Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon. Plain and simple.
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Mind-Sinking Clarifications
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It only took minutes for Kouichi to reach the library. For the second time that day, Kouichi followed the instructions on the paper Hideki had given and sat down in a darkened, locked room of the library to read Marise's diary. And now, he could tell, Marise's 'ghost' was definitely close.
From the diary of Marise Saito:
My, my. They grow up so fast. Hideki thinks I should continue to write. 'Who cares if you're just a ghost?' he says. 'I want to know what happens!'
That would be trivial, however. I'd have to claim-
Kouichi put the book down. The rest of that sentence seemed to have disappeared. A frown appeared, but he continued to read.
It seems they're moving. I know we should have sent Kako to the Orimoto's. She would have had such a fine time...although...I wonder if they'd appreciate it. Kako does seem a bit wild. So, maybe it's for the best. After all, I'm not legally dead. Merely 'missing.' But soon, they'll put me down as dead. With this new identity I can always take them in if something happens.
The boy flipped the page.
They never cease to amaze me. She talks to anyone. Unfortunately, it seems Hideki gets into a lot of trouble because of it. Ah, well. Hideki seems to be dating that girl, now...Rai, I believe. I wonder if he knows she's Ophanimon's shadow...
With a sigh, Kouichi placed the book down. Why is it about Kako and Hideki? That's all he talks about? Why can't he skip to the important part? Nevertheless, he continued to read.
Ah, I should get to the important part. But I do say, this is my diary. Maybe that's all it is...
Kouichi's eyes widened.
Then let's get to the point! If your name is Kouichi Kimura, I must say, your initials are very amusing! And your future is, too. Beware Kako's dangerous moods. If your name is Kanaye whose last name I care not for, kindly, please, go to hell.
This just gets weirder by the second, Kouichi realized, feeling his forehead. No fever. So...how does he know my name?
Shall we do Kouichi's part first? No? Ah, very well. Kouichi, skip three pages. Kanaye, read on.
Kouichi skipped three pages, all filled top to bottom in tiny writing. Not a space seemed to be left uncovered. What a writer. Worse than my dreams diary. Which reminds me, I have to hide that from Kouji...
Ah, now Kouichi's part!
The writing was much larger now.
Simple, this is. Things you must remember, boy:
One, talk to Kako. How to explain this...? Ah, yes, in those videogames! Pretend you're bugging a merchant for the free items he has! If that made any sense...you see, Kako spills information like an overfilled tub does water.
Two, the closest to you may turn against you. Don't volunteer too much free information.
Don't tell Kako, but Rai won't die. That is, if my readings are correct. Now ask a question, flip the page and the answer will be there! Then flip back and ask some more questions! Or stop reading for now. But please, ask at least one question!
How does that work? Kouichi wondered, flipping the page. To his surprise, there was a small scrawl of writing on the left page that read, 'My secret.' Kouichi quickly flipped back a page, eyes wide. It works? Okay, then, are my suspicions about Duskmon correct?
His answer: 'Yes!'
Kanaye's sword! How did he get it? Kouichi suddenly wondered, remembering the weapon. He didn't realize before, but it seemed so strange, how he had it during class. A sword like that didn't seem like it could fit in a sleeve. Absentmindedly, Kouichi flipped the page.
'Don't know, but be careful. Kanaye can deal a lot of damage with that metal stick of his. I'm sure he has his ways. You'll have to discover them by your own means.'
Swallowing, the boy flipped back. "Angemon said Ophanimon wasn't sure which children, but then...why did Mrs. Sakai ask Kako?" he whispered, slowly flipping the page.
Why did Harumi ask Kako? Although, I knew which children it would be. She could have asked me (although I'm not always right...). Maybe it was simply opinion, or maybe she would only send people with matching descriptions. I'm not so sure myself. She was quite panicky at the time. Sometimes, Kako says things she doesn't quite know the full story about (don't always believe her). And besides, Harumi does have a brilliant mind herself. Maybe that's why I married her...
