Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.
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Reunion At The Heart
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"So...now what?" asked Izumi breathlessly, scooping up the remains of the slush.
Tomoki shrugged and threw himself back into the slush. "Let's just...sleep," he grumbled, shutting his eyes.
The second girl scowled. Shaking her head, Naoko muttered, "You're really lucky this isn't a snowstorm we're caught in."
"But it's so hot," whined the boy.
She just shook her head.
Izumi let out a sigh and rocked back onto her palms. "I think I'm hearing things," she admitted to the other two. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a..." Her words trailed off and the girl sat up, suddenly alert. "Oh my-...who would come out here?" she muttered, mainly to herself.
Tomoki sat up as well, ignoring his wet back. He rose to his feet and eagerly craned his neck to try to get a better view of the distance. All the squinting and tiptoeing proved useless, and he folded his arms, waiting impatiently for the growing noise to come to him. "What is it...?" he asked aloud, not bothering to address either of the girls.
Naoko took Tomoki's spot in the slush and groaned. Her arms and legs were in the process of making slush angels. "Just forget it," she told them, stopping her movements and shutting her eyes. "No one would be crazy enough to come out here."
"Hey, it's a guy!" came the excited voice of Tomoki.
Naoko sat up. "What?"
Pointing into the distance, Tomoki shouted, "It's a guy, it's a guy, it's a guy-wait...that's not a good thing," he suddenly said, turning to Izumi with a grave look on his face. "Should we-" he started, but stopped when he heard the figure yell.
At first, the yelling was incomprehensible over the roar of the speedboat's engine. Naoko sat up and plugged her ears as the boat approached, and the other two followed suit. The man in the boat turned off the engine and jumped out, folding his arms and peering at the three in curiosity.
Their hands dropped to their sides. Naoko and Izumi stood up and walked over to Tomoki, each with one eyebrow raised. Tomoki just gawked at the man in shock, unsure of what to say.
A sigh escaped the tanned man as he muttered, "I hate water. They know that. But I'm the only one with a stupid boat, so I'm the only one who can come out here. What kind of crap is that?" He lifted up his arms. "Tada," he suddenly exclaimed, putting on the scariest cheesy smile Izumi had ever seen. Not even Takuya was that bad.
Blinking and confused stares ensued. The man held his face as it was. Finally, Tomoki, whose finger was still pointing with the arm bent, jabbed his finger forward, straightening his arm and turning his body to the side as he declared, "I know you!"
Grinning, he dropped his arms. One arm was raised again in the form of a salute. "Ichiro Egawa..." He bowed, allowing the hand to float down across his waist as he did while the other went around his back. His head rose, revealing a smirk. "At your service, miladies."
Tomoki glared. Waving to Izumi and Naoko, he snapped, "No flirting."
"Hey, doesn't mean I can't be courteous!" laughed Ichiro, lifting himself up and rubbing the back of his neck with a short laugh. "Hideki can rub off on people easily." His eyes held amusement, though his expression turned serious. Before he could say anything, Izumi interrupted.
"Wait, why are you here? You're Bokomon, aren't you?" she demanded. Ichiro nodded and waited patiently as Izumi continued, "So why aren't you in digimon form? Mr. Saito said-"
A hand slipped into his pant pocket. "Marise gave the few privileged to know about the Digital World this." Ichiro held out a small, square, white object with a screen. "Almost a 'primeval' D-Tector. I can digivolve at will," he explained, "but it's still got its glitches. As to why I'm here..." He trailed off and pocketed the device and stared at the sky. "Wow...it's pretty cloudy out here."
Naoko tried to contain her anger. "Why are you here?" she demanded. The girl sounded anything but calm.
"Oh! That's what I was explaining, huh?" Again, he trailed off and muttered to himself, "It's a pretty ominous day...I wonder if everything will go well..."
"ICHIRO," the three children yelled, glaring at him angrily.
Looking vexed, Ichiro snapped in return, "Okay! I don't get out much except for work! And usually all signs in Hawaii are good. I can't help it if I'm the superstitious type..." He drew a breath and shook his head. "Alright. Why I'm here is this: You've got to head to the center of the Area. We still need someone to guard the point. I'm here to guard the point. Now get lost, kiddies," he told them bluntly.
