Well, welcome back everyone. I hope the last chapter was informative enough for everyone. I know a lot of characters were mentioned, and I hope you all manage to remember them all, but if not, it's understandable. Oh, I wanted to mention something regarding Hikari's entire family. Every single name has a star, sun, or light reference…
Hoshino (Star field) + Hikari (Light) = Star field of light.
Hoshino (Star field) + Haru (遥) to (斗) = Star field of the distant Ursa Major (or Big Dipper/Bear). Haruto, using these particular characters would mean this as there are different ways to write out Haruto, but I wanted this meaning specifically.
Hoshino (Star field) + Kou (光) ki (輝) = Star field of shining light. Well, that's how I'd translate it anyway and that's the meaning I wanted. Just like with Haruto, there are other ways to write out the name Kouki.
Now, for this chapter, Koushirou is spending the day with his daughter, just as he promised. You get a bit more background information and you also find out what his daughter's issue will be fully. As I mentioned earlier, everyone will have some kind of issue, most won't be too bad and may be a bit trivial, and some, not. For the adults, Mimi and Jou's problems will probably be the most trivial.
Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with the Digimon series or franchise. Bandai and Toei have that honor.
Chapter 03: The Izumi-Tachikawa Reunion!
A woman with light brown hair, wearing a pink hat, along with a young boy who was carrying around a weird-looking, life-like "green doll", speaking English, entered the game center of the Venus Fort mall. She and the young boy had been in Odaiba for almost a full week.
"Here we are," the woman responded flamboyantly. "Welcome to Venus Fort. I used to like coming here when I was young, but I didn't hang around in the game center much."
"But mom, no one is going to like me here," the boy grumbled in English. "I want to go back home with dad, and I want you come back too so that we can all be together again!"
"You know you can't go back with your father with all of his work, and I can't go back because of mine. Your father wouldn't be able to watch you or take care of you. I have more free time than he does. He does work in the ER and right now, his hours are crazy. I want him here with us just as much as you do, but don't worry, he'll be visiting us soon."
He frowned and kicked at the floor. "Yeah, I know..."
"Come on Chris, chin up," the woman smiled. "You and Tanemon just go and play some of the games, or talk to some of the other children around here. It'll be fun, and then after I finish running my errands, maybe we can go check up on the rest of my friends, if we have time. I would love for you to meet them, especially since we can rest up for a while since we finally finished unpacking."
The boy's eyes went wide as he excitedly asked, "You mean we can even meet Mr. Takaishi!"
She nodded. "Yeah, sure can."
The boy forced on a smile. "Okay, mom."
"See, things are working out already."
"C'mon, Tanemon," Chris said to his green doll, "let's go see what this place is like."
"Wow, this whole world is strange," Tanemon said while looking around from the boy's arms. "It was strange enough where you were before, but here is even stranger, and I don't understand what most of these people are saying."
"Well, get used to it," sighed Chris. "New York and Tokyo are two very different places, especially here in Odaiba, and don't worry about not understanding. I'll let you know what's going on, especially since we're going to be stuck here for a while." The boy took off, curious of what the arcade actually had to offer.
'Too bad Palmon is spending her time in the Digital World today with the other Digimon,' the woman inwardly sighed as she watched her only son run off. 'I really wish she was here to help me cheer Chris up more.'
"Mimi-san? !" a person called out in surprise. "Is that really you?"
The woman turned at the calling of her name. She saw a slightly taller redheaded male walking over towards her. "Koushirou? !"
The person was, indeed, Izumi Koushirou, who had become a researcher and was also head of Digital World research. He found more of an interest in his side projects as opposed to his main ones because the Digital World still had so many unanswered questions and was filled with lots of mystery.
"What are you doing here?" both asked in unison.
Both laughed, and Mimi let Koushirou speak first. "I'm here with my daughter, who I left playing one of the games. I was on my way out to get some ice cream for her, when I saw you standing here. I figured that it would be fun for her to come here and hope that it cheers her up after all that's happened. I know she misses her mother."
"I'm trying to get my son to cheer up some too. I know how much he likes video games, and decided to bring him here. I hope he enjoys it. I'm trying to show him places where he can have fun. I know how much he misses his father and his friends back home."
"Yeah, I miss mine too," he muttered somberly.
Late last year, Mr. Izumi had passed away. He'd grown ill from what seemed to be a typical cold. He just wasn't able to recover from it. The passing of Mr. Izumi upset Koushirou tremendously, which was natural, but he never discussed anything dealing with his death nor did he cry for his father when he died. Mrs. Izumi knew that Koushirou, as he grew older, wasn't the type to just cry, but she still wished that he would just once for her.
