoki and Gazimon. "It was good to see you again. I missed you both." She let Koushirou lead her away, leaning against him tiredly.

"We miss you, too." Gazimon called softly. But his sad voice didn't carry and fell upon the deaf wind.

& & &

Mimi took a deep breath, willing her shaky hands to steady. She exhaled sharply, making thin stands of hair fly up, when her hands didn't stop shaking.

"Tachikawa Nursing Home." She read aloud. "He's just past these doors. Go on, girl." She raised her head and pushed open the glass door with as much bravado she could muster.

"Konnichi wa. May I help you?" asked a woman, about twenty-something, in monotone without looking up.

"Yes...I'd like to visit a man named Michael-" The receptionist looked up, bored. She blinked.

"You're Tachikawa-Deity." She gasped.

"Yes, but this is important." She waved her hand. "I really need to see a man named-"

"I can take you to him."

"You know who I'm talking about? Demo...I haven't told you his last name."

"Everyone knows him. He was your boyfriend in the past, wasn't he? Come on, now." The receptionist beckoned her excitedly. "He been waiting forever, you know. Just sits at his window and waits. It's sad, though. He's almost ninety now. And you look younger than me."

"I am younger. I'm only seveteen. I'll be eighteen in two days." Mimi replied.

"But...you were seventeen seventy years ago."

"Aren't I a God or something?" Mimi snapped. The woman hushed.

"This is his room, ma'am." She bowed and pushed open the door. "There's someone here for you, sir."

"...Mimi?"

"Yes, Michael. I'm back." Mimi pushed the door open the rest of the way. The nurse left quietly.

A tiny room with blue tiles and a white iron bed greeted her eyes. A large window with sun glaring through bleached the baby blue blankets almost white. A small wooden nightstand stood next to the bed. A man was sitting in a chair, staring out the window, the back of the chair to her. Fair hair glinted in the sun, and she saw a movement out the corner of her eye as a hand moved from her sight.

"Don't come closer, please."

"Michael?"

"I'm so old now. By your voice...you haven't changed since that day seventy years ago."

"Oh, Michael. I don't care. I don't care at all. I wanted to grow old with you. But I had my goddamn duty. Don't turn from me, please. I love you. I need you, just for a little while. No matter how old you are. I'm dying so slowly." She stumbled forward. "Don't kill me, please." she begged.

He slowly turned. His face was lined with wrinkles, and liver spots dotted his thin white hands. He was so thin and his beautiful thick hair was now thin and receding up his forehead. But his eyes...his eyes were same. His face...she could see his youth, his handsome young face from long ago just behind his wrinkles. She fell to her knees, and clutched his frail hands with hers. Her head fell on his knee, her eyes closed in happiness. He smelled of medicine, strange soap, nasty hospital food, and old. But his hands touched her hair, and suddenly, he was her Michael, tan and young and smelling of New York.

"I couldn't live without you any longer. A couple natives told me you lived here." She smiled against the harsh cotton blanket covering thin, weak legs. "I suddenly wanted to live so badly. Just to see you. Just to be with you. I'm so happy...my heart hurts." Tears formed and slowly ran down her face. Her tears touched her left cheek and her cheek glowed green.

The door the receptionist had closed long before opened and footsteps stopped abruptly.

Mimi looked up and met identical blue eyes to the one she was sitting with. Those startled eyes stared. A beautiful woman, sitting on her floor, with long chestnut hair, gold-brown eyes and a glowing green teardrop looked up at him with teary-eyes.

"He...he looks so much like you, Michael." She looked up at Michael, the green glow gone.

"This is my sister's grandson, and is also mine. He comes as often as he can to see me. He used to come for my stories of the Chosen Children, then of advice on women, now he comes just to keep me company." He smiled fondly. "This is Ms. Mimi Tachikawa, Alan."

"The woman you moved across the world to be with. And then never came back." He breathed.

"Yes. This is his partner, Betamon. My Betamon is sleeping in the bathtub. He sleeps more than even me."

"Don't listen to the old coot. He has so much energy he gives the nurses heart attacks. He lives here only because they turned your old complex into a nursing home. He aspired to be a retired man here."

Mimi giggled.

"Where's Palmon?" Michael asked. Gold-brown eyes darkened with sadness.

