Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.
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Fly High-The Bird's Eye View
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Kako sat, staring at the suitcase. Hideki had said that she could go, but...
She didn't want to.
Nervously, she began packing, ignoring Piximon's hovering presence.
"You gonna take me? Please, Kako? Please? I wanna go to Hawaii! I won't bug you to do your homework!" promised the digimon, darting back and forth through the air.
That wasn't exactly what Kako was worried about at the moment. In three hours, she would be on a plane, sitting by Kouji. She was panicking.
"Kako, are you done yet?" Hideki called from the kitchen.
She was going to Hawaii, and Hideki wasn't even back with Rai yet. What was worse was that it would probably affect her entire relationship with Kouichi. It was what he intended, she knew. Kako groaned and threw in the rest of her things. "Come on, Piximon," she mumbled, pulling up the suitcase. "You can pass for a stuffed animal."
"Kako!"
"I'm coming!" she snapped, storming to the front, suitcase behind her. Piximon was in one arm, then on her head as Kako muttered, "Let's go." All she wanted was to get this over with.
Hideki rolled his eyes. "Finally, complete silence. It's a miracle. I think I'll let Kouichi have a minute break today," he breathed in relief. Noticing Kako's annoyed look, he smiled and walked towards the door. "Come on, I need my break, too."
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There was silence. Kouichi gazed at the still figure of his brother. What could he say? "Kouji..." The name was a bare whisper on his lips, and yet his brother still turned around. Kouichi shut his eyes. Duskmon was fading, his family was broken, and his brother was a link on the edge of snapping. Quietly, Kouichi inclined his head. "Good luck," he murmured, not sure of the meaning of his words himself.
Kouji smiled slightly, accepting the ticket from his mother and the hug that followed. The entire time, however, his eyes were glued on his brother. Kouichi was trusting him. Nothing in the world could make Kouji betray that trust. He couldn't. Saying his good-bye's, Kouji waved and walked to the gate where he found Kako, gazing at the carpet with a terrified look on her face.
"You okay?" he asked, taking a seat to her left. The thought of having to go through the entire trip frightened him, but he grew to accept it. It would only be for a while after all.
Kako nodded, not sure if she could trust her voice. Piximon was asleep on her lap. She herself was ready to sleep. Finally, she murmured, "I get the window seat." It was all she could do to stay awake and hold a civilized conversation with Kouji.
Kouji shrugged. "Fine, we'll switch off."
Too tired to argue, Kako just nodded. With a sigh, she sat back in her seat and shut her eyes. "Tell me when the flight comes," she muttered. He grunted in response, gazing expectantly at the counter. It would be a long wait, he realized. Kouji sat back, eyes still glued to the counter. He might as well rest.
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An hour and many minutes later, the two were on the plane. Kako had the window seat, but Kouji guessed she wouldn't hold out for long. He was in the middle seat, next to a rather lively lady who kept pestering him with questions.
"Oh, are you two brother and sister?" she asked as soon as she sat down.
Immediately, Kouji guessed he wouldn't like her much. He had always been quiet in public without his friends. After all, why talk to strangers without a reason? That was his reasoning. "No," he answered bluntly, looking out the window as much as he could.
Kako stared out the window absentmindedly, ignoring the conversation Kouji was trying to avoid and Piximon's snoring. Her eyelids felt heavy, eventually, however slowly, shutting and giving her the sleep that her mind and body longed for.
Kouji, noticing this, gazed at the seatbelt sign.
No light.
He smirked slightly, unbuckling himself and Kako, then standing up. With some difficulty (and after pushing Piximon to the floor) he placed Kako in his previous seat, put her seatbelt on, then sat down and buckled up himself, staring at the window.
Piximon went completely unnoticed. The digimon, now awake, scowled and floated up, giving Kouji a sound smack on the head before returning to Kako's lap.
Now freed from the annoying conversation, Kouji took his time to gaze at the sparkling blue waters below. Every now and then there would be a cloud or two blocking the view. But when they cleared, Kouji would find the sight more breath taking than the previous. He just wished he could share it.
Tired, Kouji looked at the sleeping form of Kako. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand her. Kouji soon found himself leaning over towards her. His heart was racing, and he did his best not to breathe, afraid Kako would wake at the slightest sound.
