Sorry for the lateness. Holidays were crazy, and I stress alot about my health. But onto the story. Thanks to all.

Coincidence

Chapter Five: Berry Bark Worries

The Digital World's timeline was immensely vaster than the human world, but the hour of time was always the same now. In the late evening, the woodland of Beetleland was peaceful. Insect digimon flourished and lived in harmony, which made things ever so quiet and placid.

Tentomon, the gentle yet gossipy ladybug digimon, perched on his tree to watch the sunset like he usually did. Every day he would gather his dinner of berries, nuts, and treats to eat during the setting of the bright life-giver. This day he was rather early for the event, and he resorted to waiting patiently with his dinner sitting beside him in a cupped leaf. He often thought about his partner during his viewing of nature. When he was too early for the sunset, his mind would drift to Koushiro and their adventures, especially his time in the human world.

However, it was his lucky day, because just a few minutes before the sun would start to descend on the horizon, Tentomon would hear someone calling his name. His antennae twitched as he spoke to himself, "hm, that sounded quite familiar." He turned his head to look around and towards the ground, but he saw no one. He listened just in time to catch a faint sound of his name being called again. He did want to watch the sunset like always, but he decided it was more important to seek out the being shouting for him.

He lifted off of the branch with a buzzing of his wings, leaving his food there for later. He darted in the direction the voice came from, and it wasn't long before he spotted his partner. His big lime-green eyes reflected the face of Koushiro, who carried his backpack, a duffle bag, and a paper sack. He looked like he was struggling, which made Tentomon's heart falter. The bug digimon swooped down to the ground and perched onto the duffle bag, "Izzy!"

Koushiro winced and had to set the bag down due to the added weight. He smiled, however, and spoke to his partner with a better tone than he had in the past week, "Tentomon!"

The digimon reached for his arm and began in an excited tone, "I missed you! What are you doing here?! What is all this stuff?! What has been going on with you?"

Koushiro placed his hand onto his digimon's back, "I missed you, too. I thought I would come back and see you, but there's also some things I want to get done, too."

"What kind of things? And why didn't you visit during the daytime?" Tentomon questioned.

"Well, the thing is, I want to stay a while," Koushiro smiled. "I've been working on some theories about the Digital World, and I think if I could just stay here for a while, I can prove or disprove them. What better way to work on it than in the company of my digimon?"

Tentomon lifted into the air again and buzzed happily, "This is great!"

"Unfortunately, I can only stay for about twenty-four hours. I have to go to school after tomorrow," Koushiro told him. "But I plan to come every weekend to spend time with you and work on my project."

Tentomon began to fly forward, "this is wonderful, Izzy! I can't wait to hang out with you tomorrow. There just so happens a great restaurant just opened a few weeks ago. They have the best noodles you ever ate around here."

"That sounds good, Tento, but I'm also going to be working on some stuff tomorrow, too. So don't plan the entire day," Koushiro started as he picked up his bag and followed him.

Tentomon led him back to his tree and hovered in the air, "hm, we might can both squeeze into my tree."

"Into your tree?" Koushiro asked as looked up at the tall plant.

Tentomon flew to the trunk of his tree and passed through the bark like the hiding tree they hid inside their very first day in the Digital World.

Koushiro followed him inside and blinked at the size of the trunk. It was tiny! There was just enough room for Koushiro to maybe lie on his side curled up with his partner beside him. He smiled nervously, "this is…" He noticed that Tentomon was very proud of it by the way he nodded. "Just great, Tento. I'm sure I can scoot my stuff to one side and sleep tonight."

Tentomon started in a sarcastic tone, "well, if I had known you were coming, I would have fixed the place up."

"You're right," Koushiro agreed for the sake of agreeing.

"You can watch the sunset with me!" Tentomon said excitedly as he raced out of the tree.

Koushiro put his stuff down, still holding the paper bag, and followed him quickly. He hurried behind the digimon to a small clearing and a hill. It wasn't perfect for watching the sunset, but it would do. The teenager sighed and sat down with his partner.

The digimon landed next to him and looked at the sky in the distance. "I was just here thinking how nice it would be if I could watch the sun with you. It reminds me of how gradual you are, Izzy."

