Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Persona: The Chosen Child of Purity ❯ Entlarven ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: First off, I would like to thank everyone that reviewed my last story, Persona: Return to Innocence. The overall story now involves Digimon and a bit of Star Wars. As usual: Really goofy dialogue, poor vocabulary, poor spelling, poor grammar, poor verb tense, and all that. Reviews are welcomed. This is a work in progress that requires A LOT of work.

In my story, all of the DigiDestined are from different schools, except Sora, Taichi, and Koushiro. I have made some of them older than in the original series: Jyou is 14; Taichi, Sora, and Yamato are 13; Mimi and Koushiro are both 12; Takeru is 9; and Hikari (not present) is also 9. The age change was done for a reason. Don't ask me if they still allow kids to go to summer camp at that age. Let's just assume the older kids offer help as assistant counselors.

Important Note: If there is anything in this story that resembles anyone else's work, I apologize. Now I am trying to continue on as I strive for originality. As usual, my work pales in comparison to the other great work done by much better authors. The song in the beginning of this fic is called Push the Limits by Enigma.

*Entlarven is German for unmask or to reveal the true identity or nature of oneself or someone else.

This story takes place in Season 01; HOURS before the DigiDestined arrive in the Digital World. The first day trip to summer camp. No action, just a lot, I do mean a LOT, of dialogue. A continuation from Mimi's POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Star Wars, Enigma, or their songs.

Persona: Entlarven

by Mimi, Myself, & Iz.

Basic instincts, social life.
Paradoxes side by side

Don't submit to stupid rules
Be yourself and not a fool.
Don't accept average habits
Open your heart and push the limits.

