Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.
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Threads
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Shinya gazed at the computer, his eyes endless pits of brown. Again, that feeling of being disconnected ran through him.
Takuya, please, where are you? He wanted to cry out again and again, and several times, when he managed, no one answered him. It hurt him, each second passing inflicting double the pain than the second before it.
It hurt that no one was with him. The entire world seemed to have turned their back to him, just waiting for him to destroy everything. But he wanted to help the world, not destroy it.
A dark voice laughed at Shinya, Fool, the world has turned away from you. You shouldn't wish to help what hurt you.
No, leave me alone! Tears streamed down Shinya's face, and he could feel them. Nevertheless, he continued to type, even faster than before. The pain from his hands had been numbed somehow, but deep inside, Shinya could feel a fire calling him to stop, to break free. Leave me alone, you stupid thing, he tried again.
Stupid? Hah, that's Duskmon. At least I didn't get scanned. Be grateful you get someone strong like me and not a weakling plagued with emotions.
Confused, Shinya let his guard down, allowing Grumblemon to continue his job. A horrible feeling ran through him. It turned around as a shiver up his spine. Duskmon...scanned? Liar...
And then, as if he was sapped of all of his strength, Shinya felt himself pulled back into reality. A sickeningly empty pit that was his stomach began to bubble without reason. Before he could even stand up, the young boy slid off the chair and onto the floor, bursting into tears. All that had been on the computer had been closed, and the computer shut down, showing no sign he had been on it. To Shinya, that wasn't what mattered. He knew what he had done. He was guilty. He had to lift with it.
Heavy footfalls echoed as they approached his room. The door was thrown open to reveal Takuya and a gasping Izumi. "Shinya...?" Takuya started, quickly dashing forward to help the younger Kanbara up.
Coughing and choking, Shinya allowed the tears that had been held back to fall freely, wetting his face and his brother's shoulder. When at last the tears and cries had subsided somewhat, Shinya managed to say in an accusing and frightened voice, "You...you didn't come..." Weakly, he pushed his brother away.
Eyes wide with disbelief, Takuya stretched his hands out towards his brother. "Sh-Shinya...we just came," he told the boy, trying to explain himself. But Shinya just pushed him back.
Those minutes, he had no idea what went through his head. One second, he was furiously glaring at his brother, and the next, he was pushing Takuya out of his room, screaming and yelling. He vaguely remembered kicking the older boy.
At the end, when Takuya and Izumi were on the other side of the door, he screamed, "You didn't help me! You just left me here to die! I hate you, Takuya! I hate you!" He felt his fingers yanking on his hair, tearing the goggles out. The minute they left his hand and flew towards Takuya, the second he shut the door with a loud slam, Shinya realized what he had done. Staggering in a frightened manner backwards towards his bed, away from the bed, he let out a sob.
This...wasn't supposed to happen, he thought, curling up by the base of his bed, hugging onto his knees tightly. Someone, please...save me from myself. Anyone...
That night, if anyone in the house listened hard enough, soft cries could be heard coming from Shinya's room. And Takuya, whose room was next to his brother's, heard everything loud and clear.
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At the base of the stairs, Kanaye paused, knowing very well what awaited him when he reached his room. There was no way he could avoid it unless he decided to move out permanently without anyone knowing. In the end, he decided it was better to face it than put it off for later.
He climbed to the top of the stairs, strolling past the other rooms in a confident manner. He refused to throw away his dignity and run off like a coward. He refused to be reduced to the barbarian that she apparently wanted him to be. No, he was their leader and everything would go as he wanted it to.
A burst of courage fueled his as he threw open his door and walked straight towards the bathroom (his room was one of the few with a bathroom in it, for privacy purposes). First a bath, he decided, ignoring the startled form of Ai, who sat on his bed, lips pursed in anger.
"Don't walk away from me!" Ai barked, standing up and making a move to follow him.
Narrowing his eyes into a glare and turning around, Kanaye commented, "Ai, I know you want to take a bath with me, but now really isn't the time. Now if you don't mind..." He fought the urge to laugh at her bright red look of protest and slammed the bathroom door in her face. Maybe I shouldn't have gone that far.
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Minutes later, Kanaye emerged from the bathroom with a towel on his head, fully dressed. There was an annoyed look on his face when he discovered Ai was still there, sitting on his bed with her arms crossed and her eyes focused in a furious glare in his direction.
"Out," Kanaye said, sitting in front of his computer.
Ai continued to sit there. She told him angrily, "Lucemon's losing faith in you. He says-"
"Lucemon is a fool," Kanaye interrupted, absentmindedly toweling off his hair before throwing the towel to the side. "To listen to him is like listening to a cockroach," declared the boy seconds later, as he waited for the computer screen to load.
Letting out a growl, Ai stood up and stamped a foot down. She told him hotly, "You don't get it! Lucemon will hurt us if we don't do as he wants! What are you thinking, Kanaye?" She very nearly screamed this all out.
Kanaye rose to his feet and laughed, "That matters little. I don't care one bit for Lucemon's wants. I'm in charge and everything will go as I want it to. If Lucemon wants his way, he can arrange this all."
Ignoring Ai once more, he made his way downstairs to the main computer room, flicking a switch to get rid of the hologram that hid the computer out of view as a window. The white disappeared and Kanaye took a seat in front of the screen, trying to push away Ai's presence as he overlooked all that Grumblemon had completed through Shinya.