Naoko looked at him with an exasperated glare, Izumi blinked and nodded, and Tomoki stared in confusion. After a loud, "oh!" of realization, Tomoki exclaimed, "That's why!"
"Yes, that's why." Ichiro nodded in agreement, arms folding across his chest and eyes shutting as he did.
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"STOP SAYING OKAY!" Naoko barked. "I'd really like to get this over with! Can we go now?" Insolently, she glared at Ichiro, who stared at her disapprovingly.
He looked offended and taken aback. Brushing back his newly dyed red hair, Ichiro muttered, "Fine, but one more thing."
The girl's glare intensified. "What?"
"Here." Ichiro held out his hand. In it was several devices, similar to his own. "Harumi designed the D-Tectors, but all the design notes were lost with her. So far, all I've been able to do is produce these. Marise likes to call them digivices. Give one to everyone else that doesn't have a D-Tector and get rid of the wristbands. We'd rather Lucemon didn't know our plans. But hey, your wristband things are pretty dandy, too," he said, jerking his head up to motion to her arm.
Naoko's hand flew to her wrist, resting on the cloth above her wristband. "Get...rid of it?" she said in a barely audible whisper.
Ichiro nodded.
The girl pulled up the peach sleeve and stared at the blue wristband. "Get...rid of it," she muttered. A sigh escaped her as she removed the wristband, stared at it longingly, then turned towards the waterside. "I guess..." Shutting her eyes, Naoko tossed the wristband half-heartedly into the water and turned back to the digivices in Ichiro's hands. Without a word, she snatched them and pocketed them. "Are they assigned specifically...?" she inquired rudely.
He nodded. "Yep. Yours should be flashing with a blue screen at your touch," Ichiro told her before waving impatiently, his sign of dismissal. "Hurry up and go. I bet Ryuusei's already beat me to Kouichi and the others. Oh, no wait-Izumi, come over here!" he called out before they could digivolve.
Tomoki and Naoko went ahead with the digivolution process, though Naoko had trouble adjusting to the new digivice at first. Izumi paused and walked back to Ichiro, tilting her head to the side as she stared at him curiously.
Three packages were held out in his hand, all the same size. He handed her one wrapped in silver foil, and another in gold. Pointing to the silver box, Ichiro told her, "Give this to Kako, and no one else. Don't open it. It's for Kako only." He then directed his attention to the gold one. "This one's also for Kako. Don't open that one either, because it isn't nice. Yeah, you can shake this one." He held out the last package, wrapped in newspaper. "And this is for Kouichi. Give it to him as soon as you see him. Tell him to open it right away on pain of death."
"That's it?" Izumi asked. When Ichiro nodded, she beamed at him and bowed quickly out of politeness. "Thank you!"
Ichiro just grinned and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Aww...why can't Kako be as cute as you?"
Izumi snorted. "Have you ever seen her in a dress?"
"She's a monster," Ichiro commented, shivering at the thought.
"Izumi!" shouted Kumamon. "Hurry up!"
"Get going," Ichiro suddenly said, waving Izumi away with a scowl on his face.
Izumi just smiled. She quickly digivolved and was off, flying through the air with a carefree feeling about her. I never told him my name. How did he know? Yet worry wasn't instilled in her, even at that thought. She had a good feeling about today. Ichiro had said it was ominous, but she couldn't see it. If she had looked back, she would have seen the hopeful look on Ichiro's face.
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Marise stared calmly at his son and took another sip of his tea. Rai sat beside Hideki, staring at him expectantly. "They should be finished by now," he informed them quietly.
"Have fun, Hideki," Rai said quickly, pushing Hideki to his feet. She even stood up as well, ready to push him out of the house, but he refused to budge.
Looking positively outraged, Hideki declared, "I want to have a choice in this!"
The cup of tea was placed down on the table. Marise knew all too well where this was heading. With pursed lips, he asked in the same, quiet voice, "And what do you want?" He wondered why he even bothered to ask. The answer would be obvious.
Scowling, Hideki folded his arms across his chest and sat back down on the couch. "I don't want to safeguard some stupid point. I want to do something else."
