Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He should get it over with. It wouldn’t be long before his mother would bug him about it again. It was cyclical. She’d bring up the topic, and like clockwork the argument played out identically each time. The thought made him restless. The longer he held it off, the worse it became. Eventually he’d have to visit them. Did he even want to do it? No. He’d think about it later. Right now he wanted some fresh air, away from the stifling tension he could taste in the air. He needed to get out of the house. Maybe to Palette Town, ride the giant Ferris wheel.

“Mom, I’m going out again.” Takeru jogged to the apartment door, his messenger bag flung hastily over his shoulder. Slipping on his shoes, he fought briefly with the heels.

“Again?” his mother’s exasperated voice called to him, her head eventually poked out of her study. “It’s getting closer to the start of school. Your grades are going to suffer.”

Takeru finished tying his laces. He wiped off some sand left over from yesterday’s walk. That would need to be swept up when he got home. “They will not! I can go out once in a while, you know.”

“It’s every night! You stay out too late. There’s still so much to do around the apartment.”

“I’ll be back before it gets dark, then.”

“... Are you going to-”

“No.”

“Takeru, the whole point of coming here was to see them.”

His mother’s disapproving stare dug into the back of his neck, sending chills down his spine. He gripped at the door handle, half a mind to kill the conversation with a door slam. With a sigh, his hand loosened and slid off the handle. “... I don’t even know what we’d talk about, mom. I don’t know them.”

“Get to know each other! You spend so much time outside doing who knows what-”

“It’s just walking. It’s not like there’s much else to do around here.”

“Then go see him. The more time you spend together, the more you’ll have to talk about.”

“I just... can’t. Mom, please.” Takeru begged, turning back to look at her. His mother sighed. She leaned against the door frame, eyes closed in thought.

“Well... if you’re not going to go, at least find time to make some friends. Last thing I need is for you to go off somewhere on your own and... I’d feel a lot better if you weren’t alone while out there.”

Fingers tapped impatiently on the door handle. “...Maybe.”

His mother clapped her hands together, a small gasp on her lips. “Oh, I know! Why not see if the Yagami’s still live around here? You and their daughter always looked so cute together!”

Takeru rolled his eyes, heat prickling his cheeks. “Alright, mom, I’m heading out.”

“Oh, and honey! Don’t go near the ADR borders, please? The beaches really aren’t safe.”

“I will, mom. You know me.”

Her eyes flicked to his shoes. “That’s exactly why I’m mentioning it.”

He waved goodbye and slipped out the door. Feeling some relief, his shoulders relaxed as he walked, getting halfway down the hall by the time his mother opened it again.

“Also, please finish unpacking when you get back! I’ve been asking for three days!”

“Alright! Alright!” Takeru blushed, glancing around for any open ears in the hallway. Hunching his shoulders, he stepped onto the elevator. “See you later!”

He was getting to know his way around the immediate area. The walks he took every day were paying off; Odaiba was small, so luckily, finding his way around was easy.

He could run across the street, jump over the vehicle bars to the footpath down to the beach. Though, his mother was probably watching for just that to scold him later.

It wasn’t like he wanted to swim, he just liked the ambience of being out on the shoreline. Not like he could swim, of course; even if the water was cleaner, the entire beach was closed off to civilians. It was intermittently marked by bright yellow signs depicting a little bowing man and a written apology for the inconvenience. Beyond that, anything within 50 metres of the water’s edge was considered off-limits, a restriction so extensive most of the footpaths and observation decks begun to crack and rot.

Daiba Park was still open and had its small barrier apart from Odaiba’s. The slight stretch of land between it and the main island was not protected however, and was all an enter-at-your-own-risk endeavour. He’d occasionally see groups of young children daring each other to sprint to the small island only to be chastised by their parents later.

Takeru made his way past the school, avoiding the downtown area by following along the beach. He stopped at Kaihin Koen. The sandy beach was warm, sapping his tensions as he took in the area’s serenity. The water was a deep blue on sunny days, perfectly matching the vibrant greens of the trees. The rest of Minato beyond was visible, a stark grey-coloured skyline against the clear blue skies, with the Rainbow Bridge a pure white span linking the island to the mainland. At night it lit up in the vibrant colours of its namesake. It was quickly becoming one of his favourite places to visit; when he was here, it was easy to forget the entire world was under siege.

He stared mindlessly at the scenery for a good half-hour before finally, he picked himself up and moved on. He took the long way to Promenade Park, made his way around Shiokaze Park and the worn-down statues overlooking the bay. The park areas without housing or businesses required restrictions nearly one hundred metres from the water.

At one point, he was sure it was all well-maintained. There wasn’t much care given to any area outside of the barriers. Whether by earthquakes, attacks, or vandalism, each statue broke apart. Many had grown over with moss, marred with occasional splashes of graffiti. Rocks meant to act as artful walls and meticulous paths were overgrown with weeds and moss and the nearby trees lacked pruning. He walked along the rope with warning signs, letting civilians know where the safety line was. They were heeded by most. To Takeru, they were practically invisible. Just more clutter that blurred and faded into the background like everything else he’d grown up with. His feet stepped on cut grass and maintained concrete, centimetres away from the wilds of an abandoned world.

Takeru stopped to take it all in. The silence of the park, where even the sounds of the cars barely penetrated. Litter and debris haphazardly dotted a path no human walked along in a decade. Today, no one ventured the approved parts of the park and no boats floated on the river. Solitude. Or seclusion. Like he was the last person left on Earth.

With a shiver, he backtracked a little to make his way through Promenade into the city and to the foot pass.

Typically, around summer, Odaiba was bustling with tourists from all over. Global travel was more complicated in recent years, but not impossible. Tourism took a heavy hit as people opted to stick mostly to their own countries or towns. Now the majority of tourists were from other parts of Japan. Odaiba was being built up as an incredible entertainment district in the ’90s. While the attacks didn’t outright stop it, the development was stunted at the turn of the century to make way for an increased military presence.

On his way over to Palette Town, Takeru stared intently at one of those encampments in an empty lot that at one time may have been cleared for a mall. It was a small camp, tents lined the outer brim with several people inside, from what he could see. This camp was assigned to protect the entire area of Daiba, from the shipyards in the east and south to half of Ariake to the west. It was surprising there were three bases for such a small area, though he supposed due to Odaiba being an island complex with different moving parts, it had to be that way. He remembered reading something about abandoned waste dumps just a little ways off, likely not worth the effort or expense to protect.

Setagaya didn’t have nearly the amount of bases so close together. There was a river that ran along the edge of the city, with three bases along the length, but other than that he couldn’t recall running by bases all that often in his day-to-day life. During the move he must have passed at least three dozen camps between his old home and Odaiba. To have one within the neighbourhood was weird, but when he thought about it, it made sense, considering how much water was nearby.

The barriers usually stopped by the water, ineffective on a non-solid surface. None of them reached far. They were digital field; a firewall, invisible to most people normally, though they weren't perfect. The occasional breach of weaker monsters made the news. The larger the barrier, the weaker it became. Many attempts had been made to expand the barriers, with little success. It was decided to layer the barriers for maximum protection.

They were annoying. Cellphones and most other electronic devices had to be switched off when going from ADR to ADR. Each city and special ward had a barrier. Smaller ones were dedicated to wards and districts, even wealthy business centres or public attractions. Not that there were many of those. Large gatherings were perfect weak points for attack. Japan learned that the hard way. There were enough of them to be inconvenient to the average person with a phone or listening to music, though switching them on and off also fell into the listless daily habits.

The largest barrier in Japan surrounded the whole of Tokyo; weak, but effective enough to be a hindrance. It barely covered Odaiba, stretching nearly to Ota, Soka and Ichikawa, just covering Setagaya and Nerima.

The top of the barriers were the strongest. They were arched in a dome with the barrier processors at the epicentre, making them most robust nearest to them. Odaiba’s was at the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation only a little ways from here. For such a small island with a strong barrier, it was unlikely there would be much worry of attack from one of those monsters.

A digimon.

He’d never seen one in the flesh before, only in posters, pamphlets, images on the news. There were so many varieties and in so many different shapes and sizes. His mother was keen on keeping him away from anything involving them. Most of the breaches were of smaller, more harmless ones. The stronger digimon did attack occasionally, breaking through barriers. He overheard an older couple that lived next door mention something about odd openings between our world and the digimon world as being the main cause of unexplained breaches. Maybe that was true. If so, the military really did have their hands full.

Takeru slowly moved on, carefully watching the camp as he did. He couldn’t remember a time when he was particularly interested in the military and their activities, not unless there was something near him. Ignoring them became harder and harder after his father and brother joined. It was the reason he’d been so antsy to leave.

Craning to see more of the encampment, Takeru stepped a little closer, painfully aware that he could be reprimanded by the personnel inside if he got too close. He wasn’t sure what he expected to see: perhaps how the system worked, what the military personnel did when not directly in combat. Something that could give him a reason why both his father and Yamato felt the need to join.

A flicker in the periphery of his eye caught his attention. He looked out from the camp to the sea beyond. Were there digimon out there now, trying to get in? He looked around, squinting, hoping it would make it easier to see. A shadow fell over him, passing by in an instant. His heart sped up, spotting the owner of the shadow overhead. A large bird-type digimon, red flames made up its plumage, razor-sharp teeth jutting from its beakless jaws.

Takeru’s heart jumped into his throat as he watched the hellbird send a shower of fire down, bombarding the barrier. Below, the military camp came alive. Retaliation fire flew effortlessly past the barrier. The bird monster dodged with mild effort on its part, barely twitching a muscle as it glided this way and that.

The military was now on full alert, sirens blaring. Yells of orders and directions fought for dominance over the other noises. Takeru clapped his hands over his ears, watching the bird intently as he backed off from the scene.

The flame bird was soon joined by another bird digimon, a black, crow-like behemoth crowned with a gold helm that blended smoothly into its beak. The joints of it's midnight wings were tipped with polished, clawed vajra that moved unevenly with every flap. Two legs sprouted from below it's bristling white mane while a third dragged behind from the base of its tail. It circled its smaller partner, the bullets from the military guns disintegrating from the creature’s aura.

Canons fired at the two digimon, the sky exploding into black clouds of shrapnel. By this time, Takeru was already sprinting toward Palette Town. His eyes were fixated on Daikanransha.

His legs felt like straw; as though they’d give way the next step he took. He could hear a loud banging behind him. Almost tripping over himself, he briefly looked back to see the two bird digimon body-slamming the barrier. Claws raked at the nearly invisible firewall, sparks crackling into the air. Even from this distance, Takeru could smell the unmistakable scent of something burning. A moment later a gust of hot wind shoot past, almost knocked him to the ground.

Any notion of hiding in the shopping mall shattered with the barrier above, a high-pitched screech filling Takeru's ears. He kicked into a turn, sprinting down the path towards Tokyo Teleport, jumping the steps three at a time. On the last step his sneaker lost its grip and he mashed is teeth together in response. Growling, his knees scraped the concrete, his body twisting barely in time to avoid is face meeting the same fate. Scrambling on the ground he struggled to stand, his jittering hands refusing to catch until he put actual focus into the action. No good, none of this was any good. Forcing himself up, stopping never crossed his mind until the he passed under the protective shade of the skyscraper.

Without bothering to care about what other people around him might think, Takeru finally allowed his body to give, and he slumped to the ground. His lungs burned, but he kept gasping for air, sitting like a ragged doll, flopped over until his body calmed down enough for him to stand.

Peeking over the rail back at the shopping complex, he saw Birdramon and the crow digimon had broken in. They were fighting directly with the military group. A blast shot from a tank, hitting Birdramon in the chest. It dropped to the ground with a loud boom, a cloud of dust billowing from the impact. The military personnel threw some sort of net on the flame bird, and soon the crow retreated.

It was the first time he’d been that close to a battle. Such attacks were usually reported on a newscast documenting digimon activity. If the attacks were severe enough, they would appear on the evening news. Being so close to the conflict, Takeru hoped he didn’t get caught on camera. His father would see for sure.

“Crap,” Takeru muttered, noticing the white marks on his jeans. Rolling them up with a wince, he gingerly pulled them over the raw, peeled flesh. How was he going to explain this? A shrill cry caught his attention as he rolled his pant legs down.

He watched as more personnel surrounded the bird, struggling to get free. Many dive-bombed out of the way as it opened its mouth, breathing a thick flame that scorched the ground. Moments later, Takeru could feel a hot wind pass over his face. He couldn’t imagine the heat close by if he could feel it from over here.

A shrill cry filled his ears as the bird was shot with a taser, struggling and looking around frantically for its long retreated partner. The bird gave a mournful cry as its body lost shape pulsing between a tangible and pixelated body. The scream stopped Takeru’s breath, and he suddenly felt cold.

Now that the threat was taken care of, the soldiers scanned the perimeter, securing the area if there were more incursions. They were getting closer to Takeru’s hiding place and would question him if found. It was either that, or go somewhere he was sure he’d be safe. The closest place was... his father’s. Maybe it was time to get it over with.

Stepping off the pedestrian path, he wandered around until his legs stopped and feeling like jelly. He trudged toward Searea Gobangai complexes, where his father and brother lived. There was nothing left to do except to get it over with. This time he’d cut through downtown. He was unsure about his dad, but unless Yamato was with his band, he was likely at home. Then again, perhaps dad had been called out for the battle he just witnessed? If he wasn’t, would he scold Takeru for being out during that attack without seeking a proper shelter?

He passed one such shelter that was in the downtown area. Hundreds of them were built in the few years following the first digimon attacks. Many were connected to underground rail systems. Each had a little barrier, small enough to keep out any digimon they’ve come across yet. Thankfully it wasn’t too frequent.

He heard a friendly jingle from the loudspeakers near the shelters. A few dozen people left the underground staircase to the shelter. The tune was an all-clear that the threat was neutralized. Those within the shelter had relieved smiles on their faces, talking about how quickly the military must have dispatched the digimon threat. Takeru walked faster. His stomach felt tight hearing those words.

To any normal person, the arches in the middle of the complex’s stairs were colourful and inviting but for Takeru, they were practically suffocating. Arriving at the apartment door, Takeru took a laboured breath before knocking. It felt weird standing there, as though he didn’t belong or was at the wrong door—he wasn’t. He double-checked.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he shook his head. He shouldn’t be stupid. It was his brother and father; people he should be familiar with. There was no reason to be hesitant. This was family. He shouldn’t act like he was meeting strangers. Though with how often he’d seen them since the divorce, they might as well have been. Exhaling, he finally knocked at the door and waited.

A minute later, the door opened, and a broad-shouldered man answered, his expression changed from mild annoyance to surprise as he looked down at Takeru.

Takeru cleared his throat, opening his mouth, taking time to inhale before speaking. “Uh... hi, dad. Nice to see you. Is Yamato home, too?”

Hiroaki nodded, opening the door wider. “Yeah... Come in, Takeru.”

He complied, following his father stiffly into the apartment. He silently took off his shoes, taking a moment to look for guest slippers. There were no slippers at all. His father rummaged in a closet, handing a pair over to him. Taking a seat at the kitchen table, Takeru looked around the apartment, scratching the back of his head.

It had a different feel than his place. More disorganized, slightly cluttered and messy. Perhaps it lacked that feminine touch from his mother, or maybe a feeling of family. It was sort of what he imagined a place lived in by college roommates would feel like. Yamato’s door was closed. He figured he was in there, doing something or another. Hiroaki walked over, giving a sharp rap on the door.

“Yamato, get out here. We have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” Takeru heard Yamato’s voice, muffled through the door.

“Well, why don’t you get up off your ass and look?” Hiroaki snapped.

A brief silence fell over them before Yamato finally opened the door, running his fingers through his hair. “I swear, if it’s Jun again, I’m going right back—Takeru! Wow. Hey, I wasn’t expecting to see you until school started up again. How have you and mom been?”

“Mom’s busy, as usual. I’ve been good. Just settling in,” Takeru said. Yamato joined him at the table. Their father took a beer and two bottles of milk tea from the fridge. He set one down for Yamato, holding the other one out for Takeru. He hesitated, then grasped the bottle and uttered a low thank you.

“Odaiba isn’t big. You’ll get the hang of it pretty quick,” Yamato said. “There isn’t too much to this place. Not compared to downtown Tokyo.”

Takeru forced an awkward laugh. “Yeah, I guess if I were really bored, I could take a trip off the island.”

“If you go across the water, remember where the checkpoints are,” Hiroaki said. He opened the can quickly. A few droplets of beer sprayed halfway across the table, and Takeru could smell the pungent odour. “Be aware of the weak points and stay clear of those areas.”

Yamato laughed. “I’m sure he’d be fine, dad. He’s a smart kid. I got into way crazier shit when I was fifteen.”

“You say that, but there was an attack just a few minutes ago,” Hiroaki said. He patted his pockets, then pulled out a small radio. “I was actually gonna suit up and join the lads, but it looks like it all got resolved quick enough. You weren’t out there with those damn birds flying around, were you?”

“Uh, n-no. I was walking around, but they captured the digimon before I even made it to the shelter. I was... near Daiba. So I only realized because I saw an announcement when walking by a screen.” It technically wasn’t a lie that he’d been walking around Daiba.

“I see. Smart choice.” Hiroaki took a swig of his beer, sparing little more than a thought to Takeru's words.

Takeru gave a halfhearted smile, his shoulders relaxing. “Thanks. So... you got a new job at the miltary? Mom and I were surprised when we heard you quit your job at Fuji TV.”

“Well, they don’t need many personnel at the station. I figured I’d find something more productive. But it’s great. Sometimes I do more of the same because of my experience. There are different jobs to do, depending, and battle training is intense.” Hiroaki looked around; his eyes kept glancing back to the phone. “Though it has been a little busy as of late.”

Takeru wondered if he was referring to the recent attack. It was so close, the fight might have been heard around the whole island. Perhaps he was phoned to join? Or had there been other things he was referring to?

He took out his cell, giving his mom a text to let her know he was okay and was visiting his father.

“Yeah, I had a taste of that training—kind of brutal. The youth program looks a lot softer,” Yamato said, leaning back and glanced at the fridge. “Hey, would you like a snack? We have mochi in the fridge.”

Takeru looked up from his phone. “Yeah, sure. So, how come you took an adult course if you’re still seventeen?”

Yamato got up and started rummaging through the fridge. “Well, there isn’t much of a point getting myself stuck in a youth program when I’m going to be eighteen in a few months. Dad pulled some strings. They made an exception for me. What about you? At your age you can join the youth program and get the full experience.”

“I... don’t know. Maybe. It’s kind of scary, isn’t it? Fighting digimon?” Takeru didn’t fail to notice the look his dad was giving him. He tensed again, eyes darting back to his bottle. He picked at the plastic label.

