Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Izumi no Hikari ❯ Prey of Passion ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Izumi no Hikari
Chapter 4: Prey of Passion
by Wannabe Koushiro

A/N: Nothing lemony, but maybe a bit limey. :) Hehe...I'm not exactly sure what
masturbation is considered...anyway, I just ruined it for you. Besides, it's
not really graphic, but just enough where you get the idea, I think...I'll quit
rambling about it. This is takes place over approximately two weeks, but picks
up the next day from the last chapter. And if anyone knows the exchange rate of
dollars to yen...Someone tell me how much Kari made, please? (My luck, she made
fifty cents.) Oh, about the description of a certain 'mon's voice, I'm talking
about the dub voices, if that helps.
01-05-2002 - Finally have half an idea of the exchange rate of yen to dollars. I
was pretty much right with what I said above. It was actually about $2. So, I've
changed that.

**************************************
"Even with these unreliable wings,
covered in images that tend to stay,
I'm sure we can fly on my love"
Butterfly, Japanese Digimon Theme Song
**************************************

I awoke the next morning to find myself alone. I looked around for Tai, not
exactly sure where he had gone. Sitting up carefully, I rubbed the sleep from my
eyes and ran my fingers through my hair in a quick combing. I saw Kari sleeping
in what is supposed to Tai's bed because we had fallen asleep in hers. Nika must
have been a handful last night. That, and Nika probably just had to show off
Pabumon. I smiled at that thought.

"What are you smiling about?" Tai asked me as he walked back into his room. I
pointed at his sister.

"Just thinking about how Nika was probably acting last night." I said.

"I thought maybe you were thinking about us." Tai said with a grin.

"Is that why you're in a such a good mood?" I asked, teasing him. It's not often
that I can make Tai blush, but that sure accomplished it pretty well.

"Yeah, well..." He trailed off. I stood up and stretched, then walked over to
him and gave him a small kiss.

"Don't worry about it." I told him. We heard a small yawn from where Kari was
sleeping.

"You guys are up early." I looked to see Gatomon peeking over the edge of the
bed.

"So are you." Tai countered. "Where's Agumon?"

"He's up here with us. We thought you guys wanted your privacy." She told him as
she jumped down from where she was with all of the grace that was her cat-like
body.

"We appreciate it." I told her. "How was Nika?" I asked.

"Rowdy as always." Gatomon said. She had gone with Kari to baby-sit my sister
before. "Why didn't you tell us she had Pabumon?"

"Kari left before I had the chance." I said, finally noticing that Tai was
eating. "Where's mine?" I asked.

"In the kitchen." He said, being annoying. I rolled my eyes, and went to the
bathroom to change my clothes. I stared at myself in the mirror for a few
moments. Over the years freckles had showed up across my face. They were light,
but you could still see them. I think they're going to be permanent. I sighed.

"Stupid, stupid genetics. Stupid red hair." I muttered, as I caught sight of
Kari's make up. I considered it for a moment. I might be gay, but I'm not going
to do that. I might as well start dressing in drag if I did, and I'm not really
interested in wearing skirts. Besides, how I would I explain that to Nika.

I went back in to their room. Kari had woken up, presumably from the
conversation earlier. "Good morning, Kari. How much did you earn?" I asked.

"A very nice 2000 yen." She answered. "And for having to put up with a baby
digimon, I got an extra 100." She grinned. "Pabumon was so cute."

"Everyone says that about her." I said. "It was the first thing Nika said when
she met Pabumon. Even Mom said she was cute."

"I can see why." Kari commented.

"Did she ask you when Pabumon would digivolve?" I asked, leaning against the
doorway. That seemed to be the only thing on Nika's mind. I guess she needs to
learn some patience.

"Yeah, but I told her to not worry about it." She said. "Beacause I can't
remember for the life of me what they digivolve into."

"You have a short memory." Tai told her. "Even I know what Pabumon digivolves
into." I laughed.

"You must have forgotten my story from a few years ago." I told her. "She'll
eventually become a tentomon."

