Odaiba Memorial Day- 20 Years Later

Chapter Seven- Izzy

Another difficult day at work was at an end for Koushiro Izumi. Not that he minded, he lived for challenge. He loved the rat race. He loved conquering it, and he loved enjoying the view from above as other mice scurried around in it. He also enjoyed it because at the end of the day, while the mice took their cheese and ran off to eat it in their holes, Koushiro was able to go back to his large home outside Kogane City, away from the bustling crowds of Tokyo. This day was like every other, arriving home to be greeted by one of his assistants, Shimura, and the mail. He hated having to remind her to pay the bills and decline the invitations automatically, but he had gotten used to it, and was only a minor flaw in her otherwise excellent work.

"Pay the bills and decline the invitations." He said, almost automatically, as he walked in the door, laden with briefcase.

"I already did, Koushiro, but there’s a couple invitations here that I think you should look into."

"Forward them to Jun. He’ll look into it."

"I know, but like, this one here has a bit of a personal touch to it… Izzy." Koushiro stopped abruptly. He turned around, where Shimura was smiling and backpedaling. She knew very well that his name was Koushiro, and goes by nothing else.

"It’s what’s on the card. That’s part of why I wanted you to see it."

"I don’t think you need to trouble Jun with that one. Anyone who doesn’t know my name doesn’t deserve my attention."

"Yes, but sir… it’s for something on Odaiba Memorial Day."

"Shimura, you are really trying my patience. I try to keep that day open." Despite his busy schedule, Odaiba Memorial Day symbolized a very important event in his life, and he preferred to take that particular day off, as if it were a holiday. In Koushiro’s eyes, it was.

"Exactly…" Shimura began, "that’s part of why this is something you should look at," Shimura looked at the back of the card and smiled, "Hey, I didn’t know your ex-wife was a digi-destined." With that, Koushiro walked off, and that was his final word on the matter.

--

The situation that brought Izzy and Yolei together was strange to begin with. It all started with a kiss. A very innocent kiss that Yolei initiated out of nowhere. Izzy knew that the kiss wasn’t serious, that it should be passed off as the actions of an inebriated young woman, and nothing more. She already had Ken, and Izzy was perfectly content with that. But at the same time, Izzy wasn’t exactly a player, and any time a female made a move at him, he was not one to pass it up. He enjoyed the kiss plenty, despite the knowledge that it wasn’t sincere. That enjoyment did leave a little pang of guilt when Ken barged in on them, and Izzy was thankful that Ken too read into the insincerity of the moment. The issue was believed to be over, as both Ken and Izzy handled it like the gentlemen they were. Izzy couldn’t help but admire Ken’s ability to think rationally at the time, which was almost ironic upon recollection, as Ken’s behavior the next day was anything but rational.

Although the issue itself was over, the aftertaste still lingered on. Before retreating to his own bed that night, Izzy sat down on a chair in the living room, and simply observed Yolei- quietly sleeping, and blissfully unaware of what went on. Izzy could still feel the kiss, the touch of her lips pressed against his. As much as he knew that nothing would come of it, he was still amazed at the situation. Izzy was very fond of Yolei, and although he completely respected Ken and Yolei’s relationship, and made no attempts to come between them, the thought of himself and Yolei together entered into his head once in awhile. It wasn’t even to the point of jealousy, as those thoughts were shrugged off whenever the trinity was together. Ken and Yolei? Yolei and Izzy? Izzy and Ken? Neither of the three considered any two to be more important than any one. It was Ken, Yolei, and Izzy in no particular order. But perhaps it was the equality of the trinity that led Izzy to believe that he and Yolei would be successful together if he made a serious effort at it. After all, Yolei had just as much fun with Izzy as she did with Ken… at least in public. What went on between Ken and Yolei behind closed doors was nobody’s business but Ken and Yolei’s. And Izzy respected that, in a sort of "don’t ask, don’t tell" situation. Izzy didn’t want to know what Ken was doing that put him in the "love" category whereas Izzy would forever remain on the "like" side. To know would have the potential to create problems between the three.