“It can be frightening,” Hiroaki said. “But you get used to it after a while.” Takeru nodded. Yamato placed a plate of multi-coloured mochi down in front of Takeru. With a mumbled thanks, he took a sip of his drink, reaching out for a purple rice cake.

“So, have you made any new friends?” Yamato asked.

Takeru shook his head. “No. I hope I’ll meet a few people when school starts up. Maybe I’ll join the basketball team.”

“Hikari Yagami still lives in Searea Gobangai. You remember her, right?” Takeru’s eyes widened. “She used to ask about you all the time after you left.”

“Yeah? It’s been... nearly ten years. I doubt she still remembers me.”

Yamato moved his head from side to side, spiky hair nearly touching his shoulders as he did. “Well, it’s a place to start.”

“True,” Takeru whispered. Maybe it would work out. If he and Hikari could reconnect, he’d have an easier time adjusting to a new school. He wondered how much she’d changed.

Takeru talked with Yamato and their dad for a few hours—catching up, reminiscing, and chatting about the state of things. Yamato mostly talked about his band, though there wasn't much to talk about in the first place; the ban on large gatherings really killed any kind of upward momentum they might have had. Most of their appearances were in small bars, or a small open theatre; only when the venue could be heavily monitored. They had to adjust. Most of their exposure was from word of mouth, or found through the internet.

Hiroaki explained the basics of what he did in the military. He was too old by now to do a lot of the physical work for hours on end. A lot of it was paperwork, organization, information-gathering. During battles, he operated some larger ground weapons. Sometimes he had to quell dissent among the citizenry. There had been recent talks about changing the SDF to a more active role.

“But wouldn’t that go against the agreement we made?” Takeru asked. “We’re not supposed to have anything but a defence force.”

“It’s a lot different now that we’re fighting against aliens,” Hiroaki explained. He’d long since emptied his first beer and nearly finished his second, with a third waiting on the side. “Some people think it’s time that we should build up our military might again and take take the fight to them. It's complicated, but it's the only answer I keep coming across. Plenty of people think we can drive them out and keep them from coming back, and that'd be enough, but I don't really see that panning out...”

“Some people are looking too far ahead, thinking about what happens when the digimon are gone and our military actually has some bite.” Yamato added. “They've got a point, but what do they expect us to do?”

Takeru nodded, silent in his contemplation. It was all complicated stuff that went over his head. None of it seemed like there was an easy answer.

It was nearly sunset by the time he left. He stepped out of the elevator, hands in his pockets, feeling lighter than when he came to the building. He was glad that he listened to his mother; next time it would feel more natural to go back. Perhaps he’d go back to Kaien Koen before heading home.

“Takeru!” A feminine voice called out from behind him. Shocked and mildly curious, Takeru turned around. A figure ran towards him through the muggy evening haze. It was a girl, locks of brown hair clinging to beads of sweat along her forehead. Her lily sundress was ruffled along the skirt and shoulders, and an egg-shaped camera case dangled from her neck, bouncing against her stomach. Seconds later she skidded to a halt in front of him, her breath heavy, but her face was graced with a brilliant smile and a dim glow of the nearby streetlight cast her hair with a warm halo. Bent forward, her held herself up with hands on knees as she caught her breath. Wiping at her brow, she pushed her hair back into place as she stood straight. “It is you! I hardly recognized you!”

“Uh,” he said stupidly. He swallowed when her brown eyes met his. “Hi. Don’t mean to be rude, but how do you know my name?” The girl’s smile faded into a pout.

“You don’t remember?” She looked vaguely familiar, Takeru had to admit. He couldn’t place a name, however. “Maybe you’ll remember this? Just one second...”

The girl dug around in her pockets before taking out a whistle. Takeru’s eyes widened. She put the whistle up to her lips and blew softly.

“Hikari?” Her smile returned. “Wow, hi! It’s great to see you. You look...” Amazing. “Different.”

She giggled. “So do you, but I think I’d recognize that blond mop of yours anywhere.” She ruffled his unkempt hair. Takeru laughed and grabbed her hands.

“Whoa, now! What happened to the shy girl I knew?”

Hikari laced fingers with his and squeezed. He loosened his grip in surprise. She slipped out of his grasp, fingers trailing butterfly marks along his skin. He shivered. “Maybe she grew up a bit?”

It was true. She had a different air about her. She held herself more confidently and spoke clearly with conviction, not to mention how playful she was. When they were little, she rarely spoke without her whistle, and her older brother was usually always somewhere close by. He and Taichi were both able to understand what she was saying by how she blew the whistle. By the time Takeru moved away, Hikari had become comfortable enough to speak to him without the whistle. Still, she was so soft-spoken it was often hard to hear her.

“Pretty impressive change.” Takeru smiled. “How’d you know I was in the area?”

“Your brother called, said you were outside. I’m glad I caught you!”

“Yeah, me too. So, how have you been?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Nothing in my life has been all that entertaining. Other than Taichi moving out. But that’s a given.”

“Wow, already? My brother is still living with dad. Did he graduate early? Or just not attend senior high school?”

“He attended. But things have been a little... troubled at home in the last few years.” Hikari’s eyes danced around, avoiding eye contact with Takeru. What was on her face couldn’t be considered a smile so much as an attempt at friendly teeth-baring. He gently touched her shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She eventually looked up at him and gave a small, forced smile. It was more natural than the one she had moments ago, at least. He took a step down the concrete stairs, holding his hand out to her. “Come on, we’ll go to Kaihin Koen.”

“That’s near a beach.” She looked around, a little worried.

“I know. But it’s kind of serene, don’t you think? I have only been living here for a few days, but I enjoy going there. Besides, isn’t it one area that is protected by the coast guards?”

Hikari was silent for a moment, her eyes cast down in thought. “I guess it would be fine to go there. I’d like to spend more time with you.”

Takeru smiled, turning around to face the beach. “Hikari Yagami the rebel.”

She giggled. “Maybe Takeru Takaishi is just a bad influence?”

Takeru laughed, stopping at the bottom of the steps, and turned around to face her. “Perhaps. But at least you accept that.”

Crossing the street, they walked through the short strip of foliage to stroll along the beach, shoes and socks tucked in their hands. Neither of them talked, just enjoying the sight and smell of the ocean. Choosing a spot, they settled down, wrapping their arms around their legs. Hikari stared out at the water, deep in thought.

At that moment, Hikari looked very different to Takeru. Her expression was complicated, and the rigid way her body rested betrayed the stresses hiding within. Her eyes darted this way and that, brow creasing and smoothing as she internally fought with herself over something. He looked away to give her some privacy to think, staring at the greenish-blue of the water before them.

“My brother... renounced the military,” she said after a prolonged silence. Takeru looked over at her, his mouth slightly agape at the news. The country was practically unanimous on the military’s increased activity. The encroachment into their lives was seen as a necessary inconvenience as long as it meant there would be protection from digimon. He studied her expression, biting the inside of his lips at the worried look on her face.

“There are plenty of people who disagree with how the military runs things. Your family isn’t heavily involved in the war, are they?”

Hikari shook her head. “My father backs them with donations when he can, but that’s about it. That’s not the problem. He joined... an anti-military rebellion group.”

“What!” Takeru winced at the volume the reaction came with. He tucked his head into his shoulders, giving Hikari an apologetic look. She jumped at his loud exclamation. Was it his imagination, or had she flinched away? “Don’t those guys go around messing with the military They’re crazy, right?”

“Yeah, but they don't just meddle in things. Some of those groups are actively pro-digimon, and some are even saying we should lose and the digimon should be in charge...” She hugged herself, resting her chin on her knees. “It's... not good out there, Takeru. I can't go five feet without someone talking about him behind his back... And the worst part is, what do I even say? I just... don’t know what to do.”

Takeru frowned. “Did he tell you why? I remember he was always really dependable.”

Hikari pulled her legs in tighter, chin resting between her knees and glaring down at the sand. “That was years ago, Takeru...”

“Has he really changed that much? I can’t imagine he’d just stop caring about you.”

“He sent me a letter. I don’t know... I just can’t understand why he’s out there, doing something stupid and reckless. Why did he—I mean—I hate...” Hikari headbutted her arms, hiding her face. Takeru could hear a faint sodden sniffle. Air escaped from his pursed lips as he struggled to think about what to say.

“So, you’re still worried about him?”

Hikari looked up at Takeru, mouth slightly agape. Her cheeks were smudged with partially-wiped tears. She turned her head away as she wiped at her face. “I... I guess?”

“I think you haven’t changed much either. Even when you’re mad at him, you’re still concerned for his safety. That’s the Hikari I remember best.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

Hikari paused as she considered his words, turning them over in her mind. A tentative, hopeful smile spread across her lips. Her voice was soft as she spoke. “Maybe you’re right. Thanks for listening. This... helped.”

“No problem.” He laid back into the sand, hands cushioning his head. The silence that fell over them was calming. Takeru closed his eyes, intent on soaking up as much of this feeling as he could before school started back up, glad he could share this moment of respite with Hikari.

“Sorry for acting like that before.” Hikari broke the silence. Takeru’s eyes opened with a start, turning to look at her. Her brows were creased, eyes misty. “Truth is, I kinda wanted to see you before school started, and you heard the rumours for yourself. I’m not normally... I just–”

Oh. “I get it. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

She looked at him, finally meeting his eyes, studying him. Her questioning scowl melted to muted surprise as she caught meaning in his expression. “Yeah...”

Silence fell between them again as they looked out to the placid waters, black against the fading light. Neither of them realized the time until the sun was nearly set. Only seven days of summer vacation remained. The idyllic calm of the beach was stained with a foreboding chill as the sun dipped under the horizon.

Chapter Text

“Well, thanks for coming out to visit, Takeru,” Hiroaki said as he walked his son to the apartment genkan, watching him as he slipped out of the guest slippers and put on his shoes. “I hope we’ll be seeing you more regularly.”

“Yeah, I thought I’d visit one more time before school starts up tomorrow.” Takeru stood up and placed his hands in his jeans pockets. As annoying as it was to admit it, his mom had been right. It was still weird to think about; he thought he’d never see his father or Yamato ever again. Funny now something like the threat of a family member dying in battle changed one’s – or society’s – perspective.

They talked idly for a while longer, with Takeru standing in the middle of the genkan and Hiroaki in the hallway. It was a light conversation, but his plans were on the back of his mind. Remembering to check the time, Takeru took out his cellphone. “Ah, sorry. If I don’t get going I’ll be late meeting my friend.”

“Right, I guess so. Oh. Wait just a minute.” Hiroaki opened the closet and rummaged through his coat pockets. Takeru glanced at his cell again before pocketing it, craning his neck to see what his father was searching for. With a small grunt of accomplishment, he pulled out a long piece of paper, handing it to him. Curious, Takeru took it, turning it around to give it a proper look, flipping through some pages.

It was a pamphlet. Colourfully decorated with bold, dynamic lettering advertising a new military program, the Youth Division. He recalled briefly talking about this with Yamato on his last visit. Raising an eyebrow, Takeru held it up. “What’s this for?”

“If you wanna make some friends in this area, you can sign up and learn to protect yourself at the same time. You came from a landlocked part of the city, yeah? There’s a lot of water around here, there’s frequent incursions. I think all kids who live here should at least know basics in case the usual run-and-call tactics they teach in school don’t work.” Hiroaki fumbled with a gunmetal zippo lighter from his front shirt pocket, flicking it open and shut. Takeru stayed silent, scrutinizing the cover skeptically. His father continued, “It’ll give you something more to talk with us about. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how stiff you sit.”

Takeru’s eyes flicked up, startled. “Huh? How did you—”

“With the amount of recruits we get you don’t think I can tell a confident posture from a nervous one?”

“R-right. Sorry.” Takeru felt his face heat up and he rubbed the back of his neck. Oh, right! Meeting up with Hikari. It was still early, but it would take a while to walk down. He waved the pamphlet. “Thanks for this. I really gotta go, so I’ll see you later!”

He fumbled grasping the doorknob behind him and with one swift motion, swung it open, twirled around and said his goodbyes. As he walked swiftly down the pathway, taking his cell out of his pocket, a large smile crept onto his face. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been waiting for this for several days. Flipping it open, he punched in her number, occasionally looking up as he texted. To keep himself from tripping, one hand was hovering along the opposite rail.

You ready for the best day of your life?

He tried walking at a normal pace, but the effort was proving difficult as he neared the elevator. He didn’t want people staring at him, or becoming panicked, but the energy that swelled in his chest made his steps light and his legs wobble unsteadily with adrenaline. He practically bounced in the elevator once inside.

His phone jingled and he opened it just as the elevator touched down.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. >:D

Takeru halted midway through the elevator exit, nearly tripping as he did. He wasn’t quite expecting that response. He took a few moments to analyze it, trying to figure out the meaning. Had he said something presumptuous? With the kaomoji it seemed like she was joking back but the words that went along... had he upset her or was it just banter? Was he overthinking it, or should he actually try to live up to that promise?

He shrugged it off with a nervous chuckle and pocketed his phone. If anything he could use it as a personal challenge to make it come true.

The sun was still high in the sky, and a warm breeze blew past him. It was chilly and air conditioned in his father’s apartment, so he wouldn’t mind sunning himself while he waited for Hikari. Though just as he was thinking that, he spotted her near the colourful decorative modern torii.

Today she was in a loose, light blouse, tucked into shorts and a wide-brimmed sunhat. She had a purse slung across her chest, pinning the camera to her stomach. Takeru grinned widely as he approached, shifting his own baseball cap to shield against the sun.

“Well, well, I wasn’t expecting to see you out here first,” Takeru said, stopping just in front of her.

Kari placed her hands on her hips. “We said to meet up at noon.”

The last time he paid attention to the time on his phone was at the top of the elevator, and there was still twelve minutes to noon. Takeru smirked, gesturing for her to walk with him. “So then you were excited to go with me?”

He heard a small noise and glanced over to see a slightly discoloured face. “I’ve just never been there with a friend before.”

“It’s been about five or six years for me,” Takeru said, looking at the sky in thought. “Since I’ve been able to go out anywhere with friends. I guess we’re both excited, then!”

Turning to face her, he gave her a wide grin. Her shoulders relax and she returns it with a small smile. “Yeah...”

The walk to Palette Town was short, but pleasant. By the time they passed the small downtown area, the sticky, lingering chill of the air conditioner was replaced by the gentle, warm caress of the sun. Even this park area was fairly deserted compared to the denser parts of Tokyo, but for Odaiba, it was bustling. Hands clapping caught Takeru’s attention, and he turned to look at Hikari.

She had a determined look on her face, then took in a deep breath and turned to him. “Right! First thing’s first, we’re going shopping! You’re going to watch me try on clothes, and you’re going to compliment me!”

Her sudden declaration and bold assertion of his role in this. He chuckled, shrugged and gestured toward the mall. “Lead the way, Princess.”

It was a playful tease, but it still seemed to deflate her confidence a little as she shrunk back, colour on her cheeks, and hurried off to the nearest clothing store that appealed to her. Takeru was content to follow along. He did promise, after all.

The next few hours Takeru partially spent on his phone, sitting outside dressing rooms and waiting for Hikari to emerge with the latest outfit. He couldn’t text any of his friends due to the barriers interfering with cell reception. Only ethernet on home computers worked flawlessly past barriers. There were workarounds, of course — extra devices or attachments that were strong enough to break through the barriers, but they were often expensive, especially for a jobless teenager. Each neighbourhood of Tokyo – heck, the world – were sectioned off in their own little microcosms. People got used to it, and there were landline phone booths everywhere in case of emergencies. Sometimes he wondered what the world would be like if technology was allowed to grow unhindered by the barriers.

The door to Hikari’s changing room opened, grabbing Takeru’s attention away from his thoughts, and she cautiously stepped out. Her shoulders hunched, head bowed low, she stood in front of the door, looking up at Takeru with pleading eyes, as if asking for approval. Her outfit was a little mismatched, but the individual pieces themselves were trendy.

He opened his mouth, but Hikari spoke first. “I don’t think... It looks so much more fun when friends go shopping on TV. Maybe I’m just no good—it must be boring for you, too, sitting here watching me play dress-up. I’m sorry.”

With a sigh, Takeru stood up with a shake of his head. Taking her hand, he pulled her back inside the dressing room. Hikari squeaked, her hand stiff and shaking beneath his. “Wh-what are you doing? This is-this is my dressing room! We can’t-”

“What? Is this a bit too dangerous for you?” Takeru teased. Hikari made a protesting noise in response. He picked up one of the skirts she tried on earlier with a different blouse and held it up to her stomach. “I think this would go much better, don’t you?

She looked over to the full mirror on the back wall, hands that had flown to her face to cover her embarrassment slowly slipped to her sides. “Y-Yeah. It does.”

“And this-” Takeru set down the skirt, holding up a shirt at her shoulders. “I think this looks a lot better with those shorts.

“Yeah...” Hikari just stared at the clothes in the mirror, her eyes, alight and active when starting, had faded and burned into a muted brown.

“Don’t think they suit you? You think they’ll look better on me?” He pulled the clothes away, taking an asymmetrical shirt and skirt, holding them in front of him. He glanced over with the goofiest grin he could manage.

At first Hikari just stared at him, but a small chuckle broke the dam and she covered her mouth as she doubled over in a fit of giggles. For that brief time he saw it uncovered, her smile shone brightly.

In the end, she bought three outfits, all folded and stuffed in a single bag. They browsed around other stores, slowly heading to the exit. Hikari chewed on her lip, glancing over at Takeru. “So, when did you become such an expert in women’s fashion?”

“Huh? Oh, well there’s a lot of girls in my old school who shopped in Shinjuku. And you get good at it when your mom drags you shopping all the time. Not that I ever minded. It was like a game when I was younger.”

“Well, thanks. For taking charge, I mean, when I started feeling unsure.”

“No worries. Where do you want to eat, by the way? Before we go to the exhibition?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I hadn’t even thought about it.”

“What about Fakkin? It’s right in front, and we’ll be able to hop in line right after.”

She nodded. “Oh, um, FK? Sounds good.”

The First Kitchen didn’t look too crowded. It was perfect! He held the door open for Hikari as they walked in. Taking a moment for his eyes to adjust, he looked around. As he thought, there weren’t many people in the restaurant at all. Though one couple caught his attention.

They were a father-daughter couple, the girl looked around their age, or a little older. She was beautiful, and her clothes were trendy fashions from Shinjuku. Her father was dressed down completely differently, but had a large white lab coat with a Digimon Corps insignia on it. Behind the man, something orange flew by. Suddenly, there was a sick feeling in Takeru’s chest, and his skin suddenly felt cold and clammy.