Open your heart
And push the limits

Excerpts from the song Push the Limits
By Michael Cretu

Screen Behind the Mirror
Enigma

~~~

August 1999
Streets of Odaiba…

Several blares of car horns…

Occasional tire screeches…

A few obscenities exchanged… I dare not to repeat…

The car stereo playing the Allegro con fuoco movement of Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Opus 95 "Aus der Neuen Welt: From the New World"

I was in the front passenger seat. My brother was in a child car safety seat fastened securely to the car seats behind me. My Mother was behind the wheel. The streets of Odaiba made way for the blood red colored 1999 Chrysler PT Cruiser with the crew of three. The Cruiser's license plate read in Romaji…

A B U N A I

Yes, the Tachikawa Mobile was on the move!

…Largo…

"Um, excuse me, Mother…"

…Scherzo. Molto vivace…

"Mother? Hey! Excuse me!"

…Allegro con fuoco…

"EXCUSE ME! HEY, MOTHER!" I had to yell.

Finally, I got her attention… "YES, DEAR?" my Mother yelled, oblivious as to why she had to yell. She never left her eyes off the road, thank goodness.

"I THINK THE CAR STEREO IS TOO LOUD!" I practically screamed.

"WHAT, DEAR?"

"LOUD!"

"OH, YOU MEAN THE STEREO IS 'LOUD,' HONEY?"

I could not believe she actually said that… Sarcastically, I finally yelled. "WELL, MAYBE JUST A LITTLE!"

"OKAY, DEAR!" My Mother finally touched the volume control and the decibel levels dropped. "Sorry, about that, honey. I just love Dvorák! I thought you love his work too, dear?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. "It is all right, Mother. I DO love Dvorák's work, but… NOT THAT LOUD!"

"Sorreee…" my Mother replied jokingly. I hate to admit it, but only my Mother could operate that stereo. She totally customized the whole sound system in her car and only she knows how to operate all of it. It was probably the only electronic equipment we own that I could not even figure out.

I decided to check on my little brother behind me. I turned to look around my seat. Sure enough Tetsuo was enjoying himself as usual in his child safety seat. He was laughing and smiled back at me. He must have thought all of our yelling was hilarious. Not to mention, the car stereo was at full blast! I turned back to my Mother. "Sheesh, Mother! You might have made Tetsuo deaf!"

"Not a chance, dear. I made sure that only the driver and passenger speaker systems were on. I turned on the rear sound filter system, which filters out only the music. The back passenger seats should have been quieter. The music should be soft when heard in the back. Tetsuo's fine," my Mother said with a bright grin.

Now I kind of wished I were in a child seat with Tetsuo. "That is good to… hear," I said, barely realizing the pun.

My mother giggled. "Of course, honey."

I shook my head in defeat and let her continue driving. I really hated to ride in this car. It was bad enough it was a foreign car. The body of the Chrysler PT Cruiser looked weird! The design reminded me of some gangster car from the early century of the United States of America. To top it all off, it was colored blood red! My friends like this car for some odd reason. Maybe because it was a foreign car. Like, you cannot get any foreign than this! Still it was an efficient car, with great gas mileage, comfortable passenger room, efficient environmental systems, and excellent handling on the road. Need I mention the car stereo?

Well, it could have been different. My mother would have gotten an even bigger foreign car, if you could call it a car. Before my Mother decided to own the Cruiser, my Father proposed that my Mother's car should have been a High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) or Humvee. My Father always thought it would be great since my Mother's family side had a long history with the military life. Still, my Mother decided not to get a Hummer, as civilians referred it to, for various reasons I had to agree with. I thanked her for that. I do not think it would ever fit in the garage. I am not sure if that Hummer vehicle was even legal on Japan streets. Especially how my Mother drives…

VROOOOOOMMM!

A loud engine revving sound distracted me from my thoughts. I looked through the windshield and noticed we were speeding and swerving along the streets a bit more excessive now. I had to admit that the suspension of the Cruiser was amazing! It was a totally smooth ride. No tire screeches, banking turns... I would not have noticed the wild driving of my Mother if I did not look out the windshield at the dizzying scene. If it were any other car, I would have been thrown from my seat and would be vomiting from the vertigo! My Mother had maneuvered the Cruiser quickly through the morning traffic just avoiding the car in front of… 'WHOA! I CANNOT BELIEVE WE JUST MISSED HITTING THAT MAZDA MIATA!'

"Slow poke baka…" I heard my Mother mutter under her breath, her face in a scowl.

"Um, Mother?"

My Mother's usual cheerfulness quickly returns to her face. "Yes, dear?"

"Do we need to be going this fast?" I asked, as I made sure I was securely fastened to my seat.

"We don't want you to be late, dear," she replied with a smile. She quickly dodged another vehicle…

"Yes, but… I am not late. And this is getting a bit dangerous..." I said as my hand gripped my safety seatbelt, making sure there was no slack.

"Not to worry, dear. Remember, I'm an EXPERT driver!"

I groaned in weariness. I did not care if Mother heard me or not. 'Oh no. Here we go…'

My Mother took a deep breath and then spoke. "Three years of top training in the Tokyo racing championships… I came in on top! Also, two years in civilian dragster racing… No relation in car driving, but I made third in the high powered speedboat racing… Made champion in the burnout speed bike run…" Her right hand was still on the wheel as she used her left hand to count. I thought she was finished until... "OH YES! I should also mention that I was the only teen player to have the best finishing time in Ridge Racer history!" My Mother patted my lap with her free hand in pride as she said the latter.

Fear started to creep within me. "But, Mother! Ridge Racer was just an arcade game! A classic video game I might add! What does that have to do with your driving?"

"What's the difference? It sure helped me become top student in the Tokyo race training!" said with a huge smile on her face.

I sweat dropped… My Mother sure had an ego. I remembered my Mother promising to my Father that I would make it to the bus depot safe and sound. Oh well. I do have to admit that my Mother knows how to drive… well. Never a dent, crack, scrape, or ding on any of her previous cars. I do not know if I should take comfort in that. When other drivers see this blood red foreign car careening through traffic with license plates that had "ABUNAI" on it, I am sure they would stay clear away. I hope for their sake they do. All I could do was hold on tight. My brother's life and I were now in our Mother's trustworthy hands.

All of a sudden, Mother added, "Besides, your brother loves my driving." She looked through one of the rear-view mirrors so that she could see Tetsuo. "Right, Iron Man?" she asked him through his reflection.

I turned to face Tetsuo again. Luckily he was the only one in the car that had a better safety belt than my Mother and I. I saw that he too had a huge smile on his face. What dreaded me most was that he was pretending as if he was actually steering a steering wheel! He was imitating every move my Mother made! I sweat dropped… 'Oh sh-'

"Beep-beep!" he said as he smiled at me.

I heard my Mother laughed and she tapped the car horn twice…

BEEP… BEEP…

This brought a bigger smile to my brother's face.

My face faulted. "Some help you are, Tetsuo." I sighed.

