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Part 2 Pairings: Daisuke/Takeru, Koushiro/Hikari (one-sided), Taichi/Yamato (one-sided), Yamato/Jun (one-sided).
"I'm not saying it's impossible. In fact, the idea is very sound, but do you have any idea how much time it would take to write?" Ken gestured at the scattered papers, "And that's not even covering the graphics. I'm just asking you to think about this realistically." Miyako sighed, rolling onto her stomach and resting her chin in her folded arms. "I am thinking realistically. It's not like I'm expecting to do this over the weekend, or whatever. I know it's going to take a long time. I would like to get it done before I finish High School, though." Ken frowned slightly, picking up one piece of paper and scanning through the contents. "Hmm, if you started working now and don't stop for the next two years, you might make it. But with homework, school, working at the store," he shook his head, "It would be too much. Not to say I doubt your abilities, Miyako-san." The lavender haired girl made a disgusted noise. "Yeah, yeah. But Ken-kun, I really want to do this. I think it would make an *awesome* computer game." "No doubt there. I can't wait to play it myself." Ken said, favoring Miyako with a warm, gentle smile. The older girl found it required a supreme force of will to keep from melting into the carpet. Even though Ken was more comfortable with the other Chosen than he had been years ago, his smiles and laughter were still rare occurrences. "Um, maybe if I can find more people to help?" She offered, still a little fluttery. "I was kind of hoping you'd be able too…" Miyako trailed off, beaming hopefully at her friend and study partner. Ken hesitated, shifting around on the carpet. "Perhaps. To be honest, I'm really not into programming anymore. I've been moving away from it since…well, you know." He looked away from her, uncertain. Miyako raised an eyebrow, breathing in to form a comment before releasing the air, words unspoken. There was a moment of silence, broken only by Minomon and Poromon snoring softly. "I'll just ask Izumi-sempai later. He'd never pass up a chance to spend more time with his 'baby'." "I think he'd like that." Ken agreed, retrieving his soda from the floor and sipping at the can. Miyako pushed herself up and made a half-hearted attempt to gather up the loose papers. "Miyako-chan! You're little friend is here!" "Send him in, kaasan!" She called back, standing up with a messy armload of notes. Ken lightly shook his soda can, listening to the liquid sloshing around inside, and watched the door. After less than a minute, the door opened to show Iori. "Hello." He greeted softly. Upamon pushed past his legs and bounced into the room, instantly targeting his sleeping Digimon friends. He tumbled into them and they awoke with cries of surprise. The three babies quickly cuddled up together and began talking in hushed whispers. Miyako dumped her armload into a haphazard pile on her desk. "Hey, Iori! We were wondering when you'd show up." She beamed at him cheerfully, the light glinting off her glasses. Iori gave her a pleasant smile before nodding politely to Ken. The former Kaiser nodded back and offered Iori a plate of cookies. The younger boy declined and gracefully settled himself on the floor. He slid his backpack off his shoulders and mutely began pulling out his homework. Miyako rolled her eyes his behavior and took a moment to turn on the radio before grabbing her own study supplies. Ken rearranged the snacks and a few stray papers to make room. Shortly, the three settled down to studying, questions occasionally heard through the low beat of music. Minds did not remain on schoolwork long. "So, Iori…noticed anything *interesting* recently?" Miyako began causally, absently sketching out the character for Mimi's name in the margin of her notebook. Some time ago, Miyako had come upon a useful bit of information. Because he was so quiet, unobtrusive, and rarely gossiped, people tended to ignore Iori's presence. They did and said things around him that they wouldn't do or say in a more public situation. It helped that Iori noticed more than a normal person would. The brown haired boy glanced up briefly from the math homework Ken was helping him with. "The cat the lives downstairs had kittens." "Not that…" "Upamon learned a new word yesterday…but I don't think you should ask him what it was." "No, not *that*…" "The man next door to my apartment doesn't really like me…" "Iori!" She snapped, frustrated. "I think she wants to know if anything new has happened with our friends." Ken interjected sensibly. Iori blinked, then looked wary. "Oh. Not much really," he went back to his equations. Iori became aware of both Miyako and Ken staring at