Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Faith in Darkness ❯ A Night on the Town ( Chapter 3 )

"Takuya, I swear, your fashion sense is horrible!" Izumi huffed softly as she pushed the teen into the clothing store.

"Well excuse me! I happen to like how I dress, thank you!" Takuya protested and gave a grimace at the slightly shorter Tomoki as the younger child laughed at the pair. "Hey buddy, how about lending me a hand?"

"No way." Tomoki continued giving that cheesy grin at his friend as he watched Izumi start picking up jackets and holding them up to him for measuring. "Besides, I got some nice clothes out of this."

The former Legendary Warrior of Fire frowned, making a soft noise of annoyance as his arms were pulled away from his body by the forceful girl and held out straight. "Traitor…"

Izumi held a dark reddish jacket up to the boy, making him stand still unless she moved him herself. "Oh quit complaining. Tomorrow I help Alice pick out something nice, and Junpei and Kouichi didn't complain at all when I took them out to find some nice things to wear yesterday."

"You could ask Junpei to jump into a data stream, and I doubt he would argue. And why haven't you tormented Kouji yet then? Why is he special?"

"Kouji showed me what he was wearing when I asked him to come. It seems like he was the only one who was ready for a night of karaoke and clubbing." Feeling Takuya's arms try and droop to his sides, Izumi gave a forceful tug to straight them out again, checking out the jacket's sleeve length before setting it aside.

"It's not so bad, Onii-chan. After all, my outfit is going to look really nice." Setting his bag down, Tomoki pulled the dark green jacket Izumi had gotten him, sliding it on over his blue shirt as he stretched his arms around a little. "And it fits perfectly!"

"Besides, it's not like you're paying for anything…" Izumi said with a hint of annoyance as she slipped behind Takuya, holding a dark red shirt with flame patterns on it and tried to compare it to her subject. "So why not just deal with it? I could always decide to do a complete makeover on you, you know…"

"Problem, me?! Nah, time of my life here!" Takuya quickly forced the words out, giving a loud and very obvious laugh as Izumi winked over the boy's shoulder. "But could we at least try and eat soon, I am getting a little hungry."

"Sure, once you've changed." Appearing back in front of the goggle-headed boy, Izumi shoved and shirt and jacket into his arms with a pair of matching black pants. "Go try them on and let us see what you look like, then I'll treat you guys to lunch."

Tomoki laughed again as Takuya rushed into the changing room, the prospect of food obvious driving the boy to try and end his torment quickly. Sliding the jacket back into his bag, he looked over to the blonde girl as she started looking through a case of different hair accessories.

"Hey, Izumi?" The girl gave a small noise to indicate she heard, although she didn't turn away from the case. "Why are we dressing up for this, anyway? We've never dressed up to go out together before."

"Because this will be Kouichi and Alice's first time out together. We need to try and make it as special as possible, otherwise Cupid might need more of our help, you know?" Looking to the small stands on top of the glass case, Izumi started sifting through the necklaces.

"Cupid? But I thought Kouichi said he just wanted to help her try and not be so lonely?" Tomoki said, sounding a little confused as he watched the girl browse.

"Well he does. But Kouji has already been a little obvious in showing he is trying to find a way to hook them up though. And I think Takuya and Junpei might be planning things as well now." Izumi gave a soft sigh, shaking her head. "And boys have no talent for matchmaking, trust me."

"Hook up? So that's why everyone has been talking about them so much, their trying to get them to be boy and girlfriend?"

"Bingo!" Izumi said, pulling a small charm from the mesh of items, showing it to the younger boy. From her hand hung a small charm with a little white bear painted onto it. "So I need to try and make sure the night run smoothly, so they can get a chance to get to know one another and let things grow, without those three doing something to mess everything up. What do you think about this, anyway?"

"I like it!" Tomoki grinned since he realized how similar the charm was to Chakmon. "Do you need me to do anything, Izumi? I'll try and help, if I can. Alice seems really nice, and her mom is a GREAT cook!"

Izumi grinned as she set the charm aside on the counter, so she could remember it buy it. "Actually, I could. You can…"

The pair paused as the doors to the dressing room opened, revealing the changed Takuya. The flames on the shirt were almost a dark orange on the crimson shade, rising from the bottom of it, while the jacket seemed to match the shirt's main color perfectly. The pants fit into the scheme as well, while the former Legendary Warrior had a pair of nicely matching sunglasses on as well that he hadn't walked in with, in place of his goggles.

"Alright, it fits. Can we please get something to eat now?"

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Faith in Darkness

Entry 3 ~ "A night on the town!"