The idle music abruptly stopped and an announcement came on the restaurant TVs. There was another attack in the same spot near the military base as last week.

“While unlikely to spread from the shipyards into other parts of Odaiba or over to Ariake and Minato, residents of the area are advised to take caution and stay near the closest incursion shelters just in case,” the reporter said.

“Takeru...” Hikari stepped closer, glancing occasionally at the exit.

“We’ll be fine. There’s a shelter nearby, isn’t there? Besides, the reporter said they’re unlikely to-”

An explosion cut Takeru off and shook the building. Some of the customers cried out and ducked behind booths. Takeru grabbed Hikari, pulling her close to shield her. He felt a shower of something bounce off his back, and hearing them hit the ground, realized it was glass.

“Another attack?” Looking back at the back of the restaurant, Takeru could see the windows were blown out. Below in the gardens, several people in masks stood opposite each other. Between them were several small digimon of various sizes. No, this was completely different.

A sympathizer group.

Hikari was trembling in his arms. He looked back at her as her grip tightened. “Takeru, please... please I can’t... be here. I gotta...”

“Hikari... Hikari, it’s okay! We’re going to be fine. Where’s the nearest shelter?”

Hikari took a big breath, holding it to keep from panting. “N-Near Mega Web...”

Takeru glanced back again, ducking when it looked like one of the digimon, a rabbit-looking thing, was flying at them. It landed on a beam between the broken windows and jumped back into the fray. “First chance we get, we’ll run for safety to the Ride Studio.”

Hikari nodded. Takeru looked around, counting the people inside. A few people were hiding, he knew, but he could count at least ten customers, and there were at least several employees. He spotted the father with the military lab coat, but couldn’t see his daughter anywhere. Watching for any more stray attacks, Takeru guided Hikari over to the man.

“Sir,” Takeru said. “There’s a shelter by the Mega Web, I think if we can find an opening, we should get everyone to safety.”

“I contacted my team,” the father said. “They should be here in ten minutes. The branch here must be unaware of this battle.”

 Another explosion, a ball of fire flew through the broken window, hit the ceiling and sent a shower of sparks down on top of them. Takeru wiped off the sparks. “But in the meantime, we should try and do something, shouldn’t we?”

“I agree with the kid!” A nearby man said. Takeru briefly glanced at him before turning his attention back to the father.

“Indeed, but my daughter...” That’s right. She disappeared just before the attack. Was she in the washroom?

“We’ll get her. Can you look after my friend for a moment?” He didn’t want to leave Hikari, but he needed to know where exactly the digimon were fighting and if there was a way to cross the walkway safely. This didn’t seem right. Why was a sympathizer group fighting? Were they just causing terrorist damage?

The crawl to the windows was slow. He tensed at the smallest noise. Some of the other customers motioned for him to stop or go back, but he pressed on. Glancing behind him, he saw the older man talking to another couple while gently rubbing Hikari’s back as she held her mouth. Pushing the glass away, he made enough room for himself to press against the wall. Taking a few breaths to steel his nerves, he turned around and peaked out the window.

There were six humans and nine digimon. Most of them looked like kids – his age, even. But two of them looked like adults. He couldn’t make out anything identifiable as they were wearing masks. The digimon themselves seemed to be running around, fighting two against one. The two rabbit-like digimon were holding their own against the six digimon they were pitted against. Interesting that the one who seemed to command them was blond like him. A foreigner? Or haafu like himself?

The orange dinosaur-looking digimon – Agumon, he was sure it was called – wasn’t faring as well with his two. The red and black dinosaur was larger, and faster, and that was only if the agumon was paying attention to it and not the tentacle creature it was partnered to. But for now they seemed to be settled mostly on the ground, not chasing each other all over the park. He could even hear one of them shouting. He had a bit of an accent. It must have been the foreigner.

“I’ve heard enough of your bullshit reasons! This isn’t our way!” The foreigner screamed loud enough for Takeru to hear, though whoever he was talking to wasn’t as passionate. “It was your stupid stunt!”

At least they were occupied with each other. Minding the glass with only a short slide on his feet, Takeru shot up. “It’s safe. We can leave.”

“They’ll attack us when we leave!” A frightened older woman said.  Somewhere above them, there was a loud screeching of metal, and Takeru wondered if one of the Ferris wheel compartments got hit. “Just wait for the military to rescue us, young man!”

“That’s still going to take time. If any of them come in here, there’s barely anything to defend ourselves with,” Takeru said.

“He’s right, Ma’am,” the father said. He held out his hand for her. “If anything happened to Daikanransha, we’ll be crushed as well. The team on its way still hasn’t arrived and the camp nearby are fighting their own battle. We’re on our own for a little while yet.”

His words were soothing and calm. It pacified the woman, who slowly reached out her hand. Takeru and the other man from earlier ran to the front doors, the man gesturing for him to check the other side for activity. It was all clear. He ran back, grabbing the hands of an older woman to help her through some rubble. The frightened lady took custody and hurried the old woman toward the doors to the building. The first two made it.

Now he was discovering the pain in his chest from his heart violently pounding against his rib cage. He ignored it as he ran back, briefly checking the battle to make sure the next group could go. Someone must have told the workers hiding in the back the plan, as they took charge of the next group, sandwiching their customers protectively around them. Takeru leaped over the rubble and back inside.

The father was with Hikari still, but closer to the counter, bandaging a middle-aged employee’s hand, red, raw and shaking. There was still no sign of his daughter. Takeru did a quick sweep for anyone still hiding away before making it to the bathrooms.

It looked as though it were empty at first, though one stall had some cloth hanging visibly. He opened his mouth, pausing for a moment as he thought of how to call out for her, realizing he never asked for her name. “Um, hey! Excuse me, but we’re evacuating!”

Slowly, a bit too slowly for Takeru’s nerves, knee-high boots landed on the flooring. Moments later, the latch opened and the beautiful girl peeked out. She jogged two steps toward him when another blast shook the building. She stumbled, arms flailing. The blast nearly knocked Takeru off his own feet, but he managed to catch her arm and steady her, and himself.

Leaving the bathroom, there was suddenly a lot more people in the building. Kids his age in military uniform were directing the rest of the customers and employees out, including the girl’s father.

The man with the burned hand was being escorted, but Hikari stayed behind. Spotting Takeru, she ran over to him and the girl, holding onto what ever she should to keep herself steady. “I didn’t know where you went!”

“Sorry, sorry! I promise I’d never leave you behind.”

“That’s not what-”

“Later,” the girl said. “We should get out of here.”

She ran over to her father, speaking for a moment with one of the girls in uniform. Takeru took a step toward the exit, but Hikari, still wobbling, stood still. He turned back, holding his hand out for her.

“I really am sorry.”

“What if you got hurt? Doing something reckless like that?” She took small steps with his gentle, but hurried prodding, feet quaking so badly it was a wonder to him they didn’t snap in two. “You two are so reckless.”

Takeru chewed on his lips to keep from laughing. He knew if he did, he’d be scolded worse, but the sight of Hikari shaking this badly while still having the nerve to give him shit was a bit much. Of course he felt bad for making her worry this much, but there was also something about how energetic she was that felt authentic. Maybe yelling at him for his actions distracted her from her fears. If that was the case, he certainly wouldn’t mind.

“Scold me all you want after we get out of here, okay?” They rounded the corner a little too fast with the military girls’ prodding and Hikari’s legs gave out on her.

“Hurry!” The military girl hissed, looking around nervously. “Even if we’re here now, it’s still dangerous!”

“I’m sorry,” Hikari said. “My legs aren’t working anymore.”

“Should I carry you?” He grinned to lighten the mood, but his tone was serious. Hikari blushed.

“N-No! Just help me up.”

He obliged, and once Hikari was on her feet again, he wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her forward. Clearing the front entrance and rubble seemed to give strength back to her legs. Takeru breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his grip on her, allowing her to run on her own.

“Oh! Look, some toys to play with!” A feminine voice sang. With a glance, he saw one of the sympathizers pointing at the walkway and her red dinosaur opened its mouth.

“Pyro Sphere!”

“GET DOWN!” One of the military boys shouted, pulling the father and daughter to the ground. Takeru  wrapped his arms around Hikari, yanking her off her feet as he curled to land on his side. The fireball grazed his shoulder, searing through his clothes. He landed harder on the walkway than he anticipated. The fall combined with Hikari’s weight knocked the wind out of him, and he saw stars.

“I can’t believe you’d attack people!” He heard a mildly familiar voice below growl. There was another fireball, hitting the edge of the walkway, sending flames licking at Takeru’s back. It was followed by the girl yelping.

“Ow! You’re hurting Kimi, stop it!”

“Call him off!”

“Takeru!” Hikari rolled out of his grip, shaking him awake. The military girl behind them knelt down, checking on him. Takeru got up, his muscles numb and jelly and he struggled to take in a decent amount of air. Without a word, he urged them forward.

It felt like the door was miles away. Every step he took felt like he’d collapse again. The door got closer, and his legs got heavier each second that dragged by. The military boy in front of them opened the door wide, glancing between them and the battle below. Despite feeling if he looked anywhere but the ground, he’d trip, Takeru stole a peek at what was happening in the gardens.

Other members of the military team surrounded the sympathizers in a wide circle. One of the adults held his hand out and the green bug sprayed one of the military kids with some sort of thread. He fell to the ground, writhing and on the ground. One of the members broke rank to help their companion, while two others went in on the offensive, large shields up.

The green bug summoned what looked to be bees, scattering the military team. The foreigner with the rabbits seized the opportunity, grabbing a hold of the legs of the two digimon, their ears expanding and caught the winds, sweeping them into the air. It was all Takeru saw before his eyes met the door frame, and the dark interior of the building temporarily blinded him.

Closing the door behind them snapped something inside Takeru, and he collapsed on the floor. Suddenly his muscles refused to move, and for the first time he felt how raw and painful his chest was, his laboured breathing and the pounding in his heart.

“Takeru!” Hikari managed to find her own strength with the sudden safety of the building and ran to him, but the strength was short-lived and she collapsed in front of him. “Are you okay?”

“He should be fine. The adrenaline must be leaving his body,” the father said, casually walking over to them. “Satoru, Kairi, join the others.”

“Yes, Sir!” Kairi and Satoru said in unison, running out the door.

With the two gone, he walked over to Takeru, bending down on one knee. “Well, we didn’t quite make it to the shelters, but I’d say you’re an exceptionally brave young man, taking charge like that. What’s your name?”

“Takeru,” he breathed, finally able to catch his breath. “Takaishi.”

“Well, Takeru Takaishi, it’s nice to make your acquaintance. My name is Keisuke Tachikawa,” he said. “I run the technology branch of the Digimon Accident Tactics Squad. The members you met just now were part of my testing program as we seek out better technology and methods of fighting against these monsters. We could use a brave lad like you on the team.”

“What?” Takeru wiped the sweat that dripped down his face. Keisuke held out his hand for Takeru, who hesitantly grabbed it. Soon, he was on his feet again. “Joining the military?”

“Ah, forgive me. As you were running around, you dropped one of our pamphlets. I thought you were looking into applying.”

“My dad gave me that. He’s probably fighting in the shipyards.” Takeru glanced around, looking for Hikari as he spoke. She was on his opposite side, silently following along, head tilted toward the floor.

“A military family, I see.

“Sort of. I live with my mother. It’s my dad and brother who’re...” Takeru’s words trailed off, thinking about how his mother would feel if he suddenly joined out of the blue. Yet another family member she’d have to worry about. His dying words didn’t matter, as Keisuke’s daughter came running from the escalator.

“Daddy!” She stopped in front of him. “They said all the rebels cleared out. Everything’s safe again.”

“Good, I’ll go talk to everyone, then. Sorry, Takeru, if you’ll please excuse me.” He gave Takeru and Hikari a nod as he departed down the escalator.

“I’m Mimi.”

“Huh?” Takeru popped out of the thought bubble he wasn’t even aware he’d been in. “Oh, um, Takeru.”

“And you?” Mimi looked over to Hikari.

“Hikari.”

“It’s nice to meet you both!” Mimi grabbed Takeru’s hands and he stiffened. “This is a real brave guy, wouldn’t you say? You’re lucky to have him!”

“Oh, uh, we’re not...” Hikari mumbled.

“We’re not together like that,” Takeru said, chuckling nervously.

“I see, I see! Well, you know, I’m always available for a brave knight in shining armour.” Mimi winked. Takeru stared at her, mouth agape, fighting to find words to say against an increasingly fogging memory. Mimi just laughed. “Kidding! It’s forward to ask a guy you just met, right? But seriously, I hope to see you again at the facility. I sometimes visit daddy and everyone else. Well, bye!”

Mimi dropped Takeru’s imprisoned hands and waved to both of them before following after her father. Takeru felt like a robot, hands lingering in the air until he ordered them to descend awkwardly to his sides. He glanced over to Hikari. She looked back at him. Both of them burst into a short fit of giggles.

Soon the ambulance arrived, and they carefully checked over each individual caught in the crossfire. Hikari sustained only mild scrapes. Takeru’s palms had peeled off in places, and he hadn’t even noticed his knee was bleeding. His shoulder blade had first degree burns where the digimon’s attack hit him. His shirt had a large hole where the cloth burned away. The cook he saw getting his hand bandaged earlier had third degree burns. Apparently during one of the bombings, he stumbled into the oily grill. When he was patched up, some police approached him for a statement.

The questions were long and thorough, asking him to remember as much as he could about what happened before and during the attack.

“Did you hear any of them speak – anything of note?” The police officer asked.

“I’m not sure. They seemed to be fighting each other from the sound of it. I could only hear bits and pieces.” Takeru said. Hikari’s interview was shorter. She hadn’t been close enough to the action to hear or see anything substantial. When they concluded, he and Hikari quietly slipped away.

They walked together in silence through the mostly empty parking lot to the train station and beyond. He was sure she probably wanted to go home, but when he shifted to round the corner to her apartments, she herded him with her body onward. He didn’t want to go home yet. Did she feel the same?

“Do... you want to go somewhere?” Hikari asked softly. “Maybe... the park?”

“Yeah, sure. Do you want to grab something at the convenience store?” She nodded.

Walking to the end of the street near his apartments, they stopped in at AiMart.

“Welcome!” The bespectacled girl at the counter chirped. On the radio the news about the recent double attacks was already broadcasting. “Let me know if you need anything!”

Takeru nodded to her and slipped into one of the isles, looking to grab some drinks, onigiri and buns. He could vaguely hear the girl at the counter babbling. Hikari must have stayed behind to chat. He grabbed a basket full of goodies and walked to the front counter. There was a stand with nothing but pamphlets for the military’s new Youth Division program. It looked to be the same one his father gave him, so he took one.

“I’m telling you! Your brother was definitely part of that attack. Completely in bed with that no-good foreigner. Ruined with his sick ideas. That bastard has been causing nothing but trouble since he wormed his way into the country. They should throw the whole lot of them in the ocean, if you ask me!”

Hikari shrunk back at the girl’s passionate vocal assault. Her head dipped low again. Takeru walked quickly to the counter and slammed the basket down, startling both the cashier and Hikari. He glared at the girl, taking in her loud, brightly coloured fashion sense in spite of her uniform apron, and unusual purple hair. The name tag read ‘Miyako.’ Did she have any right judging people when she herself wasn’t exactly what most would call ‘normal?’

“I’m buying this.” Takeru said curtly, staring directly at Miyako.

She took a step back, sizing Takeru up with a polite, forced smile. “R-Right away!”

Miyako rang in the groceries, occasionally glancing at Hikari and Takeru, noting his folded arms. He was still holding onto the pamphlet. She cleared her throat. “But what about the Youth Division, huh? They’re so cool, and the leader looks really hot in that uniform! You’re lucky to have Motomiya in your school, Yagami. I go to an all-girl’s school and it’s so dull!”

“Oh, um... I guess?” Hikari pulled her lips back in her fake smile.

“And you’re interested in joining the Youth Division?” Miyako turned her attention to Takeru, leaning over the counter. He backed away, startled. “Hey, come to think of it, I think I’ve seen you around. You just moved into the area, correct? I was startled with that blond hair of yours, but it isn’t dyed, right?”

“Uh-”

“Joining the Youth Division is so patriotic like mega cool! Fighting the monsters, wearing sexy uniforms, saving the one you love from peril! It’s like straight out of a romance manga! All military personnel get a twenty percent discount by the way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.” Takeru took out his coins, handing out the amount. Miyako took it, punched some keys, and gave him back his change. It was more than he was expecting.

Takeru tried to protest, but Miyako held her hand up. “Apology discount. No hard feelings, yeah?” She winked. “Oh, by the way, Yagami, I have something for you. Come back again!”

Miyako pulled an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to Hikari. She thanked Miyako with a small bow of the head. They left the store, Takeru feeling like he just met Mimi’s twin. The park was nearby, so thankfully Takeru didn’t have to dwell on it. They set up on the grass, Takeru placing the bag in front of them as they sat.

“What was that all about? What an odd person.” He chuckled.

“Miyako gets... passionate.” Hikari held the envelope firmly in her hands, though she didn’t open it.

“What was it she gave you?” Takeru asked as he rummaged through the bag, taking out a salmon onigiri for both of them. Hikari shook her head.

“Thank you.” Takeru stopped midway pulling out the food and drinks to look at her.

“For what?” He finished handing her the food and began to unwrap his own.

“For staying with me.” She held the food in her hands, picking at the wrapping noncommittally with her nails. “You protected me, and stayed with me even when I was a bother.”

“You weren’t a bother. Anyone would freeze up in that situation. Or they’d run the first chance they got and risk being hit. Me, I kind of ran around because I felt like I’d collapse if I stayed still. I kind of did at the end there. We were all scared, all of us except Mr. Tachikawa.”

Keisuke Tachikawa was so calm and collected throughout the whole ordeal. It was as though he’d been through these situations on a near daily basis. Was that really how often someone within that branch dealt with digimon?

“I guess you’re right, thanks.” Hikari said after a moment of taking in his words. She looked up at him. “Um... tomorrow is the first day of school. But I agreed to go with someone somewhere. If you want... you could join us. You don’t have to of course, I’d completely understand if you’re busy.”

“I’d love to go.” Takeru had taken a small bite of his food, shoving it to one cheek so he could still talk. “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll meet you.”

Hikari nodded. “Sure. Thank you.”

Chapter Text

After being caught in two digimon attacks, just going to school and having a boring day sounded like paradise. He arrived early to get everything sorted and finalized with his classes. Transferring to a new school in the middle of the year was a pain, but at least he got out of doing some of his summer homework. Learning Hikari was in his class came as a pleasant surprise as he walked in, and he couldn’t help but smile.