The one person to take Mr. Izumi's death worse than Mrs. Izumi herself was Koushirou's daughter, Misayoshi. She was very close to "Masami-ojiichan". She was close to Mrs. Izumi as well, but not as much as her grandfather. He was pretty much a father figure to Misayoshi when her own father was terribly busy, which became a constant as she grew older. He would take her places and also play with her and Motimon. When Mr. Izumi died, she felt that a part of her died with him.
Koushirou led Mimi out of the game center and towards the seats located in front of the nearby ice cream vendor. Once seated, the two started to converse about their pasts. Mimi was going on about the Digital World, and then mentioned one her favorite times hanging around with him when they were children. It was when she and Koushirou were paired up to work on a family history project.
"How come you remember all of that so well? What was so special about it?" Koushirou curiously asked.
"Well, during that time, I felt we became better friends, especially since you let me into your life more. It's like we shared an unbreakable bond that only good friends have, just like how I am with Jou-senpai after spending that time with him in the Digital World when we were going up against the Dark Masters."
Koushirou slowly nodded, as he did agree to some extent, but he wouldn't have fully considered that a great time to remember. He was wondering if the girl had forgotten about all the emotional situations they had gone through, as well as all of the awkwardness between them after she'd started dating Yamato and the potential for something to have occurred between the two of them.
"It's so nice that I ran into you."
"Yeah, I didn't know that you were visiting Odaiba."
"I'm sorry I haven't gotten in contact with either of you yet. I was busy this entire week making sure all the legalities were in order for Chris, and you must've missed out on what I said earlier. This isn't going to be a visit. We're going to film the rest of my show here in Japan."
"Wait, how long are you staying?"
"Until the spring."
"That's one long visit," laughed Koushirou.
"Too bad Christopher couldn't come along too, but with his job, there was no way he could get an extended leave, but he can visit. He's planning on visiting and staying from the end of November through New Years. He's always liked celebrating New Years in Japan."
"I guess an extended visit from him is better than nothing."
She nodded. "That's how I see it, and so does he. So, enough about me, you haven't mentioned how you've been doing."
"With my daughter, perfect; with my ex-wife, terrible."
"It can't be that bad. Lihua-chan was very nice when I met her last. We got along very well."
"Well, you are right about that. We do get along okay," he admitted. "We're actually pretty good friends and on decent terms, even if we aren't married anymore."
"How come you two are separated anyway?" she asked bashfully. "You never did say...I mean, well, if you don't mind telling me, unless it's something way too personal for me to know about," she finished up with a nervous laugh, due to what had popped into mind.
He answered, simply, ignoring what his friend had implied, "Me."
"That tells me a lot..."
"W-well, I worked a lot. I took work over my family," he explained with a regrettable sigh. "We just grew apart these past couple of years. She's the type that requires attention and all of that type of stuff. I didn't give her enough, unfortunately, since I always got so wrapped up in my own work."
"So that's what happened..."
"I wasn't too upset over the divorce request," he lied. "I was upset that the marriage had to end, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see my daughter anymore if we did, since she was planning on moving back home with her family. She left and headed back to Hong Kong and then Beijing, even though her family is from Xian of Shaanxi. Her family has lived there for centuries, apparently. Anyway, her uncle runs a company in Beijing and he was in search of an interpreter, so Lihua-san took the job. I could tell that she didn't really want to leave because of Misayoshi, but it was a good opportunity for her since she was very qualified for the position.
"I was glad when she told me that I could keep her here in Odaiba instead of having her go back to China with her, even though her parents weren't too thrilled with the decision. They rarely see her as it is, and were really hoping that she would move back with her. Lihua-san didn't want to move her away and have her start all over again school wise. 'It's difficult for a child to have to start over in a new place', is what she would say. I guess she was thinking of how hard it was for her when she moved to Funabashi-shi of Chiba when she was in junior high school due to her father's work." That was part of the reason why Lihua allowed Koushirou to keep their daughter. She made Koushirou promise her that at no point would he ignore her and he promised her that he definitely wouldn't.
"That makes sense."
"The name we picked for her pretty much means that she's a beautiful blossom of good luck."
"Wait, how do you write that out?"
Koushirou took out a sheet of paper from his pocket, and began to scribble on it. "For 'mi', the kanji character for beauty, for 'sa', the kanji for blossom, and for 'yoshi', the character meaning good luck." He finished out by writing, '美咲良'.
'Thinking about it, that is a strange name for a person's given name...but I understand why he did it. The reading is kind of strange too. You could misread that as Misakiyoshi which is an even stranger name.'