Kari gasped as I reminded her. "Duh." She said. "I feel so bad, now. I've had
quite a bit on my mind the past week to even think of digimon evolution trees.
Oh, well. Your parents make it well worth it to give up my weekend." She told me
as she flipped through her money. "Oh, Izzy, Joe stopped by to see you. He
wanted to ask you something, I don't know what, though." She got this strange
look in her eyes as she told me this.

"Knowing him, it probably has to do with applying what he's learning to the
digimon." Joe was in pre-med classes, and it seemed everytime he learned
something new, he wanted to find a way to apply it to digimon. If Gomamon
couldn't help him, I was the next one in line. "What's with that look?" I asked
her.

"I've seen that look before, about a year ago." Tai said. "I think she has a
crush again." About a year or two ago, Kari and T.K. had been dating, but they
soon realized it was just a silly teenage crush that probably wouldn't work out
in the future. They returned to just being friends.

Kari nodded. "Joe's still cute. Yolei thought he looked good back when we were
in fifth grade, she should get a look at him now." She sighed. "Oh, wait,
Yolei's going with Ken, I forgot. Anyway, I know I wouldn't mind him examining
my tonsils." She looked like she was going to start drooling.

"Kari, you don't have a chance. He's in college, and you've barely begun high
school." Tai told her.

"I don't know." She sang. "He kissed me last night." She said, somewhat proud of
herself. "It was only a quick peck though." She finally admitted after only a
few seconds.

Tai and I shared a look. I wonder if he was thinking what I was thinking. I'll
talk to him later about it.

"Anyway..." I said, wanting to change the subject. "I need to get home and do my
homework." I gave Tai a quick kiss as I walked out. "Call me later, okay." I
told him. "Actually, send an email. I'll probably be on the computer."

"See you later." Tai called after me.


I walked home slowly, not really in a rush to do my homework. I breathed in the
fresh spring air. Okay, it wasn't that fresh. Pollution and such was ruining it.
I don't think I've ever breathed true fresh air. Oh, wait. I forgot about that
trip to India where the digimon almost caused an international incident that
probably would have been blamed on me and Kari.

Speaking of Kari, maybe we should try setting her and Joe up. I don't know what
I thought about that. And speaking of Joe, I should probably see what he wanted.
Great, now I have that to do, my homework, and probably a million other things
to do.

I finally walked in the door, still trying to figure out what to do first.

"Koushiro!" Nika greeted me. I bent down to pick her up.

"Hey, munchkin. What have you been up to?" I asked her as I spun her around. She
giggled.

"Not much." She answered me. "Kari and I and the digimon had fun last night."
She said.

"That's great." I told her.

"Hehe...I have a secret." She told me.

"Oh? Do you now? Can you tell me your secret?" I asked her.

"I don't know." She teased me. I put on a fake disappointed face.

"You won't tell your poor big brother your secret?" Nika giggled at me.

"Oh, Koushiro, you're so silly. You can't tell anyone if I tell you." She told
me.

"Okay, so what's the big secret?" I asked as I bent my ear to her.

"Kari got kissed last night." Nika whispered in my ear. Well, that wasn't news
to me, but I acted shocked for Nika's benefit.

"Really?" I gasped. Nika nodded.

"Uh-huh. I was supposed to be in bed, but I heard the doorbell ring, so I peeked
out to see who it was. It was some guy looking for you, and just before he left
he kissed Kari right here." She said as she pointed to a spot on her face. "Is
that her boyfriend?" She asked.

"No, he's not. Though Tai and I are going to try to get them to be boyfriend and
girlfriend. Right now, he's just a good friend of ours. His name's Joe. Kari
told us this morning about what happened." Nika looked disappointed.

"Who's his digimon? It looked kinda like Gatomon."

"Gomamon, and he's not very cat-like." I told her. "Hey, what I told you about
what Tai and I are going to do is just between us, okay?"

"Another secret?" Nika asked.

"Exactly. You can't tell anyone, understand?" I asked.

"Okay." She said.

"I have homework to do, not to mention a few other things to do. Oh, how's
Pabumon doing?" I asked before I picked up the phone to call Joe back.