~~~

3 minutes later…

Finally, Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 ends…

I sighed. 'Aus der Neuen Welt… My Mother and her liking to all genres of music… in no particular order! From classical, to heavy metal, to hip-hop, to new age, then swing, then back again! She burned this CD. I wonder what else is on it…'

The car stereo started to change to another track… Now the music of Nobuo Uematsu's Liberi Fatali movement from the Final Fantasy VIII soundtrack filled my ears…

'Oh no…'

FITHOS… LUSEC…

…WECOS… VINOSEC

The choir continued to chant the eerie lyrics as a full orchestra accompanied soon after… I stared in disbelief as my Mother drummed her hands on the steering wheel in rhythm with the timpani sounds from Liberi Fatali. I slowly turned my head to look out my window in weariness. 'Yes, I am DEFINITELY relieved my Mother turned down the idea of her car being a Humvee!'

~~~

5 minutes later…
Odaiba Bus Depot

'Finally, safe and sound!'

I could see four buses and some other children around the main terminal. Relieved that I was not late, I walked over to the back of the Cruiser and pulled out my pink suitcase. I already had my purse hung around my shoulders. I was ready to leave. I stood outside by the driver side door facing my Mother. It was time to say goodbye to my Mother and Tetsuo.

"Got everything?" my Mother asked.

"Yes, Mother."

"You have fun now, my Princess, you hear?" she said.

"I will, Mother."

"Stay close to your friends!"

"I will, Mo-"

"Be sure to make new friends!"

"Of course, M-"

"Don't lose anything!"

"I wo-"

"Don't get hurt!"

"Ne-"

"Don't forget to wash your clothes with-"

"OKAY! OKAY! Mother!" I cried helplessly.

My Mother sighed… She shook her head and smiled at me. "I'm sorry, dear. You're such a big girl now. I keep forgetting how fast you've grown."

I felt guilty too and I smiled at her. "Thank you for caring, Mother." I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You take care of Tetsuo and Father, okay?"

"Of course, dear," my Mother replied and gave me a kiss in return.

I looked at my baby brother in the back seat. He seemed sad like he knew I was leaving. I opened the side door and gave him a light hug. He amazingly hugged me back. I smiled and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Now, YOU take of Mother and Father. Okay, my little Iron Man? Goodbye, Tetsuo…"

Tetsuo smiled at me. The then made some baby sounds… or so I believed were baby sounds. "Bye… bye… Mimi… love… you…" Tetsuo spoke. He spoke his first sentence! It was very slow but absolutely clear!

"Tetsuo dear?" I heard my Mother say in a very surprised voice.

After regaining from my shock, I hugged him with all my love…

"Oh, Tetsuo, my little brother… I love you too."

~~~

3 minutes later…

As I made my way to the group of buses, I gave one last look back at my Mother's Cruiser. I noticed she was gesturing at me. I could not make out what since the driver's side windows were tinted and were rolled up. She had her left-hand palm faced up. Her right hand with the palm faced down was doing a sweeping motion over the left. The left hand was stationary while her right hand was doing the motion. She repeated this gesture a few times then she pointed down.

I could not figure out what she was trying to tell me. I knew I did not forget anything, and I felt that I was late so I just waved at her. She just gave me a shrug and waved back at me. She turned the Cruiser onto the highway and was about to drive off. 'Hmmm. Whatever she wanted to tell me, it was not important.' As I watched my Mother drive away, I could distinctly hear John Williams's Duel of Fates movement from the Phantom Menace soundtrack blaring within the Cruiser's interior.

I could not help but laugh. 'Hmmm… I think I have that title stored in my MP3 directory of my Sony PalmNAVe,' I thought as I patted the little box-like bulge on my purse. I turned back towards the buses and continued on. I was whistling the Duel of Fates along the way...

My suitcase was feeling heavier and heavier as I walked, but I paced myself so it would not be a problem. I saw the four large buses that would take everyone to the summer campsite in the mountainsides overlooking Odaiba. Actually they were four large luxury-touring coaches! 'Wow! We are traveling in style!' I passed a few coaches and saw that they were already filled. I saw a little line of fellow campers at one of the tour coaches. As I approached the tour coach, I peered through the large tinted panoramic windows and saw that it was not completely filled.

An adult male was at the door of the tour coach. He had a sticker name tag on his shirt pocket that had, "Konnichi wa, my name is Fujiyama, Kenji," written in a black felt-tip pen. He was a very large man with short black hair and rectangular shaped glasses. He was wearing blue slacks and an aquamarine blue polo shirt, with the Odaiba Summer Camp logo printed on his right chest side. Mr. Fujiyama was carrying a pen and a paper list of several pages. He just finished talking to a tall boy with large thick-framed glasses and dark blue looking hair.

