Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Birthday Bash

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Soon enough, Kouichi found himself outside the bookstore. "Uh...what is this?" he wondered aloud while gazing at the envelope. "Whatever. Might as well get it to Hideki first thing." He only took a step when someone called out his name. Surprised, Kouichi stopped, nearly falling to the side for lack of balance. No, not now, he thought miserably, shutting his eyes. Run?

"Kouichi...j-just...wait," Kako breathed, staggering up to him. "Y-you know, I...I ran around for at least four hours trying to look for you..."

"Oh...y-wait, what? Why?" asked the boy, alarmed. Guilt flowed through him easily. "Sorry..."

Kako smiled. "You know, you look awfully confused right now," she told him. As Kouichi was about to open his mouth, Kako suddenly burst into laughter. Now even more confused and less guilty, Kouichi closed his mouth. Kako's laughter slowly subsided. "Sorry," she murmured, "I just realized something funny."

He broke into a smile of his own and questioned, "Yeah? What?"

"Something for me to know. You don't need to."

Evasive. Darn. Kouichi handed her the letter. "I don't suppose you could give this to your brother?"

"Oh, hold on to it if it's for Hideki," she replied, handing it back. "Anyway, I went over to your house-"

"What? Why?"

"Hold on! Let me explain!" laughed the girl. "Anyway, I went over to your house after I dropped my things off, and I happened to be wearing your hat..."

"Kouji saw?"

"Yep."

"He asked you to take a part in helping him ruin my hat?"

Kako laughed, "How'd you guess?"

"Oh...one wonders," replied Kouichi casually. "What's he up to, anyway?" Not getting a response, he frowned and narrowed his eyes. "Kako?"

Grabbing a hold of his hand, Kako began to yank him in the direction opposite of where he was going. "Wh-what? Kako!" he yelled, "I don't wanna go home!" No response, still. An impatient growl escaped him, "Kako..."

"Shush," she murmured, pushing him forward once they reached his house. "In, now." Kouichi didn't move, but instead turned around and crossed his arms. "NOW," she snapped, recognizing the stubborn look on his face.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Kouichi obliged. He opened the door and almost immediately, his jaw fell.

A loud, "SURPRISE!" and the faces of many of his classmates knocked Kouichi out of his senses.

Kouichi turned around and attempted to make his way around Kako. She grabbed one of his ears and pulled it, commanding, "Get. In. Now."

Grabbing onto her hand, Kouichi let out a squeak. "Get it off, get it off, I know I'm not dreaming!" he hissed, trying to pry off her hand.

Kako let go and pushed him inside, a small smile on her face. "See," she told the younger twin, who happened to be sitting on the couch. "I'm much more convincing than you are."

"But...but you probably threatened to kill him," Junpei pointed out, shivering.

"I'm still more convincing!"

"WHO CARES? Shut up and go surprise him even more," Kouji snapped, pushing the two towards his brother.

Making his way over to the bandana boy, Takuya muttered, "How many people did you invite?"

"Everyone who wanted to come," was the response.

"How many people is that?"

Kouji shrugged. "About twenty. Okay, more like twice that many. Or is it more...?" He trailed off and scratched the back of his head. "Doesn't matter. Where's Hideki?"

"He and Rai are almost finished with the present," reported the other boy.

A smile appeared. Kouji stood up. He pushed his way into the kitchen, dragging Takuya along with him. Immediately, he dropped down under the table and whispered, "Enjoy the surprise, Kouichi?"

Kouichi nearly jumped up and hit his head. Turning around, he replied furiously, "What's the big deal? Our birthday was yesterday!"

"Yeah, but so was the dance. And Valentine's Day. Having fun?"

"No," came the rude reply.

"Lighten up," Kouji snapped, whacking his brother's head lightly. "This is your birthday present. Enjoy it."

"WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY FOR THE WINDOW?"

Shoot, I keep forgetting, Kouji thought, letting out a nervous laugh. "You know, this is emotionally better..."

"NO. IT. ISN'T."

"Well...Takuya has something to say! Don't you, Takuya?"

About to shake his head, Takuya quickly nodded, noticing the deadly glare Kouji shot towards him. "Uh...I haven't gotten annoyed at Shinya yet?"

