Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon, but I own the joy of knowing Digimon exists (in the form of entertainment, at the very least).
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Meddling
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The days passed quickly, at least quicker than Kouichi expected. He occasionally informed Itsuma of Daisuke's situation, yet Itsuma never asked for him to bring Daisuke back, and Kouichi wasn't bothered much by the fact. Yumena had become less irritable and completely refused to talk to him, much to his delight (the only downside was that he could no longer annoy her). Arata, on the other hand, sought out Kouichi's help during lunch, where they sat in the hidden clearing, surrounded by rose bushes, working on one math problem after another. In the case where rain would settle in, they decided to camp out in the abandoned chemistry room (it made Kouichi feel at home). Hotaru, if anything, seemed to be avoiding Kouichi. Tomoki had discovered a math test he neglected to study for was in a week, and skipped lunches (which only consisted of Kouji and Takuya attempting to decipher Kouichi's 'strange' behavior) to study alone in the library, sometimes with the help of Izumi and the other girls (who were mainly tired of Takuya and Kouji's rambling). Izumi and Sumi gave up on their boyfriends to keep Hotaru company (when they weren't all helping Tomoki). But best of all, Kouichi hadn't attended any of the meetings Yume had called whatsoever.
...Which was unfortunate for Yumena.
"He's getting soft," Heima muttered to the girl as she was doing her homework. He turned his head in her direction, hearing a slam. "Lady Yumena..."
She looked up, obviously angry. "I know. Baku's told me, only...I don't know...a billion times?" Letting out a sigh, Yume leaned back in her seat. "It's not even because of her. It's everyone else."
Heima bowed his head in agreement. "Still...he's only a callow boy. Perhaps he plans to beguile us..."
"Callow?" Yume repeated. "Try callous!"
But Heima was too preoccupied with a conversation with himself to hear her. "His actions seem capricious enough...he must not know what he's getting into..." He trailed to a stop, hearing the opening of a door.
"No meeting? Yeesh, I would've gone straight home..."
Yumena and Heima looked up, both narrowing their eyes on Itsuma, who had just come in. Yume stood up, hands clenched by her side. "You...where's Daisuke?"
"Uh...Kouichi's house?" Itsuma frowned, seeing the look on her face. "What's the deal?"
"Have you lost your senses? He's going soft!"
"Uh..."
Yume stormed up to him, pointing her finger at his chest. "Take Daisuke home now," she ordered.
Itsuma's eyes narrowed on her in sudden comprehension. He pushed her hand aside. "No."
"What...?"
"I don't give a bunny rabbit about this place if it's not going to help me. Right now, it isn't." He snorted, seeing the look on her face. "Daisuke's staying with Kouichi until I ask for him back or Kouichi gives him back. You have a problem, I'll be glad to settle it," Itsuma said, pulling his deck out, and taking the first card into his hands. He muttered the name and an Allomon materialized in front of him.
Yume stumbled to the side and pulled out her own deck. "Fine!" she snapped. "Kyubimon!"
The two locked eyes, neither daring to move. The sound of the door opening startled hem both seconds later. Even Heima was shocked as Kouichi walked down and in between the two summoned digimon. Out of the corner of his eyes, he gazed at Yume, who stood with her jaw dropped. "Is there something wrong...?" he asked in a cold voice.
The girl's eyes widened as she gasped. Returning Kyubimon to her card, Yume turned around and ran out of the room.
"Okay..." Kouichi raised an eyebrow as he saw her slam the door.
Itsuma, after returning Allomon back to his card form, ran up to Kouichi, grabbed his shoulders, and shook his furiously. "Where's Daisuke?" Itsuma demanded.
The smirk on Kouichi's face caused him to stop. Letting out a small chuckle at the expression on Itsuma's face (one of confusion, shock and fear), Kouichi told the older boy, "At Takuya's house. His parents offered to let him stay over for the week. He and Shinya hit it off pretty well. So what was with you two-hey...you..." Kouichi's eyes narrowed on Heima. "So this Baku guy took back your all-mightiness? Loser."
"DON'T BE STUPID!" Itsuma and Heima snapped in unison. Lifting his chin, Heima spun around and walked off, opening the small door to the right of the main hall's door and disappearing behind it. Itsuma rolled his eyes and looked at Kouichi, somewhat incredulously.
