Life Before the Digiworld II

by Cybra

A/N: Original title, ne? That was sarcasm, folks. For a while now, I've been thinking about doing this from Junpuu's POV. It works pretty much like "Life Before the Digiworld", only this time, Junpuu's telling the story. This will fill in a few of the holes that the first one left out. Remember, the narration goes from 3rd person, to 1st person, and back again. Have fun!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Digimon. If I did, I'd be making vookoo bucks selling the products and writing the episodes. Instead, I'm one of the insane members of the masses who buys what Digimon stuff they can get their hands on. I presently own Digimon trading cards, a few Digimon battle cards, and the first issue of the Digimon manga!!! And it's the collector's edition to boot!!!

RECAP

Tai: We were fighting Scarleomon when Kyra, the Guardian of the Gates of the Knowledge Temple, gave us a helping hand. She had been absorbed into the power that Izzy had taken on a little while ago. I was a little cautious at first, but it turns out that she's on our side! Pretty cool, huh? Well, we were attacked by Maritarimon who digivolved into Megamaritarimon thanks to the Crest of Deception. Angemon digivolved to MagnaAngemon just in time to save our lives! That's when Gennai told us that a Dark Digidestined named Seiya Fukachi was in the Digiworld. Talk about your bad news!

Junpuu stretched out on her stomach upon the ground...much to Mimi's disgust. The group was taking a break from all the constant walking they did. She didn't really see a point to all the walking to nowhere, but at least the view wasn't bad. She pulled one of her notebooks out of her backpack along with a pencil. Using a small, hand-powered pencil sharpener, she quickly sharpened the pencil to a point and began drawing away.

Cybra was absolutely fascinated by the pencil sharpener and the pencil. Not to mention the notebook, but the pencil sharpener was incredible to her. She'd never really seen it before since she and the other Digimon were usually on alert, searching the area for enemies, but had seen the pencil and notebook before. Kyra plopped down beside her Digimon friend.

"Whassup?" Kyra asked in a deep voice.

"Nothin' much." Cybra picked up the pencil sharpener. "What's this thing?"

"It's a pencil sharpener. Sharpens the tip of a pencil so you can write or draw stuff." Kyra elbowed her. "What's the matter? Never seen one before?"

Cybra raised an eyebrow. "You have exactly 10 seconds to think about that question."

Kyra thought about it. "Oh. Yeah. Duh."

"I knew you could figure out the answer on your own. You're a bright girl!" the Digimon cheerfully told the human as she ducked under a punch.

Junpuu looked up and grinned. That's when Kyra turned her attention to Junpuu's notebook and saw her and Cybra's picture there. The two of them were talking together with Cybra punching Kyra in the arm.

"No fair drawing us without us knowing!" Kyra protested.

"Well, you both look SO cute together, that I couldn't resist!" Junpuu teased, poking her friend.

The younger girl glanced at where her friend Izzy had disappeared into the forest with Tai, Matt, Joe, and their respective Digimon to find some food. Kari and TK were rolling around in the soft grass with Patamon zooming down and joining them. Meanwhile, Gatomon was sharpening her claws on a tree...which created some very impressive slash marks in the bark. Sora, Mimi, and their Digimon were resting and talking.

Cybra leaned forward to Junpuu, "Hey, Junpuu? You never told us exactly how you met Izzy."

Junpuu rolled her eyes. "It's a very long story."

The other human glanced at the sun which was climbing high into the sky. "We appear to have plenty of time."

Junpuu looked from Cybra's pleading blue eyes to Kyra's interested blue eyes that were hidden behind her glasses. The glasses slid down her nose and Kyra quickly shoved them back up. However, much to Kyra's disgust, they slid back down her nose.

Kyra muttered, "I never win."

"Okay," the younger human relented.

Have you ever met up with someone who you knew would become your best friend? Who would look out for you through thick and thin? Who would stand by you when you needed them the most?

Neither did I.

Come on. In this world today, those kind of people are one in a billion.

