Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon. If you haven't watched much of the show, there's Kouichi's horrible summary view below, and if you don't want a spoiler, don't read.
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The Only Thing To Fear
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Silence remained for a little while longer before he erupted into a coughing fit. It had been coming often, now, more than twice a day. Often times he wondered if it should be considered a bad sign.
"Are you sure it has to be this way?" the girl asked desperately. He shouldn't be calling her a girl, he knew, but compared to his state, she was a girl, and he would call her nothing else.
The coughing fit slowly faded and was replaced with his trademark smile. Carefree, calm, and soft. Eventually he got his breath back and spoke in a quiet voice, "Are you sure you cannot marry him?" They were both the same question, in essence; they would result in the same answer, anyway.
In many ways, she reminded him of his own daughter. Perhaps that was why his daughter looked up to her. When she didn't answer, he sighed. "Rai, you know it is the same thing. I must, just as you must not marry him. Of course, I doubt he'd ever have the courage to ask you..." He trailed off, chuckling. "But dear girl, I was meant to go a long time ago. You have a choice."
There was that stubborn glint in her eyes. "I don't want to go!" she snapped, standing up. "You're lying! You have a choice, too!"
"'Angels choose their commitments wisely.' Do you know that it's a famous quote from my books? Only, it isn't my quote," the man whispered softly. He knew she hated him at the moment, and every reason why, but he continued, "You know he is the one who found that quote to be true. Why? Because you were an angel to him. That is why he resents Kouichi with all his heart. You are saving Kouichi, and he cannot be by your side while you do so. You do recall at the restaurant how when you let the light out, he was glaring from outside? Yes, you know what I'm talking about Rai." He frowned when she refused to face him. It reminded him greatly of a young child.
Rai hung her head, her eyes glued to the carpet floor. "An angel?" she repeated. "Me? He's delusional. The only think angelic about me is probably my innocent face, and even that's a fake. Does he even know how many times I've led him on into thinking we had a relationship? I'm just doing my job, Marise, I'm not committed! I could care less about the Digital World!" She swallowed and halted her rant, unsure of what was flying out of her mouth. "Tell him...tell him that for me, would you?" whispered Rai.
Marise Saito smiled. "But you should do so yourself," he said sagely, standing up. "I'm afraid you'll have to see yourself out. Old age, no matter how young the body, affects us mentally."
When Marise left the room, Rai sighed and fell back into an armchair letting out a long sigh. "One can't hope too much, Marise."
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Kouichi looked at Marise's diary for the first time in what he found to seem like a long time. How long has it been? Drawing a breath, he shut his eyes and whispered, "Duskmon...? Lowemon?"
"There's another D-Tector out," came Duskmon's blunt reply.
Another D-Tector. Another D-Tector, another digimon-it didn't seem to matter anymore. His life was a boring circle of events. Eventually, it would repeat itself. But recent happenings had offered a chance for a change. "Duskmon, I don't care!" the boy snapped, hand tightening around the diary. He wasn't sure how Hideki would react, but it had to be done. Possibly, definitely most likely, Kouichi would make many enemies with what he was doing. He could end up being cast away from his friends, and he knew this. Kako could hate him forever. For all he knew, Kouichi could end up causing the destruction of both worlds.
Even with that possibility haunting his mind, Kouichi found that it only seemed right in the end. Kako deserved to know, and as of lately, the diary slipped out of his mind. Every time he caught sight of it, Kouichi felt strange, as if there was a burden placed on him, one he had cast upon himself.
After deciding he was completely positive about his choice, Kouichi drew another breath and asked, "Do you know whose D-Tector?" He completely ignored the fact that he had snapped at Duskmon earlier.