"Lihua-san wasn't for the name at first, but she gave into it. She told me that if we ever had another child, that she was going to choose it. If it was a boy, she wanted to name him *Changming (長明) and *Meihui (美慧) if it was a girl." He gave off a lighthearted, yet forced, chuckle. "Well, we all know that's not going to happen now. Anyway, the reason I was a bit insistent on it, was because it was my biological mother's name. I now have two reminders of her."
"I understand that your daughter is one, but what's the other reminder?"
"My sister," he said while absentmindedly rapping his fingers on the table. 'Too bad the two are nothing alike, and she doesn't seem to be much like my adoptive parents either.'
"Oh that's right! ! Miki-chan! ! How could I have forgotten that! Hey, how old is Misayoshi-chan now?"
"She turned ten this year."
"Oh yeah, that's right, Chris turned ten earlier this year too."
"Ironic how they're the same age, and how we're the same age. I never would've imagined myself with children at all, let alone married, sort of. I never really said it, but I was hoping not to remain a bachelor for all of my life, but marriage and children are still a shock to me, even after all of the years I was with Lihua-san."
Mimi couldn't help but laugh at her friend's modesty. "You talk as if you were destined to be alone for all of your life."
"Well, I am now, which isn't too surprising seeing as who I am," he muttered in annoyance of himself, "but who cares about all of that." He spaced out momentarily, as he thought back to a situation which dealt with Lihua...the ones that had broken them apart in the first place.
Mimi could tell that Koushirou obviously didn't want to discuss anything further dealing with his now dead marriage, and decided to get off of the topic. She could tell that Lihua was definitely his first true love. Lihua was the only person that she knew of, that he was really into.
Koushirou had definitely felt that he'd found his soulmate, as they got along wonderfully. Over the years, the two did pretty much everything together, which would sometimes include a lot of family time with a younger Misayoshi. Unfortunately, the more assignments he got himself wrapped up in, the more he'd spend time working on it, and thus, drift more away from his family. Up until that previous year, Lihua felt that she didn't really know Koushirou anymore. To her, he was just some guy she was sharing a bed with. She tried to get Koushirou to lighten up some, but it didn't work, and he would still inadvertently ignore her and work.
Earlier in the year, Lihua had finally grown fed up with his ways and confronted him about it more forcefully, as times before where she was more subtle didn't work. She gave him an ultimatum, and pretty much had told him that if he didn't ease up on the workload that she may not be responsible for her actions. She had taken his ignoring her and their daughter for the last time, even though Koushirou made more of an effort to see his daughter than he would Lihua, which wasn't too upsetting for her. She actually liked the fact that he did try, and truly understood how he would obviously do anything for their daughter.
The two ended up having a really bad argument, their first one actually. Normally when the two had any type of a disagreement, which was a rarity, Lihua would be the one to do all of the talking, and he would just go along with whatever it was she said due to the fact that she was usually right. They would usually compromise and meet somewhere in the middle, but that wasn't the case for that particular argument. The argument was over his work schedule again, and how he'd reverted back to overworking. Koushirou argued back, telling her that he needed to work to support the family, and that he was very interested in his work and enjoyed it.
In not so many words, Koushirou pretty much said that she wasn't going to change for her seeing as how he had always been that way and should have known that when she married him. Lihua, on the other hand, didn't want to hear it and asked for a divorce right there on the spot after he had pretty much said that. That hit him pretty hard. He wasn't expecting her to request something so drastic. When curious as to why, her reasoning was that if he was going to act like a stranger to her, then they should just be strangers legally.
Not knowing what to do, Koushirou, reluctantly, agreed with her. Everything was happening much too fast for him and before he knew it, a few days later, he was filing out the papers to take to city hall, but before that, they decided to *just separate for a while to see if the marriage at any point could be salvaged. For the pair, it obviously didn't do much good.
At that particular point, Koushirou had grown extremely depressed since, in his eyes, he was rejected by Lihua, and because of that, he ended up spending even more time at work to help ease his depression and to help get rid of his sorrows. This was typical of him, as he'd also acted in that fashion as a child. He would usually bury himself into his computer or some other project to hide that he may have been upset over something or would become irritable, but the only one to witness this side of Koushirou was Tentomon.
