A/N: Here it is! Enjoy! Also, thanks to The-Grey-Ninja and Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 for their reviews! They really made my day!
Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine.
The Warrior of Hope
Chapter 5
"So, what was that back there?" I blushed at the memory of his kiss. He smirked, "I don't know what you're talking about." Fine, he was going to play that game? I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. "So, tell me about yourself, what are your hobbies, what are your friends like?" He raised his eyebrows at me. "What? Am I not allowed to ask questions when you are allowed to kiss me?" I smiled innocently at him. He groaned, "I set myself up for that one. I don't know, I like to be alone. I study kendo in my free time, and that's about it. I don't usually get close to people; you guys are the only friends I've had since my mom passed away." I looked into his eyes and saw the hurt that he usually hid behind his scowl. "Oh, Koji, I'm so sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" He raised his eyes to my face and started, "I was only a kid when she passed, I can only remember a little. One thing I do remember was the yelling, my parents were having a fight, like they did a lot in those days. She walked toward the door and said she was going on a drive. She never came back. My father said that she got in a car crash while she was driving along the ocean. Her car went into the water, and they were never able to find it."
I wrapped my arms around Koji. He stiffened at my touch, but gradually embraced me. He smiled at me, "Thanks for listening." I nodded, "Whenever you need to talk, I will be here for you." I realized that we were still hugging and I pulled away, blushing. He laughed, "So, what's your story?" We started walking through the forest again. I shrugged, "Youngest child in a military family. We are always moving around and I never feel like I make any lasting friends. The last place we were was Utah, and I finally felt like I was fitting in when we moved here to Japan. I haven't really adjusted well here. Everyone thinks of me as foreign, and so they don't want to get to know the real me. My older sister is still in the USA, going to college and my brother loves changing his attitude every time we move somewhere new. I'm the only one who ever found it really stressing to move." I stared at the ground, partially so that I didn't trip, and partially so that I wouldn't have to look into those gorgeous blue eyes. My problems seemed so small compared to his, and I hated to complain. "I'm sorry, I've only ever lived in Japan, so I don't know how that feels." I looked up, startled at the pity in his eyes. "I didn't say that so that you would feel bad for me!" I was angry. I didn't want his pity, and I could take care of myself. I walked faster, away from the hurt look in his eyes.
When I got far enough ahead that when I looked back I could no longer see him, I sighed at my actions. I never let people get close. Sure, I smile at the little things that I probably won't remember in a week, but I won't let anyone see past it. It hurt too much, thinking that people were viewing my inner thought and judging me for them. I thought that I could be normal around Koji, but I guess my natural defenses won't let me. I was so caught up in my inner turmoil that I didn't notice the rock wall until I ran into it. I bounced off and fell back on my butt. "Ouch, who put that there?" I glared at the wall, hoping that I could make it crumble with my eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" Koji held out his hand to help me up, but I ignored it and got up on my own." Koji was obviously confused at my actions, but he let them slide as he looked from me to the rock wall. As he put two and two together, he chuckled, "You ran into the wall, didn't you?" I rolled my eyes, "I'm sorry I'm not as coordinated as the Great Koji Minamoto." My sarcasm surprised me; I hadn't used it on anyone my age since I moved to Japan. I grinned, knowing it meant that I was starting to relax around Koji. My smile surprised him, his head tilted to the side as he asked, "Are you okay? You didn't bump your head on the wall, did you?" He was obviously concerned. I laughed and waved him away, "No, I'm just fine."
We walked around the wall in silence. The only sounds were of our feet as they stepped on rocks or twigs. I decided to break the silence, "You know what I really need? A chance to prove myself as a warrior, I mean, everyone else has worked really hard to stay alive, and I feel like all I do is just sit there, doing nothing." He glanced up in shock that this was what I chose to talk about. "What are you talking about? You saved me back when you first got your spirit, while Zoe needed my help to defeat Woodmon." I shook my head, "Zoe was confused during her fight, you can't really compare it to mine." Koji took a moment to think about my words. I watched as his facial expressions went from intense concentration, to smirking because he had an amazing idea. "You know, I could help you with your battle skills." I thought about it, Koji was great at battling evil digimon, and it would help me get to know him better. "Okay, you can help me. Teach me how to be useful." He grinned and got his D-Tector out.
"Execute, Spirit Evolution!" We shouted in sync. I felt my body go through the now familiar changes to become a digimon. Koji looked at me, "All right, so the first question is, what is your biggest strength? You need to know so that you can use it best to your advantage." I thought about it, "Well, I'm fast, and I can heal my allies if they are really hurt." He shook his head, "The speed is a good thing, but healing others won't get you anywhere in a battle if you are too exhausted to do anything else." I thought about this and felt the right answer coming from my gut, "My Darkness Charge attack, I can build up energy that others lend me and send it at the enemy." He gave me a blank stare. "Don't ask me where that came from, I guess that the digimon inside of me was talking." I realized that it probably was the spirit talking and my eyes widened. Lobomon nodded his head as if it was perfectly normal for that to happen, "All right, I don't think that we should practice that attack, but if everyone else is tired and they don't think that working together will work, ask them to lend you their strength and you can use that to try to do some damage." I nodded in understanding, I felt the knowledge in my mind and knew that my spirit would help me when the time came for me to use that attack. "Now, let's see if we can put that claw of yours to good use." Lobomon pointed at a tree, "Hit that tree."
After hitting the tree at least fifty times, I was getting tired of this exercise. "What will this do to help me fight?" I was honestly curious. Lobomon turned his head away from the tree, "It will improve your aim, and if you think you are ready, we can move on to the next task." I nodded in agreement, ready to try anything if it meant hitting something other than a stationary object. Lobomon picked up a rock and threw it at me. I dodged out of the way, "Hey, what did you do that for?" "Learn not just to dodge, but to hit it with your claw, like hitting it with a baseball bat." I grinned, now this I could do.
Lobomon was obviously surprised when I hit the first one back and it hit him in the face. I laughed and dodged the next one he threw at me. It became just like when I played softball, except now I was just trying to hit the rock so that it hit Lobomon. After a while, Lobomon declared that we could quit, and he turned back into his human form. I followed his lead and turned back into myself. I stretched my arms out and reached down to touch my toes. I felt my muscles stretch out and sighed in happiness. "Well, that was a very good work out. Thanks for helping me, Koji." I smiled at him. "You're welcome, now all you have to do is face a real enemy, and then we can see how tough you really are." I elbowed his arm, "Come on, let's get some sleep so that we'll have enough energy to defeat the enemy." I sat down with my back to a tree. I tried to settle down so that I could rest, but the tree wasn't comfortable on my back. I sighed, only to look up and see Koji looking down at me with an amused expression. "Need some help there?" I scowled at him, "Yeah, come make yourself useful." He sat beside me and put his arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head against his shoulder and quickly fell asleep.
A/N: So, what did you think? I am horrible at relationship stuff (or at least I think I am) so tell me how I did with a review. :)