Duskmon didn't seem vexed at the least. He calmly regarded Kouichi with amusement before answering, "As usual, no. I'm assuming it's Izumi's. Care to tell me what's wrong"
Kouichi froze. 'Care to tell me what's wrong?' Had Duskmon actually asked him that? Coming from Duskmon's mouth, the words sounded foreign, unreal. But having been stuck in a dream while his supposedly 'faulted' self ran wild, Kouichi knew better than to think this was a dream. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing came out. Finally, he rasped, "What?"
"...or not." Duskmon sounded slightly offended.
Unable to understand what was going on, Kouichi blinked rapidly, shooting a quick look at the clock. Midnight exactly. How long had he been up? Swallowing, he turned to Duskmon. "Where's Lowemon?" asked the boy with wide eyes.
Duskmon shrugged. "I'm assuming he's making sure the others don't make some stupid mistake or another," he responded.
Thoughts raced through Kouichi's head. "Is this...happening because I'm accepting the part of me I rejected?" he thought aloud in a quick murmur. Duskmon said nothing when Kouichi turned to him. "Both parts were equivalent to you and Lowemon, right?"
Again, nothing.
Somehow overcome by the gift of gab, Kouichi continued, "So that means you two are going to become one, am I right? After all, the only reason you two existed as two separate entities was because I couldn't accept my faults. My faults, which I pushed aside the time you took over me. When I got Lowemon, I made sure to push away every fault I found in myself. But now, I realize, that won't get me anywhere. Now that I'm accepting my other half, you're going to disappear, aren't you, Duskmon?" There was a certain hint of fear in his voice. Fear. He feared losing Duskmon.
Staring thoughtfully out the window, Duskmon merely shrugged once more. Before Kouichi could open his mouth, however, the digimon allowed a blade out, pointing it at the boy's neck. "Hush," he commanded in a soft voice. Soft, but dangerous. The blade was withdrawn, and Duskmon walked closer to the window, eyes glued to the luminous moon. "The time has come," he murmured, "and I will cease to exist outside of Lowemon, and he outside of me. We will become one once more, and perhaps there will be a bit more balance in the grand scale. You see, you can never depend on one person's opinion of the shadow system, because it's completely tricky. Eventually, you will see how it truly operates. Then you will come to see why it is necessary that I must not exist as my own entity." He turned back around to face Kouichi. "The moon cannot exist without the sun to balance it. Even the darkness and the light have two sides to themselves. Those two parts balance the attribute out just as they balance each other out. To be a warrior of either of the two is a great responsibility, Kouichi, and you and your brother have taken it well."
Kouichi let out a choked sob before he could stop himself. There were tears flowing down his cheeks freely. Surprised, Duskmon stepped back. "Come on, give me a break. Don't tell me I make touching speeches," he said, half-jokingly.
"Y-you don't," Kouichi murmured, his voice cracking although he tried to keep it level. He couldn't understand why this was happening. Perhaps this was...
There was a knock on his door. "Kouichi, are you okay?"
His mother. Kouichi froze. Ms. Kimura walked into the room, frowning slightly. She fell silent almost immediately, her mouth opened in shock. Kouichi looked from his mother to Duskmon, for fear she could see him. "M-Mom...?" he murmured, eyes wide. Please say no, please say no...
The next second, Ms. Kimura collapsed to the floor. Kouichi's eyes widened. "KOUJI!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Kouji stumbled out of his room, his blanket entangling his feet. As he was a few steps away from Kouichi's room, he tripped over the blanket, doing a somersault and rising to his feet. "Wha-? Who, what? Is Kanaye attacking again?" he muttered, half-asleep.
There was a long silence. Regarding his brother strangely, Kouichi inquired, "What dreams have you been having?" When Kouji reddened, the older twin regretted phrasing the question as he had. "Would you help me with Mom? I think...I think she saw Duskmon..." He swallowed, looking at Duskmon nervously.
Snorting, Kouji looked at Duskmon and remarked, "Well, when you look at a guy that's practically covered in eyes, wouldn't you faint, too?"
"You and the others didn't."