Koushiro looked out to see the setting orange sun. It only reminded him of Taichi's crest, but he refused to get depressed again.

Tentomon noticed that his partner was very quiet, like he usually was, but this was a different sort of lowly quiet. He tilted his head and relaxed, "so, what are you theorizing about the Digital World?"

Now that was a question Koushiro could get behind. He smiled, not taking his eyes away from the sun, "I want to dabble in the functions of it."

"Functions?" Tentomon asked.

"The Digital World is a world of computer code, so I have to believe there are functions. I mean, I saw them, read some of them, and I even decoded some back in the day. I'd like to really go deeper with that."

"Oh you want to learn more about what makes the world," Tentomon hummed, thinking how his partner would never change.

"The idea popped into my head a few years back, but I never perused it. Since this is a world of coding, I am coding when I arrive. My body converts into data when I crossover to this world, so I'm actually connected with everything here. Everything in the Digital World is coding, and my every move is coded, therefore, I am part of the code and connected to it."

"That sounds a bit…uh…" Tentomon started, but he didn't have a word for it.

Koushiro knew that he was going over his digimon's head, "Okay, let me tell you this way. I'm a variable introduced into the Digital World's coding. As a variable I have no power to change that coding, only become an admin or user via my computer which is an editor. Now, if I can alter the code that is my physical form, I can make my own self an admin."

"I still don't understand what you're trying to do," the bug digimon muttered blankly.

"Well, if I can rewrite some of my coding, I can probably convert myself from a variable to an admin. That means I'd be able to control the databases and coding of the Digital World. If I can manage that, I could easily delete any bad digimon that came across us."

"I think I see what you mean. So you want to become like the writer of the world? I don't know if that is wise."

"I'm not going to do any drastic modifications. You know me, Tentomon. I just want to see if I can do it. Understanding this world might be my life's purpose," Koushiro told him as he stared at the sunset.

"Yeah, but Izzy, I also know you well enough to know you can get carried away with this stuff. And you did tell me once that even you make mistakes will all this coding, so what if you accidentally delete yourself?"

Koushiro scoffed, "you bring up a very valid point, which is why I'm firstly going to write a function that will simply refresh my form if I should do anything to harm it. I will be safe and sound."

Tentomon would have frowned if he had facial expressions. He hummed as he looked at the sky, "I'm still not convinced that this is a good idea."

"Relax," Koushiro finally turned to him. He smiled warmly, "I'm not going to do all of that heavy coding just yet. I have to somehow write the refresh function and study the coding language used here until I'm completely confident I'm fluent. Otherwise, I would screw up big time." He thought for a moment before snapping his fingers, "how about before all of that, I'll start off with adding variables to the program-er-I mean world?"

"Variables like what?" Tentomon asked.

"How about I create a tree…? Or…maybe make us a house?" he pondered.

"You can make a house with just writing that? But wouldn't it be so much easier to just build it ourselves?" Tentomon asked astonished.

"Build it with our physical strength? No way," Koushiro muttered. "Since I'm not an expert with most of this coding language. I'll start it off very simple and work my way up to a fitting place to live."

"Live? You mean for me? I don't really care for sleeping in a house. I like perching on a tree or even burrowing when it's cold."

"I already told you I'm going to be coming for the weekends. That's about two days a week, about eight days a month, so on and so on."

Tentomon buzzed into the air, "are you really going to commit to that?!"

"Why wouldn't I after I said I would?" Koushiro muttered blankly.

"It just sounds great! I can't wait to tell everyone! You and me, hanging out like a couple of-" Tentomon started happily.

"As I said," Koushiro cut him off, "while we will spend a lot more time together, I'm going to be deciphering and learning this coding first and foremost." He then remembered the paper bag in his hand and opened it, "oh, my mom sent some treats for you."

Tentomon gasped excitedly, "your mom is such an excellent cook!" He held his claws out to receive the chocolate-covered onigiri. "What is this?"

Koushiro smiled a bit, "chocolate—very sweet. You had it before, I believe."

Tentomon stuffed his mouth full and buzzed happily, "it's superb!" The digimon buzzed around behind him, "Your mom can do no wrong! This is the best!"