The tall boy was dressed in an off-white sleeveless V-neck sweater with dark blue trims. He wore a light lavender short-sleeved dress shirt underneath. He also wore olive drab shorts. A pair of red Rocky Alpine shoes with white trim and dark blue socks adorned his feet. He was wearing a light yellow sweatband on his right wrist. On his left wrist was what appeared to be a titanium field watch with an olive drab nylon watchband covering. 'What a strange way to dress.' I thought. 'Well, I should not be rude. He does look kind of cute dressed like that.' He then placed his suitcase in the under-floor luggage bay then walked back toward the tour coach entrance. He glanced at me briefly with his glasses falling off his nose, a look of seriousness plastered on his face. He pushed his glasses up with his index finger on the nose-bridge and turned back toward the man. The tall boy then bowed to the man and proceeded onto the entrance door.

As the tall boy made his way inside of the tour coach, the man, Mr. Fujiyama, greeted me and bowed. "Konnichi wa, young miss. What is your name?"

"Konnichi wa, Sensei. My name is Mimi. Tachikawa, Mimi." I replied and bowed.

He turned to his paper list and scanned all the names. "Tachikawa… Mimi… Ah yes, right here." He looked at me and said, "Okay, Miss Tachikawa. If you have any friends you want to be with, you might have to wait until we finally arrive at camp. They might have already checked in earlier in the other buses. The other three buses all already filled with kids from different schools of town. This one here still has plenty of empty seats."

I glanced at the coach's large tinted panoramic windows and immediately saw three of my friends from my school, Hoshi, Kyoko, and Noriko. They waved at me. I gave them a quick smile and waved back. I turned my attention back to Mr. Fujiyama. "That will be fine, Sensei. I see my friends already on board this bus. Thank you, Sensei," I replied and bowed.

"Call me, Kenji, Miss. Tachikawa." He returned my bow.

All I could do was bow and politely let out a giggle.

"You may put your luggage in the that side luggage bay there. If you want you can take your bag on the bus. There is an overhead compartment to put it in if you need room."

"Okay, thank you," I replied. I walked to the under-floor luggage compartment and carefully stacked my pink suitcase inside among the other fellow campers' belongings. I stretched my fingers in relief from after carrying the weight of that heavy suitcase. It was then that I noticed very small wheels on each of the corners on the bottom of my suitcase. They slowly retracted into my suitcase bottom hatch. The hatch clicked shut. The wheels must have been spring-activated from somewhere on the suitcase handle. It then dawned on me what my Mother was trying to tell me. 'My suitcase had automatic retractable wheels, and could roll!' I sighed. 'I should have known…'

"That is a pretty hat you are wearing, Miss Tachikawa."

Mr. Fujiyama's little compliment interrupted me from my reverie. "Thank you… Kenji, Sensei." I giggled.

"All rightly, Miss Tachikawa. All aboard!"

I gave him a quick smile and entered the tour coach. I made my way up the stairwell. I have not ridden in a bus in a long time. This was definitely very superior to the school buses I have seen other children ride at school. I must say this was really a luxury-tour coach. Luxurious high back recliner seating, carpet on side walls and fabric on ceiling, parcel racks with reading lights and adjustable air conditioning and heating, also parcel rack door enclosures in the ceilings above the seats. It had the capacity to seat up to 45 passengers. In the back I could see the lavatory! 'Wow! A restroom! Still, I hope I do not have to use it though. Who knows how many people already sat on that thing! Should be clean though. This was a luxury tour coach after all.'

I could see my friends in the seventh and eighth row waving at me. I started to walk toward them. I passed one row of seats and saw this boy with really messy hair seated by the window. He wore a blue T-shirt with an orange star on the front area and smaller stars ones on the sleeves. He wore dark brown cargo shorts. White light-duty Flexor gloves covered his hands. For footwear he wore a pair of old Bates Trek boots and white socks. What amazed me most was what he wore on his head. I combination of a blue head sweat band and some… goggles? It looked like it was meant to hold his wild messy hair in place. 'Strange.' He did not make eye contact with me. He kept staring out the window. 'He still looked pretty cute.'