Written by Rocker Starlight

A/N ~ To fix something I had forgotten to change in the Author notes of chapter one, Lady Iap is no longer the ONLY female in the Diaries group. Heh Actually, between Akino, the second lady of Diaries, joining our motley crew, as well as Shasta and Skyla both being apparent partial fans and more, we seem to have gotten more females around us then we know what to do with. ^_^;;

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"This would be perfect!"

Izumi grinned brightly as she held up a deep blue dress, a simple design with two shoulder straps. Looking behind herself, Alice stood in her normal black dress with white trims, the small cross hanging from her neck standing out as she looked around the store. The former Warrior of Wind would almost swear that the other blonde didn't know what to do, although the blank expression hid whether or not she was right.

Turning with her new hope for a dress over her arm, she slipped up next to Alice and looked over her shoulder as the dress she had been staring at for almost fifteen minutes straight. The dress looked way too similar to what the gothic girl was wearing already for Izumi's tastes, making her sigh softly.

"No, that's just like what you wear all the time." Izumi protested, wrinkling her nose as she pinched the hanging dress' sleeve.

"What is wrong with what I am wearing?" Alice asked in that almost unchanging tone.

"Nothing, you look very nice. But for something like this, we need something special. And we girls need to look our best, you know."

Izumi winked as she moved the dress to another rack, ignoring Alice's gaze following it for a moment as the former Legendary Warrior began rummaging through the other black dresses.

"This looks nice." Pulling a dress with a single shoulder strap and a small dragon design sown into it, winding around the fabric as it if were hugging the body, Izumi smiled brightly. She turned and held it up to her new friend, finding herself correct at it appearing to be the right size from a quick check. "How about trying this on, while I try on my own?"

Alice simply nodded, taking the dress and walking into a dressing room without a word. Shrugging to herself at the lack of words, Izumi did the same, slowly slipping from her school uniform in the small room.

"Next time, I think about bringing a change of clothes to school, when I am shopping right afterward." Izumi muttered to herself, giving her bra a minor adjustment before pulling the hanger from the dress and sliding it over her head. After wiggling it down and straightening it out, she examined herself in the mirror some, ignoring her bra showing.

"Hey Alice, mind giving me an opinion?" Izumi called out, peeking out of the dressing room to find the other girl already waiting outside. As always with Izumi's picks for people, the dress was a perfect fit, showing the gothic girl's figure nicely. She had even taken her bra off before she slipped it on, with no straps showing.

Slipping from the room, Izumi held her hips as she did a small spin. "How does this look? Be honest, because I'm not sure if it is nice or not."

Alice watched the spinning girl for a moment, before speaking out simply. "It makes your hips look wide."

Blinking at the blunt response, Izumi moved to a mirror between the stalls, seeing what Alice meant. "So it does… Dang it, it's so easy picking things out for everyone else, but it takes me forever for myself…"

Izumi slipped back into the dressing room, quickly reemerging in her school fuku as she hung the dress back up. Just as she started looking for another, she noticed Alice still standing in hers, the quiet girl simply watching her, not having moved really.

"Alice… You can go change back into your normal dress. After I find one for me, we'll grab some accessories, then work on things like stockings and shoes."

Alice nodded, slipping back into the dressing room. She reemerged with her normal dress on again, the dragon one folded neatly over her arms as she moved next to Izumi. After a few moments, her hand reached past where Izumi was still looking, plucking a purple dress from the rack. Small flower petal patterns covering the fabric and it only had a single shoulder strap, the same as Alice's except for being on the opposite shoulder.

'This one." Alice said simply, as she held the purple dress out.

Izumi blinked again in surprise. She did agree the dress looked very nice, but Alice's actions were the confusing part. 'Maybe she is finally opening up some, like Kouichi wanted.' Smiling gently, she took the dress, slipping past a couple other women before she made it into the dressing room.

Walking back out, this time with her bra on underneath, Izumi posed the new dress for the other girl. "Good choice, Alice. How does it look?" She ran her hands over the soft fabric of the dress, definitely liking the flower patterns sewn into it as she felt them under her fingers.

Alice watched the girl turning again, giving a small nod. "It flatters you well."

Grinning, Izumi nodded. "Alright. Next is shoe shopping!" She gave a small cheer and jump, making a couple people look at her oddly, while Alice simply watched her silently.

Quickly changing back, Izumi took the two dresses up and set them on the counter as the line slowly dwindled. With only one person left ahead of her, she looked back, seeing Alice looking at one of the charms where the former Legendary Warrior has found small charms for each of her friends and herself. Leaning her head over, the charm's face held a dog picture on it, looking something like a Doberman, she thought. As Alice turned the charm, the kanji for loyalty was drawn onto the back of it.