Koushiro ended up not listening to the rest of the ramblings behind him. He was glad that his partner was happy about his staying, but if he was going to stay, he did need a proper place to sleep. He knew that he would have to work around the clock to get it done until he could finally rest. After his first time in the Digital World, he was finished with roughing it on the ground.

The next day, it was Taichi's turn to obsessively worry about his friend. He sat in class with his chocolate eyes on Koushiro's empty seat. He was shocked and instantly concerned about Koushiro's missing school as the redhead never neglected a day unless he was running fever. He worried every single hour of the day, every minute debating whether to send him a text or not.

When the lunch bell chimed, he hurried to each of his friends, to ask if they knew why Koushiro was out of school. He found Sora and Mimi sitting together in the cafeteria, both eating salads. The question spilled from his mouth rather hastily as he approached them, "did either of you get a text from Koushiro?"

The girls were taken aback for a moment because of his use of their friend's given name; no one really called him anything but Izzy. Mimi looked at him and for once didn't blurt something out first.

Sora was a little worried by the tone her friend held, "n-no, why? What's wrong?" She instantly thought it had to do something with the Digital World.

Taichi knew that he was being too rash, "uh…" He put his hand onto his hip and answered as nonchalant as he could, "just, he isn't here today. I wondered if he was sick or something."

Mimi cut her eyes away and continued to stuff her face with kale and carrots.

Sora hummed out of relief, "well, it is super cold lately. He probably did catch a cold."

Taichi eyed Mimi, who was looking really nervous. "He did text you!" he snapped, pointing at her.

Mimi almost choked on her food but managed to swallow before snapping back at him, "bite my head off, why don't you!"

He leaned towards her, "what did he say, Mimi?"

She blushed and leaned away from him. She avoided eye contact, "nothing in particular."

Sora glared at her, "what do you know?"

Mimi laughed abruptly, "well! Maybe he's angry at me?"

Taichi's brow loosened, "angry at you? For what?"

"Yeah," Sora asked blankly, "what are you talking about?"

Mimi sighed as Taichi backed up. "I was just joking with him, but he never texted me back last night. You know how he is with being oblivious to jokes and stuff. I did tell him I was just playing, though."

Taichi frowned, "what did you say?"

She flinched before standing with her salad, "nothing important. I was just picking at him, because he had to take you home after the party."

Taichi could feel his face heat up, and he couldn't speak.

Mimi began walking away, "gotta go!" She really didn't want to be blamed for anything, and the sooner she left, the faster she could run from the gay jokes she told.

Taichi slumped into a chair and dropped his head to the table with a thud.

Sora picked at her salad, "you know, you're making it super hard to ignore your fight with Izzy."

Taichi groaned, "apparently everyone in the world knows we had a fight."

She caught that he put emphasis on the word, "it wasn't a fight then?"

"Not exactly," he mumbled as lifted his head and sighed heavily. "I did something to make him think I don't like him, and now I can't face him."

Sora frowned, "Tai, you are the child of courage. You stood up the every digi-villain we ever faced. I think you can apologize to Izzy."

"Apologize? I have apologized," he huffed. "That's not the issue. It's really complicated."

She sighed, "whatever it is, I think you can get through it if you just talked about it. You should go see him. If he's sick, it might cheer him up." She then leaned towards him and spoke in a hushed tone, "so what did happen Saturday night?"

His face became even redder, "what do you mean?!"

She giggled, "well, you were super drunk. We were worried about you."

He frowned, "was…Izzy there the entire time…watching me?"

She lost her smirk and sighed again, "yeah…you sort of stumbled all of the top of him a few times." She smiled nervously when he gaped at her. "You don't remember anything, do you? You saw him with Mimi, and you nearly tackled him to the wall and asked if he was on a date with her."

Taichi shuddered with a blank stare, "I did?"

She nodded, "yeah, but you wouldn't let him get a word in. You told him something about you knew he was there with no one, because he was Izzy. He walked away from you a few times, but he finally worked up the nerve to make you leave with him. I asked if Matt if we should go after you two, maybe see if Izzy needed help, but he said it would be fine."

He covered his face with his hands, "I suck…so much, Sora. How come he didn't call me out on any of it? It would be so easy to shove it in my face and make me apologize for it, but he's Izzy… What am I saying? Even he should put me in my place at times. I can't believe it."

