Disclaimer: Digimon and its characters belong to someone other than me; I don't really know who made it off the top of my head. I'm new to the Digimon-writing group and writing based on the American dub, so please go easy. ^_^ I'm not quite sure what "standards" are here.
Started: September 30, 2000
Finished: September 30, 2000
"Giggling Rain"
A Kenlei (Ken/Yolei) fic
"Love and fate go hand in hand. . ."
Rain in the Digital World.
It was like a sign of misfortune.
She sighed and wrapped her hands around the stem of the giant leaf, her face flushing red as she pulled at it with all her might. Under different circumstances she would have asked Hawkmon for help, but the sudden downpour as night began to fall had caused the two partners to lose one another in the dense forest. Her hands slipped off of the stem, causing her to fall backwards and right onto the muddy forest path. Growling in frustration, twelve-year old Yolei Inoue struggled to her feet and proceeded to yank at the leaf's stem.
It seemed like an eternity later when the leaf finally gave way, allowing Yolei to provide herself some cover as she walked. She walked tiredly, the whole ordeal of gaining the leaf having drained quite a bit of her strength. The rain, however, was still pounding down on her from above, mocking her as she walked onward. She wiped tears of irritation from her eyes, silently wanting to curse the rain that had forced her into this situation.
The rain only continued to giggle through the descending night; the giggles increasing as Yolei finally tired and fell to the side of the forest path.
* * * * *
His day couldn't possibly be any worse.
The digimon in several parts of the Digital World were managing to destroy his spires, breaking down the area of his empire by nearly an eighth. He had managed to reclaim a good portion of the rebellion, but the whole trial had been as comforting as sleeping on a bed of bricks. In his state of wariness, he had fallen from the Airdramon and into the forest canopy. By the time he had climbed down from the treetops, it had begun to rain. The sound of raindrops hitting the ground were like the mocking laughs of every person he had ever hated.
At many points on his journey down the forest path, he had felt like screaming his frustrations to the whole Digital World. His shouts wouldn't have helped, though; nocturnal digimon were nowhere to be seen and all other digimon were sleeping away from sight. For a moment, his thoughts flitted upon his own digimon. . . That worthless Wormmon. . .
He gasped abruptly, tripping on the path and sprawling face-first in the mud. Cursing softly, Ken Ichijouji wrenched himself from the dark mud and looked back down the path, expecting to see a thick branch or something of that nature protruding from the ground. It was to be expected on a bad day.
His blue-eyed gaze, however, fell upon a girl wrapped in a giant, drenched leaf.
He immediately wished for his dark glasses, wanting to obscure his face from the familiar Digidestined, but they had been lost in the fall. The girl's own glasses hung haphazardly from her face, half of it dipping down to her cheek. She quickly adjusted it back to its rightful place, brown eyes wide in shock and surprise.
"Ken? Ken Ichijouji??"
". . . . Don't call me that."
Ken tensed visibly as he hissed, struggling to his feet and flinging his mud-caked cape from where it had been sticking to his thigh. He frowned dangerously down at the girl, his glare rising as she picked herself up. Then his gaze dropped again, as the violet-haired girl fell to the mud.
Yolei made an annoyed sound, looking up at the blue-haired boy through her rain-streaked glasses. "Do you mind giving me a hand?" she queried, deciding to pull a brave face. They were all alone in the middle of the woods, both without weapons at their disposal. . . . Well, except for the fact that she had a thoroughly-soaked leaf to use . . . but that didn't quite count.
It surprised him for a moment that the girl wasn't frightened of him, but he quickly dismissed it for forced courage. He walked over, offering his hand to Yolei. She promptly took it, smiling wearily up at him.
. . . Then she pulled him into the mud with her.
Ken coughed and sputtered as he pushed himself to his elbows, all-the-while thinking, That wasn't an acceptable thing to do. . . She'll pay for that. . . However, his thoughts were interrupted by the floating sound of musical giggles. And it wasn't the rain giggling at him.
He turned, seeing the wide smile on Yolei's face as she looked at him. "Priceless," she said between giggles. ". . . Absolutely priceless. . ."
The Digimon Emperor stared at her stupidly, his mind trying to register what exactly was funny about the situation. It took a second, but his face finally cracked into a smile. Yolei watched in surprise as the boy -- her and her friends' worst foe -- laughed along with her, looking utterly handsome in the pouring rain.
She stopped laughing, however, when he reached over and grabbed the large leaf in the middle of the path.
* * * * *
". . . . I've always liked you, Ken."
Ken averted his gaze from the pouring rain to look at Yolei, blinking in surprise at her statement. After their little incident back on the path, he had taken it upon himself to build a shelter. Using the large leaf he had procured from Yolei, he had managed a tent of natural materials.
". . . What?"
Yolei's face was burning under the smudges created by her contact with the mud. Could she really tell this to him? They were still enemies, even though they had met like this. . . I'll never get another chance. "I like you, Ken." She paused allowing it to sink in the boy's mind. "I know that probably means absolutely nothing to you, since you probably don't care about anything other then your plans, and now you'll probably hate me even more than before--"
"Probably, probably, probably," interrupted the blue-haired child prodigy, earning a glance from Yolei. ". . . What if that did mean something to me?"
His response was Yolei's stunned silence.
Ken smiled softly, looking more like the boy he really was instead of the frightening Digimon Emperor that manipulated the Digital World like a sculptor manipulated clay or stone. "No one's ever said something like that to me."
Yolei's thoughts were in a whirl. That's not possible. . . He had so many fans back in the real world. . .
"You said it with such honesty," Ken whispered, sounding as if he feared someone would overhear. "Everyone else likes what I do . . . not me." He frowned sadly, staring at his gloved hands forlornly. "No one has ever liked me."
"Ken. . ." Hesitantly, Yolei touched his shoulder. He jerked his head up in reaction, clearly surprised. ". . . Can I . . . um. . ." She blushed furiously at the very thought that had risen up in her mind. Maybe I'm being just a tad too fast here. . .
Caught up in her thoughts, Yolei missed Ken's movement towards her. The next thing she knew, his dirty face was within inches of her own, those two blue orbs boring into her own. Then he moved in closer, their lips touching. It was a timid action, but it was enforced as Yolei kissed back.
And Yolei Inoue and Ken Ichijouji mocked the rain that had brought them together, their kiss like laughter that echoed throughout the Digital World.
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