Never before had his attraction to Yolei been so high, but Izzy forced himself to shrug it off once more. There was no romantic interest between Yolei and Izzy, and therefore there was no problem. Izzy slowly stood up and walked over to Yolei. He gently stroked her hair, and went to his bedroom to dream a dream he had no intention of pursuing.

But the dream did come true. Ken’s behavior the next day was indescribable, and as Izzy watched, things just happened. Ken turned on Izzy for enjoying the kiss. Yolei confessed that it was an intentional move. The flattery between Izzy and Yolei that sounded like it was straight out of Izzy’s dream. And then, Yolei’s statement that could have left the entire world in breathless silence.

"Well if you’re going to go into Digimon Emperor mode about something as stupid as this, I’ll pick Izzy."

Izzy didn’t know how to react to that; he was as stunned as Ken was. And before either Izzy or Yolei grasped the complete significance of the statement, Ken was out the door. Yolei, obviously, was left in tears, and Izzy was left to comfort her. He was hesitant, since he wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do. Comforting women was not one of Izzy’s stronger trades. But perhaps it was ironic that as soon as Yolei began crying her heart out, buried in her friend’s chest, that that was also the moment they had evolved beyond friends. Izzy couldn’t help but realize that regardless of how it happened, and regardless of what was lost in the process, his dream was coming true.

Neither Izzy or Yolei enjoyed the proceedings to breakup 2KI, Incorporated. Even the name itself represented a kind of unity between Koushiro Izumi and Ken Ichijouji. In fact, part of the reason why the case was so complicated was that the original statement of operations was written regarding Ken and Izzy as equals, with no plans for a breakup included. But it was all lost, as Ken had no intention of associating with Izzy, much less run a company together. Both men found themselves vying for control, and Izzy was forced to say things about Ken that he couldn’t help but feel sorry for. Things that he wouldn’t say to the foulest of creatures that emerged from the Dark Ocean; things that Izzy knew weren’t really true. But it was all for a company that Izzy put his soul into building. However, all the courts cared about were who put the money into building the company, and since that too was Izzy, he "won." The price of winning was the hope that Ken and Izzy would be able to forgive and forget. It was official- they were closer to being enemies than friends.

But perhaps it was Yolei that took it the hardest. She refused to listen to the gory details, and spent virtually the entire span of the case in tears. Izzy had the unfortunate task of helping her through this rough time in her life. Izzy certainly wasn’t comfortable with helping Yolei, and would much rather have had somebody else do it, but it was almost as if Izzy was the only person among six billion in the world that was responsible for it. And that gripping hand of responsibility never gave Izzy any doubt that he was required to help her.

Despite his imperfections with grieving women, Izzy managed, and his simple presence was reassuring enough. Naturally, Yolei blamed herself, and Izzy found that the only way to help her through this was to rest the blame on the eternal scapegoat- Ken. After a hard day of destroying Ken’s character in the courtroom, Izzy had little trouble passing the blame onto Ken for Yolei’s sake. By the time the case was over, Yolei had recovered a little. She was at least healthy enough to attend TK and Kari’s wedding, as Izzy was surrounded by lawyers at the time and wasn’t able to attend. Yolei was very grateful towards Izzy, for sticking with her through these difficult times, and although she certainly wasn’t ready to start a new relationship, Izzy knew that it wouldn’t be long before she was.

After long last, and after months of testimony and legalese, the mess was sorted out. The court all but spelled it out exactly- Izzy won. Exhausted to the brink, Izzy still felt compelled to drop by Yolei’s place to deliver the news, and start putting this all behind them. Izzy entered, to see something very unusual- Yolei was watching the news on television. It was one of those fancy satellite news channels too, one that covers nitty-gritty stock stuff, stuff that only hardcore brokers would understand or even care about. It was also one of the few stations that had a camera and a reporter that day in court. Since Yolei was neither a hardcore broker nor was paying attention to the case, Izzy found it quite odd.

"Hey, Yolei… what are you watching?"