"She's still here." Nika shrugged and turned to go play with the digimon. I
shook my head and dialed the number for Joe's dorm room.


Well, it turned out that Joe wanted to borrow Tentomon for a bit. I didn't care
as long as Tentomon didn't and he didn't get hurt. I had a bit of a bad feeling
about it though, but Tentomon said he'd do it, so I agreed.

I wish my bad feeling had gone away, but it was still bothering me. Joe had kept
Tentomon for most of the week. I was sitting in the living room on the couch
reading my email and watching Nika play, listening to the radio and missing
Tentomon. Well, actually, it wasn't the radio, it was a webcast. It wasn't the
best thing to listen to, but it was in English, and I was trying to brush up on
it. That, and laptop speakers aren't great in the first place. Mom and Dad had
gone out for the evening and for a change, Kari couldn't babysit Nika. I was on
the verge of emailing Tai and asking if he'd come over, but I'd forgotten that
he was busy tonight too.

Nika sat down on the couch at my feet. "What are you doing, Koushiro?"

"Reading my email. Why?"

"I'm bored." Nika complained. Before I could suggest something for her to do,
there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Nika said as she jumped up from
the couch.

"Wait a minute!" I called after her as I set the computer down and untangled
myself from the wires I had running from it. After I had gotten untangled, I got
to the door. "Who is it?" I asked.

"It's Joe." We heard from the other side. I opened the door to let him in. "I
thought I'd bring Tentomon back. He was a great help." Tentomon stumbled through
the door.

"What happened to you?" I asked my bug-like friend.

"Don't ask." He told me. I heard Gomamon giggling like Nika.

"Let's just say, if you see a fish fry advertised, we had something to do with
it." Gomamon said. I shook my head.

"You guys..." I moaned.

"I think my wing's broken." I heard Tentomon groan. I gave Joe a look that said,
'If his wing is broken, I'm going to kill you.'

"That isn't my fault." Joe defended. "Those two decided to get into trouble on
their own."

"Why don't you come on in?" I asked, finally realizing we'd been standing in the
doorway for a few minutes.

"Thanks, but I need to go. I just wanted to make sure Tentomon made it home
safely. I have a date tonight." My eyes widened at that.

"With Kari?" Nika asked him. That woke me up.

"Uh, actually, yes, with Kari." He admitted. "Uh, Koushiro? Your eyes are
getting as large as Tentomon's." Joe was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, just a bit shocked at that." I said, embarrassed. "Well, I hope you two
have a good time then."

"Thanks. And thanks for letting me 'borrow' Tentomon. See you around." He said
as he turned around to leave. I sighed and shut the door.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked as I turned around and didn't see either of the
digimon, or Nika. I made a good guess and checked the bedroom. Nika was
examining Tentomon's wing.

"It's going to be alright." Nika was telling him as I walked in.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"Well..." Tentomon started.

"Tell me." I commanded.

"What happened was that I learned the hard way that electricity and water don't
mix." I shook my head.

"Didn't you know that already?" I asked. "I learned that before I was Nika's
age."

"Well, I know it now. Gomamon was trying to catch a fish for Gatomon, and asked
if I'd fry it for them. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to stand in the water
when I did." Tentomon explained.

"So, in other words, you fired your super shocker into the body of water in
which you were standing."

"Exactly."

"That doesn't explain about the wing though." I told him.

"Ah, well, uh..." He was about as articulate as Tai was when we told Kari about
our relationship.

"Spit it out, Tentomon." I told him.

"When I jumped out of the water, I kinda forgot I could fly. However, instinct
took over, and my wings opened and I fell on to something really hard before I
could close my shell again." I shrugged. That was probably all of the story I
would get, if it was even accurate.

"Well, open up, I want to look at it." I gasped at what I saw. "Tentomon! I hate
to say this, but this looks horrible." The inside of his wings were hanging
limply from where they attached to his body.

"Koushiro, look." Nika pointed to a place on his shell. "It's cracked."