There was another cute boy sitting next to him with… 'NO, WAIT A MINUTE!' There was just a girl sitting in the seat next to goggle boy. 'Yikes! I almost mistook her for a boy. She looks really tough. Almost like she is a… er… tomboy? I know I should not make any judgements. Well, for me going to an all-girl school, I notice these things.' They must know each other. The girl wore a yellow sleeveless shirt with white trims and a pair of denim blue jeans. Red colored Hatch Expedition gloves covered her hands. For footwear she wore red Danner Acadia hiking shoes. I could see she had some sort of red butt pack around her waist. What amazed me most was what she wore on her head. I did not know what it was, but it looked like a blue and turquoise colored… helmet or something with hanging chinstraps. The "helmet" hugged her head nicely. Some of her red colored hair stuck out underneath…

'Gee, reddish hair? Was that natural? Sure looks like it is.' I slapped myself mentally, 'What am I thinking? So what? I should not be rude. She does have nice hair though.' My curiosity got the better of me, as I was about to touch the "helmet" to see what it was made of, if it was soft or… I stopped myself. That would have been really rude! The girl looked like she could beat up anybody! I did not want to start anything bad, especially on the first day to camp. Luckily she has not noticed my presence yet nor did she notice me attempting to examine her… helmet. I just forgot about the red head's helmet and continued down the aisle way. All of a sudden the boy with the messed-up hair made a brief eye contact with me so I quickly turned and walked away towards my friends.

I passed another occupied seat. Here I saw two blonde haired boys… 'I do not believe it! Blondes and redheads all here on one coach! That was a first in Japan.' I laughed, 'Oh well, I had met a girl with natural PINK hair. Not that my hair was any less strange!' The two boys looked like brothers, I guessed. There was a definite age difference between the two. The older boy was sitting in the aisle seat while the younger one was sitting at the window. The older boy did not look at me, he had his eyes closed and arms folded over his chest as if in deep thought. I guessed he was uncomfortable being around with his younger sibling. Like it was making him look not cool. His blonde hair was spiky yet nicely styled. He was dressed in a dark green turtleneck sleeveless shirt and a pair of dark blue denim jeans with the ends folded at his ankles. A pair of dark brown Altama hiking shoes adorned his feet. He also had a pair of dark brown Hatch duty gloves on his hands. 'Hmmm… He looks kind of cute.'

I made a quick glance at the younger boy at the window. He sure was very young and cute too! He was dressed in a bright green sleeveless anorak and a lime green long sleeve shirt underneath. He also wore light brown faded BDU shorts. A pair of green trimmed Rocky sports shoes with yellow socks adorned his feet. A blue backpack was left on the side of him. I could not make out what he was wearing on his head. I thought it was a baseball cap but… I did not know what it was. It was green with a blue… It was green with flaps... er... All I could think of it was that it was large and green! 'Wow, it just seems that anyone with a tendency to wear weird headgear has to come on this trip. Including me.' I sighed, 'So much for me knowing about fashion.'

The young boy looked away from the window and made eye contact with me. I saw the color of his eyes… 'BLONDE AND WITH BLUE EYES? Now I have seen everything!' He smiled and waved at me. I smiled back and gave a polite wave.

"Nice hat," he said to me.

'Great, my Mother knew that my new hat would be conversation starter.' I blushed, "Thanks." …I had to say it… "I like yours too."

He smiled and turned to his brother who was still in deep thought. "You see, oniichan, you were wrong. I told you she was nice."

'Oh oh! What did he mean by that?' I looked at his older brother. His eyes were still closed, yet a strange twitch in his expression was visible. 'Was he blushing?' Finally he opened his eyes slowly. His blue eyes pierced through his blonde spiked hair that barely covered his eyes. His arms were still folded over his chest as his blue eyes turned up to meet mine. His expression was… unreadable. I felt very uncomfortable now. He just stared at me as if he was accusing me of something. 'Okay, this guy is freaking me out.'

Finally he closed his eyes again and spoke in a cool tone, "Shut up, Takeru. That is not polite. Mind your own business." The younger sibling, Takeru, stuck his tongue at him playfully and shrugged at me.

I did not know how to feel. I just turned and quickly made my way to my friends. 'Those two were strange. I hope I do not end up treating Tetsuo like that.'

I finally reached the seats that Noriko, Hoshi, and Kyoko occupied as they greeted me. I noticed that on the opposite side of the aisle was the tall blue haired boy with glasses sitting alone. His eyes were closed and arms were crossed over his chest. He had a very serious or irritated look on his face. 'This seemed to be very popular with the boys on the coach. I wonder why he is like that though.'

Noriko and Hoshi were in the seat in front of Kyoko, which she was saving a seat for me. Muchitsujo, Noriko was in the 8th grade as I was. Noriko was almost a full year older than I was, but like myself, she advanced two grades higher. She always acted like the boss of our group. Noriko had long jet-black hair and brown eyes. She wore an orange T-shirt and a black Forager vest. She also had a pair of folded-up urban camouflage ripstop BDU trousers. Corcoran boots and gray socks adorned her feet. She had black Nomex deerskin gloves on her hands. She also wore a black Bancroft military beret. A black canvas purse was slung over her shoulders.