"Shh… I think they’re getting to us next."

"You know, just because a camera shows up doesn’t guarantee that…"

"A court case involving fledgling software company 2KI wrapped up today, and investors apparently couldn’t be happier." The voice of the talking head immediately drew Yolei and Izzy’s attentions straight to the set, "A contest over ownership was settled today, after months of litigation, and it looks as if the outcome is bright for the rising venture. Koushiro Izumi, now the sole company founder, is eager to move on."

Izzy barely remembered answering the press’s questions, especially since they never did much with his responses before. But now, here he was on the small screen, looking as bold as he possibly could with a microphone lodged in his face, "After something like this, an outcome at all is a good thing. A favorable outcome is even better, and the best thing the company can do now is keep going towards bigger things."

The reporter continued, "Stock traders certainly agreed with Izumi’s judgment, as stock in the company rose 27 points, its largest gain this year."

Izzy froze. The breakup was hell and Izzy knew it. It was something that he never wanted to go through again, and he thought there was nothing good that could come out of it. But that number kept ringing through his head.

"27 points…" Yolei looked at Izzy, "is that good? It doesn’t sound like a lot."

Izzy rushed over to his briefcase and pulled out a calculator. Doing some quick estimations, he punched some numbers in as he replied.

"It’s not much compared to the larger companies, but for us, that’s pretty…" Izzy looked at the number displayed in the tiny LCD display and almost couldn’t believe it, "Holy shit, Yolei… that’s a 15 percent change."

"Is that good?"

"If it keeps up, it’s very good. It means we’re starting to get noticed. It means that people are looking at us, and if we keep delivering… we can be big."

"One more question…" Yolei smiled slyly.

"Yeah?"

"Who’s we? It’s your company."

Izzy looked at Yolei and smiled. It felt like the first time he smiled in ages. They say that any publicity is good publicity, and this whole courtroom drama was apparently publicity enough to get people looking at a little software company. And it was all Izzy’s. He and Ken hadn’t seen eye to eye on every single manner, and now that Ken was out of the picture, all that remained was Izzy and his insight. No more compromising, no more friendly gestures, and no more splitting the earnings. Izzy could see it now. He was going to take 2KI to new places, with nobody to stop him. Izzy certainly didn’t approve of the concept of investors taking interest in a company only after a major breakup, but it was all in the past right? Regardless of how it happened, people were looking at his company, and Izzy knew that he had what it took to deliver the goods. The possibilities were endless, and intrigued Izzy to no end. Overcome with this excitement towards a wonderful future, Izzy did the only thing he could do to prevent himself from making a spectacle of himself- he grabbed Yolei and kissed her.

And this one’s for real.

 

Sure enough, the company started to go places. Any idiot can get fifteen minutes of fame, but it takes a genius to stretch those fifteen minutes and make a living off of them. Izzy happened to be a genius. With the whole business world ready to glance at him for a second, Izzy had to make sure he kept their attention for longer. By introducing a new line of software at just the right moment, and making sure that it was the most innovative product 2KI had ever come up with, Izzy was able to ride his brief moment of publicity into the big time. He was able to generate the right hype, get the investments he needed, and talk to the right people. The company continued to soar, and every shred of evidence suggested that the company was better off without Ken.

Izzy didn’t do much to refute that claim. The only way he could have kept control of the company was to blame Ken for everything. The only way Yolei would have been able to live with herself was for Izzy to blame Ken for everything. Therefore, Izzy blamed Ken for everything. And in time, he began to believe the things he said. Every erroneous judgment Ken made in the company became evidence against him, regardless of similar errors Izzy may have made.

Maybe it was all Ken’s fault. Maybe if he hadn’t gone, we’d have been a "fledgling" company forever. Maybe this is all for the better. The company’s doing fantastic, Yolei and I are as close as ever, and life is great. Heck, I don’t miss Ken one bit. He was keeping us down and I helped get rid of him. And it was the best move I ever made.