"Dog lover?" Izumi asked. Alice's hand immediately released the charm as she turned to the slightly taller girl with that neutral expression. "What, it's alright. I prefer cats myself, but liking dogs isn't a crime you know."

"It is not that." Alice spoke softly. Izumi almost thought she heard some emotional tone in the voice, but with the way the other girl spoke, it was hard to tell for certain. "It… reminded me of someone I lost long ago. That is all."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back anything painful." Izumi fidgeted a little, picking the dresses up as they moved to the counter so the clerk could begin ringing them up.

"It is fine. It is in the past."

Izumi watched the girl a moment, pulling the charge card her mother had given her out of her school bag and handing it to the clerk as she watched Alice give a passing glance back at the charms rack again. Sliding the card back into the small pocket of her bad, Izumi took the bag the dresses were put in, walking out of the store with her friend.

"Alright, now onto shoes…" Izumi blinked as her stomach gave a rather loud rumble, trying to remind the girl she hadn't eaten as much for lunch today, in her attempt to make sure the shopping plans went well. "Umm… Maybe food first, then shoes?" She amended, giving a slightly embarrassed laugh.

"Food is fine." Alice said, not seeming phased at the change as she followed Izumi towards the food court.

After acquiring a couple meals from MacRonalds, Izumi lead the way to one of the smaller booths, slipping in opposite the quiet girl as she started to munch on her food. She watched, noticing the precise way Alice was eating, taking her time with each bit but not seeming slow about it however.

"So Alice… Where did you transfer from anyway?"

Alice continued munching on one of her fries for a moment before she answered. "I went to school in Kyoto before I left there."

Izumi watched the girl for a moment, waiting as she expected a little more. Once she realized no answer was coming, she gave a small nod. "So, any guys you like back in Kyoto then? Any past boyfriends?"

Alice's hand paused on the fries for a moment as the question came out, making Izumi worry if she had hit a bad nerve again on accidentally, before her movements continued again. "One… But he had to go away, to make sure everyone back home would be ok…"

Izumi frowned slightly at the comment. "Had to go away? What, did he think leaving would make everyone happy or something? Boys, I swear sometimes…"

"He sacrificed himself."

That made the former Warrior of Wind pause as she heard the comment, blinking for a moment. "Sacrificed?"

"Yes. He did it to make sure everyone would survive, when they were in danger."

Izumi was more then a little caught off by the simple way she was explaining this. If this had all happened to her, she didn't think she could be so cool about explaining how a boy she liked got killed saving other people. The thought in itself was a little depressing remembering some of the digimon who had let themselves be deleted and turned into digitama or worse simply deleted, just to help her and her friends back in the Digital World.

"Izumi?"

The older girl blinked as Alice said her name, giving a nervous laugh. "Sorry. It would be hard to explain, but I can sympathize in a way. My mind just went into la la land for a second is all."

As the Gothic girl nodded, the pair resumed eating in silence, finishing the meal before too long. While Alice simply watched around the food court, observing the people, Izumi's mind couldn't seem to stop rewinding back and remembering some of the friends and other digimon from the Digital World that had given everything to help protect 'The Legendary Warriors".

"Come on. We should get back to shopping, so you don't get home too late." Izumi said softly, watching the other blonde nod in agreement. The pair slipped from the booth, throwing their trash away. Izumi almost didn't even think about it as she turned and ran right into someone's chest.

"Hey, watch where you're… Hey, it's you!" Izumi looked up at the slightly taller boy, rubbing her nose as his attention went immediately to Alice. "I knew you couldn't stay away, babe."

"Babe? You're the one standing in the way…" Izumi muttered softly, glaring up at the boy. She thought she recognized him from school, but the slicked back hair and ragtag clothing just made him look like some bad greaser with a kendo stick strapped to his back.

"You ran into me, toots. So why not bug off, this babe and I have things to discuss, since she got me embarrassed the other day."

Izumi's frowned deepened from the words, especially when he took a hold of Alice's arm and tried to pull her away. Planning to give the neanderthal a piece of her mind, she stepped forward again, opening her mouth to start the verbal beating.

"Why not just let her go and move on, Tachi?"

Izumi paused with the idiot boy and Alice, all looking over to Kouji, leaning against one of the pillars from the ceiling. Wearing his normal blue clothing, including the bandana over his hair, the Warrior of Light frowned as he watched the kendo student that Izumi recognized as the one Kouichi and Takuya mentioned when they first met Alice.