Hinotama, Hoshi was in the 7th grade. Hoshi was the same age as I. She advanced to the 7th grade just last semester. She hopes to advance another grade. Hoshi and Noriko have been childhood friends ever since I have met them. Hoshi had short blue hair and blue eyes. 'Genetics.' Hoshi was almost dressed like Noriko. However, she wore a white shirt and her trousers were dyed sky blue. She had a pair of black Altama Ranger boots with light blue socks. Instead of a beret, she wore a large black wool watch cap. The buckle of her black butt pack was visible around her waist.

Higami, Kyoko was still in the 6th grade. Kyoko did not have a chance to advance to a higher grade, but she still was one of the top students. She has no ambition to advance yet. Kyoko used to have long dark brown hair. She dyed it lighter to match mine a few months ago, and has done so since. Her eyes were dark brown. She had a white T-shirt with a sleeveless pink sweater over it. She wore a blue denim skirt that cut below her knees. She had the same pair of Matterhorn Ranger boots with pink socks like the ones I was wearing now. A khaki purse, not like mine, was around her shoulders. She also had an Aussie Breezer hat that was dyed pink.

I know what you are thinking. Kyoko seemed to worship me in some way for awhile now. She always took care of things for me. I always asked her not to but she insists. I hate that. However, do not let that generous exterior fool you. She can sometimes take things too seriously and sometimes blow things way out of proportions. Kyoko was in fact the one that started the whole Chiba-Tsukino, Usagi incident. Threatening Usagi that only I could wear pink! It still angers me that Kyoko actually did that to her. I thought she was better than that!

"Hey, Meems!" greeted Hoshi.

Noriko just gave me her silent nod of her head. She was always liked to play tough.

"Love your new hat!" said Hoshi.

"Me too! If I knew you were bringing that to camp I would have brought mine!" said Kyoko.

'Kyoko, so eager to please…'

"Thanks guys," I replied. They were my best friends at school. Still, every time I spend with them, the more it feels like I knew them lesser each time. I am starting to feel it even more now.

Kyoko stood up from her aisle seat and moved out to the aisle. "I saved a seat for you, Mimi. Here, have a seat by the window," she said as she gestured to the empty seats. There was no use in refusing Kyoko. She would always insist when it came for my sake. I still hate it. I just did not want to go through her arguments right now. I just took the window seat as Kyoko sat down beside me.

"Thanks, Kyoko."

"You can put your purse in the overhead compartment if you want."

"No thanks, I rather have it with me," I replied.

"Okay. Anything for you, Mimi."

'I hate it when she says that.' I found myself saying, "Thanks, Kyoko."

"Your welcome! Hey! Definitely traveling in style, right Mimi?" Kyoko said.

"Yeah," I said dully.

"Um, you okay, Mimi?" said Kyoko.

"I am sorry. Um, just a little tired. I had a rough night last night." That was not the half of it, but I think she bought it.

"Oh okay. You just go ahead and rest a bit. It's going to be a long ride."

'Great, just great,' I thought in disgust. I said, "Thank you for your concern, Kyoko."

"Hey, Meems. I saw you talking to that blonde cutie over there," said Hoshi.

"Hmm? Who?" I asked.

"The two blonde kids. I think they are brothers," said Kyoko.

"I think they're cute," giggled Hoshi.

"The taller one is mine," Noriko finally said something.

I sighed, 'Great. They always get like this when there are cute boys around. I had to enroll in an all-girl school.'

