Digimon Academy Chapters

Chapter Eleven: Phobias and Falling

JOE'S POV

A few seconds after Kyoi left to talk to Mimi, I went to talk to Tai, Sora, and Matt.

Then I heard a loud, sharp noise.

"Holy cow! What was that?" Tai exclaimed.

"I knew it was only a split second but I could have sworn it was a scream!" Sora added.

"But from who?" I asked.

Matt looked over my shoulder and said, "Actually, I think it was your date!"

"We are not date-wait what?!?" I asked as I spun around, extremely nervous now.

I could tell Matt, Tai, and Sora were just as nervous/surprised as I was. Kyoi is the strong, intimidating type, so whatever made her scream must be awful.

When we went to check on her, Izzy, Ellie, and Mimi were already there, but Kyoi, I didn't even know what to think of her appearance. She was laying on the floor, probably from slipping or something, had absolutely no emotion on her face, and was helplessly crying.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Sora immediately asked.

"What happened?" I asked as I helped her up.

Again, with no emotion on her tear lined face, she stayed silent and hugged me. Hugged me. I like her, but how do I react to this!?! She just stood like stone with her chin on my shoulder.

"You!" Ellie yelled protectively, pointing to NJ. "You stepped on her dress and made her fall!"

"Wait, what?!? I did nothing of the sort!" she argued, taking a step closer to the group.

"I did see you get awfully close to her when she was walking over here! That wasn't nice!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Guys, let's just," Matt said, pausing to glare at LJ, "forget it for now."

Tai glared angrily at NJ before he, Matt, and Sora walked off. Izzy, Ellie, and Mimi followed me as Kyoi let go and I walked her to the hallway.

She sat against the wall with Ellie and Izzy on her left while Mimi and I sat against the wall to her right. After we all sat down she wiped her eyes and spoke, staring blank at the floor.

"I have a ph-phobia. A phobia of falling." She looked up and around, meeting everyone's eyes.

Ellie gasped as then she hugged Kyoi, which surprised her greatly.

"You know what? I'm going to get you some comfort food," Ellie chirped, and with that she ran off into the dance room.

"I knew it had to be more than her stepping on your dress, especially with how you reacted," Izzy contemplated.

"Yeah.....sort of a little heart attack-stroke thing but in your mind and nerve system," Kyoi added.

"It annoys me SO much when people step on my dresses. But that must have been so scary for you," Mimi commented.

"It-it actually was. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys s-sooner. You guys are really the only ones I care about. The only ones who know me enough to know that I'm n-not the feminine muscle monster I seem to be."

"No it's okay! There's nothing to apologize about. Though we might want to make sure you're more cautious around people trying to step on your dress or trip you," I said.

"I'm pretty sure I'll never wear a dress again, but I always have been cautious about tripping. That's why I started boxing and wrestling and stuff. I actually probably was cheating because I was always a few years older than my opponent, but that was just so they couldn't trip or push me down. That's really why I started boxing. So I could no longer be pushed down."

"Wow, a quote like that usually comes from intimidating bullies-which you are not, I promise-from being bullied as a kid. But this was just because of something you couldn't control," Izzy remarked. "And we promise we won't let anyone hurt you at all," Mimi said, looking into her eyes.

"And of anyone ever breathes on you three wrong, I know who lives in every dorm here," Kyoi added, a small smile forming on her face.