She frowned, worrying about her friend's distress, "Tai…so you two did have a fight that night… Wait…" Her voice became harsh, "did you do something stupid while he was taking you home?! You're such a mean drunk!"

Taichi looked at her with a solemn expression, "yeah…" He recalled hitting his dear redhead…on accident of course. He also remembered the tears in the teen boy's eyes that night. He felt so cold in that moment, mulling it all over. He didn't know what else to do, but he had to make it right. He cut his eyes to Sora, who was still staring at him. "Will you do something for me?" he asked quietly.

She nodded hesitantly.

"Will you text him and ask if he's okay?" he mumbled in a shameful tone.

"But wouldn't it be better for you to-" she started.

"He might hate me too much to reply. He will respond to you. I just want to know if he's sick or if something is wrong," he explained quickly.

She sighed once again and nodded, "sure, okay." She took her phone from her school blazer pocket and began texting their friend. She read it as she typed, "hey Izzy, what's up with your absence? It's not something to do with the Digital World, is it?"

Taichi blinked, "Digital World?"

She sent it, "I thought that if I just flat out asked if he was sick, he would think something was up, so I asked it in a different way. Izzy is too smart not to question my motives."

Taichi was a little surprised that Sora knew how to handle their friend, but it did make sense as she knew Koushiro for as long as he had. "Thanks, Sora," he mumbled as he stood up. He almost didn't hear the lunch bell chime, but he was glad the day was already half over.

After talking with Sora, Taichi felt a bit better, but he still couldn't shake the worry he harbored. It was worse when Sora never received a reply from Koushiro. The rest of his day crawled, even though he tried very hard to keep his mind on his studies. When school was over, he walked home alone. He paused at Koushiro's apartment complex, but he didn't dare try to go closer. He went straight home, where he studied and passed out for a nap before dinner.

The next morning, Taichi felt a little more refreshed. He had it in his mind that he was going to find his courage to speak to his friend…if he was back at school. And if he wasn't back, he would go to his apartment after school. After all, in the yaoi books, the seme (he assumed that was him) was the one who did the confronting.

He heard his sister shout to her mom that she was running late, so he didn't wait for her. He was a bit too nervous to eat breakfast, so he ended up leaving right away. For some…very odd comfort, he read one of Hikari's yaoi mangas on the way. He made sure to keep the cover hidden with his hand and his wits alert to make sure no one would sneak up on him. He would be embarrassed if someone caught him with it. He didn't know why he was risking it, but damn, he was getting too addicted to put it down.

When he turned the corner, he kept reading, observing the pictures. This was one of the sweeter stories about two guys just falling in love. Why did he like it so much? He was beginning to think he was really gay…maybe a little more secure about it, too. He thought if so many yaoi mangas existed, it was okay.

He managed to glance forward to make sure he was still on the right path, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw Koushiro standing in front of his apartment complex with his backpack over his shoulder and something in his hands. Taichi knew he couldn't run away or stop or chicken out. He had to be who he was—the child of courage.

He swallowed, trying to avoid thinking about how cute his friend looked, standing there waiting before a snowy backdrop. Koushiro's eyes were so dark and lowered like he was in a trance. He didn't look sick, just a little lost in thought maybe. Taichi walked up to him and opened his mouth, but he was silenced with the younger teen looked at him.

Koushiro's expression almost twisted when he turned to him. He waited for Taichi to speak, but nothing happened, so he felt he had to say what he needed. He lifted the navy coat in his hands, "my mom washed it."

Taichi blushed as he took his coat with one hand, his fingers accidentally brushing against the younger teen's. In that moment he felt how freezing cold the younger's fingers were; he wanted to grab them, warm them. "Thanks," he blurted out, not noticing his volume.

Koushiro flinched at how loud he said it, but he relaxed again instantly. He nodded, about to turn away.

"You weren't at school yesterday," Taichi started nervously.

Koushiro glanced at him, sort of innocently, cutely. "I had something important to do," he told him. He didn't want to tell any of the others about his time in the Digital World, especially Taichi. He then noticed the book Taichi was holding; the cover had two manga boys on it.