When I first met up with Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, I had no idea that this guy would be that one person. I was scribbling away in one of my notebooks in Miss Naru's class while Umi and Yaten were doing God-knew-what in the corner. Miss Naru had stepped out of class for a moment when the principal had stopped by. I wasn't too frightened for myself. After all, I hadn't done anything wrong.

"Class! Yoo-hoo!" Miss Naru called for our attention. Never mind the fact that we were the only 3. "I'd like you to meet our new student. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

The new kid looked like he wanted to disappear. I could relate. My first day in this class hadn't been great either. I studied him carefully. Short, bush-like red hair, dark eyes, kinda pale, orange shirt, khaki shorts, green socks, and a pair of Lightning sneakers. He was also wearing a backpack with what appeared to be a yellow laptop. Interesting...

"My name is Koushiro Izumi, but everybody calls me 'Izzy'," he answered nervously.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Izzy" sounded a lot like "tizzy" or "dizzy". It was almost funny, but I kept my mouth shut. I stood up, deciding to make the transition into this class a little easier by telling him my name. I walked over to him and shook his yellow-gloved hand.

"Hey there, Izzy. The name's Junpuu."

The two of us exchanged friendly smiles before the new kid sat down and pulled out his laptop. I sat back down at my notebook and began drawing away. I wanted to use my free time for something less than productive.

As I walked down the street about a week later, I realized that I had left the book I'd been reading back at the school. I cursed silently to myself as I turned around and began to walk back. My parents would've been thrilled to hear the language I used. I would've been grounded for a month if I was lucky. I was lucky that Miss Naru stayed at school until 4 o'clock or I would've had to wait until tomorrow to pick up my book.

I rushed back the way I had come, not fully registering the sound of two people arguing down an alley, until I reached Miss Naru's classroom.

"Junpuu, I believe you forgot this," Miss Naru said, handing my book to me and smiling.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, Miss Naru! See ya!"

"See you tomorrow!"

I walked back down the same street when I heard the sound of somebody cry out. I paused listening. Sure enough, I heard the sound again. I turned down the alley to see a sight that I always hated.

Seiya Fukachi, son of the principal and the biggest jerk you ever saw, was holding some kid against one of the buildings. He picked up the smaller kid and threw him backwards. The redhead cried out in pain. That's when I realized that I knew that redhead.

I'd never really gotten to know Izzy. We'd ask each other questions about assignments, but nothing else really. He mostly kept to himself. I usually left him alone. However, I wouldn't stand by and allow Seiya to beat the snot out of someone who was powerless against him.

I put my book in my backpack and ran up to the slightly-taller boy. Seiya pulled his fist back to punch Izzy's lights out, but couldn't bring it forward as I latched onto his wrist. He turned and saw me, staring wide-eyed at the fact that someone had dared oppose him.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I demanded.

"Like you?" Seiya sneered.

"Yeah. Like me."

I fought bravely...all the while thinking "my parents are going to kill me". When he was about to slam his fist down on my face, another fist hit him in the jaw. He stumbled back while I turned to see who had punched him.

"Hmmm...for some odd reason, I found that weirdly satisfying," Izzy muttered.

"Yeah, I bet," I noted, thankful for the assistance.

"You two are gonna pay for this!" Seiya yelled at us.

In no time flat, we were up against the wall. I'm sure I wasn't the only one out of Izzy and I that had cuts and bruises and places I didn't even know I had. Seiya looked about the same since we ganged up on him. Right now, he was ready to shred us into confetti.

That's when I discovered that Izzy and I must be on the save wavelength. Both of us, at the same time, in an unplanned attack, pulled our feet back and kicked him in the left shin. Needless to say, he dropped to the ground and we decided to book it.

We didn't stop running until we made it to the fountain in the middle of the park. Izzy was leaning over the water and panting while I was just leaning against the fountain. I heard Izzy moan.

I turned to see my own reflection in the water and saw the impressive cuts and bruises on my face. Ah, yes. The Angel of Beauty I was not.

"My parents are going to go ballistic," I muttered.

"MY parents are going to KILL me," Izzy groaned. "This is the SECOND time I've had a fight against Seiya. It's also the first time I've fought BACK against him."