Kouichi rose an eyebrow. "Oh? I have news of my own. I've officially embarrassing myself by being stupid and now I'm being embarrassed by Kouji."

"Hey, the embarrassment hasn't begun."

"What?" Kouichi turned to his brother, a furious look on his face. "What do you have planned now? Painting my room in rainbow colors? Oh, simply going through my room? Or are you going to-"

Plugging his ears, Kouji yelled, "Stop giving me ideas! Takuya's bet did too much damage as it is. No, no...it's not that embarrassing. Actually...it's not embarrassing at all."

"W-what is it?" The older boy bit his lip. Please don't make me regret this-wait…what bet? I'll ask him later. Just don't make me regret this.

"Takuya, are they ready?" Kouji whispered. Takuya stood up and looked around, then nodded. "Great." The boy rose to his feet. "We're gonna sing!"

A look of horror appeared. "Kouji...please don't."

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun! You'll really like it!"

"Well, it is more like arguing while singing," Takuya admitted.

Kouichi scooted further under the table. "When you're done," he told them, "I'll hopefully be alive in this very spot."

At this moment, Kouji chuckled, "Guess who else is joining us?"

"Who?" asked the goggle boy.

"Welcome and...well, welcome!" came Hideki's voice.

The room fell silent.

"Kouji, Takuya, Junpei and Shinya, please make your way towards the T.V."

"SHINYA?" Takuya screamed. "I mean...er...right, Shinya."

He really wants to win, doesn't he? Kouichi smiled slightly and crawled out from under the table. He pulled up a seat and sat down. Wow, it's crowded, he realized, seeing the crowd of people blocking his view of the living room. Remember to go back under in the end, Kouichi.

Hideki continued as the four made their way up. "Of course, all of you should know whose house this is! Let's take some time to embarrass the birthday boys!"

Kouichi's face fell. NO...

Unfortunately, things weren't going his way today.

"Here's a little slideshow. Aww...cute pics of them, don't you think? And there's Kouichi playing with...his food? Um, moving on! Oh, there's Kouji glaring. How...very...okay, okay, I'm moving on, stop pushing me!"

Standing up, Kouichi caught sight of Kako stomping on her brother's foot. So that's what it was. He let out a sigh. This stinks.

"Having fun, Kouichi?"

"No..." mumbled the boy, slouching a bit. Almost immediately, he sat up, shocked. "What are you doing here, Ms. Kawai?"

She smiled and pulled up a chair beside him. "You know Kako and Hideki. They forced me along. Of course," she added, "I would have come anyway."

Kouichi returned his attention to the front and murmured, "I'm not sure whether to be relieved or scared." The slideshow was almost finished, much to his relief.

"...oh, and we tried getting his face, but he turned around too quick. And there's-oops, why is that one in there?" Hideki scratched his head in confusion.

Shinya yelled, "TAKUYA AND IZUMI, SITTING IN A TR-"

The goggle boy's voice almost immediately followed, "SHUT UP, YOU STUPID TWERP!"

"And Takuya loses!" Kouji announced, sounding somewhat relieved.

Ouch. Here comes the penguin suit, thought Kouichi, feeling a sting of pity for Takuya. Now what do I do with that ticket to Hawaii? Oh, I know! I think, anyway...

"Now, you see Kouji, Takuya, Junpei and Shinya at the front!" Hideki yelled. "Two of these lucky foo-er...lucky, very lucky boys...get to sing...a random song I dug up in Kouji's room!"

The response from Kouji was deadly. "Just what were you doing in my room?" he growled.

Hideki completely ignored him and continued, "And it just happens to have certain elements that make me choose...Takuya and Kouji, please take the microphone away!"

There was a pause and then applause. A bubbling feeling in the pit of his stomach told Kouichi it wasn't any good.

"Oh, this song!" Kouji commented thoughtfully. "Okay, okay, we'll sing it, won't we, Takuya?"

Takuya grumbled, "Right..." After hearing the sound of what seemed like crumpling paper, Takuya exclaimed, "Oh! This song! Right, right, we will definitely sing it!"

"I wanna sing it," Shinya whined, sulking over to Kouichi with Junpei right behind him. "Kouichi, your brother-in-law is mean..."