"Heima's still the second most powerful guy here, Kouichi. Get on his bad side, and-" he began to explain.
"I'm sorry to say I don't care," Kouichi interrupted. "I just wanted to know if you wanted Daisuke to come home next week." He paused, then added. "It'd be a good idea to talk to your dad tonight, too."
"Wha-"
Kouichi turned around. "Uh...and Itsuma...Yumena...did she have a sister in that picture that you saw...?"
"I...don't know. It was a while ago," Itsuma confessed.
Damn. "Uh...where's her room?" Kouichi asked.
"East wing...you go through the door Heima went through, turn right, and it's the first door to your left. Um...why?" Itsuma suddenly inquired. "H-Kouichi!"
"Sorry!" Kouichi yelled back, hands clutching his deck of cards tightly in his pocket. Under his breath, Kouichi muttered, "I know it's no way to return your trust, but..." He took a right turn and stopped, looking left. I'm amazed she doesn't make it stand out. Shrugging, he pushed the door open and entered, gently shutting the door behind him.
"Alright...Gatomon! Help me search, please," Kouichi whispered.
Gatomon appeared in front of him, looking miffed. "You interrupted my nap," she purred.
Kouichi just smiled. "How about some fish for dinner?" he suggested, lifting the pillow on the bed to commence the search.
"Hm...well, you sure won't get anything by ripping up my card. Yeah, why not?"
He grinned at the cat. "Now...claws away, please?"
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"Kouji, do you know where your brother is?" Satomi called out.
Kouji looked up from his schoolwork. "No!" Now that I think about it...it's too quiet. Frowning, Kouji got up and exited his room, slowly walking towards his brother's room. What's with him...? Kouji let out a breath as he threw the door open.
The bandana boy froze.
"Wh-WHA-?"
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"Got something!" exclaimed Gatomon several seconds later, holding up a picture frame. She held it out towards Kouichi.
The boy took it from her hands and turned it around so the picture faced him. "This...should be her...and these are her parents. Then...I was right!" He jumped back, startled, seeing the door open.
"Kouichi...you...uh...what..." Itsuma gazed at him, looking somewhat annoyed. "You..."
"I'm done," Kouichi said, handing the picture back to Gatomon and holding both hands up in the air in compliance. He watched Gatomon place the picture back and return to her card.
Itsuma's eyes widened. He picked the card up off the ground and gazed at it in awe. "Where'd you get this...?"
The younger boy dropped his hands. Pointing to the card, he said, "That card? It was in one of the binders."
"I wonder if Master Baku knows..."
"Hand it back over! No one's stealing my cat." Kouichi snatched the card away, looking slightly flustered. Yeesh, got lucky there, Kouichi.
Itsuma frowned. "Kouichi, you'll get in trouble."
"Trouble, trouble, boil and bubble. If this Baku guy has a problem, he can settle it with me!" Kouichi pushed Itsuma out of the way and froze. "Uh...oh..."
The older boy tuned stiff. "You idiot...don't tell me."
"Yep. Queen Yume might scream, 'Off with his head!' Real soon, too."
"Idiot..."
The red-faced Yume did indeed scream, but nothing of the sort. While Kouichi and Itsuma plugged their ears, she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"BAKU! HEIMA! SOMEONE...?"
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"We're busted."
Kouichi just shook his head. Can't believe I didn't see that in my dream. I thought I'd get caught after Itsuma left. "I've got a pretty convincing speech in mind. Besides, it's not like it was your fault, Itsuma." He looked at Itsuma and immediately frowned. "You don't believe me?"
A grunt was his reply. After a few seconds, Itsuma sighed. "I have half a mind to strangle you," he admitted, but in a mutter under his breath.
"Hey, I think we got off pretty easy anyway! Wait...what am I talking about?" Kouichi frowned. "This is so lame..." He rose to his feet. Did I go soft? The thought lingered, but he pushed it away dismissively. Whatever. "Why are we getting in trouble for just going into her room?"
"What do you mean, 'just going into her room?' In case you haven't noticed, she's like Baku's daughter."
Kouichi paused to consider this. Then, shrugging, he declared (and not without volume, either), "I feel sorry for the guy."