We both moaned and sat down on the edge of the fountain. I took a silent inventory on all that hurt. It was a pretty long list.

"So, what'd you do that caused him to want to beat the snot outta you?" I asked bluntly.

"He wanted to finish that fight we had about a week ago." He leaned over the fountain and splashed cold water on his face. Then, turned to me and smiled. "Thanks for coming to my rescue."

I grinned back. "No problem." I thought for a moment. "You know somethin'? We got off on the wrong foot. I think we should start over."

He looked at me quizzically, but answered, "Okay..."

I grabbed his right hand in my own and cheerfully shook it. I began, "Hi, my name is Junpuu Hino..."

I didn't get to finish as he burst out laughing.

From that moment on, we were practically joined at the hip. Seiya had decided to steer clear of the two of us for a little while. He was probably waiting for us to split up, but that didn't look like it'd happen any time soon.

As we walked toward my family's apartment two weeks later, Izzy walking beside me, we were having the most important argument of the century.

"I still say that Heero could kick Duo's butt!" I argued.

"When he's in the Wing Zero, yeah. But if he was in Wing, Duo in the Deathscythe would slice and dice him," Izzy stated.

Ah, yes. The Question of the Ages: Which Gundam pilot in what mobile suit could kick another Gundam pilot's butt? It turned out that a love of "Gundam Wing" was one of the things that we had in common. I was presently trying to show Izzy the errors of his thinking as we walked towards my abode.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there," I consented. "But Wing IS more powerful than Deathscythe."

Izzy thought for a moment. "What about the Deathscythe Hell?"

That's when I thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that Deathscythe Hell would kick Wing's butt, but not Wing Zero." I suddenly grinned. "What about Wing Zero versus the Zero-enhanced Sandrock Hai?"

I let Izzy stew over that question as we reached my front door. I unlocked the front door since my parents were out for a couple of hours doing shopping. We walked through the clean living room into my very messy bedroom. Izzy picked his way through a few of the breakables on the floor.

"Actually, I think that Sandrock would win in that battle. After all, Quatre was able to master the Zero System on the second try. It took Heero, I think, three tries to master the Zero System," he finally answered.

Dang. He had me there. I opted not to show off my annoyance at him as I flopped down on my bed. Izzy chose a corner of my dresser, the only other place he could sit. He pulled out his folder with the homework assignment.

"Did you understand the assignment? The one on mythology?" he asked nervously.

"Sorta. We're supposed to think of some sort of creative project in order to display a Roman god or goddess and their Greek counterparts. I picked Venus-slash-Aphrodite. Who'd you pick?"

"Mars. Also known as Ares to the Greeks."

Izzy never failed to amaze me. A non-violent, pacifist kinda guy chooses the god of war to do his project on. Unbelievable.

"I'm not sure that Relena, your mentor, would be pleased," I teased.

That got the desired result: the narrowing of the eyes, annoyed frown, and left hand on his hip. Both of us thought that if Relena Peacecraft, one of the characters from "Gundam Wing", spontaneously combusted, the show wouldn't suffer at all.

"So what's the problem with the project?" I asked.

"Well...I'm not that great of an artist or anything, but maybe I could---"

"JUNPUU HINO! WHAT IS THAT BOY DOING IN YOUR ROOM?!" came the angry, not to mention painful, shout of my mother.

Izzy nearly fell off the dresser as I sat up into a sitting position on the bed.

"Hi, Mom," I greeted nervously.

"Hello, Mrs. Hino," Izzy greeted in the same tone of voice.

Mom took a second look at Izzy and pointed towards the living room.

"You. Out. Now."

Izzy only hesitated for a second, glancing at me. I merely nodded, I might as well face this alone. He scampered out the door. I heard the sound of the front door close as he left a second later

Mom was about as happy as a dog with a tick on him. She had her arms crossed and had that classic "I am not amused" look on her face. I was in DEEP trouble now.

"Come out here, Junpuu. Your father and I want to talk to you," she stated in a disturbingly calm tone.

