Word from the Author: HEYO! I'm so happy that the three that read this story (that I know of) enjoyed it so much.

Thank you to Rokutagrl for your review and your opinion, which I take seriously. The romance does seem fast. I noticed that, too. And I'll explain. Koushirou loves Tai so quickly because he's never had a friend before and no one but his parents have ever given him a gift. Like he previously mentioned, most of the other children were scared of him. Tai, however, didn't realize he was in love with Koushirou. He was just a very caring, heart-on-sleeve little boy who cares very much for people around him, especially people who remind him of his little sister and need to be protected. Tai actually didn't fall in love with Izzy until he grew up and realized that he couldn't feel that way about Sora because of his Phantom-Izzy. So, Tai's romance didn't happen nearly that fast…

SageoWind: Thank you for putting me on your fav list, even if you didn't review. pout I can't really complain seeing as I rarely review myself. sigh

Cool-Hanyou: You put me on your story alert and reviewed me, thanks so much! I feel so lucky! The more reviews I get the more I believe I actually have some talent and it really peps me up! Your review made me laugh and I couldn't wait to write more so I could get more great reviews like that!

To anybody who read this, enjoyed this, and didn't feel like reviewing, (if, indeed, there are any) thank you for reading it and enjoying it, lol. Please, review one day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or the Chosen Children. I do own this story, though, YAY!

Chocolate Covered

Chapter Two

Chocolate Covered Memories

A petite redheaded young man, between thirteen to fifteen years of age, stood at the prow of a fast moving ship. A few other passengers wandered aimlessly behind him, but he ignored them. All that mattered was the small island slowly getting larger in front of him. Odaiba, the island just across the bridge from Tokyo, was his destination and the home of a fast-fading memory.

Finally, he was going back. He was going back home. It didn't matter the far south town of Edo was where he had been leaving these past two years. All that mattered was that in Odaiba he found he first friend and his first love, a tiny little boy with big hair, big brown eyes, and a big grin.

&&&&&&&&

A young man with a large amount of hair, dark brown eyes, and a big grin tossed his fist in the air as the soccer ball hit the back of the goal net. Sweaty and triumphant, he ran to the edge of the field where a teenage girl with ginger hair and red-brown eyes stood next to a young girl with brown hair, tan skin, and amber eyes.

"Tai-nii-chan, you were great!" The younger girl exclaimed.

"That was a great kick, Tai-kun." Sora agreed. "I have to get to the flower shop now. Okaasan is already going to pitch a fit with me being so late." Sora lifted up her face and kissed Tai on the mouth lightly.

He jumped a bit and Sora pulled away.

As Sora left, Tai turned to meet his sister's knowing gaze.

Sora didn't know Tai had already kissed somebody, a long time ago. She didn't know that "Aishiteru" had been stuck on his tongue for ten years. She didn't know that the person who hadn't heard it was a memory from a long time ago, a memory named "Izzy".

A memory with a chocolate covered kiss.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Izumi, Koushirou, fourteen years old, with shaggy red hair cut close to his head, lifted his face to the wind and smiled. The sea spray dampened his skin lightly and dried instantly, leaving flakes of salt on his pale skin. His shirt with black sleeves, a red front and back lined with thin black lines whipped around his thin frame and his long brown pants molded against his legs and flapped around his ankles.

"Koushirou!"

Koushirou turned, his dark eyes glistening in the bright sun.

"Hai?" Koushirou replied as his mother walked closer. Her lavender summer dress danced and flared with the rushing wind and she let out a delighted giggle.

"I feel like that American super model, Ma-ri-ri-an." His mother joked, holding down her light skirt.

"Marilyn Monroe, Okaasan." Koushirou smiled. His mother smiled back. After all these years, he and his mother were still close, and he still believed her the most beautiful woman in the world, with or without Marilyn Monroes. "What did you need, Okaasan?"

"I miss it when you used to call me Haha-chan." She wrapped her arms around her teenage son and breathed deep his salty, warm hair. "Your father's green in the face from the waves and I wanted to get away. We're almost to your future and we'll have to leave you behind soon when we go back to Edo." His mother whispered. Koushirou returned her hug.

"I know. I'll miss you, too, Haha-chan." Koushirou whispered back. "I'll still just be a phone call away, though, Haha-chan. I'll see you every break I can get, too. Odaiba will be lonely without you there for Christmas." Koushirou assured her, leaning back.

"Hai, you're right." His mother pulled away and wiped a tear away from her eye. "I do miss that little town, but you're father wouldn't be able to leave his job to move back with you. He all ready uprooted once, he can't do it again this close to retirement."

"Hai." Koushirou turned once again to the rapidly nearing island.

"Are you excited about going to Tokyo U?"