A smile graced his lips. "Perfect. At this rate, everything will go according to plan, give a week. Ritsuo!" Kanaye called into a nearby speaker, serving its purpose as would a walkie-talkie. "Come up here. You'll be in charge of Grumblemon's progress," he said before standing up and walking to the exit of the room, nearly shouldering Ai when she refused to move. Instead, Kanaye grabbed her shoulders and locked gazes with her.
"Are you having fun?" he asked in a low voice, a cold and unforgiving look suddenly flashing onto his face.
Defiantly, Ai continued to glare at him, but said nothing. He could tell just by her breathing that she was afraid. Satisfied with this, Kanaye pushed her aside gently and walked out of the room. "You would do well to remember who is in charge, Ai," he told her softly, heading back up to his room. A nap would be nice.
"As would you, Kanaye," Ai whispered, once he left. She let out a belabored sigh before collapsing on the spot, hands intertwined with strands of her hair. Why can't you understand?
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"Yes...yes, thank you, Miss Kimura. Alright. Oh? Okay, I can wait a second," Kako said, smiling happily to herself. "Kouichi...?"
"Kako. What's up?" she heard Kouichi ask. He sounded out of breath.
Training with Dad...? Shrugging it off, Kako asked, "Want to come over tomorrow? Unless you're too preoccupied with training with my dad, who shouldn't be training you tomorrow, because he promised we'd sit down to talk."
There was silence. "W-well, if you guys are going to talk, I shouldn't bother you," Kouichi told her, obviously confused. He started to say something else, but stopped.
"Shut up, Kouichi," Kako scowled, slamming her hand on the desk nearby. "You're coming over, got it? Alright, come over here tomorrow and then I'll show you something awesome. Hey, do you know if Takuya and Izumi are busy tomorrow? Oh, never mind. I just remembered, Takuya's off to apparently game with Kouji and Izumi has a piano recital," she said, mainly to herself. "Well I'll see you tomorrow morning! Bye," Kako said sweetly before slamming down the phone.
Smiling victoriously, she turned around and crossed her arms. "And you, Mr. Sulky," Kako reprimanded, "ought to get out and smell the fresh air. Hideki, you're coming tomorrow, too!"
The reply was preceded by a sigh. "Yeah...whatever." Her older brother allowed his shoulders to slouch forward as he flipped through the page of the book.
Kako blinked in surprise. Frowning, she murmured, "I thought you said you'd never read that book." She ran over to his spot on the couch and read the summary from the back. "You said it was depressing or something!" Kako accused.
A scowl appeared on Hideki's face. "Yeah, so what?" Hideki returned defensively, hiding the book from Kako's view. "Go away."
The entire week had passed like a dream for Kako, but that didn't prevent her from feeling the negative aura (as she called it) that emanated from her brother. Hideki's obvious anger was ruining her day so far, and at the moment, all she wanted was for him to shut up and at least pretend to be happy.
Of course she wasn't being the nicest little sister in the world, but her point was reasonable, even to Hideki.
So Hideki book marked his book and put it away. "I'll strike a deal with you, girly. Today, you leave me to mope. Tomorrow, I'll accompany you and twerp one to Dad's place, and I'll be happy. Deal?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Deal!" Kako answered in a singsong voice, running off.
Fridays just weren't Hideki's days.
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The rest of the day came and went for the many. For hours before midnight and even after, Kouichi heard the subtle typing coming from his brother's room. In the Kanbara household, Takuya had the same problem.
It seemed as everyone was awake doing one thing or another. For some odd reason, sleep would not come to either Tomoki or Junpei. Izumi had been practicing for her recital all day, and the music repeated itself endlessly in her ears that sleep refused to come.
Kako lay awake, listening to the loud snorings of her stepfather and the mumblings of her brother, both just across the hall in their respective rooms. She guessed Hideki was on the phone. It certainly sounded as such.
Yet the all eventually found sleep, despite the fact it may have been a mere hour or two, and awoke early in the morning, tired, yet refreshed in a certain sense.
As soon as she rose out of bed, Kako made it her first priority to get ready, and barely hid her excitement as she called Izumi to wish her luck during her recital. In turn, Izumi called Takuya to remind him of his 'appointment' at Kouji's house, and the goggle head woke up Shinya, sent him off with Tomoki and Junpei for a walk before dashing madly to Kouji's house (he didn't realize it was only seven in the morning) and proceeded to be the wake-up call for the twins, each having turned off their alarm.
The minute the doorbell rang at the Kimura household, Tomoko Kimura shook her head with a small smile. Placing her dishes in the sink, she called out, "Boys, wake up! Takuya's here, and Kouichi, you should be going to Kako's house, shouldn't you? I'm off to work." She could practically hear them yelping as they realized the time. Happily laughing to herself, she opened the door and told Takuya, "They should be up about now. If Kouichi refuses to go, make sure you and Kouji kick them out. If you want breakfast, it's in the kitchen."
"Yes ma'am!" Takuya exclaimed, saluting and standing to the side as Ms. Kimura exited the house and left with a quick wave to Takuya, thanking him. Allowing his hand to sharply be brought down to his side, Takuya marched clumsily into the house, nearly tripping as he approached the threshold. As soon as the door shut, he was back to his slacker self, one hand rising to his stomach as he groaned, "Foooooood!"