Oh, yes. I was in deep crud now. I was about 6 feet under, if not farther.

"But nothing happened!" I protested a few minutes later as I sat in a chair across from my parents in the living room. "Mom, I swear nothing happened!!!"

Okay, I guess I should tell you why my parents went ballistic. You see, they'd seen Izzy's shoes at the front door, but didn't know whose they were. They thought I'd brought a friend over. As in, a friend that was a girl. When Mom peeked in on us, she saw Izzy and apparently thought that he was my boyfriend or something. Needless to say, she flipped out because she thought we'd been...you know...It's too embarrassing to say!

"I'm just saying that you should stay away from that boy. Not just because of what has just happened, but also because I know that's the same boy who caused you to get into a fight with that bully."

"Well, yeah, Mom. Izzy's the same guy, but I don't see how that---"

Dad leaned over towards me, obviously supporting Mom.

"Junpuu, he may look good and act nice to you, but he's trouble."

'Thanks, Dad. I really wanted to hear you say that,' I thought sarcastically.

"But, DAD," I whined. "Izzy's just a friend! Besides, he's not trouble! It wasn't exactly his fault that I got into that fight. I CHOSE to help him!"

"No buts, young lady!" he angrily told me. "You are not allowed to talk to him."

"Dad, we see each other every day in class. We have to talk to each other."

Mom and Dad paused, thinking about that statement. I sat back and tried not to think evil thoughts towards them. If I got overly angry, they might send me to confession or something. Not like we have confession at a Methodist church, but you never know.

Mom finally said, "All right. However, you may not spend time when not in class with him for a week."

"A WEEK?!" I shrieked.

"Mind your mother, Junpuu."

"But-but-but--"

Mom continued what was sure to be a death sentence to me, "We want you to start hanging around other girls your age, make some friends with them."

Hang around with other girls? No. She had to be kidding!

You see, I am NOT a girly-girl (like Mimi) and not a tomboy wannabe (like Sora). I am completely clueless on makeup, clothes, and other things to do with my looks, I abhor shopping and only shop when it's necessary (or there's something I can't live without), and I don't go walking for hours on end just window shopping everyday like most girls do. I might as well BE a guy! Oh sure, I'll wear a necklace (now and then) and a dress (if I have to), but on a regular basis? That's asking WAY too much.

"What happens if I don't?" I asked cautiously.

"The week'll be extended to a month," Dad answered.

I gulped. They had me. I couldn't get out of this one. If I argued, I was toast. Who knew what they'd make me do if I blew off the extended time period AND the week? I sighed in surrender, praying that Izzy would forgive me.

The next day at school, I trudged into class, head hung low. I'd woken up depressed and I was going to continue the day depressed. Luckily, I had gotten my Aphrodite/Venus project done. One thing that I learned about the goddess of love: I hate her.

Kinda ironic that one of the two people I despise (well...one person; Mimi's coming off my list slowly but surely) would have the Crest of Love.

I slouched in my desk (actually, my half of a table) and pulled out my notebook, aiming to do some doodling before class started. I had come in early because I didn't want to meet up with Izzy in the hall where we usually meet. I sighed.

Yaten and Umi were still out in the hall (eating each other's faces as usual). I knew I'd be alone for at least 10 minutes. That's when Miss Naru walked in. She gave me a concerned look.

"Junpuu? Are you all right?" she asked.

I shook my head. If I lied, she would've seen right through it. She pulled up a chair and sat next to me.

"What's wrong? Did you and Izzy have a fight or something? I've never seen you this down before."

Okay, the reason Miss Naru asked if Izzy and I had a fight was because she knew that we'd become best friends almost overnight. We spent more and more time chatting with each other as we worked on our assignments. She'd moved Izzy across from me so that we could easily talk to one another when we were working. That way we wouldn't have to send up smoke signals or something. We had a large room, but so few people in it. Administration had major league screwed up.

I told Miss Naru about what had happened the day before. She listened quietly and nodded her head occasionally.

"So that's what's bothering you," she stated, thinking it all over.

I nodded. "The worst part is that I don't know how Izzy's going to react."

