The Crack in the Mirror

By Chyna Rose

Chapter One: Picking up the Hammer

Hikari

It's been calm since our tour in the Digital World. And in that time, we've all grown. Joyu graduated from high school. He's currently taking a full tour of the medical field in order to find his niche. Tai's still on the soccer team. He's spending his last year as team captain. Koushiro, Sora, Yamato, and Mimi are also in their senior year. Mimi's here because of an international student exchange program. Sora still works with her mother in the flower shop, but her interest lies more towards living plants. Yamato's fan base has grown, and he's already been approached about a record contract. Koushiro has his pick of any of a number of computer companies after he gets out of high school. Iori's in his final year of junior high. You didn't hear this from me, but there's a spot for him on the Kendo team.

As for the rest of us, we've started our first year of high school. Ken's still in Tamachi, but the rest of us make tracks to good old Odiba High.

~~~@~~~@~~~

"So then he said…"

We've all got our place here. Miyako's not only the vice president of the computer club, she's also the head of a rather vicious rumor mill. TK's on the basketball team. I've gotten involved with the cheerleading squad and have been thinking about joining the drama club. As for Daisuke…

Daisuke's Daisuke. He's on the soccer team, and according to my brother, still good friends with Ken. I mean, we're all still friends, but we just… hang in different circles. He may be one of the best soccer players, but he's still not very popular. There's just something… wrong with him. I can't put my finger on what though.

"Earth to Kari. Come in Kari."

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"Obviously."

"Anyway, I was just talking about Shinobu."

"Do you think he's gay?"

"I don't know. Hey! Isn't that Daisuke?"

"Yeah. It is. What's he doing?"

Of course we all looked. Daisuke was looking for a place to sit. This wasn't anything new. It usually takes Daisuke a while to find a place to sit in the cafeteria. Being unpopular, he often gets turned away. I don't know why, but a lot of people are just plain hostile to him. It's one of the reasons he doesn't even try our table.

Anyway, as Daisuke was looking for a seat, he just stopped. It was weird. He just stood there staring into space. He stood like that for about ten minutes. I've never seen him so still. After a moment, he just shook himself out of it and muttered to himself. He looked around a bit more, then left.

"Can you believe Daisuke? Why just the other day, he did the stupidest thing."

"Miya, don't you think you're being a little harsh about him?"

"Come on, this is Daisuke we're talking about. The same Daisuke who thought that playing soccer in a thunder storm was a good idea -not to mention the way he kept hitting on you."

"But he's our friend."

"He's a jerk. What?"

~~~~~

Taichi

What's with us today? Half the team's not paying attention, the other half seems to have forgotten how to move, and Daisuke must be playing on another planet altogether! To make matters worse, we have a big game against Tamachi in a week.

"Okay team, stop what you're doing and huddle up!"

The coach had an emergency to attend to, and rather than canceling the (much needed) practice, he left me in charge. To be honest, it was easier leading the army in the Digi World against the dark masters. At least they were listening to what I was saying. The team stopped (attempting to) running the scrimmage and centered around me fairly quickly. (apparently Daisuke was indeed among us here on Earth.)

"What's up with you guys today? I have never seen you play so badly. Half of you weren't even on the same playing field."