"Hush. Duskmon, how could she see you?" Kouji snapped.
Duskmon didn't seem the least bit ashamed as he confessed, "I forgot to mention that as I disappear, I lose the ability to remain invisible to those not involved in the incident four years ago, and eventually I will become-well, right now I am-physically real in your world. Eventually, I'll lose that physical state and merely become visible. Then comes the best part of all!" Lacking enthusiasm, he told them, "I'll get to be stuck in the same body as Lowemon, completely bored."
"Wait, if you're physically real right now, then you can pick her up and put her on the couch!" the bandana boy declared, pointing at Duskmon and furiously glaring at the digimon.
Kouichi and Duskmon exchanged glances before the older boy asked somewhat hesitantly, "You sleep with your bandana on?" It took every ounce of self-control not to laugh.
Kouji looked at his brother with a look that clearly told the older twin that his question would remained unanswered. "So are you going to help us or do we have to risk dropping our mom, Duskmon?" he snapped at Duskmon.
Effortlessly, Duskmon strode forward and picked up Ms. Kimura in his hands (which Kouichi thanked his lucky stars weren't blades) and placed her on the couch in the living room. "Happy?" he asked in a gruff voice, gazing at the twins unhappily.
"NO," Kouji retorted. If anything, he was annoyed at having his sleep interrupted.
Kouichi stared at the comatose body of his mother. Shifting from one foot to another, he muttered, "Will she be okay?" He highly doubted it. First Kanaye and the sword, now Duskmon. First thing I do when I come back from Hideki's tomorrow afternoon is explain what the heck is going on, he decided. She had a right to know after all. And he needed time to prepare. That was if he woke up early enough.
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Much to his luck, Kouichi made it out of his house before his mother woke up. That left Duskmon to mope in his room and Kouji to deal with their mother for the moment.
I really hope it didn't scare her too much. Should I talk to Hideki about it? Kouichi let out a long sigh as he rang the doorbell. The door opened, but Kouichi's eyes were glued to the ground as he was contemplating how to break the news to his mother and how exactly to explain to Hideki. "Oh, what would I say? 'Hi Hideki. I hope you don't mind that my mom saw Duskmon. You won't murder me if I explain it to her, will you? Oh, and I hope you don't mind, but I gave Kako the di-" He paused and looked up, ashen-faced. "E-er...h-hello, Mr. Sakai..."
Gen Sakai stared at the young boy before him. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the book in the boy's hand. The frown on his face deepened. "What are you doing here, boy?" he demanded.
Kouichi stared at Mr. Sakai with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. The very air around him caused him to become terrified into a sudden silence. He hadn't expected the man to be home. Kako had explained to him once that he always was away on one business trip or the other, and Hideki hadn't cancelled lessons, either. But what could he say? 'Hideki asked me to come over because he's training me at the moment. Only because Mr. Saito couldn't. Oh, and I need to give Kako this book, which is really her biological father's diary!' That explanation would probably earn him a good yelling, a kick off of the property, or a slam of the door in his face. So Kouichi stood there, mouth clamped shut.
"KAKO DON'T BLOW UP THE KITCHEN! WHAT ARE YOU-NO! PIXIMON GET BACK HERE! NO! STOP IT! KAKOOOO!" Hideki screamed. From behind Mr. Sakai, Kouichi could catch glimpses of Hideki running back and forth, chasing either Kako or Piximon. He must have finally noticed Kouichi, because he ran to the door immediately. "Uh...hello, Kouichi..." he muttered, not meeting the accusing eyes of the man right next to him. "Didn't know you'd come this early." If anything, Kouichi could describe Hideki as nervous.
Not that he wasn't nervous himself. "W-well," he mumbled in return, "I needed to talk to you about several things, but if now's a bad time, I could come back."
"Is that Kouichi?" Kako exclaimed, running to the door. She looked annoyed. Pointing to the digimon behind her, she asked, "Could you please get Piximon off my back? He keeps bugging me to do my homework again!"
