Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Kanbara Squared: Ultra Cool Special #1

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----S----H----I----N----Y----A----

We all know where Kouji and Kako are right now. Hawaii. Kouichi's in Hawaii, too, or so Agunimon told me. Izumi and Takuya are trying to get Rai and Hideki back together by complaining about each other. Izumi claims my brother's getting drunk with Hideki and asks Rai for advice (and no, Takuya's not really getting drunk) and in turn, my brother complains about Izumi's Rai-like faults to Hideki.

They entrusted me with this knowledge. Said if I told Rai and Hideki, I'd be sent to a Sagitarrimon for grammar lessons. And I'm guessing that's bad.

I don't really know where Junpei is. Blitzmon is clueless, too, and that's the funny part about it, although if Junpei's stuck in some hole, I suppose it's not so funny. As for Tomoki, my dear old buddy and pal...well, he's off romancing with Bokomon's book. Not literally mind you, but that's his entire life. It happened about a week ago, when he finally had the guts to open the thing.

-Flashback-

For the eighty-seventh time that hour, I knocked on Tomoki's door. Counting to eighty-seven is hard work, especially if you're counting how many times you knocked. It's not as easy as it seems, I assure you.

For the eighty-seventh time that hour, I stepped away from the door and waited.

For the eighty-seventh time that hour, no one answered the door.

I'm no idiot. I'm not like Takuya. Where he would scream and yell, throw his goggles down and tear his hair off...I goof around. Not in a bad way, mind you, but just the playful, innocent way where you just happen to sneak in through the back door or the window or something. It's not like it will kill anyone (unless they die of a heart attack).

So that's what I did. I crawled through his window, which, thankfully, was open. Tomoki sat at his desk, not gazing at the computer, but the green book in his hands. "Tomoki!" I half-yelled half-sang, "what's that?"

He jumped in his seat and whirled his head in my direction. Ever since he lost the giant hat, his head seemed to grow. At first, it looked the size of a mouse. And then...it became proportional to his body, we'll say.

Back to Tomoki. He was trying to catch his breath. Pointing a finger at me, he bobbed his head up and down, mouth open. Nothing came out of it, though.

I made a face and shut my eyes. "Close your mouth!" I declared. I've always found the human mouth to be a very, very disgusting place. That narrows my dream job down by a few.

Furiously clamping his mouth shut, Tomoki glared at me. He finally spoke in an annoyed tone, "Why did you crawl through the window? You could have taken the door." He even looked annoyed, and for Tomoki, that was rare.

Shrugging, I replied, "Thought you'd need help with the book. How's it coming?" To set things straight, I was curious. Everyone seemed busy doing one thing or another, and I had nothing to do. The digimon didn't really care much about me, either. Oh, and Marise (don't tell him I said this) is boring.

Tomoki just shrugged. Sometimes I wonder if he's just sick of my presence. I can get really annoying if I want to, and he never seemed to mind before. But now he just seemed annoyed. "I'm fine. I'm just looking through it, that's all," he told me, as if to explain himself. As he did, he casually began to flip through the pages, smiling from the nostalgia it gave off.

From in front of the window, I leaned against the windowsill with my elbows propped up against it. For at least ten minutes, Tomoki sat there and I watched as his expression changed as he flipped through the book. It made me wonder if this Bokomon mon was really important.

When Tomoki reached the last page, he let out a startled cry. Immediately he turned to the computer and began clicking and typing furiously, reminding me of Takuya in front of the TV while playing videogames. After that, he completely ignored me, despite the fact that I stood in that same spot for another two hours.

-End Flashback-

Kumamon was the one who told me that the last page of Bokomon's book was encoded in a special language. Tomoki knew it was important, so he spent all of the month trying to decipher it. With Takuya and Izumi busy with Hideki and Rai, Junpei off who knew where, Kako and Kouji getting ready for Hawaii and Kouichi training, I...

I'm not a loner! Ever since I met all of Takuya's friends, I've become closer to them than my actual friends, Tomoki especially. This would normally be the part where I sit down, cross my arms across my chest, stick out my tongue and say, "No fair."

I was in the kitchen when this entire mess started. A new mess. Nothing to do with Tomoki, but mostly my own idiocy. Moping. That's the word! I was moping in the kitchen when Mom asked, "Shinya, why don't you go buy something from the store for me?" I shrugged indifferently and she frowned. Normally I would have jumped up and demanded what she wanted me to get. Now I was too bored to be my usual hyperactive self.

She gave me the list and the money and I got going. Bread, butter, salt, sugar. At least this time I can carry everything, I thought jokingly, hoping to cheer myself up. Don't ever try that. It's horrible.