As I went into my rant, mentioning at least on specific complaint per player I took the opportunity to take a good look at the reactions of the team. Most had the good sense to look apologetic. Touji kept glaring at me, (not much I could fault him with if the ball never came close to the net) and Daisuke... Well, he seemed distracted. Kept glancing behind him, as if there was somebody -or something- there. I made a note to get the heads up from Kari. If she couldn't tell me, I'd ask Tailmon to interrogate Chibimon, and beg Sora to grill Jun. Between his digimon, his sister, and the rumor mill, I'm pretty sure I can figure out what's wrong. Under the threat of canceling the night out we got back to practice. This time, everyone was back up to speed. (though Daisuke still was a bit out to lunch.)

~~~~~

Ken

Sometimes I don't understand my best friend. Scratch that. Most of the time I don't understand my best friend. I'm resigned to the fact that I will never fully understand him. He has this… quality about him. I can't explain what it is, simply because I'm not entirely sure what it is. All I know, is that it is irrevocably him. (which must say something) I've seen sides of him that the others haven't even begun to approach. I have spent hours contemplating the mystery that is him. And every single time I think I am just about to figure him out, he does something unexpected, and I'm left guessing all over again. If I ever get tired of trying to figure him out, I better be dead. I…

I shook myself out of the trance I was in brought on by watching him. He may not realize it, but he tortures me. His closeness. The way he's always touching me. And knowing he only sees me as a friend. But I'd rather be tortured than be without him. His abundance of energy keeps me going. The way he flits from topic to topic like a hummingbird. His hands. His beautiful, perfect, artistic hands. Hands that mold themselves around the pen, or controller, or Popsicle, or…

"Excuse me. I'll be right back."

I think Ami's starting to rub off on me. That girl must have the largest collection of hentai I've ever seen. And she's not above vividly describing ever lurid detail of whatever story she's writing. (then again, who am I to talk? After all, I did agree to be her beta reader.) If there was anyone to blame for the unleashing of my rampant hormones, it would be her. Her or Daisuke. Daisuke just exudes this sexual energy. It's in his ever movement. It's… It's… It's enough to drive someone mad.

These are dangerous thoughts. Thoughts that lead to dreams of whips and chains and… him. I don't pretend to know the motivations of my alter ego. He wasn't me, really. In one of his more philosophical moments, Daisuke had said that the Kaiser was my id. He went after whatever he wanted with no regard for the consequences. In my heart of hearts, I know he went after Daisuke for more reasons than he was the leader of the digidestined.

But enough about that. Now that I've calmed down a bit, I should get back to him. Who knows what he's come up with in the time that I was… otherwise occupied.

"Hey Dai?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to the bathroom mirror?"

"Someone broke it. I had to tape it up before someone got hurt."

"Oh."

"I've got to show you this new game I got. Red Alert 2; Yuri's Revenge. Some of the graphics are killer."

"What kind of game is it?"

"Command and conquer. It's a lot like Starcraft."

"I think My command and conquering days are long over."

"There go half my games. How about Quake?"

"I'm not really in the mood for killing sprees."

"The only other game's the Sims."

"Hmm… Manipulating the lives of others… I'm in."

"I hope Jun didn't evict our guys again."

"If she did, we could sabotage her people."

"I thought we were going to do that anyway."

Apparently, Jun took out some wrath on the entire computerized neighborhood. Only one house remained intact. (the single occupant near death) Daisuke replaced the fridge (affording it through the sale of the gravestone set in an inaccessible shrine) and checked to see what had happened.

"June got toasted while Matt was at work. Jun put the grave where Matt couldn't go. She apparently got mad that Matt wasn't mourning June, and decided to punish him. She kept him from going to work, the toilet, and getting food. I think she deleted the others when they wandered over. Well, there are a few things we can do. Let Matt suffer, kill him, delete him totally, or save him."

He and Jun have turned a simple computer game into a war zone. She'd evict his characters, he'd drive a wedge between hers. She'd sell his fire place, he'd redecorate her house.

"If she thinks that will stop us, she's got another thing coming."

Jun isn't stupid; neither of them are. She's just very… it's hard to describe, but it isn't stupidity. She tends to overlook facts such as Yamato's not interested in her, for some reason Midori is, (at least according to Daisuke. I really have to ask Miyako about that next time I speak to her.) and Daisuke can create new Sims and build new homes for them.

"Ken. Ken. Earth to Ken."

"Sorry about that. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing really."

"If it was nothing, then why'd you space out?"

"Hey Ken, Dai. Mom told me to come and get you. Dinner's ready."

~~~~~

Sora

I once got pulled into a conversation about cafeteria food with Mimi. I can't remember why, but Daisuke was there. (Each grade had their own lunch period.) Mimi mentioned that the food offered for lunch by her school back in New York was just as bad as what they were serving here. Daisuke said that there was this world wide conspiracy to subvert and brainwash students. That the bad food lowered our natural resistance to it by not giving us the right stuff and killing our moral. Yama later said it had something to do with making a lot of food at one time on a short budget. There are times when I can easily believe Daisuke on the cafeteria food thing though.

"Hey Sora."

"Hey Jun. What's up?"

"My idiot brother taped up the mirror in the bathroom for absolutely no reason. He can be so weird sometimes."

"But then again, weird is Daisuke's middle name."

"Midori! What's new on the gossip front?"

Midori and Jun have to be two of the biggest gossips in the whole school. They will talk about anything that happened -or was said to have happened- for hours on end. And unlike Miyako, they never do it out of malice, no matter who they were talking about. This trait usually ensures that no-one can stay mad at them for long over the gossip.

"I have it on good authority that Touji's setting his sights on Koushiro."

"Miki's not going to like that."

"Never mind Miki, Tai's not going to like it."

"I also heard that Touji's going to use it to test Daisuke."

"Dai would never do it. He isn't like that!"

"Calm down Jun. We don't know if Touji's really going to try to involve Daisuke.

Touji's essentially the school bully. It's not surprising that he's picked Koushiro as a target. Koushiro isn't a jock, and he doesn't try to hide the fact that he's dating Miki. Touji and his gang don't like gays. Daisuke usually puts up with whatever they do to him -just as long as they don't beat him up or force him to hurt someone. So far, they haven't crossed the line.