him pointedly. He ignored them. They continued to stare. Finally he sighed and put down his pen. "All right! Takeru-san and Hikari-san still spend most of their time together, but continue to act like siblings. Yamato-san still shows no interest in getting back together with Sora-san, though I don't know where he'd have the time to between his band and studying for finals," Iori took in a breath, "Koushiro-san has been spending a lot of time with one of his female classmates, but they aren't dating. Taichi-san is up to something, but I don't know what. Daisuke-san is still single. *There*, happy?" He folded his arms and affected a hurt expression. "Hmm…not much has changed." Miyako paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Hey wait, what about Jyou and Sora?" Iori's eyes widened briefly, just enough for Miyako to catch it. "Okay, spill it." "I don't think I should." Iori insisted uneasily. Miyako had her 'I will not be daunted' expression on. "C'mon Iori, what's the problem? They're our friends; we should know what's going on in their lives," it was familiar argument, a variation of the same one she'd used to get him to start sharing his observations in the first place, "And if it's something really important, I'm sure they'd share it with us later anyway." "You know we'd never do anything to hurt any of our friends." Ken jumped in where Miyako left off, looking quietly sincere. While Iori was more inclined to believe Miyako over Ken, he had no doubts that Ken would never intentionally bring harm to another person again. Besides, now he was trapped. The younger boy let out a defeated, yet frustrated sigh. "I think Sora-san and Jyou-san may be…involved…" Any further statements were interrupted by Miyako's squawk of surprise. "Sora and *Jyou*?!" Ken sputtered in equal amazement, dropping his usual politeness. "That's---something I would have never imagined…" "Forget that! Do you have any idea how much yen I'll make off of this?" Miyako's shock was quickly transforming into joy. She twisted around, half-sprawled on the floor, and pulled a battered notebook from under her mattress. She opened it and rapidly began flipping through the dog-eared pages. "It seems Mimi was the only one who betted *against* Sora ending up with either Yamato *or* Taichi. Wai, I'll have to call her later!" Miyako never missed a chance to talk to Mimi. Iori let out a cry of despair and hid his face in his hands. "I should have known." Ken was scooting over next to Miyako and tried to look into her book. "It's just harmless fun, Iori-kun," Ken distractedly informed the eleven year old, "I believe the yen I put down will be covered under my collection fees?" He asked, looking unperturbed when Miyako closed the book before his eyes. "Ah-ah, no peeking, that's cheating. Actually, you may get a little extra, since most of it's going to Mimi." Miyako checked her figures again before hiding the notebook back under her mattress. "I still can't believe you made *bets* on our friends love lives…" Iori said, with the awareness that it wouldn't do a bit of good. "I don't make the bets, I just keep track of them *and* get a small percentage of the profits. Ken-kun is nice enough to help me make sure everyone pays up." She beamed cheerfully at her partner in crime and who gave a faint smile in return. "Do you have any bets on me in that book?" He asked, with a teasing tilt to his eyebrows. Miyako waved a scolding finger at him like a schoolteacher, one eye winked shut. "That's not for me to tell, Ichijouchi-kun!" "Whatever I did in a past life to deserve this, I am very sorry." Iori informed the ceiling seriously.
There are many things people have said about the Motomiya family, not all of them entirely complimentary, but one thing that no one has ever said was that 'they give up easily'; possibly because it was the opposite that was so aggressively true. When Ishida Yamato began dating one Takenouchi Sora, Motomiya Jun was, for a time, diverted from her love of Yamato. Her infamous determination did not extend to hurting others. Since her Yamato-sama was currently happy with another woman, Jun decided she would have to find her own happiness elsewhere. It was a difficult sacrifice, but one she was willing to make. Then her brief relationship with Kido Shuu bombed, and shortly thereafter Yamato became available again. She wasn't one to pass up a new opportunity. Of course, family always comes first, and when she became alerted to the fact that her younger brother was crushing on a certain Takaishi Takeru, Jun decided to put her own romances on hold so that she could assist him if necessary. And if helping him get with Takeru brought her into a good light with Takeru's older brother, well that would be a wonderful fringe benefit, wouldn't it?