Uh, right. Kouichi shut the diary and placed it in his bag. Thoughts formed a violent storm in his head, along with questions to be answered. Talk to Kako...? Those closest to me? So...I'll have to become distant? Now, of all times. Alone. Again...? He sighed. "Marise has one weird diary. Wish I had one just like it," muttered the boy, standing up. Now...to head back to class and read a regular book.
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"Back already?" Hideki commented. Walking into class, Kouichi calmly nodded. "Okay...uh..." Huffing, Hideki looked away and muttered, "Wanna help me?"
Kouichi shrugged. His eyes were glued to Hideki, who began looking around nervously. "Sure, I guess." His hand...he didn't wrap it up.
Clearing his throat, Hideki stood up and told the class, "Kouichi's in charge while I'm gone. Twerp two! Come with me before you bleed to death."
Kouji stood up and walked out of the classroom. One could tell just by the way he walked that he wasn't happy.
Soon, Kouichi was left alone with the rest of the class staring at him. Naturally, he stared back. Growing tired of at least twenty other faces staring at him, he muttered, "Keep working."
Kako immediately raised her hand and asked, "Can we get a break?"
"No," came the automatic response.
"But-"
"No."
"H-"
"No."
A snicker came from Kanaye. "Rejected his own girlfriend."
"Make that twenty pages, Kanaye," Kouichi returned smoothly, desperately trying to maintain control of his temper. "And the next person to open their mouth and talk will get thirty pages."
That being said, the class soon fell silent. Only the furious scribblings of pencil on paper could be heard.
Kouichi could practically feel the hatred towards him emanate around the room. Was this what Marise had been talking about? Maybe not. I bet I'm just getting a headache. The class isn't close to me, and he did say 'those closest,' the boy thought dismissively. No...now how do I talk to her about it, first of all? Hideki would kill me, though, wouldn't he? His thoughts quickly dissipated when Naoko pushed her papers towards him. "Oh, done?" murmured the boy, counting the pages.
Naoko nodded and murmured, "You know I lied about liking Kanaye, right? Well, partially. He's hot, but not my type."
"Not really...er-um, I figured it out later, after Kako told me about Fujitaka," he murmured in return. Or was it Izumi...? Maybe the alcohol Kouji drank hit my brain instead.
"You should ask her out on a date, you know."
"A date?" Kouichi's face went blank. A date? Brilliant! I could talk to her then! "Thanks," whispered the boy. "That's pretty smart! I wonder why I didn't think of it myself..."
Naoko gave him a strange look before she returned to her seat. Kouichi, however, pain no attention. He was too preoccupied with figuring out how to ask Kako out on a date.
Ask Kako out on a date. Ask Kako out on a date. When? Where? HOW? Kouichi shivered. Think, Kouichi, think! I know! I'll sleep on it. Now...whether to go to Hawaii or not...? Sitting back in the chair, Kouichi sighed. So many factors...how to eliminate them...? He sighed once more. Although part of Kouichi wanted to visit his father, part of him wanted nothing more than to just give up on the man. Going to Hawaii felt like betraying his mother. Fine, Kouichi decided, if Kouji goes, I won't. If he doesn't, I will. It works.
"Kouichi. Kouichi. Kouichi...ichi...kou...ou...chi...hello?" Kako whispered, getting frustrated by the minute. She stopped waving her hands in front of his face and let them drop to her side. The moment I have to turn in my papers, he spaces out. Drawing a breath, Kako was about to yell his name when she was pushed out of the way. "H-hey...who-?" Glaring, Kako snapped, "What's your problem, Kanaye?"
"Kimura, stop daydreaming," Kanaye snapped quietly instead. "Twenty pages, like you asked."
The boy looked up at Kanaye, then took the papers into his hands and counted them. Now ignoring Kanaye's presence, he turned to Kako. "You done, too?"
"I was finished before him," Kako informed him.
"O-oh..." Kouichi felt his cheeks burn. Definitely not a good time to ask. "Sorry," he apologized, taking her papers and counting them.