Several times, Kouichi opened and closed his mouth. Finally, he stared up at Mr. Sakai. "I'm sorry," he said, bowing slightly. "I'll come back later."
Hideki cleared his throat, and Kouichi turned back around. Walking outside, he grabbed Kouichi by the shoulder, turned him around and pushed him inside, declaring, "Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned you're staying. You can bug Kako to do her homework, and I'll actually be able to finish a bit of work!" A satisfied smile graced Hideki's face when he noticed the scowl Gen had put on.
As if taking a hint, Kako grabbed Kouichi's arm and rushed him into her room, slamming the door shut behind them. She leaned against the door and sank to the floor emitting a sigh. "You have no idea how chaotic it's been since yesterday night," she told him, reaching out a hand and grabbing her backpack to pull it closer. I've had to call Piximon a battery-operated-flying-plush-thing, Hideki had to hide all the weapons and lock them in his closet, and to top it off, to make it seem like he's really how I described him, Piximon keeps saying, 'Do your homework!' Infuriating...hey, what's that? Another one of your books?"
Kouichi tightened his grip around the diary. 'I want you to read this.' It was so simple to say. Just give it to her, Kouichi, a voice inside of him yelled, Just do it! But he was held back. He would be betraying Hideki, wouldn't he? Placing the diary behind of him, Kouichi shook his head and replied, "It's nothing. Do you guys do this every time he comes home?"
"No! He's staying for a week! A WEEK! Gen never stays that long! And after what happened before the dance, um...well..." Kako looked away sheepishly.
Kouichi rose an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?" he asked.
Kako looked up. "I've just been making fun of his name!" she replied indignantly.
Chuckling, Kouichi shook his head. "Yeah, I don't want to know." He sat down across from Kako and leaned back on his palms, looking up at the ceiling. "Last night, I was talking to Duskmon," he murmured. There was a sudden second where a pained expression appeared on his face. He quickly pushed it away and drew a breath, trying to remain calm.
"Yeah?"
He felt choked up. For several seconds, all Kouichi did was breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. "I...well, see, I was talking to him, and he's..." Kouichi shut his eyes. "He's fading. Back into Lowemon."
Kako opened her mouth before noticing the expression on Kouichi's face. Shaking her head, she shut her own eyes. "Sometimes," the girl murmured, "there will be times when we have to give up what is most precious to us. Even those who seem completely heartless...will have to. In order for us to keep those precious things, there is a sacrifice to be made. Some of us are blind to the way until too late. Others are afraid. The very few who do take this sacrifice...do it for those they love. We can't stop the flow of life, and we probably can't really alter it, either. All I can say is that Duskmon won't really be gone. You know that. I'm sure..." She trailed off, trying to spit out the words. They failed to come.
A sad smile appeared on Kouichi's face as he opened his eyes. He sat up straight and leaned forward, covering her mouth. Kako's eyes widened in surprise. With a sigh, Kouichi explained, "But what's worse is he's physically real in our world now. My mom...she walked in while I was talking to him. And...and then she fainted." He pulled his hand away and looked at his shoes, embarrassed. "I have no idea how to explain it to her," he told her miserably, "and I can't lie about a being that's pretty much human except for the fact that he wears weird armor stuff and has eyes all over his body."
She laughed at this. "Hey, at least the others didn't get caught, right?"
Kouichi just shrugged. "I hope not," he added as an afterthought. "It'd be pretty strange to explain to our parents..." He let out a sigh and hung his head.
"I guess..." Kako bit her lip and silently stared at Kouichi, half listening in on the conversation that was being taken place outside her room.
"...the hell would you know?"
Kouichi shot Kako a confused look. Stiffening, she placed a finger on her lips.
"Quiet. I have every right to throw you out of the house."
"You have no right to throw her out of the house!"