"Hey, Ken! I didn't expect to see you today." Daisuke's face lit up upon seeing his best friend, especially since having said friend around would save him from his recent bout of self-analysis. "What are you doing this side of Tokyo?" "Visiting." Ken said pleasantly, stepping through the door Daisuke held open and toeing off his shoes. "Oh, don't spread it around yet, but it seems Sora-san and Jyou-san are starting a relationship." "Seriously?" Daisuke demanded, expression incredulous, "Jeez. I mean…weird. Damn. Hey, there's some pocky in the kitchen, why don't you wait there while I get my wallet?" "Sure," Ken knew his way around the Motomiya apartment through the virtue of repeat visits and so made his way to the kitchen while Daisuke continued on to his room. The dark haired teen wasn't surprised to find Chibimon seated dead center on the kitchen table, working his way through a bowl of grapes. "Hi Ken!" the small dragon greeted, "Where's Minomon?" Ken reached back and patted his knapsack, "Asleep. Want to wake him up?" He carefully slid the pack off with the ease of long practice and set it down on the table, flipping open the top. "Sure!" Chibimon squeaked gleefully and abandoned his grapes to bounce in feet first. Ken winced at his Digimon's pained yell, but was relieved when it changed into a somewhat happy call of "Niisan!" The fourteen year old retrieved the chocolate pocky from its shelf and sat down at the table, enjoying the altogether too cute display of two Digimon wrestling in a backpack. After a time, they settled down and began whispering, reminiscent of Minomon with Poromon and Upamon a few nights ago at Miyako's. Thoughtfully, he reached out and tugged the pack's opening wider. "Hey, what are you two talking about?" The infant Digimon looked up at him with identical innocent expressions. "Video games!" Ken blinked in surprise, then burst into laughter. "Okay, what's the joke?" Daisuke walked in, holding a battered nylon wallet. Ken shook his head. "Nothing, just these two." He gave the bag a gentle shake, listening to the infants squeal in delight. "Heh, they are cute, ne? Um, I haven't gotten my allowance yet…" he started, dumping the contents of his wallet on the table. "That's okay, Miyako-san won't mind waiting." Ken assured his friend as they began counting out the yen. "But it looks like you have enough." "Yeah," Daisuke sighed, sliding over the last five-yen piece. He could kiss buying that new CD goodbye, though. He really needed a new hobby. "So how'd you do on your last test?" "Very good, actually." Ken answered with a roll of his slim shoulders. The High School he went to was somewhat less than what most people expected of the once famous genius child, but it did have a harder curriculum than Odaiba High. "Really? Cool." Daisuke drummed his fingers on the table top, trying to match the percussion of his favorite song. The conversation moved onto Daisuke's most recent football game and their last survey of the Digiworld. He enjoyed having Ken around, whether they were playing football or just talking or watching 'guy movies'. In many ways, he felt more comfortable with Ken than with any of his other friends. Perhaps it was that comfort that gave him the urge to talk about the subject that had been hassling him the past week. "You like girls right?" Daisuke brought up casually, or so he thought. Ken paused while taking a bite of pocky, one eyebrow arched at the seeming non sequitur. "Yes…" He said slowly. Ken was actually rather fond of expressing his appreciation of the female form, (frequently and in great detail, with the aid of his rather spectacular vocabulary) but Daisuke never seemed interested and got bored with it quickly, usually changing the subject. Which Ken found personally annoying. Daisuke was his *best friend*, they were supposed to talk about girls and sex, and it's not like there was anyone *else* he could talk to about it. Okay, Daisuke did talk about girls occasionally, but it was in the same nebulous 'some day, I'm going to marry this gorgeous girl' or 'yeah, she's cute' way that he had when he was twelve. It had gotten to the point where Ken decided he should simply lean back and wait for the Puberty Fairy to visit his friend. Had that time arrived? "Well, I do too." Daisuke leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head, "At least, at least I think I do." Suddenly feeling exposed, he leaned back against the table, arms tucked together on its top. Ken paused again, almost completely still as he absorbed that and try to evaluate it. This was certainly unexpected. He decided not to respond just yet, and concentrated on looking attentive and thoughtful. "And, um," Daisuke buried his face in the shield of his arms, "What would you do if you sorta thought that you might *not* like girls after all?" Chibimon and Minomon stopped talking to watch their humans. Ken carefully chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth, gaze fixed on the fiery burst of Daisuke's hair. That was something his hadn't considered, though in hindsight it made perfect sense. Of course, he was jumping the gun a bit since Daisuke hadn't really confirmed anything, but the idea was there. "I'm not sure what I'd do," Ken said finally, noticing the way Daisuke's shoulders and neck were becoming tense. "I'd think about it a lot. Talk to friends I trust. There are books, I think." He winced at the last offering. So books don't have all the answers, they do help. The other boy continued to keep his head down. Ken sat up straighter, suddenly worried that he'd said the wrong thing. This was tender ground, he knew, and emotions were not his area of expertise. Finally, Daisuke turned his head to the side slightly, a gentle smile curving his mouth. "Thanks," he said, whisper soft. Ken felt rush of relief and smiled in return. Daisuke pushed himself up and spoke with he usual cheer and vigor. "So talk to a friend I trust, ne? Doing anything tonight?" "Wait a minute while I call my house."