During their separation, the two didn't really speak much nor did they act as happy around one another like they had in the past. Lihua did try to make attempts, but they were never promising, and Koushirou would go back to the way he was the very next day. They were pretty much "fling" situations when they were together, and the two would get very close, like after Mr. Izumi's death, but that was about it. Lihua just gave up altogether, and really hated the idea of leaving Koushirou, and still loved him very much and had originally demanded a divorce as a threat and a way to scare him into changing, but he was treating her too much like a friend with benefits, unfortunately, which she neither wanted nor needed. She wanted a loving husband that would talk and associate with her on a daily basis, not one who would talk to her every other day, week, or month, or one who would spend extra hours at the office that weren't necessary because of his tendency to become so preoccupied with his work.
Earlier in the year, the two were nearly officially, and legally, free of one another. When asked by the woman at the registration office if the two were sure that they wanted to go through with the divorce proceedings, Lihua sighed sadly and nodded. Koushirou, not wanting to put her through anymore turmoil, reluctantly nodded as well. He still hated himself for not trying harder to make their marriage work, and just assumed that everything would've worked out. He really missed her, and couldn't imagine being with anyone else. He still felt strange coming home from work and not seeing Lihua's smiling face to greet him.
Even though the two were no longer married, they still acted like good friends, mainly because of their daughter, but even if she hadn't have been involved, they probably would have still remained decent friends since they were so close at one point.
"Isn't it interesting how things change?"
Koushirou shook off his thoughts of Lihua, and took in what she had asked him. "Do you mean like our being adults and everything that comes along with that?"
"Yeah, pretty much. For instance, for as long as Sora-san and Taichi-san dated, I figured they would have ended up married at some point. They were together up until their university days. In some ways, they already acted as if they were married," she laughed. "I was always curious over that, but have never had the guts to ask Sora-san about it."
"They 'divorced' and moved on," Koushirou cynically joked with a forced grin that went unnoticed to the culinary queen.
"You would say something like that. Maybe they grew apart because they ended up going to different universities, but I was pretty surprised to find out that she started up with Yamato-san."
"You weren't the only one surprised over that. I figured Taichi-san would have ended up married to her too, but I was even more surprised when she and Yamato-san announced their engagement."
"It wasn't that big a deal, though. They're good together."
"I suppose so."
"I just hate the fact that no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't come to the wedding, but the biggest surprise for me, even now, is the fact that Miyako-chan married Ken-kun."
"Why was that surprising?"
"Well," she began anxiously, "I figured that sometime down the line, she would have ended up w-with you."
Koushirou laughed. "No way! We did date at one point, but it wasn't for long. She was...nice, but I always pretty much thought of her as a sister or a really good friend, and my feelings didn't change much. Things just became much too strange for me." That was part of Koushirou's reason for the brief relationship he'd had with Miyako during his second year at Odaiba High School. At the time, he still had a slight thing for Mimi. He figured that maybe if he dated Miyako, it would help to get his mind off of Mimi, just like Mimi had tried doing by dating Yamato to get over her liking of Koushirou, but it didn't work, just like with Mimi. During the time Koushirou and Miyako were dating, Mimi was actually slightly jealous of her.
Koushirou's crush on Mimi lasted until their final year of high school together, and a short while after that. He hated the fact that Mimi was still on his mind, and wanted her out of it. His crush didn't fully wear off until she moved back to America after high school. As for Mimi and Yamato's relationship, the two of them had broken up a short while after the birth of Koushirou's sister. After Yamato, Mimi didn't date anyone, but Koushirou was still her first choice whenever it came to the need of a partner for social events.
"She and Ken-kun grew pretty close at some point as they grew older. Maybe that's what did it, and thinking more about it, Hikari-chan surprised me too."
"How so?"
"She actually started dating Daisuke-kun, and she did for a long time before breaking up. They started up with one another in their final year of Odaiba Junior High and stayed together until their final year of Odaiba High School. I'm surprised it lasted so long, to be honest. I always pictured her with a quiet person, like Takeru-kun. In some ways, I always viewed the two as being perfect for each other. I don't know if it's a bias or if it's their crest traits or even their Digimon partner types, but I just knew those two were going to end up married someday. It's surprising that the relationship didn't last longer than what it did. I think they were only together their first year at Odaiba Junior High and some of their second year."
"I was a little surprised that Yamato-san grew so interested in engineering and became an astronaut."
"Same here. I always figured that he would become a music composer or an arranger. He was so music oriented when he was younger."
"He said that he always saw music as a way to express himself. He was never actually planning on pursuing a career in it. I sometimes got the feeling that he disliked the fans and the attention."
"That's why I said a music composer or a music arranger. I know he hated being glorified and did hate most of the attention he received from being the front man of a band. Composers and arrangers are behind the scenes type of guys. He just seemed to have a natural talent for music, but it's still surprising that he turned down a career in music since he was a lyricist and he did actually write some of the music his group performed."
"What about you, though?"