Kouichi choked, "'Brother-in-law?' What are you talking about?" His cheeks reddened visibly and he slowly slipped off his chair and retreated under the table. "I have no brother-in-law! Unless Kouji's married..."

"Fine, fine," the young boy muttered. A bright smile lit up his face as he corrected, "I mean your future brother-in-law!"

"Shinya," Junpei murmured warningly, "what did we say about ticking people off?"

Shinya let out a huff. "But Takuya in Hawaii would have been boring! Besides, he might've cheated on Izumi!"

The older boy stopped to ponder that last fact for a moment. Finally, nodding, he acquiesced, "You're right."

"Shinya, stop assuming people are going to get married...or cheat on others...or..." Kouichi stopped. What else would he do?

"Or sing off-tune?" offered the younger boy.

"Or sing off-tu-THEY'RE GOING TO DO THAT SONG?" hollered Kouichi, jumping out from under the table.

No one paid any attention to him. They were all too busy listening to Kouji. "As you know," the bandana boy said, "it's really a party for Kouichi! You know, the infuriating goody-two-shoes-"

I am not! Aloud, Kouichi hissed, "I am not!"

"Yeah, well, he's my brother. So I guess I can excuse his behavior. Even if he wasn't, there's a lot of things to excuse his behavior! Point is...we've got a little present! Takuya? You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Music!"

The music started. Kouichi covered his face. Not this song...

In his most off-tune voice, Takuya began:

'Shining and burning!
Ore wa honoo Omae wa hikari
Kasaneae Muteki no kagayaki
Shining and burning!
Aratanaru furontia
Mugen o sora ni egake!'

Tone deaf, Kouichi thought, wincing as Kouji began, equally as bad.

'Burning and shining!
Ore wa hikari Omae wa honoo
Te ni irero Mirai no kirameki
Burning and shining!
Owarinaki furontia
Mugen o sora e nagero!'

Off beat, Kouji. He caught a few words of a random conversation they began to have, obviously purposely muffled. What's possible? Wait-

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" the two yelled before they both began to sing once more:

'Shining and burning!
Ore wa honoo Omae wa hikari
Kasanereba Muteki no kagayaki
Shining and burning!
Aratanaru furontia
Mugen o sora ni egake!'

As they finished, Kouji yelled, "Thank you, thank you! It takes skill to sing off-tune, I'll have you know!"

Clearing his throat, Shinya was about to say something, but Kouichi quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. Turning to Junpei, he hissed, "Where's Tomoki?"

Junpei shrugged. "I think...I dunno."

"Tomoki said he couldn't come because he's meeting up with Teppei and Katsuharu today," Shinya whispered.

Those two? Wow, they still keep in touch. Kouichi shut his eyes and drew a breath, unaware as all eyes turned to him. Must be nice, having friends like that.

"...but everyone knows it was really Kouichi who sang at the dance yesterday, so it's all fair, right?"

Kouichi's eyes shot open. "W-wah...? What are we talking about?"

"Y-you sang yesterday?" Naoko asked, scooting further away.

The color drained from his face. Lie time. Standing up and stretching, Kouichi yawned. He rubbed his eyes and murmured, "Wow, look at the time! I didn't even start on homework!"

"You don't have homework, Kouichi," Rai informed him.

A sour look overcame his face. "W-well...I'm tired."

"Liar," Hideki supplied.

Kouji walked over and handed the microphone to his brother. "And now, let's all beg for an encore of yesterday's performance!" he yelled.

"NO WAY," Kouichi growled. "You can play famous singer from here, Kouji. Not me."

Kouji sighed, "Oh, come on!"

"I...I'm going for a walk, later, bye. If you leave before I come back, which you all will, please know I am very sorry I could not stay and chat for so long!" Kouichi spat, storming out the door.

Scratching his head, Kouji commented, "These parties were a lot easier when I wasn't struggling to figure out whether I should keep serious or not. The bet gave me a great cover around idiots."

"I'll go get him," Kako volunteered, dashing out the door.

"Ms. Kimura," Hideki announced, "I'm sorry if your son comes back bruised."

Kouji broke into a smile at this. The only thing that'll be bruised is his 'I'm allergic to girls,' lie.