"And what are ya gonna do if I don't, Minamoto? If you leave me be, you can have the airhead with her, but I need to have a talk with this one about who she's dealing with."

"Oh, I don't think you'll be talking for a good couple of hours." Kouji smirked, pointing behind the kendo club member.

Tachi turned his head, just in time to see one of the plastic food trays slamming into his head.

As the older boy collapsed to the ground unconscious, Izumi panted softly, still feeling a bit of the anger from the comment as she tossed the cracked tray onto his chest. "Come on Alice, let's get back to shopping." Pushing the shorter girl to start towards Kouji, Izumi heard a groan of pain as she made sure her foot landed somewhere tender on the prone boy before walking along.

Kouji gave a wince at the foot, getting in step with the girls as they moved back towards the normal stores. "Was that last part necessary? I expected the tray, but the foot seemed a bit excessive."

"Junpei said someone should teach him a lesson. Well maybe singing in a higher key for a day will remind him to leave girls who aren't interested alone."

Kouji smirked again, slipping his hands into his pants pockets. "Yea, as well as the lesson every other boy in our school learned from you, never say something stupid within your reach."

Izumi shrugged at the comment. "Not my fault if some of our schoolmates can't understand when to shut up, or when to keep their hands to themselves."

"Yea, whatever. So Alice, I hope Izumi here isn't boring you to death with her shopping?"

Alice turned her head, regarding the boy for a moment before she spoke. "Boring me? I was unaware this activity was meant to be something that would lack in interest."

Kouji laughed softly at the unique response. "Yea, well Takuya would argue with that. He was complaining earlier about being 'dragged' here by Izumi and Tomoki."

Izumi rolled her eyes. "I find the perfect outfit for him to go to the Karaoke club in, buy it and food for him, and he still complains. If it's not food or a girl posing, he always has something to gripe about…"

"Yea, well I wouldn't worry. He was also bragging about how he's going to put the rest of us to shame with the outfit that you got for him. So obviously he must at least like that much."

"What can I say, it's a talent." Izumi said proudly as she led the way into the shoe store, sitting Alice down. She slipped away from the pair for a moment, talking to a clerk of the fairly fancy store, a girl with long black hair that was rather happy to see Izumi.

"Well, I take it your enjoying yourself then?" Kouji asked as he watched his friend walk off, leaning onto the back of one of the other chairs.

Alice looked back to him for a moment, sitting with her hands resting in her lap. "It is not repugnant, which your friend seems to think."

"Yea, well Takuya is special. As Izumi said, 'if he can't eat it and it's not female, he finds something to complain about'. Puberty with that one has been more of a chore then just something that happens."

Kouji watched the gothic girl as he waited with her. It only took another minute before Izumi came back with a couple boxes. "Perfecto, got them! Here, try them on Alice." She handed one of the boxes to the other girl, as she took a seat and moved to do the same.

Alice pulled the black shoes, not pausing at the slight curve and heel to them as she slide her own shoes off and put the new pair on. As with the dress, they seemed to be a perfect fit.

"I thought I was right about your size. And Tomoyo-san is wonderful about finding matching items quickly." Izumi smiled as she slid her own shoes on, admiring them for a moment, before putting them in the box again. "Especially since the clothing store we went into first was hers. It makes it that much easier."

Kouji blinked for a moment, looking up at the girl who didn't seem like she could be too much older then the three of them. "You mean she owns that clothing store you always go to AND this place?"

"Well, actually her mother does. But Tomoyo-san comes down and helps out a lot since her designs are what inspired her mother to open them. Apparently when she was younger, she tested a lot of her first designs on an old friend of hers, and included the friend's boyfriend as well, until her mother took an interest and decided to open the stores."

Kouji nodded, watching the black haired girl helping someone else, a kind smile never leaving her face as she seemed to be discussing what the customer wanted.

"I take it then, she is why you shop here all the time?" Kouji asked, as he looked back to the girls as they walked to the counter for a young boy to ring them up.

Izumi nodded as she handed her credit card to the young man. "Precisely. Her clothing line is exquisite. I've been shopping here for a year now, and I've never left the store without something I wanted. I even bring mom in, when she needs something nice and formal for business meetings."

"Yes, Izumi-san is one of my favorite customers."

The trio turned around to the sweet face of the young girl herself, wearing a black jacket over the dark blue dress she had been wearing.

Izumi smiled as she took back her card and picked up the bags with the shoes inside them. "Tomoyo-san, these are two of my friends. Kouji Minamoto is one of the ones I have told you about before, and Alice McCoy is the girl I told you about when I mentioned coming dress shopping last Monday."