"What about me?"
"Well, you're a famous food analyst and researcher who has her own cooking show in America! Now that was unexpected and is quite an accomplishment."
She gave off a bashful smile and blushed slightly. "I-I know. I bet no one would've ever guessed that I was into food and cuisine."
"Thinking back, it's not too surprising. You did cook a lot when younger, but that aside, you're more famous than a lot of the more well-known chefs of the past."
The two continued conversing more about the occupations of all of the others, which included Michael, who was the producer and director of Mimi's show.
"I know you said this earlier, but you weren't specific. When exactly are you going to head back to America? Are you planning to just stay in Odaiba, or is the stay in Odaiba going to be temporary?"
"Odaiba is going to be our main home for now, and we'll just travel from here to other parts of Japan. As for how long I'll be in Odaiba, I'm not sure. It really depends on how the show goes. Coming here was all Michael's idea. In a way, I think he just wanted to come to Japan in general since he hadn't visited in so long. For this season of the show, we're researching Japanese cuisine and Japanese cuisine influenced by other cultures and decided to be authentic and shoot in a Japanese like atmosphere."
"Sounds interesting, but what do you mean exactly?"
"Well, if we're doing an episode about the healthy cuisine of Okinawa, we'll film there, or some of the more traditional foods that can be found in Kyoto, we'll film there, or if we want to do an episode about the French-inspired cuisine of Tokashima, or if we want to show everyone of the Chinese-inspired dishes of Yokohama, we go there or if we want to go on about the great seafood up north, we can go to Hokkaido."
"Ah, I understand now. You'll be doing on the spot type stuff." She nodded. "But wouldn't traveling to those places take up a lot of time?"
"Yeah, a bit, but luckily, Michael has connections, so we can go by jet or helicopter to get to the locations we need to. A lot faster than the train."
"Lucky that you're good friends with him."
She nodded. "So, how is everyone else doing? I haven't seen any of you for so long! The last time I was here and saw you all, was when Taichi-san got married, who was the last one to settle down out of the group. That was a little over ten years ago before I became pregnant with Chris. After that, I came back for my cousin's graduation, but had to leave right after that. I haven't even met some of your children, and I know none of them have ever met Chris."
"You didn't tell anyone you were back?"
"I've been so busy unpacking and trying to get Chris all set up, like I mentioned earlier, that I haven't had the chance to visit, message, or call anyone."
"Yeah, you didn't even let me know, and you usually always let me know when you're on your way in."
"Yeah, true. You're usually the first I get in touch with. Oh! I almost forgot to mention that my son has himself a Digimon partner."
"Really? You never mentioned that in your e-mails or video calls."
"I think I've been a bit scatterbrained lately," she laughed. "Chris was reading one of the books Takeru-kun had written based on the Digital World. He was starting to think that all of the stuff about the Digital World and Digimon was all a myth since not many hang around in our world. When I asked him, 'What about Palmon and Michael's Betamon?', he said, 'You mean they aren't small people in a suit or robots or toys?'"
The redhead couldn't help but laugh hard at that. "I can see toys or dolls or even robots, but this is the first time I've ever heard them referred to as 'small people in suits', and isn't Betamon a little too small to be a person in a suit?"
"Well, that's what he said," she laughed. "After that, I told him that everything Takeru-kun had written was loosely based on true events, and that he was an old friend of mine. He just thought that they were games and toys and an anime show that's coming out soon, based off of the books and that the only reason Takeru-kun used a character named after me, was because of our being friends. Other than Palmon and Betamon, he'd never seen a Digimon."
"It's not often that we see Digimon in our world because not all people have one as a partner."
"Yeah, only a handful of children received them."
"It seems that after all of us, there was no need for it. The Digimon have fun in their world, and they seldom come to ours."
"I couldn't stand for Chris thinking that Digimon were fictional creatures, so I decided one Saturday, when I wasn't too busy, that I would take him to the Digital World. I contacted Gennai-san, and he got in contact with Benjamin-san who opened a gate for us. Once we got there, Benjamin-san being our guide, a Tanemon grew fondly attached to Chris. It was almost as if this Tanemon was waiting for him. After that, he believed in Digimon. That happened earlier this year."
"So he received one too."
"He's not the only one?"
"Nope. All of our children have partners too. My daughter has a Motimon. All of us, almost two years ago, decided to take our children to the Digital World for an outing. I guess you could say it was a reunion that you, unfortunately couldn't join in on. During our time there, all of our children were approached by a Baby II (In-Training) Digimon, minus the son of Hikari-san. He was approached by a Child (Rookie) leveled Digimon, a Plotmon (Salamon). The Digimon acted exactly like ours did when they first met us."