"Which would be...?" Rai would kill him if he took Hideki's side, and Hideki would kill him if he didn't give the boy what he wanted. No matter how old he got, Hideki was still a boy.
Hideki's eyes were aflame with desire. Smirking victoriously, he shut his eyes and murmured, "I want to go to the Core."
By now, Rai was shaking with anger and worry. Hideki didn't seem to notice nor care. When his eyes open again, all Marise could see was the childish determination that used to get the boy in trouble when he was young.
Breaking old habits would do him some good, Marise thought with an inward smile. Before, as father, whenever that face was shown, Marise downright refused to let Hideki have his way. Now he was the commander. He had a more important job, and circumstances were different.
"Done," Marise said. He smoothly rose to his feet and walked towards the door. "I hope to see you do well in my place, Hideki," Marise called out behind him. He didn't have to turn around to see Hideki's jaw dropped to the floor, he didn't have to turn around to see Rai's anguish, and he especially didn't have to turn around to hear the silence he had left the room in.
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Fujitaka de-digivolved and stared calmly at Ritsuo and Junpei, both of who had craned their necks up while he was still Sakkakumon and were still doing so. "Ehm, down here," he told them, pointing to his head with a finger.
Their gazes lowered to his head, still waiting expectantly for an explanation.
"Metaltyrannomon...has successfully been taken care of. He didn't last more than two rounds," he informed them with a smirk.
"Now what?"
"Now you three leave for the Core of the Area and I will take over your spot, if you will," came a soft voice from the doorway. Marise stood there, leaning against it heavily.
The three boys straightened in shock and their gazes lingered uneasily on Marise. Junpei was the first to break the awkward silence and bravely demand, "Why?"
Marise seemed to smile at this act of courage. Instead of snapping at them angrily, he informed them, "Because you can't guard this point and fight Lucemon at the same time." His eyes narrowed on Junpei. "You don't have much time. I suggest you leave right away."
Ritsuo began fiddling with his fingers. "Wh-what do you mean we don't have much time?" he asked nervously.
"The others should be there soon. All you have to do is head to the center of the Area and you'll meet up with them. Is it really that frightening?" inquired Marise. He would have thought they would be more frightened of fighting Lucemon than just going to the Core.
"It's not that it's frightening," Fujitaka began uncertainly.
Junpei finished this train of thought, unsure of how to phrase it himself. "But just...so...sudden."
The man wasn't sure what to say. Shaking his head, he murmured, "I'd get used to it. Even if we know it's Lucemon, we don't know what else we're up against." Marise motioned back towards the door. "Whatever else you need to do...and Junpei, please give this to Rai," he added, handing an envelope to Junpei.
The boys nodded in understanding and slowly filed out of the house, then past the gate.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Fujitaka declared in a solemn voice, "but that guy is just plain weird."
Ritsuo nodded in grave agreement. "Yeah." Then he added, "It's like he doesn't care about anything..." He turned to Junpei. "What do you think?" he asked the boy.
Lips pressed tightly together, Junpei shrugged. He cares. He's just weird about how he shows it. He kept his thoughts to himself and instead pulled out his D-Tector, but stopped. "Let's...just get to where the Area meets the sea first, okay?" he murmured, breaking into a run.
He wasn't sure what to think anymore.
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"Why are we stopping here?" Kanaye demanded.
Kako rolled her eyes. "If Kouichi's got a sword, he's got to have more. I just want to check it out," she added. "Besides, his mom has a right to know-"
The door opened, revealing a concerned Miss Kimura. "Know what?" she asked desperately, eyes searching Kako's for an answer.
The girl gulped and looked up. "Um, Miss Kimura," she said, stuttered as she continued, "I just was wondering if...we...could...talk...to you?"
"You're the one who hurt Kouichi last time," the woman whispered, eyes focused on Kanaye.
Uncomfortable with the entire situation, Kanaye turned his eyes to the floor. To Kako, he said in a low voice, "I think you better do this alone. I'll wait outside."
Kako nodded and followed Miss Kimura outside, shaking her head with a sigh as she shut the door behind her. Once inside, she told the lady, "He's...not here to...do anything stupid, in case you were wondering." The girl bit her lower lip nervously. "And...Kouichi is..."