"A pleasure to meet you both." Tomoyo smiled as she bowed politely to the pair. "I hope you enjoy the dress, the dragon design is one of my favorites."

Alice bowed back in return. "I am sure I will."

Tomoyo nodded again, still smiling sweetly. "I do hope so. I wish I could get to know you both more, but I must be going. My mother is expecting me for dinner plans. Perhaps another time?" The trio nodded, as the young designer bowed again and slipped away with her farewells.

"She's ladylike. Wonder why she's friends with you, Izumi." Kouji smiled as he dodged the playful swing the girl made with one of her bags.

"You know, a gentleman would offer to carry our bags for us…" Izumi gave a mischievous smile as she slowly started to close in on her friend.

"I don't thi…" Kouji turned to try and run, finding Alice standing directly in the middle of his escape route. Wondering for a moment how she got there without him noticing her, he felt Izumi sliding the bags onto his arms, blinking in surprise.

"I'm sure Kouichi and your parents would be proud knowing what a gentleman you are, Kouji. Now come on, we only have the base for our outfits, now we accessorize!"

Kouji gave a small sigh of defeat, deciding the embarrassment of trying to escape his friend's clutches would be worse then dealing with it. Giving a small heft of the light bags, he held a silent hope that maybe they wouldn't need too much more as he followed the blonde pair back into the main part of the mall.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"I'm really starting to feel nervous about this…" Kouichi muttered to himself. Tugging on the collar of his Chinese style jacket, he looked around at everyone waiting outside the club with him.

With the stylish dark green jacket over a lighter green shirt, Tomoki spoke with Junpei near the door. With his hair in a haphazard spike, similar to Takuya's, as well as a pair of goggles very like the former Warrior of Fire's, the youngest member of their group was almost like a miniature version of the leader.

Junpei, however, was much more collected. The larger boy was in a very nice suit, almost something Kouichi would think would be good for a formal evening. The clothing was a very dark blue shade, enough he had thought it was black when he first saw it. With the collar slightly undone right at the top, the oldest of the group leaned against the wall of the club, trying to be patient.

"You know, for her pushing so much to come here, you would think Izumi would be on time…" Takuya grumbled. Having the shades he had replaced his goggles with for the night sitting on his forehead, Takuya showed the obvious state of Izumi's involvement in the clothing department. With the stylish crimson jacket on over the flame shirt, the former leader was obviously more then a little impatient to be getting inside from his pacing.

"It's Izumi. She's probably planning on making her and Alice fashionably late." Kouji added from his seat on the bench in front of the club. Although without the help of Izumi as the rest of them had been given, he still fit perfectly with everyone else. Ironically, Kouichi's twin had a very similar outfit to Takuya, save with a blue color scheme. With a headband style bandana holding his hair back, as well as a small band keeping it in a ponytail, the last noticeable difference were the small, lighter blue waves on the shirt instead of fire like on Takuya's.

"Can't she be fashionably early for once?" Takuya grumbled, crossing his arms as he smiled to a couple girls walking into the club. "I'm getting tired of waiting to go in…"

Sighing softly, Kouichi partly agreed with the spiky haired boy. While normally he didn't mind waiting on Izumi, the fact that she was coming with Alice had the boy's stomach twisting in knots. Straightening the black Japanese suit that Izumi had picket out for him, with two silver dragon outlines winding around the arms, the twin still wasn't sure why he had gotten something so different picked out compared to everyone else. It reminded him of something he had seen on an anime once. Ramna one half, he thought it was called.

"Ya might as well TRY and be patient, Taky. I mean, Izumi will get here when she wants. Not much we can do otherwise, you know?" Junpei offered, shrugging slightly.

"Thank you, Jun-kun. At least some of them understand what patience is, right Alice?"

Hearing the final member of the group's voice, Kouichi felt relief that his waiting was finally over. However when he turned to face the pair, the butterflies in the pit of his belly returned with friends.

Izumi wore the purple colored dress she had bought the other day, what looked like sakura patterns stitched into the fabric. With her left shoulder uncovered, save for the strap of her purse, the dress flowed out past her hips enough to allow her legs a good amount of room, especially with the slits working up the sides of the dress from the bottom. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, two chopsticks piercing the ball of hair to hold it in place, and her face showed a moderate amount of makeup on, something Izumi rarely did.

Even more shocking to the former Warrior of Darkness was the girl next to her. With a black dress covering her body, similar to Izumi's save the shoulder strap being over her left and the dragon outline wrapping around her body, Alice was obviously not used to what she was wearing. One hand was reaching up to the cross around her neck, rubbing it nervously, while her other arm held her purse tightly. Her hair was even done differently, two noticeable parts of her bangs hanging down each side of her face, and the rest of her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with her black ribbons. The obvious emotions she was showing were definitely a surprising reaction for the evening.