"You mean like they were waiting for them?"
"Pretty much, but the only odd thing is that neither of them received a Digivice."
"What about Miyako-chan and Ken-kun? Don't they have three children now?"
"Yes, they do, and their youngest child was the only one who didn't meet his Digimon partner by actually going to the Digital World. His partner just appeared."
"Just appeared?"
"It was pretty strange." He rubbed his chin, as he recalled what Miyako had told him. "He received a Leafmon as his partner, and the Leafmon kept telling them, 'I am here for Osamu-chan'. Everywhere Miyako-kun or Ichijouji-kun took the baby, the Leafmon stuck by his side."
"I guess that's definite proof that he was destined to receive a partner, but it's interesting how our children, by the sounds of it through your daughter and the youngest of Miyako-chan and the son of Hikari-chan, all received lower levels of our partners."
"It's ironically strange."
"Do you think that they'll evolve someday and end up taking the same evolutionary paths like our Digimon did?"
"I've been looking into that and have been putting in overtime to observe Digimon to truly see if that's true or not."
"What did you find out?"
"Based on the information I gathered, I discovered that Digimon can have alternate evolutionary paths depending on what was meant for said Digimon and said Digimon's atmosphere, but I'll get more into it later if you're interested."
"Yeah, I am interested, but I'll wait. I'm guessing that it'll take a while to explain it."
"Yeah, pretty much. Anyway, where are you staying since you're back? If you're going to be here for as long as you say, I doubt you'd be staying in a place like a hotel or a hostel. That would get very expensive."
"Michael and I are renting out a furnished house. It has pretty much the same design as my aunt and uncle's place."
"Where is it?"
"It's in the same neighborhood as my aunt and uncle. We're only a few doors down from them."
"Speaking of your relatives, where are your mother and father living now?"
"They both went off to Hawaii for their probably millionth honeymoon and probably won't be reachable for the next week or two."
Koushirou smirked. "Your parents are the spare no expense types when it comes to having fun, aren't they?"
"Naturally," she laughed. "Since my father is retired, both decided to stay over in America. They're actually living in Florida. They both like the warm weather there."
"Florida, that's probably a big change from New York."
She nodded. "Oh no!" Mimi suddenly exclaimed while looking down at her wristwatch. "I have some more errands to run, the main one being school shopping since school starts up in about a week. I didn't mean to spend so much time here; I just wanted to show this place to Chris so that he can come back by himself someday after he makes some new friends."
The two stood and headed back to the game center's entrance. "It was really nice talking with you, Mimi-san, but when are you going to get around to letting everyone know that you're back? Does anyone else know besides me right now?"
"My aunt and uncle do and my cousins, of course, but I've been so busy. I don't even know the last time I've sat down and sent an e-mail to anyone before yesterday afternoon. I did try calling everyone this morning, but I didn't get an answer from anyone. I guess everyone was busy. Didn't you get my e-mail?"
"I haven't checked it for a good while now."
"R-really? ! Seriously? ! Since when do you not check e-mail?"
"Since I promised not to go near the computer or my messages on my mobile during my entire week-long vacation. I'm going to try and spend some quality time with my daughter, but since you're back, I may start paying attention again. I'd hate to miss any messages from friends."
"Very nice. Oh, yeah, what's your number? I want to talk with you later. Thinking about it, I think you're the only person that I've never called when in America. I usually always talked to you through the computer and even that wasn't too often."
He took out his phone, and gave her his mobile number as well as his home number. "Good, your home number hasn't changed. I can't wait to get around to seeing everyone, especially Miyako-chan and her youngest child, and of course Jou-senpai and his family and his new daughter, and Sora-san and Yamato-san and-"
"I get the picture," Koushirou laughed.
Right at that moment, a boy ran up holding a "green doll", calling out, "Hey, mom!" in English while the green doll called, "Ms. Tachikawa!"
"'Ms. Tachikawa'? You still use your family's name?"
"Yeah, for some things. Tanemon has a tough time saying Tachikawa-Johnson for some reason, though." She turned to face her son. "Chris, Tanemon, you two shouldn't be so loud," Mimi scolded in Japanese.
"Sorry," the two apologized.
Sticking with Japanese, Mimi asked, "What's wrong?"
Sticking to English, Chris replied, "I met another kid here who has a Digimon!"
"Yeah, but I couldn't understand what the Digimon was saying too well," frowned Tanemon. "He talks like Palmon does sometimes."
"It was a Motimon according to that kid."
"It sounds like you met my friend's daughter."