Taichi suddenly cloaked the manga with his coat and smiled nervously, "so, yeah…school."

Koushiro didn't say anything else and turned away to walk on.

Taichi's jaw dropped when his friend just turned and left without him. He thought he was being polite and hinting that they walk together, so did Koushiro not catch that or did he not want to? He gripped his coat and the book tightly as he hurried to his side.

Koushiro wasn't expecting the brunet to catch up like that and flinched again. He tried to keep his eyes before him and ignore him the best he could. His heart couldn't take disappointing him again… He was in love with Taichi, and he didn't want it to be a problem anymore.

"Were you waiting to give my coat back?" Taichi asked nervously.

Koushiro nodded silently. He couldn't ignore him…

"Thank you," Taichi mumbled.

A light blush dusted the redhead's cheeks; his friend's voice was so smooth and gentle. He felt so warm all of a sudden, and his heart rapidly beat in his chest. "You're welcome…" he almost whispered.

Taichi found himself falling deeper in love with him. The way Koushiro was so calm but nervous at the same time…the way he walked, spoke, looked at him… Was it really so bad to be gay? Did he really have to hide it, and why did he have to hold back his feelings? He knew why…because he didn't know how Koushiro felt about something like that. He didn't know if Koushiro would be open-minded or disgusted, and that alone made him feel disgusting. If Koushiro was a girl, it would be so much easier…or if he were a girl, he would be able to kiss the redhead whenever he wanted.

Koushiro glanced at his friend, who had a totally red face now with a spaced look. He was also moving slower. The shorter teen frowned at him, "are you alright? You look really…feverish." He was concerned; he was always concerned as a matter of fact. He wanted Taichi to be okay and happy every moment of every day of every week of every month of every year. He wanted to help him with everything, to support and comfort him. But there was no hope of that now…not that Taichi opposed his feelings. After all, wasn't it Koushiro's feelings for Taichi that caused all of this? Because he somehow showed his love for the boy without realizing it, right?

Taichi forced a smile at him, "I'm fine. I just…was thinking of something. Look; I'm really sorry about everything. I planned to talk to you today about it, whether you came to school or not."

The shorter boy took his turn to blush as red as the older one. He looked at his feet as they walked, "you did?"

"Yeah, I wanted to really say I'm sorry for ignoring you and avoiding you and all the stuff that happened after the party," Taichi told him.

Koushiro hesitated, "I forgive you."

Taichi smiled more, "you do?"

"But I still want my space," Koushiro told him stubbornly. "I want to be alone from now on."

Taichi frowned, "you…don't want to be friends anymore?"

"Not really," Koushiro mumbled in his robotic tone. "I have too much I want to get done, and I don't know if it's wise to keep wasting time on you."

His heart was breaking; Taichi's very soul felt shriveled and smaller. He desperately grabbed the younger's wrist and snapped at him, "what is that supposed to mean? Wasting time on me?"

Koushiro was ready for the confrontation, "it means that I have no idea what you're going through, but you're hurting me too much for me to continue to wait for you to decide you want to be friends again."

Taichi gaped at him, speaking sadly, "I understand, but I don't want you to think that way about me." He was saying the truth; he wanted to straighten all of this out and continue being his best friend. He wanted it so much.

Koushiro never really had many friends, and when Taichi invited him into the relationship and treated him so kindly only to destroy him, he felt really betrayed. He lost his trust.

Taichi watched as the dark eyes lowered and cut away. He slowly let him go, "I'm sorry… I keep grabbing you lately."

Koushiro felt the sting of emotion in his eyes. He frowned sadly, "whenever you feel like being friends again…for real…contact me, okay?"

"Izzy, it's so difficult for me to say what I want," Taichi told him quietly. "I promise that I'm not trying to mess with your mind or anything. I'm confused, and I'm-"

"Then contact me when you're not confused," Koushiro almost snapped. He turned away and hurried on to school. He didn't want to be in his presence any longer. He just needed to get his mind back onto his project.

Taichi felt the irritation burst from him as he shouted to him, "fine! Be that way!" His heart hurt so much, but he knew he couldn't miss school. He had to compose himself as he walked a good distance behind the redhead; it wasn't easy.

Next chapter is super cute~ Please keep reading.