"Well, are you all going to just stand around gawking? Let's go in!" Izumi's honey sweet smile flashed over them all as she led Alice to the door and paid the entrance fee for everyone. The boys quickly followed in, wiping the surprised looks on their faces away.

Inside was a new matter all together. It was obvious the club had already been doing well since it's opening, judging by the large crowd mulling around. To the left of the entrance looked almost like a restaurant, with tables full of other kids their age eating meals and drinks. It even included a bar on the far wall with stools, making it almost seem like a real bar instead of the teen karaoke club that it was.

The path that led from the door went to a coat check counter, right next to the large dance floor that held the majority of the people in the club on it's floor. Various lights flashed over the people and floor's surface, giving it a surreal appearance as the crowd moved together. Where everyone could see between the tables and dance floor, was a long stage, currently holding a boy and girl singing a popular song together, huge speakers stood on each side of the stage, which played the music and carried their voices as well.

"Wow…" Kouichi said, a little stunned from his first club experience as his eyes moved from person to person, much as the rest of his friends were.

"What?!" Takuya called back, his glasses sliding over his eyes for a moment before he put them back on his forehead. "Can't hear ya!"

"I said wow!" Kouichi repeated.

"Still can't hear ya!" Takuya called back, walking in anyway as he led the group to one of empty tables.

As everyone took his or her seat, Kouichi once again noticed the unease Alice was showing. Sitting between himself and Izumi, the girl was clutching her cross even tighter, her face almost hiding her nervousness as she looked around the crowd and flowed around them.

"Alice?"

The girl almost jumped as Kouichi spoke to her, blinking for a moment before her neutral expression returned. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?" Kouichi tilted his head slightly.

"I am fine, Kouichi." Alice quickly turned back to the table, picking up the menus that had already been placed on the table and opening it up.

Feeling a nudge in his side, Kouichi looked away from Alice for a moment, watching his brother making a motion with his hands towards the girl on his right. When Kouji seemed to realize his brother didn't understand what he was trying to say, he picked up his menu, motioning him closer.

"Look, don't let her hole herself up. Keep talking, try and find a common interest." Kouji whispered to his brother, using the menu to hide it by acting like he was pointing something out.

Shaking his head slightly at the idea it seemed his brother was pushing to see, Kouichi watched as everyone else already had their menu's in hand and were discussing what to get. Izumi was keeping Alice talking, pointing out things she was recommending to the gothic girl, as Kouichi finally lifted his own menu.

"I think I'll go with the coney dog and fries." Takuya announced, slapping his menu onto the table.

Tomoki was the next with his menu down, grinning brightly. "Hamburger for me!"

"I'm with him, nice hamburger and fries." Junpei added.

"I think I'll wait…" Kouji finally spoke up. "I ate a little at home before I came, so I'll give it awhile before I order something."

Izumi seemed to have the same idea, already having her menu folded up on the table, as well as Alice. Kouichi took a minute, deciding to just get some fries as he laid his own menu down and looked around the table.

"Alright, I'll go make the order for us." Junpei said as he stood. "Anyone wanna come with me to help carry the food?"

Takuya grinned as he pointed to the more nervous of the twins, making Kouichi blink. "I think Kouichi can."

Frowning for just a second, Kouichi just sighed and nodded as he stood. "Does anyone else want anything then?"

Izumi tapped her lips softly for a moment. ""Just get us a couple ice waters for now, ok Kouichi?"

The blue haired teen nodded, pushing his chair in and following Junpei to the counter where the older boy ordered. Taking a seat with his back to the bar, Kouichi watched the people on the dance floor, occasionally looking back at his table.

"So what's your plan?"

Kouichi blinked, turning back to Junpei as he spoke. "Plan?"

"Yea. What's your plan? I mean, you were able to get her out with us, so now what? I think you could get her on the dance floor easily enough."

Kouichi blinked and flushed slightly, glad for the darkness in the club right now. "Wha… Why would I have some plan? I asked her with us to help her try and open up. You make it sound like this is a date."

"Well isn't it?" Kouichi made an exasperated noise as he saw that grin on the older boy's face, a little too similar to his brother's face lately. "I mean, all the effort to get her to go out with us all, everyone dressing up for a new karaoke club?"

"Well it's not!" Kouichi said quickly, his cheeks even darker as he listened. "I think everyone has been reading way too much into this, personally."