Kako turned to Kanaye and cleared her throat. Much to her dismay, Kanaye still stood there, eyes glued on Kouichi in a piercing glare that was ignored. "Beat it, black eye," growled Kako. When Kanaye turned to her, she folded her arms. "Well?"
A smirk made Kako gulp. "But what?" Kanaye taunted, taking a step towards her.
Instinctively, Kako ran behind the desk, grabbing a white board eraser and wishing they had a chalkboard instead. "Bug off!" she yelled, squealing as soon as Kanaye reached for his sword.
Kouichi quickly pushed the sword out of reach, allowing it to drop on the floor. "Sit. Down. BOTH of you," he ordered.
"You'd make a great teacher," Kako muttered, dropping the white board eraser in Kouichi's hand and slumping back to her seat.
Teacher? No way, thought the boy, making a face. After seeing Kanaye had returned to his seat, Kouichi stood up and picked the sword up. He placed it back on the desk and sat down in the chair to return to his thoughts. Something was bugging him in the back of his mind, but he couldn't figure out exactly what.
Marise's diary...maybe that could explain what Ophanimon or Rai can't. But...Kako's explanations seem to make no sense when I read the diary. Shadow system, okay, but...they conflict in other ways. Why does he say Rai won't die? And...why does Kako say she will? And...why is he...a...a 'ghost?' Why...why couldn't someone else take over for him? Or...this makes no sense anymore. Miserably, Kouichi let out a sigh and sank back even further in his seat. His eyes shot open at the sound of a slam. Huh? "Oh, Fujitaka."
"Stay away from Naoko," the boy growled, practically stomping back to his desk.
Kouichi counted the papers and fell back in the seat again. Why does he hate me? Oh, wait...all that because I went to the dance with Naoko? We didn't even talk...much. Yeah...was I like that to Kouji? I should apologize...
"Twerp one!"
Kouichi jumped in his seat. Looking up, he found Hideki in front of him and Kouji making his way in. Realization hit Kouichi at last. I could have used this time to break into Ogata's computer! Wait...w-where's the computer? Puzzled, Kouichi ignored Hideki and looked around the table.
No computer.
Sighing, he looked up at Hideki, whose hand was now wrapped. "Yes?"
"You're done."
"Okay," Kouichi muttered as he slumped back to his own seat. I should have asked him for advice on how to ask Kako out. Yeah, I'll do that during lunch. As if on cue, the bell to lunch rang. Kouichi was about to get out of his seat when Hideki barked, "You'll be staying in for lunch. But eat, or I'll murder you."
"Uh, what if they're buying lunch, genius?" Kako snapped.
"Is anyone?" Hideki asked smoothly. No one answered. "Good. And no talking allowed, either."
Why couldn't he permanently sub for Ogata? Kouichi let out a sigh. So much for asking...
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"Oh great. What's next?" Kouji muttered as soon as they got out of class. "Aliens coming to steal my videogames?"
Takuya grin. "No, but you lose one hundred dollars."
Oh...shoot. Completely forgot, Kouji thought. The bandana boy winced and formed an all too friendly smile. Coughing, he asked, "What do you mean, I lose?"
"You. Lose."
Letting out a nervous laugh as his composure was quickly fading, Kouji repeated impatiently, "Whaddya mean I lose?"
"You. Lose. The deal was no being serious, worried, utterly annoyed with our being stupid-"
"'Stupid?' You're downright imbecilic. And what's wrong with being annoyed or grumpy?" barked Kouji. His eyes narrowed and he growled, "I'm not any of those!"
"...at a major degree. And you are now!" Takuya laughed gleefully. "And since you lost..."
Red faced, the bandana boy muttered something.
"What was that?" asked Takuya, smile slowly fading.
"I SAID YOU CAN'T STAND SHINYA AND YOU EXPECT ME TO STAND YOU."
"I-I can stand Shinya!"
Now smirking, Kouji replied, "Well I bet you can't get annoyed at Shinya for this entire day."
"YOU'RE ON! I SO CAN! Just you wait!"
