Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Differences ❯ Mourning Sam ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

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Differences

[General Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or it's characters. There use in
the following work of fiction is completely for entertainment purposes only]
[AN: I've worked on this for a while. This is the first part and deals with
the funeral of Sam Ichijouji. The second part will look at the funeral of Hiroki
Hida. That will take me longer to write. Ken comes off a little harshly here
because he approaches grief from anger. He'll be a little worse in part two
because of the influence of the Dark Spore. It's just my take on a possible
sequence of events. No offense to Ken fans.]
Chapter 1: Mourning Sam
Officer Hiroki Hida stared through the drizzle of rain that fell just beyond
the cover of the large umbrella he held aloft over himself and two others. It might have been simpler to come alone, as his wife had suggested.
But somehow, he felt there was a need for children, even at this sad event. It
was the funeral of a boy killed in a traffic accident. Hida had been assigned
the accident report, and had gotten a little too involved because the victim was
a child. The boy's name was Sam Ichijouji, a recognized scholastic prodigy. The
mourners, as the police officer had imagined, consisted of the parents'
colleagues, teachers from the boy's advanced classes, and his older classmates.
However, Hiroki Hida knew that there was one mourner who might feel lost amongst
the others, the little brother. His name was Kenny, and Kenny was just
six. Hida saw the younger Ichijouji boy intermittently through a
stream of mourners passing under the graveside canopy. Kenny was
holding, more like clutching, a large picture of his brother Sam. Hiroki
looked down at young Yolei Inoue and his own Cody. She was eight and he was just
four, but if their presence here today made Kenny Ichijouji the least bit less
lonely, it would be worth the little trouble it was to bring them here.

In spite of the solemn occasion, the officer smiled inwardly thinking of Cody
and Yolei. The girl was an energetic mixture of tomboy and housewife,
and had openly declared his son to be her additional little brother the moment
she'd first laid eyes on him. Cody adored Yolei just as naturally. Though, as
if to perfectly contrast the bubbly, spontaneous personality of the girl,
he displayed patience and reserve so uncharacteristic for a child
that it was often amusing. Indeed, Cody was as delighted with mimicking manners
and polite behavior as other four year-olds were in ignoring them. Even
now, Hiroki saw his son instinctively copying his own respectful stance at
attention. However, Cody's hand was still firmly encased in his father's
and Yolei's arms were gently, protectively draped around Cody's neck. Sometimes
four years old was just four years old after all. Hiroki's mind lingered
on Cody's seriousness. It was OK, he supposed, as long as it didn't get carried
too far. The father squeezed the small hand entrusted to him, and intended to
see that his son enjoyed a happy childhood. Officer Hida turned back to the
grieving procession. For a moment more the three of them watched.

Hiroki handed the umbrella momentarily to Yolei. The girl, already tall for
her age, managed to keep it above all three of them as the man scooped Cody up
and supported him easily on one strong arm. Hiroki spoke in a hushed tone to his son. "Cody, shall we go pay our respects now?" Cody
gazed intently at his father and gave him two very deliberate
nods. "Very well put son." Hiroki agreed, with just the quickest
wink, causing little Cody to muffle a giggle into his daddy's shoulder because
his mommy had told him to be very quiet today. Hiroki took the umbrella
back from Yolei in his free hand, and the three of them made their way in the
line of mourners toward the graveside.

With Cody safely turned over to the attention of his dad, Yolei turned her
thoughts to three other people -- the people they were making their way toward. She saw
them in the most simple way: the dad, the mom, and the kid brother. Yolei
knew this day was sad, and she knew why. She knew the dad was sad, knew the mom was sad, but the brother's sad was beyond knowing. Yolei felt his sadness.
She wanted to say something nice to him -- Mr. Hida had told her this boy's
name, but that was way back before they'd left the apartment building, and now
she couldn't remember. She'd just have to wing it. The girl spent the rest of
their time in line trying to listen to the rain drops fall instead of thinking,
but she never stopped looking to see the face of the sad kid brother.

Soon the trio of one adult and two children arrived under the large canopy,
and then very quickly it was their turn to speak to the surviving Ichijouji
family. Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji both welcomed them. "Officer Hida, thank you
for coming today, you've shown us great kindness already." Mr.
Ichijouji stated. Hiroki took the man's hand and told him that coming was the
least he could do.

"Oh ..." Mrs. Ichijouji said with a rush of maternal feeling,
"Are these two children yours Officer Hida? They're adorable. She wanted to
smile at Cody, but couldn't. He was a little boy ... and today her little boy
was -- She started to sob, and her husband held her.

Hiroki hoped the formality of introductions would offer some distraction for
the Ichijoujis. He said, "This little fellow is my son Cody." setting
the boy down gently, and turning him to face the adults. The very little boy stepped
forward. Cody raised his eyes until he had looked into those of the grown-ups
before him and quickly he bowed twice, once to the man and once to the woman.
Not knowing what to do next, Cody simply stepped back, did an about-face, and
stood silently in front of his father as if awaiting further instructions. In
response Hiroki Hida patted Cody on the head for a job well
done. The officer continued, "This is Cody's friend Yolei Inoue."