"Tentomon, why didn't you have Joe look at this?" I asked.

"I really didn't want anyone to know." Tentomon told us. I sighed.

"Nika," I started. She had already done what I was about to tell her to do.
"Thanks." She had brought bandages. We got to work on his wing.

"Now what?" Nika asked.

"All we can do now is wait." I said. "I suppose you guys would like some dinner
now, huh?"

"Sounds like an idea to me." Tentomon said. "As long as it's not fish."


We ended up having chicken and rice for dinner. I got Nika and Pabumon to bed
when they were supposed to be. Of course, she'll do anything for her brother. I
sighed as I sat back down on the couch. I had forgotten about my computer. I
tried to wake it from stand by, then realized the battery was dead. "Figures." I
muttered. I got the power cord for it and plugged it in. Tentomon had sat down
next to me. "So, what really happened?" I asked.

"Exactly what I told you." He answered.

"Falling on the cement wouldn't do that to your wing." I told him. "I don't
think it would be all torn like that if you had."

"I'll tell you later, when I'm more comfortable about it." I guess I would
eventually find out then.

"I won't pressure you, but I would like to know. I thought we're best buds. That
means you can tell me anything." I leaned over to give the poor bug a hug. I
caught a whiff of something that smelled kind of nasty. "What's that smell?"

"Uh....you don't want to know." Tentomon told me. I rolled my eyes.

"If I knew you needed a bath I would have done that before I bandaged your
wing." I told him. "Oh, well." I sighed. "Until you take a bath, you're not
sleeping in my bed." He looked kind of disappointed. "Sorry, but that's one
nasty stench. I wouldn't be surprised if Mom made you go outside. Speaking of
baths, I need to take one."

"Why can't I join you?" Tentomon asked.

"Because I don't want to bandage your wing again. That, and I'd like some
privacy." I told him. I picked him up. "Sorry, pal. Tell you what, though. You
can stay in my bed until I'm done. Actually, I have a better idea." I carried
him into the bathroom with me. I set him down on the corner of the sink. I dug
through the basket that had my stuff in it. I picked up a bottle of cologne and
sprayed him with it. Tentomon coughed a bit at the strong smell of the cologne.

"Ugh. Izzy, that stuff smells worse than I do." Tentomon told me, waving his
claws to clear the air of it.

"Well, at least now you don't smell like sewage."

"No, now I smell like sewage that's been covered by cologne." Tentomon retorted.

"Anyway, that's my least favorite cologne, and I need to get rid of it." I told
him. "Now, can you make it to the bedroom, or do I have to carry you some more?"
He started to jump down when I noticed he was trying to open his wings. "Don't
do that!" I exclaimed. "You can't open them until they've healed some. Sorry to
say it, but you'll have to walk. And don't jump from a height where you have to
fly, okay."

Tentomon looked so disappointed, but it wasn't my fault he had gotten hurt. I
picked him up again. "I'm sorry." I told him. "I'll carry you to the bed at
least. You'll have to learn to get along without your wings for about a week." I
said as I set him down on my bed. "You can jump from my bed, but don't jump from
Nika's whatever you do, okay?" Tentomon nodded. "Just rest up some, and before
you know it, you'll be flying again." Actually, I had a thought, but couldn't
prove it without Nika's help.

"You have that look in your eyes, Izzy. What's your theory this time?" Tentomon
asked quietly, since we had to be quiet so we didn't wake up Nika.

"I'm wondering how your injury would affect your digivolving. Would
Kabuterimon's wings be as ragged as yours are now, or would they be in perfect
condition? Or would you be able to digivolve at all?" I wondered out loud.
Tentomon shrugged.

"Beats me. I'll just be glad to stretch these wings again." He answered. I
smiled.

"You'll be flying in no time. Okay, I'm going to go take that bath now. Get some
rest." I rubbed his head before I went back to the bathroom.

Finally, some privacy. I sighed as I sat down in the bath tub. I think I have
some idea of what happened to Tentomon. It had to have something to do with the
fact that he was with Gomamon and Gatomon....This is bothering me, and I came in
here to relax. How come whenever I have a minute to myself all I can do is
think? Ah, well.