"None of us are really speaking. I need someone to talk to. May I tell you everything?" She asked.

"You're different, Meems. You used to just hurtle forward, tripping over your own words." Michael touched her hair again. Their eyes met and shared a smile.

"I'm maturing faster to catch up with you." She teased, poking him.

"Hey! You can't do that to an old man! I'm disabled now, I'll have you know."

& & &

"Izzy-sempai?" Yuuta questioned.

"Nani?"

"You seem upset." Koushirou dragged a hand through his hair.

"I've been on the edge lately. Gomen nasai." He caught her small hand with his. She glanced down and then up at him. "I'll try and be a bit more..."

"Happy? Or how about rested?"

"Rest...sleep...whatever happened to them?" He sighed. Yuuta squeezed his hand.

"Maa, we are at your home-for-now. Let us go sleep." Yuuta tugged his hand.

"Nani?"

"I am seriously lacking sleep, too. We are free for the rest of the day and night. Let us sleep for twelve hours, or even longer! We will spend the whole time together." She blushed vividly. "I have always just wanted to sleep with you...you know...like...that morning a long time ago?" She let her hair swing forward and shield her face.

Koushirou gently turned her around and she quickly looked up. His eyes met hers over blushing cheekbones.

"I'd like that, too." He murmured. She smiled slowly, her lips stretching wider until her teeth showed and she was grinning happily. He matched her grin for grin.

"Finally...just us two?"

"Did you think I slept with my computer or something?" Koushirou raised his eyebrow.

"Maybe." She threw her arms around his neck and balanced on her toes. "In case you do, it is getting kicked out." Lips met softly. The innocent kiss quickly heated up, yearning making their limbs weak and their breath short.

"I don't think sharing the same sleeping quarters is a good idea, to tell the truth."

"Then do not tell the truth." Yuuta whispered, her eyes still closed.

"Yu-Koku...I seriously think it's a bad idea." Koushirou almost groaned. Why are girls so soft. He thought desperately.

"Um...you realize you're standing on my doorstep?"

The two turned blushing guilty. Chidori was tapping her foot impatiently and Takeru was standing beside her with a giant stack of books. His blue eyes were wide in shock.

"Daisuke told me, but I didn't really believe him. You really do make-out all over the place-ITAI!" Takeru cried as Chidori smacked the back of his head. The stack wobbled dangerously.

"Drop one book, just one, I dare you." threatened Chidori, eyes flashing dangerously behind her glasses.

"I won't! I promise!" Takeru assured her, steadying it quickly. The four walked inside.

"We are going to go take a very long nap. If you hear anything that sounds like someone typing on a computer, you have my permission to hit I zzy-sempai very hard on the head with a wooden bat." Yuuta told them sternly.

"Nani!" Koushirou squawked.

"Now, you will think twice before waking up and getting on the computer." Yuuta climbed the stairs hurriedly, 'bed, sleep' the only thing on her mind.

"You can't do that! You two can't do that."

"Yes, they can, and they will. Let us go to sleep! Or I will hit you with a baseball bat. I am tired." Yuuta called. Koushirou raced up the stairs, still arguing with her.

"They make a cute couple, don't they?" Takeru grinned.

"And you're going to make a cute boy with a shiner. I need one of those books you're hauling everywhere but over here." Chidori's foot began to tap once more.

"Aw, I'm coming." Takeru set the books on the coffee table in the main living room.

"Let's see, where is it? Here it is."

"What is that one?"

"A book on body language. I have some psychology books in that stack, too." A large sweat drop formed on the back of Takeru's head.

"You mean I hauled psychology books all over town?" he squeaked.

"You're stronger than you thought, aren't you?" Chidori smirked.

"And you're just evil...in a soft, cute sort of way." Takeru teased.

"Oh...eat book." Chidori muttered darkly, a blush forming over the bridge of her nose. Takeru grinned. She rapped his nose hard with a spine of her book.

& & &

"Iori-kun...what's wrong?"

Iori turned, his eyes tearing away from the window. Kira sat on the floor, Armadillomon sleeping in her lap, a small ball of gold. Blue hair framed her face, perfectly pink lips forming a tiny frown. He slid off her desk and touched her soft cheek.