"I'm not going!" Kouichi screamed, running into the kitchen.
Kouji ran in after him, completely ignoring Takuya. "Yes, you are!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO, NO, NO!" Kouichi screamed, holding the second toast out of Kouji's reach as he stuffed the first into his mouth. Out of options, he threw the bread at Takuya, who gratefully caught it and stuffed it into his mouth. Grinning widely, Kouichi said again, "NO."
The twitching of Kouji's eyebrow was enough to tell Takuya that the younger boy was angry. He quickly finished off the rest of the bread and walked up to Kouji, slamming his hand against the bandana boy's back repeatedly for several seconds. "You know, I think Kouji and I need to have a talk, Kouichi! Right, Kouji?" Takuya said loudly. He grabbed Kouji's hand and dragged him away from Kouichi with great difficulty.
Angrily, Kouji hissed, "Let me go!"
Takuya complied, but quickly added in a low voice, "Your mom told me that I have to team up with you to throw him out, so we'll take this plan of action. I'll ask him to come game with us, you'll pretend to leave. Take his shoes and jacket and throw them out before this, then act as if you're going out yourself. He'll come towards you, I know it, and then I push him out and you yank his arm to throw him out if need be!" He stood with his hands placed on his hips as if he were a superhero, laughing without a care. "Now, let's go, sidekick!" he exclaimed, pointing to the air in front of him with his right index finger.
I let these things get way into his head a bit too much, Kouji thought. The bandana boy (after shaking his head thoroughly) nevertheless aided Takuya in his efforts. It didn't take much to throw his brother's shoes and jacket out, but feeling guilty, managed to refrain from throwing and instead neatly placed them outside on the first step, jacket folded and placed on top of the shoes. He shut the door and proceeded to put on his own shoes, making way to turn the doorknob as Kouichi and Takuya came out of the kitchen, snickering.
Kouichi immediately stopped, noticing his brother. "You're leaving somewhere?" the twin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I figure I'm not really needed here at the moment," Kouji replied casually, and with great truth. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in the house alone with Takuya. The only reason he had agreed was because he thought his mother would be there.
Puzzled, Kouichi tilted his head in askance, stepping towards his brother. Takuya situated himself behind the boy. Kouji's hands tensed.
Too late, Kouichi realized what they were planning. He barely turned ninety degrees as Takuya pushed him and Kouji threw open the door. Kouichi yelped as he stumbled sideways over his shoes and jacket, and the ground rushed up to meet his back. There was a slam of the door, but pain was all Kouichi's five senses detected.
A groan escaped Kouichi. He rose to his feet and pulled himself up the steps, slipping on his shoes and then his jacket. As he felt the pocket of his jacket, he pulled out a note where his D-Tector was.
'Call it motherly instinct. Love, Mom,' read the note. Sighing, Kouichi put the note back in the pocket and patted it fondly. I'm amazed she bothered to remember what the D-Tector looks like, he thought, recalling the day before yesterday, when she had asked where Duskmon was. Sullenly, he explained everything, ending with showing her the D-Tector and explaining he had to scan Duskmon because nothing else could be done. She had shown surprising understanding, and let the matter drop.
I owe her something. I just wish it wasn't this, Kouichi thought grimly, allowing his hand to rest inside his pocket as he began his walk. He contemplated stopping at Marise's bookstore for counseling, but decided against it. The last thing the man probably wanted to hear was how someone was afraid of his daughter.
Instead, Kouichi walked straight to the front door of the house, standing bravely until the very last second, when he cringed as he pushed the doorbell. The ringing sounded through the front of the house, but could be heard clearly outside.
Much to both his relief and chagrin, Hideki answered the door. From behind Hideki, Kouichi caught a glimpse of Gen sipping coffee and regarding the TV quite stoically, and relief won out.
The boy cleared his throat. "Um, Kako's here, right?" Kouichi asked hesitantly, wondering whether he should just run now. He very nearly did when he saw the dull look Hideki was giving him, but something told him to hold out.
"Leave him alone!" a disapproving voice scowled. Hideki was pushed out of the way, revealing Kako, annoyed, hair down in a mess. "Sorry about that. Hideki...you said you'd at least pretend to be happy!" she scolded her brother.
Hideki put on a shocked look, pretending to be taken aback as he stepped back and brought his hand up to the general location of his heart and gasped, "You're right, Kako! What was I thinking? My brain must not be where it should be!" He sighed and shook his head in a disapproving manner.
Under her breath, Kouichi swore he heard Kako say something like, "Is it ever?" but made no comment.
Rolling her eyes, Kako pushed her brother to the side and stepped outside, looking positively furious. "Sorry about that. He's such an idiot, especially since when Dad came to school...he and Rai had a fight." She explained this all to him in a low voice, shutting the door behind her. A sigh. Kako brushed back a few stray hairs and murmured, "Anyway, for the reason I called you. We'll have to wait for Hideki just a few more seconds..." She began to pace back and forth, every few seconds sighing impatiently.