Things couldn’t be better. Yolei and Izzy found themselves just as happy with each other as they were with Ken. Again, Izzy felt a surge of responsibility- if he and Yolei weren’t meant for each other after what had happened, he wasn’t meant for anybody. Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem. Although a long-term relationship was new to Izzy, Yolei helped him through it, and they were inseparable. The newly renamed Izumi Enterprises was still booming, and they had money, power, and above all- happiness. And by the time Yolei proposed to Izzy, the world was theirs for the taking.

The wedding went without a hitch. Yolei saw to that. After the disaster involving the number of digi-destined appearing seeing TK and Kari tie the knot (only five besides TK and Kari themselves), Yolei made sure that only certain people were invited. Sora was supposedly sick. Yeah, right. Tai was the one that didn’t want to talk about Sora- so Sora got invited while Tai didn’t (Yolei even went to the length of writing that on Sora’s invitation). Mimi and Matt had broken up, and Mimi was living with Joe. Joe claimed he had flight troubles and couldn’t make TK and Kari’s wedding. Since there could be possible problems between Joe and Matt, Mimi and Joe got invitations, but Matt didn’t. Davis didn’t even RSVP, and therefore didn’t get the chance to RSVP this time. TK was invited, Kari was invited, and Cody, who apparently was the only one who hadn’t pissed anybody off yet, was invited. There was one more digi-destined, but that one was a no-brainer.

--

The happiest days of his life. Or so he thought. No… they were. He just didn’t want to admit that. Koushiro would often catch himself thinking about Yolei. Now that it was over, he had a good view over everything that had happened. In spite of this, his way of thinking about it was clouded… at least in public.

Koushiro had a hunch of what was in that envelope. One of those idiots was trying to reinstate the old reunion thing. Somebody who didn’t realize how things have changed. That they weren’t a bunch of cute little (or as the industry would call them- "fledging") kids that saved the world. They were adults, faced with the harsh reality that nothing is forever- not friendship, not love… and especially not marriage. And these were real problems too, nothing that little monsters would be able to fix. Koushiro knew that he had to dismiss the reunion as if he was too important for it, that the only thing important was the future. If Shimura or Jun or anybody asked, Koushiro would just shrug it off, as he was at a higher level than his former colleagues, and they weren’t worthy of his time. Yeah, that was a good reason. That would work for Shimura. Koushiro’s own head, meanwhile, had its own reasons for avoiding the reunion- he was scared of his past, and didn’t want the things that he did to catch up to him. Koushiro couldn’t contemplate how Ken must feel now. That was bad enough. But then there was Yolei. And as Koushiro sat by himself in the master bedroom, he was just glad nobody else was in the room, as somebody witnessing a single teardrop would tear down the façade he worked so hard to build.

--

For the first few years, things were great. The company continued to succeed, and Yolei and Izzy were just doing better and better. They were also getting richer and richer. The company was turning in large profits, and Yolei had a hidden talent for picking stocks. It wasn’t necessary, since Izzy’s salary was more than ample for living expenses, but Yolei’s talent at least made her feel more appreciated, and Izzy nurtured it with all his heart. They had money, and were definitely not shy about showing it off. Izzy got his large house in Kogane City, Yolei got a nice car, and both were not afraid to show the world that they had made it. But despite a lifestyle surrounded by valuable possessions, Izzy and Yolei’s greatest possession was each other. It is said that happiness is only real when shared. Izzy and Yolei were living proof, as they seemed to exist only for each other.

Over time, the honeymoon ended. They had relegated themselves to a more nominal husband/wife position. At the onset, it wasn’t an issue. It was just the inevitable evolution of a marriage that most couples undertake eventually. Izzy and Yolei were no different than anyone else. Izzy didn’t have any troubles with the change in the relationship. Yolei had some troubles at first, but gradually adapted to it. But although the marriage was leveling off, the company was still rising, and the event that triggered the beginning of the end was just a normal business phone call between Izzy and one of the most prominent Americans in the computer industry at the time. Just another day at the office for Izzy. Well, it would have been at the office had the American not called Friday afternoon. It was a slight lapse in the concept of time zones, as Izzy picked up the phone in his living room on that calm Saturday morning.