"I win, you have to dress up in that penguin suit."
"And if I win, I get to go to Hawaii for you!"
Kouji paused. "Oh, yeah, Kouichi about that," he murmured to his approaching twin. "I've decided to go."
The older boy nodded. "Okay," murmured Kouichi in return. "Then if Takuya wins, he can take my ticket. I've decided I'm not going if you are. But if you aren't, then...well..." Noticing Kouji's downcast look, he added, "But not because I have anything against you. Just because that way one of us can keep an eye on things at home, you know."
"Yeah..." Kouji offered a small smile. "Soooo...you doing anything after school?" he asked, clearing his throat to change the mood.
Much to Kouji's relief, the twin boy nodded. "Yep."
He did his best to hide the excitement in his voice. Instead, he cleared his throat again and inquired, "What and how long?"
"I've got...er...things to do until seven, about. Hey, Takuya?" Kouichi suddenly asked, turning to the other boy.
The goggle boy sent Kouichi a questioning look. "Yeah?"
Swallowing, Kouichi wiped his hands on the side of his jacket. "Er, uh...what's a good restaurant to eat at?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. Don't falter now, Kouichi. Not now...
Takuya grinned. "Easy! The new one that opened just a few stores down by the arcade. Izumi and I went there last night. Man, it was cool. Why?"
Dead silence followed. Kouichi quickly turned away from the two and began to walk away. "Curiosity," he answered, picking up the pace. "Later."
Utterly baffled, Takuya and Kouji exchanged glances.
"Well..." Takuya started.
Kouji shot him a glare and snapped, "Back to work! We have a job to finish before seven!"
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Kouichi winced as he pushed open the doors of Saito's bookstore. Kako's words from the night before suddenly hit him. 'If you can't control Duskmon, you're as good as dead!'
Why is that? Kouichi thought with a sigh. I need to ask her...and soon. "Hey Mr. Saito," he murmured, walking up to the from desk. He frowned, seeing the man's eyes closed. Kouichi only noticed it now, but Mr. Saito seemed a lot older than he remembered. Is he okay? Well, Kanaye did keep bugging him. "Uh, Mr. Saito, sir?"
Mr. Saito's eyes opened. The boy nearly jumped. "Yes. I'll close up. You know what to do. Head to the back, now," he instructed softly.
With a quick exchange of nods, the two quickly moved to work. As practiced many times before, Mr. Saito quickly turned off all the lights, shut all the blinds, locked the door and put up his 'closed' sign.
In the meantime, Kouichi went to the back, Mr. Saito's extra keys in hand, and opened the training room. Just as he brought out his sword from his D-Tector, Mr. Saito walked in.
"What are we doing today?" Kouichi asked eagerly. He carefully placed the sword in the corner of the room.
An amused smile formed on Mr. Saito's face. "Well, we'll have to go back to training, I'm afraid. Very intense training." He suppressed a laugh as he saw Kouichi's determined look. "So, while I make tea-"
"I practice with the sword?"
"Nope."
"I...practice with something else?"
Mr. Saito shook his head and corrected, "You'll be meditating, Kouichi. Concentrate, eyes closed. Sit down now. Don't let anything interrupt you. Good." The man nodded, satisfied as Kouichi followed his instructions, although reluctantly. "Now, I'll be back soon to get you."
Kouichi let out a sigh as soon as he heard the door shut. What now? He's got to be kidding, the boy thought desperately. But...then again, I wasn't concentrating after I digivolved to Duskmon, was I? That feeling was there. Eyes sill closed, Kouichi allowed a sad smile. So...this'll help. But how do I do this? ...I'm stuck. Shoot.
Kouichi.
Eh? Duskmon?
The voice snapped, Don't open your eyes, idiot!
Lowemon. Kouichi drew a breath. He didn't understand it, but it felt calming to have both digimon by his side. Only having one seemed...chaotic, in a way. Why are you here?
To lecture you, came Lowemon's reply.
Okay. Enlighten me.
