A Night At the Zō-wa

Set in modern Odaiba, each of the children have been selected to visit the legendary Zō-wa kyassuru (Elephant Castle) for their yearly open-access sleepover. It started as a fun night and it easily becomes a competition between the boys and the girls.

Characters So Far...
smile-in-ur-sleep: Taichi + Takeru
SugarSpiral: Hikari + Iori
emotionless-robot: Ken + Koushiro
PrincessJaded: Yamato + Miyako
potgenie: Daisuke
QeenGatomon: Mimi
Digimon Dreamer Sora

:Taichi:

I can't believe I have to stay here for the night with my sister. Like, come on, is it my fault that I got an invitation too? Oh well. Maybe there will be come cute girls there?

Oh, please, please, say there will.

Then again, maybe this won't be so bad. A few pranks, some cool stuff, then bam, back to the video games.

Why is she taking so long? Geez, it's one night, not a whole week! Why do girls always pack so much? I call out to her, the car is waiting. It's time for us to leave for the Zō-wa kyassuru.

Daisuke:

My sister is really getting on my nerves.

"Can I come along?" She's jumping about like a rabbit that has eaten far too many carrots. "Come on, Dai! I'm sure they can fit in one more person!"

"I told you," I snap irritably as I push aside a pile of dirty dishes - where are the darned toiletries? "You can't just come. You've got to be invited!"

"Why wasn't I invited?" Jun wails.

I should NEVER have told her that Yamato is going too. I can't believe she's still all over him like that - I had thought she had moved on to Jyou's brother a while ago... I guess not.

Jun knew my weaknesses too well. One plate of chocolate chip raisin cookies and I had been putty in her hands. (Oh, how I regret that moment of folly!)

"You're not special enough," I tell her as I somehow manage to push her out of my room. "Get out! I've got to pack!"

"It's just like you to leave packing to the last minute!" She huffs.

I slam the door in her face. God, it would be good to get away from here for a bit.

:Yamato:

Maybe I should have denied the invitation. That would have been smart. I wouldn't be sitting here...next to Hikari. Why is the world does she keep staring at me like that?

I cringed away from her and leaned toward Taichi. At least with him here this night might not be so bad. Takeru's going too. Another so-called bonus. Maybe he can keep her away...

Or maybe not...she's looking at me like she's wants to eat me. Ugh.

Maybe I smell like something tasty. Well I mean come on now it is me. There you go Yamato getting cocky again.

I agree with Taichi when he said this night feels like it will never end.

I should just be happy with the fact that Jun's not here. Oh yes, that I'm very happy about.
Now all I have to do is avoid Hikari and Sora, then the night will be perfect.

Zō-wa kyassuru...here I come. Yippee!

::Hikari::
I can't help blushing slightly as Yamato shuffles uncomfortably in his seat. Is that my fault? Maybe he's just embarrassed to be stuck next to Tai's pathetic little sister. The weakling in the group. Urgh, I don't need looking after anymore... I'll show him. And then he'll have to respect me. If I could just figure out a way... (I really shouldn't care so much, but since I did sort of maybe/might have a crush on him... and I don't want to. It's a bit creepy. Plus, he's a broody git.) Sighing, I turn to look out the window. Then I saw him, and it hit me.

The Plan.

It was simple, it was effective, it was perfect. All I needed was to get him on his own to discuss tactics. And as the car (though it's more like a bus) is about to leave, and I'm wedged in between Yamato and a window...

I think everyone was a little surprised when I jumped out of the car, sprinted towards and practically barreled over Ken. I know I was. Strangely enough, Ken seemed to take it all in his stride, only blushing slightly. I threw my arms over his shoulders and gave him a huge hug. (I couldn't help noticing that he smelt damn fine).

"Ken, I need your help... I have The Plan. To prove that I'm not a complete weed." I flexed an arm at him, hoping to hell and back Ken remembered all the different arm-wrestling techniques we'd been trying out over the last couple of months. (Every Tuesday Takeru had basket ball practice, Miyako had computer club, and as Iori was obsessing over Kendo recently... we got bored).

He glanced at the "car" (where everyone seemed to be staring at us- I couldn't help feeling a little smug at Yamato's confused expression) and seemed to understand. He gave me a big smile, which I couldn't help but return. Tai shouted something about needing to leave, so (still feeling the adrenaline rush from my "daring" actions) I grabbed Kens hand and ran back to the car. After some quick bribery, Daisuke and Takeru shuffled around to allow me to sit next to Ken. And again I couldn't help notice (and feeling smug about) Yamato's expression.

Life was good.

::Ken::

Okay, just calm down, Ken. She's just holding your hand, not trying to grope you... just calm down.