"Why are you so perfect?" He whispered. It wasn't endearing, but more accusatory. Her mouth turned down farther.

"Iori, what are you talking about?"

"You just suddenly appear and love me? And...why do I feel like I feel the same? I don't know you."

"Love is something so special, we don't an explanation."

"I do." Iori began to also frown. His green eyes were looking remarkably clear.

Her hand cupped behind his head and drew him forward. Mouths collided and before Iori could push away, sharp teeth bit her lip making blood spill onto his. His mouth opened slightly in surprise, a mere reaction, and the blood touched his tongue. His struggling slowed and Kira bit her lip harder making more blood flow into his slack mouth. Automatically, he swallowed and his strugglings ceased all together. His body became as slack as his mouth, the numbness spreading through him. Dull, empty olive green eyes stared into hers.

It's taking more and more blood to control him. Make your move faster, partner. Her mind hissed, her hand dropping away.

The red blood dripping from Iori's lips shined lightly...as if dotted with light.

& & &

Yuuta's eyes lifted heavily. Her body screamed for more sleep; her brain still somewhere on the pillow. Muted light shined in front of her groggy eyes. His hair seemed black in the darkness, red only around the edges. A tiny smile turned the corners of her mouth up at a familiar sound coming from him. She silently slid off the bed and slipped out the door. She returned minutes later, a tray in her hands. She stood behind him and narrowed her eyes.

...Love cannot be... The window fell to the tool bar on the bottom of the screen.

"When did you wake up?" Koushirou barely managed to keep his voice low.

"A while ago. I heard your stomach growling and went downstairs to raid the fridge. I brought our toothbrushes and toothpaste, too." She set the tray on the desk next to the computer. Without a word, she picked up the still warm toast and buttered it lightly.

"I didn't mean to wa-" he was cut off as she stuffed the bread in his mouth.

"I am trying not to be hurt or angry right now. Do not say a word. Onegai." She poured some tea, smelling strongly of peppermint, into two cups.

He chewed slowly. He felt guilty right now, but tea, of any kind, calmed him. She always smelled of tea...and it reminded him of someone. His eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"You...you smell like my mom." He sputtered.

"Sumimasen?" Her brown eyes blinked at him over the teacup.

"My mother...always smelled like tea...so do you. I've been wondering what it was I was trying to remember. It must be because she was always in the kitchen."

"I am always drinking tea. My father says that is why I am so short. It has always calmed me so. I asked my mom to buy me bath stuffs that smelled of tea and soon all my friends and Okaasan and Otousan would buy me tea smelling things. I even have a cat toy filled with tea leaves...I do not own a cat." She giggled. "Yomoki-kun gave it to me when I was five, come to think of it. He always picked on me, but I loved to sleep with it. Maybe that is why I started liking tea and cats."

"Koku...dozo." Koushirou picked up a cup of his own tea.

"Hm?"

"Onegai, don't talk about him." He muttered. He sipped his tea.

"What is wrong with me talking of Yomoki-kun? He was a good friend of mine for a long time. Even if he did tease me most the time."

"Because...never mind."

They ate in silence. In the darkness, her eyes smoldered green. She stood abruptly.

"Izzy-sempai, why do you keep secrets from me?" Yuuta slammed down her cup. "You hide whatever it is on your precious computer, you do not say why you do not want me to speak about one of my oldest friends, is there another secret you are hiding I do not know about?"

"Kokubunji-"

"Now you call me by my last name?" Yuuta whispered. "All right, Izumi-san. Brush your teeth. Here is some water and a cup. Continue your research and try to sleep." She left behind what he needed to brush his teeth with and took away the food, somehow gone.

Koushirou thoughtlessly brushed his teeth. Halfway through, he stared at the empty cup in his hand and a cup of water on his desk. He blinked.

Why am I brushing my teeth in my room? Koushirou thought startled. He shook his head and went to the bathroom.

When he walked back in, he stopped dead. Yuuta was curled up in his desk chair. Her hair was in a short ponytail, and her face looked scrubbed. She smelled of mint and soap. Obviously, she had used another bathroom while he used his. What made his breath stop, however, was not the subtle beauty of pale skin in the glow of the monitor, nor was it the green burning like fire as she turned to meet his black eyes.

