Chapter 22 : Fights & Life

Koushirou

Everytime you say something can't get worse, it does. So I won't say things can't get worse. I'll just say things are pretty damn bad. Our whole group is torn up, what's left of the digidestined. The date is Friday, October 24th. One week from Yamato's trial. Two weeks and a day since Takeru's death. I pulled my green coat closer around my body. It was really getting chilly. The trees were beautiful, dry colors of orange, red, yellow, and pink were everywhere. Another week gone. This week had been just as bad, if not worse than last week.

After word of Matt's sentence went out, the kids at school made fun even more. Taichi and the band had it the hardest, even though Mimi had been a victim. Tai kept getting notes taped to and stuffed into his locker. "Psycho" "Murderer" "Why aren't you in the ayslum too eh?" "How many people has Matt killed?" and so on. Needless to say, Tai was usually very moody. He'd gotten into several fights, the teachers and principal were weary and upset with the whole ordeal. I think everyone was. Tai wasn't the only one who got into fights. People who didn't like other's needless taunting and teasings stepped in and got rough as well.

The band was finished. Their reputation went down to drain and couldn't be pulled out. They had tried finding another lead singer, but no one would even try out. After the trial, they just gave up. Their fame and popularity dwindled to nothing very fast, except with the media. Which wouldn't leave them alone. Most of the band held sympathy towards Yama, one of them held anger. It was all very fusterating. Basicly, we stuck together. We were all we had left. All others drew away.

I entered the schoolyard. At least it's Friday. Geez,...how long would this hostility last? Why did people have to leap to conclusions so fast? Matt being sent away had very little to do with the rest of us as individuals...so we were his friends...we had actually been pretty apart until the murder. The schoolyard was still pretty empty. I was early I guess. The few people that were around didn't pay attention to me. Good.

I leaned against the tree at the far side of the building. If everything were normal right now, Sora, Mimi, Joe and I would be planning for Halloween. Tai and Yama would be around with us sometimes, Hikari and Takeru other times. And when Halloween rolled around, we'd all go off and freak each other out, along with some other friends. And Joe'd probably sit out for studying for some test. I sighed. What are we doing this Halloween? Probably stay home like I have been all week and last.

I haven't really done anything since...I had been burying myself in my school work and my computer. When I had done all my homework I would tweak with all the little things on my laptop, making sure it was in perfect condition. When there was nothing left to fix, and nothing left to upgrade, I just sat there playing pinball. It was sad, I didn't want to do anything. Usually, I'd talk to some friends, invite someone to play a game online with me. Read, maybe. But now I just didn't want to do anything. I just played pinball. My high score went from 93,700 to 12,370,832,050. How sad is that? You tell me.

More people started spilling in the school. I wondered where the others were. Probably late as usual. Joe had been making it to school right before the bell rang to avoid people. Sora came with Taichi a few minutes before. Mimi was usually in early, getting into the school to help teachers or whatever. Another way to avoid people. And..that was all. Yama can't come anymore. My mind wandered to wondering what Matt was doing right now. How did he occupy himself? What did they..do at an ayslum. Did he have to talk with a psychiatrist everyday? Was he getting into trouble? Did he really have anyone to talk to? And how was he? Without his music? As long as I had known him, he had always had his music. Did he still have it?

What would TK think of all this? That his brother had gone through all that for grief over him? He'd feel bad. We all felt bad. I sighed. Why did Yamato try to kill Mimi? I try to keep my mind from that subject, but it always surfaces. Why had he tried to kill Mimi. I refrained from asking Mimi, herself. When Sora had brought it up over the weekend, Mimi burst into tears and wouldn't stop crying for quite a while. So we didn't press on. Taichi wanted information, I knew he wanted to know badly. Many times I knew he was impatient with Mimi, but Sora and myself kept him from exploding.

Joe didn't say much or do much. He was probably the least taunted and teased by our peers. I don't know how he thinks. But he seemed the least stricken. The least affected. I saw Sora and Tai enter the yard. Immediately a group of three guys approached them. I sigh and started over towards them. This could go one of two ways. The guys will provoke Tai until he bursts, or Sora and I will be able to break it up. 50/50 chance of each. I should know. 'Been happ'ning all week.

I was within earshot. "--Kamiya, you shouldn't be allowed in school. You and your bunch of psycho killers." the largest of the group had been saying. "Here comes another one, Seryu." one of the others said, as they saw me approach. "Why can't you just leave us alone?" Sora growled. Taichi remained silent, his face dark, full of disgust and hatred. "We have a right to drive the murderers out of the school! It's not safe for you to be around! Who knows who ya'll will try to get next!" "How many times to I have to say to you: We. Aren't. Murderers." Taichi snarled. His voice was heavy, tired, sleep-deprived.

"Explain Yamato then! The little demonic freak! Using the band as a cover for his evil." the one called Seryu remarked. "Matt. Is. Not. A. Demonic. Freak." Tai said through clenched teeth. "Then why the hell did he try to kill Tachikawa?" one of the others asked, with a hint of a smirk on his face. "He wasn't thinking." I answered before the others could reply. "Really." Seryu asked, sarcasium dripping all over his voice. "Look." Sora sighed; "His brother died and he was very upset. I don't know why he was angry at Mimi, but he was, and wasn't thinking." she said.