"Yes?" Miss Kimura's eyes focused on her, worried.
"Uh, out..."
"Kako, please, would you tell me...? I don't want...I...don't want him to be doing something dangerous. He promised he wouldn't-"
Kako felt her breath hitch as she noticed the woman's eyes on her. All the answers were revealed. Quietly, Miss Kimura motioned to the couch and lowered her head. "So...what's he doing?" she asked.
"At the moment, I don't know," answered the girl miserably. I thought for sure Dad would call her or something...
Lips sealed together, Tomoko Kimura murmured, "Tell him to be safe if you see him. And to be careful. Be careful yourself, Kako. If you need anything...I..."
Kako jumped at the chance. Quickly, she asked, "Actually, do you mind if I go look through Kouichi's room? I was wondering if...well...he had anything...suitable...for...um...something. Say...a sword, perhaps?"
"I...don't know..." Thoughtfully, Miss Kimura stared at the ground. "There was one time I went through his room when he wasn't here. I found...a box, but...I couldn't open it..." Uneasily, she looked at Kako. "It's under his bed."
Yes! Quickly, Kako bowed to the lady and murmured a thank you, then rushed to Kouichi's room, hurrying towards the bed. Please, please, please...yes! Excitement filled her as she pulled out a long wooden box, sealed shut with a lock. No... Dejected, she stared at the box and sighed. Where would he keep the key? She bit her lip nervously and stared at the bed. Whatever. To hell with his privacy. She threw the covers back and the pillow aside.
No key.
She turned towards the desk.
No key.
Cursing silently, Kako stared hard at the desk. An utter mess, as it was usually. Kako inhaled sharply. Would he mind...if I made a bigger mess?
There was one way to find out.
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"I got it," Kako whispered, shoving the box towards Kanaye, who stood on the last doorstep, staring into the street. "Open it, oh smart one!"
Kanaye rose an eyebrow. "She doesn't mind...?" he inquired, jerking his head towards the door.
Kako yanked on the lock, shaking it several times before looking up and asking dumbly, "About what?"
"About stealing the box which supposedly contains the sword you plan to murder people with," Kanaye said, voice dripping heavily with annoyance and sarcasm. He gently pushed her aside, (though she pretended it was more and dramatically fell over to the side) and his sword appeared from nowhere. "Hopefully this isn't too hard," he muttered, bringing the blade crashing down onto the smooth wood.
Splinters flew everywhere. Kanaye's sword disappeared. Kako shielded her eyes with an arm. Once the wood stopped flying, she brushed away any evidence into the flower bed (which she wasn't sure Kouichi or his mother would appreciate) and took the metal into her own hands. She swallowed.
"Plan...?" She looked up at Kanaye with hopeful eyes.
He just snorted. "Your area."
Damn. "Uh..." Kako stared at the long, well-designed item in her hands, then back up at Kanaye. "Hey, you could digivolve into Devimon and-"
"I don't give piggyback rides," Kanaye interrupted, looking away as he folded his arms over his chest in a cross manner.
Kako reddened. "I never said-"
"You insinuated."
"But I didn't say-"
"Insinu-"
"Let me finish!"
"Let me finish," Kanaye retorted, staring at her coldly. "I say we split from here. You won't last two seconds."
Kako's jaw dropped. "What?" she exclaimed.
Smirking, Kanaye shrugged. He turned around and began walking along the cement side-walk, not bothering to look back again. Finally, peace and quiet.
"Waaaaiiiit!" Kako cried, scattering the rest of the splinters and dashing after Kanaye, wincing at the weight of the object in her hands. "Come on!" she insisted. "You can't just leave me here!"
He stopped and looked over his shoulder. Only two words came out of his mouth: "Watch me," he said, and continued walking.
Stupid idiotic jerk from another planet, Kako thought, staring helplessly at the metal in her hands. "Then why'd you have me get this...?" she suddenly asked, looking up at Kanaye with a hurt expression on his face.
Kanaye, scowling, stopped and turned around fiercely. One look at her face sent guilt forcing him to look away. "I wanted to know how far you'd go for Kimura," he answered honestly, "and..." He walked up to her and placed a hand on the smooth metal. "I never intended that you carry this." Mercilessly, he snatched it out of her hands and walked off.