There was an incoherent jumble of words. Kako turned her upper body away from Kouji. Somehow, he stopped himself from falling. Instead, he drew a breath and leaned back in his seat, nearly jumping at the touch of Kako's head on his shoulder. Kouji sat there, frozen for several minutes before he finally relaxed back in his seat and shut his eyes, deciding to follow everyone else's example and sleep.
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Kouichi lay on his bed, thoughts focused on Kouji and Kako. Half of his mind told him to digivolve into Velgemon and go after them. The other half seemed to be bugging him about something else. I'm sorry, he thought. I can't help it if I don't seem to be accepting you.
It was true. After the first few days, all changes ceased to be. Kouichi was sure it wasn't because he was pushing his other side away again. In fact, he made sure to do the opposite. Yet for some reason, he remained the same Kouichi, completely untouched by his shocking experience.
It was bugging him.
"Kouichi."
Surprised, the boy sat up and looked at the fading form of Duskmon. His heart fell immediately. Slowly, day-by-day, Duskmon was fading into nothing. It hurt to see this. Silently, Kouichi shut his eyes. "Duskmon," he murmured.
"You should be training with Seraphimon."
Something was troubling Kouichi, and it wasn't just his other half. "Duskmon," he repeated.
"He's probably waiting."
Suddenly, it made sense why Duskmon wasn't replying. Kouichi opened his eyes. He was in darkness. His comatose body lay on the bed, Duskmon staring at it, eyes void of any emotion. Kouichi himself was in the same darkness where he had first found his other half, with a clear view of what was going on in the surroundings of his body. For a split second, there was a light that shone from nowhere-the next second, a mirror image stood before him. Awkwardly, Kouichi stared at his shoes. "Uhh..."
His other self got to the point. "You're guilty."
"What?"
"You're guilty," the second Kouichi repeated. "Stop being guilty."
Guilt? He was guilty, and he hadn't known. Was it really guilt? Kouichi, unsure, was about to open his mouth when he found himself staring at Duskmon.
He was awake.
Confused, Kouichi sat up and pinched his wrist. Much to his chagrin, pain flooded through. Weakly, Kouichi stood up and acknowledged the digimon's presence with a nod. As he made for the door, he asked, "Was I asleep long?"
Duskmon shrugged. "You know...Kako owes me one last favor," he suddenly mumbled.
Kouichi nodded and murmured, "What about it?" He was both curious and afraid of what Duskmon might ask.
There was a silence. Kouichi turned around and found Duskmon gazing at him. There was a conflict in his eyes, one that made Kouichi really wonder what his intentions were. As a shiver ran up his spine, then back down, Duskmon shook his head. "Never mind. I'll tell you later," he muttered. Instead, Duskmon snapped, "Get to Saito's. He'll be waiting."
Heart heavy with a swarm of feelings, Kouichi walked out of his room, afraid to look back. Lowemon, what'll we do now? He wondered what life without Duskmon would be like. It didn't feel right at the least.
Lowemon appeared beside Kouichi, silent in respect to Kouichi's mood. He himself was worried about what would happen with Duskmon. Slowly, the other Warrior of Darkness was fading. All Lowemon could do was wait and see what happened. Yet with a quick glance at Kouichi, he could tell that waiting wouldn't do anything to mollify the boy. Perhaps I should talk to Marise, he thought, suddenly worried.
If there was one thing all of them were sure of, it was an extremely bumpy ride.
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Izumi frowned at the papers in her hand. Nothing. She had nothing. In fact, Izumi was beginning to wonder if she was searching for the right thing. Silently, she turned to Takuya who was sorting through his own notes. In a quiet voice, she asked, "You got anything?" Of course he must have. Hideki, drunk or not, must have spilled thousands of secrets.
But, much to her dismay, Takuya looked up at her and shook his head. "Not a bit. I'm going to talk to Hideki today, though," he told her. Suddenly, Takuya dropped his papers. "Hey, have you seen Junpei recently?" asked the goggle boy, a frown appearing on his face. Izumi shook her head and he sighed. "Junpei's been out, Tomoki's absorbed in his little job, Shinya's actually working on homework, Kouichi's moping and training, Kouji and Kako are on that trip..." he listed, his voice growing in volume before it finally fell with a sigh. "And we're stuck here. Trying to get those two together."
Biting her lower lip, Izumi contemplated their backup option. It won't hurt, she decided, drawing a breath and saying, "Or we could ask Marise. Later, I mean." Nervously, Izumi held her breath, unsure of what Takuya would think.