I just wanted to ignore them. I guess I was actually tired…

~~~

5 minutes later…
Leaving Odaiba Bus Terminal

A dream…

Two voices.

"Reinheit… Junshin…"

"Kenntnis… Chishiki…"

Hoshi's voice… "Hey, that red head kid has a laptop."

Kyoko's voice… "Not as cool as your Strawberry, Mimi."

I heard my name and finally woke up. I noticed that the coach was finally moving. "W-what, you guys?" I asked, still a bit groggy.

"That short red-head sitting by that tall dork has a laptop just like yours Mimi," said Noriko.

"Yeah, but it is in the original pineapple color shell. It's not a cool pink like your Strawberry," said Kyoko.

I was not sure whom they were talking about. I looked in the direction where Kyoko was looking at. I saw a little boy with spiky red hair and very dark black eyes that took the aisle seat next to the tall blue haired boy. His eyes looked totally black from where I could see. He wore an orange dress shirt and a pair of olive drab cargo shorts. He had what appeared to be the new black Shaka Street Hiker shoes with purple trim and decorated with yellow lightning bolts. He also had bright green socks. On his hands he wore a pair of bright yellow Dave Larken ergonomic duty gloves.

I finally saw what my friends were talking about. This boy was busily typing away on his Pineapple brand laptop. I was amazed. He even had a custom made laptop back pack carrier case. I guess he too knew of the contraband items that did not include computers and such. I had to smile. I would have brought mine too, the Strawberry, but I had no room left in my purse. I just brought my Sony PalmNAVe. I do not think my friends knew I brought it along either.

I could barely make out the screen. It was in security mode in which only the user can see the screen clearly. However, what I saw amazed me. I could still see a familiar window and toolbars a bit. He was definitely using the Omni System Commander, a special programming language program! It was something I do not normally use because I am not that interested in programming that much. Just every so often still. However, by the rate this kid was working at the keyboard, he was definitely a pro! I started to admire this boy. He knew how to run his laptop. He was not surfing or playing games. He was actually doing computer language programs! 'Wow! He is really smart! He is really cute too! Something about his eyes strikes me… I wish I could know more abou-'

"What a loser. Probably surfing through hentai sites with that thing," I heard Noriko say.

My thoughts were interrupted by the banter from my friends. 'I could not believe she said that! How cruel! That was uncalled for!' I kept my eyes on the boy. I saw him flinch a bit. His eyes were twitching. He was really upset but he tried not to show it. He did not want to in anyway satisfy my friends' opinion of him. He just ignored them and continued typing away as if nothing was wrong. I caught a glimpse of the taller boy with glasses sharing the seat next to the boy with the laptop. He still kept the same stoic expression with his arms crossed and eyes closed. However, I could see the scowl beginning to form on his face. I looked at my friends in disgust.

'Oh God. Do not let them start this again…'

~~~

10 minutes later…
Odaiba Highway

"Which would you think, Kyoko? The geek or the dork?" said Noriko.

"I thought he was a nerd," said Kyoko.

"Geek, nerd, dork… What's the difference?" replied Noriko.

"So what do you think, Meems? The computer geek… is he cute or what?" asked Hoshi.

'Damn it!' I started to get really irritated. I was very embarrassed of myself, for the two boys, and for my friends. "Will you guys stop it! He can hear you!" I said in a loud whisper.

"So what? Let 'em. Not like he ever has a chance being with girls…" one of them said. I did not care whom.

I looked back at the red headed boy. His dark eyes were full of unleashed emotions. He buries himself even more into his programming. He tries not to cry or anything. 'I am so sorry about my friends. Please do not cry. I am so sorry.'

All I could do was ignore my friends…

'When will this to end?'

~~~

Minutes passed…

I pretended to sleep. My hearing was starting to get effected by the high altitude. Still, it could not prevent me from hearing my friends… my associates continuous ranting…

"…yeah right, the blonde kid's mine..."

"The geek is more like your taste, Noriko…"

"Yeah, and the dork is your height too…"

"Shut up…"

"What do you think, Meems?"

"Mimi?"

"Quite, you two! Can't you see she's trying to get some beauty sleep."

"Yeah, right… I am starting to worry about Mimi now…"

"Well, maybe she'll start beginning to like the computer geek… or maybe even the dork…"

Laughing…

'Damn them all…'

~~~

26 minutes later…
Odaiba Mountain Pass

"Hey look! Isn't it snowing over there?"

"Whoa! It is snowing! Snowing in the valley there."

I heard a lot of kids saying ooh's and ahh's. I felt Kyoko climbing over me. I guessed she wanted to get a better view of what ever it was out there. I finally found the time to wake up and glanced out the window. We were in the higher roads just past the clouds. What I saw struck me as odd. In the far distance from the Odaiba pass, I could see a valley. It was all covered with… snow! It was snowing in the adjoining valley to where the campsite was! The weather patterns seemed to be getting worse than I thought. I hope the snow does not reach the campsite. I did not bring enough warm clothes. They might have to cancel the whole summer camp session.

'Would be fine by me.'

"Have you ever seen the like?" I heard someone say.

"Never."

"Cool. I wonder if it would snow at camp."

"A chance to play in the snow! At least it won't be a totally hot summer."

