Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Fine Art ❯ Lunch ( Chapter 3 )

I hummed quietly as I finished the drawing. I shaded a little more over Ken's eyes then went back to shaded a little more at his chest. I felt so professional. As if I had accomplished something.

"Okay, now please pass your drawings in." Misono's voice broke my contented silence. "And don't worry, these won't be graded."

I bit my lip and looked at my drawing. I had done the assignment… sort of. What would she think of it? First off, she'd probably tell me that I should have stuck to the original project and how I need to learn to follow directions. Teachers told me that a lot. And was true, I guess. Respect and dignity were not my to highest qualities and my reputation for trouble and ignorance often proceeded me. The name Motomiya brought terror into the hearts of teachers and students alike, my sister had paved the way to a disaster we shared.

I got up, dragging my feet all the way to the front of the class where Misono-sempai stood collecting the papers. I stole glances at the other kids' drawings; they had all done what they had been told. All their chairs looked like the chair on the table. Ever the critic I looked down my nose at my classmates attempts: some were pretty damn bad, but I had to admit to myself that some were okay, possibly better then my strange and unacceptable masterpiece. I waited until they had all filed back to their seats before I handed her mine.

"Uh," I said, holding it in one hand, wrinkling it slightly. "I guess I should apologize in advance." Shame-faced, I placed the paper on the stack in her hands.

I turned and hurried back to my seat before she could respond. There I grabbed my bag and prayed for the bell to ring.

It did, and with a breath of relief, I ran to freedom.

~~~

"Hey, Daisuke!" Izumi-sempai waved from across the hall. And I walked towards him, glad that it was a friend and not a teacher calling my name. "What's up? You look as if you just saw a ghost."

"Nah, nothing that deadly," I shifted my backpack on my shoulder and gave him a grin. "Escaping from art class."

"Interesting." Izumi had strange black eyes that always creeped me out for some reasons that I never understood. They focused completely on my own eyes now and bore holes straight into the back of my brain. His conversation was light and friendly but his eyes looked like doom, destruction, and all other signs of the apocalypse. "I took computer graphing and got art credit for that."

"Oh." I said because I didn't know what else could be said about it. "Well, computers suck."

"Oh." Izumi looked amused. His black eyes continued to stare into mine, and I looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

I shifted my backpack again, jostling the Digimon inside. "I gotta go, talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure Daisuke." Izumi said with a nod. "Later."

"Bye." I never knew how to treat him; did he expect me to consider him a close friend or he did think of me only as an underclassman? I knew him because he had been a Chosen Child and we become somewhat acquainted because he was Tahiti's friend and any friend of Taichi was a friend of mine. I had been honestly trying to improve myself so I gave him the respect that an upperclassman deserved from an underling. As I watched as the red head walked into the crowds I wondered what he really thought of me. I shrugged to myself, realizing that I didn't care as much as I thought I should. I closed the matter by stopping all thoughts at a final observation: Izumi sure was weird. He was smart, but not like Ken. Izumi Koushiro was like a calculator; good numbers, figures, and stuff like that. Ken was just…

I stopped that thought too.

The halls were emptying, lunch being the choice destination of my fellow empty schoolmates. My stomach rumbled and from my bad, Chibimon wiggled and squeaked in annoyed impatience. "I'm hungry!" He declared. "And your bag smells funny."

"Yeah yeah, I've heard it all before." I opened my bag and grinned down at my partner. "I think you'll survive another five minutes before we get to the cafeteria."

Chibimon's large eyes blinked. "Can't wait five minutes!"

I zippered my bag again and swung it onto my back. "Work work work, that's all I'm good for."

~~~

I hurried outside, blinded by the light as I burst out of the school and into the open. A familiar voice called from the oblivion and I headed in its direction. "Over here Dai!"

I plodded up to my friends. Takeru grinned over his sandwich. "We thought you'd never show up."

Next to him, Hikari waved. "What took you so long? I thought lunch was your favorite class."

Miyako snickered and took a bite of her gross looking salad. "Eating's the only thing he's good at."

"All right," I plopped next to Takeru, "I know that was supposed to be an insult, but it just sucked."

Iori held out a plate of sushi, a silent offering of whatever. "Would you like a sushi, Motomiya-sempai?"

I always felt like I corrupted Iori. He was such a good kid. He was young but ten times more mature than I was. I had insisted that he call me by my first name and had tried on a few occasions to prove that I didn't deserve to be considered any better than him, but he chose to address all of us as adults and treated us with the respect reserved for elders. He was humble to the extreme of being… extremely humble. Politely, I nodded and carefully chose one. "Thanks Iori."

From my bag, Chibimon squealed. "I want a sushi!"

We always sat outside, and always somewhere private. It was harder when it rained, but somehow we always managed to get along. The other Digimon ate quietly, used to having to deal with humans who didn't understand. For a while our Digimon stayed home, or simply hid in the school. It was hard though, being separated from them, so we had all agreed to keep them with us whenever we could. It meant I had to lug around a Digimon with me, but it was small price to pay for unlimited friendship.

"Of course you may have one." Iori said with a smile, passing a sushi into the shadows of my bag's interior. "I hope you enjoy it."

"He will." I patted my Digimon's blue head. "He loves sushi."

"It's almost as good as candy!" Chibimon burped quietly. After a moment's pause, he piped up again. "I'm still hungry."

I busied myself with splitting my lunch with him, trying to keep engaged so I wouldn't have to watch Takeru and Hikari. They had hidden their feelings each for a long time, trying to spare me from heartbreak, but now that I knew it seemed like they were trying to make up for lost. Little motions of love, Jun had called them, like Hikari fixing Takeru's hair, or Takeru brushing something off her cheek. It was awkward to be around them, I felt like I was intruding.

I was intruding, though, and we all knew it. Even when Iori and Miyako were with us, I was still the odd man out. Only when Ken joined us did I feel like I was needed, or wanted. But Ken didn't go to our school. He went to some geek school on the other side of the city which wasn't fair for me.

Once I had tried to tell him to switch schools, so he could be with us, so he could be with me. He had refused, of course, despite my eventual begging.

"Eventual, now there's a word I don't use everyday." I mused. "I probably learned it from Ken."

My friends turned and stared blankly at me.

"Huh?" Miyako said her mouth full of lettuce. "Did you say something Daisuke?"

"Me?" I laughed, embarrassed. Had I been thinking out-loud? Damn. "Um, no. It must have been Chibimon."

Tailmon narrowed her eyes, and I gulped under her scrutiny. But her suspicion passed and she returned to her meal without saying anything.

I pulled Chibimon onto my lap, laughing as he scampered about our hidden haven. I felt bad, making him suffer through the day in school when he could be out having fun, but Chibimon had assured me that spending to with me was the only thing he wanted to do. I like lunch not only because it was a vacation from work but because I could let him play, and could be with my friends, such as they were. I wasn't always self-absorbed no matter what my critics said of me.

The other Digimon finished stuffing themselves with food and joined Chibimon in his game. If Minomon was present, I thought absently, the picture would be complete.

A screech from the bell signaled the end to my happiness. I stood with a sigh, Chibimon scrambling to get back into my bag. "Well, see you guys later."

"Bye Daisuke," they chorused.

With a wave, I trudged back into the school.