The first thing I spotted when I walked into the store was Junpei. He stood way out in the crowd in my eyes. Junpei's the kind of guy I respect. Strong, smart, and he knows awesome magic tricks, too! He's great at DDR. Junpei once told me, "If you're going to do something you hate, do it in a manner you like!" He hates exercise, but DDR is his form of exercise. DDR while eating chocolate is even better, he tells me, and I'm taking his word for it. I plan to try it sometime, just after I get over the last time where I choked.

I called out his name and waved to him, now smiling brightly. Junpei looked around uneasily and when he caught sight of me, froze in place. This allowed me to catch up to him as I ran over. "Hey, are you shopping, too?" It was a stupid question. I was bored. So sue me.

Junpei just stared at me as if he was looking a shark in the eye. Takuya's not scared of me. Not even Kouichi is, or Kouji or Izumi or Tomoki, and that says a lot...I think. He continued to stare at me unblinkingly until I finally asked why he was staring at me. It was more like I yelled, "WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME? IT'S CREEPY! IT'S NOT LIKE I'VE SUDDENLY CHANGED INTO TAKUYA!" but saying that I asked why he was staring at me seems slightly more civilized.

Finally, Junpei started to cry. I felt awkward from then on. Completely forgetting about the list, I took the item in his hand, went to the register, bought it with the money Mom gave me (she'd have killed me if she ever found out, but I replaced it with my own money later on) and handed Junpei the bag. "You okay?" I asked him. I was totally doubting that he'd say yes.

My instincts are great!

With a sniffle, Junpei shook his head. "S-sorry," he blubbered as we walked out of the store. "I...I just..." He quickly swiped his eyes clean with his sleeve and glared down at me coldly. In his most menacing voice, Junpei growled, "Get lost kid." He looked...constipated if anything.

For the longest while I stared at him, unable to break my gazeaway. When I finally did, I burst into fits of laughter, doubling over and clutching my stomach. Cackling hard, I managed to say, "Oh, oh...that's rich!" The thought of it continued my laughter until Junpei grabbed me by the collar and dragged me until we were by the bike racks to the side of the building. Hardly anyone went over there unless they, quite obviously, wanted to put away their bike.

"Listen," he hissed, a serious look on his face. "You'll be in danger if you follow me. DO NOT, got that? I don't want Takuya getting into this too." He made me sound smart. With an impatient sigh, Junpei took the item out of the bag and shoved everything else at me. "I'm supposed to have shoplifted this," he mumbled grumpily.

I was shocked. My almost an idol, a shoplifter? Too bad to be true! I mentally crossed him off my role model list. Kouichi was next, tied with Kouji. A look of disgust passed over my face and I turned away from Junpei, muttering, "Traitor." I had no idea how right I was.

Junpei walked away. I dropped the bag, glaring at his back. Something told me to follow him. It was far more interesting than buying the things, then going back home to mope. Junpei stopped in front of a large white house. No flowers, no other colors. Completely white, though some parts were chipped off to reveal other colors, and parts were covered with grime and dirt. The roof was brown!

...I prefer orange.

I watched Junpei walk into the house without a problem. Eagerly I dashed forward, making it through before the door closed. Yes, Junpei left the door open. I bet he wished he hadn't! He told me later he wished he hadn't.

From then on, I couldn't find a trace of Junpei. There were billions of doors. The doors were this really dark blue, the stairwell and banister were brown, and pretty much everything else was white. Hearing voices from above (No, not angels or God or any Gods. People talking on the second floor), I skipped up the stairs and tried to locate the room. There were at least twenty, and in the hall behind me, probably fifty.

Funny thing was that the house didn't look so large on the outside. And with all the white, I doubted they needed a light in the house. From peeking in and out of the rooms, I counted about twenty big lamps, though. Whoever lived here obviously needed to do some redecorating. All but one of the rooms was empty, void of furniture and white. Completely, utterly white.

While peeking in one of the rooms, I discovered it had furniture. Lots of it. It was pink, too, and there was this girl at the desk. I was about to run out when she looked up and caught my eyes. One word flashed through my mind to describe her. ANNOYING.

She sniffed when she saw me, and she had a haughty air about her. Standing up, the girl walked up to me. I barely had to lift my neck to look up at her like I had to with my brother. Takuya's taaaaaall. It hurts my neck to see him. Or maybe...am I short?

I don't want to hear this! Quiet! I'm plugging my ears now.