"N-No way! You can't do that, Kanaye!" Kako blurted, running after him. Her face flushed a pale shade of red as she realized there was nothing she could really do. What am I doing? Sometimes I lose track of myself, thought the girl, walking numbly after Kanaye. I'm still following him. I probably won't catch up after he digivolves. I want to stop. Can I stop? Let me stop...
A sigh escaped the two and Kanaye turned around again. "Look...let's just make a deal. I'll let you come, but when we reach a certain point, you can't come any longer, got it?" he told her, meeting the girl's eyes with an uncertain look in his eyes. He honestly wasn't sure if Kako would accept his deal or run him through after stealing the sword. In truth, he preferred the latter, however gruesome it was. The last thing he wanted to do was babysit.
He wasn't much of a baby person anyway.
Kako nodded quietly. "But I don't think that's necessary," she said. A small smile lit her face as she motioned behind her. "We've been caught."
Hell no, Kanaye thought, scowling angrily as he saw a bright flash of headlights. A car's engine rumbled and quieted, followed by a screech of a stop. Not them. Instantly, Kanaye tightened his grip on the sword.
"Kako..." came an annoyed growl, "what the hell are you doing with twerp two thousand?" A demanding look was plastered on Hideki's face, matched only by the glare on Kanaye's.
Wearily, Kako returned, "What are you doing here? I thought this was Dad's job."
All annoyance was replaced with worry. "Kako, are you-"
"I just don't feel well," the girl replied quietly. "Something doesn't feel right, that's all."
Rai stepped out of the car, half hidden by the car door. "Hideki, hurry it up! You're too slow! Come on in, all of you. We'll talk on the way," she told them, sounding agitated and excited at the same time.
Kako nodded quietly, and the three filed into the car as soon as Rai was seated again. She wasn't sure what there was to be excited about anymore.
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"We've got to walk..." Hideki brushed the dark locks out of his eyes. In front of them lay a vast expanse of darkness and more darkness. Again, he sighed, "We've got to walk."
Kanaye took a step forward. "Then this is where we part."
"No-" Kako started, reaching forward for what the boy was holding.
Letting out an impatient sigh, Rai grabbed Kanaye's arm and yanked it back. "No one will be parting, thank you. And we don't have to walk if you all just shut up and let me concentrate..." She shut her eyes and drew a breath.
Hideki grinned. "Awesome. Telepathy."
"Hideki," Rai growled warningly. Her eyes were still shut. A soft sigh escaped her and her eyes opened. "That...way," she muttered, pointing in a direction that seemed so random to the other three.
"That way?" Kako repeated, staring in the direction Rai was pointing at.
"We'll be getting a ride in a few seconds if we're lucky," Rai explained with a good-natured smile visible on her lips.
A noise of discontent erupted from Hideki. "Exactly what type of ride, if I may ask?" He shivered visibly and turned to Rai in askance.
She just laughed. "Drimogemon. There's exactly four."
"N-no, I can't-"
"Drimogemon?" Kako repeated. "You mean..."
"Tunnel travel," Kanaye finished with an indifferent nod.
"Cool."
"NO!" Hideki shouted as a drill poked out of the ground. "Please, no!"
"Hideki, let's go!" Rai shouted, heading for the nearest Drimogemon.
This is bad, Hideki thought, nervously climbing onto the fur of the Drimogemon. Aloud, he said, "This is really bad."
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"I think...I'm gonna be sick," Hideki said in a sickly voice as he fell off the Drimogemon.
"I think I am sick," Kanaye added, quickly jumping off the Drimogemon and taking a deep gasp of fresh air. "Forget tunneling. I prefer walking, thank you." The feel of the metal was still cool in his grip, despite the fact that his hands were wet with sweat.
"Are we the first ones here...?" Kako asked. She scanned the area, still on the Drimogemon's back. "I guess we are..."
Rai just smiled, seeming a bit too happy for the situation they were in. "Yes we are," she agreed. Slipping off the Drimogemon's back and thanking it, she added, "But the others are coming. And Kako-watch out!"