"Don't go out, okay? I want us to go shopping when I get back. See you in a few hours!" "Yes, mama. Bye!" Takeru waved over his shoulder, maintaining his zone out on the TV. There was the faint rustling of pocket change and then the door opening and closing. He continued to dwell in the land of daytime programming for a few more minutes until he was sure she was gone. Glancing quickly at the closed door, Takeru slipped off the couch and padded over to the computer desk. Dropping into the chair with his characteristic lack of grace, he moved the mouse to take it off stand-by. His mother had installed DSL a few months back and he continued to thrill at having all his favorite pages upload in seconds instead of minutes. With a series of rapid clicks, Takeru had the Internet browser up and was pursuing his favorite sites. He took a minute to check the Digimonweb.com website that Koushiro and Miyako had designed. The main page was all details on Digimon and the Digital World, with some blurbs on the Chosen Children, and message boards where people could ask about Digimon from those who new it best. It was a pretty popular site judging by all the hits and postings. He scanned through the postings quickly to see if there was any he could answer before clicking back to the main page. All the way down at the bottom there was a little typing field and button link labeled 'go'. Takeru typed 'kibukodomo' into the field and clicked the link. Moments later, a new screen came up. The words "Welcome Takeru" were written across the top in bold letters. Below it, in smaller print, it stated that he had eight new e-mails in his inbox, and further down was a calendar outlining birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events pertaining to the world's Chosen Children. The page also contained special announcements and links to frequently asked questions, the Chosen Children and Digimon database, and the forum board. This was the main point and purpose of the website, a way to connect all the children destined to be partnered with Digimon. Koushiro was immensely proud of it. Takeru thought he should be, it was quite a massive undertaking. Scanning through his new messages and seeing none that required his immediate attention, Takeru went on to check his other e-mail accounts. There were five, so it would take some time. Saved in his main account was an old e-mail that he had sent himself from one of his other accounts. He opened it to find a series of website links; the kind of links that had to be hidden because his mother would throw a fit if she knew what he read and looked at when she wasn't around. Choosing one of the links, Takeru opened the site in a new window, eager to see if his favorite author had posted a new story. He was quite shocked when instead of the expected website, the browser window instead said 'Page blocked due to adult content'. Takeru's hands dropped from the mouse and keyboard in shock. "You're kidding," he informed the machine, "You have *got* to be kidding!" Frantic now, the blond teenager began checking all his links and also the e-mail accounts that he used for the more 'randy' mailing lists he had joined. He ran into the same problem each time. Distantly aware of his partner's distress, Patamon allowed himself to be distracted from the mecha anime currently airing on the TV. Climbing up on the top of the couch, he called out. "Takeru, what's wrong?" Bracing his elbows on either side of the keyboard and clutching his head, Takeru moaned in despair. "She installed parental blocks! Now I can't get to half my e-mail and almost none of my sites! Damn!" Patamon blinked his wide blue eyes and jumped off the couch, lazily flapping over to his friend. "Why would she do that?" the orange Digimon assumed his favorite landing place, on top of Takeru's head. Takeru sighed, making a vague gesture with his hand. "Either she found out the kind of 'sites I like, or she figured I was old enough to start looking and wanted to stop me before I did," he sat back carefully, mindful of Patamon's weight, "Actually, I think that's more likely. If she really knew about the sites I visit, she would've done more than just block them. We'd probably be having very long discussion right now about my 'tastes'…" Patamon fell silent, then said, with obvious confusion, "What does liking chocolate ice-cream have to do with this?" "Not *those* kind of tastes!" Takeru laughed suddenly and Patamon smiled at the sound. "These tastes have to do with kissing and dating and that stuff." He closed the browser windows and cleared the history folder out of habit. "Oh," Patamon