Wide-eyed, Takuya gazed at Izumi for countless minutes, pondering exactly why he loved her. Is it because she's naturally smart, because I just do, or because she comes up with the greatest ideas ever? Whatever it is, he thought, gulping. Man, do I have great taste! "That's...brilliant," he declared, looking positively amazed.
Izumi blushed. "Y-you really think so?"
"Yeah! Marise's smart! Plus, Rai talks to him a lot and Hideki's his son, so it'll be perfect!" the boy laughed.
A warm smile made it's way on Izumi's face. Finally, they would be getting somewhere. "So when are you meeting with Hideki?" she asked, stacking her papers in a neat pile and placing them on her desk.
Takuya shot a glance at the clock. "Ten minutes," he realized. Immediately, he stood up and handed his papers to Izumi. "You sure it won't be too much trouble for you to examine this all?"
She nodded. "It's fine. I've got the time, too. And besides, I've got Kazemon watching Rai. I won't miss a thing," promised Izumi, standing up and walking Takuya to the door. For a minute, they were quiet.
Then Takuya asked, "You don't think this'll happen to us, too?"
Izumi could tell he was having an internal panic. To reassure him, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and shook her head. "Not at all," she replied in a firm voice. Opening the door, Izumi snapped, "Now hurry up and get me enough information. Should we see Marise tonight or tomorrow?"
"Tonight's good," Takuya returned, smiling and giving her a quick wave before vanishing off into the distance.
Izumi shut the door and nearly sank to the floor. She managed to save it for when she walked into her room. Immediately collapsing on the couch, she picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Mrs. Himi? Is Tomoki there?" Patiently, Izumi waited for Tomoki to come to the phone. When Mrs. Himi stated he was busy, Izumi politely thanked her and hung up.
She could understand Tomoki, but Junpei she was slightly worried about. Quickly dialing the older boy's number, Izumi pressed the phone to her ear, her heart beating wildly.
There was no answer.
Close to panicking, she dialed his home phone. His mother answered, but said he went out. When Izumi asked where, Mrs. Shibayama replied she didn't know. After thanking the woman and hanging up, Izumi pondered her other choices. Kouichi was probably training at Saito's bookstore. Resolved, the girl stood up, pulling her jacket on and grabbing a folder to put in the papers. I'll catch him before he leaves the building, she decided, racing out the door.
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Kouichi sat down quietly, sipping his tea. Another day of training went by, and he didn't feel anywhere near ready for anything.
"Are you alright, Kouichi?"
The gentle voice nearly made him jump. Surprised, he looked up at Mr. Saito, trembling slightly. His gaze lowered to his cup. "Y-you aren't angry, are you, sir?" he asked.
There was a small smile on Marise's face. Sighing, he shook his head and murmured, "Anger is pointless. It would have happened eventually, anyway. Are you done with your tea?" Kouichi nodded. The man picked up the cups and walked out of the door, waiting until Kouichi exited before he locked it.
Kouichi quietly exited the shop with no word of good-bye. If he had been guilty before, he was even more so now. His eyes slipped shut as he turned to his left, unsure of why he wasn't heading home. Before he took a step forward, someone called his name. Kouichi opened his eyes to find Izumi waving her hand in front of his face. She had a flustered look on her face and looked as if she ran all the way to the bookstore. Quietly, Kouichi stared at her for several seconds before he asked, "Izumi, what are you doing here?"
The girl rolled her eyes and handed him a folder. "I need your help," she told him. "Your house or mine?"
He opened the folder, skimming through the content of the first page he saw. "You're trying to get them together..." he summed up in a small voice. Nodding, Kouichi turned around. "My house. I have a feeling Duskmon might have some input here." There was another fact Kouichi failed to mention as they walked to his house, the small insignificant detail of a diary and its content, which never seemed to fail in astounding Kouichi with its truths.
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Takuya swallowed, unsure of what to think. "S-So..." he stuttered, staring wide-eyed as Hideki downed another glass of beer. His eyes widened more, if it was even possible. I'm being scarred. Agunimon, help me!
The young man slumped down on the table. "Sorry for dragging you here, goggle brain," Hideki said in his slurred voice. "I just had to get it out of my system."
More like get it in his system, Takuya thought, making a face. "Can't you just go profess your undying love to her or something?" he asked. In truth, Takuya wished he had just kept his mouth shut so he and Izumi didn't have to go through this. If anything, it was more that he wished he didn't have to go through this. Takuya was positive the biology teacher wasn't getting wasted in front of Izumi's eyes.