Absent mindedly, I started stroking myself. Well, here's one thing that gets me
so I won't think. I started thinking of Tai and the things that I'd like to do
with him. It was so intense, even though it was just my hand. It didn't take
long for me to come. I sat there for a while after, wondering about things.

I finally got out and went to check to see how the battery on my laptop was
doing. It wasn't quite charged, but I was tired and said forget it and went to
bed.


I woke up in the middle of the night. I looked at the clock. It was 3:30. I
sighed. Something didn't feel right. Tentomon was still next to me, still
stinking, so that wasn't it. He had been asleep when I came in and I just felt
sorry for him, I guess. I heard a quiet, persistent beep. I grabbed my digivice
to see if that's what it was. It had a faint beep, but it wasn't the one that I
had heard before.

"Nika?" I asked quietly, hoping my sister was awake. I stood up so I could
possibly look into her face.

"Koushiro?" She asked, still mostly asleep.

"Do you hear that beeping?" I asked. Nika woke up, and got a listening look. She
pulled her digivice out from under her pillow. The beeping was much louder now.

"Pabumon." Nika said, and looked at the peacefully sleeping digimon. "She's
digivolving! Koushiro, she's digivolving!" Nika squealed.

I don't know how she knew that, but she was right. Pabumon was digivolving.
After only two days? Tentomon had woken up at the noise that Nika made. She'd
even woken up Mom and Dad. They were standing in the door as we watched the
little blue blob grow. "You fed her some of your dinner, didn't you?" I asked.

"What's going on?" Mom asked before I could get an answer from Nika. I shushed
her. I felt bad about it, but this was Nika's time to shine.

"Everyone, cover your eyes." I commanded. We all did just as a really bright,
almost blinding light emerged from Pabumon. It sort of reminded me of when I
cracked Tentomon's program.

"Is it safe yet?" Nika asked. The humans in the room weren't quite sure and
didn't dare to look.

"It's safe." Tentomon informed us. We all opened our eyes to see what she had
digivolved into.

The little thing had turned into the ghostly form of Motimon. Unfortunately for
Motimon, she was right on the edge of the bed and wasn't very sure of her
balance. She fell off. I dove to catch her. "You need to learn to be more
careful." I told her and Nika.

"Sorry." She said in a voice that sounded like a cross between Biyomon's and my
voice when I was younger, of course. I handed her back up to Nika.

I laughed. "It's okay." Mom had joined us.

"If the excitement's over, you two should get back to bed." She told us.

"Mom..." Nika whined.

"It's late, Nika." Mom told her. I put my arm on Mom's shoulder.

"Let me." I said. Mom shrugged. She knew I could get Nika to do almost anything.
Mom turned around to go back to bed herself. "So, Nika, what do I have to do to
get you asleep again?" I asked her.

She shrugged, scratching Motimon on the head. "I don't want to go back to sleep,
Koushiro." She told me.

I yawned. I wanted to go back to sleep, but couldn't unless I knew for sure she
was. "How about I tell you a story? Think you could go back to sleep then?" Nika
brightened up at that idea.


I woke in the morning to an awful smell. I groaned. That cologne sure didn't
last very long. I poked Tentomon. "You awake?" I asked him.

"I am now." He said.

"You still smell awful." I told him.

"Good morning to you too." He teased me.

"Sorry, pal. After breakfast we'll get you cleaned up, okay?" Tentomon nodded at
that. Nika was standing in the doorway, holding Motimon.

"Mom says if you two don't get up within the next twenty minutes you won't get
any breakfast." She informed us.

"Oh, like I can't cook." I muttered, but figured we should get up anyway. I
yawned, then got up and got dressed. "Hey, Nika? Want to help give Tentomon a
bath later?" I asked her. I figured it would probably take both of us to
un-bandage his wing, and then to make sure that he didn't hurt himself anymore
than he was.

"Oh, that sounds so fun." She said sarcastically. "But I'll help anyway."