The formal introduction out of the way, he was directed to his designated seat by the gentle persuasion of the teacher’s gestures. He’d already picked Hikari out in the crowd – middle of the room, just off in the row to the right. There was a guy seated a little behind in the farthest row who looked somewhat familiar. He slouched over his desk, elbow planted, and head leaned against his palm. Unlike everyone else, he was ignoring the front, instead choosing to stare at the back of Hikari’s head.

The bored guy had short spiky brown hair, a tanned complexion and dawned a blue jacket with a fire pattern. Even if the school slacked on the dress code in recent years – especially for those whose parents or siblings were in the military – it was rather ostentatious in Takeru’s opinion. Only when Takeru sat down beside Hikari did the bored guy look over.

The childhood friends whispered cheeky second hellos to each other, celebrating their morning reunion. Out of the corner of his eye, Takeru could make out an ugly mixture of anger and disbelief on the bored guy’s face, who now sat alert in his seat.

What was this guy’s problem? Takeru hid a smirk behind his hand as he rested his chin. Come to think of it, he’d seen this reaction in his old school plenty of times, even been caught up in it once or twice. He had no idea who this guy was, but jacket or not, Takeru wasn’t going to let himself be pushed around if any insecure guy started threat displaying. The guy was probably also the type to unironically call someone his ‘romantic rival’ or something, too.

Thankfully classes went smoothly. The curriculum was similar to his old school, so he wasn’t as lost as he’d feared. It would be a while before the new year started, but he figured asking when signing up for basketball started on the lunch break, he’d be guaranteed to get on the team in April. Briefly he’d considered signing up for soccer.

Something about Odaiba just gave him the feeling of soccer. He wasn’t as good at it as he was basketball, but he remembered Taichi teaching him and Hikari well enough. Taichi spent many gleeful afternoons teaching them how to kick, and the complicated rules. He was impatient, often giving misguided directions, but they had a lot of fun. The memories were long packed away and dusty, pulled out of the cobwebbed attic of his mind by the move. But he’d seen a soccer jersey in his “rival’s” locker when he walked past and thought better of it.

Then again, if he did, he could give the insecure little baby something to actually cry about. Showing up someone who deserved it and besting them in their own games was always so satisfying. At least, if this ended up going how Takeru thought it might. He hoped not. Making enemies over petty things like ‘territorial rights’ on the first day of school was such a pain.

With the last bell, Hikari sprang up from her seat. “I’ll text you when I leave.”

Takeru nodded, watching as she dodged tables and classmates and darted out of the room. The rest of the class followed her, slowly piling at the doors. He sighed, gathering his things and preparing for the walk home, idly trying to remember where he put his fancier sets of clothes when he unpacked. The girls assigned today’s room cleaning flocked together and began to chat, keeping a consistent ambience as they gathered buckets and brooms from the closet.

More than half the class was done by the time he slung his pack over his shoulder to leave. The spiky-haired kid stepped in front of the door, blocking the exit. The brunet folded his arms across his chest, staring indignantly at him, unblinking. Takeru sighed, his shoulders slumping. He should have known.

“Can I be let through, please? I have somewhere to be,” Takeru said dully.

“I have questions to ask first, Mr. Takaishi,” the boy said loudly. “Like, who are you, really? Why are you getting so buddy-buddy with someone like Yagami?”

“What do you care?” Takeru stepped forward, trying to shove past his belligerent classmate. A hand grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back. Takeru fell back against a desk, which screeched and echoed in the room. He cried out as his burnt shoulder bashed against a corner of one of the desks. The girls in the room gasped, their idle chatter halted. Glancing back, he saw them huddle together, clutching their brooms and chalkboard erasers nervously. One of them took a step forward, her brows furrowed, her hand reaching out to him in a silent question. He held his hand up, shaking his head as he turned back to face the aggressive ass.

There was only a fraction between his eyes flicking back to the Youth Division soldier and the shock leaving his face with a short shake, then he was back to business. “Don’t ignore me, Blondie, we’re not done talking. Answer my question.”

“I don’t care.” Takeru steadied himself, gently pulling the desk back into place with a muffled grunt. “It’s none of your business what goes on between Hikari and I.”

He made another attempt at the door, though stopped when it looked like the boy would shove him again. This time, he guessed, much more aggressively.

“Yeah, it is kind of my business. See this?” He opened his jacket, revealing his school uniform underneath. So, he did at least mostly follow proper school dress code after all. A badge on the inside of his jacket was what he was pointing to, however. It was a very specific insignia, one that Takeru was starting to see everywhere. “Due to the current situation, which is digimon-related, I have taken it upon myself to protect Hikari Yagami from harassment as an official member of the Anti-Digimon Youth Division. Hikari can’t afford to get unnecessary attention from or because of anyone new.”

His words were stiff and restrained, as though he were reading off some paper he memorized. The formal tone took to him like a cat in water.

There was something about—Miyako’s words flashed in his memory, his eyebrows raising in recognition. “Oh. You’re Motomiya.”

Motomiya stumbled back, his jacket dropped down over his chest. His guard was lowered. Unfortunately, Takeru was sure it would be right back up if he tried forcing his way past again. Funny; this wasn’t what he had in mind picturing a Youth Division Kid. By ‘situation’, he was talking about Taichi going rogue, then.

“That’s right. I’m Daisuke Motomiya, head of the Youth Division’s core team. How’d you–”

“Hikari mentioned some kid named Motomiya helping her out occasionally,” Takeru clarified.

A smile spread on Motomiya’s face, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hikari was talking about me, was she?”

Takeru’s eye twitched. The smug tone to Motomiya’s voice held an underlying surge of hope that sickened him, as though it were an obvious conclusion to the inevitable.

“She talked about a lot of things,” Takeru said, trying to pop that bubble before it got too big. “We’re old friends. That’s all.”

“But you lived in Setagaya.”

“Yeah. People can move more than once in their life. Can I go now?”

“Oh, back in the area, huh?” Motomiya seemed to disregard the unspoken agreement of letting him go once he relinquished his personal information. Just great. “Must not have been that long ago because Hikari was living in Hikarigaoka when she was younger.”

“Like I said, more than once in their lives,” Takeru let out an exasperated sigh, trying to keep his tone level. Motomiya showed no signs of moving, despite showing less hostility.

At least where he came from was public knowledge, though living in Odaiba was so brief before the divorce. Considering how chaotic the city was eight years ago, could anyone blame a lot of people for moving around a lot? There were records of all the places he’s lived and when. Small, insignificant details. Things a nosy person didn’t need to know.

Screw this. Taking advantage of Motomiya’s unguarded stance, Takeru pushed past the youth soldier. There was no resistance but a vocal protest, yet he was sure Motomiya stepped aside after a moment’s hesitation. He was a quarter of the way down the hall when Motomiya called out to him again.

“Hey, you dropped someth-”

Takeru turned around, seeing Motomiya looking at the pamphlet in his hand. That was the second one he’d dropped. Was there a rip in his pockets or something? He’d stuck it in his backpack to look over at lunch but forgot about it with all his classmates coming over for a proper greeting. Motomiya looked up to Takeru, a smirk and a raised eyebrow making him look disgustingly condescending.

“Looking to join the Youth Division? You? You don’t look like you have what it takes. No offence.” It was clear he didn’t mean that.

“Neither do you. Yet here you stand.” Takeru walked back to Motomiya, holding out his hand for it. Instead, Motomiya held the pamphlet closer to his chest. With a frustrated sigh, Takeru turned around and swiftly walked down the hallway. He heard Motomiya call out for him to come back, but he ignored it as he jogged down the stairs, missing the last two steps. Using the railing as a buffer for his weight, he rounded the corner to the next set of stairs in a single step and continued down until he was outside.

He stopped at AiMart for a moment to grab yet another pamphlet. Miyako called out a greeting to him, stopping when she recognized who he was. He stared at her for a moment, half in the door. Giving her a small nod, he pocketed the pamphlet before dipping back outside.

It was stupid. He wasn’t sure he’d even want to do this thing, and this was the second one he’d have to grab. But if his dad was going to ask about it, he should at least read what is in the thing than be caught off guard. Instead of reading it tomorrow at lunch he might as well look at it tonight just to get it over with, too. Lest another one get swept away by annoying circumstances. Heading into his apartment he stopped at the fridge to grab an ice cream before retreating to his bed, the sugary treat sitting between his teeth as he unfolded the pamphlet. It was indeed colourful, with lots of bold and balloon kanji and eye-catching text fonts.

The first page had a brief description about what the youth program was about. It was meant to train teenagers who were interested in joining the army, but were yet too young, to better prepare them for real combat. The recruits that would come out of the program would specialize in combating digimon threats and rarely go into regular combat.

Digimon were so often in the news, whether alerts or major attacks, it often obscured or made less room for more earthly topics like politics and relations between countries. Regular, mundane stuff; things Takeru guessed were a big deal ten years ago. He wondered what the turnover or transfer rate was between regular SDF and DSDF members. Obviously the Digimon Forces were larger, but how often was the regular SDF deployed overseas leaving the Digimon branch crunched?

Why would any country go to war with each other with this bigger threat on their doorsteps? He could only guess it had something to do with how long term the invasion was. It became the norm, and whatever was normal and inconvenient could be ignored.

Oh, interesting. Even though the kids wouldn’t engage with actual war zones, it didn’t mean they’d never encounter digimon. They’d be sent to smaller risk areas to deal with weaker threats when other military strength was unavailable. He supposed that was true. When they were in Palette Town, they’d been there directly confronting those other people with the digimon. Takeru wondered how often they engaged with the rebel faction, or how often they got in the military’s way.

That might give his mom relief, at least. If he did join and wouldn’t see anything dangerous then there would be little reason to worry about him like she did dad and Yamato.

The next section was about digimon themselves. Creatures from another world who first appeared nearly a decade ago during the First Contact Digimon Incident. Takeru doubted there was a single person in the world who didn’t know about that. Especially in Tokyo, a repeat was particularly feared considering it happened in Shinjuku. A group of kids disappeared, supposedly killed, around the time the first digimon appeared and were never found.

An image flashed in Takeru’s mind of seven middle-schoolers and three younger children. Odd. A memory of past news report photos, maybe. For some reason that didn’t quite feel right.

Moving on, it talked more about what little there was known about digimon. How they were born from eggs, and had at least four forms: In-Training, Rookie, Champion and Ultimate. In-Training and Rookies were considered the weakest forms. In-Training more a nuisance than a threat, while Rookies could cause damage and injury...

Champions were the most common threats, blah blah blah... Wow. It was going into a lot more detail about them than he thought it would. No wonder the pamphlet was a little thick compared to other things like tourism guides.

Takeru flipped pages until he got to the next section, hoping there wouldn’t be a test later next time he went to visit. Third section, Common Questions...

What did digimon want? No one knew for sure, according to the pamphlet. But it went on to explain the various research conducted by their specialist and tech director, Keisuke Tachikawa. The picture did look like the man he’d met yesterday. He had various different projects ranging from expeditions into the Digital World to research on digimon themselves and the latest, the Youth Division. The pamphlet even called it a wild idea.

Come to think of it, he did remember seeing a news segment about it on TV while flipping through channels. It had been before they moved, and the program caused a few ruffled feathers. The segment was coy about why they’d involve teenagers, so he’d switched channels and forgot all about it.

Takeru finished his ice cream as he read the culmination paragraph at the end.

Individuals aged fifteen to nineteen could sign up and start training in valuable defensive measures and technology to fight weak digimon under the careful supervision of seasoned veterans in a highly protected facility in Setagaya.

Wasn’t the dinner he was supposed to go with Hikari to in Setagaya? ... Shit.

Takeru sprang up and looked for his clock, checking the time. Okay, good. He still had time to take a quick shower and head out to the station. He might as well look at the final page.

Flipping the pamphlet over, he didn’t see much else on the other side than a photograph of what he guessed was the Youth Division. He recognized two of them as the ones who helped them the other day. There in the middle was Motomiya. He appeared in quite a few of the photos.

Takeru frowned. If he did join this group, that would mean he’d have to deal with Motomiya a lot. Suddenly the relaxed appeal was gone. Even if he did claim it was all to protect Hikari, that didn’t give him the right to go around interrogating anyone who got close to her. It was all his own reasons and desires, he was sure – an excuse to check out the competition from what it looked like. Being that protective of her would only isolate her further, and that didn’t sit well with him.

His eyes travelled back to the picture with the digimon in the cage. All the YD members were crowded around, smiling and looking proud of their accomplishment. He didn’t know why, but he was drawn to it for some reason. It was an In-Training stage known as Tsunomon. He never saw much of this species around, despite hearing about it being spotted commonly.

Takeru tried to figure out what it was that drew him in. The horn perhaps? It made up at least a third of the digimon’s body. No, that wasn’t it. The shape? Definitely not. The colour...

Images flashed through Takeru’s mind. Of blinding light, men in military uniform, dark skies and barbed wire. He couldn’t make out any faces, if he could see a face at all. He could hear his father’s voice, yelling at him. The noise was deafening, of orders issued, his father calling his name and shrill cries filled his ears. A few flashes of orange accompanied a sick feeling in Takeru’s stomach.

The pain of his knees hitting the hardwood floor, shocked him back to the present. He’d fallen off his bed, leaning heavily on his elbows and knees. His head tucked back to his chest until it almost touched the floor. The last thing he saw was the frantic flapping of bat wings.

Taking a few moments to compose himself, letting the dark of his arms calm him, Takeru sat motionless, silent apart from heavy breathing. With a gasp of air he moved, cleaning the saliva that was trickling out of his open mouth.

Sitting up with some difficulty manoeuvring jelly legs, he leaned against his bed. His hand covered his mouth as his mind raced. What was that just now? Only now was he aware of how much his body was shaking, or that beads of sweat formed now that they slid down his face.

A... memory? Of a digimon attack? He struggled to go over the scant images in his mind, looking for anything that he could make out. It was dark. His father and the military men towered over him. He couldn’t remember anything like being attacked any time before arriving in Odaiba. There's been a couple of close calls, but nothing like that. Nothing even like the incident last week, let alone yesterday.

Scraping through the scant traces, Takeru tried to focus on what he could remember of the surroundings. Well, there was dirt. A hill, and barbwire chain-linked fencing. There was a hole in the corner. That... was all he could recover.

Should he cancel on Hikari? Say he wasn’t feeling well? He should talk to his mom about what happened, ask if she knew anything. Another glance at the clock made him wince. It would be such short notice; he couldn’t do that to her. Besides, he’d be fine after a quick shower, right? The fresh air when walking to the station would do him good, too. With a grunt he got up and dragged himself over to his closet. Finding a nicer pair of pants and shirt, he made his way into the bathroom for a shower.

He turned the water on hot, stripped down and stepped into the steam. The water burned somewhat, but it was tolerable, and with the steam helped calm his nerves.

Maybe after the dinner he could take a walk and clear his head properly. Since he’d be in the area maybe he could check out the facility the Youth Division was housed at. It was worth a shot, anyway, if anything just to give him something to do on the walk.

He got out and towelled himself dry, forcing his way through his clothes despite his damp skin sticking to the fabric. Even after the shower he felt gross and sticky. Whether it be his body was still recovering, or what, he didn’t want to take a chance. It wasn’t often he used the cologne his mother bought him for his birthday two years ago. The bottle was still half full. He spritzed a little on himself just to not smell of sweat. He grabbed his wallet and headed out the door, tiptoeing across the apartment. He didn’t see his mom in her study, which meant she likely retired to her room for a nap.

Catching the Tokyo Waterfront line from Odaiba Kaihin Koen station, Takeru found himself in a relatively unfamiliar part of the city. It wasn’t like Setagaya was all that much closer to Suginami than Odaiba if taking the trains. No matter what, it still took two transfers to get there – the Yamanote line he almost missed.

At least the Skycarrot was only a block or so away from the station. As he approached, he saw them standing at the entrance of the red-bricked building. Hikari was standing in a light dress, her short hair speckled with clips and a light dusting of makeup on her face. An unpleasantly familiar silhouette was also beside her, dressed in the same jacket, though with full military garb on. When Takeru approached, Hikari smiled and walked over to him, catching Motomiya’s attention. His nose wrinkled on recognition.

“That’s who you chose to come along with us?”

“Yes! He’s our new classmate, but he’s also an old friend.” She looked back at Motomiya. “I thought it would be nice to invite him out and spend time with us, meet another classmate.”

“R-Right...”

Motomiya looked about as enthusiastic as Takeru felt. This was for Hikari, though. If Motomiya behaved, things would go well. They entered the restaurant, Motomiya mentioning something about a reservation. They were led to a table by the window overlooking the city, and in the far distance Tokyo Tower.

“It’s funny how the tower survived all these years,” Takeru said, looking out at it as he sat down. “It’s such a spectacular landmark, you’d think the digimon would have targeted it a long time ago.”

“I’m sure they tried,” Hikari said. “Either way, I’m still glad it’s up. It makes for such a beautiful background.”

“Of course, that’s all thanks to the efforts of all the men and women protecting the city!” Motomiya puffed out his chest. “No digimon can withstand our might for long!”

“From what I’ve seen, digimon could easily destroy it if they wanted to,” Takeru said softly, idly looking out to Tokyo Tower, increasingly brighter the more the sky dimmed into purples and oranges. It must not have been all that important to go after other than a display of wanton violence and destruction, thus not worth the effort.

Motomiya scoffed. “‘Wanted to’, as if those things think.”

“You think they can’t?” Takeru asked.

“Oh, come on! Don’t tell me you’re one of those people. They attack at random all over the place. There’s a couple of old kooks in the business studying that think they can plan and reason, but there’s no way that’s the case at all.”

“Can we please not talk about this?” Hikari asked, head down, hands clasped into fists on her lap. It had barely been a day since they’d survived Palette Town. Talking about digimon attacks like this so soon, Takeru couldn’t blame her for being uncomfortable. He’d only felt fine with some strong topical medicine and some pills for the pain.

“I agree, we can talk about something else,” he said.

“Fine, fine,” Motomiya said with a sigh. “You know I’m right, though.”

“Daisuke.” Hikari’s flat tone ended with a small bite.

Motomiya didn’t have time to react, as their server came to take their orders. After a hasty glance through the menu, Takeru ordered his meal after the other two. A small, uncomfortable silence fell upon them after the waiter left.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Motomiya asked after a few moments of uncomfortable fidgeting.

Hikari’s head dropped back in frustration. “I don’t know, anything other than digimon? How about talking about our book reports? What are you reading for it?”

“Book report?” Takeru asked, dumbfounded.

Motomiya balked, letting out a disgusted, throaty noise. “I don’t want to talk about school, I already get enough of that during the day.”