Miss Naru looked at me kindly. "Actually, Izzy's still waiting in the hall for you. I think he thinks that you might be running late or are sick."

I slouched even farther down. At the last second, Izzy raced into the room, barely making it before the bell rang.

Miss Naru stood up, but whispered quickly, "You can talk to him now."

I looked confused for a moment, then realized what Miss Naru was getting at. Mom had said outside of class I couldn't talk with him, but never said anything about talking to him while IN class! A loophole! How could I have not seen it?! My whole attitude brightened.

Izzy walked over to his seat and sat down. He looked a little bummed until he noticed me. I waved cheerfully and nervously at him. He returned my wave, confused.

"Why weren't you in the hall?"

I explained, "Here's the long and short of it: my parents think you're trouble and said that I can't talk to you outside of class for a week."

Izzy raised an amused eyebrow. "They think that I'M trouble? They should meet Seiya."

Miss Naru was passing out our assignments for the day and said if we needed help, to just ask her. I love this class better than the GSP program that we have here. The GSP program is the same curriculum as normal classes, but at a SLIGHTLY faster rate. Here you were allowed to figure things out on your own...which I really liked!

I laughed. "Yeah, well. So, what's happening?"

He shifted uncomfortably. Uh oh. Bad news cometh.

"Well while I was waiting for you outside, I heard some of the guys talking."

"Eavesdropper."

"I didn't mean it!" he defended himself. "Anyway, guess who was the topic of their conversation."

"I hate guessing games!" I moaned, but consented. "Usagi?"

"Nope."

"Rei?"

"Uh uh."

"You?"

"Uh...that was a different conversation. It was Seiya."

"Seiya?! Seiya's boys were talking about him behind his back?!" I laughed.

Izzy shifted uncomfortably again as he began working on his stack of assignments. I was doing the same, only not shifting uncomfortably. While I may not be a girly-girl, I always keep one ear open in the school gossip chain. Gossip was a good way to learn what was going on. After a little practice, you can figure out what's true, what's false, and what's been exaggerated.

"So, what was Seiya's group talking about?"

"Apparently, Seiya's trying to hook himself a girlfriend."

I raised both eyebrows. This was BIG news. If Seiya could find himself a girlfriend, the Apocalypse wasn't far behind.

"So, who's he fishing for?"

Now Izzy squirmed with embarrassment as he muttered two words. I didn't hear it.

"Say it again, Izzy?"

"Junpuu Hino."

Me, being the brilliant girl I am, immediately laughed and said, "That girl's got him on her tail? I feel sorry for her!" I suddenly stopped laughing, finally understanding. "Wait a second! That's ME!!!"

"Brilliant, Sherlock."

"Dear God, no! Izzy, tell me you're lying!"

He looked at me in the eyes. That's when he answered, "I wish I was."

I gagged. No! Not me! ANYBODY but me!

"Why me?!" I demanded.

Izzy continued to scribble (not write; his handwriting's not the best) on the assignment sheet in front of him.

"Apparently, a certain someone thoroughly impressed him and he's become quite attracted to that someone."

"Oh God..."

I would've started praying right then and there, but since this was school, I would've been performing an illegal act. Isn't that always the way?

I'll admit this to you, but if you tell Izzy, you die:

I'm attracted to that short computer nerd.

I can remember the exact second I fell for him. I don't dare tell him since I'm afraid it'll ruin our friendship, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to start pining from a distance. Izzy would probably start making sarcastic comments about my change in behavior. So what do I do?

I merely bug him even more than I used to.

The two of us had been walking towards the Izumi apartment a week later from the ice cream shop on 3rd street. I was lickin' my Rocky Road while Izzy was eating his "Suicide Special" (as I like to call it). He always goes for the choice of mixing different flavors. His favorite mix? Rocky Road-Triple Fudge Ripple-Caramel-Cookies and Cream. I think it's the most disgusting thing on earth. He thinks it's the best ice cream he's ever had.

That boy is sometimes too bizarre for my taste.