responded softly. If he'd learned anything in the past three years he'd been living in-and-out of the human world, it was that humans had bizarre ideas about love and relationships. Digimon were much more practical about such things. He decided it was best not to comment. "Yeah. Well, I guess I'll have to use someone else's computer," Takeru grinned thoughtfully, "I wonder if Daisuke's computer has parental block." "But he lives down the street," Patamon protested, "Your mama asked you to stay in the building today." "I know, I know! I was just kidding," he shut down the computer and stood; looking around for his hat, "Let's go bug Miyako. I know for fact that she's already broken any blocks on her computer. I can at least check my e-mail." "I think I'll stay here," Patamon started uneasily. He didn't know what it was, but whenever Takeru spent long periods of time with Miyako, the blond boy started behaving very strangely. Instead of being his usual polite, unobtrusive self, Takeru would become loud, out-spoken, and prone to outrageous acts. Much like Miyako herself. Patamon couldn't explain it; he just knew that he wanted to avoid witnessing it. "Don't be silly! You want to see Poromon, right? So lets go!"
"Neechan, I'm using the phone!" Miyako yelled down the hall at her older sibling as she dialed with one hand. There was a distant reply, but the lavender haired girl wasn't listening anymore. She was going to talk to Mimi! Settling herself comfortably more comfortably in her chair, she waited eagerly while the phone rang. Finally, "Hello, Mimi speaking!" Mimi chirped happily in accented English. "Moshi moshi, Mimi-san!" Miyako squeaked back, with a kind of bliss obtained only by the young and air-headed. "Oh! Miyako-chan! I haven't talked to you in ages!" Mimi slipped back into Japanese gratefully, "What's happening on your side of the world?" "Tons! I haven't the time to go through it all, just the highlights---" Miyako instantly launched into a edited telling of the most recent events. She knew Mimi and Sora talked frequently, but Mimi said that Sora wasn't one much for gossip, so her contribution usually amounted to 'everyone is fine'. Mimi and Miyako both liked *details*. That fact gave Miyako a warm, special feeling. She loved it when she and Mimi had something in common. Even better, Mimi got something more from talking with Miyako than she did from talking with Sora. "----but I haven't got to the best part yet!" Miyako paused for a breath while Mimi let out an inquisitive murmur. "Your bet was right! Sora-san isn't going to go back with Yamato-san *or* with Taichi-san." "Really!" Mimi gasped and Miyako's heart warmed at the thrill in her voice. She'd made Mimi happy! "Are Yamato and Taichi dating?" "No, they're single. Oh! You mean *each other*," giggle, "Of course not! Actually, it's Sora who is dating someone else." There was a sudden complete and utter silence on the other side of the phone. Miyako hesitated, a sinking feeling in her chest. What happened? "Mimi-san?" "Who?" came the quiet question, Mimi's voice lacking in its usual happiness and bounce. "Um, Jyou-san. Mimi-san, what's wrong?" Miyako sat up straight, free hand clenched fearfully at her chest. She ran through their conversation in her mind, trying to figure out what exactly she had said wrong. "I'm going to put the phone down and be right back, okay?" Mimi said very politely, but still somewhat flat. Before Miyako could respond, there was a click as the phone was placed on something hard. Distantly through the headset, separated by an ocean and then some, Miyako could hear a faint sound very much like screaming. Miyako blinked at the wall across from her in blind confusion. She would readily admit that she wasn't the deepest person in the world. Her friends had pointed out, an annoying number of times, that she was a lot like Daisuke in that she tended to ignore things that didn't interest or concern her. Every now and again, she would really start paying attention, only to come to the unpleasant realization that she had missed something vital. She was having one of those moments. Seconds later, before Miyako had the chance to totally evaluate her revelation, Mimi came back on. "Whew! What a shock," the older girl gasped, sounding somewhat closer to her normal self, "But really, Miyako-chan, just how *much* are they dating?" "What?" Damn, she just knew there was something very important about all this, but it kept eluding her. "Details, Miyako-chan," Mimi insisted, the cheer in her voice managing to give an impression of 'determined' rather than 'happy and carefree'. "I want details."