"You're-"
Itsuma was interrupted as Heima entered the room, followed by a visibly incensed Yume.
This could be fun...Taro girl...meh, she hates me. "Hello, princess, so what's the-"
She locked eyes with him in an instant. "SHUT UP," Yume thundered.
Not her, too. So much for that. "Fine. What's the deal, stupid girl?"
Heima was the one who spoke. "You will be staying with us all of this week running various tasks with Itsuma or Arata."
Kouichi just snorted. "Then we'll start tomorrow. I've got to study for a stupid test tonight."
"No, you're starting today," Yume corrected.
Their eyes clashed again.
"Tomorrow."
"Today."
"Tomorrow.
"Today." Before Kouichi could continue this childish argument, Yume yelled, "Baku said so, so it is!"
Kouichi kicked the door behind him and hollered back, "Baku tells you to die. So die already, stupid girl!"
"You-"
"I'm starting tomorrow. Kouichi says so, so it is! Tomorrow, not today, damn you! Shut up before I have Goburimon club your hair to death," Kouichi growled, seeing Yume's mouth open. He turned to Itsuma. "I told you, go talk to your dad." Startled, Itsuma rose to his feet and nodded, quickly running off. "And if you two or Baku have anything to say about it, I'll kill you all." That being said, Kouichi walked through the still open door, feeling his blood boil.
Calm down, he told himself. Don't get so worked up about this! I liked it better when we weren't murderous. Come to think of it, when have I ever been murderous?
Kouichi shivered, making sure to break into a run after exiting the mansion. Kouichi...
...get a grip!
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A sigh escaped him. I guess I took a detour, Kouichi realized, gazing up at the houses down the street. And Arata's street of all places! Tch. Go, Kouichi. But then again...Feh. Ridiculous. She'd throw you out. But-
Kouichi's gaze fell on the house to the right of Arata's. "Uh...I have a death wish," Kouichi told himself, finding himself in front of the front door mere seconds later. Hesitantly, he reached up and pressed the doorbell. Kouichi winced, hearing a crash.
I'm doomed. She'll come at me with a knife! What was I thinking, challenging her on her home turf? I-er, Kouichi thought, seeing a middle-aged lady standing in front of him that he guessed to be Hotaru's mother. Very different than what...whatever. "H-hi..." I don't know her last name. Great. "Is...Hotaru home?"
She smiled at him and nodded, slowly pushing the door in front of her until it almost closed before she yelled, "Hotaru! You have a guest! Don't tell me you got a boyfriend!"
BOYFRIEND? Kouichi found himself unable to speak, gaping at the doorway with his jaw hanging.
"-too young! Hurry up! What are you doing, making this nice young man wait?"
"I'm coming, Mom," Hotaru snapped. "And I don't have a boyfriend!"
Her mother opened the door again, revealing Kouichi as he was: shocked, confused, horrified, terrified, more synonyms for a state of pure horror, but most importantly, not composed.
"Oh..." Hotaru's face fell as Kouichi, realizing his mistake, quickly collected himself. "What?"
Kouichi gazed at the ground. "Ah...about the other day..."
Hotaru was quick to interrupt. "If it's an apology, forget it. I don't-"
However, Kouichi was still quicker. "I don't want to apologize to you," Kouichi snapped as he lifted his eyes. Looking exasperated, he told her, "Look, I'm really sorry about what I said when I first met you, okay? I don't mean the first few words, but the words that counted." He drew a breath as a string of thoughts ran through his head: I'm not sorry about calling you stupid, because I still believe the girls at our school are stupid. His eyes lowered again, but he didn't realize. "I didn't know...I just...I'm sorry," he managed to say. As he said those last few words, he gazed up at Hotaru, trying to keep his voice level.
Kouichi let out a sigh, seeing the tears on Hotaru's cheeks. "What...I really want to know...and yeah, I suppose it's mostly for my gain...I want to know if we could...uh..." This is lame. "Start over?" he inquired sheepishly, holding out a hand. Instead of paying any attention to his hand, Hotaru stepped forward, burying her face in his jacket as she continued to cry. Kouichi remained frozen, unsure of what to do. Reluctantly, he patted her on the back. "Uh...how...would...a walk sound?"