"But you'd just take her with you. I don't need to throw her out of the house."
"Shut the-"
Kako went pale, Kouichi could see. He sighed before moving to sit against the door beside her. "Kako," he whispered, "just ignore them, okay? Did you finish your homework? Wait, Piximon was bugging you to do so, so of course not. Come on. Kako..." He did his best to convince her to ignore the conversation, but nothing seemed to move her. At last, when the voices quieted, tears welled in her eyes.
"Kouichi...it isn't fair," she whispered, drawing her knees up and encircling them with her arms. Her head was down, but he didn't need to see to tell she was crying.
He wasn't sure what to do. Feelings overwhelmed him one at a time until at last he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. It felt strange, but it held a calming effect for them both. In a matter of seconds, Kako's soft crying was subdued. Slowly pulling away, Kouichi murmured, "I'm sure...positive...that it's all talk. Don't cry, Kako."
She drew a breath and let out a soft sigh. "I don't...want to leave yet. There's too much I need to finish. Too much...left incomplete." She looked up at Kouichi, a desperate look in her eyes. "I can't leave!"
"If all else fails, Kazemon can fly you back and forth," Kouichi joked.
"Kouichi!"
"What?"
"You dork," she growled, rising to her feet. At the window, Piximon floated, tapping on the glass impatiently. "Go away Piximon. What-Kouichi, no!" Kako groaned as Kouichi stood up and opened the window for the digimon to fly in.
"Thanks, Kouichi! Yup, yup, Kako! You know what time it is!" Piximon said, not the least bit bothered by Kako's foul mood.
Kouichi smiled. And while he tortures her to do her homework, I prepare a long speech on how to explain to Mom...
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Tomoko Kimura woke up to find herself on the couch. The very last thing she remembered was that...thing. Shivering, she stood up and walked into the kitchen to find her youngest son. "Kouji, where's your brother?" she asked, deciding the entire thing was a dream.
Kouji sat at the dining table, a sandwich in one hand and the newspaper in the other. He choked on his food when he discovered his mother behind him. "Um," he murmured, "I think he went out."
"Oh, I see." Might as well make breakfast, she decided.
"Well, it's one. I better get to kendo practice," Kouji told her, dropping the paper and stuffing the rest of the sandwich in his mouth.
Ms. Kimura nearly choked. "One?" she repeated. "How long have I been asleep?"
As much as he wanted to refrain from chewing his food, Kouji did, and swallowed. Let's make this quick, Kouji, he told himself before he took a deep breath. "Well, after seeing Duskmon you fainted and so Kouichi decided to wake me up. Duskmon had to carry you to the couch because Kouichi and I were afraid we'd drop you. After that I argued with Duskmon for a while, yelled at Kouichi and then went back to sleep. Kouichi fell asleep at some time but now he's at Kako's," Kouji said quickly, as fast as his mouth could dish out the words.
Tomoko stood there, still confused. She hadn't caught a single word her son had said except the last sentence. "So he's at Kako's house?" she repeated, dazed slightly.
"Yes and he said his room is a mess, don't clean it today and he'll clean it when he gets back," Kouji reported, deciding his brother wouldn't want their mother to faint yet again after seeing Duskmon in Kouichi's room.
"Kouji..."
"Yes?"
"You're going to see your father, right?" she asked quietly.
Kouji nodded and looked away, his gaze eventually falling on the clock. "W-well, I'm going to be late! I'm coming straight home!" he yelled, dashing out the door, kendo bag in hand.
The door shut, and Tomoko was left alone in the house, confused, half-asleep and hungry. Maybe I just need to relax, she decided, continuing to make her lunch. And then I'll clean Kouichi's room for him.