"I can't wait!" Koushirou exclaimed. His dark eyes shined. "I worked so hard to get accepted into their Science Program. All the experiments and software breakthroughs! I can't wait to be apart of it!"

"You can't wait to find your dream boy, too, I gather?" His mother teased gently.

"Hai…" Koushirou whispered.

"You still can't remember his name?"

"Iie…I just remember it was fairly short…" Koushirou smiled fondly, remembering the brown fingers holding a piece of chocolate-covered rice to his lips. "I still remember my first taste of chocolate, though, and his bright, happy grin. I'm sure there's no one else in the world with a grin like that."

"Everyone believes there's no one else like the one they love." His mother agreed sagely. "Even when they're green in the face and spew chunks of this morning's miso and rice."

"OKAASAN!" Koushirou cried out laughing in spite of himself. His mother joined him. She gave him another quick hug and started to walk away.

"I'm going to make sure your father's all right for docking. See you in an hour unless you come down and join in vomit watching with me."

"That's disgusting, Okaasan!" Koushirou protested still laughing. His mother just waved.

Koushirou turned back and watched the small land mass gain size.

"Just an hour until I'm near you, koishii."

&&&&&&&&&&

Yagami, Taichi, fifteen years old (though in three hours sixteen years old), leaned forward as the hot water beat into his tired muscles. The adrenaline rush from winning the last game of the summer season was fading fast and the confusion that had been bugging him lately crept back into his mind.

Why can't I fall in love with Sora-chan? I've known her for over almost sixteen years! She's smart, and funny, and cute, and she loves sports like me! She stopped wearing those stupid skirts her mom always made her wear and she always smells pretty because of the flower shop. Life would be so much simpler if I could just stop loving a stupid memory! I mean, I probably made up that Izzy-kid, whoever she is. Sora-chan doesn't remember any Izzy!

Tai lifted his face to the stream of water as the memory of chocolate and rice tasting lips crept into his mind. Lips that weren't Sora-chan's. They were softer, a little thinner, and were wet…with salt? Yeah…Izzy was crying because she had to go away.

"Pinkie promise to come back to Odaiba when you're grown up."

"Will you promise to remember me and play soccer, real soccer, with me?"

"Hai. I promise."

"Then, I promise to come back." Their pinkies linked and bobbed up and down. Tears fell down both their cheeks. "I don't wanna go. You're my best friend, Tai."

"I don't want you to go, either."

Tai gripped his dripping hair in his fist and grimaced. I just want to forget! I don't want everything to be complicated anymore!

"Tai, your friends are all going to get here soon. Hurry up and get dressed!" His mother's voice called through the door.

"HAI!" Tai yelled back. He quickly finished washing his hair and turned off the water.

His backside hit the tile behind him and he leaned back, closing his eyes tiredly.

You promised to come back, Izzy.

&&&&&&&&&

"I promised to come back, koishii. I'm sorry it took so long, but here I am." Koushirou whispered as he stepped off the ship onto Odaiba. "You've probably already forgotten me." His smiled sadly.

"Koushirou! Come help me and your father with the luggage!" His mother called from the ship.

"Coming, Okaasan." Koushirou called, winding his way back up the ramp through the small throng of passengers.

A few hours later, Koushirou sighed in relief as he closed the hotel room door behind him. He did love his parents, of course, vomiting or not. Odaiba, however, was right outside the hotel, and so was his chocolate covered memory.

He raced outside, ignoring the glares of the other hotel patrons.

The park was just a few blocks away.

He stopped at the entrance, huffing slightly. He might not be as ill and weak as he used to be, but running three blocks straight was a little tiring. His foot stepped hesitantly onto the pebbled park path.

He walked slowly on the curving pebbled path, his dark eyes drinking in the green grass and tall trees. As he walked, his memory slowly came back. His feet followed his memory off the path towards a patch of sunlit green.

Here…here is where we last met. He raised his face to the sun, a pain-filled smile of his face.

"Pinkie promise to come back to Odaiba when you're grown up."

"Will you promise to remember me and play soccer, real soccer, with me?"

"Hai. I promise."

"Then, I promise to come back." Their pinkies linked and bobbed up and down. Tears fell down both their cheeks. "I don't wanna go. You're my best friend, ---."

"I don't want you to go, either."

He frowned as once again the name was denied him.

"If only I could remember his name." He lowered his face and pulled a small oval sticker out of his pocket. It was the sticker with the brand name of the onigiri that the little boy had given him over ten years before. "I bet he can't remember me, either."

"TAI! Tai, watch out!" Koushirou looked up at the panicked shout. He managed to see a slender, ginger haired teenage girl running towards him. Then, a large, muscled something entered his vision and knocked him to the ground. The muscled something fell on top of him, long legs tangled with his and a nose pressed against his forehead. A nose that leaked a hot, sticky fluid.