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"So...four years, huh?" Sounds right.
"Not really. Try two. Four years ago, she'd always be out. Three years ago, she'd come home really late. And then..." Hotaru trailed away, gazing glumly at the ground below her. "They supposedly found her dead in some alleyway."
Kouichi's mind was spinning. Found her dead...? Okay. Two can really play at that game. "Hey, how would you like to meet some friends of mine?" Kouichi asked without second thought. "I'm sure they'd love to meet you." Yeah, great lie.
"Uh..."
"Let's see...that jerk...let's class out earlier than...so...wait in front of my class!" Kouichi said to her.
Hotaru nodded and gazed up at the darkening sky. "I should go home now..."
"Oh...want me to walk you home?" Kouichi offered.
She smiled.
Kouichi, taken aback, could only gawk as Hotaru shook her head. "That's fine," she told him. "You know, you're nice when you want to be." Judging by her footsteps, Kouichi guessed she was starting home.
He quickly turned around, feeling his face flush. Get a grip, Kouichi. Have you gone nuts? Feh. A week ago, you could have gotten slapped. Er...no...wait, that's a bad thing.
Kouichi cleared his throat to get her attention. "You sure? I know a cat who'd love to walk you home," he said. That sounds weird.
"Oh, a cat?" Hotaru asked, turning around.
Good thing she's stupid. Gatomon! Kouichi fumbled with the disc in one hand and Gatomon's card in another, trying to figure out how to work it while remaining inconspicuous. Card insert? No...card slide. "Gatomon," he muttered, sliding the card down the reader. The top of the disc, which seemed to be as silver as its backing, revealed itself to be shut. Confused, Kouichi lifted the shutter. Digistatistics. Hah, would have been cooler as a camera. The numbers disappeared, revealing the text, 'You called?' Kouichi quickly shoved the disc in his pocket.
"Uh...G-Gato-I mean, Fluffball, go walk Hotaru home." He pointed to Hotaru while locking eyes with Gatomon, who had materialized in front of his feet.
The cat digimon was incensed. Reluctantly, Gatomon got on her forelegs and hissed at Kouichi.
Sorry. Kouichi stuck his tongue out.
Hotaru looked over his shoulder (by standing on her tiptoes, of course) then walked around Kouichi to get a better look at Gatomon. "Fluffball...? That was the best you could do?" She sighed, shaking her head and murmuring, "I've always wanted a cat, but...well, my mom...and...and allergies." Hotaru ignored the tears that sprang to her eyes. Quickly, she wiped them away and suggested, "Um...why not Kae?" Hotaru squatted down and held a hand out in front of the cat digimon.
Kouichi just let out a nervous laugh, mainly to mask his smile as he watched Gatomon rubbing her head against Hotaru's knee. "Y-yeah...Kae works." That cat's gonna bite me. Squatting down as well (and doing his best not to twitch), Kouichi told Gatomon, "Get Hotaru home and come back. If you can't find me...the dog will find you."
"You have a dog, too?" Hotaru asked, seeming to be delighted by the prospect.
"Well...he's kind of mine. In a way, he's more of someone else's. I sort of...gave him away...? But he's still living with me, so...it's…complicated." Kouichi gave up on explaining and looked the cat in the eyes. "Kae…after you get out of the house, turn left, cross three roads going straight, turn left again, straight across one street, right, and it's the ugly house on the corner. Got it?" In response, Gatomon let out an attempted meow. Relaxing, Kouichi rose to his feet, and murmured, "Then I'll see you tomorrow, Hotaru."
Hotaru scooped Gatomon into her arms and watched Kouichi's retreating form. "Kae…do you know why he's being nice to me? It isn't because of her, is it?" she whispered, turning around and walking home. "I don't want him to feel sorry for me."
He doesn't. Gatomon made sure to hold her tongue. If I could tell you the half of it…
"Still," Hotaru continued, laughing to herself quietly. "I'm not apologizing for thinking of him as a heartless freak!"
Gatomon hid a smirk. There you go. That's the road to feeling better.