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Kouichi stared at what he had written. A hand cramp resulted from two pages back and forth of continuous writing, two lines per every line on the paper. There was writing from the top to the very bottom of the page, going into the margin to the very edge of the paper. Wincing, he shook his hand for a while, eyes glued to Kako. The girl seemed at her breaking point. Piximon was hovering nearby, commenting on every mistake she made. Before Kako could strangle the digimon, Kouichi shoved his paper forward. "Tell me what you think, will you?" he asked. "Or, no, just listen." Kouichi drew back the paper and inhaled deeply before reading as fast as he could:
"After hearing about Kouji from Grandma, I thought it would be a bit of help to get the family together so I started stalking him. It wasn't really stalking, I just wanted to figure a bit more about him, but that's beside the point. The point is, I followed him to the Shibuya train station one day, and that happened to be the day that I tripped down the stairs quite stupidly and fell into a coma. It's not my fault, though. The stairs turned the corner every flight, so naturally, when one runs down the stairs, their foot would catch on a step, right?
"Anyway, I fell into a coma, but I didn't know that. The next thing I knew I was in this place that was dark. Then I don't remember much. Just Cherubimon and getting brainwashed. But it wasn't bad brainwashing to make me kill people! It was just to kill Kouji and everyone, but that was because I was brainwashed and I got turned into a digimon. So while I was Duskmon..." Kouichi trailed off and waved to the air to his side. "Okay, Duskmon will be here at the time when I say all this stuff I'm completely making up right now," he muttered before continuing, "So while I was Duskmon, Kouji was off being a loser-yes, a loser-and eventually managed to make friends with Takuya and the rest. But I beat him up as Duskmon several times.
"Kouji didn't know about my existence, and their main purpose was to stop Duskmon. They didn't know about me. I was brainwashed, and I didn't really know them, so it worked out for both of us. Our goals as we were. But Kouji beat me and I'm here." Kouichi paused to catch his breath. "After that I had to spill the entire secret to him. I think he was mad at me for a while. Then we ran into Cherubimon and I managed to beat him up with Kouji's help. No, he didn't do that much. I just couldn't digivolve until I got my D-Tector." Another pause. "I show her the D-Tector at this point."
Surprised, Kako rose her hands up as if surrendering. "One second!" she exclaimed. "Too much info! Slow down so she can understand!"
Kouichi sank back into his seat. "I don't want her to understand. I don't want her to know. She'll only worry more," he mumbled, crumpling the papers up in his hands.
Kako sighed, "Kouichi, there's one thing you need to know..."
"What?"
"You're stupid. Honestly, don't you know the real world by now?"
"...the pollution or the idiocy?"
Kako paused to consider the question. "Um...they're pretty much the same, if you ask me."
It was Kouichi's turn to pause. He smiled slightly before murmuring, "Good point. So then I do know the real world." The smile turned triumphant.
Rolling her eyes, Kako brushed the paper in front of her to the floor and leaned back in her chair. She slowly massaged the sides of her head and shut her eyes. "Let me just say this."
"Shoot."
"She's your mother."
"Right."
"She cares what's happening to you."
"True."
"You owe her a lot."
"Okay."
"SO JUST TELL HER THE TRUTH!" Kako snapped, swatting Piximon towards Kouichi.
Out of surprise, Kouichi held out his hands to catch the soaring digimon, breaking his fall. "Don't take your anger out on Piximon!" the boy whined, letting go of Piximon when he began to fly again, having recovered quickly from the throw.
Kako was silent. Her eyes were glued to the window. "You know," she commented softly, "you owe her that. A speech won't do anything, and you can't keep lying. Just come out and tell her the truth." Black eyes turned to Kouichi, expectant for an answer.
He looked down, slowly taking in her words. "I guess...I do. But you ought to be a bit truthful yourself. You didn't ask Hideki, did you?" accused the boy, pointing a finger at Kako.
"It isn't polite to point!" Kako snapped, pointing back. "You jerk, I need time!"
Furiously, Kouichi stood up. "You have time!"
"What! With Mr. Genki-less?"