"She won't listen," Hideki mumbled.
Takuya was getting frustrated and slightly nauseated. Angrily, he dragged Hideki to his feet and out of the bar. "First off, I wasn't supposed to be in there. Second, I think I'll die from alcohol poisons that float in the air along with tobacco. Third, what is it with you and Ms. Kawai?" Takuya screamed. A thought hit him--they were stuck there. He couldn't allow Hideki to drive (and even if Hideki could, he wouldn't allow it). With a sigh, Takuya drew his cell phone out of his pocket and quickly called a cab.
Ten minutes later, both sat down at a bench, waiting by the street for the cab. Takuya was silent, wondering why he couldn't just accept the facts sometimes. His eyes were downcast and his stomach was bubbling angrily.
"Y-You know, she's wrong," Hideki suddenly said.
The goggle boy looked up. He had a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Who?" Takuya snapped. It wasn't that he cared, but that he wanted Hideki to stop talking.
There was silence from then on. A few minutes later, the cab came. Quickly giving the driver Hideki's address, Takuya added, "Don't ask or you'll find your car in ashes." The threat was just another result of his newly found foul mood. In a way, Takuya was reminded of Kouji.
The ride was quiet to the end, even when Takuya handed the money (most of it from Hideki's wallet which he managed to snatch after the sixth cup). It was then that Hideki continued his conversation from before while they walked to the front door. "I wouldn't...find it so hard...if she was with me," he mumbled. "It would hurt, but not so much as now." Hideki let out a sigh. "If Izumi ever does that to you, just ignore her yelling," he advised.
For the longest time, key dangling in his hand, Takuya stared at Hideki, unsure of whether he was sober or not. He was about to ask, but thought better of it. Instead, Takuya opened the door and pushed Hideki inside. "Shut up and get some sleep. You're blabbering. We'll continue your therapy lessons tomorrow," he snapped. After dropping the key on the table, pushing Hideki in the direction of his room, and yelling at Hideki to lock the door, Takuya stormed out the door, slamming it behind him..
Hideki absentmindedly nodded, too tired to object to the comment about therapy lessons. I don't need therapy, his mind yelled weakly. He soon found his way under the covers of his bed. It wasn't hard to understand what was going on around him, drunk or not. Takuya was trying to help him and Izumi was possibly with Rai. But maybe he was being selfish.
Rai, thought Hideki, eyes slipping shut easily, maybe I'm just being selfish. Maybe...
After all, angels chose their commitments wisely. Who was he to argue?
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About half an hour later, in Kouichi's room, Izumi sat in the chair by his desk, watching as Kouichi calmly sorted through the information she and Takuya had collected. Izumi assumed Duskmon had gone to mope elsewhere, but couldn't be sure. Ms. Kimura had gone out shopping.
"So what did you find?" Izumi asked eagerly. "And where's your jacket? You usually wear it, don't you?"
Kouichi shook his head. "My jacket...I don't know. And I can't be sure, but from what I've discovered from some...sources, I think Rai has something up her sleeve," he revealed.
"Sources?" Izumi repeated. "Wait-she's planning something?"
Conveniently ignoring the first question, Kouichi nodded. He stood up and stretched his cramped body. "Yeah," he murmured. She had to be. It only made sense.
Izumi didn't seem to be catching his train of thought. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Care to explain?"
He nodded, but stayed silent.
"Well?" Izumi was beginning to get exasperated, he could see.
Leave out the diary, Kouichi told himself. "You see," he began, "it's not that Rai will die, as the previous Ophanimon did. It's something else, and I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it's probably important, and it's causing her to push Hideki away."
There was silence.
Finally Izumi stood up and nodded. She picked up the folder. "Thanks. I'll see what I can find out from Marise tonight. Hey, have either Kouji or Kako called yet?" she asked as they walked to the front door.
With a sigh, Kouichi shook his head. "It's annoying, really, but I can't really do much about it, I guess. Mr. Saito still has my D-Tector, and I'm not even sure I could digivolve into Velgemon now, anyway." He opened the door.
Izumi slipped her shoes on and walked outside, stopping and turning around to flash a bright smile at Kouichi. "Well we've got faith in you," she told him, "so don't go screwing up! Train hard, Kouichi!"
He was surprised, but nodded and waved as she left.