“There’s a book report?”

“Oh, right. It was announced before break,” Hikari said. “We should probably ask the teacher to get you caught up.”

“What, the haafu needs help? I guess Japanese is a complicated language to grasp for mutts.”

“Daisuke!” Both Hikari and Takeru bristled. “Don’t call him things like ‘haafu’ and ‘mutt’ that’s incredibly rude!”

Takeru rested his chin on his knuckles with a smirk. “'Mutt' is a little on the nose for a representing member of the military’s Junior Division, don't you think?”

“Okay, fine,” Daisuke grumbled, mussing his hair up, his cheeks colouring. “What about sports? You play any sports, Takeru?”

“We’re on a first name basis now?” Takeru sniped. Glancing over to Hikari, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. He knew very well Motomiya wasn’t putting any effort into being friendly, but this was for Hikari.

“Yeah. I was thinking of joining the basketball team when they open back up. I was also floating the idea around of soccer, but I don’t know.”

Motomiya’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t know if you’d measure up. A stiff breeze might knock you over.”

Takeru rolled his eyes. “I’m not as fragile as your ego.”

Daisuke bolted up, slamming his hands on the table. “What did you say, Blondie?”

“Daisuke, Takeru, both of you calm down!” Hikari snapped, glaring at both of them.

“He’s insulting me!” Daisuke protested.

“You insulted him first!” Hikari said, then swiftly turned her burning glare at Takeru. “But you’re not off the hook for that, either.”

Takeru held up his hands. “I was only giving back what I got!”

Her eyes narrow. “That’s not an excuse. Don’t stoop to his level, if that’s the case.”

“Yeah... wait, what?”

Hikari whipped back around to look at Motomiya. “As for you, give him some respect, will you?”

“Why should I? Just because he’s a new kid? He comes in here acting like he owns the place, whispering and giggling with you like he’s known you all his life!”

Takeru shrugged; a small grin spread across his face as he emphasized the foreign gesture. “I mean... kinda?”

“Oh, don’t give me that ‘childhood friends’ bullsh—”

“Daisuke!” Hikari snapped, gripping at the edge of the table. “He saved my life yesterday.”

“What?”

This time Motomiya pauses as her words sink in and a quiet finally falls upon the three of them. Hikari turns her head away, biting at her lip. It was subtle, but Takeru was sure he could see her trembling.

“We were in Palette Town yesterday. I... I wouldn’t call it saving, I was just trying to get us both out of there.”

“Y-you were... at Palette?” Motomiya’s colour drained from his face.

Once again, the three of them fell into silence, one that lasted until their food came. They also ate in silence, which Takeru was thankful for. As much as he’d liked to have talked with Hikari, any of Motomiya’s quips could ruin an otherwise nice, albeit expensive meal.

Dinner finished with little excitement, and soon the dishes were cleared away. Takeru thumbed through his bills, hoping he had enough, and this didn’t burn too bad a hole in his savings. Motomiya stood up.

“Don’t bother, Blondie. I’m paying.”

Startled, Takeru looked up at him. Motomiya’s head was turned away, looking out toward the front. “What?”

“Consider it thanks; for taking care of Hikari yesterday. I still don’t trust you yet, though.” Motomiya then left the table, leaving Takeru and Hikari alone.

“I’m sorry about Daisuke’s behaviour tonight,” Hikari said, sighing. “He’s normally quite cheerful.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m kinda used to it.”

“That’s... so sad.”

Takeru waved his hand back and forth dismissively. “It can’t be helped, with that crazy foreigner running around. I just hope that didn’t ruin your night too badly, you needed a nice, quiet evening to relax.”

“It didn’t, I just... thank you. It really means a lot, you being here. It kind of feels like you never left and it’s nice.”

“Yeah, it is nice. Pretty easy to do with my charm and good looks and your sweet personality.”

Hikari jumped, her face colouring as she quickly looked to the floor, though he still caught a hint of a smile. “S-stop it!”

Takeru giggled. “Anyway, are you heading home right away?”

Motomiya looked to be just about done with paying. If he could help it, Takeru would rather not stick around long after he came back.

“Yeah. Daisuke said he’d take me home. What about you?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I was thinking I’d take a little walk.”

“This late at night?”

“Why not? I’m Takeru Takaishi the rebel, after all,” he grinned. “I’ll be fine. It’s not too far from where I used to live, so I know my way around.”

With a wave goodbye, Takeru left the restaurant and disappeared into the dying bustle of the street below. He followed roughly along the train line, toward the old Komazawa university. It was where the pamphlet said the military building was. He was sure he remembered when the building was built. Five years ago, it was built just outside of the university grounds, taking land of recently destroyed residential buildings. The military and the school would have a symbiotic relationship of sorts, with the university providing its facilities and education in exchange for protection from digimon. It was a big topic of gossip back then.

It was a short twenty-minute walk, and the area was cool and quiet, giving him time to decompress from Motomiya, idly switching his phone on or off as he walked from ADR to ADR. There was a lot more construction than even he remembered there being. Were attacks becoming more frequent the further out from the heart of Tokyo? That was a little ridiculous, wasn’t it? Why weren’t they keeping better maintenance and upgrades to the barriers?

The building quickly came into view, large and imposing despite being roughly seven stories tall. It was doubtful the place was only seven stories, it had to go underground, too. The building above ground was a brilliant white, as though completed yesterday despite the years of exposure to the elements; and had an oblong, rounded shape. Apart from a tower that hosted an ADR emitter, the roof looked completely flat from his view.

Taking pause as he looked at the building, he wondered if this was a good idea after all. It was late at night and getting darker by the minute. If they allowed guests in at all, that would be over by now, surely? How much of the building would he be able to see? Then again, he still wasn’t sure he even wanted to join in the first place.

He stood outside the building for several minutes, staring at it, debating. With a frustrated sigh and aggressive mussing of his hair, he turned and left. He had no energy for this; Daisuke had taken up all his tolerance for the night. He might as well make it back to the train station and get some homework done before tomorrow.

Was he someone who disliked digimon enough to join the military and kill them? Daisuke seemed nonplussed by the idea of it, obviously, with his ideas of the digimon. They didn’t think, acting on instinct with perhaps some level of basic planning, but no structure or rhyme or reason for where they attacked. There were a lot of things that pointed to that being true, plus how they’ve affected the lives of billions around the world, say nothing of how dangerous they were. It should be an easy option to pick and yet...

That soulful cry and that look in the fire bird’s eyes before it was deleted haunted his vision just behind his eyes every time they were brought up. Why would a creature like that act in such a way if there was nothing to their actions or motivations? Plus there were coordinated attacks, even if the majority of them seemed random. None of it made sense to him. He wouldn’t be able to do it.

There was no way he could be cut out for military work. Kill the creatures – for what? Have more to talk about with his dad? Was he really going to do that just to talk about how many creatures he killed? Sure, the Junior Division wouldn’t have him seeing active combat on the front lines, but that wouldn’t mean he’d not be dealing with them at all. Even if he got lucky and got an office position, or maintenance, which was unlikely from the sound of it, the job would be dull, so father-son bonding seemed unlikely. Even with the suggestion he do it just to learn to defend himself was unpleasant. His stomach churned uncomfortably.

Making up his mind, he turned his full attention back to the dimly lit streets, stopping as he took in the unfamiliar sights. What was once a regular street a few months ago was now partially under construction. A broken, crumbling building was taped off and some businesses were different than what he remembered. Next to the crumbling building was a construction site, likely the remnants of a digimon attack.

This was ridiculous. It had to be a weakness in the ADR; there was no way a neighbourhood that close to a military facility could be between barriers. Why was no one complaining about it? Or... had he really travelled that far when spaced out?

Soft whimpers stopped his foot from pressing his journey on, and Takeru listened intently through the muted quiet. Was he hearing things, or was it really someone crying?

Another sob, muffled, and coming in the direction of the buildings being torn down and rebuilt.

Takeru’s muscles jerked forward as he bolted over the yellow tape and wooden barriers and into the buildings, swerving with a sharp crunch of rocks underfoot on dusty flooring from the newer one into the old. The cries were coming from that one, he was sure of it.

He found an entrance between all the broken concrete and rebar, ducking under a steel beam and slid down a muddy patch of hill. His palms slid on the metal, and he fought to keep his breathing quiet, and his body from shaking. The feeling in his stomach from earlier returned. He looked around, the site, squinting in the dimly lit skeleton. The walls were barely intact, but the roof somehow survived. It would be pitch black if it weren’t for the ambient light of the city around it giving vague outlines. Takeru squeezed his eyes shut, forcing them to adjust.

“Hello?” he called, carefully navigating around a pile of broken office desks. “Kid, where are you? Playing in places like this is dangerous!”

His shin scraped against the end of a stray broken rebar beam, and he nearly topped over, swearing as he scrambled to stay standing. Try as he might, there were no sounds from the trapped kid anymore. Panic set in as he picked up the pace, grabbing a filled trash bag and moved it aside, Takeru was met with a small puddle of orange and cream.

He fell hard onto his backside and scrambled until his head met a steel beam. Panting heavily, Takeru’s eyes darted around. They fell back onto the orange blob, illuminated by a glow further back. It was bean-shaped, with four legs ending in paws, and bat-like wings in place of ears. Large blue eyes stared back at him, red and watery. Glancing over, Takeru saw one of its paws caught in a bear trap-like contraption.

A digimon.

Takeru sat there, staring, with his mouth agape, unsure what to do.

Chapter Text

Takeru was sure his heart was in his throat, pounding wildly. He was also sure it was going to bust if he moved. So, there he sat, staring wide eyed at this creature, a metre in front of him. A digimon.

The digimon stared back at him. It didn’t move. Maybe if he could get up slowly, he could get out and find help without being attacked.

That is, if he even could get his body to move. He was shaking, and he felt light as though any moment he could spring up and bolt. But his body wouldn’t move no matter how loudly his mind was screaming.

A pitiful whimper was all he could manage. Great. Now he was crying like a kid, maybe Daisuke was right and he wasn't cut out for the Youth Division after all.

Except… his mouth was closed, and his lungs were just as frozen as his body. Then who…?

Takeru looked around. Was there a kid trapped in here after all? His heart picked up in gross violation of his fear. Wherever they were, he needed to find them, needed to get them out of here, needed to–

His eyes fell on the digimon before him. Its orange body shuddered as another whimper drifted through the air. Those large, alien eyes were squeezed shut, and its jaw was clenched tight. With another feeble whine, it pushed into the dirt, pawing at the trap with its free leg. Blood trickled from the open wound, periodically splashing into the dust before dissolving into pixels.

"Digimon bleed?" Takeru spoke without thinking. The rather small creature's large eyes opened. The whimpers stopped. Takeru tensed and leaned back slowly, his feet sliding cautiously across the dirt and gravel. The digimon sniffed, eyes closing once more, as if to focus.

There was a noise. A chirp. A squeak. And for a moment, Takeru's body became ice, frozen in place. Some digimon need only make a sound to kill, and with how heavy his heart thrummed it felt like that's what had just happened. Then the noise came again. This was it, wasn’t it? No matter how small it was, he was unarmed. Without a weapon, it’d tear him to shreds, devour his corpse; his mother would never know what happened to him, just like those kids in Shinjuku; it’d –

It’d speak?

Heart still pounding in his ears, he almost didn't hear it. A word. One word, weak and feeble, confused and almost delirious like the rodent's eyes.

"What?" It squeaked one more time, the pudgy face scrunched, the high-pitched, youthful voice almost demanding were it not for the scratchy under-pining’s of exhaustion.

"Uh..." Takeru said smartly, forcing his shoulders to relax in a lopsided manner. "I just didn't know digimon bled."

Or spoke.

"Of course digimon bleed," the digimon said indignantly. "What kind of mon doesn't?"

"I don't know," Takeru replied in a low voice, as though at any moment someone would catch him talking to this thing. His eyes shifted around uncomfortably. Carefully, he folded his legs to sit more comfortably, keeping his eye on the trapped monster. It tensed at his movements, but did nothing more than watch. "I actually don't know much about digimon other than they're dangerous. I'm just a civilian."

There was a long pause. The digimon stared at the trap, seeming to give up on trying to pry itself free for the moment.

"What's a civilian?"

Takeru stared, mouth slightly agape, trying to find his words. "A… non-combatant. A regular person."

"Not every human fights?" There was genuine curiosity in its voice.

"N-no. Fighting isn't something we normally do." Takeru's thoughts immediately betrayed him, to all the wars fought in antiquity and the smaller, more domestic scuffles. That would be a little difficult to explain, though. One step at a time. The irony assuming there’d be a second step, or that the conversation would last long enough for nuance wasn’t lost on him. Amazing what a couple of words could do to the humanity of a monster in someone’s eyes. He had to choose his words cautiously. "Don't digimon have times when they don't fight?"

Once again, his mind went to what he'd been told about digimon. He'd feel foolish if he asked anyone that question. As far as anyone was concerned, digimon were just angry beasts. Now that a living, breathing digimon was in front of him, however, curiosity won out.

"I guess, sometimes. Though everyone's been fighting more and more lately."

The way it talked was interesting, almost simple. It was like talking to a first grader, weirdly enough. Maybe even a kindergartner.

"I… I see." The silence allowed Takeru time to think, though whether or not that was a good thing was yet to be seen.

"This is really weird," Takeru mumbled with a sigh. The digimon raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

And apparently can read its facial expressions.

"I guess..." It looked down at its caught foot and wing. Takeru winced internally, imagining what it must be like to have a foot caught in a trap like that. It must have been excruciating, and here he was talking to the poor beast casually while it suffered… It felt wrong to leave the digimon like that. But it was a wild ani—well, monster, right? Chewing his lip apprehensively, he considered his options.

Leaving it behind to die or be caught by the Digimon Corps was the most sensible option. It was also the cruelest; especially now that he’d sat and had a full on conversation with this thing. No, that wasn’t an option anymore. He needed to help. It was crazy, it might even get him killed, but he'd still try.

"Hey… do you want out of there?"

It glared at him, suspicious. "No, I like it here. It's good for my health."

Takeru reeled, shaking himself out of it with a small chuckle. “Wow, sassy. Do all digimon have a mouth, or just you?”

"Depends on what mon you talk to. Not like I'd expect a human to talk to a digimon."

"I'm talking to a digimon," Takeru countered.

"A second time," it snapped.

"Well, fine." Takeru slowly stood up, minding his head and the beam hanging in his way. "I really was going to get you out of there, provided you don't bite my hand off. Then you could have gone off back to your own world where you belong."

"…You'd really do that?"

Takeru turned back to face the orange rodent. "Yeah. I came here to help who was crying. I might as well do that, even if you aren't a human kid."

It looked down at its trapped limbs. After a long stretch of silence, it nodded. Takeru slowly bent down, using the beam to steady himself.

"You're not going to bite me, right?"

"I won't."

Takeru slowly put more weight on his knees, leaning forward, his free hand found the dirt, fingers splayed wide for balance. His heart thumped rapidly against his ribcage so hard he wondered if it would bruise. As though the world were in slow motion, his shaking hand took forever to reach the digimon. Its blue eyes closed tightly, body shivering. Takeru tested the strength of the trap, adjusting himself to free both hands. Giving a grunt of exertion, he pried, sliding his fingers widely apart as he could manage. The trap slowly gave way at the force, white fingers pressed against the hard steel, sliding back as the jaws fought his efforts.  He spidered his fingers one at a time up the metal, afraid each time he’d let go it would snap shut and they’d both lose a limb.  Managing to pry two, then four fingers between the teeth, Takeru wrenched the trap open. The digimon slipped its wing out, followed quickly by the paw.

Takeru immediately tore his hands away, and the trap snapped shut. He fell back, staring at the digimon, who was sitting on its hind legs, cradling its injured body parts. He quickly got to his feet, causing the digimon to jump back.

"Well, you're free now. Just go back to your world and neither armies will have to get involved, right?" Turning to leave, a stray thought struck; what if the digimon attacked him while his back was turned? He shook it from his mind.

"Hey," Its voice caught his attention and Takeru turned his head to look at it. "Thank you."

The blond smiled. "You're welcome...” It was only here that Takeru realized he didn’t know what kind of digimon it was, or what its name was. Did digimon have names? Would it be rude to introduce itself? Takeru cleared his throat. “My name is Takeru, by the way."

"Patamon."

Ah, so it was a patamon. Or its name? Both? He supposed it didn’t matter; curiosity couldn’t get in the way of his welcome, which he might be overstaying.

Takeru climbed up the small bank and finally cleared the construction area. He jogged away from the site, feeling rather weightless. After a moment of deliberation, he decided he was in a good mood. He survived an encounter with a digimon, saved the thing’s life, even. Not only had he survived, he’d had a conversation.

Takeru frowned as he continued, looking up occasionally to make sure he didn't run into anything, but his body was running on automatic.

Were digimon really the monsters the army made them out to be? Obviously, they could have human-level intelligence, that much was known. But Patamon was clearly speaking Japanese, a human language. Patamon clearly seemed capable of reasoning, even decently witty, and displayed emotions. That was one of the reasons why he'd decided to help him in the first place.

'Him.' Well, Takeru figured it was a 'he,' even if by his voice alone. It didn't feel right to call a being like that an 'it,' anymore at the very least.

Spotting a convenience store, Takeru slowed down and entered. He was only somewhat aware of what he was doing until the box of bandages were in his hands. Brows furrowing, he stared down at them. His eyes travelled to his fingers. One of them had a small cut, possibly from the trap. Well, that certainly was an excuse. However, he knew why he'd come in for these.

"I must be out of my mind," he muttered. He walked to the front, grabbing a pair of chocolate bars. At least he should get a more traditional peace offering. Did digimon eat chocolate?

Paying for the items, he started back in the direction of the construction site. He took the path at a slower rate, using the time to sort through his mixed feelings running through his mind. On one hand, he kind of hoped Patamon was still there. On the other, he hoped Patamon was long gone. It’d be all too easy for this to just end at that.

He picked up his pace.

Arriving back at the construction site, Takeru located the opening he’s fallen into. The trap was empty and there was no sign of Patamon in sight. Disappointment and relief rolled out in a deep exhale.

He turned around and began to make his way out of the area. It would be best to report a sighting and possible gate in the site. That would mean he'd have to admit he went poking around, though he was sure he wouldn't get in trouble. He thought he heard someone, after all; that wasn’t a lie.

Movement in the outer peripheral of his vision. Takeru stopped in his tracks.  Breath hitching, he slowly scanned the debris, brain still trying to process what he’d seen.

He didn’t get the time he needed. A flash of orange flew into Takeru's line of sight and with force, pushed him down behind a slab of concrete. It wasn't until Takeru caught his breath that he saw Patamon standing in front of him, peaking around the corner.