There were few people in the world that Hikari loved more than her brother. He'd protected her and watched after her for as long as she could remember. He had chased away monsters both real and imagined and did it all with a grin. When she was weak, he fought with her and made up for her weakness. When she was strong, he stood back and let her fight on her own, but was always there, just in case. They'd stood together and faced the final darkness, strong and proud, just like their parents raised them. Their spirits had added to the unbreakable power of simple children that were so much more; strangers united into family by their heart-driven urge to protect. Through out it all, he was there. He was also the same brother who teased and nagged, and passed his chores to her when was feeling lazy or wanted to hang with friends. He left his clothes on the floor until their mother yelled at him or Hikari got tired of tripping over them and picked them up herself. He was not above playing on her devotion to him when there was something he really wanted and had the nasty habit of embarrassing the life out of her whenever it amused him. But most importantly at that moment, he was attempting to set her up with her best friend, who she loved dearly but *really* didn't want to date. There were few people in the world that Hikari loved more than her brother, but that didn't stop her from occasionally wanting to beat him senseless with something blunt and heavy. "Oniichan, please…" "But you've been wanting to see this movie! I know you have," Taichi insisted, "And I told you I'd be paying. I don't see the problem." Hikari closed her eyes in quiet suffering. It was hard to explain something even she didn't fully understand. Her feelings for Takeru went beyond the love of siblings, but were not the sexual kind found between lovers. Honestly, the thought of doing anything remotely sexual with Takeru made her faintly sick. She simple knew it wasn't meant to be. Experience had taught her to never distrust her premonitions; they were always true. But how do you explain a gut feeling? "Oniichan, there is nothing wrong with your hearing---" "I know, I know," Taichi interrupted quickly, "You don't want to date Takeru. But it could be just a friend thing---" "The point," Hikari stopped him, "Is that you want Yamato to think it's more and you want me and Takeru to at least act like it's more." She sat next to her brother on the lower bunk bed and sighed. "Don't you see something wrong with a relationship that starts with a scheme like this?" Taichi groaned and fell back on the bed, hands laced together behind his head. "It's not that big a deal! This is just a little something to make it, umm, easier for me." Hikari rubbed at the building pain in her temple. "And if it doesn't work?" Her brother was silent then, scratching the sunburned skin on his forearm. Finally, softly and with a measured amount of resignation, "Then it doesn't work." "No kidding. But it could get worse than that," she persisted firmly, "What if Yamato finds out about this deception, hmm? What if he gets mad?" "Then I'll just stand in one spot and let him hit me around for a while! Always makes him feel better," The brown haired boy announced with returned exuberance, bouncing up into a sitting position. The sad part was, that statement was entirely true. Her brother and his best friend/current crush solved an amazing amount of personal differences by beating each other up. It was the one dynamic of their relationship that didn't change, and maybe that was a good thing, even if it did freak out people who didn't know them. Because if Hikari knew Takeru, then it was almost certain that he would bring this up with Yamato, so Taichi really had no hope of hiding his little plan. Just then, an idea came in contact with a stray thought, joined a piece of knowledge, before being spiced with possibility and finally, was ignited by inspiration. Takeru…crush…movie…date… And like that, Hikari had a plan. It should be noted that Hikari having this plan was not a great disaster, for she was, at heart, a careful and loving person who would never do anything to harm her friends. She would certainly handle her plan far better than her brother ever could and with less property damage. But all that aside, she was still a Yagami, and the Yagami family has been, and always will be, a force to be reckoned with. To be continued...
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