Kouichi watched in amusement, leaning back against the fancy hand railing that had been put in for the solitary step before the house. It extended about a yard pas the step, however, and only existed on one side of the stairs. The boy folded his arms and hid a smile. Despite all the losses, despite all the deaths, the grievances, the casualties, the horrors that they had been facing, he felt strangely...happy. It almost seemed like a crime to burst into a smile while watching Kako, dressed in a peach colored theme, pacing back and forth, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. In a way, it reminded him of their childhood. And yet, he was happy. Nothing else mattered for those few seconds.
"Duskmon," Kako suddenly started, stopping in her spot and turning only her head towards Kouichi. She opened her mouth, but the words stopped at her throat, refusing to come out. Although she did her best to try to spit them out, they refused to budge, and all she could do was swallow them back down again. Guiltily turning away, Kako felt as the beauty of the moment was slowly replaced by a dark cloud of pain.
As if to save the two from their feelings, Hideki walked out of the house, twirling his key chain on his right index finger and shutting the door with his left hand. He noticed the mood of the moment and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Bad time...?"
"N-no," Kouichi said quickly, pushing away from the railing and dropping his hands to his side. "Uh...what's this about?" he asked instead, smiling and trying to sound interested. The wavering in his voice only emphasized the fact that he was distracted.
Hideki chose to ignore this and motioned for the two to follow him. "Come on," he muttered. "Dad'll blame me if you don't get there in five minutes." He led them to the car and opened the doors.
After a few verbal battles where Kako and Kouichi fought to put the other in the front seat beside Hideki, the young man barked for the two to just sit in the back. He hardly felt lonely, much less annoyed that they weren't sitting beside him.
Blushing, Kako muttered something under her breath, but that ended everything then and there. There was silence as Hideki skillfully drove them, save the cursing every few seconds when the car in front of them was going too slow, or the car behind too fast. Kouichi reluctantly gave into his body's demands and he found himself nodding off, swaying from side to side as Hideki changed lanes again and again.
The queasiness stopped abruptly and was replaced by childish curiosity as they pulled up in front of what seemed like a mansion of sorts. Kouichi guessed it was just an extremely extravagant house, because it seemed only slightly larger than the surrounding houses. Letting out a laugh as he shut the car door, Kouichi joked, "What's this? Second house?"
Hideki had started up the path to the front door with Kako dashing in front of him. He did turn around to tell Kouichi, "No, silly. This is our dad's house." The almost bored expression on his face flew over Kouichi's head, and the words seemed to hang still in the air.
Marise's house...!
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"You lied, Dad! It's been sunny all week!" Kako retorted.
All four were seated in the grandiose living room, furnished with simple, worn-out couches of dark green leather, with an almost random addition of a rug thrown down the center of the couch that seemed made for the couch as it only reached the floor. The two couches were adjacent to each other, each able to seat up to three people. Another rug lay in the middle of all of this, and seated upon it was a coffee table with a surface of glass, and a majority of this was covered in a beautiful lace tablecloth.
Kouichi swallowed with great difficulty as he took this in. "I guess even bookstore owners live in houses," he murmured with awe, finding it hard not to scream and run in a rampage, ranting about how he must be in some odd dream or another.
Amused at this, Marise inquired, "Did you think we lived at the bookstore?"
"Actually..."
An eyebrow was raised.
Nodding, Kouichi admitted, "Yes. That place is big enough as it is. I mean, it's got a cafe, a storage room, all those books, the training room, another empty room, a storage room in the training room and all those other rooms you're probably hiding!" His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "Next thing I know, there'll be some underground chamber!" he exclaimed.
With a laugh, Marise informed the boy, "Actually, there's something similar to that."
"SEE!"
"Doesn't matter! He lied," Kako snapped, trying to bring back her earlier point.
Hideki seemed insistent on staying at the topic currently on hand. "You know, a house like this has its advantages..." The boys all lent their ears.
Noticing that everyone was ignoring her, Kako screamed, "Are you listening to me?"
But Hideki just continued casually, "I mean, with a place as large as this, you can do pretty much whatever you want, wherever you want." He paused to take a look at Kouichi, who was nodding in agreement and looking quite thoughtful. Hideki narrowed his eyes.
Writing, listening to music, yeah...doing whatever I wanted. I think I could even play videogames in peace! Kouichi nearly cackled at the prospect, but instead continued to nod and wait for Hideki to continue.
Taking it into consideration that Kouichi could possibly be more perverted than he had initially thought, Hideki leaned back and put an arm on the back of the couch. "And no one will really care if you get drunk. Heck, I could get drunk here, and to avoid me Kako would just have to either go outside or upstairs! It's like a drunk man's heaven," he declared, letting out a sigh and shutting his eyes.
The furious nodding had ceased and was replaced by a look of disbelief on Kouichi's face. Disturbed, he found himself twitching nervously. Kako, too, had stopped screaming and instead found herself gazing wide-eyed in horror at her brother.
"So you see, I think it's a perfect reason to get drunk right now!" Hideki exclaimed, making a move to rise to his feet.
The girl was shocked, but not so much that she couldn't manage a loud, "NO WAY!"
Nodding solemnly, Marise murmured, "She has a point, Hideki. We'll continue our drinking game later." His look clearly said, 'Not in front of the kids.'
"YOU TOO?" Kouichi screamed, sitting on the edge of the couch.