Well, it was very interesting. While everyone was busy looking out toward that side of the coach, I decided to look back at the boy with the laptop. He was interested and was looking at the snow from his seat as well. The blue haired boy with glasses was too, but turned back to his usual stoic position when he saw me looking at both of them. Then the red headed boy's dark eyes meet with mine. I did not know what to do. I felt so bad at what happened with my friends, and I did nothing to stop it. The only thing I could think of was to show my sympathy to him. I was so sorry. I gave him a reassuring smile and waved politely to him. After what seemed like minutes, he just turned quickly away. His face mixed with bottled emotions. He started to work again on his laptop…

I felt so terrible when he turned away like that. I faced forward again despite Kyoko still hovering over me. All I could think of was, 'He definitely hates me now…'

~~~

15 minutes later…
Odaiba Mountain Camp Grounds

I was awakened from my reverie by a voice. A very familiar and irritating voice…

"Mimi, we're here!" cried Kyoko.

"Oh, okay," I replied. I yawned a bit to give her the impression I was sleeping all this time.

"Well, we're getting ready to go."

"Okay, Kyoko."

A lot of kids where gathering their belongings and headed out the exit doors. I wanted to check on the boy again. Unfortunately, all I saw was the tall boy in his usual stoic position with an empty seat next to him. The red head boy had already left his seat and quickly exited out the door, along with his Pineapple laptop. I do not think my friends noticed or even cared that he left in a hurry. 'Funny, since they picked on him the whole trip. Those inconsiderate bit-'

'Wait! Pineapple! That message! What did it say?'

Palms read…

…follow the pineapple

I remembered it was something like that. 'Did it have something to do with him? I wonder if he knew about it. I wonder if he sent the message. Nah, that cannot be! Still, I have to get to the bottom of this!' With all of these questions swimming in my head, I had to check my mailbox on my Sony PalmNAVe just to be sure-

"Aren't you coming yet, Meems," asked Noriko.

"No, you three go on ahead. I just have to check on something…" I replied.

"You sure? You need help, Mimi?" asked Kyoko.

'Damn it! I wished she would just shut the f-' I said, "No thank you, Kyoko. You guys go on ahead. I will meet you later. It will be just a second or so."

"All rightly then, see ya at the cabin," said Hoshi as she got out of her seat to let Noriko a chance to get out of her seat. "Bye, Meems."

'I would rather be swallowed up by a giant whale.' I replied, "Bye, Hoshi."

"Bye, Meems," said Noriko as she waved to me and followed Hoshi toward the exit. "I am sure we would have a load of fun together."

'I would rather be walking in the sewers or have a rain of crap hurled at me.' I smiled and said, "I am sure too. Bye."

"See you later, Mimi," Kyoko said with a wink and she followed Noriko and Hoshi.

"Bye, Kyoko. Bye, guys." I said with a fake smile. 'Yes, bye, you inconsiderate…'

I watched them leave. They started to laugh amongst themselves as they walked towards the exit. I was totally disgusted and frustrated with them. No doubt they were continuing their rant about the boy with the Pineapple laptop or that tall boy with the glasses. I would not be surprise if they were insulting me behind my back now because of my refusal to participate in any of their antics. I would care even less if they were. I sometimes wonder about my friends. Never have I shared anything more about my life. Me being adopted, my total fascination with computers. All they know is masks I wear. They only see the fashionable, popular, rich, ditzy, Pink Princess. That is the Mimi Tachikawa they know. They do not know the real me. 'I am going to keep it that way!'

'I do not think I can call them my friends anymore… For the first time in my life, I hate them! I HATE THEM! And I hate what I have become! They see me as an equal to them… And I did nothing to stop them from hurting innocent strangers…'

Just a few kids were left on the bus. One of them was the blue haired boy with glasses. I wanted to apologize to him now for my friends' cruel behavior. Those things they said were uncalled for. I stood and faced him. However, he just stood up from his seat with his eyes closed and his face did not show any emotion I could read.

'Great, he is ignoring me. I have no chance to apologize, not now at least. I still have to try. It is still the right thing for me to do. He might not let me, though. I cannot blame him.'

As he was about to walk down the aisle, he all of a sudden turned unexpectedly back toward me. He was not facing nor looking directly at me, sort of off the side. His eyes were not exactly opened to begin with. His glasses were slipping down his nose. He slowly pushed it up with his middle finger, turned, and continued on out toward the exit. If I did not know better, I could have sworn that this older boy just gave me… the finger.

I covered my face in disgust. I muttered to myself, "Oh great. Could this summer get any worse?"

The End