The young girl stepped forward, and remembered the nice thing her parents had
told her to say. "Hello ... I'm very sorry for your loss." She
could've stopped with that and been proper, but Yolei had her own endearing way
of doing things. Impulsively she went and took Mrs. Ichijouji's hands and said,
"It's really, really sad right now ... but love is forever, OK?" Then
the girl hugged the grieving woman tightly. Mrs. Ichijouji sobbed loudly again.
Yolei loosened her embrace "Oh, I'm sorry ma'am I didn't mean to make you
cry anymore. I guess I shouldn't have ..." Yolei started to let the woman
go when she was hugged back just as tightly.

"It's alright dear." Mrs. Ichijouji said haltingly, "It's the
sweetest thing anybody could've said because it's true. You couldn't possibly
make me sadder today child. You just reminded me that love is still here too.
Thank you."

Mrs. Ichijouji let Yolei step back to Officer Hida's
side. The girl gave Cody's dad a quick, apologetic look for any
embarrassment she had caused but the officer only beamed at her to let her
know it was OK. It was more than OK. Yolei had just proven him right about
bringing the kids in the first place. He knew he could rely on Cody's sense of
respect, and he knew that Yolei's displays of heart would never cease to amaze
him. Both had been true to their natures, and both had impressed in their own
ways. Hiroki was very proud of them. Yolei reassumed her shepherding of Cody, so
Officer Hida was about say the farewells and take them back to the car when a
freshly composed Mrs. Ichijouji stopped them.

"Officer Hida, wait just a moment. It was so kind of you to bring these
wonderful children here today. I'd like them to meet Kenny. Kenny, come over
here dear. It's alright ... Kenny please." Kenny Ichijouji plodded
his way over to his mother, handing the picture of his brother Sam
over to his father.

Yolei looked closely at Kenny Ichijouji for the first time as he stood
listlessly in front of his mother. She thought this kid had a nice face, but the
moment he raised his eyes as his mom introduced him, Yolei knew something was
wrong inside him. Kenny's eyes showed her that his spirit had been ...
crushed. Something had stomped out whatever spark this kid had inside him, and
it wasn't coming back any time soon. Yolei also realized this was her chance to
say something to him. So she took it. "Hello, I'm Yolei," she said
suddenly "Oh, and this is Cody." She half-pushed and half-lifted the
four year-old like he was some kind of show and tell prop. Cody, responded with
a slight squirm and barely a grunt, so Yolei set him down.

"I heard your names." Kenny said flatly, he felt his mother's hand
press his shoulder lightly, so he robotically added "It's nice to meet you
both." That was a lie. Nothing was nice about today, or being here. Nothing
would ever be nice again, so why did he have to be? The weird girl just kept
looking at him. He could tell she felt sorry for him, and he didn't believe he
deserved it, so he didn't like it. "If that's all just go away now."
This time he ignored his mother's firmer squeeze. Kenny didn't care, he didn't
want to care any more. Caring hurt, let you know things were your fault, and
made you cry. Kenny was angry instead, and he liked that. Anger let you blame
other people, and anger burned all the tears away. If his parents weren't here
right now he'd really tell this stupid girl just how stupid she was in feeling
sorry for him. But his parents were here, so he just wished this girl would take
the hint and get away from him, and wasn't today proof of the power in his
wishes.

Yolei did shiver slightly from this Kenny kid's iciness, but she couldn't
really blame him for it. Not today. She would not be denied. Yolei got another
impulsively sweet idea. "I was going to ask Mr. Hida there to take me and
Cody for some ice cream cones. I know he'll say yes, so why don't you come with
us? It might make you feel better, well I guess maybe just a little bit,
but it's a start. It always works for me."

"I don't want any ice cream, not with you!" Kenny said it loudly.

"Kenneth!" his mother rebuked properly, "I'm sorry dear, he
meant to say 'No thank you,' didn't you Kenneth? You owe the girl an apology
now." Kenny wasn't about to apologize, and almost told his mother so --
when something remarkable happened. As if out of a dream, a single and beautiful
butterfly came into view under the canopy. It had somehow survived the
coming of dank weather and dodged the drizzle of the day, now improbably or not
it came to rest upon Kenny Ichijouji's shoulder. Yolei forgot Kenny's rudeness
and pointed the delicate creature out to her younger friend. Cody loved
butterflies!

Indeed, the green eyes widened with awe and simple joy. Most four
year-olds would clomp after the winged wonder with a shout, but not Cody Hida.
In the pause created by the butterfly's landing Cody stepped forward carefully,
noiselessly. Neither Kenny nor the butterfly moved as the smaller boy reached
out reverently and almost touched it while cutely and softly calling out to it.
Cody didn't speak much, but he had a good vocabulary he said the single word,
"Butterfly." His pronunciation, however was amusingly off and the word
articulated as "Bubblefly" instead. That's what Kenny heard, and it
enraged him.