Yamato and Taichi joined us, and we got down to the serious business of idle gossip and identifying our lunch. Midori, Jun, and Mimi were doing most of the talking -not that any of us minded. It was just business as usual.

It's kinda funny, if you think about it, how Midori and Jun are such close friends when Miyako and Daisuke are constantly at each other's throats. None of us can figure out exactly why Miyako and Daisuke don't get along. Oh, we have our theories, but the truth still eludes us. Neither Daisuke or Miyako will tell us what happened. My money's on something having to do with Ken.

"Hey, isn't Jon's birthday coming up soon?"

"Yeah. Masaharu said that it was going to be a costume party this year."

"Do you know who's invited?"
"Hiei, Kenji, Masaharu of course"

"I'd be surprised if Masaharu wasn't invited."

"Miki, Koushiro, most of the soccer team…"

"It's going to be a killer party as long as Touji's gang doesn't crash."

"Jon always throws great parties."

"Jun Motomiya?"

"Yes?"

A girl I vaguely recognized as being in Kari's class wandered over to our table. She seemed nervous. The conversation at the table fell off suddenly. We knew this meant trouble.

"Your brother's in the nurse's office. He got into a bad fight after gym class."

"Do you know who else was involved?"
"Takeru Takashi. I think Touji Osaka had something to do with it, but I'm not sure."

"Is TK alright?"

"I don't know. From what I hear, Takeru threw the first punch. I wasn't there when it happened."

Jun and Yam followed the poor girl out. They may look like Tai and Yama, but they've never gotten physical before. Daisuke may be brash and tactless, but he usually doesn't push people to the point of violence. (the whole Kaiser thing not withstanding.) TK's one of the last guys I'd picture to start a fight. Something had to be up.

~~~~~

Takeru

I winced as Yama tried to put ice on what was developing into a beautiful shiner. I had gotten into a fight in the locker room at school with Daisuke. No matter how bad I looked, Daisuke looked about ten times worse. He held back. I beat the shit out of him. What he said, just went too far. I am not like that.

"What the hell were you thinking? Starting a fight like that."

"Oh, like you've never started a fight with Tai. He pushed me too far. I just… snapped."

"What happened?"

"We had volleyball for a change in gym today. Daisuke was a mess. He just couldn't pay attention. He caused us to lose to a bunch of girls. Girls!"

"What's so bad about that? Sora's always beat my butt in soccer, and I've learned the hard way that you just don't play Miyako in pool for money."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"Daisuke messed us up. And it would've been perfectly fine if it wasn't for Touji and his cronies…"

~~~@~~~@~~~

Me and Daisuke were busy getting changed when Tenshi approached us. Daisuke didn't seem upset at our loss. Of course, I'm not sure he even realized that we lost. He can just be so… dense sometimes.

Anyway, Tenshi walked up to us. Touji was a few lockers down with Jon. The other Jon. Usually those three are inseparable.

"Pitiful game, huh Takashi."

"You got that right! We got trounced by a bunch of girls."

Tenshi settled himself on a bench. Jon helped Touji hobble over. Touji wrenched his ankle tripping over Daisuke. I was surprised when Touji didn't retaliate as soon as the teacher wasn't looking. He's that kind of guy.

"Well volleyball is a sport for girls and fags. Don't you think so Takashi?"

"It wasn't so bad. It would've been better if someone was actually paying attention."

"I still think that whoever likes it is either a girl or a fag. Are you a girl Takashi?"

"Most certainly not!"

Tenshi kept talking. Touji was standing right behind me, leaning on Jon. Daisuke still wasn't paying attention -as usual.

"If you're not a girl, and you actually like volleyball, then you must be a fag."

"I am not gay."

"So what if he is? There's nothing wrong with being gay."

"Is that right…"

"Yep. I know he's been interested in Iori for over a year."

"Are you going to sit there and let him call you a fag?" Touji whispered in my ear. I was already fit to be tied, so I did the only thing I could think of.

~~~@~~~@~~~

"I punched him. Then it just kind of escalated."

"So you got into a fight because Daisuke thinks you're gay."

"I am not gay!"

"Calm down bro. I'm not saying you are. But you can't tell me there isn't some guy you see and say 'he's got to be gay'.

"But me and Iori?"

"Maybe he thinks it has something to do with the whole Jogeress Evolution thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks I'm seeing Tai on the side. Doesn't make it any more true though."

"But Tai's bisexual. And he's hit on you. And you didn't cream him for it. And… And… And I am not gay!"

"Methinks you protest too much little brother."

"Oh shut up."