"What do you mean?" he asked curiously. 'What's with her only speaking in Japanese knowing Tanemon can't understand it all that well?'
Mimi pointed towards a redheaded girl wearing a green jumper, a white t-shirt, and a purple headband who was standing next to a redheaded man, which Chris hadn't even noticed right off.
"Whoa, that's the girl!"
"Chris, I would like for you to meet one of my best childhood friends, Izumi Koushirou."
"Nice to meet you," Koushirou responded in hesitant English. He then went back to Japanese. "Wow, Mimi-san, he looks a lot like you."
"Not when he was younger. When he was younger, he resembled his father a lot, but now that he's getting older, people say he looks more like me."
'Wait is this the Koushirou from the books?' Chris wondered. "Izumi sure is a weird sounding name for a guy," he bluntly stated, while still sticking to English. Unless he didn't have a choice, he had no intention of speaking any Japanese.
"I guess you forgot that when we fully introduce ourselves, we give our family names first and then our given names. It's an old habit since we grew up that way."
"Oh. Anyway, my name is Christopher Keisuke Johnson Jr., but you can call me Chris," he said while pointing to himself. He put out his hand to Koushirou. The redhead accepted it and shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Izumi." After the handshake, he pointed to the small green creature that was sitting atop his head. "This is Tanemon, and he's my Digimon partner."
"Keisuke?"
"His father and I decided that he choose the given name, and he really wanted a junior, and we agreed that I'd choose the middle name, which is very common in America, having three names. If we would have had a girl, I would've chosen the given name and he would've chosen the middle, but knowing him, he probably would've chosen something like 'Chrissy' or 'Christine' or 'Christina'."
"So that explains it then. Keisuke is your father's name."
"Chris, you should really practice speaking in Japanese. You're going to be here for a while."
"I already did a little when asking that girl about the Motimon, but I just can't help it! That's all I'm used of regularly speaking, even though I know the language through you, grandma, and grandpa," the boy replied, reluctantly, in Japanese. "I hate being here already," he muttered under his breath in English.
Mimi gave him a threatening look. "What did you say?"
"Nothing mother," he answered back in mock innocence.
Mimi was about to say something, but Koushirou spoke up first. "Um, this is my daughter." He pointed to the smaller, female version of himself. "Misayoshi, this is my good friend Tachikawa Mimi-san."
The somewhat shy girl stepped up, holding her Motimon and bowed. She then introduced herself as "Izumi Misayoshi" who was the "daughter of Izumi Koushirou and Mu Rong Lihua" who was "in year 4, class 2 of Odaiba Elementary School" and how "Motimon" was her "Digimon partner". The girl, to Mimi, came across as very polite, just like Koushirou when he was that age. The girl also resembled him looks wise. They both had that same red hair and wore the same type of serious facial expression. The main thing Misayoshi got from her mother was her charm and smile. Everyone thought she was one of the most adorable little girls ever, although, she didn't get preoccupied with stuff in the way that her father did. The girl was an average student, but was actually pretty good when it came to math, but wasn't a computer person at all and didn't know the CPU from the printer. She also liked to play a lot and was very cheery and childlike in nature, unlike Koushirou at that particular time of his life. Unfortunately, she'd been acting as exactly the opposite. Koushirou missed his daughter's cheerful smile and hoped that whatever she was going through that it would soon be resolved so that she could go back to her usual self.
"She is so cute," Mimi squealed, "and so polite too!"
"Th-thank you," Misayoshi stuttered quietly.
"Hey, why don't you and your son join us?"
"I would, but we still have those other errands to run before the day is out."
"Alright, still was nice seeing you."
"Same here. Okay Chris, let's go. We have to get back to shopping."
"I hate shopping," the boy complained in English.
"You can't go to school without clothes," Mimi argued back in English.
"I already have clothes!"
"Where?!"
He smirked slyly. "I'm wearing some now, aren't I?"
"We're leaving!" Mimi fumed.
"M-mom, I was just kidding," the boy pleaded, realizing that he had obviously crossed the line.
"I'll see you later, Koushirou. It was nice meeting you, Misayoshi-chan, Motimon."
"Nice to have met you," Misayoshi and Motimon got out.
"Um...y-yeah, bye," Koushirou said with a sweat drop as he watched Mimi drag her pleading son off. "S-so, how about we go see that movie now?"
"I'm not so sure. I'm a bit tired and I would rather go home," she told him resolutely.
"But we just got here," complained the small pink Digimon from the girl's arms.
"I'm not feeling too well."
"Are you sure?" asked Koushirou in concern.
"I'm sure. Can we go home now?"