I was having an exceptionally hard time thinking clearly with Hikari and those damned pleading eyes of hers. Was it my fault I turned into a pile of mush everytime she begged me to do something for her? No, it was not. I couldn't help liking her. We had been spending quite a bit of time together and when a teenage boy is around a pretty girl that much... well, said boy tends to develop a little crush on said girl.

So it wasn't my fault. At all. EVER.

I gave her a huge smile at her request though, because I couldn't deny her anything by this point... even if it was her trying to seduce an older man... with arm-wrestling techniques.

She was a weird kid.

We got seated in the vehicle that was taking us far away from this place - far away from home. I vowed to myself as I glanced at Hikari that somehow during this trip I would get over my infatuation... by any means necessary.

:Hikari:

Five minutes into our journey, I noticed Ken was kind of twitchy in his seat. He'd glance towards the window beside me, then at his hands, then at Yamato, then back at his hands, at the window... you get the drift. He looked kind of confused. If it wasn't so cute, it would've annoyed me. He was caught up in his new found ritual, he didn't notice my hand snaking it's way towards him...


That is of course, until I started tickling him in the ribs mercilessly.

::Ken::

Some may say I shrieked like a girl - but we all know the truth. It was a manly shriek of desperation, and anyone who had been in my postition would have done the same.

Her fingers tickled my sensitive ribs unyieldingly, and I cursed the day she had found out about my weakness. The full-blown laughter erupting from me caught Joe (our appointed driver) off guard, and suddenly the car was swerving into the opposite lane where oncoming traffic threatened to smash us into bits.

And I was still laughing.

::Hikari::

It was probably the scariest moment of my life- the sudden swerve threw me sideways, my seatbelt tore into my chest, and my brother cussed like a sailor in the front seat. I was winded, exhilarated, and somehow laying on my side. Luckily, Jyou managed to regain control in record time and we were safe.

I was mildly aware of Taichi yelling at me, but I didn't really care. I was strangely comfortable, with my head resting in Kens lap...

Wait a second. With my head resting where now?

::Ken::

I had to admit, this was even worse than just holding her hand. Her hair tickled my stomach, where her incessant attack had lifted it up a bit, and I tried not to breathe... I tried to regain some of my dignity... I tried to not yell out, "Well, isn't this awkward?!?"... but needless to say, I failed miserably.

"Well, isn't this awkward?" The words spewed forth along with a nervous giggle and I shifted uncomfortably, silently letting Hikari know that if she didn't get off my lap like, NOW, we were going to have a very large problem.

::Hikari::

I couldn't help grinning fiendishly.

"This is awkward? Actually, I'm quite comfortable..."

Heck, a girl has to have fun sometimes.

::Koushiro::

I looked up just in time to see Hikari's face plant itself in Ken's lap, and I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for the guy. It was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that the poor kid was crushing on her, while she chased after Yamato hopelessly. If I intervened now, Ken would forever be in my favor, but if I didn't... well, then as Ken said, things would get awkward.

"You know, Hikari," I started saying, "I hear the scenery around here is gorgeous this time of year, and I bet your parents would love to see some pictures, don't you think? And besides, the position you're in is not ideal if, for example, we swerve into the other lane again and crash. It would most likely kill you."

I could only hope that would distract her long enough for Ken to put himself back together.

::Hikari::

I jumped up at the sound of Koushiro's voice. Somehow, I'd forgotten that it wasn't just me and Ken in the car... Instead, it was me and Ken in the backseat. I tried to restrain my giggles at the thought... And failed. But Kou was right, I probably should get some shots for dearest Mummy and Daddy. I sat up quickly...

...And came face to face with a scowling Yamato. Maybe all the laughter was hurting his delicate, musical ears? This caused me to explode into another bunch of giggles as I turned to the window and began snapping at random.




Yep, I had definitely had too much sugar on my cornflakes this morning.

::Ken::

I didn't understand what I had done to deserve this. First I get Hikari's face in my lap unsuspectingly, and next I get death glares from Yamato, which I'm not sure what I did to have deserved. Either way, my plan was failing miserably so far, and I would need to gird my loins if I wished to follow through.

As Hikari continued to giggle and snap photos, I too observed the scenery as we approached our destination. My heartbeat settled, and soon enough I was peacefully asleep.

::Hikari::

Kou had been right, there was some great scenery around here. I'd been taking pictures non-stop for a good ten minutes before I felt something heavy lean into my back. Turning my head to see what was up, I nearly melted when I saw Ken had fallen asleep. There was something very cute about how his long, thick lashed rested gently on his high cheekbones, and how a stray strand of hair fell across his face. Slowly, so as not to wake him, I twisted around so his head was on my shoulder and carefully brushed the hair out of his face. It was hard to tell what was softer- the hair, or his skin. Suddenly, I was blushing.


This was stupid. Ever-so-slyly, I reached into my pocket and tugged out a black felt tip... I wondered how long it would be before he noticed that his left cheek now read "I Love Hikari -x-".