"So here I was, walking through a mall with 4 other 4th grade girls, and trying to look natural about it. You should've seen me! I was looking at everything while trying not to act bored. Meanwhile, the quartet is over there giggling maniacally at this one outfit that one of them has tried on. I wanted to go home right then and there, but they were my ride," I tell him, telling him all my adventures of trying to hang around other fourth grade girls.

Izzy chuckled. He scooped a bit of what looked like Triple Fudge Ripple into his mouth. However, I could be wrong. It might've been Cookies and Cream.

"So then what happened?"

I rolled my eyes. "Then they told me to pick out an outfit and try it on. I told them that I wasn't going to do it, but they kept bugging me so I did it. It was the most UGLY thing I had ever seen. I just grabbed it off the rack, not even bothering to look at it, put it on, and showed it to those four." I moaned. "I was so embarrassed when they started telling me that it looked good on me! I hated it! It was this little two-piece ensemble with a skirt and a Britney Spears tight shirt on that showed my midriff."

He could barely contain his laughter anymore. He started laughing his hardest as he gasped, "I know!"

"Yeah, I bet." Then I paused, considering what he'd just said. "Wait a second...you were there, WEREN'T YOU?!"

"Yeah!" he laughed. "I was...getting a gift for...my mom's birthday..."

He didn't finish his sentence, he was too busy laughing. I smacked him upside the head lightly. That's when Kino, my boyfriend at the time (don't look at me like that), walked up. He smiled at me and Izzy. Izzy, somehow sensing that we needed to be alone, discreetly made his exit.

"See ya later, you two lovebirds! I forgot I had something to do today!" Izzy called, taunting me at the same time.

"See ya, loser!" I called back to him, much to his amusement.

Kino stopped smiling as soon as Izzy walked out of sight. He had his umbrella with him since it was about to rain. He pulled me close to him as he popped it open. I tried my hardest not to get what was left of my Rocky Road ice cream on his shirt. The raindrops then began to fall.

"Junpuu, we gotta talk."

"Sure, Kino. What is it?" I asked, totally unaware of what was going to take place.

"I..." he sighed. "We shouldn't be seeing each other anymore."

I looked at him, confused and disbelieving. "Why not?"

"First off...Junpuu, it's not you, so don't think that way. It's just...I've been...well...lying to you." He looked at me squarely in the eye. "I'm not 10 like I told you."

I admit, he was tall for a fourth grader, but he didn't look any older than 10 years old. I always assumed he had tall parents and that's where he got it from.

"I'm actually 13." Oh, God. "I've also been...well...using you. To get back at my girlfriend."

My heart literally fell to my feet. I mean it, too. I actually felt it do that. I kept a straight face for him.

"I see," I stated.

"Listen, Junpuu...I know this is hard and I'm really sorry...but I just wanted to say that it's over between us."

"I understand. Go home to what's-her-name, okay?"

Kino nodded, smiling slightly. "You got it." He gave me a quick hug, then vanished from my view as he walked away.

I wandered around in the rain until I saw Izzy leaning on the balcony outside his front door. I had somehow ended up at his family's apartment building. I still don't know how I got there, either. He suddenly looked down and saw me. He paused, then ran from the balcony. Moments later, he was there to let me into his apartment building.

"Jeez, Junpuu! I can't leave you alone for 5 minutes! You're soakin' wet!" Izzy scolded as he led me upstairs. "C'mon. Mom's makin' tea. That should help warm you up. We can also get you dried off."

I nodded numbly as he got me inside. Mrs. Izumi freaked for a second (I looked like a drowned rat) before she demanded that I get into the bathroom and take a shower. That freaked me out, but she didn't listen to my protests. She told Izzy to search his closet for something that might fit me while she hustled me into the bathroom.

I was still in the shower when Mrs. Izumi came in with a set of dry clothes after taking my wet clothes out to be dried. I didn't recognize them as Izzy's at all. A black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans? They couldn't have come from Izzy's closet. Right?

"I'll make some tea if you'd like, Junpuu...no wait. You hate tea. How about some hot cocoa?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Izumi."