The girl was probably a good...three...four, five maybe...yeah, four inches taller than yours truly. Black eyes, not warm at all, were focused in a narrow gaze in my direction. She reminded me of the good witch in 'The Wizard of Oz.' I never liked that movie. The good witch scared me. She looked pretty, but she had this scary, evil look to her.

Yeah, yeah, the girl looked pretty, sure, but she had wrinkles! I saw wrinkles, I swear! Maybe because my eyes are just too darn cool for the world. Maybe I'm not krill, but a bird! Or a bee! Instead of an evil look, it was more weird, annoying and annoying times two.

"Are you the new recruit? God, they get shorter as it goes along. Kanaye's resorting to second graders, isn't he?" From those first words, I immediately disliked her. If I was in second grade, she was no older than a third grader!

Staying silent, I watched as she walked over to the desk and pushed papers to the floor until she found what she was looking for. A pink cell phone was flipped open and raised to her ear after she pressed a few numbers. "Kanaye, where are you?" she snapped into the phone. The conversation went on and I grew bored.

I recalled hearing the name 'Kanaye' before, but I wasn't sure where. There had been several times, actually, I just wasn't sure where. It wasn't so hard to shrug it off.

Bored out of my mind, and wondering where Junpei had gone, I wandered out of the room, sliding down the banister to the first floor. I guess the girl was too preoccupied with the phone, because she didn't notice. From there, I began to explore the first floor.

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In the meantime, Junpei had been having his own troubles. As he described to me, he had taken a path known to only Ritsuo, his gang and Kanaye, and met up with the guy. Ritsuo, whom I discovered to be no more muscular than Takuya, stood a good inch or two taller than Junpei, had blond hair (he dyed it, I swear) and I didn't pay attention to his eyes.

I managed to stumble upon this path and reach Junpei.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Junpei reached the meeting room and managed to loose me without much trouble. As it turns out, he was supposed to have stolen a bag of candy from the store, because the guys were lacking imagination and hungry.

"Not too much trouble?" Ritsuo sneered as Junpei entered the room.

Throughout the weeks, Junpei had managed to muster a calm, confident attitude around the boys. He snorted in return and tossed the bag to Ritsuo. The leader of the gang then scowled, "I said I hated coconut candy!"

One of the other boys raised a hand somewhat timidly. In a low voice, he offered, "Hey, boss, I'll take it if you don't want it." Well, I don't know if they say it, but if you wish for ill, you certainly get it. Ritsuo threw the entire bag in the guy's face.

No one said anything as Ritsuo sank down in the armchair. Folding his arms across his chest, he looked away. "I'm allergic to coconut," he muttered in a somewhat childish way.

That was the only eventful event that happened before I came. Before that, they fell into complete silence, candy was passed around, and they ate. I came in, and there was silence before a cacophonous melody consisting of howls, yells and shouts met my ears. It was funny if you ask me. Junpei went completely pale.

A good eighteen minutes passed after I was pounced on by at least five of them. It gave me the idea to bug Kouji to teach me a bit of kendo when I saw him next. I was flat out beat in less than a minute, despite my awesome attacks, which, sadly, only consisted of struggling like a fish out of water.

They tied me down to the armchair that Ritsuo had sat in, but not very well. Although I could slip out, I instead made it look as if they tied me down well and I was struggling to get in a comfortable position. Slipping out could come later.

For a while, Ritsuo paced before me, and Junpei was trying to calm his nerves in the corner. The rest of the guys were eating candy in front of me. Trying to make a conversation, I asked, "Can I have some?" Instead of answering, they just stared at me and ate some more. I was reminded that I hadn't eaten breakfast that day. It's a bad habit of mine; during the school week, I always wake up late and have no time for breakfast.

Seventeen minutes of tying rope around me had been a complete waste. Takuya and I could do better in a second; we tend to tangle with our videogame controllers. No more 'tango,' just the 'tangle!'

I held in there for a while longer when that girl from earlier and a boy about Takuya's height walked into the room. Trying not to doze off, I nodded my head, mentally yelling at myself, Stay awake, Shinya! You've come this far! It kind of worked when I told myself it was the most exciting thing I'd done all week.

The boy marched straight towards me. Kind of strange, because unlike the girl, whom I despised greatly, I kind of liked the guy. He seemed like the ones I could catch completely off guard. "Are you Kanaye?" I asked interestedly, eyes wide and bright. "You know, I just remembered my brother said a lot about you!" And I proceeded to tell him all the horrible things Takuya had said about Kanaye.

The boy's eyes glittered with utter annoyance for a brief moment after I had finished my long line of insults with a grinning finale. He shut his eyes and inhaled deeply before he told me, "Yes, I am Kanaye. Your brother chooses his words wisely." Kanaye spat out the last sentence. If Takuya dies tomorrow, don't blame me.