"Whatever you said, Kouichi. But if you want my opinion…"

"Which you'll give me whether I asked or not…"

Junpei grinned brightly. "I think your not reading enough into it. Now I'm not saying start analyzing every little thing, but sometimes you do need to try and notice the little things too."

Kouichi gave a small nod as he listened, watching the waters being sat down next to the tray of food. "We'll see…" He commented, turning to take the girl's drinks back to the table as Junpei followed with the tray of food.

The former Legendary Warrior of Darkness kept quiet for a bit, watching as his friends went into their normal discussions. Takuya complaining about his teachers some more, while Junpei talked about a new recipe his parents were trying out, gotten from a friend across seas. Tomoki and Kouji talked back and forth, although they were keeping the conversation too low for him to hear what they were talking about.

"So Kouichi…" Izumi perked up, catching the teen's attention. "Kouji tell you we ran into Tachi the other day?"

Kouichi blinked from the odd subject choice, although a bit concerned considering everything he had been hearing about the kendo member lately. "Is everyone alright?"

"We're fine," Kouji added in as he joined the conversation. "But I don't think Tachi's going to look at Izumi without running now."

Izumi gave a victory sign. "Let's just say, 'he's singing a different tune'."

Apparently the rest of the table heard the comment as well, joining in on the laughing. Kouichi shook his head slightly, having a little trouble believing it had happened, although he certainly believed Izumi WOULD do it. And considering how Tachi acted all the time, he had probably brought it on himself as well.

As everyone with food finally finished their meals up, Kouichi looked over, noticing Takuya looking towards the dance floor some. While everyone else was in casual conversations again, the wild haired teen seemed to be very focused on something, which was unusual to find.

"Takuya!" Kouichi tried to get the teen's attention unsuccessfully. "Hey Takuya!"

After an elbow in the side from Junpei brought the teen back, Takuya gave his completely clueless look as he looked at everyone around the table. "What?"

"Ok, this isn't class, so you shouldn't be having nap time. So what were you staring at?" Kouji spoke up first, leaning on the table some.

"What, staring?" Takuya's grin gave him away, obviously having something in mind. "I wasn't staring! Why would I be staring, huh?"

"Right…" The table of friends collectively said, rather used to Takuya's habits.

It wasn't much longer before the table finally started thinning. Izumi decided she was in a mood to dance some, making Junpei and Takuya blink as she snagged Tomoki to join her on the floor. Takuya, not on to leave opportunity at the door, walked to the bar, finding the girls who had smiled at him when they walked in and started up a conversation.

"Hey Junpei?" Kouji asked as he stood up. "See those kids over there? Don't they look familiar?"

Junpei blinked for a moment, looking in the direction Kouji indicated before smiling. "Yea they do." The larger boy stood up as well. "If you two will excuse us, we'll be right back." Before Alice or Kouichi could respond, the pair were off towards another table, leaving the two alone for the first time tonight.

Suddenly, the butterflies seemed to be back with a vengeance, wondering how the table had emptied so quickly. Looking over to the blonde girl with him, she had stopped her nervous movements once she had her water, holding the cup with both hands and taking small drinks of it. Even now, she still had a little under half of her water left.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Kouichi asked the girl, deciding to just try and start a conversation like he had the other day.

Alice took a moment before she answered, taking another sip of her water. "It is… crowded. Very loud as well."

"Yea, I know… I didn't think it would be this packed, when Izumi talked about it. Sorry if your not enjoying yourself though."

"I did not say that…" Alice almost spoke too softly for the teen to hear, giving a glance around the crowd for a moment. "So many people in such a small area is very different then I am used to, is all."

Kouichi nodded a little, glancing at his brother and Junpei talking to the table of kids. He had to admit, the four of them looked remarkably familiar, but he couldn't seem to place them from this distance. Giving his head a small shake, he gave himself a small yell for distracting himself like that.

"You said you're not used to so many people around you, right?" Kouichi looked back to the gothic girl, watching her nod slowly. "Well, the best way to get over problems like that, is to dive right in. At least Takuya always says it is. While not the most reliable on advice normally, he does have a point though for this situation."

"But, we are already within the crowd, are we not?" Alice asked, the advice apparently catching her attention as she turned towards Kouichi.

"Well, there is one place it is more crowded…" Kouichi pointed towards the dance floor.

Alice turned her head and looked, giving a small nod. "You wish to join Izumi and Tomoki in dancing?"

"Well… Would you like to dance?" Kouichi asked simply, one of his hands underneath the table and fidgeting with the bottom of his jacket nervously.