I rolled my eyes at her tone, then walked past her to get breakfast. Tentomon
was following me, and as soon as he walked past Nika she found out why he needed
a bath.

"What's that disgusting smell?" She asked.

"Tentomon." I told her.

"What'd you do, play in the sewer?" She asked him.

"It's a long story." He explained to her. She shrugged and let it go. I'd
already started eating.

Mom walked out, and asked the same question. "What's that smell that smells like
a cross between sewage and that cologne you hate?" She asked me. I pointed to
the bug because my mouth was full. I swallowed quickly.

"Nika and I are going to clean him up soon." I told her.

"You'd better. That's awful." Mom said as she walked to what could possibly be
the farthest point away from Tentomon. I finished with breakfast and sighed.

"Come on, Tentomon. Everyone's complaining, so maybe it's time to get you
cleaned up." We walked into the bathroom. Nika had started removing the bandages
from last night.

"It looks a bit better..." She said, tracing the crack in his shell.

I took a quick look. "Yeah, it does. Whatever you did, I hope you're not
planning to do it again." I told him. "Spread your shell, gently." I instructed
him. I wanted to see how his actual wings were healing. Tentomon did as he was
told. I winced. "That doesn't look much better." Nika reached out to touch the
thin membrane of it, but backed off for fear of hurting him.

"You poor thing." Nika said.

"In the water, and this time, don't fry yourself." I said to Tentomon. He did as
he was told and Nika and I got to work on him.

About an hour later, we were through. It would have taken less time if Nika's
motimon wouldn't have kept getting in our way and splashing us and doing other
such things to hinder us. Thankfully, Tentomon no longer smelled like sewage. He
now smelled like...well, himself again. And maybe a bit like strawberries. Nika
and I were bandaging his wing again.

"He'll fly again, won't he?" Nika asked me.

"I'm sure he will." I said, wondering myself the same thing. "Right, Tentomon?"

He nodded in answer, trying to stay still for us. In the distance I heard the
phone ring. I figured Mom or Dad would get it. I was a bit busy.

"Koushiro, phone!" I heard Dad call me.

I sighed. That figures. "Nika, think you can do some of this without me?" She
nodded. I got up and picked up the cordless so I could come right back and
supervise.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hi, Koushiro. It's Joe. I was just wondering how Tentomon was doing."

"It's pretty bad. I'd say he was pretty much right when he said his wing was
broken. It's not really broken, it's more like it's shredded underneath his
shell. The shell itself is cracked. I asked him why he wouldn't let you look at
it, and he said something about not wanting you to know. Gomamon hasn't been
injured badly lately, has he?" I asked.

"Not that I know of." Joe answered. "Do you want me to come take a look?" He
asked.

"No, Nika and I have it under control... I hope. Maybe if it hasn't healed
within the week. So, how was your date with Kari?" I asked, changing the
subject.

"Oh, it was fine." He answered, sounding like he didn't really want to talk
about it.

"So, what happened?" I pressed on. Nika was giving me a strange look, but I
pointed at her to tell her to pay attention to what she was doing to Tentomon
and mouthed at her that I'd tell her later.

"I'll tell you some other time, okay?"

"Alright." I sighed.

"I have to go, just wondering about Tentomon."

"Later then." I said and hung up.

"So?" Nika asked me.

"So what?" I asked back.

Nika sighed in frustration. "Are they in love?" I laughed.

"I can't tell you, Nika. Joe wouldn't give me a clue." I said. "But I know who
would." I said as I picked up the phone and dialed a very familiar number.

Tai answered the phone. "Hey, what's up?" He asked me.

"Not a lot. I don't suppose I can talk to Kari for a minute or two." I asked.

"You could, I don't think she'd speak back to you though. She hasn't moved since
last night. She seems pretty depressed." I had a sudden bad feeling in the pit
of my stomach.

"I think I know what happened to her then."

"What? I've been trying to cheer her up, and she just won't. Well, maybe she
would talk to you. Don't say I didn't warn you though." I heard him tell her
that I wanted to speak to her. I heard her say that she'd speak to me if Tai
would leave her alone while she did. He must have agreed because the next thing
I heard was

"Hi, Izzy."