When you digivolve into me, you realize you have complete control, yes? This is because I allow it, and unless you do something stupid, it will stay as such. However, when you become Duskmon...
"I lose control," Kouichi whispered softly.
No talking! Your mental abilities must grow before you work on improving any physical ones. Now, Duskmon won't just relinquish his post just like that! In order to force the control from him and gain it for yourself, you must be able to resist anything he tries. For example, were he to bake a cake and bring it in the room, you'd have to not be hungry.
Thanks. Now I'm hungry, Kouichi grumbled.
Quiet! No thinking! Concentrate. There's cake in the room.
...hm. What would Kouji say? Food!
QUIET! thundered Lowemon.
You know, I'm doing this to annoy you. I mean, what's the point? I can concentrate just fine!
No you can't. Admit it, Kouichi. You can't concentrate. Kako was right, you'll never be able to control him, and you'll probably wind up dead.
I can! You're doubting me! Kouichi thought furiously.
Lowemon laughed, You couldn't even wrestle the control out of me.
The boy was obviously incensed. Wanna bet?
What, that you'll end up like Kanaye after you make all those bets? After last night, your brain has been going haywire. Don't tell me it's because of what happened with Kako.
Bet, bet, bet, Kouichi's mind chanted, ignoring all Lowemon had said.
Lowemon growled, SILENCE!
...is silver. Fine, I'll stop. I bet Duskmon thinks you're chicken. Yes, I'm stopping.
Good. Now, understand we don't know Duskmon's true intentions. With you, he can cause a lot of damage, even kill you. You need to make sure you are mentally ready...
'Mentally ready...' Kouichi drew another breath. The words echoed through his mind. 'Mentally ready...'
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"Kouichi. Kouichi, wake up."
"Hmm...wh-wha...?" Kouichi's eyes opened, slowly widening as he realized who was in front of him. "U-uh...wh...WHA-?"
Mr. Saito chuckled, "Nice to see you awake. Lesson not passed. We'll try again later."
Standing up, Kouichi let out a sigh. What's wrong with me? When did I revert back to little Kouichi? Or...or...GAH, I'M CONFUSED! Poor Lowemon. Must've been hard to put up with me. I ought to apologize.
"You should go home now," the man commented. "It's almost eight."
"R-right..." Embarrassed, Kouichi bowed low. "Um...sorry about that..."
"No worries, no worries!" Mr. Saito laughed in a light and assuring way, "Tomorrow, then?"
Kouichi stood up, a determined look on his face. Almost immediately, he exclaimed, "Yes!" To redeem myself, he realized. I need to...redeem myself. How pathetic.
Another laugh. "Go home, Kouichi. Oh, and give Hideki this for me, would you?" Mr. Saito withdrew an envelope from his sleeve and handed it to a blinking Kouichi, adding a polite, "Thank you."
Nodding, Kouichi made his way to the front of the store.
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A/N-
I took forever to update (It was a REALLY long time…). I'm sorry (and it's short, too). One, I didn't have the chapter typed up. Two, I was having problems getting to the computer. Three...you're all too nice. It's too awesome. Thank you all! I love the reviews. They're life brightening. And the guesses you make are cool. The questions are, too, because they actually help me clarify my fanfic ten billion-fold.
A bit of my life, to you: I was looking through one of my fanfics I wrote during the summer (I thought someone opened it). I opened my main folder and saw that every folder in the list had been opened (I swear, I don't do that). I went back to the fanfic, read through, made slight corrections in grammar and spelling...I got to the last chapter and found that it wasn't cut off where it should be. I swear, I ended with Izumi tickling Takuya. The scene wasn't there. That's my life so far. Anyway, that fic has a lot of themes related to NTB 2&3, so don't expect it to be posted soon (or at all) without major revision. Now to get back to the model of the Old Globe theater I should be making…
Thank you for your reviews and PMs and whatnot that I loved so much:
PrincessYami, Catwarrior, Snowy Leopardess, WithBrokenWings, Ruki Minamoto, GemmaniGirl, The Light's Refrain, Winter's Light
Review or Flame!