"I’ll have to remind you to fire whoever it was that scheduled this." The American laughed, and the two got down to business.

"Well, as you know, my company has come upon hard times recently. And I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how successful your company has been in the last couple years." Izzy chuckled politely. Not because of the success of Izumi Enterprises, but the fact that this prominent figure was trying to butter up Izzy had to be good. The two began laying out some plans to work together on a new product, when Yolei walked in.

"Jeez Izzy, this sounds important. Who’re you talking to and why are you doing it on a Saturday morning?" Izzy quickly covered up the receiver and turned to Yolei.

"Yolei, this is a very important deal. You probably wouldn’t believe who this was anyway."

"Why? Who is it?"

"It just so happens to be Steve Carrier." Yolei got wide-eyed.

"Steve Carrier? The Pineapple guy?" Izzy nodded. The CEO of Pineapple Computers calling Izzy at home. Izzy had to put down thoughts from the past. Ten years ago, this would have been a dream come true for Izzy. Yolei, however, wasn’t putting anything down.

"Wow! Isn’t that the guy you built that shrine to when you were ten?" Izzy blushed for a second, then shot Yolei an annoyed look.

"Yolei… please." Izzy didn’t want to lose any respect in front of this guy. A deal with Pineapple would finally give Izumi Enterprises firm ground in the United States.

"Don’t be so embarrassed about it. So you worshipped a computer geek instead of a soccer star. That’s what makes you so special, Izzy."

It was almost like lightning. A sudden epiphany at the worst possible time. Izzy. It sounded so… childish. And in front of Steve Carrier, sounding childish doesn’t get a big businessman very far. But it was something to think about later, he had a phone call to attend to.

"Sorry, Steve, my wife asked me something. No biggie."

"Your wife takes precedence over me?" Steve replied.

"You sound so disappointed." Izzy continued to play hardball with Steve. Steve laughed again, and the two continued with their discussion.

Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as well as the conversation started. Steve had many demands that Izzy wasn’t ready for, and things that he couldn’t agree to. Steve didn’t take too kindly towards Izzy’s prerequisites for a deal together. Having forgotten how to compromise, Izzy found the deal going nowhere fast. After two hours of talks, with both men raising their voices at least once, it ended- the only resolution being that the deal had gone sour. Izzy slumped back in a recliner, partially disappointed, and partially angry.

Who does this guy think he is? Sure, Pineapple used to be big. It’s no different from any other company now, so why does he think I should bow down to him? Of course… I used to bow down to him. I used to think this guy was something else. But that was back when I was ten years old. Back before that fateful day at summer camp, before I knew Tentomon, before I knew Yolei… before I knew love. That was so long ago, and still… it seems like those days are with me somehow.

"Yolei? Could you get me a drink?" Izzy wasn’t in much of a mood to get up himself, but his wife didn’t anything of it, and walked in a minute later with a glass of juice.

"So, how did it go?" Yolei smiled as Izzy took the glass and downed half of it in one gulp.

"Let me just say this…" Izzy looked at the glass, "…does this have alcohol in it?" Yolei frowned.

"That bad, huh?" Izzy returned the glass to Yolei.

"I can’t believe the nerve of that guy. We’re trying to set up a multinational deal and his provisions pretty much cancel out any benefits I’d receive in doing it. Just a heartless bastard."

"Heartless bastard?" Yolei chuckled. "And you built a shrine to this guy?"

"I was obsessed with Pineapple computers when I was ten, is that a problem?" Izzy stood up, somewhat angry. Yolei stepped back, but Izzy shook his head. Izzy wasn’t mad at Yolei, but she didn’t want to receive his anger toward Steve Carrier. "I’m a very different person now, and I’m not going to get bullied around by the likes of him." Yolei could have just sat and passively listened to Izzy’s ranting, but that wasn’t her style.

