"Kouji! Kouichi! I didn't know you were coming by today! Please, have a seat. I'll make you some lemon water." Izumi heard her mother speaking. She ran downstairs as swiftly as she could, nearly tripping over her feet on the (fortunately) carpeted stairs.
"Thanks for coming over, you two." Izumi chirped. "Though it looks like it's just going to be the three of us."
"Oh? What happened with the others?" Kouichi inquired curiously.
"Tomoki is on a trip Takuya couldn't be reached Junpei has too much homework. First day of high school and all." Izumi summarized in one breath.
"Whoa, slow down!" Kouichi said, smiling.
"Knowing Takuya he likely neglected to bring his phone." Kouji shrugged. "And knowing Junpei it's not so much the amount of work, but that he takes twice as long as he should to do it. Some people optimize their allotted time."
"Right, Kouji, I suppose you're trying to imply you're one of those superhumans." Izumi said in mock-irritation, crossing her arms.
"Oh, not at all." He said airily at Izumi's raised eyebrow. "It doesn't take a superhuman."
"Don't mind him, Izumi. He's the efficient one, not me, and he never misses an opportunity to subtly rub it in my face." Kouichi whispered, pulling Izumi aside before she could argue. Izumi giggled at his words.
"Lemon water is ready, kids!" Mrs. Orimoto's voice floated from the kitchen.
The television was running in the background but that was the way of things in the Orimoto household. Her mother was always watching the television. Izumi, Kouji and Kouichi sat down around the dinner table, sipping their lemon water and the twins regarded her with concern.
"There's something I wanted to say to you in person", Izumi had said to them.
"... That's an interesting thought. In other news, Tokyo is no longer a safe city for children to live in. What do you think of the recent disappearances?"
That talk show again, Izumi cringed inwardly. She ignored the noise as best she could.
"I'm going away in June." She said simply.
"That does explain the boxes." Kouji observed.
"No, you don't understand!" She was about to protest, before her nosy mother appeared behind her yet again.
"You kids should see this!" She ushered them toward the television. "Next time, you need to have an adult accompany you when you go out." She admonished the twins.
Kouichi sported a polite smile, as always, but Kouji's was stiff and didn't quite reach his eyes. He didn't like being patronized like a child, Izumi observed. Sort of like her.
"And did you hear? You must have heard, Mr. Takei. Shame on the city police! From this morning, two of the missing kids have turned up dead."
Kouichi looked worried and Kouji looked bored. Evidently he had a habit of reading the morning papers.
"That doesn't bode well for Akiyama Ryo and Makino Ruki, two of the most high profile and the most recent disappearances. Some Digimon fans speculated they eloped, could you imagine?"
"Makino Ruki is your cousin, Izumi." Mrs. Orimoto whispered. "Your uncle is worried sick."
"I didn't even know Uncle had a daughter", Izumi whispered back. She had a vague notion of that name back when the D-Reaper was still a big deal. The Orimoto household never mention that Makino Ruki and until today she was just a name.
"Still, you can't blame them. The two are known to have become quite close three years ago when they battled the D-Reaper, and they vanished within the same day- the- what did they call her back then- Digimon Queen? And the Legendary Tamer, no less. Isn't it curious?"
"It appears you're not the only one who thought it was queer; some journalist took it upon himself to interview the kids' families. Turns out all of them had been avid Digimon players. I smell a conspiracy theory."
"And he thinks there's a connection?"
"Who knows? He's just in for a big scoop anyway, you know what they're like. Actually believing his own theories is not a part of his job description."
At that, Kouji shifted and sat up straight, his impassive expression gone. What's he thinking? Izumi wondered. But she didn't have too long to speculate before her mother was whispering in her ear again.
"That's because your uncle divorced her mother. He hasn't seen them, mother or daughter, in years. You knew her a long time ago. You have a picture of her on your shelf, I think." That petite redhead, of course.
"So why are we talking about this now?"
"He's my brother! I'm worried about him! Can't I indulge myself in front of you once in a while?"
"What, for him and not his daughter? How noble of you." Izumi said rudely. Mrs. Orimoto's jaw dropped as she struggled to find her voice again. Failing, she stood up and stormed out of the living room. For the past two days, everything her mother did irritated the hell out of her, and this was just the worst.
"Parents are cautioned to chaperone their children at all times..."
The damn talk show was still on! Izumi picked up the remote and turned it off.
"Sorry, I've had enough of that for one afternoon." She told the twins.
"What just happened?" Kouichi asked, gesturing towards the door through which Mrs. Orimoto had left.
"We had a little spat. Happens fairly often. It's nothing." Izumi said dismissively.