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Kouichi let out a sigh. Today, I've embarrassed myself more times than in my entire life. Or have I? He let out a groan and rubbed the back of his head. "How stupid am I? And how long did Kouji work on that party? If it was just the regular few..."

"Kouichi, wait up!"

"NO." Furiously, Kouichi picked up his pace.

"Kouichi Kimura, if you don't stop, I'm going to torment you forever!"

For some reason, Kouichi stopped. He couldn't move. All running had done was buy him some time. And it wasn't enough. Kouichi turned around, eyes glued onto Kako. "Kako, I need to ask you something."

"The sunset's pretty, but the sunrise was prettier," commented the girl, gazing at the sky as she walked up to him. "What do you think?"

He snorted, "Obvious. The sunset today is far prettier than the sunrise. Although, the sunrise today was far better than many others we've had, it hardly can rank up to this sunset."

"But sunsets are depressing!" she argued. "The sunrises are soft, and they don't look as if they're going to murder someone!"

"Who are we talking about?" joked the boy, "Duskmon or a sunset?"

Confused, she gazed at him before breaking out into laughter. "But the sunrises are prettier!" she insisted.

"Sunsets."

"Sunrises!"

"Sunsets win by a major landslide."

"Sunrises are prettier!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah, well you're prettier than both! Er-..."

The two stood, blinking at each other before turning around as they blushed. Stiffly turning back, Kouichi asked softly, "Join me in my pathetic walk?"

Tilting her head to the side, Kako slowly allowed her senses to calm down before nodding. "Sure," she whispered, slowly walking up to him as he began to walk around. "So...what did you want to ask me?" A small smile formed on her lips

Brilliant. Great, um, lie...? "Oh, could you remind me to give the letter to Hideki if I forget?" he quickly said.

Smiling, Kako nodded. Then, she murmured, "But that's not what you were going to ask me."

"Yes I was."

"No, now tell me what you were going to really ask me."

"Kako, that was what I was going to ask you."

She shook her head. "Is not."

He looked away. Drawing a breath, Kouichi whispered, "I...er...Kako...?"

"Yes?"

"Would you...like to go out sometime?" Stupid, stupid, stupid Kouichi's brain growled as the two came to a halt.

Much to his surprise, a soft smile appeared on her face. Turning to him, Kako murmured, "I'd love to."

She'd love to? After taking several minutes to register what she had said, Kouichi let out a small laugh. "That's great," he whispered, unconsciously moving towards her. His hands came to grasp her hands. Kako fell silent and took a step closer.

"Kouichi, you want cake now?"

Both Kako and Kouichi turned to the owner of the voice. Shinya stood there, grinning and pointing to a nearby trashcan. The two turned to the trashcan, then back at each other. After pushing each other away, they made their way to the trashcan and found Takuya behind it, furiously trying to figure out how the camera worked while letting out a curse every second or two.

"Does photography run in your family, Takuya?" Kouichi asked, his voice suddenly icy.

Swallowing, Takuya hid the camera behind his back and looked up. Nervously, he laughed, "H-hi...what's up? Chance meeting, huh?"

His humor was slowly dying, but Kouichi allowed a sarcastic reply, "Oh, yes, didn't you see? It was in the stars today."

Damn little brother, blowing my cover, Takuya thought, rising to his feet. "Er, I better be on my way! Kouji wanted me to tell you that everyone left," he said hastily, grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him off. "So, I'll see you tomorrow in school! Say 'bye,' Shinya."

"OW, BYE, OW!" Shinya screamed, howling louder as his brother tightened his grip. "Takuya..."

Kouichi and Kako turned back to each other. "Uh...uhm," Kako murmured, "Oh! You need to give Hideki that letter..."

"R-right!" Kouichi exclaimed.

"Yeah..."

"Okay..."

The two looked down, blushing. "L-let's go, then," Kouichi blurted, heading back to his house.

"Hey! Wait up!" Insensitive...yet sensitive. I'll never figure him up, Kako realized as she ran to catch up to him.

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"What did you two do?" Hideki thundered as soon as they stepped inside. "No making out, right?"

"Stop freaking out," Kako snapped, reddening as Hideki continued the possibilities.