"Just relax Izzy, you have changed. And I’m sure that if you knew he was a heartless bastard before, you wouldn’t have…" Yolei chuckled again, amused by the concept, "…built a shrine to him."

"You know something? If he wants to be a heartless bastard, I’m just going to have to play heartless bastard too. After all, I’m a businessman, right?" Yolei nodded, and Izzy continued, pointing at the phone, "Mr. Steve Carrier, you are going down."

"That’s great, Izzy, but…" Izzy turned to Yolei abruptly.

"You know, that name has been bugging me for awhile. Izzy, Izzy, who is an Izzy?" Izzy started pacing around, "Izzy sounds like the kind of person who would rather stay inside on a beautiful day while his friends played soccer. Izzy sounds like the kind of person who would lug his laptop… his Pineapple laptop, wherever he goes. Izzy… sounds like the kind of person who would build a shrine to a heartless bastard like Steve Carrier. I’m not Izzy. My name is Koushiro. Got that?" Yolei was taken aback, but quickly walked up to him.

"Izzy, Koushiro… I don’t care if you want to be called Don Gregorio, I’ll still love you."

"Good."

"Just… give me a few weeks to get used to it." Yolei smiled, "Now come on, you said we could play some tennis today." Yolei wanted to get off the subject. Too much business talk for a Saturday. Yolei grabbed Izzy’s hands and started to lead him away from the room, but he pulled one arm free and pointed to the phone.

"He’s still going down. I’m going to run his company into the ground. Steve Carrier is so going down." Yolei shook her head and smiled.

"No, you’re going down- my tennis coach says my backhand is getting a lot better."

 

Over the next year, getting back at Steve Carrier was Izzy... or rather Koushiro’s top priority, although he never actually said that in any mission statement. He spent extra hours at the office, worked as ruthlessly as he could, and spent nights pondering ways to seize control of Pineapple Computers. Pineapple was already losing ground in the market, but Koushiro knew that he’d have to take certain steps to make the company his.

This turned into an obsession, especially when it started to work. When Pineapple started declining, Koushiro was ecstatic, and worked hard for it to continue. When Pineapple made a recovery, Koushiro despised it, and worked harder to take it down. In this time, this obsession took him away from Yolei. She wasn’t a wife, she wasn’t a nuisance, she was just "there." Yolei hated being "just there." Koushiro didn’t pay much attention to Yolei while on his quest for the Holy Pineapple. Yolei was fearing that Koushiro was finally caring more about the company than about her. Yolei had gotten to the point where she needed to be loved, and with Koushiro seemingly ignoring her, Yolei resorted to the occasional extramarital affair to stay sane. With Koushiro in the office so much, it was easy to get away with, and even when Yolei made an error in "covering up the evidence," Koushiro was too concerned with the company to notice.

After a year of playing cutthroat, Koushiro won. The rain pouring outside the house was a false indicator of the mood inside as Koushiro watched the news coverage of the event, as all the business analysts discussed the Izumi Enterprises takeover of Pineapple Computers. It was a glorious day for Koushiro. Not only had his personal quest come to full fruition… he was now the big dog in the yard. He was on top of the industry, looking down at all the "fledgling" companies fighting for a bone. He was to be the man that the young computer geeks would build shrines to.

With a smile, he boldly walked up the stairs and opened the door to the bedroom. Koushiro didn’t know who it was that was putting on his pants and rushing out the door. Koushiro didn’t get a good look at his face, because he immediately shot Yolei a stern, disbelieving look. Yolei simply stared back at him, and started crying. Before he could do more than step into the room, Yolei ran out. Koushiro didn’t run after her. He just calmly sat down on the bed and sighed. He knew that it was too late anyway- it was already over.

--

To Koushiro, it was another series of formal breakups in courts. A couple months of destroying his opponent’s character to protect his own hard-earned assets. Only this time, his opponent was Yolei instead of Ken. Same scenario, same tactics… and the same outcome.