Blowing bubbles was Kenny's special thing with Sam. They could just stand for
hours on the balcony of their apartment blowing bubbles into the sky, and Kenny
could actually do it better than Sam could ... and they would talk ...and they
would laugh ... and ... and they could never do that again now! Kenny looked
down and saw a smaller boy reaching up at him and smiling about flying
bubbles, it was just the way Kenny might have looked to Sam. How dare this brat
remind him something that hurt so much! Without the slightest warning Kenny
brushed off the butterfly and angrily pushed Cody away from him, pushed him hard. The littler boy flailed
backwards right past Yolei and would have fallen to the ground if Officer Hiroki
Hida not raced forward to catch and steady his shaken son. In the moment of
shock and confusion Kenny turned and fled out from under the canopy and into the
rainy cemetery, ignoring his parents shocked demands to the contrary. Cody,
though apparently unhurt in his father's arms, scowled at the indignity done to
him. Then suddenly his eyes swelled with tears, his small face puckered, and low
sobs became wails. He was just suddenly frightened after the fact. As
Hiroki tried to comfort Cody he had no time to stop Yolei from starting
after the Ichijouji boy the instant she knew that Kenny had made Cody cry.

It was Yolei's turn to be angry. Ooh! Just wait until she found this kid! She
was going to pound him, but good. She had been nice, even when he had been rude
and turned down ice cream. But nobody, ABSOLUTELY NOBODY pushed her Cody around
EVER! Nothing would stop her, not the rain on her glasses, not the graves around
her, nothing. All she had to do was find the creep. All she --. Yolei stopped
suddenly because she could hear sobs coming from a place she had just passed.
She followed the sound until she found Kenny crouched behind one of the larger
headstones a few yards back. He was in tears himself, anger had carried him as
long as it could for today. He was dismayed by what he had just done, and at
what he felt he was becoming. Yolei glared at him, "Alright you. Stand up
so I can knock you flat and see how you like it." To her surprise he stood
up right away and submitted to her, but he could not stop crying.

He sobbed, "Well, go ahead. I deserve it. I deserve worse. It's my
fault."

Yolei reared back and ... nothing. She couldn't hit this crying little boy.

She sighed, "Look, I know you pushed Cody, but he's OK really, so I'm
not ..."

"But it's not just that!" the boy confessed. "I ... I ...
killed my brother ... I KILLED SAM!"

"Huh? No you didn't! Mr. Hida knows what happened. He told me it was a
car accident."

Kenny insisted, "But I wished for it to happen! We had a fight and I
wished he would go away, and now he's gone FOREVER!" When it became clear
that she wasn't going to hit him. Kenny just crumpled up on the ground before
her and cried even harder than before.

Even the sympathetic little Yolei couldn't cope with that. She knew what to
do when she couldn't cope with something. She stepped out from behind the stone
and yelled for the adults who were already on their way. "He's over here!
You better come get him!" She decided to add for good measure, "I
didn't touch him! Honest!"

A few minutes later, Kenny sat wrapped in a blanket from someone's trunk as
his parents talked quietly to him. There would be time for some discipline
later, but not now. Hiroki Hida had given Yolei his jacket, but she was alright,
and back to guarding the still scowling Cody. The officer finally did make the
farewells to the adult Ichijoujis, who apologized profusely for their son's
behavior. Hiroki told them no harm was done, and the day had been hard enough on
Kenny. With that, the officer took Cody up again and let Yolei hold the umbrella
as they headed back to the car.

"Mr. Hida," Yolei said quietly, "I'm sorry if I finally did
manage to embarrass you back there."

"No worries Yolei." Hiroki told her, "I'm thankful that you feel
protective of Cody, but I'm even more thankful you decided not to hurt Kenny
back there."

"Thankful enough to still get us ice cream cones?" the girl asked.
"I think it would help Cody feel better."

"Yes." Hiroki agreed. "You need time to dry off anyway. I
think the last part of our visit here is something we should keep to
ourselves." The girl nodded.

She looked back once more at the sad figure of Kenny Ichijouji. "I wish
he had just come with us to get ice cream."

Hiroki comforted her. "I know you do Yolei. He just isn't ready for your
help. Maybe later, who knows when you might see him again."

The spirited girl sighed and shook off the sadness. "Hey Cody, we get
ice cream cones! What flavor are you going to get?"

The small boy had resumed his usual placid appearance. He thought for a
moment from his perch on his daddy's arm. Finally he stated "Vanilla."

"Oh Cody." Yolei groaned. "You always get vanilla."

Cody simply said again, "Vanilla." He quietly emphasized the choice
with an exasperated sigh.

"Sometimes you're too old for me Cody Hida." Yolei retorted. That
made Hiroki Hida laugh. He got them all into the car and they drove away to make
this into one of the happier early days that fate allowed
them.