Placing a hand on her mouth, Kako rose to her feet and dashed off. Instead of following her example, Kouichi groaned and threw himself back on the couch, shutting his eyes. Great, the guy I look up to gets drunk with his son! Does insanity run in their family? Nevertheless, he sat up a split second later, looking more dignified than he had been coming into the house.
Marise chuckled pleasantly and he, too, rose to his feet. "Would you like some tea, Kouichi?" he inquired politely, inclining his head towards the boy.
"U-uh-"
"Yeah, tea would be great, Dad," Hideki suddenly interrupted, his dark orbs piercing straight through Kouichi.
Nodding, Marise walked off, leaving the other two alone, on opposite couches, one glaring, the other gazing at the first, positively confused.
As soon as his father was out of hearing distance, Hideki used the opportunity to hiss at Kouichi, "You little pervert, what were you thinking when I said you could do practically anything in the house?" His eyes glittered with rage as he sat on the edge of his seat, ready to lunge out and strangle Kouichi the first chance he got.
Kouichi noticed this, seeing Hideki's hands clenched and resting lightly on his knees. Pervert? the boy wondered, aloud claiming, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
The young man made no move. "Oh really?"
"How am I a pervert if I was thinking about videogames?" Kouichi scowled, resisting the urge to scream worse at Hideki.
Darn it. Stripped of his only chance to vent out his frustration, Hideki lay out fully on the couch and gazed up at the ceiling. "Say, twerp, you like my sister, right?"
Startled by the straightforwardness of the question, all Kouichi could manage was a dull, "Uh...?"
"Never mind that. We'll get to that later, since you're too stupid for the topic at the moment. So Kanaye has a wristband with a black jewel, huh?" Hideki asked instead.
Now looking solemn, Kouichi nodded. Hideki caught this out of the corner of his eye and then asked, "Same as the one on the sword?"
Again, a solemn nod. "I'm more than positive," Kouichi added, noting the sly grin on Hideki's lips that didn't seem to usually bode well for him. He remembered it often when Marise had forced him to train with Hideki on Saturdays.
The smile quickly changed into a sheepish grin, much to Kouichi's relief. Chuckling, Hideki muttered, "Nice, twerp. You're faring well in this life. You know Lowemon's been bugging me for a while on how to get back to you. Especially since Duskmon's...unfortunate absence, he hasn't wanted to bother you. So he's bothering me." Hideki turned his head at the sight of Kouichi lowering his head in guilt. "H-hey, I'm not complaining!" he added quickly.
There was a long silence. Finally Kouichi spoke up. "N-no...I...uh, never mind," mumbled the boy, managing an even look as he looked up once more. "I'm sorry about Rai."
"It isn't your fault." Hideki reverted his gaze to the ceiling. "A kid like you can't be held responsible for something like feelings."
Kouichi didn't want to rest his case. "Yes," he argued, "but if I hadn't given Kako the book-"
Mercilessly, Kouichi was interrupted, "She would have known anyway. I'm kind of glad you did. It's nice to have a family, even if it's still shattered. You agree, don't you?" There was a gentle smile on Hideki's face, one that Kouichi never imagined to see, especially at a time like this. "Hey, you wanted Kako to be happy. That brings us back to our first question: Do you love my sister?" There was a cold and sharp tone to the question as it left Hideki's lips and the smile faded within seconds.
Time was taken to answer the question. The seconds ticked by faster than any other moment in Kouichi's life. "Love...?" he repeated softly. "I don't know. I don't think you can really ever answer that question, can you? Love can be used so interchangeably, that it's meaning has warped a lot. So it depends on the meaning, doesn't it...?" He looked at Hideki and awaited an answer.
"Not what I was looking for..." said Hideki slowly, "but you're right." Bitterly laughing at the pain that stung his heart, and later his eyes, Hideki added, "Doesn't mean you can do whatever with me gone."
I'd never dream of it, Kouichi thought with a small, weak smile, though he said nothing aloud. He didn't have a chance to, because an elderly woman stepped forward, carrying a tray with a teakettle and four cups, upside down on the tray. She gently lowered all this onto the table and gave a small little bow. "So, Master Hideki, I see you've decided to take a nap?" she chuckled, a sarcastic tone to her voice.
Startled, Kouichi looked up at her. She must have noticed his confusion, because she inclined her head in his direction. "Youko Aoki. I presume you're the 'twerp' Hideki often complains about?" she inquired. There was a kind twinkle to her eyes, and Kouichi couldn't do anything but blush and nod politely in response to the more-fact-than-rumors that created his poorly established reputation.
He said nothing the entire time, because Youko refused to let him talk when he opened his mouth. "Ah-" she said, quickly raising a hand to silence him. "No need, Kouichi. Marise and Kako should be here soon." An exasperated sigh escaped her. "And it just occurs to me now that she hates dresses..."
Hideki nearly choked as he rolled off the couch, sputtering, "D-Dress?" in disbelief. By that time, Youko was halfway up the stairs.
Mystified by the woman's presence, Kouichi ignored Hideki's incoherent ramblings and shut his eyes. In the very back of his mind, he felt a warm feeling grow in him once more, calling him into an unconscious state. Colors flashed before his closed eyes, ensnaring his senses. Just as he was pulled deeper, the image of a black jewel with silver backing flashed before him.