Now with slightly more knowledge in the area, Izumi pulled out her cell phone to enrich Takuya. It took a while before he finally answered, and when he did so, it was with a glum, "Who is it?" rather than his usual, vibrant, "Hey, this is Takuya and you are...?"
"Takuya? This is Izumi. Are you okay?" she asked, suddenly concerned.
There was a cough. Izumi swore she heard a plate break. Running water, coughing...then more running water. Finally, after the moment's silence, Takuya replied, "Just great. You?" He broke away from the phone, involved in a sudden coughing fit.
Izumi frowned. "Takuya, are you home?"
"Yeah."
"I'll be there in five minutes, then. Don't move." Izumi quickly hung up and raced towards Takuya's house, wondering exactly what was wrong with him.
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Takuya ran to the bathroom for the fifth time that day, hovering over the toilet as his insides threatened to come out. For the second time, nothing came. He began coughing as he stood up straight and walked towards the sink to wash his face. It had been an endless cycle for an hour now. He couldn't get the stench out of his system...it was as if Hideki was rotting.
I'm never going to drink when I grow up, Takuya thought, turning back to the toilet again as he gagged.
There was a sound of the doorbell ringing. Izumi, he recognized. She had said she was coming. Unfortunately when she called, he had been in the middle of actually throwing up. Managing a shaky breath, he washed his face once more and walked out of the bathroom in time to see Shinya answer the door.
"Izumi! Wow, what are you doing here? I didn't know Takuya in-er...hi, Takuya," the young Kanbara said, hastily looking from his pale-faced brother to the startled Izumi. "Um, I'll be...in my room...doing homework." Shinya quickly darted off, seemingly understanding the situation at hand.
The girl gazed at the goggle boy, absolutely confused. "Takuya, are you sick?" she asked in a bare whisper. He was starting to scare her now.
Takuya shook his head. There was a look in his eyes, though, one that made Izumi wonder if he was fighting something back. But in the end, his vehement shake of his head won out, and Izumi questioned him no further. Slipping on his shoes, he pushed past Izumi and muttered, "Let's just...get going." Before he could take his first step, she grabbed his arm.
There, on her face, was the pure look of worry he had been dreading. "Takuya, don't lie to me. Are you okay?" Izumi asked-no, demanded. Her grip tightened on his arm.
He made no sound. Instead, the goggle boy forced a smile and switching grips so he had a hold of her hand. "Haha...ahhh...l-let's go...talk to Marise," he suggested. He managed a few more steps with the smile still plastered on his face.
Izumi followed, unsure of what to think. The only explanation she could give was that he was sick, but something more seemed to be involved. Like usual, we're clueless, she noted as she shut the door.
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They arrived at the bookshop several grueling minutes later. Takuya was short of breath and nearly collapsed, but managed to hold himself up. He had to; Izumi stopped time from time to send him strange glances before she continued walking again. And in those times, he had to seem perfectly normal.
But he knew he wasn't fine. As to why, he couldn't be sure. It was either the method of Hideki's venting or he was actually sick. Takuya couldn't be sure it wasn't another reason. All he knew was that Izumi couldn't know. "Hey, Izumi...do I look sick?" he suddenly asked in a whisper.
Surprised by his sudden choice to talk, Izumi jumped. Her face spun to face him. "What? Uh...sick? Oh...oh! Um..." she stuttered, reddening. "You see, funny thing is-"
"Yes or no?"
"Yes."
Takuya walked ahead of her and opened the door to the bookstore. "Well, let's go now."
Nodding, Izumi followed him, slightly nervous.
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A/N-
Didn't like it. It's jumping around a lot, considering I jumped a few weeks. I promise to explain it all. I've gotten that feeling back, the one where I finish a few things, but it feels like I finished nothing. Maybe because I haven't done math. I'm sorry if you hate the chapter. Didn't update right away because not everyone read, I think, and it's a bit holey. Correction: very holey.
Thank you for the reviews. Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed. Masashi Kishimoto who was talking about fan mail said;
"When I'm tired...When I'm bored...When I'm groaning in pain...When I'm sleepy...They always help to flip my heart's switch. I read them all. Thanks truly!" Masashi Kishimoto, 2000, Naruto vol. 4
THANKS, EVERYONE! I got two chapters done thanks to you. Especially-
GemmaniGirl, Winter's Light, Catwarrior
Review or PM or Flame.