"Patamon…? What—"

Patamon gave a curt shush, keeping his eyes on whatever was beyond. Takeru looked around before finding a protected, dark area and promptly stuffed himself in the tight nest of bars. No sooner had he gotten his straggling limb inside the darkness did a large black paw come into view.

Takeru's eyes slowly trailed up the large beast's body. Black, short fur and matted skin twisted around emphasized spine spikes and the red marks like evil eyes on its shoulders and hips. A spiked collar circled its thick neck and completing the look of a doberman was a sleek head with a slender muzzle and beady red eyes.

The dog digimon looked around, its eyes falling on Patamon. Lowering its head, the digimon spoke in a low, growling voice that made the hair on the back of Takeru’s neck stand up.

"What are you doing here, Patamon? This breech zone hasn't been cleared as safe yet."

Patamon fidgeted uncomfortably, his eyes darting from place to place, always avoiding looking in Takeru's direction. "I guess I was curious what the human world looked like."

"Go back to the Digital World. I'll check things out here. When I deem it safe, we'll start our conquest of this area."

With a small sigh, Patamon nodded and turned towards were Takeru found him. Patamon glanced back at the dog.

"Dobermon, please be careful. The humans have set traps here. I was caught in one but managed to free myself."

He held up his wing for emphasis. It still looked badly wounded, though was no longer bleeding.

Dobermon nodded. "I shall, little one."

The dog took a few steps past Takeru's hiding place and stopped. Takeru held his breath, cupping his hand over his mouth and nose. Dobermon sniffed at the air.

"I smell a human. A human and something sweet."

Takeru cursed himself silently. Of course, all that running around would make him sweat. Buying the chocolate was dumb, too. He lifted himself up to scoot back as silently as he could, trying his best to stifle the sound of shifting dirt and gravel. Cold metal hit his skin and Takeru jumped, nearly gasping audibly. Clumsily feeling around with his free hand, Takeru ducked under the beam. Dobermon crouched down, chest in the dirt and sniffed the spot in front of where Takeru had just been.

"Are you sure a human is here right now?" Patamon asked nervously.

"Maybe not right now. But recently. Very recently." Dobermon crawled further inside Takeru's precious hiding place. Takeru was against a half destroyed concrete wall, pressing himself hard into the cold rock and wishing he could melt into it like a chameleon. His foot pushed at the dirt, and into Dobermon's nose. The digimon snuffed the dirt away and growled.

Frantically looking around, Takeru scrambled to the left and toward an open area as Dobermon opened its mouth.

"Schwarts Strahl!" A beam shot from the digimon's mouth, missing Takeru barely by a foot. He ducked, and hastened to his feet, running as fast as the space would allow a crouched teen. Behind him, his previous cover collapsed under the force of Dobermon’s attack, burying the canine monster’s snout under a slew of light rubble.

Takeru didn’t waste time, turning, searching, praying for anything that might help him escape. To his delight, that fleeting prayer was answered as his eyes landed on a band of rebar, sticking out from a chipped block of concrete. The bar was badly bent, practically mangled, but if he could just get to it, he’d at least have something for a weapon.

Reaching the bar, Takeru placed his foot on the concrete slab and pulled. The metal didn’t budge. His shoulders burned as he yanked again, scraping his hands against the ribbed steel. Still the bar didn’t move, its concrete base slipping against the ground to keep his weapon of choice trapped.

 Dobermon freed himself from the mess of beams and circled around, giving a low, disgruntled chuff as he shook concrete dust from his nose. Once Takeru was back in his sights, he didn’t wait, running full force at Takeru, mouth lined with sharp teeth opening wide, ready to snap shut around his throat.

With a grunt, Takeru pulled on the bar with all his strength, lifting it and the slab up, smacking it into Dobermon's shoulder. He felt the impact reverberating through the bar and into his hands; the sturdy body and how it caved to the weight of the concrete. The force of the impact was enough to send Dobermon into the dirt with a yelp of pain. The slab continued its momentum, almost taking Takeru with it. He abandoned his grip, letting the block fall to the ground with a heavy thud.

Dobermon stood up and shook himself, growling at Takeru. The teen stepped back, sweat trickling down the side of his face, reaching once more for the fallen rebar. The entrance to the site wasn't that close, but he could still get to it. Unfortunately, he was sure this digimon could easily run him down before that. He took a step back.

The helldog lunged.  Takeru lifted his makeshift hammer a second time, but with another beam attack from the digimon's mouth, the hammer was obliterated. Still mid-swing, Takeru tumbled back, landing hard in the dirt just as Dobermon leaped, claws outstretched.

He shifted, his face landing in between Dobermon's large paws, a claw scraping at his cheek. The digimon's maw flew at Takeru's face, which he caught by grabbing at the dog's cheeks. Rows of sharp teeth drew slowly closer, putrid hot breath and drool dripping on Takeru's face. He pushed on the skin harder, fingernails scraping at the inside of the dog's mouth.

Someone yelled.

Takeru's eyes opened just in time to see a clear ball of air fly towards a rickety structure above. The bubble hit, causing a loose bit of rubble to break off and fall toward himself and Dobermon. With a kick, Takeru pulled the digimon's feet out from under it and used the precious moment to slide out of the way. The rubble fell on Dobermon as it was trying to stand, pinning him to the ground.

Panting heavily, Takeru spent a moment letting his brain catch up enough to process what happened. A mistake, perhaps, as his legs turned to jelly. He willed himself to move, heading on wobbly knees to the exit.

Patamon flew into view, a worried look on his face. He glanced back at Dobermon, who was busy freeing himself from the rubble. Takeru scrambled clumsily up the mound as quickly as he could manage, small paws from Patamon on his back as the orange jellybean shaped creature tried to help. Takeru didn't stop until he was well out of the construction site and into a nearby alleyway.

Slamming his back against the wall, Takeru slid down, trying desperately to catch his breath. Patamon was also breathing heavily, his face laced with anxiety. Barely even thinking about it, Takeru held his hand out toward Patamon, who merely looked at the outstretched palm before slowly putting his paw in the centre. Gently, Takeru’s fingers closed.

"Thank you," Takeru said. "That was you… wasn't it? That brought the rubble down?"

"Yes," Patamon said.

"Can I ask why?" Patamon looked into Takeru's eyes, searching for something.

"You helped me out. I thought I'd return the favour. Why'd you come back?"

Takeru gave a weak chuckle. "Well, a peace offering, kind of. If you were still there." He pulled the squished chocolate bar from his pockets, presenting them to Patamon. He also pulled out the bandages. "I thought maybe you needed these."

Patamon looked down at the band-aids. "What are they?"

"They're bandages," Takeru explained, taking one out of the box and peeled off the packaging. He showed Patamon the cut and put the strip around his finger. "They keep dirt and bacteria out of your wounds, allowing them to heal faster."

"I see…" Patamon picked one up and inspected it. He looked back up at Takeru. "Thank you."

Takeru grinned and pulled out his cellphone. "I have to contact someone about the breach in that old building. If it was just you in there, I'd make sure you went back through. But if Dobermon's there, he's going to probably try and come after me and hurt a lot of people in the process."

“Will Dobermon get hurt?”

“If he’s smart he’ll go through once he hears people. He’ll be safe then, no one will want to go into digimon territory without protection.”

He took out his cell again and looked at it and dialed the number for a response squad. Patamon stood perfectly still as the phone rang, as though they'd hear if he twitched a muscle. A woman answered on the other end in a professional tone.

"Ah, yes. I'd like to report a digimon sighting in Shinbashi. There's a building being torn down and I think a digimon opened a gate in there. Sorry? Do I know the name of the digimon? Dobermon, I think. Big, growly, lots of teeth? No, ma'am, I didn't." Takeru answered the woman's questions and gave the address of the old building. He hung up and looked down at Patamon. He still looked uncomfortable about Takeru calling.

"Like I said, if Dobermon’s smart he'll hear the military pull up and run back to the portal.”

Patamon looked uncomfortable at this but seemed satisfied with Takeru's explanation. He busied himself with trying to unwrap the band-aid and unsticking himself with the ends long enough to wrap one around his wing. Takeru reached out to touch it, but Patamon flinched away.

Takeru sighed. "Look, I'm sorry that it has to be like that. You can run back in and go through before anyone gets there."

Patamon shook his head, crawling on all fours, he paced. The bandages were momentarily forgotten. "I'll probably be seen. I wasn't thinking of that when I followed you here. Someone probably already saw me. They're going to find me and delete me. Even if I managed to get through, what if Dobermon knew what I’d done? He’d delete me anyways. I should never have come here."

Takeru thought for a moment, watching Patamon pace. "Well… maybe you can live here, then."

Patamon looked up at him, stopping and sitting by the box once more. He picked up one of the half-opened bandages, trying to peel apart the band that stuck together. "What? How do you expect me to do that?"

"Uh, well…" Takeru scratched his uninjured cheek in thought. Patamon gave up with a huff and tried for a fresh new one, but with only his one paw and mouth to work with, it quickly crumpled on itself on one end and stuck to his cheek on the other. "There's a place around my home that is forested. Odaiba isn't all that crowded. Oh… I guess that wouldn't work because we'd have to go over Rainbow Bridge and a lot of checkpoints. Well, there's always a park. It would need to be big enough that you can easily hide. You're small, so it shouldn't be that difficult. What about Hamarikyu Gardens?"

"What's that?"

 "It's a park not that far from here. It's quite big, so there's lots of places to hide. It's not all that far from where I live, either. I can come visit you."

Taking a fresh one, Takeru opened it, taking the peelings off and held it out. Patamon hesitated, then stuck his leg out. The bandage was put on clean and tight around the chubby orange and cream fur.

"You'd really come visit me?" Patamon asked, his ears perking a little.

Takeru smiled. "Well, of course! We're… I guess friends now, aren't we?"

Patamon looked at him, as though he realized as well how weird a concept this was. A smile slowly appeared on his face. "Yeah. I guess we are!"

"Now to get you there," Takeru mused, trying to mentally map out a path. He looked around for any kind of inspiration. "Maybe you could hide in my jacket."

Patamon scrunched his face. "In your jacket? Will that really work?"

Takeru looked down at his jacket. It was somewhat padded but there was a chance he could fit the digimon naturally in there. "Yeah, maybe. I doubt anyone will ask."

"If you say so," Patamon said slowly.

Takeru stood up and unzipped his jacket. He picked Patamon up gingerly and tucked him inside. He zipped it up experimentally. It didn't look all that bad. "How are you doing, Patamon?"

"It's kind of hard to breathe," Patamon said, his voice muffled from the jacket.

"You think you can last about an hour?"

"I think so."

"Great." Takeru picked up the box and the chocolates, stuffed them in his pockets and casually walked out of the alleyway. He carefully looked at all the people who passed by. So far, they didn't seem to pay attention.

The main problem would be the train station. Each station had its own ADR barrier, and each individual train also carried its own barrier. Being so small meant the barriers held against even the strongest of digimon. A lot of people felt safe to travel transit because of that, but it posed a problem for the two of them.

He was nearly to the station, racking his brain for ideas of how to get Patamon through them. It was impossible, the digimon would be killed if he tried to force them through. Walking wasn’t an option. Even if he found holes or weaknesses in the barrier, or waited until one had maintenance on the website, it would take several days. Where would he hide Patamon in the meantime? The little guy would get captured for sure.

Slipping into a convenience store right outside the station, Takeru used this time browsing around to think of more options. He stopped at the back fridge, looking at the drinks. Water… would water help? Of course, ADR didn’t work along the shoreline, but how far into the water could it penetrate? If he bought enough bottles…

Opening the fridge, Takeru started pulling whatever he could from the shelves, water, tea, pop, it didn’t matter as long as it was liquid. He heard an uncomfortable grunt from inside his jacket as Takeru pressed the bottles against his chest, trying to balance them all as he made his way to the counter.

The tired cashier merely smiled and rang up his drinks, putting them in a bag. He thanked her, walking normally out of the shop with the bag held by the handles. That changed as he made it to the station.

“I don’t know if this is going to work,” Takeru murmured, hopefully loud enough for only the digimon to hear. “But this will be heavy for a while.”

He hoisted the bag up, settling it across his chest as gently as he could manage, cradling it underneath to give Patamon hopefully as much protection as possible as the bottles coated him, spilling out over Patamon’s head to Takeru’s collarbone.

With a deep breath, Takeru stepped forward, and kept walking.

He expected to be gut-punched as Patamon’s body refused to go through the normally invisible barrier, only made visible when a digimon touched it. That, or hear Patamon’s cry of pain, alerting everyone else around them to attention. But nothing happened. He let out a sigh as he neared the tickets, slapping his card down. His plan worked.

The bag didn’t get set down until after he was already on the Denentoshi and wouldn’t be picked up again until getting off. He repeated the process on the Oedo Line train, back stiff and arms aching as he got off and finally left Tsukijishijo station.

Takeru walked with the bag still over his chest to the gardens, body tense. The final garden barrier was passed as they walked across the stone and concrete bridge to the main ticket area, and he dropped the bag down to his side and with it his stiffness. Patamon on the other hand was stiff even after. It was a gruelling fifteen minutes for the both of them. The gardens were closed, but Takeru didn’t care. It wasn’t like he was going to look at the trees in this rather barren park.

He hopped the fence, searching for any clump of trees that looked sufficiently thick enough to hide a digimon within. Easier said than done, and the tall skyscrapers made him paranoid he was being watched despite the cover of darkness. He hopped over the low path fences, walking across the grass to a thick row of trees.

Patamon flew out of his jacket as soon as Takeru unzipped it. The pudgy little alien landed on the ground and looked around.

Takeru also took in the natural greenery with a hopeful smile. "So, what do you think? Would living here for a while be alright? We can make you a little shelter when it rains."

"It looks really pretty here. Like we left the city." Patamon waddled in a rough circle, taking in as much of the clearing as he could.

"I'm glad." Takeru sat down, resting his back against a tree. He’d only blinked, but by the time he noticed the sky it was several shades darker out. Takeru jumped up, startling the curled up digimon beside him.

"Shit, it's getting late. I should probably head home soon."

"Okay."

Takeru pulled the chocolate bar out of his pocket and tossing it to Patamon, who caught it.

"It's not that great a dinner, but you won't go hungry."

Patamon smiled up at Takeru, and reflexively, Takeru smiled back. As he left for home, his feet felt a little lighter, and his smile felt a lot more genuine. His mother would yell at him once he got through the door, but he could finally tell her he found a friend to hang out with.

Chapter Text

Two weeks passed since the incident at the construction site. Takeru went to meet Patamon every day after classes and after school activities finished. He would bring food for Patamon to eat and they'd talk until well after the sun set.

Their topics were varied, but mostly centred around the back and forth exchange of information about their worlds. Patamon opened up a lot after the first few days and was even enthusiastic about learning about the real world. Takeru also warmed up to their new situation. Neither of them had awkward pauses, stiff muscles or second thoughts. Being together was second nature now.

It was for that reason new uncomfortable thoughts surfaced in the teen's mind. During the entire time he spent with Patamon, he never once thought of progressing with his original plans to join the Youth Division. He mostly avoided Daisuke, though seeing as Takeru never brought the subject up with anyone, it might have been he didn't yet have another reason to confront him again. He left Takeru alone on the subject of Hikari. Despite being so confrontational, it seemed Takeru's explanation of their closeness was good enough. At least that much was off his back.

"Is there something wrong, Takeru?" Patamon's question brought him out of his musings. He smiled and shook his head.

"I was just wondering what I should do now. Before I met you, I was thinking of joining a program that would train me to eventually fight digimon. Mostly I was thinking I could spend more time with my father and brother. Or at least have something I can talk to them about and relate with."

"You're not thinking of joining them anymore, right?"

"No," Takeru said after a short pause. "I don't think I could now. It would feel too much like fighting you."

"I guess you'll just have to tell your family you won't do it after all," Patamon said. He bit into one of the meat buns Takeru brought.

"Or you could join us." A loud crunching sound followed the voice. Both Takeru and Patamon whirled around to see a boy Takeru's age. He was leaning against a tree behind them, backpack hanging off one shoulder, a half-bitten apple in hand.

The two quickly stood up, glaring at the newcomer. He had short blond hair and blue eyes, strictly Caucasian features with no hints of Japanese. A foreigner. The boy motioned for them to calm down.

"Relax. I'm not going to rat you out. My name's Willis. You're… Takeru Takaishi, am I right?"

"Yes…" Takeru said, eyes narrowing slightly. "How do you know me?"

"I have my ways. The important thing here, though, is that you have gone and befriended a digimon. That's practically unheard of, even in my circle."

"And just what is your circle?" Patamon asked. Willis shrugged, taking another bite of his apple.

"We're just some people who don't think the way things are now between humans and digimon is good, and want a more peaceful solution."

Patamon glanced up at Takeru with a confused look on his face. Takeru let out a sigh, his stance loosening a little. "You're a member of a rebel faction, aren't you?"

Willis grinned. "Bingo! You get the prize."

"Prize?" Patamon asked.

"He's being sarcastic, Patamon," Takeru said.

"Oh, come on now, I am not." Willis pouted. "It's just all in good fun. You're right. I'm a member of a rebel group who goes against the military. In fact, I'm a digimon sympathizer. Like you."

"I wouldn't… really call myself a digimon sympathizer," Takeru said, glancing down at Patamon. He fidgeted with his bag. "I just want to be friends with Patamon and keep him safe."

Willis frowned and pointed at Takeru. "You befriended a digimon. If you're caught it doesn't matter if you're still loyal to humanity or not. They'll treat you like you betrayed your own race and you'll be thrown in jail for war crimes and Patamon will be deleted. You'll never be able to do anything if that happens, even if you are found innocent despite all the evidence against you. Your family will be stigmatised and your father and brother might lose their jobs; forget about potentially joining them."

"Yeah, and won't the exact same thing happen if I joined your group and fought against my family and humanity? That's what you came here for, isn't it? To recruit me?" Takeru's voice was getting more agitated.

"At least you'd have been involved in a good cause instead of just sneaking around and hiding Patamon away like a secret pet!"

Takeru's gaze fell to Patamon, a pained expression on his face. Patamon was trapped here whether or not Takeru was friends with him. Still, was it right for him to go off with a rebel group like this?

"What do you think, Patamon? Should we join this guy? We'll be fighting against both humans and digimon if we do." Patamon crossed his chubby little arms in thought.

"I do admit I feel guilty just sitting here. I doubt we can really make a difference," Patamon said. "But I'm not scared of being deleted, Takeru. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Wait, you—"

"If you do join us, Patamon will be moved to our hideout. There are more people than just me, and we have other digimon that work with us. You won't feel so alone." Willis offered, his tone more gentle this time around. Patamon looked up to Takeru and nodded.