Silence descended upon the conversation. Kako held her ground, glaring furiously at Kouichi. Exasperated, Kouichi slapped his forehead and groaned, "Don't tell me that's what you meant when you were making fun of his name."
But she just smiled and giggled. "But it's fun!" she insisted. Kako jumped up to her feet. "Hey, do you want to go out? I'm feeling stuffed in here." Kouichi just shrugged. "Okay, so we're going!" decided Kako, grabbing his hand and yanking it as she headed for the door.
Hideki threw the door open. He was breathing hard, trying to catch his breath. "O...okay, Kouichi, now we ca-HEY! Hold it! Just what are you two doing?" he snapped suspiciously, most pointed towards Kouichi.
Kouichi stared at his hand. This doesn't bode well, he realized. Kako coughed and cleared her throat, looking away as if to act innocent. This managed to change the course of Hideki's glare and suspicion.
Growling, Hideki repeated, "Kako..."
Okay, maybe it does. Yes, I don't get in trouble! Mentally cheering, he let go of Kako's hand and sent her an apologetic look. She looked slightly disappointed, but greatly annoyed. Actually, it might not bode well for Hideki, thought Kouichi, observing both siblings expressions. If there was one thing he felt like, it was like an announcer doing play-by-plays at a game. He silently acted so, finding it slightly amusing. For not taking part in this glaring contest, it was definitely amusing to Kouichi.
But all good things come to an end, and this moment was no exception. A full minute later, Gen stepped in the room, mouth open. His face contorted into a gaze of anger when he saw Kako had turned towards Kouichi, hands on the lapels of his jacket. "What are you doing?" the icy voice asked. Everyone froze. No one said anything. Immediately, he turned to Kouichi and demanded, "Why are you here?"
"I...uh...y-you see, sir, um, o-one, Hideki is...uh...t-tutoring me! Yeah!" Kouichi blurted, nodding with wide eyes. Never had anyone scared him this much. At least, not usually. A dull thud sounded, and Kouichi turned his head quickly to find Piximon on the ground, facing away from Mr. Sakai. He turned back and swallowed.
The man didn't buy it. "So Kako grabbing you by the collar has to do with Hideki tutoring you?" he asked in a colder voice than before.
By now, however, Kouichi had managed to collect himself enough to stop shaking. He calmly removed Kako's hands and inclined his head in her direction. Swiftly grabbing Marise's diary (as he didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands), Kouichi stepped around Kako and politely bowed to Mr. Sakai. He murmured in apology, "I'm sorry if this was a bad time. I'll come again later, then." He was just about to leave when Kako grabbed his arm. I knew something this bad would happen, Kouichi thought, wincing.
Almost instinctively, Hideki grabbed his other arm. "Let go of him, Kako! He needs to train!"
The girl tugged on Kouichi's hand. "NO WAY! I need someone to get Piximon off my back!" Kako snapped.
Effortlessly, Hideki yanked on Kouichi's hand as well, countering, "Well maybe if you did your homework he would!"
Another tug.
"Shut up!"
Another.
"Whatever happened to respecting your elders?"
Another.
"ELDER SCHMELDER, YOU STINK!"
Another.
"You're a bratty, immature, insignificant worm!"
"Worms are disgusting, just like you!" Kako snapped, giving Kouichi's arm a final tug before he managed to release both hands from the siblings' grip.
"I...think," Kouichi said slowly, "you two need to be stuck in a room to dish out your insults. You're a couple of kids." He ignored the glare from Hideki and turned to Kako, frowning slightly. "And you need to ask," he told her before heading for the exit of the room. "I'll see you two la-" started Kouichi, when Gen grabbed a hold of his collar, lifting him well above the ground. Give me a break. The boy mentally groaned.
Gen's grip tightened. "You won't be coming back here if you know what's good for you, boy. I remember you...fatherless." Kouichi choked, but found himself unable to say anything. "So if you think about coming back here, think of it as your mother being childless."