The warning came a bit late as the Drimogemon attempted to tunnel back, forgetting Kako was still on it's back. With a yelp, the girl pushed off and landed clumsily on the dirt ground. Wincing at the impact, she called out as the Drimogemon came back out to see if she was okay, "Sorry!"
It seemed to want to say something, but didn't, and left shortly after with a quick nod.
"Kako's out of it," Hideki observed, now over his tunnel sickness. He walked over beside Rai. "Who's coming?"
Staring quietly into the distance, Rai shrugged. "I'm guessing Tomoki's squad," she said finally. "Hideki...don't do anything stupid," added Rai, before walking over to join Kako.
I don't do anything stupid. But I guess she knows why I'm here now...? Great going, Hideki! You're Mr. Obvious! Hideki allowed a sheepish grin to appear on his face. Turning around, he let out a sigh and murmured, "Who else is coming to the party?"
"I suppose if it was a party, then Lucemon would be the host?" Kanaye questioned, pointing to one of the holes of the Drimogemon. "Something's down there."
Hideki walked over to the hole and stared down into the pitch blackness. A hand went to his mouth and he turned away, squatting down and staring at the dusty ground. "I think...I'm gonna puke..." he said in a muffled voice.
Kanaye pursed his lips. Something we didn't need to know. He stared silently as Rai walked over to the hole, opposite to Kanaye, and kneeled down in front of it, staring down.
"That should be Junpei's squad," she announced. Rai rose to her feet and turned her head to the right. "And that should be Kouichi's squad."
Kimura's squad, Kanaye thought, not Takuya's squad. Kimura's squad. His eyes narrowed in the direction where Rai's gaze was set. Slip of a detail. Not wise at this time. She was up to something. That was his only conclusion.
"So we wait...?" Kako looked at Rai in askance. When Rai nodded, Kako's gaze fell onto the ground. "Then what...?"
"We wait and see."
Kanaye noted a hint of desperation in Kako's eyes as the girl looked up. He nearly cursed when he felt his body move out of it's own accord. "Kako," said the boy. Damn it, Kanaye thought, wishing he had better control of himself. When she looked at him questioningly, he held out the long strip of metal in his hands. NO. "H-hold this, would you?" He swallowed, wishing he could swallow back the words as he did.
Kako's mouth opened. She looked confused, but when she noticed the pained expression on his face, she shut her mouth, smiled, and relinquished him of the metal. "Thank you," she added before turning away and staring into the distance.
Kanaye couldn't help but notice it was the same direction from which Kouichi's group was coming from.
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The sun was beating painfully on his back. It was strange in a way, to have the sun and be in the Dark Area at the same time. Instead of covered with dark and creepy forests, the entire place seemed barren and empty with trees stripped of their leaves.
He preferred the forests to the branches.
A simple exercise of my power.
Kouichi felt himself fall out of the air, de-digivolved. Shock vibrated through him as he skidded forward on his arm, luckily not scraping against any rocks. "Did you two hear that?" he asked, gazing up at BurningGreymon, then Grumblemon.
Both digimon stared from Kouichi to each other.
"Nothing," said BurningGreymon. "Sorry. You sure you didn't imagine it...?"
You should know by now not to say that, Kouichi thought, forcing a smile. "It's probably...just the sun," he lied with no difficulty. Without warning, he bit his lower lip. He couldn't digivolve again. It took more energy than it was worth. "Uh, if you don't mind-"
"Hold on tight." Kouichi nearly yelled, hearing BurningGreymon so close. The feeling of being lifted out of the air flew through him, and butterflies entered his stomach. In the distance, he could see the familiar sights of Kumamon and Kazemon. He wasn't sure where, but he knew Naoko was with them. What worried him was further ahead and steadily growing closer.
Too close.
"Takuya!" Kouichi growled as he saw the ground rush up to meet him. The boy landed clumsily on his feet, then tipped forward onto his stomach. "Can we challenge Lucemon to a rematch if we don't win?" asked the boy as he spat out the grains of sand that had managed to enter his mouth.
With a grin, Takuya said in a mock apologetic voice, "Sorry."