"Let's do it," Takeru said. He smiled down at his partner. "It's better than coming to the gardens every day worrying that I'll see military vans."

"If you're sure," Patamon said. He turned to Willis. "We accept your proposal."

"Great," Willis smiled. "You won't regret it."

He pulled his backpack off his shoulders and unzipped it. Inside were two nearly identical rabbit-like creatures, a white and green, and the other brown and pink. The white one groaned and leaned against the stiff backing of the bag.

"Willis, can we get some fresh air? We've been cooped up in here for a while."

"Sure, Terriermon. Can you hand me the smaller backpack in the other compartment? The one for emergencies?" Terriermon nodded and ran around to the front of the bag while the brown one hopped out. Patamon flew over to them excitedly, landing in front of the two digimon. Willis turned back to Takeru.

Takeru stared wide-eyed at the backpack and glanced up at Willis. "You just carry digimon around that casually?"

"Well, yeah. How else are we supposed to go around together? They're my partners. I need them around."

"Wow! I didn't think I'd see another digimon!" Patamon said. "I'm Patamon, who are you?"

"I'm Lopmon." The brown bunny pointed to themselves. "I didn't think we'd meet another human-digimon duo."

"Yeah, you two're really steeped in it now," Terriermon said, trying to balance the backpack as he walked over to Takeru. "I mean, Willis has a hard time keeping us all out of trouble. You should have done the smart thing and walked away."

"Terriermon!"

"What? It's true."

"Things have been getting worse now that the anniversary of the war is coming closer," Lopmon said. "We've been thinking the military has been wanting to increase the force of their attack and pushing the war in their favour."

"Yeah. That's why we need to get more active more than ever," Willis said, holding open the bag. Terriermon and Lopmon hopped inside. "We should get going."

Takeru took the bag. "How do you expect Patamon to get past the checkpoints?"

"Simple, we use the weak points in the barriers," Willis said. "Usually we travel outside the barriers. It can be a tight fit, but at least we can bring along our partners. Well, some of us. Some digimon are a little two big. Luckily these two are small enough." He jutted a thumb at the two rabbits.

Takeru unzipped the backpack and Patamon flew inside. "This is a lot roomier than your jacket!"

He chuckled and zipped the bag up. "So, Willis, how did you get involved in all this? How did you get to Japan? When did you meet those two digimon?"

"You could say I've always been involved," Willis said, zipping up his own pack and walked toward the closest road leading out. "I met Terriermon and Lopmon about eight years ago when the gates in America started opening up. Back then they were just Toddlers. We'd been friends ever since."

"Toddlers?" Takeru asked.

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting humans call their stages something different. You know the digivolution stages as Baby, In-Training, Rookie, Champion and Ultimate. But that's not what digimon refer to them as. They're called Baby, Toddler, Child, Adult and Perfect. Technically the stage is called Baby Two. But that's a rather awkward thing to say, so I just say Toddler. Kind of like a human life cycle, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah…" Takeru thought he remembered Patamon saying something about children and adults. He didn't quite understand what he meant, and simply did a smile and nod sort of thing. The main point had always gotten across, and that was the main thing. This made everything clearer.

Willis continued. "You could say I kind of started this group. When the war efforts in America got worse, I started spending more and more time on my own. My mom wouldn't understand, so I just pretended like I was in camp. Then when I had a girlfriend for a while I made the excuse that she invited me to study abroad in a student exchange program. But really, I broke up with her a long time ago. I came here because I wanted to see the source of where everything happened. See if I could do anything here."

"That explains why you know Japanese," Takeru said. "So you're living with someone currently? Or are you a vagabond?"

Willis laughed. "Vagabond sounds more like it. Though I still keep up the guise of a high school student. My mom would get suspicious if she phoned the school and they didn't know who I was. I mostly live in the hideout with the others. Rent's really cheap when you live outside the habitable zones, you know?"

"Sounds like you lead a pretty interesting life," Takeru said.

"Fairly, yeah."

Willis led them around the city, keeping inside the barrier as much as possible. It called for a lot of boarding and exiting of public transit, and a lot of footwork. Eventually, they landed in Shinjuku, specifically the area that was mostly abandoned by the city's protection since the initial digimon attack.

Takeru gently set his backpack down and looked around. "This is where you have your hideout?"

"Yep. I told you, I wanted to find the source of everything and Shinjuku is it. Come on, the hideout isn't that far from here." They passed through Shinjuku Park. Despite being so close to ground zero, it was still pretty intact. In fact, it looked like most of it was still inside a barrier, though on the very outskirts. Willis led them to the edge of the barrier and looked around.

"There's a weak spot in the barrier due to the prevalence of the gate. Once we pass through it's just a short walk to the building."

Willis walked through without much of a problem, though Takeru hesitated. Still, they'd gone this far. Takeru followed, looking at the surroundings carefully. Unlike the rest of the city, this area was rather beaten up. People still lived here, of course. But the upkeep wasn't as grand as inside the barriers. The buildings were shabbier and dirty. Occasionally Takeru could see rubble littering the sides of the streets.

"What happens to you guys if a digimon attacks the area? I mean, there's no barrier to protect you." Takeru asked.

"We've been working on getting our own barrier online, just for the hideout. Problem is, we'd like to make sure digimon can still pass through it safely when we want them to," Willis said. He stopped at a rather large old building. It looked like it used to be some sort of business shop. "Here we are."

Takeru stepped inside, unzipping his backpack as soon as the door closed. Patamon flew out. Most of the things from the shop's previous life had been cleared to allow extra room. Essentials were still kept, such as couches, chairs and tables. Computers littered the area, centring mostly on the back wall desk. The room was empty apart from them. Three entrances connected the building, the middle leading to what was presumably the living quarters of the original inhabitants. The leftmost looked makeshift.

"Where are the others?" Patamon asked. Willis sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he went to sit at a table. Terriermon and Lopmon followed.

"Actually… a few days before I found you there was a big fight. Nearly everyone was captured and sent to prison. The digimon we were working with mostly fled back to the Digital World." A familiar voice caused Takeru to turn around. Standing in a doorway to the next room was Taichi, arms folded across his chest. Next to him was a small yellow dinosaur Takeru recognized as an agumon.

"T-Taichi!" Takeru said, surprise in his voice. "So this is the group you're with."

Taichi grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Yep, this is it. Kind of pathetic, wouldn't you say?"

Takeru sat down opposite Willis, and Taichi took a seat between them. The digimon crowded around the table. Takeru shook his head.

"I admit I'm a little disappointed. When Willis offered a group I thought it would be more than the three of us. I was expecting… more."

"Well, there wasn't a lot of us to begin with. But we definitely did get a big blow against us. I admit I was a little desperate when trying to recruit you. I was hoping I could bring our numbers back up, starting with you," Willis said. "Kamiya was the one that told me about you in the first place. He said you were a decent guy and I should look into you. I wasn't really expecting you to befriend Patamon."

"Wait, Kamiya?" Takeru looked over at Taichi. He laughed.

"I changed my last name to protect myself. I kept the kanji for 'kami' but took out the kanji for 'hachi,' replaced it with 'ya' and then switched them around so that 'kami went first." Taichi wrote the kanji in the air for Takeru to get a sense what character he was referring to.

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to use 'tani'?" Takeru asked, writing his own symbol suggestion in the air.

"That's more typical. But I wanted the symbology of an arrow rather than a valley. Besides, Kamiya was how Willis misread my name when he first met me." Taichi said with a laugh.

Willis looked between the two and growled in frustration. "I have no idea what the heck you two are even talking about. Japanese is confusing."

Takeru gave Willis a sympathetic look, but Taichi only laughed harder, patting Willis generously on the back.

"Don't sweat it, Willis. You'll learn to read Japanese eventually."

"How the heck do you even get 'ya' out of 'hachi' and 'gami' out of 'kami' anyway? This language makes no sense."

Takeru turned away from the squabbling rebel members and turned to the yellow digimon. "So, how did you get involved in all of this? You're Agumon, right?"

"That's right," Agumon nodded. "Most of the digimon working in this group were actually recruited by Willis. He's the only one any of us really trusted."

"Why's that?" Takeru asked.

"Patamon, let me show you to your room," Agumon said, getting down from the chair. Patamon glanced at Takeru before following Agumon. Takeru sighed and got up from his seat.

"Thanks for bringing Patamon to a safer home. It's probably best I get back. I have school tomorrow." Taichi and Willis stopped their bickering to look at him.

"Are you sure?" Taichi asked. Takeru nodded. Taichi stood up as well. "I can walk you to the station. It's not that far."

Takeru and Taichi walked mostly in silence the majority of the way to the Shinjuku station. It felt weird to Takeru, being in this situation. He never thought he'd see Taichi, or that he'd be associated with the people he was. Still, it seemed there was a lot about the rebel groups that Takeru got wrong. It was surprising to find Taichi in this group, but even more surprising that he didn't go all the way with the ideals.

Taichi stopped, folding his arms across his chest. "Mind telling me what's on your mind, Takeru? You've been staring at me for the last eight minutes."

"Oh." Takeru dipped his head a little in embarrassment. "I guess I was just thinking it was surprising that you're not that comfortable with digimon despite being with Willis' rebel group."

Taichi laughed nervously. "Yeah, kind of funny how that works, huh? Yeah, I admit I'm not all that comfortable with the concept of digimon. When Willis came here, he tried his best to get our group together by pairing us with digimon partners, but he's the only one that is truly comfortable around them. But I'm here because I feel that there really are other ways of sorting the conflict between humans and digimon. Does that make me a hypocrite?"

Takeru shook his head. "No. But I do think you'll be a lot happier and more successful if you and Agumon got along. You're both here because you both believe in the same thing. I'm sure there are more similarities you can find between each other than that."

They stepped out of the forest and into a more public area. Taichi rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right. I was kind of pushing the idea aside. But seeing you with Patamon, that it isn't just Willis being weird, I think I'll give it a chance."

Takeru smiled. "I'm glad."

They stopped in front of the train station and Taichi turned to face Takeru. "I'm glad you decided to join us. See you around."

Takeru waved goodbye and turned to the train station. With a deep breath, he got his ticket and boarded the train.

School was the one normal thing in his life now, it seemed. It didn't matter how crazy his life got, this was still a constant. He could focus better now that he knew Patamon was safe. Takeru grabbed his shoes from his locker, having just finished the last class of the day. He was busily chatting with a fellow member of the basketball team when something bumped into his shoulder.

Books and papers scattered to the floor, Takeru's shoes falling with them. A very nervous looking redhead dove to the floor to collect his things.

"S-sorry," He said, eyes darting this way and that in an effort to claim the papers before someone stepped on them. Takeru bent down, picking up his shoes, and the papers underneath. He dusted off the dried dirt knocked off from the impact.

"Here you go," Takeru said, holding out the papers. Glancing down at them, his eyes fell upon what looked like a schematic of some sort of insect digimon. Takeru's brows furrowed. The other man snatched the papers away and stood up.

"Thank you," He said curtly and walked away.

"Man, that guy is really losing it." Saburo said, shaking his head. "That's an upperclassman, Koushiro Izumi. He's always been a little eccentric, but he's been getting worse lately, it seems. Probably stress from final year."

"Yeah… Maybe," Takeru murmured. He watched as Koushiro slipped out the door.

The upperclassman and his papers were still on Takeru's mind when he arrived in Shinjuku to visit Patamon. Takeru opened the door to see Willis already there, talking with Taichi, who seemed to still have a work uniform on. Agumon, the rabbit digimon and Patamon were also huddled around the table.

"Tachikawa always goes on shopping trips with his daughter on Sundays. So it's logical that then would be a perfect time," Taichi said, glancing over at Takeru, and did a double-take. "Takeru! You're really quiet when you want to be."

"What's going on?" Takeru asked, walking over to the table.

"We're discussing a plan on how to infiltrate the military base where they train the junior division. That building houses a lot of military experimental technology for dealing with digimon." Willis said. "If we can figure out what they're trying to do and perhaps stop it."

"Wow. Sounds kind of dangerous," Takeru said. "Have you ever done this before?"

"A few times. But we haven't done much of anything since our friends were taken," Terriermon said.

"We just have to be extra careful now that we don't have backup," Lopmon said.

"You have that look again," Patamon said, walking over to Takeru. "Something's on your mind."

Takeru gave him a weak smile. "Yeah… today an upperclassman's been acting a little weird. He bumped into me and I saw he had a bunch of papers about digimon. I'm not sure what to make of it."

Taichi and Willis looked at each other. Taichi turned to face Takeru. "It could be that he's intending to join the military. Is he part of the Youth Division?"

Takeru shook his head. "He doesn't wear a uniform or anything that shows he is."

"Maybe for now you could keep an eye on him, if it worries you," Willis suggested. "Though there's not much we can do if he's just researching digimon."

"True." Takeru was silent after that, listening to Willis and Taichi's plans and making small talk with Patamon. He barely noticed the time until long past sunset. He said his goodbyes and headed to the train station.

Walking home from Tokyo Teleport, Takeru was surprised to see Koushiro Izumi across the street, nervously looking around as he walked with purpose to the east. He seemed almost jumpy. Takeru frowned. Maybe if he followed him he could find out what this was all about? He ignored the light and following Koushiro's path on the opposite side of the street. Koushiro walked all the way to Toritsu Shiokaze Park.

He kept to the thick of the brush, making it increasingly difficult for Takeru to keep up without alerting the older teen to his presence. He kept in pace, stepping when Koushiro stepped and kept his feet clear of fallen twigs. He stopped at what looked like a small campsite with a tarp over top. Takeru craned in to see. There was a cage inside the tarp area. Inside, was a digimon.

Chapter Text

Takeru's eyes widened. What was going on? Questions raced through his mind, trying to process what was happening. Koushiro was taking something out of his shoulder bag. There looked to be some basic food item, as well as some other instruments. He was obviously still nervous, fumbling clumsily with what looked to be a power adapter.

"What are you doing, Koushiro?" Takeru asked, stepping out of the brush. Koushiro yelped, dropping the adaptor.

"N-Nothing!" He said, swiftly turning around. "I'm not doing anything at all!"

He looked behind him, knowing that it was futile to hide what was going on. His shoulders sagged. With a sigh, Koushiro stood up and stepped aside, allowing Takeru to see the digimon inside the cage. It was a red beetle-type digimon. It looked like Koushiro had monitors set up all around the cage. Takeru looked back at him.

"What's all this for?" He asked.

"It's nothing, really… I'm just studying him." Koushiro said, eyes cast to the ground and off to the side. "I wanted to join the technology department of the military due to their enhanced facilities. But I knew I'd likely be dumped into the Digimon Division to work on new weapons or to study the biology of digimon. So I thought I'd preemptively gain knowledge on digimon to give myself a better chance at getting in."

Takeru bent down to get a better look at the digimon. It wasn't one he was familiar with. The digimon backed away to the very back of the cage, and gave a rather odd growl. Koushiro put his hand on Takeru's shoulder.

"Careful. That digimon is called a Tentomon. They can shoot electricity. I've been handling it with rubber gloves."

"Right… This explains why you were so nervous. I guess you didn't want anyone to know you were dealing with digimon in case anyone got the wrong idea. But why did you have the papers in school then?"

"That was a stupid error on my part. I was impatient so in my spare time I went on the internet and printed out some information that was already published about the insect types. Their chemical make-up is rather fascinating. The data the military has seems to be incomplete, but from what I've researched I was able to gain a little more knowledge about how these things work. It's almost as though they're living creatures."

"You don't think they are?" Takeru asked, brows furrowing. Koushiro gave a small chuckle.

"Of course not. Digimon are pixels and bits of data. It's a mystery how they're able to keep a material form in our world. But I intend to find out why." A worried look came to the redhead's face and he busied himself with fiddling with his instruments. He glanced at Takeu once, then a second time. He groaned a little, mussing his hair in frustration.

"The truth is… I do want to go into the military… But I know that they aren't the most humane to them. I know they aren't living creatures but… I-I just can't do it. I've tried to perform a dissection on another digimon but the screams… they're horrible." He grasped chunks of his hair in his hands and fell to his knees. "I don't know what to do, or what to think anymore."

Takeru backed away a step in surprise. Someone from his school, nearly his age was doing something like that to digimon? Maybe it would be best to give up on him if he was willing to go that far. Koushiro looked up at Takeru. He wasn't sure what kind of expression he had on his face, but Koushiro closed his eyes, dipping his head.

"I wasn't able to do it. The digimon I had before Tentomon escaped. I thought... if I could just get my hands on another one, I could try again. But I've... just been stalling on my research. I feel like such a coward. There are hundreds out there risking their lives every day on the front line, and I'm too squeamish to even do lab work. I'm pathetic."

Takeru's expression softened. Walking over to Koushiro, he bent down. "Maybe you should start thinking of them as alive, then."

"What?" Koushiro said, looking up at the younger boy.

"If they scream, then they obviously feel pain." Takeru said. He looked over to the food Koushiro brought. "You also brought food for Tentomon to eat, right? That means he metabolizes food. Digimon can also feel a wide variety of emotions like happiness, fear and loyalty. So why not classify them as alive?"

Koushiro was silent, digesting all that Takeru said. He watched the senior, and Takeru could have sworn he saw the thoughts going through his mind. Koushiro stared at Takeru, eyes darting over the younger body's face. He looked away and sighed. "I don't know."

Takeru sat down beside Koushiro. He glanced over at Tentomon on occasion, with each time the insect digimon would spark. Takeru chuckled softly at this, though his human companion wasn't as amused. He jumped whenever the sound of electricity was heard.

"Would you please stop looking at him? He's going to electrocute us." Koushiro said. He inched away from the cage.

"He won't if we show him we mean him no harm." Takeru looked back at Tentomon. It sparked again.

"And how do you propose we do that? Why do you think we can just talk to digimon and everything would be alright?"

"Because I've already done it once before." Koushiro stared at the blond like he'd gone crazy. Takeru was still watching Tentomon, who stopped sparking. "Patamon and I are best friends. I'd do anything for him, and while I can't speak for him I'm sure he feels the same way."

Koushiro looked back and forth between the two of them. He turned to fully face Tentomon. "Is it really possible? Could there be digimon that would be willing to get along with humans? A-are – could you be one of those, Tentomon?"

It stayed silent. Takeru undid the locking mechanism for the cage.

"Hard Claw!"

The cage swung open, and Takeru fell backwards. Tentomon flew out of the cage, turning around and hovering in midair. Koushiro stumbled off the floor, staring wide eyed at the digimon. Takeru grunted, rubbing his head and sat up. Koushiro pulled Takeru to his feet, barely avoiding an electrical attack.