Koushiro didn’t change much after the divorce. Taking over Pineapple was one of his greatest accomplishments, and the work he put into it, and the tactics he used would be used over and over again to ensure the success of Izumi Enterprises over the coming years. Koushiro was the top of the business, and his friends and associates were looking up to him. And because they were looking up to him… they called him Koushiro. In public, he was a smooth businessman. A sly grin on the surface, a plan in his head, Koushiro Izumi was the computer industry.

At least in public. He managed to put Ken out of his head. And in time, he managed to put Yolei out of his head too. Until this damn reunion idea. Koushiro had a room in the house which was completely off limits to anybody but himself. And even Izzy himself rarely went in there. But this is where he found himself now. Full of scrap books full of pictures full of memories. He was seated in an old recliner that was living out its final days after servicing the living room. He was watching a homemade video of himself and Yolei, simply enjoying each other’s company. Having fun. Koushiro had fun… but not like this. Nowadays, fun was taking down some fledgling company for kicks. Without Yolei, there was just a hole in Koushiro. And odds are that the hole was in his heart.

What did happen between us? That day we agreed to divorce, neither of us fought it at all. It just was the best for both of us. But why? I was the one that helped her out after what Ken did to her. I supported her, encouraged her. I loved her. Why was she so eager to get out? I always used to say she was ungrateful. But… maybe it was my fault. In fact, I’m sure of it. It was all my fault. I was so intent on destroying Steve Carrier’s business that I forgot about her. God, I’m sorry Yolei. It’s too late now, but I just wish that there was some way I could make it up to you.

Even though it was off limits, Shimura entered the room and put a hand on Koushiro’s shoulder.

"Koushiro, I know you said you didn’t want to, but I called Cody Hida and said you’ll be at the reunion. You weren’t doing anything that day, and from the looks of it- I’d say there are things you need to straighten out with your friends." Koushiro stood up immediately, shut the video off, and turned around, trying to brush off a tear without her noticing.

"Nonsense, Shimura. You think those idiots are my friends? Just a bunch of people I had to work with. If the world wasn’t at stake, I would have pulled out first chance I got. Now you expect me to go to some reunion with these… plebeians? If you already agreed for me, I guess I’ll go through with it, but inform me next time okay? Now come on, this room is off limits, you should know better. God, Shimura, you’ve really been pushing it lately, you’re lucky you do such a good job or you’d be out of here so fast…" Koushiro forced Shimura and himself out of the room, and shut off the light behind them.

Author’s Notes
First off- Izzy rules. Well- not this heartless bastard Izzy, but the one we saw in the show. In fact, I honestly like all twelve of the digidestined. I don’t play favorites or "bash" or anything. Izzy just happened to be the best person for this role, and I had him like this when I had originally thought this concept up after 01 ended. It’s pretty impressive that Izzy stayed in this role the whole time, considering that Mimi was in Yolei’s position and TK was Cody when this was first thought up. Thank God for the 02 kids, because I’m not big on Mishiro. Okay, now that that’s cleared up, we can continue with the regularly scheduled author’s notes.

Shimura marks the second character named in homage to the anime "Kodomo no Omocha." She is named after the Kurata family maid. The first character was Ray Sagan, named after Sana Kurata’s manager (and driver and lover and pimp ^_^) Rei Sagami. "Kodomo no Omocha" is one of those animes that is much higher on my list of favorites than Digimon, but since there’s not enough fanfic potential (except for reality series knockoff crossovers!) in the show, I have to use cheap references to show my love for it (Nadesico, at the top of my list, got a really fun homage in episode 11 of Animation Survivor). Steve Carrier is named after Steve Jobs of Apple Computers. Neither Rei Sagami nor Steve Jobs are heartless bastards… at least not to my knowledge.

Okay, let’s get out of this high-tech business talk and back into the domestic arena!
Chapter Eight- Kari
After some time of living in close proximity to Davis Motomiya, certain things have become apparent- One is that giving up on a dream girl cold turkey is inadvisable. One is that Davis’s problems are no longer in his control, and that her efforts to help him through them might make things worse. And the final realization is that helping a troubled friend while your husband’s troubles are increasing as well leads to some very problematic situations.