"Shut up. You know you don't mean it," Kouichi muttered, rising to his feet and rubbing the back of his head. "Where's Shin-"
"That looks awesome! I wanna see it! Can I? Please, Kako!" Shinya yelled, racing forward.
Kouichi watched Kako take a step back and hold the sharp item out of the younger boy's reach. That looks familiar. I never knew she carried around gigantic swords, Kouichi thought, sighing and turning his head to look at Tomoki, who was sliding down a giant mound of ice, followed by Naoko and Izumi.
A familiar voice seemed to echo from nowhere. "Alright, just a bit more..."
"Junpei?" Takuya and Kouichi chorused and exchanged glances. Two sets of eyes swept around the vast brown area, unable to locate the voice.
Out of seemingly nowhere, Junpei popped up, and Fujitaka and Ritsuo followed, being helped up by the first boy.
It was a strange reunion. Kouichi felt strange as Takuya dragged him over to the others as they began to clump up around Hideki, Kako, and Rai. Takuya, nearly falling into a giant crater, threatening to bring Kouichi along with him. Indeed, it was a reunion between friends that hadn't been separated for long. There was just one thing missing.
Kouji, thought Kouichi, staring quietly at the ground. Kouji...Duskmon...Lucemon...Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Saito, Ms. Kawai...nothing makes sense. His head snapped up when Tomoki voiced his thoughts:
"I don't understand any of this!" complained the younger boy. "Someone please explain?"
With a mischievous grin visible on his face, Hideki poked the back of Tomoki's head. "You ain't s'posed to get it, kid," he replied rudely.
"Such vulgar language," snorted Kanaye.
"I haven't gotten started," Hideki replied honestly. He was about to say more when he was dragged down by Tomoki. "What the-"
The little boy was practically stomping on Hideki as he screamed, "I want to understand! You're all liars! And you screw up everything! Tell me! Tell me now, or I'll-"
Kouichi shook his head with a smile, watching as almost everyone proceeded to drag Tomoki off of a wailing Hideki. His eyes slipped shut until her heard someone murmur, "You look unusually calm."
Eyes now open, Kouichi returned, "You look unusually benevolent."
"I can be if I want," Kanaye replied bluntly. If there was anything stranger than Kouji not being there, it was talking to Kanaye. In a civilized manner. Again.
"Kanaye! Get your stinkin' presence over here!" Ritsuo yelled over Hideki's indignant shrieks and Tomoki's screams, and the general noise of the crowd.
Kanaye's eyes fixed themselves on Kouichi. His lips parted slightly, ready to say something, but he hesitated. "You should..."
Naoko called out this time: "Kanaye!"
A small smile appeared on Kanaye's lips. "Go talk to her, Kimura. If anything, you need to be without regrets for this battle," he told Kouichi before finally tearing his eyes off the boy and walking to his three friends.
Friends. Kouichi observed the four, and then went back to staring at Tomoki and his own friends. No...it wasn't Kanaye's group and then his group. They were just a group. They were all friends...weren't they?
Regrets. A long time ago, he had no regrets. No...it wasn't even long ago. Four years wasn't that long of a time, was it?
Friends, regrets...time? Four years...was it more? Less? Did it matter? It was enough to change him into what he was. He finally had friends. He wasn't the shy boy he had been, a social misfit. He was who he was: Kouichi Kimura. His name meant something. His friends meant something. His life meant something. His family meant something, a lot more than it ever meant to him before.
"Regrets," Kouichi whispered softly to himself. His eyes were glazed over, occasionally tearing over. No sound escaped him, save the gentle footfalls as he stepped forward, one foot after another. A droplet left his eye and slid down his cheek. Regrets. A hand reached out to grasp a wrist. "Kako..."
A startled expression appeared on her face as she turned to him, eyes wide with surprise. "Uh...Kouichi...hey," she said softly, stuttering a little at first.
"Can I...talk to you?"
Her mouth was slightly open, trying to form the words she wanted so badly to say. Finally, she stared at the ground, trying to organize her thoughts. Kako looked up and smiled. "I'd like that very much."
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They weren't too far away from the others. Both sat at one of the Drimogemon's holes, legs dangling over the pit. Kako stared quietly at her shoes, trying to ignore the fact that Kouichi was just staring at her.