Meanwhile, in the world of the conscious, someone was calling out his name. Finally giving up on hope of being civil, Hideki snapped, "TWERP!"
Startled, Kouichi's eyes opened and the image left, revealing in it's place a red faced Kako in a pure white dress that seemed almost old fashioned, the bottom frilly, ribbons and laces flying everywhere. There were a pair of white gloves to match. "Uh...? She was serious...?" Kouichi suddenly mumbled dumbly, unable to fully understand what was happening.
"Twerp, this is my sister Kako, whom I'm sure you know well. She is in a dress." Hideki emphasized the last word with a great big gesture that meant absolutely nothing.
When it finally sank in, Kouichi blinked twice, and before the words could be stopped, he found himself saying, "She looks beautiful," in an appraising manner.
Hideki's jaw dropped, but Marise just laughed and clapped, pushing up his glasses, which he had just recently donned. Then nodding solemnly, the man murmured, "I agree as well. Definitely a true girl, aren't you, Kako?"
"This is ridiculous," Kako muttered, ignoring the even more crimson shade that had crept up her face. She took a seat on the same couch as Kouichi, but made it her top priority to put as much space between them as possible.
Marise took a seat beside his son, who had fallen off the couch again and managed to (with great difficulty) sit on the couch as a normal person, all the while sputtering in disbelief. "Now, now...shall we get to more important matters?" the man asked gently, taking a cup and pouring tea into it. "I am sure you are aware that the days that approach are shadowed and limited. You have a week. Sort everything out by them." All the while he said this, there was a truly serious look on his face. He paused to take a sip of tea, then asked, "So...when can I expect your first date?"
Cursing loudly, Hideki rose to his feet and pointed accusingly at his father, who remained perfectly calm and as serious as ever while Kouichi and Kako were twitching, the first with anxiety and the second with anger. "You didn't call them to talk about dating, Dad! THIS IS ABOUT THE WORLD, NOT THEIR SOCIAL LIVES!" he screamed, waving his hand around wildly, but still pointing in the general vicinity of his father.
Letting out an impatient sigh, Marise waved dismissively towards his son, placing his teacup down gently. "Yes, yes...but I can't have them dating in the middle of this!" he replied. He smiled gently towards Kouichi and Kako. "I was joking, I'll have you know. But you really ought to resolve this quickly, and I mean everything. The dates, Lowemon, Shinya and Takuya, Kouji...everything." A serious look once more appeared on his face.
Kouichi nodded in understanding and rose to his feet. "Um...is that the entire purpose of this, sir?" he asked hesitantly.
"Actually, yes. I just wanted to make Kako completely uncomfortable!" Marise announced, beaming once more.
The fruit really doesn't fall far from the tree, Kouichi thought, laughing nervously. "Um...then..."
Marise nodded and murmured, "You're free to go, of course."
"Oh, okay..."
"Unless Kako has something to say...?"
Furiously, Kako stood up and screamed, "YES I DO! YOU AREN'T TELLING ANYONE!" She would have continued, scaring everyone past the point they had already been scared to (even Marise), but the doorbell rang. She paused in the middle of the first word of the sentence she had just started and, as if reconsidering, Kako walked towards the door instead.
Kouichi followed closely behind, saying his quick good-byes to Marise and Hideki. At the doorway, he paused behind Kako and murmured, "You really do look nice, you know."
Blushing and turning around to face him (although she was really looking at the floor), Kako said nothing, and instead aimed to open the door with her left hand. Kouichi stopped her hand with his right, unsure as to what he was doing, even to himself. He looked troubled. "Listen, Kako...I-" he started, but never finished as he found himself leaning towards her.
Jumping in fright, Kako accidentally yanked the door open and looked away as her face flushed a bright shade of red. Startled himself, Kouichi stood up straighter than any soldier in the army and looked towards the doorway. A nervous feeling washed over him as he saw who it was. "U-uh...M-Ms. Kawai...so...nice to see you today!" he blurted, edging out the door. Waving quickly, he yelled, "I'll see you tomo-I mean Monday!" and dashed off madly, breathing hard and hoping it was all just one bad dream.
Nauseated from the close encounter, Kako slunk down against a nearby wall, kicking the door shut after Rai walked in. "Um, hi, Rai...if you're looking for Dad or Hideki...well, they're both there..." She pointed towards the living room. "Knock yourself out..."
Puzzled, Rai walked past Kako, her eyes glued curiously onto the girl until she turned the corner. The sight that met her eyes caused her to swear an oath aloud. "What the hell...?"
Very innocently, Hideki hid the bottle behind him and cringed as it crashed to the floor loudly. Instead of doing as his son had, Marise calmly slipped the bottle into his sleeve and stood up, making for the stairs. This left a panicking Hideki looking for a place to hide from Rai's wide-eyed gaze. Finally giving up his search, Hideki dropped his hands to his side and gazed down at the ground in shame.
"Um...Rai...h-hey..." he mumbled, feeling pains all too familiar run through him once more. Nevertheless, he looked up. "Would you like to take a seat?"
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"That...is what I call insane," Takuya breathed, lying back on the couch and shutting his eyes.
Kouji nodded silently, his eyes glued to the TV. A hand reached out absentmindedly, taping the table until it found the bowl of popcorn from which it grabbed a handful to feed the mouth of the bandana boy. As the blond man in the show let out a blood-curling scream, Kouji snorted.