All was silent. Fury was racking through Kouichi's veins, demanding to be vented. Every ounce of self control he had previously had dissipated as he lifted up his foot and thrust it forward, allowing it to graze into Gen's arm and hit his shoulder. In a way, Kouichi was surprised to feel no guilt for attacking the man, but he didn't care. Having released himself and seeing Gen leaning against the wall, rubbing his injured shoulder, Kouichi walked out the door to Kako's room. "If you even think about harming me, you're sorely mistaken. I'm not fatherless, thank you; my father's alive and well. Although maybe I would wish otherwise, I've got a brother, too, so even if you did manage to get me, she wouldn't be childless. You, on the other hand, should consider your own family," the boy advised, practically storming out of the house.
There was a slam of the door before Kako and Hideki turned to each other. Hideki was positively amazed, Kako bursting happily.
"That...was...so...COOL! I had no idea you could ever do that! I'm going to try that on Kanaye next week!" she laughed, turning to Piximon.
Piximon was smiling too, but not because of what Kouichi had done. Fluttering by Kako's shoulder, he sang, "Homework time! Yup, yup!" Kako groaned and fell back on her bed.
Still shocked, Hideki stared at Gen. "Why doesn't he do that in practice...?" the boy mumbled. Do I not torture him enough? So I have to insult his family to get him angry? Hideki let out a sigh and slouched out of the room. With a mumble of, "Kako, just do your homework," and, "Get out of her room, Gen. You need to treat that shoulder," Hideki walked into his own room and collapsed on the bed face first.
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Kouichi let out a sigh, rubbing his throat gently. The sky had its dull blue hue, clouds dotting a few areas here and there. Just another day, he thought from his place at the table in front of the cafe.
There were a few conversations that took place around him, but Kouichi paid no heed until someone called his name.
"Kouichi!"
The boy looked up and found Tomoki staring at him, Shinya right beside him. Quietly, he waved to them both.
"Lowemon told us there's a D-Tector out. You didn't get it?" Tomoki asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice.
Kouichi remained silent. In truth, he had completely forgotten about the D-Tector. After going to his father's house last time, he wondered what was truly going on in Kouji's mind. He seemed perfectly fine, but all he had written made him sound crazy. Maybe he plans to write a book about us, Kouichi guessed absentmindedly, not really paying attention to Shinya or Tomoki. It wasn't intentional, but what had happened back at Kako's house had gotten him to think if he really was fatherless. His father wasn't around, of course, but that couldn't be helped, could it? He was only one man.
Tomoki seemed to get the hint. Turning to Shinya, and then Kouichi, he said, "Well, we better get going now. I'll see you later. Come on, Shinya, I'll get you the ice cream now."
Letting a tired sigh escape his lips, Kouichi rose to his feet and headed back home. If there was one thing to fear, it was the possibility of a broken family.
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A/N-
I think my computer is against me, but oh well. I'm hoping on zooming through more of this. That made no sense. My bad. I have thirteen minutes before school (less, actually) while I'm finishing this.
Thank you those who reviewed:
Ruki Minamoto, Konfused Kitty, GemmaniGirl, Catwarrior, WithBrokenWings, PrincessYami
A story is nothing without its readers, but it would help if you all gave me some advice on fixing it, not just the same people. (Of course, those same people are cool, too, but I can sort of figure out what they want by now.) So if you're just reading, take some time to review, please? It doesn't cause viruses to jump into your computer. Come to think of it, I should be reading more fics. Anyway, big thank you to everyone who reads and everyone who reviews.
Also, sorry for spamming certain people with review replies from Ch. 9. I realized too late that I already sent those out. And you'll get your review replies PMed (if anonymous) or replied to you (if signed) tomorrow. I'm researching for an AP US History diagnostic test. Something screwed around with the italics, so the thoughts might not be italicized.
Review or PM or Flame.