The window he had minimized was open. Tears fell like sparking dots of electricity down her cheeks. She pulled the ribbon hanging by her face and her hair fell, as if covering her ears would shield herself from what he would say.

"When...when were going to tell me? When were you going to tell anybody?" She demanded without real hostility.

"I didn't want to." Koushirou answered simply, looking at his feet. I can't believe I left it open. She gave me a chance to stay in here. That must be why she gave my toothbrush and water. Either I brushed my teeth in here or she was going to look. I didn't even think about it.

"I did not want to break the trust between us, " her feet touched the ground, "but you have already done that." The large T-shirt she borrowed from his closet swung around her thighs as she stood.

"Kokubunji, I didn't break our trust." Koushirou tried to lie. He knew he had.

"Izumi." She turned and yanked open a drawer in his bureau.

"I did. I'm sorry...but I couldn't tell any of you. I can't have all of us taking on this burden. We're already falling apart." Koushirou watched as she grabbed a pair of his pants and started to pull them on. "Where are you going?"

"I am going home. I am not staying here." She looked up from buttoning her (well, his) pants. "You are not god. You cannot take on a burden like this by yourself."

"To all those people outside, I am a god." Koushirou snapped. "Don't act like I'm doing something wrong by saving my friends from pain."

"They are my friends, too." She whispered.

"Kokubunji, stop twisting my words." Koushirou grabbed her arm. She pulled away.

"Stop blocking me! Stop acting like I am not your girlfriend! Stop acting like…I am not…special to you. You are supposed to be able to tell me anything!" She grabbed her crest. "I am your Life, remember?" She tossed her head, short hair smacking her face. "I am going home. They do not even know I am here."

"I'm sure they figured it out, Kokubunji."

"Doushite?" she cried.

He blinked.

"Why are you calling me by my last name?" she backed away, clutching her crest with both hands, holding it against her chest. Her upper torso was curled around it, hair falling like a curtain on both sides of her face. "I thought I was Koku?"

"K-Koku..." He sighed and pulled her down until they were sitting on his bed. "I'm not used to this. Being with a girl, knowing a prophecy and not having a plan, knowing a prophecy...that will cause pain no matter what path is chosen. I'm not used to jealousy either. I'm not handling it gracefully, I'm afraid."

"Jealousy?" Her baffled eyes echoed her tone.

"I'm not just a Bearer of Knowledge and a computer nerd. I'm a guy, too. I thought I was above it, but I'm not. I'm jealous of Fujima because he had you first." Koushirou wrapped his arms tentatively around her waist. She sank against his chest. His crest dug into her cheek, reminding her of words he just told her.

He is not just a Bearer of Knowledge, just like I am not just the Bearer of Life. Sometimes, I need to look beyond the purple and see the person he is. At least, more than I have been doing.

"That still does not mean you are off the hook. We have to talk about burdens you shoulder alone and burdens you share." She poked his side. He let out a whoosh of breath as she jammed his ribs.

"Itai. Deal. But first," he didn't finish, and instead began mercilessly attacking her. For payback for the jab, he had her pinned and tickling her. She stuffed a fist in her mouth to keep from screaming. Tears streaming from the corners of her screwed tightly shut eyes. Her foot kicked the bed.

Finally, he stopped and fell by her side. She glared over at him. He grinned.

"Are you not going to turn off the computer?"

"It goes on 'stand by' automatically after a while. I don't feel like getting up." He wrapped a thin strand of soft hair around his finger.

Their exhaustion crept in on them before they realized it. Their eyes drifted shut, never breaking contact with the other's gaze until it was no longer possible to see the other.

& & &

Sora looked over. He was sleeping. Good. She slipped out from under his arm. She grabbed her clothes and tiptoed to the door. When she had tried to say 'no', he had ignored her. She did say it rather quietly, though. Maybe he hadn't heard her.

But...she was so scared. She loved him, but was scared of him. When he was braced above her, his beautiful purple eyes boring into hers, she had looked past the color. Looking beyond the purple, there was only a shadow, a deep void. It had made her cold, even though her flesh had been so hot.

Dark eyes followed her movements. Black hair fell over narrowed purple eyes.

I have to hurry. We're losing our grip.