"Kari, you sound awful. What happened?" I asked her.

"Something that shouldn't have." She said, starting to cry. My eyes widened at
that. Nika looked at me. I shrugged.

"Can you tell me? Or should I know?" I asked.

"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell Tai." Kari told me. I grimaced. That
would be somewhat difficult, but I promised that I wouldn't. Her voice went
quieter as she told me her secret. "Last night, you know I went out with Joe?
Well..." She drifted off, and I had a sudden flash of what I think she was going
to tell me. She continued on, "We went maybe a bit further than we should have."

I groaned. "No wonder you don't want Tai to know. So how much was a bit?" I
asked her.

Kari's voice dropped to a point where I could barely hear her. "All the way."

"Oh, Kari." I know if I had been Tai, and my little sister told me something
like that, I know I'd want to kill the guy. And it wasn't any wonder that Joe
didn't want to talk about it. "Did you..." I couldn't finish asking the question
before she answered it.

"No." She whispered.

"Are you..." She did the mind reading trick again.

"I don't know. I'm too scared to find out." I sighed.

"Kari, I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked, trying to find
someway in which I could help out. "You know you're as much a sister to me as
Nika is."

"I'll let you know, okay. Thanks for listening, Koushiro. I feel somewhat better
getting that off my chest. Are you sure you won't tell Tai?"

"I gave you my word, and I won't betray your confidence." I told her.

"You're a great friend." Kari said, starting to sound like her bubbly self
again. "Did you want to talk to Tai again?"

"Uh...yeah." I made up my mind quick.

"Okay, I'll try to find him."

It was a few seconds later and I heard Tai's voice.

"What did you tell her? She's starting to act almost normal again." He asked.

"It was what she told me, but I can't tell you what she told me. I promised
her." I said before he started begging me to tell him. He sighed.

"Great, just great." Tai grumbled.

"I'm sure if she wants you to know, she'll tell you. But I can't right now. You
told Kari once that you wouldn't betray my confidence. I hope you'll respect
that I have to do the same thing right now." I told him.

"I do respect that, Izzy. It's just..." He trailed off.

"Being protective of your sister?" I asked, remembering what he told me after
that meeting we had just after Nika was born. "Kari is old enough to take care
of herself, you know. She can make her own decisions."

"I know. I just don't like seeing her hurt."

"I feel the same way about Nika. Oh! I forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Tai asked.

"How she's doing with Tentomon's wing. Hey, I have question for you. Have you
noticed Gatomon acting funny?"

"Not really. Not since she was picking at her claws to get something out of
them, anyway." That triggered something in my brain. "Why do you ask?"

"Tentomon was with her and Gomamon the other day, and Tentomon broke his wing."
I explained to him. "Though, after talking with Kari, I think I know what
happened. Well, I need to go. I'll come over later, okay?" I told him.

"Alright. See you later then." He hung up. He still has that annoying habit.

"Well?" Nika asked. "What was all that about?"

"I hate to tell you this, but it's more adult stuff." I told her, thinking that
she didn't need to know what was going on.

"Koushiro..." She whined. I just shook my head.

"Nika-chan, I'd tell you if I could, but it's for your own good that you don't
know just yet." I gave her a hug. "But, if it makes you feel better, Kari is
okay, but she's just as confused as we are as to how she feels about Joe, okay?"
Nika nodded.

"I thought they looked kinda cute together." Nika said.

"Well, things don't always work out just on the basis of cuteness." I told her.
I knelt down to look at how well Nika had bandaged Tentomon's wing. "Good job,
Nika." I told her. "Now, Tentomon, do like I said last night and don't stretch
out your wings for a few days. As long as you don't end up in the sewage again,
we shouldn't have to do this again." I rubbed his head.

"Thanks, Izzy, Nika. And don't worry, I won't ever do that again." I chuckled as
I leaned down to whisper to him.

"I think I know what happened. I'll talk to you later about it when we're
alone."