Ms. Kimura sat in the kitchen, conversing with Rai. Kouichi headed straight for the couch, plopping down and shutting his eyes. "Kouji, why are you playing my game?" he murmured.

"Umm...gosh, how'd you know it was yours?" Kouji muttered back, no hint of emotion in his voice.

A snort escaped the older twin. "Maybe the record time?"

"Well hey, I want to snowboard. Tough."

"Hm. Thanks."

"I didn't give you your present yet. Why are you thanking me?"

"I don't want it."

Silence fell between the twins.

"Oh shut up! Like that would happen!" Kako snapped.

Hideki growled, "Well it could and it better not!"

"Sick mind!"

"Little brat!"

"Old pervert!"

"Twerp!"

"Gaah! How dare you!"

"Oh, you mean he has an 'A?' That's marvelous!" Kouichi heard his mother exclaim.

Rai laughed, "Isn't it? He has quite a bright mind. Kouji, however, failed a math test or two, but I'm sure he's just hiding his true talent..."

The twins let out sighs. Opening his eyes, Kouichi smiled. "Well it was an interesting day. I actually asked."

"What?" Kouji turned to his twin with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I asked Kako out. Sort of. Well...not really. It's a start."

A sly smile appeared on Kouji's face. "Oh. I see. Keep me updated."

Huh? Kouichi allowed a small smile and shrugged.

Hideki pushed his sister away and poked Kouichi's head. "Hey. I need to talk to you," the young man muttered.

"I didn't do it," was the automatic reply, but Kouichi followed Hideki outside nevertheless. He watched as Hideki gazed down at his still bandaged hand. "What is it?"

Quietly, Hideki slipped his uninjured hand into his pocket. "You know Kanaye's sword? Have you been wondering exactly how he got it out during class?" Hideki muttered, leaning against the closed front door.

I wouldn't do that, Kouichi thought, frowning. He nodded. "Yeah. Oh, before I forget, Mr. Saito wanted me to give this to you!" Taking out the letter, Kouichi handed it to Hideki.

Hideki took it, quickly scanned the paper, then pocketed it. "Stop making me get off track. Anyway, Kanaye's sword. After class, it disappeared."

It took every bit of self-restraint Kouichi had so he wouldn't scream. Drawing a breath and letting it out, he repeated, "Disappeared?"

"Yes. I need a clear memory, here. I don't recall anything, because I thought I'd get a chance to examine after class. Did you notice any fancy ornaments on it?"

"No...not really."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Hideki pushed off the door. "I just don't see. Unless he's using the shadow system...he could be...but..." He turned to Kouichi. "Anyway, Saito tells me you're slacking in training. So, you're going to have to train under me."

"WHAT?"

A smirk appeared on Hideki's face. "We'll start tomorrow after school. I don't go easy."

Kouichi watched as Hideki called Kako out. Meh...just one day of slacking, and then I get transferred, he thought dismally. He waved to Kako as she and her brother left, soon followed by Rai. This is why I should have just kept 'little Kouichi' hidden.

It was too late now.

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A/N-

My brother got this Beyblades game. It's okay. I think he gets all the plot while I do all the levels. Speaking of videogames, I ought to play more often. Over holiday break, I snowboarded like crazy, raced chocobos like crazy, and spent a full hour and forty-five minutes to get Omnislash the day before school started. Although, adding up all the other attempts, more like four hours. I'm allergic to dogs. Well, dog fur, which stinks, because I like dogs. First cats, then dogs, then fish, then birds, but still, dogs. Which reminds me, if Kouji's dog was a bit smaller, it would definitely be cute. The way it looks is like a blown up version of what it should be. I remember it being really huge, anyway. I need to look through my cassettes to check.

My arms really hurt from doing push-ups. Why am I ranting about my life? I'm sorry. Let's take this time to laugh at Kouichi, who must now train under Hideki. Actually, that's pretty awesome. I wish I could! Oh, and the song is from 'Get The Biggest Fire!' You can check the translations at animelyrics (dot) com.

Thank you for the reviews! And I'm sorry for updating late last time:

PrincessYami, WithBrokenWings, Snowy Leopardess, GemmaniGirl, Lady Hikari-Yami, Catwarrior

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