Hearing this, Takuya opened one eye. "What?" he inquired.
"It's so fake."
"Ya think?"
Point taken, Kouji thought, shaking his head, mainly to clear it of the memories that seemed to flood through him without warning. "Hey, how's Shinya?" he asked, hoping to distract himself.
A dangerous silence followed the question, and Kouji began to wonder if he'd done something wrong. A heavy sigh and Takuya answered, "Okay. But he..."
The motion to once more goggled head of Takuya was enough to tell Kouji what had happened, although not in great detail. He decided the details didn't matter and went back to watch the rest of the cut-scene.
This time, Takuya snorted.
Hiding an amused smile as the cut-scene ended with the main character falling unconscious, Kouji reluctantly tore his gaze away from the TV and looked at Takuya, the smile showing clearly now. "What?" he asked.
"It's so fake," Takuya repeated Kouji's earlier comment.
An annoyed sigh escaped Kouji. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at the goggle boy. "Ya think?" he snapped, grabbing a hold of the controller just as Takuya did.
The two exchanged dangerous grins, neither moving.
"At times like these," Takuya suddenly said, snatching the controller out of Kouji's hand in a smooth motion, "it's best to have a third party."
Not upset at all that he didn't get the controller, Kouji nodded, stood up and yawned, stretching his hands in the air to go with his act. He pretended to rub his eyes and mumbled, "I'm going to...check on some stuff."
"Stuff?" Takuya kept staring at the TV.
Keep that up and I'll be here with you always, Kouji thought, chuckling silently to himself. "Yeah. Tomoki supposedly sent me some files to read over. Homework, you know. I guess Kouichi's too intimidating," he commented thoughtfully, only telling a partial lie. He dashed off to his room, shutting the door behind him and kicking his backpack in front of the door as an indicator in case Takuya decided to snoop; he needn't have worried, because Takuya was preoccupied as it was.
Throughout the days, Kouji's room had become increasingly neat and messy at the same time. A majority of the room was clean, save the desk, where the growing mess came in. If his room was a calm, beautiful sea, his desk was a pirate ship filled with rotting men, and his laptop was the obvious captain, standing alone in a space cleared just for it.
Kouji rubbed his hands together and pulled up a chair in front of his desk. All thoughts of anything outside the room, of anything outside the laptop, were banished. Please, tell me I got something, he hoped, biting his lower lip anxiously. As the screen appeared, slowly clearing from the blank, black screen it had been previously, Kouji found the message he had been waiting for and nearly cried out in joy. One new e-mail.
But it didn't end there. His lips felt dry, though he licked them again and again as he quickly replied to the message. Thank you, grateful, reply soon, only some of the words he used. The reply was sent and he made it his first priority to discover what had been attached. It only took mere seconds to download, and what he discovered on the word document was just as he expected.
Smiling, satisfied, Kouji rose to his feet and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. Takuya must have noticed the overly-happy aura around him because he asked, "You sane?"
Kouji's smile only widened. "What do you think?" the bandana boy returned, taking a seat beside his friend and snatching the controller away. Everything was going just how he planned...
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Kako rose to her feet, suddenly feeling extremely giddy, almost drunk. Girlish fantasies of skipping through fields of daisies entered her mind as she giggled and skipped around to avoid the living room and reach the stairs, which she climbed only after gathering and scolding herself for losing her mind. Instead, a childish feeling overcame her as she saw her father standing and looking down over the balustrade with sorrowful eyes (the beer bottle was open and he was holding it in one hand, though he made no move to drink it). She joined him on the very top step, grabbing a hold of a nearby baluster and hugging it close as Hideki and Rai's voices carried to them.
Their faces were nearly visible as well. Hideki was attempting to clean up the mess he had made by dropping the beer bottle, but failed miserably and was swearing almost every second as he cut his fingers on the broken glass. Finally giving up, Hideki cursed loudly and wrapped his fingers in his shirt, not daring to look up at Rai, but furiously at the ground.
"W-well, I see you're doing well," Rai muttered, flustered as she looked around the house in quick sweeps, as if desperately trying to find a way out.
Hideki looked frustrated, and couldn't come up with a conclusion of what to do. "Uh, yeah...doing well," he muttered, suddenly taking a sarcastic edge. "Yeah, that's why I'm drinking, because I'm doing well." Fury burned in his eyes as he looked up.
Silence was exchanged for silence in this battle of glares. Hideki, with much perseverance and pushing away his feelings, finally won. His glare and anger only intensified as Rai looked away as if she had been slapped in the face. Eyes narrowed, and conclusions were thrown away by the thousands, revealing the very assumption he declared aloud, "You're here to make fun of me, aren't you?"
She took a step back out of surprise. Warily, she narrowed her eyes on him and murmured, "You're drunk...aren't you?"
"Don't be silly!" Hideki spat. "How could I be drunk? Kako would have killed me if she found out I drove here drunk. I'm not drunk, Rai. I'm as sober as Kouichi." He took a step forward, a bold move he hardly ever made in situations like this with Rai, but the tables were turning.
Rai looked almost frightened. She stumbled back until she fell onto the couch, where she sat and shut her eyes, murmuring quietly to herself.