Trying to end the awkward silence, Kouichi turned to stare at the space in front of him and asked, "Shouldn't you not be here?"
What's that supposed to mean? Kako bit her lower lip, unsure of how to interpret this. "I just wanted..."
"N-no...I didn't mean it like that," Kouichi said quickly, glancing at her. "I meant...wouldn't you rather be at home? You know...safe from all this." He made a gesture with both his hands, waving almost everywhere.
Kako broke into a smile. "Don't be silly."
"What?" He stared at her in confusion.
"I wanted to be there for you. All of you." Kako stared calmly in front of her, where the sky glowed orange. "What matters most is friendship, isn't it? I want to preserve that...and...I just didn't want to be useless, I guess. Besides..." She looked at him with a sheepish smile on her face. "I hope you don't mind, but I broke into your room and-"
"What?" Again, the same confused face, tinted with horror.
Kako nearly burst out laughing. "Be grateful it wasn't Kanaye! I told your mom, too. By the way, she says to be safe and careful. But we found that awesome sword you hid-"
So that was my sword? "How'd you know about my sword?" Kouichi nearly screamed. He wasn't sure how he kept his voice level.
The girl fell silent. She shifted uncomfortably. "Um, well...remember that Napoleon debate we had a while back...?" she said in a small voice. "The papers...uh..."
Kouichi looked away, embarrassed. "Y-yeah, I remember."
"From those."
"Oh." Talk, Kouichi. Turning to her, Kouichi murmured, "I didn't mean that...I...I mean..."
She just shook her head and met his gaze. "It's alright, Kouichi. We're human. Digimon, too, maybe, but we're human on this Earth, and there isn't much you can do about that."
"Human...? Is it human nature to be corrupted by darkness...?" Kouichi found himself spitting out bitterly.
Kako shook her head. A hand reached out to rest on top of his. "Don't insult yourself, Kouichi. You know that's not true. You can make darkness what you will," the girl said, smiling at him.
What were Patamon's exact words...? Try as he might, Kouichi couldn't recall them. Instead, he muttered, "What Patamon said..."
"Yep. Uh...whenever he said that." Kako just laughed sheepishly, withdrawing her hand and rising to her feet. "Say...Kouichi...?"
"Hn?"
"What do you prefer? Sunrises or sunsets?"
Kouichi's mouth opened. Sunrises, he thought automatically, and he repeated the thought aloud.
Kako's reaction struck him as strange. Before, he would always stare at her while she'd jump up and down, exclaiming that she was the right one. Now, she just shook her head. "Liar. Weren't you the one who said sunsets were pretty?"
He didn't say anything, but watched the sunlight be absorbed by her, then be converted into some other light that he could see shining within her.
"Don't change for anyone, Kouichi. Change for you. Be what makes you Kouichi, not human. And use the sword, would you? You wrote it yourself, saying, 'It's a great sword, but I don't have the skill to wield it yet. I don't think I'll ever have the skill.' Well I think your training has paid off. I know it has. So please, use to sword. Put everything into effect, and..." She turned to him and squatted down, peering at him curiously.
"And...?" Kouichi turned to her, staring softly.
She was about to continue when Izumi rushed over, breathless. "Sorry to bug you two," she apologized, holding out two packages to Kako. "From Ichiro," she explained, then handed Kouichi his small package. "Kouichi, you have to open yours right away, but Ichiro never said when Kako had to open hers..."
Kouichi stared at the newspaper wrapping before gently undoing it. He could hear the vicious tears of the foil of Kako's packages. Vicious, he thought with a smile. In his mind, he imagined a giant puzzle. The piece he thought didn't fit actually did fit. He just hadn't seen it before.
Kako gasped and Kouichi could have sworn a frog jumped in his throat. At the same time, they murmured, "This is-"
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A/N-
When creating complex plots, the problem is that you have all those loose ends to tie up. Some are meant to remain loose, but not all can remain loose. I've tied up less than I'm making. I'm guessing less than ten more chapters from here.
You'll have to excuse the chapter. Didn't mean for it to turn out this way. Did I mention I don't like this last part? It's so...not...cool, for lack of intelligible words.
Thanks for the review: GemmaniGirl
Review or PM or Flame.