"Daidoubou desh da?" asked a worried voice thickly.

"Me? You're asking if I'm all right? You broke your nose of my frontal bone!" Koushirou exclaimed as he pushed the large body off of him. He steadied the taller boy and immediately pressed a tissue against the bleeding nose.

"I do dis all da time." The boy assured him. Koushirou looked up and his breath stopped.

A boy with brown skin, large brown eyes and big brown hair was grinning a huge grin full of shiny white teeth. A grin that was achingly familiar.

"Kon-ni-nichi wa. My name is Izumi, Koushirou. What's yours?" Koushirou stuttered breathlessly.

"Yagami, Taichi." He grinned again. "I can hold da dishyou to ma own nothe." He said around the soft paper.

"H-hai."

"Tai, are you all right, dude?" A younger boy, maybe two years younger than Koushirou came up to their side. "I'm sorry, dude. That was my fault. I kicked the ball too wild. Hikari-chaaaan, your bro's okay! He slammed into a dude that carries around tissues!"

"My mother-anyway, may I ask how old you are?" Koushirou asked, helping Yagami, Taichi rise.

"I'm thixdeen doday." The broken nosed teen replied proudly. "I haven' theen you 'wound her. You new?"

"Ano…" Koushirou frowned and thought hard before he answered. He wasn't sure he heard the question right. "I am new to Odaiba in a way. I lived here as a toddler and just got back to go to school in Tokyo."

"Todeeo?"

"Tokyo, hai." Koushirou repeated.

"OI! My name's Motomiya, Daisuke. What's yours?"

"Oh, sumimasen!" Koushirou turned to the growing group and bowed. "I am Izumi, Koushirou. I am fourteen years old and I just moved back to town from Edo. I used to live here, ten years ago, actually."

"Ten?" asked a girl about Daisuke's age. She also looked familiar to Koushirou. She was obviously Yagami-san's younger sister. Her skin was a lighter shade of tan than her brother's, and her eyes were a light, enigmatic amber, but she had the same color hair and facial build. She laid a hand on Motomiya-kun's upper arm as if to hold herself up. The young man, who had the same dark caramel color skin as her brother, though his hair was a dark fuzzy red-brown, looked down at her in confusion.

"Hikari-chan?" He questioned.

"Ano…nothing." She smiled fondly up at him. "My name is Yagami, Hikari. I'm Tai's younger sister." She introduced herself to Koushirou turning back to face him.

"And my girlfriend!" Motomiya-kun added proudly.

"Hai." Yagami-chan smiled with a slight shake of her head.

"I'm Takenouchi, Sora. This is Tachikawa, Mimi." The ginger haired teenager put in, coming forward with a pink-haired girl about her age. The pink-haired girl smiled cutely at Koushirou, her light chestnut eyes glowing.

"The rest of us aren't so lucky to be having our sixteenth birthday like this bull-raging idiot here. I'm fifteen and single." Mimi said, holding out her hand. She was really cute, with soft full lips and a pert little nose. Her still growing body was slender and willowy with curves already starting to show. "I just turned fifteen last week, actually. When's your birthday?"

Koushirou blinked at her a little confused.

"In December." He looked back at Yagami-san- who was still holding the dampening tissue to his nose. "Here, I have another one." Koushirou reached into his pocket and pulled out his packet of tissues.

"Dank you!" Tai grinned. Koushirou felt his throat catch.

"I-I, uh, I was actually looking for someone…" Koushirou stuttered. He didn't notice Hikari's sharpened gaze. "I had a friend, a long time ago. I don't remember his name, but I remember that he gave me-"

"Koushirou!" He spun wildly, flustered and confused.

"There you are, honey. Oh, did you make friends?"

"We were just discussing that." Mimi answered. "We just met him. Maa, Tai-kun just slammed his nose into Izumi-san's forehead, actually." She amended giggling.

"Oh, dear. Didn't I tell you tissues always came in handy, dove?" She smiled down at her son. He blushed vividly.

"Hai, ano, I was about to ask-"

"Gomen ne, dear, demo your otousan needs to get some food into him and you know your orientation at Todai is in just a few hours. We really have to go."

"Oh, right…Tokyo University…right…"

"Tokyo U orientation? Demo! You said you were fourteen!" exclaimed Takenouchi-san.

"Oh, hai…I'm a genius." Koushirou answered absently, staring at Yagami-san. "I have to go, as you heard. I would like you meet with you again. All of you, of course. May I have a number or something-"

"You can have mine! Here, we'll switch!" Mimi excitedly pulled out her phone and flipped it open.

"Oh, um, my number…" He pulled his phone out of his other pocket and the two teens exchanged phone numbers.

"Maybe we should meet up after your orientation in Tokyo." Mimi suggested coyly.