I can usually tell if a person is like my brother (good) or like spinach (bad). At first glance, the guy was like Takuya. When you got to know him, he was pure spinach leaves. Spinach is disgusting. I summed it up to tell myself he was a popular kind of guy with a nasty personality. Spinach is nasty, too.

"Ritsuo, you know the rest. The job is done," Kanaye announced, turning around.

Almost everyone else had their jaw drop to the ground. I gazed around the room, confused. "Wait, what?" I asked, moving my head side to side wildly.

Kanaye turned back around, a smirk evident on his features. He snapped his fingers, and for the next few whatevers, seconds, minutes or hours, I remembered darkness.

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I awoke outside the house, on Junpei's back. He was carrying me back home, I presumed, because the store was way behind us, and we were only a house away from my house. Slightly annoyed that I had fallen asleep, I pushed away, forcing him to drop me.

Junpei looked more than sorry. He should have been, letting me sleep through all the action. All I did was stare at him, and he told me everything; how he was bullied, how he had been forced into working for Kanaye, how it was all a plot to get to me apparently.

There's nothing important about me, but sure, I bought it. I inquired, "What did he do? How'd I fall asleep?"

Shrugging, Junpei looked away, walking me to the gate. "I don't know," he whispered softly.

Everyone's hiding something from me, but I knew Junpei wasn't. He was as clueless as I was, and that made me happy in a way. It's like talking to Duskmon. He's never lied to me before. Beaming as if nothing bad had happened, and nothing bad really did, I patted Junpei's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Don't worry!" I told him, "We'll all be fine!"

But watching as he waved and sulked away without even saying anything in return, I really wondered if that was the case. In Hawaii, I found out later from Lowemon that it wasn't.

----T----A----K---U----Y----A----

Izumi and I promised to meet up at the cafe just down the arcade at around lunch. I couldn't really trust Hideki home alone, what with Kako and Piximon gone, so I dragged him along.

We arrived in the cafe ten before twelve, and there was no sign of Izumi, just as I hoped it would be. I took a seat and glared at Hideki until he sat down. It was a reluctant movement, but I've had to drop the therapist tone for the moment and pull up the, 'I'm annoyed with all of Izumi's faults!' act.

I started it with an impatient sigh, then taking a glance at the watch. My gaze switched to the unclean tabletop. "The table isn't clean," I muttered under my breath. "Izumi's late."

"Technically, she's just not here yet. She'd be late if was after twelve," Hideki pointed out to me.

Ignoring him, I snapped, "She usually comes early!" I sat back in my seat and folded my arms across my chest, an annoyed look on my face. Although it seemed as if I was caught up in my own nonexistent problems, I was carefully absorbing Hideki's every reaction.

My goggles are strapped on just tight enough so they won't fall off, thus my brain isn't dead or affected in any way by my goggles. Oh, you knew? Making sure.

Letting out a small sigh, Hideki murmured, "Rai was always fifteen minutes early..." and then he trailed off into dreamland. It's been like this since Izumi and I started our whole plot. Hideki completely spaces out, and we haven't had the chance to ask Kako why. I certainly don't want to assume why. It made me miss my krill of a brother's company even more. He said it himself, krill is definitely smaller than shrimp.

I caught a glimpse of Izumi's long blonde hair as she walked in the doorway. Sitting on the edge of my seat and trying to lift my head, I also managed to deduct that she had a guest with her, and it didn't take a genius to know who it was.

"Ms. Kawai...so...so nice to see you," I blurted, rising to my feet as my biology teacher and girlfriend walked towards the table.

Hideki lurched forward as if something had hit him in the back of his head. Dropping his hands to his sides, he focused a wide-eyed gaze in my direction. In turn, I gave him a panicked look and shrugged my shoulders, disguising the shrug to make it look as if I was casually rolling my shoulders back.

Izumi seemed perfectly calm, as if she expected this. It would be a lot better if she told me these things ahead of time, but I suppose it was for the better that she hadn't. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have been calm, and Hideki would have walked out. This way, Hideki was obliged to stay.

I was sitting next to Hideki, and the way the table was situated (it was square with four chairs on each side), Izumi sat next to me, leaving Rai to take the chair between Izumi and Hideki. Izumi's so smart...and I better not state my awesome plans for the future. You didn't hear that from me.

I am not a pervert!

If she was in any way surprised herself, Rai didn't show it. Hideki, on the other hand, was drumming his fingers on the table in a nervous manner, speeding up and slowing down as the seconds ticked by.