She left again. To say the least, I felt weird. Here I was, a 10 year-old girl, taking a shower in the home of a 10 year-old guy who I barely knew and getting warmed-up after being dumped by another guy who had turned out to be a teenager.

Nah. I had no reason to feel weird. That's perfectly normal.

I toweled off and put on the dry clothes. I felt warmer already. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Izzy was running to get something from his room, skidded when he tried to avoid me, and spun out into the wall. He stood up and muttered something under his breath.

"Graceful as well as handsome," I teased blandly.

"Ha ha. I was getting my slippers for you. After all, your feet must be cold."

I nodded as I walked into the living room and sat on the couch. He went into his room and retrieved his slippers. He walked back to me and set them down in front of me in silence; then he sat next to me. I put them on while looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

They say that when you go through a breakup, you sometimes hit something called a "rebound". That's where you seem to fall in love with somebody else, but it's not real love. When I gazed at him, I saw that his control had slipped. His normally unreadable eyes shone with concern as he watched me. I'd never seen him do that before. That's when a weird feeling hit me. I felt attracted to Izzy immediately.

'It's only the rebound, Junpuu,' I told myself. 'Nothing else.'

It turned out that I wasn't having a rebound like I had hoped. I was really sold on him. I waited for weeks for it to go away, but it didn't. Maybe Kino had blinded me to it; I dunno. However, when it was a day before school picture day, I thought I was going to kill my best friend.

I smiled at Izzy as he waited for me in the hall. He smiled as I walked up to him, then gawked. I had been getting these weird looks from many people, including my parents, so I thought it was because I was wearing a different outfit than I normally would've. The cross Izzy had given me still hung proudly around my neck.

"What?" I asked. "Does it really look that bad?"

"Your...face..."

"What about it?"

"It looks like some vandal attacked it."

"WHAT?!"

I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into Miss Naru's classroom. Yaten and Umi had been kicked out about a month before, so we were the only two students. I looked at the screen of Izzy's laptop after I ripped it out of his backpack. I gazed at my reflection in the shiny screen.

Right there, on my cheek, was the ugliest green splotch you could've ever seen.

"Excellent. I'm going to have a green spot on my cheek that looks like a turtle for school picture day. My parents must love this."

"It doesn't look like a turtle," Izzy assured me.

I smiled. 'Ah, my only friend...'

"It looks more like a mushroom!" Izzy told me cheerfully.

I frowned. '...is going to die.'

That's when, to add insult to injury, Miss Naru walked in. She took one look at my cheek and gaped.

"Junpuu, what happened?"

"I think I might've fallen asleep on one of my pens," I grumbled.

God, it was only a little green spot...one that could ruin my beautiful school picture that my parents were looking forward to having. No big deal.

"It looks like a frog," she stated.

I grumbled again, not really saying anything. Miss Naru smiled and led me towards the door.

"Don't worry. I know something that'll take that right out. Izzy? Watch the room for me, will you?"

"Sure thing, Miss Naru." Just before we left, he called to me, "Hey, Junpuu! Wait a sec!"

I stopped and looked at him. "What?"

He cocked his head to one side as he said, "I think I see the frog."

Miss Naru had to drag me out of there before I killed him. I may like him, but there are days when I can REALLY hate him.

"So that's the story," Junpuu finished. That's how I met Izzy and that's how I came about liking him, but tell him and you're dead."

Cybra and Kyra sat there in silence. Junpuu fiddled with one of her pencils for a moment, uncomfortable with that silence.

"Don't tell me. You think it's the stupidest thing you've ever heard."

Cybra shrugged. "How the heck should I know? I'm still kinda new to this love stuff."

Kyra added, "But if you like Izzy, you should turn around."

Junpuu turned and saw Izzy standing behind her, head cocked to one side. She paled.

"How much did you hear?" Junpuu asked.

"Oh, about from when you were talking about your parents meeting me for the first time."

"Oh crud."

Izzy merely jerked his head to indicate a direction. Junpuu stood and followed him as they walked away from the main group. Kyra and Cybra looked at each other for a moment. Then, a pair of smiles the Cheshire Cat would've been proud of spread across their faces.