"Hai! That would be excellent." Koushirou exclaimed. "Will you all be able to come to Tokyo tomorrow after three p.m.? I'll call Tachikawa-san as soon as I'm out of orientation and give directions to a coffee shop or something."

"Perfect." Mimi agreed. "You guys up with that?"

"Yeah." Chorused the others, still shocked at his age and intelligence.

"I hope your nose is better tomorrow, Yagami-san." Koushirou bowed to him. Tai grinned again and gave him a thumbs-up.

"No pwob!"

"Sayonara!" Koushirou left with his mother, waving.

&&&&&&&&&&

"Koushirou, dear, you realize that cute pink-haired girl was flirting with you?"

"Don't be silly, Okaasan." He replied vaguely, his thoughts still on that shocking grin. "I think I found him, Okaasan. Yagami, Taichi…Taichi…Tai? Maybe….his name was Tai…"

&&&&&&&&&

"Wasn't he just adorable, you guys? That pretty red hair and those big black eyes! He looked like a strawberry shortcake!"

"A strawberry shortcake? Boys aren't desserts, Mimi-chan." Sora laughed. "I don't think he realized you were flirting with him."

"Of course, not. He's a genius, remember? A Todai student at fourteen! He probably never had time for girls! I never dated someone like him! I'm sure with enough time he'll like me, too." Mimi nodded.

"You sure are sure of yourself, Mimi-san!" Daisuke chuckled. Hikari slipped from under his arm and walked over to her brother.

"Tai…?"

He looked down at her awkwardly, trying to keep his bleeding nose high in the air to stop the bleeding.

"You heard what he said, didn't you?" Hikari pressed.

"Nani?"

"He said he moved away over ten years ago and that he was looking for someone. He said he couldn't remember his name. Maybe he was Izzy-kun-"

"Don' be doopid! Ithy wadn't a boy!"

"You don't remember that!" Hikari hissed back.

"Sure I do." But his eyes looked away.

"You just remember his name-"

"Her."

"His or her name and the kiss. Barely anything else. Maybe your mystery girl is really a boy and he finally came back like he promised and is looking for you and found you. He kept staring at you, Tai. He kept stuttering and staring and blushing. He didn't even really notice the rest of us." Hikari pointed out. "I kept watching him. I noticed it."

"I juth' dammed indo 'is faith, Kawi. Of courth he wath daring ad meh. An' pwobabwee wonderin' 'ow a blodhead lie meh dill had nothe lef' do bake seein ath I've done id tho of'en." Taichi growled. Hikari stared a minute, worked out what he said, and frowned.

"Riight." Hikari frowned even more. "Just because Izzy-kun may be a boy doesn't mean anything. You shouldn't be afraid of your feelings, even if they may be homosexual. Look at Daisuke-kun, he's bisexual and he's completely comfortable with himself."

"I'm nod gay." Tai stated flatly.

"Right now, you're not anything. The only person who ever affected you was Izzy-kun. Who cares if Izzy-kun is girl or boy," Hikari snapped lowly. She returned to Daisuke's side.

Taichi frowned darkly. If anyone had looked, they would've looked up, too, wondering if maybe the sky had sent a cloud by that personally offended the young man. It wasn't the sky, however, that made his frown so dark, obviously. It was his sister's words.

And those dark eyes that rang a bell somewhere deep inside him.

Is Izzy a boy? Is Izumi, Koushirou the Izzy from my memory? My chocolate covered memory girl…boy.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kitty: I hope you all liked this new installment. I want there to be some doubt still between the two on whether or not they're each others memories. Izzy-kun almost has it figured, though. Hehe, he is a genius. By the way, I know a fourteen year old already in college is a bit extreme, but I forgot I wanted to make him sixteen, not fourteen, and just decided to deal with it and made it so he is almost fifteen. I read somewhere his birthday is in December and I never said what season or month it was in the first chapter, so it still makes sense. Some more Japanese for you all:

Koishii- beloved

Ano- um… (really, it means 'um')

Sumimasen- Excuse me, pardon me

(O)tousan- formal word for father, the 'O' makes it more formal

Todai- A nickname for Tokyo University (a real, famous, college in Tokyo, Japan)

Tai Translations:

I can hold da dishyou to ma own nothe.- I can hold the tissue to my own nose.

I'm thixdeen doday. I haven' theen you 'wound her.- I'm sixteen today. I haven't seen you around here.

Don' be doopid! Ithy wadn't a boy!- Don't be stupid! Izzy wasn't a boy!

I juth' dammed indo 'is faith, Kawi. Of courth he wath daring ad meh. An' pwobabwee wonderin' 'ow a blodhead lie meh dill had nothe lef' do bake seein ath I've done id tho of'en.- I just slammed into his face, Kari. Of course he was staring at me. And probably wondering how I blockhead like me still had nose to break seeing as I've done it so often.