"If that's what you really want..." She nodded. "Okay then, let's go."
Reluctant to the whole idea, Koushirou left with his daughter at his side. They headed back to the car and pulled off. During the ride home, he noticed that Misayoshi seemed to look upset or sad. On the way there, she had been very excited. Every time he tried to get her to talk now, she would say she was "fine" and that she was "just tired", and would then go quiet again.
"Maybe I should take you to see a doctor instead. I don't know much about illnesses with children. Your mother or my mother always took care of stuff like that. They would just tell me what to do or what type of medicine to give you."
"I'm fine, honest. I just want to go home and rest. I really appreciate the fact that you took time off to spend the day with me. Maybe some other day we'll be able to spend time together when I'm not tired."
"Yeah, some other time," he muttered.
When the two finally reached their home, they found it completely empty.
"I guess mother and Miki are still out."
"Yeah, they must be," the girl uttered quietly while hugging Motimon tightly. "May I be excused?"
"Yeah, sure," he told her, confused as to why she would ask in the first place.
"Thank you."
With that, the girl rushed off to her room, and closed the door. Koushirou was wondering what was wrong and didn't know what to do with her. 'I wonder what made her change so suddenly? She wasn't like this last year, and this morning she seemed so happy to be going to Venus Fort, but then it changed fast...why?' He headed to the kitchen and took out a bottled water. He sat down at the dining room table, and gulped some of it down. 'Have we really grown that far apart in these last few months? Have I lost her just like I have Lihua-san?'
x x x x
Back in Misayoshi's room, the girl was lying face down, crying into her pillow.
"Misayoshi, what's wrong?!" asked Motimon in alarm, hopping up and down on her bed.
"N-n-nothing," she stammered. The girl sat up and started to dry her tears.
"But why are you crying and why are you so sad?"
"It's nothing. You shouldn't worry yourself over me."
"I can't help it! I'm your partner, your friend! Of course I'm going to be concerned about you when you're not happy!"
She sighed, realizing that Motimon wasn't going to leave her alone until she gave him some type of an answer. She pulled her knees up to her a chest, and slowly started to speak. "Tachikawa-san upset me."
"Wh-what? She seemed like a nice lady to me. You don't like her?"
"No, that's not it. Seeing her with Christopher-kun made me miss my mother more than anything. She reminds me of my mother a little bit from the way she was acting and because of how nice she was. I have nothing against Tachikawa-san personally."
"Oh..."
She started to shed tears again. "I want her to come home. I want her home with father and me."
"She's been gone for a long time," Motimon frowned.
"I know, but how could she leave me like this! I thought she loved me."
"She does! She just had to leave for all that boring grownup stuff that we don't understand."
"I know, I know. I just wish that she and father weren't divorced. It's not supposed to be this way. When two people get married, they're always supposed to be together. I wouldn't be as upset if she wouldn't have moved out of the country! I rarely ever get to see her now. I know I can talk to her on the phone and over the internet and even see her when making video calls, but it's not the same as having her around physically and being able to hug her. I miss her hugs." After getting her composure back, she gave her partner a dire look. "Motimon, do not tell anyone what I just shared with you, especially my father and grandmother."
"But why?"
"Because I don't want them to worry," she stated bluntly.
Motimon sighed, and nodded, not understanding why the girl just wouldn't share her feelings, but realized that a promise was a promise, no matter how against it he truly was...
Author's Note
Note 1: In Japan, there is no such thing as legal separation (meaning no separation appointed by the court). That's something done entirely by the parties involved on their own. I hear that a lot of couples may live with separations as opposed to going through with divorces due to the fact that getting a divorce in Japan is actually quite difficult, especially if you have a child involved. This may also explain why Japan has a low divorce rate compared to some other places, especially since divorce has a negative stigma attached to it I heard.
Adding on, there are three types of divorces in Japan. The one I'm having Koushirou and Lihua do is the simplest of the three (Kyougi Rikon). Kyougi Rikon is the type used when the two people involved in the relationship settles everything on their own and have no real disputes or issues over things like property and children. In other words, it's completely mutual and civil between the two. This proceeding also doesn't involve the hiring of lawyers or even going to court. You fill out certain papers and take it to city hall where your family name is registered. You fill out the forms, and you're divorced. Of course, even with this, you might have some things dealt with which may require a lawyer, but seeing as how Koushirou and Lihua agreed to Misayoshi's remaining in Odaiba, there really wasn't any need for it.
x x x
Note 2: The spellings in () for Changming and Meihui are the Chinese spellings, not Japanese. Same for Lihua's name last chapter. It was written in Chinese, not Japanese.