"That would be acceptable." The blonde girl nodded again, turning back to Kouichi as she turned in her seat.

Giving a mental sigh of relief, Kouichi smiled softly as he stood up. He offered his hand, which Alice accepted, as he helped her stand, letting go slowly and with a faint blush as he led the way to the dance floor.

As they slipped into the crowd, Kouichi still had a gentle smile on his face as he and Alice started dancing to the current song. He started getting into the swing of the tune, trying not to bump into anyone. As he watched Alice, she closed her eyes and simply started swaying with the music, seeming as if she were forgetting the crowd around her as she let the music move her body.

'She really is cute though...' Kouichi admitted to himself mentally, watching the girl dance close to him, due to the volume of people on the dance floor. Ignoring the other people, he started to settle into the music, enjoying having helped Alice progress this far at the least.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"That was great!" Izumi yelled as the six teens walked out of the club finally.

Takuya grinned, sliding his new sunglasses into an inside pocket of the jacket. "Hate to admit it, but it was alot of fun. Even got a couple numbers while I was here."

Kouji rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the wild haired boy. "I swear, we're going to have to muzzle you or something."

"Maybe neutering? I heard it works wonders with puppies." Junpei added.

"Hey!" Takuya called out as he started chasing the pair, with Tomoki following and laughing.

Kouichi laughed softly as he walked with Izumi and Alice towards the curb, to wait for the cab Izumi had called to pick them up. While Izumi seemed preoccupied in calling out encouragement to the four, just making them worse then they started, Alice simply stood at the street's edge waiting silently. The blue haired boy could tell her nervousness of the crowds was finally gone, now that they were leaving.

"Kouichi?"

Turning to Izumi as she spoke, Kouichi saw three taxis coming down the road, making the teen wonder if someone else had called for one. "Yes, Izumi?"

Izumi did her best pouty eyes impression as she looked up at her friend. "Could you escort Alice home? She's out of the way for everyone else, and I don't want her going home alone..."

Kouichi's cheeks flushed a little, wishing she wouldn't make that face while asking. It's not like he would let her go alone anyway, so it just made it that much more obvious. "It's no problem. I'll make sure she gets there safe."

Izumi stood up on her toes for a second, brushing a kiss on Kouichi's cheek, making his blush darker then ever. "Always the gentleman. I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Good night, Alice. I hope you had fun." She said the last with a wave around Kouichi as she turned and yelled at the other boys, trying to get them to the cabs as they pulled up to the curb.

Kouichi watched the others get into two of the cabs, leaving the last one for himself and Alice. As he opened the door for the girl, he wondered if Izumi was trying to instigate things like the others had been, although once he was in the cab himself he pushed the thought aside for the time being.

After giving the driver the directions, Kouichi settled back against the seat, glad to finally have a cushioned seat. His body was already feeling a bit sore from all the dancing he had done. Despite the aches and pains though, he didn't seem to mind. He had gotten a little more conversation in with Alice, but they had spent the majority of the time on the dance floor.

"Thank you." Alice spoke up softly, still staring through the plastic of the divider and the front window.

Kouichi turned his head to the girl, a little surprised. "Thank you? For what?"

Alice took a moment before she turned her head towards him. "For inviting me along. It was a very pleasurable evening."

The former Legendary Warrior smiled and nodded. "No need to thank me, we were all glad to have you with us. Your welcome to join us again, if you like."

"I would like that." The gothic girl said simply, before turning back towards the road.

Nodding to himself, Kouichi leaned back against the seat, trying to let his body get some rest before he got home. Feeling something touch his shoulder, he looked over and saw Alice's head on his shoulder. Realizing the girl had worn herself out too much, he shifted to put his arm around her, not wanting her to get cold as the taxi grove them home.

*************

Rocker ~ *sighs softly* Ok, good. Done. Well, not quite...

Flora ~ *giggles* Couldn't end it how you wanted with this chapter, huh?

Rocker ~ No... But if I am lucky, I can wrap it up with only one, maybe two, more chapters.

ToyAgu ~ *wakes up* Huh, cake?

Rocker ~ *groans* I swear, do you pay attention to anything I write if it isn't a lemon or something involving Diaries work?

ToyAgu ~ Cheese... *falls back down and goes to sleep again*

Rocker ~ *twitches and sighs*

Witchie ~ *giggles* Can't expect to teach any digimon new tricks easy, now can you Rocker-kun. Anyway, Alice is finally starting to open up a little to the former Legendary Warriors. But when Kouichi finally starts to realize his urge to help her open up might be a little more, can he find out if she feels the same back? You'll have to wait until next time, in the next chapter of Faith in Darkness!