Hideki took a seat in the couch opposite, wearing the same, menacing glare.
Slowly, taking in a deep breath of air and slowly letting out several times, Rai managed to speak again. "I...I just came here to say, that if it's going to end, we might as well be on good terms," she tried to say, stuttering several times, seeming to slow her speech so it would make some sense to herself.
It was after a few more seconds that he bothered to address her again. "Well you've said it," he returned coldly.
There was a surprising change of events as Rai stood up and yelled, "Okay Mr. Insensitive! I'm trying to say sorry, but if you aren't going to do anything, then thank you for wasting minutes of my life that could have been spent doing something more useful!" Tears were on the brink of falling out, blurring her vision as she hastily made her way to the door.
Again, it seemed as if Hideki couldn't make up his mind. Indecisiveness quickly left him as he called after Rai, "Wait..." sounding as if he just realized he had committed some horrible atrocity.
At the top of the stairs, Marise shook his head, bringing the bottle to his lips. He tilted his head back and took a mouthful of the stuff, all the while looking perfectly calm. When at last he had swallowed, he looked into the space in front of him and leaned on the wooden railing. "If ever you decide to date Kouichi," he murmured, "I can assume you two will be far more random than those two. At any rate, Kako, never take such silly fights to heart. He means well," he said, voice no louder than a whisper, and yet as quiet as a waterfall.
Startled, Kako turned her head to ask her father what he meant, but Marise had already left for his bedroom. His words sank into effect. Dating... Me? Date Kouichi? We're way too self-conscious to even kiss, she thought, shivering at the thought of a date. Or are we already dating? I'm not sure. We probably are. Maybe that's what the whole thing at the door was about...! He must hate me! Nooo! I'm such a dolt...
Shaking her head to clear the tsunami of thoughts, Kako rose to her feet and descended the stairs in an instant. Marise was right that they had to sort out their relationship before everything began, meaning the supposed 'final battle.' And yet, it seemed that would only get in the way.
Kako made her way to the door of the backyard, pressing her hands against the glass door. Outside, a mess of flower petals scattered themselves further with the wind to guide them. It seemed with each passing second, she, too, could see the storm approaching.
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"He fell asleep a while ago," Takuya murmured, shutting his eyes and enjoying the warmth of the sun as it lit the side of his face.
Izumi nodded quietly, eyes warily glued onto the comatose form of Kouji.
Almost in a tired voice, Takuya continued, "He doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong. I can't think of a thing in the world he could be doing. How was your recital?" He sounded gloomy, and looked it as equally.
Her eyes shifted to look at Takuya. "Wonderful, thanks." Quietly, Izumi moved forward to grab a hold of one of Takuya's arms that restlessly tapped on his knee. "Shinya's fine. He's with Tomoki and Junpei. They'll take care of him, Takuya. I promise," she told him. But even her bottom lip quivered to betray her.
Helplessly, Takuya cried, "I know, Izumi...but...he's right..." His eyes were downcast as he lowered his head. "I...I didn't help him. I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most..." Broken cries choked through. "Izumi, I...I want to go see him."
She withdrew her hands, only after squeezing his reassuringly. "Go," she finally said, smiling in his direction.
Takuya looked up in surprise, the tears immediately stopping.
Izumi giggled at the sight. "Go, Takuya. I'm sure Kouji will understand when I explain. I'll be fine. Hurry up, before I chase you out," she told him, mocking a menacing growl.
Snickering, Takuya remarked, "A bit deeper and you'll have it."
She playfully hit his arm. "Oh shut up!" Izumi scowled.
The two burst out into laughter until Takuya rose to his feet, a small smile on his face. "Thank you," he whispered, more like mouthed, before he ran out the door.
So Izumi was left alone, staring thoughtfully at Kouji. Something didn't feel right. At the pit of her stomach, a void was threatening to swallow her whole. Worried, she walked to the door and cracked it open to find the goggle boy immobile at the steps. "T-Takuya...?" she said in surprise.
"I...can't," Takuya mumbled, slouching his shoulders and collapsing onto the step, resting his elbows on his leg as he cradled his head in his hands and moaned aloud, "I can't...!" He let out a frustrated cry as he stood up and screamed, "I can't!"
Izumi watched in silence as Takuya continued, "I'd just hurt him more. He hates me Izumi. I can't change a thing!" There was a bitter note in his voice. "I don't have a choice. I have to give up on Shinya. Maybe not as a brother, but for the moment...while he's like this, I have no choice. If this is the only way I can keep him safe, I'll leave him alone. I...do you think I'm right...?" He turned his head to look over his shoulder, a pitiful sight to Izumi.
Tentatively, Izumi walked down the steps and into his arms as Takuya fully turned around. "He'll understand," she whispered to him, tightening her grip around him as he tightened his around her. "Shinya's strong. He takes after his knucklehead brother."
They should have found comfort in those words, yet no laughs were emitted. Only tears and the awareness that they were being watched by passersby existed. And one wasn't even a passerby at all.
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A/N-
I did it! Quicker review (I'm getting my bearings)! .:also has vague idea of how story should end end. Yes, 'end end':. Might take time for next update.
THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! (I'm happy to hear from you guys)-
Winter's Light, GemmaniGirl, Lady Hikari-Yami
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