Kouichi only frowned, and Izumi at once felt ashamed remembering the plight Tomoko still faced everyday: leaving home at 8 in the morning and returning twelve hours later, working odd jobs in addition to her full time job just to keep the bills paid and her son fed. Izumi was about to apologize when Kouji suddenly spoke up, having been silent throughout.
"Something's up with the Digital World." He said tersely, leaving no room for arguments. "We need to investigate right away."
"How do you know?" Izumi asked, before she realized how dumb she had sounded. Damn it! She has always felt dumb next to Kouji and here it's happening all over again.
"It's obvious." He replied, and she felt even dumber. She wished he wouldn't phrase things like that.
"And how did you gather that, little brother? From the god-sent intuitions of a crackpot journalist?" Kouichi countered, his expression hardening. She had never seen the two brothers argue before, but in this moment even the most fervent skeptic wouldn't doubt they were twins, as differently as they presented themselves. But apparently this happened quite a lot, because Kouji looked unfazed by his bother's sudden change.
"Really, Kouichi, I expected better from you. How else was the D-Reaper neutralized? Certainly not with just smarts of our beloved HYPNOS and the naive tomfoolery of some fifth graders. Most of us know better, though the government hate the mention of it: they had Digimon at their disposal. You don't think it's a coincidence, do you, that the two dead kids happen to be associated with the group of children who were supposedly involved with the Digimon who fought the D-Reaper? That all of the other abducted, absconded, or likely-dead-but-never-found children were obsessed with the franchise? Please tell me my question is rhetorical and you don't have some other answer than 'no'." Kouji said, his dark, intelligent eyes boring into his brother's.
Before Kouichi could respond, all of their phones rang at the same time in a disorienting dissonance; all three calls were from an unknown number. Kouji looked at Kouji and Izumi significantly before picking up. He motioned for the other two to let him answer.
"What is it?" He asked shortly.
"Hello! Who is this?" A childish voice asked.
"You're the one who called. You tell me."
"Um..." The voice on the other end was audibly intimidated.
"Are you going to speak?" Kouji asked in a challenging tone.
"For God's sake, let me." Izumi said in exasperation and took over his phone.
"Good afternoon. Orimoto Izumi speaking. May I help you?"
Izumi fell silent for the longest time and all the boys could hear were muted gibberish on the other end, then she hung up without saying "goodbye" and slowly put the phone down.
"And?" Asked Kouji. Izumi paused before making a reply.
"And you've won the pissing contest for the day, you arrogant ass. I hope you're pleased." She said caustically. Kouji's attitude gets to her sometimes. No, it gets to her most of the time. He looked taken aback and slightly guilty.
"I'm sorry. I haven't been watching my tone." He apologized, his serious expression spoke of his sincerity. Izumi sighed.
"Forget it. Anyway, you're right. That Kotemon said the Digital World is in chaos, and the Celestial Digimon are in captivity. They want us to help rescue them and keep them safe."
"Can we trust this guy?" Asked Kouichi.
"It doesn't matter. Like Kouji said, we should investigate. Something isn't right."
"Did he say how we can get to the Digital World? The underground station was destroyed when Lucemon invaded, and I don't think the government knows about that place." Kouji pointed out. She shrugged.
"Apparently we're supposed to go back to some elevator in Shibuya station you used. I hope you know which one." Both boys nodded solemnly. Kouichi had a particularly painful experience associated with that elevator.
"I suppose that's our only lead. We should take something with us if we might be going to the Digital World. Izumi, pack as much food as you can and we'll go to our house together to get our stuff. We don't want you coming out here to meet us alone considering what happened to those kids." Kouichi suggested, just as Izumi's phone rang again; it was Junpei. Apparently he had gotten the same call.
"No, Junpei, stay put. We don't know what it is yet, or even if the elevator would lead anywhere. If we see anything, we'll call you. We don't want you traveling alone." Izumi looked at Kouichi in askance; he nodded back. "Look, I don't have time to explain 'why'. Yes, of course we'll keep you posted."
Izumi hung up and ran into the kitchen. Searching through the cabinets, she took out two large rolls of bread, four cans of tuna and some pears, then her eyes fell upon lemon water. She surveyed the tastefully decorated kitchen and it was impeccably clean, though the beginnings of dinner preparation were laid out on the kitchen counter. She thought back to her room and the mess she made on the floor, which her mother was no doubt cleaning up now. I've been extremely rude, haven't I? She thought. She hastily wrote "I'm sorry" on a sticky and put it next to the shopping list where she knew her mother would find it.
Note: So the plot is finally going somewhere. I hope it didn't take TOO long to start. Oh, I'm particularly interested in what you think of my characterization of these three kids, so if you leave a review I'd appreciate it if you would comment on that.