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"Gah, I forgot about Gatomon!" Kouichi exclaimed in exasperation, sitting up in his bed. The covers were thrown aside, hanging just above Doggymon, who slept in front of the front end of Kouichi's bed in a pile of cushions and blankets cleverly crafted into a make-shift bed. She's really going to scratch me…
"Kouichi! Phone!" Kouji yelled, throwing the door open. "Uh…and…the dog…you're going to clear that up with Dad, right?"
Kouichi scowled, pushing aside whatever covers still remained on him. "Why are you still awake?" he snapped, snatching the phone away.
Looking equally suspicious, Kouji demanded, "Why does it sound like Hotaru on the phone?"
"Ah…it's Hotaru, is it?" Kouichi lifted the phone to his ear. "This is the smarter twin speaking."
Silence met his ears.
Irritated, Kouichi cleared his throat and said, "This is Kouichi, the smarter twin, and if you are a stupid telemarketer out to swindle me of my money, forget it. I will hunt you down and strangle you first." Kouichi smirked as he rose his voice a little and instructed in a falsetto voice, "To talk to Kouichi, press one. To annoy Kouichi, go to-" He stopped, hearing the sound of a button being pressed on the other end. "Gimme a break, Hotaru. You fell for that?"
"No," Hotaru told him in an innocent voice. "I just figured it would be interesting to press two before you said something you might regret. Kae doesn't like cursing."
Damn. She tricked me. "In that case, I'll hang up. Obviously you don't want to talk to me." Another smirk found its way onto Kouichi's face.
Hotaru growled. Exhaling sharply, she told him, "I don't want to! Stop smirking!"
"Stalker! How'd you know I was smirking?" Kouichi snapped.
Too weird, Kouji thought, standing in the room, immobile as he watched his brother carry on with the conversation (Kouji could hear the conversation due to the loud volume of the phone). It brought him an odd sense of happiness, of jealousy, and a new mystery.
The older twin looked sullen at Hotaru's latest comment, which Kouji happened to miss. "I'm not smirking anymore…" he mumbled.
"Yeah, I kind of imagined it," Hotaru confessed.
A snort escaped Kouichi. "Good for you. What do you want?"
Silence.
"Hotaru…?"
"Um…do you mind if I keep Kae over here tonight?"
"That's it?" Kouichi let out a sigh of relief. "Sure…why not?" It might be better this way.
"Okay, that's it."
"Gee, thanks." Kouichi paused before quickly adding, "Bring her to school tomorrow."
He knew she'd object: "But…no pets-"
"Just bring her tomorrow, okay? I'll uh…see you then," Kouichi said. "Bye." Quickly, he turned the phone off before Hotaru could argue, then handed it to Kouji. "If she calls again, I'm asleep," Kouichi declared, pulling the covers up as he lay down back in his back. "'night."
Good night. Kouji exited his brother's room and quickly dialed Takuya's number. "Hello…Shinya? Could you give it to your brother? Yeah…yeah, this is Kouji…"
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A/N-
I haven't updated in a while…! Unfortunately, this is due not only to homework, but to my own laziness. I've also taken my eyes for granted, it seems, and the long stays in front of the computer for music and homework are getting to me. Ten more days is a happy day! I think. And then another month-ish, and it'll be a happier day. For behold-!
It's a secret. I'll tell the next time I update.
Ran into too many stops. There's a bit of trouble in school too, in terms of my eyes and my lack of motivation. It really is a lack of motivation. I think it's because of history that I'm so ready for the year to end. But really, I don't want it to end until I learn the 'wa,' 'da,' 'kou,' and 'ji' kanji. That was ridiculous. But I really want to learn them! Because they look PRETTY. Well, I can't remember 'ji' for the life of me, but 'wa' and 'da' are pretty!
To the story rants: Chapter title has changed from "Clashing" to "Meddling," which was the intended title all alone. I really need to alter the story title. Rather…annex words to it. By the way, the reader isn't really a disc in the sense that it isn't flat. It's more like a CD player with a flat edge, and that flat part has a reader (A discus with a flat side!). I honestly tried drawing it out, but I totally had no idea on how to design it. Version two is supposed to be stylish, and I want to make a ring out of the idea (we're making rings in Art), but I'm not that good. It might actually take two or three more chapters for real unsubtle action.
Review or PM or Flame if you will!