Finally clapping her hands together and smiling brightly, Izumi was the first to say anything. "Let's order!" she suggested.

That made me want to cry. There was a frog stuck in my throat with several flies keeping it company. Every time I opened my mouth, a fly would buzz past the frog, and the frog would stick his tongue out to catch it. The result was me feeling like gagging and throwing up on the spot, shutting my mouth so it wouldn't happen.

The only people who ordered actual food were Izumi and Rai. I ordered a soda, and Hideki remained mute. He had now stopped drumming his fingers on the table, and for that I was glad, but he didn't give Rai so much as a stare. His eyes wandered everywhere but in the direction of Rai.

Ms. Kawai on the other hand, seemed pleased. Women are very tricky, I've been told, and she's the trickiest of all tricksters. Actually, I take that back; she's the second, Izumi is first. A few times, I caught her gazing in Hideki's direction, as if to study him. It was heartbreaking because during those times, Hideki was gazing at the table in a silent, moody manner.

We ate in absolute silence, save for the end when my cup of soda was near empty and I was slurping loudly just to get a drop. It was about then that Hideki ran his fingers through his hair and stood up. "I'll be going now. Sorry to be a bother, Takuya," he murmured to me, waving absentmindedly in my direction before stepping towards the door.

"Sit. Down." All of us turned to Izumi, whose eyes were flashing dangerously. When Izumi is mad, it's best to not get in her way, I've learned. Kouji and I came to the conclusion that an angry girl is worse than a sick Kouichi. That's supposed to be impossible, by the way.

There was a crooked smile on Hideki's face as his hands fell on the chair when he turned his body to face us. "Cute, Izumi," he commented, "but that's not going to work. Besides, my break is almost over. I've got a job, you know."

Letting out an impatient sigh, Izumi snapped, "You will sit down because if you don't, I'm going to tear you limb from limb. If I don't feel up to it, Kako will. Do you understand?" Her eyes slipped shut at this point, and her hands were folded neatly on the table.

Rai was focused on her food, completely zoned out. I really wish I could have done the same, but I was done with my soda. Instead, I watched as Rai picked up the rice and let it drop out of her chopsticks. My head moved up and down with the chopsticks. I think Rai noticed, because eventually, she began moving it in all sorts of ways and my head followed. Yeah, we completely zoned out while Hideki and Izumi were arguing.

Hideki scowled, "I need the money, thanks. Later!"

"Get back here!" Izumi stood up and slammed her hands down on the table.

Childishly, Hideki stuck his tongue out. "No!" he yelled.

"I'm telling Kako!"

"What'll she do about it? She's in Hawaii."

"She'll come back and beat you up, that's what!"

Growling, Hideki slammed his hands down on the table himself. His voice rose with each word as he yelled, "I told her to tell Rai that I'm forgetting her and Kako told her! It's not like Kako wouldn't have told even though I-" He stopped in mid sentence and, for the first time that day, looked at Rai.

Ms. Kawai's eyes were wide. "You what?" she asked, rising to her feet.

I snapped out of my daze created by the chopsticks and looked around. If Izumi and Hideki's yelling hadn't attracted any attention, we were the center of the cafe now.

He swallowed and stepped back. In a quiet voice, Hideki murmured to himself, "So she didn't tell. I should have known." With great difficulty he turned around and strode out of the cafe, head held high.

Adults. They have way too much pride.

Rai ran out of the cafe as well. I'm not sure if she went after Hideki or just wanted to escape the embarrassment. I wasn't sure I would ever find out, but I knew I didn't care.

I was in the cafe with Izumi. All eyes were on us, but it didn't matter. "It worked," she whispered, moving her chair beside me and resting her head on the crook of my neck. I sighed in response, leaning back in my chair so as to not inconvenience her. After weeks of constant work to put the two together, I finally had time alone with Izumi.

Everything was calm, perfect, serene...

I just wished it could have lasted that long.

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A/N-

Short chapter, sorry. First it was just going to be Shinya. Then I made it Shinya and Kouji. Then I decided Kouji would never come or come at a later chapter and made it the Kanbaras. Then it became Kanbara Squared, because I remembered naming a picture I saved of Maeda Ai and Maeda Aki as 'Maeda Squared.' Maeda Ai is awesome. Listening to Wada Kouji music results in me over thinking and imagining things that make me laugh. Shinya's character was so kender-like.

THANK YOU very muchously for the reviews and the PM- Winter's Light, GemmaniGirl

Reading them made me happy. To those who review or PM, it's like reading a story about you. I enjoy the books very much.

Review or Flame.