"Should we follow them?" Cybra asked.

"Oh, yes. Perfect blackmail opportunity."

The two of them followed their friends. Tentomon joined them quickly. The trio quickly found their friends standing there, talking.

"You like me, huh?" Izzy asked without preamble.

Junpuu hung her head. "Yeah...stupid, isn't it?"

Much to her surprise, he chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"All this time, I've been hiding the same thing from you since I was afraid of what you'd say."

The girl's turquoise eyes widened. "Same here! Freaky..."

"Still...I don't think either one of us is ready for a real relationship, are we?" Izzy asked.

Junpuu nodded her head in agreement, her brown hair falling into her face. She smiled and asked, "Maybe when we're older?"

Izzy shrugged. "Who knows? Still friends?"

He held out his hand, forgetting his manners. A woman is supposed to offer her hand first. However, Junpuu smiled and took it, shaking it.

"Still buds," she agreed, wording it a little differently.

The group heard Tai yelling everyone's names. Fearing that trouble was brewing, the pair began running to see their Digimon friends and their human friend Kyra running in front of them. They exchanged a look.

"Kill them later?" Junpuu asked.

"Oh, yes."

When they ran back to the clearing, they saw TK being held by Matt while Kari was in Tai's arms. The two older brothers were panicking over their little siblings. Joe ran over to them, Gomamon at his side. Gatomon and Patamon were gathering everybody else, frightened looks on their faces.

After a quick examination, Joe gave a diagnosis.

"It looks like a bad case of the flu, Tai. I'm betting that Kari is having a relapse and also gave it to TK."

Matt was shaking almost as bad as Tai was. The group members looked at each other in fear. The two youngest children were lying limply in their older bothers' arms, shivering slightly. Izzy could tell by the way Tai was acting that Kari must also have a fever.

Junpuu went over to the lake as she took out a small bandanna she always kept in her backpack for emergencies. She dipped it in the water, rang it out, then walked over to the group again. Joe took the wet piece of cloth and began to wipe off each of the younger children's foreheads, trying to cool down the fever.

"What we need is some aspirin," Sora stated.

"No, duh," Kyra snapped.

"What's aspirin?" Biyomon asked.

"We can ask later, Biyomon," Palmon answered.

Mimi reached into her purse and pulled out a handkerchief. She ran over to the lake and did the same as Junpuu had done with her bandanna. She returned and handed the wet handkerchief to Joe. Joe looked surprised, but placed the handkerchief on TK's forehead and laid the bandanna on Kari's forehead. Junpuu looked just as surprised...but it was a pleasant sort of surprise. She gave a smile to Mimi which Mimi happily returned.

"Where would we get any aspirin?" Matt asked.

Izzy thought for a moment. "Gennai might have something. If I remember where we are in the Digiworld correctly, Gennai's lake should be just over that mountain range."

The computer expert pulled out his laptop and did a quick check on their location with the map Gennai had given them. He nodded when he saw he was correct.

Now came the hard part. How would they get to Gennai's?

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: BWAHAHAHAHA! I'm so evil!!!

Kudos to: Kyra and her muse Matt, Her Royal Weirdness, Teya, Stephanie, Pix and her muses, Gomamon, ALL my readers at Fanfiction.Net, Kelly Moon, and most especially my muse Izzy. My minions!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Shameless promos: Digimon Isle, World Under Ours, Digimon Central, DigiLegend, Fanfiction.Net, and Kyra's Fanfic Archive. Who says I don't support my friends?

Now, for everyone's favorite part...

1 - Your talent was stolen by Vedamon!

2 - That was worse than Demidevimon!

3 - Wasn't too bad, but wasn't too good either.

4 - Was pretty good, but needs to digivolve a little bit so it's a little better.

5 - Your writing is pretty good.

6 - Woah! Joe might want to borrow your notes from English!

7 - Even Mimi couldn't complain about this!

8 - Tai must be slipping you info or something!

9 - Who are you? A professional writer who just happens to like Digimon?!

10 - Prodigious!