"The basta--" The bell rang. Thanks goodness for that. The group of three gave us all one last look. Seryu spat at Tai's feet, "We're not through here." and left. I looked at Sora. She sighed and shook her head. I glanced at Tai, he shoved his hands into his pocket and headed towards the school. We followed him.

~

The school day was long and slow. Like it had been, we had several tests, which I don't think I did too well, even though all I did was study and work. Too distracted. But I was glad the week was over. I walked out of the school, and saw Taichi already heading out the entrance. We can't go on like this, there's nothing we can do. And moping around forever isn't going to help. We should do something this weekend, get our mind off things. I jogged to catch up with Tai.

"Leave me along, Iz." he sighed as soon as he felt my presence. "Tai...you can't go on moping forever..." I started. "Yes, I can." he snapped. I paused, hadn't really expected that. "Why,..don't we do something this weekend?" I suggested, hesitantly. The Keeper of Courage stopped in his tracks; "Like. What?" he asked, his tone somewhat fierce. His eyes were still alive with hate, but back there somewhere, I could see some fear and hope. I sighed, "I don't know, maybe go to the mall with Sora and Mimi, we never get together much anymore." Now Tai sighed.

"I don't know Izzy, I just feel sick. Matt shouldn't have been sent away. There's no way they can help him like that, no one understands him." I shook my head, "You don't know that Tai,..there are trained doctors out there. One of them has to be able to help him." I reasoned. "No one understands him..." the bruinette repeated, staring at the ground. I blinked, "Do you understand him?" I asked. He looked up at me, "I don't know...I don't know anything anymore. I thought I understood him..." he trailed off. Footsteps were coming up behind us. At first I thought it was Sora. No luck.

It was Seryu. His gang wasn't with him, but the expression on his face was definately not friendly. "Hey, Kamiya." he growled. "Leave me alone, Seryu." Taichi hissed, his face darkened. "Why don't you leave us alone." the other snorted. "He hasn't done anything to you!" I snarled. "He's done plenty! Friends with a murderer! Who knows how many others you might have killed." Seryu roared.

"For the millionth time, Yamato didn't kill anyone. And you can't assume anything!" Tai snapped. Seryu came closer, "I already have, you lot are bad to the bone, and you know it." "You should talk." I mumbled. "What was that, Izumi!?" his head snapped towards me. I felt the hate rise up in me. "I said, 'You should talk' punk." I glared at him. His eyes, also full of hate. I probably shouldn'tve said what I did. "Are you calling me the bad guy, mister Know-it-all?!" he directed his full attention towards me.

I felt a bit of fear creeping up inside me. I couldn't fight back if Seryu decided he wanted to beat me up. But I couldn't back down now...I didn't reply. "What's the matter, Koushirou!? You scared now!?" he demanded, prodding me with one thick finger. "Leave him alone!" Tai shouted, speaking up again. Seryu turned again, "You keep out of this, Kamiya, I'll get back to you." He faced me again, I realized I was inching back slowly. Seryu launched one hand forward and hit my shoulder, he pinned me against the outer wall of the school yard.

"Koushirou? Taichi?" Mimi's voice. Footsteps. I couldn't see because Seryu's bulk was blocking my view. "Shit, Taichi what's going on?" Sora's voice. "Seryu, what are you doing!?" Mimi's voice was shrill, paniced. "What does it look like?! Helping you, Tachikawa!" he laughed. "Those are my friends, you bastard! Why can't you just listen to what we say!?" Mimi screamed. "Mimi, calm down." I heard Sora mutter. "Just keep out of this, girl." "NO! Why can't you leave us alone!? Don't you think we've been through enough!?"

Seryu pushed me harder against the wall, "No, I don't." he growled, then drew his arm back to punch. I ducked the best I could, with his tight grip at my shoulder. It didn't work too well, his fist connected with my forehead. Instant pain and throbbing. He punched again, left cheek. Again. Stomach. Again. Chest. He loosened his grip and let me sink to the ground. Pain..."Izzy! You big sonuvabitch!" Calm down Mimi...pain...I felt Seryu kick me in the ribs. Voices. Pain. Someone rushed to my side. I guess I wasn't very strong. I couldn't even..pain...voices...darkness...pain...

~

I woke up in bed. I was in my room. I had an ice pack to my head and cheek. I had a major headache and my temples were throbbing. My mom poked her head in. "Koushirou, you're awake. Are you ok?" I nodded meekly. Didn't feel like talking. "Ok, sweety, you get some rest, your friends brought you by earlier, told me what happened, it's ok, Iz. Just get some rest." she smiled and left the room. Rest right. Ug, my head hurt so much. I felt my hand pick up the remote. I turned on the small television in my room.

Flipped to the news channel. TV always makes me sleep. Regular news. Of regular life. I was starting to drift off again, when something caught my attention. Takeru's image and another I didn't recognize appeared on the TV, I blinked and sat up. I turned up the volume. "--Resuko Aymichi escaped from Odaiba County Jailhouse. The 17 year old had been in for stealing, but investigators have recently tied Resuko to the murder of Takaishi Takeru, who was killed October 13th. Police are still unsure how Resuko escaped and are..."

I wasn't listening anymore. Takeru's murder was on the loose? And I didn't even say 'Things Can't Get Any Worse' Things got worse anyway. Damn...damn...damn...damn...If Takeru's murderer is on the loose, what would stop him from getting someone else? What if his target was someone else I knew? Damn..damn..damn..I picked up the phone and dialed the Kamiya's number. My head still hurt. Damn...

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© Kiriska