"Tentomon, please stop!" Takeru said, his voice shaking a little. He clenched sweaty palms. "I set you free, I mean you no harm!"

The digimon ignored him and instead dive bombed at his head. Takeru ducked, grabbing Koushiro's shirt by the sleeve and ran toward the bushes. Koushiro shoved Takeru away from him.

"Just what the hell were you thinking, letting that thing out of the cage?" He growled. Takeru's head lowered.

"I thought…" Takeru clenched his fists around clumps of grass, allowing his forehead to touch cold ground. He heard a fluttering noise, though figured it was just Tentomon coming back for another round. All of his will to move was gone.

"Hard Claw!"

"Boom Bubble!"

Takeru's head snapped up in time to see Tentomon being hit by a gust of air, pushing him back. Patamon soon came into Takeru's field of vision. Koushiro took this time to run over to his bag of supplies.

"Patamon... how did you – why did you-?"

Patamon smiled. "I had a feeling you'd try and do something tonight. So I asked Willis the quickest way here for me. Turns out I was right."

"I'm calling the closest military base!" Koushiro said, taking out a cellphone. Takeru scrambled to his feet.

"No!" He made a grab for the phone, Koushiro falling back. His hands pressed against Takeru's chest, keeping him from reaching the phone. "Patamon's here now! He'll be killed!"

"He's just a digimon, like Tentomon! You saw what Tentomon did when you showed him kindness!"

Takeru stopped struggling, and sat back.

"Actually..." Both boys turned toward the nasally voice. Tentomon was on the ground, standing beside Patamon. "I thought you were trying to trick me by making up a lie about befriending a digimon. So I attacked thinking I could get away. But Patamon's really here."

Takeru stared at the digimon, hesitant to speak. Patamon stepped toward him. "That's right. I wasn't sure if Tentomon would stop, but I knew I had to protect you. "

A smile crept onto Takeru's face and swept the orange digimon into a hug. "Thank you..."

"Interesting..." Koushiro murmured, watching the two. He slowly set the phone on the ground, and his eyes darted around in thought, before turning to rest on Tentomon. "And what do you make of this new development?"

"I can't deny what I'm seeing with my own eyes." Tentomon said. "So I will trust the blond human. I just want to go home."

"We can get you home." Patamon said. "There's an opening at the base back in Shinjuku."

"An opening to the Digital World?" Koushiro asked. Patamon nodded. "Digimon don't come pouring out?"

"No, actually." Patamon said. "The area it opens up to is kind of remote. There's a village on the other side where Agumon and the others stay. So far I haven't seen any digimon that wasn't part of the group hanging around."

"It might be a good idea if I take you both to Shinjuku. Are you going to go home then, Koushiro?" Takeru took his cell out from his pocket to look at the time.

The older teen scratched his neck. "Ah, well actually, I was wondering if I could come, too? I'm curious about the Digital World."

"That's surprising. I didn't take you for that brave a guy. Willing to actually go into the Digital World and all." Tentomon said.

Koushiro blushed. "You're right. I'm terrified about the concept. But my curiosity is – for lack of a better descriptive – screaming louder. Plus I am fascinated by the concept that humans and digimon can befriend one another. I want to know what that feels like." He turned to Tentomon. "Will you forgive me for what I've done to you?"

Tentomon paused, looking up at the human. "Only on the condition that you never perform another experiment on me ever again."

"Fair enough."

"Come on, Willis is waiting across the bridge." Patamon said, flying toward the water.

"Wait, Patamon. I'm sure that he is but the foot crossing is closed for the night. You and Tentomon will just have to fly over and meet him on your own." Takeru said. Patamon pouted, his body drooping as he hovered there.

"Oh alright. Well, Willis would still like to talk to you tomorrow Takeru. Something about having us do our first mission as part of the group." Patamon said.

Takeru rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he'd feel sore in the morning from being tossed around. The fact that he had switched sides, so to speak, was still something that hadn't quite sank in. "What's that?"

"Not sure. But he told us to be ready to fight if anything happened."

"Great." Takeru waved his goodbyes to Patamon and waited patiently as Koushiro cleaned up his supplies into his bag. He could still barely see Patamon and Tentomon flying across the water.

"So you're against the military now, are you, Takeru?" Koushiro asked. "Are you with that girl's brother's group?"

Takeru frowned. "You mean Hikari Yagami, right? Yeah, her brother is in that group. But I'm thinking that they're a lot different than what the media depicts them as. I won't know for sure until I see more for myself. I want to see the Digital World, too. Maybe we can find some answers once we see it."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Koushiro asked. "You were really reckless letting Tentomon out of his cage like that. Not all digimon are going to be that reasonable, even if they see you working with Patamon. Heck, I was surprised Patamon showing up was enough to calm him down."

Takeru nodded, but stayed silent. Koushiro was right of course. Being with Patamon made him a little too eager. He lost all his fear for digimon; a healthy fear considering what the two groups were going through. It was good Koushiro was beating some sense into him now verbally, though he'd beat himself up mentally over it all night.

"Takeru?"

He snapped out of his thoughts. "S-sorry. Yeah, that was really stupid of me. I guess I kinda forgot about how dangerous they could be. Talking with Patamon humanized him. It took away the memory of being attacked by Dobermon and how scary that was. I guess I kept thinking... 'What if I talked to Dobermon like I talked to Patamon? Would he have stopped too?' And I let myself believe the answer was yes."

"So it wasn't the first time you've had contact with digimon. Apart from Tentomon and the blue dinosaur, I've never come into contact with any digimon. Not directly anyway."

"No... it wasn't." For some reason, he felt those words were true even before his encounter with Patamon and Dobermon. It couldn't have been from Birdramon, could it? It wasn't long before they arrived near their homes. Koushiro parted ways with Takeru and he was left to walk the short trek by himself in thought.

In the end, he didn't get a very good sleep that night, and Takeru woke up rather groggily. Luckily his energy picked up toward the afternoon.

"You're looking livelier now, Takeru!" Hikari said cheerily, taking a bite of rice from her bento box. "Didn't you eat breakfast this morning?"

Takeru smiled. "Yeah, a little. I just didn't get a good sleep last night. Nothing to worry about, Hikari."

She leaned back in her chair. "If that's all. You've seemed so stressed lately, Takeru. I don't want you to get sick."

"Me? Never! I told you, you don't have to worry about me, Hikari. I'll make sure to look after myself. Besides, I'm planning on relaxing this Sunday."

This seemed to satisfy her. "Hey, Takeru, why don't we hang out on Sunday? You've been rushing off after school for almost three weeks. It would be good to hang out again, like when we were at the beach."

His heart fluttered happily. "That sounds great!"

"Good. Because I'd rather see you more often like you actually live here now!" Takeru laughed.

"Oh, come on! That's mean."

"Is not."

"Is too." Takeru reached at her side with his chopsticks, causing Hikari to flinch her body away with an audible squeak. Takeru's cheeks bulged in an attempt to keep his laughter in. It failed miserably and he nearly choked through his laughter.

"It's not that funny!" Hikari whined, her cheeks flushing as she saw a few of their classmates stare at her.

Takeru's good mood stayed well into the afternoon. Koushiro was waiting for him by the gates of the school. His school bag slung over his shoulder. Takeru slowed as he neared and the boys started for Tokyo Teleport.

"You're in a good mood today, Takeru." He said.

"Am I?" Takeru asked. "I made plans to spend tomorrow with Hikari, so why wouldn't I be happy?"

"Oh yeah? That should be nice. I think tomorrow I'll be spending the day in the Digital World. I want to gather as much information about it as I can." He said it lowly, but Takeru still looked around, slightly paranoid. He gave the older teen a lopsided grin.

"You say that so self-assuredly. Are you sure you'll even be able to go in this time without being afraid? I admit I'm a little nervous."

"You're right... Right now my nerves are steel and I hope to keep it that way as long as possible. Don't ruin it."

Takeru giggled. "Okay, I won't."

Though it seemed Koushiro would ruin his own nerves as the train ride went on. A short conversation, and Takeru could hear him muttering possibilities of what the Digital World could have been like, or what could happen to them once they got there.

Willis was waiting for him, leaning against a wall off in the corner. He waved at them and pushed off the wall. "Wow, you made it. I was wondering if you'd chicken out."

"Hilarious." Koushiro said, rolling his eyes. Willis glared at him, then turned his attention to Takeru.

"What the hell, Takeru?" Willis growled through clenched teeth. "You're just bringing along random people to do a little show-and-tell? You think this is a game?"

Takeru backed away, holding his hands up. "No! This is Koushiro, the upperclassman from my school. I told you he was acting weird, didn't I? It's because he had Tentomon. I brought him along because he wanted to see the Digital World."

Willis raised his hand toward Takeru's face. He flinched. "Keep your voice down, idiot. Do you want the whole train station to hear you? How do you know we can even trust this guy? If he's experimenting on digimon, that makes him military."

"He's not. He's about in the same boat as me. What's with you? Why are you acting so paranoid?"

Willis' stiff body relaxed, though he kept glaring at Takeru. "I told you, didn't I? Most of our group was taken away by the military. If Taichi and I go, that's the end of us. The military wins. But fine, I'll let him come. If he turns against us, it will be on your head, Takeru."

He turned from the two and walked away. Takeru glanced at Koushiro before the two followed after. He felt a little bad. The fact that their group used to be larger had completely slipped Takeru's mind. It was so easy to think that this group was recent, or it was solely Taichi and Willis. But their history was a lot more complicated than that. Still, Takeru was sure Willis was overreacting just a little.

"Where's Taichi?" Takeru asked. "Couldn't he make it?"

Willis shook his head. "He's on the other side, helping the others. We're going to join him and our friends."

Willis led them back to Shinjuku and their base. Unlike the first time Takeru entered the base, it was completely empty. Only now did he see how unkempt and dirty it was. Though maybe it happened when he was away. No, he was sure of it. There were footprints, claw marks and fingerprints everywhere. The table Willis and Taichi always used were especially covered, and also had food smears littered about the surface.

Takeru put his hands on his hips. "What happened here?"

"Breaks." Willis said casually. "I took a shower before I came to get you guys, but I was pretty caked, too."

"Is the Digital World that muddy?" Koushiro asked.

"Well... I guess you'll see in a few minutes, won't you?" Willis said. He beckoned with a hand gesture for them to follow him down the flight of stairs, propping the door open with his foot. Reluctantly, the boys followed.

There was a light at the end of the staircase, preventing Takeru from seeing anything past. His breathing hastened as he approached, and he glanced around at Willis and Koushiro. Willis seemed to be the only one who looked perfectly calm. He walked through without any hesitation. Both Takeru and Koushiro stopped. Taking a deep breath, he took a small step, foot just shying from the light. With a frustrated grunt in his throat, he squeezed his eyes shut, jumping through.

His feet landed on solid ground, something Takeru wasn't expecting. His knees buckled as his legs tried to readjust, and he nearly fell over. With a small cry, Takeru flailed until he regained his balance. Standing up straight, he patted himself down. He didn't feel any different.

"Takeru!" Patamon's voice made him look up, and the orange digimon was in the air, flying to meet him. Patamon was also caked with mud.

"Patamon!" He grabbed at the digimon, keeping him at arm's length. "Careful, this is my school uniform."

He looked around. The Digital World was very brown. There were no trees almost as far as the eye could see apart from the occasional strange tropical-looking plant standing in solitude. Everything was drab, not unlike a weathered old painting. The ground was churned and uneven, with paw prints and shoe prints both littering the area, stomping it flat. The occasional pocket of uneven mess looked to be ridden with puddles.

"So this is the Digital World..." Takeru said softly. "It's nothing like what I imagined it would be."

"What, were you expecting paradise?" Taichi asked. Takeru jumped. Patamon flew out of his hands.

"Taichi! You scared me." He nearly placed his hand on his chest, before catching himself and thinking better of it.

"Did you bring the spare clothes like I asked?"

"Yes. I think Koushiro forgot." Takeru said, glancing back at the gate entrance. Koushiro had finally passed through, and was busy scoping out the area.

"I have an extra pair. You two should get dressed and help us." Taichi said, turning back toward the shack in the distance.

"Help with what?" Takeru asked. He stepped carefully after Taichi, trying desperately not to slip in the soft, slippery mud. His shoes sunk in quite a bit. He'd have to clean them completely if he didn't want to get in trouble.

"Isn't it obvious?" Taichi called back. "This place is a barren wasteland. For some reason, nothing will grow here. For the last couple of months Willis, myself and the digimon have been trying to make this place more fertile for the plants in the Digital World. We brought lots of water and made this whole place one big pig pen."

"What in the world for?" Koushiro asked, having finally managed to catch up. The front of his pant leg was covered in mud. "If the soil is barren than it should be remineralized with nutrients for the plants."

"It's hard to do that if you can't put anything into the soil. Plus the Digital World doesn't have any worms or anything. At least not here. I'm not sure that's even how the Digital World works. Either way, a lot of attempts have failed. So we're trying to soften the dirt around here first."

"It's a lot of work!" Patamon said. "There isn't anyone around to help us so it takes a lot longer, too."

"There has to be an easier solution to solving this environmental dilemma than doing labour like this." Koushiro said. He gripped his bag. "When we get over to that building I'd like to bring out my laptop and study more thoroughly."

Taichi raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think you'll find anything out on a dinky little laptop?"

Koushiro glared at him. "It's elementary. What better way to understand a world made of data than through a device designed to sift through data?"

"Touché . We'll leave you to it, then."

Takeru followed Taichi into the old building, and he directed him to a corner of the room closed off with blankets and curtains. It was apparently their change area. Takeru immediately took off his shoes, setting them aside as he stripped off his school uniform and changed into the work clothes. They were nicer than what he'd have preferred to work in for this job. But Taichi's message wasn't exactly clear when it came to what work they'd be doing.

He pulled his shoes back on and exited the room. Koushiro had already set himself up on a table and was furiously typing away on his laptop. Taichi was hovering over him, watching him work. He glanced at Takeru as he approached, turning his head back to the screen. He whistled, impressed.

"This guy really knows how to work these machines. Usually I just gave my dad's a few good whacks." Koushiro's furious typing halted as the teen cringed.

"I'd appreciate it if you gave me some quiet to focus, Mister Yagami." Koushiro said.

Taichi laughed. "Mister? I'm not a mister I'm in high school. Just call me Taichi."

Koushiro stopped and stared at Taichi for a few moments. "...Sure. As long as I can get to work in peace."

"Fine, fine. Come on, Takeru. Time to put you to work." He grabbed Takeru by the shoulders and lead him out the back doors. Willis, along with a small group of other digimon were there, working away at the mud and dirt. Beyond them, it looked as though there were still hard patches, parched and flaked.

There were two types of plant digimon, two dog-like types, and what looked like a satyr. Further out were a pair of rabbit-like digimon and a red mammal of some sort. They all turned to look at Taichi and Takeru as they approached. Takeru smiled feebly.

"These are the Floramon and Palmon that work with us." Taichi said, gesturing to the plant types. "They tell us when the ground is fertile enough for us, and will maintain the flowers and trees. Gazimon over there, and Gabumon and Strabimon are helping dig up the hard dirt to make it easier for us to churn. Elecmon's helping, too."

"There used to be a lot more of us." A Palmon said. "Unfortunately there's been a lot of setbacks that disheartened a lot of our friends. They left for the digimon armies thinking that what we were doing was futile."

"I see." Takeru said, brows furrowing a little. "I'm not sure how much I can help, but I'll try my best."

The group cheered, seeming in brighter spirits as they continued with their work. A small smile stayed on Takeru's face as he took a rake Taichi handed to him and got to work.

The satyr digimon stayed mostly off to the side, watching everyone else work. Occasionally, he'd run off to the other side of the building and come back. Once or twice he touched one of the rakes leaning against the building, and for a short while he'd mess with a small patch of mud. On a whole, he seemed antsy.

"What's up with him?" Takeru asked, propping his rake up and leaned against it. Taichi looked over.

"Oh, Flamon is mostly here to dry up the ground of excess water when we finish. He's a little hyper. So waiting around for his job gets him a little impatient."

"What's the rest of the Digital World like, Taichi? Does it look like this all over the place?"

"No..." Taichi said softly. He continued to rake the mud. His brows furrowed as he looked up at Takeru. "It's a lot worse."

"Takeru! Taichi!" Patamon flew over to him. "Koushiro thinks he's found something."

"Perfect." Willis said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Take a break, everyone."

Takeru turned toward the building, and with one step all friction left his footing. With a cry, he fell back. Willis laughed, holding his hand out to him. Takeru wiped the mud from his face, grumbling.

"A little clumsy, aren't you?" Takeru took his hand and pulled himself up.

"Be quiet." Takeru shook himself of the mud, scraping off globs as he walked into the shack.

"What's going on, Koushiro?" Taichi asked.

"I was able to tap into a network that goes through the entire Digital World. Unfortunately, it's not much. There's a lot of chunks missing. But I think even with all of this missing data, I can still construct a map. That's not all; because I've been able to do this I think I can tap into the very code of this world. It's a long shot, but my hypothesis correlates strongly with the data I've gathered.

"It's amazing. I'm gathering so many facts in such a short period of time. I've made another hypothesis. So far there's only one Theory of the Digital World, and that book is written by Keisuke Taichikawa. It's an agglomeration of all the knowledge people have about digimon and the Digital World. But from the data I've collected, already the algorithms don't match. In fact, it seems like the Digital World itself might be a semi-organic biological phenomena. A second abiogenesis; one from non-carbon life!"

"That's great, Koushiro." Taichi said, leaning a hand down on the table, the other hand against his hip. "Can you say that again in Japanese?"

Koushiro groaned. "I was speaking in layman terms, Taichi!"

"Well your 'layman terms' is still Greek to me!"

"Haven't you at least read Keisuke Tachikawa's Theory of the Digital World?"

"No."

"What about the research papers on digimon biology by Yukio Oikawa and Hiroki Hida?"

"No!"

"Come on! Not even a basic introductory article done by a popular science magazine like AsianScientist?"

"Why would I have?"

Koushiro looked about ready to pull his hair out in frustration.

"Basically he's saying the information Keisuke has on the Digital World is flawed and Koushiro is working on unlocking the secrets of how to manipulate the very fabric of this world." Willis said. He looked indignant. Something about what Koushiro said obviously upset him, though Takeru couldn't figure out what.

"Basically, yeah. It's just a start. I think I'd be a lot farther ahead if I hadn't been so stuck on the concepts that Tachikawa's book had in it. But they made so much sense. It wasn't until I let go of my previous perceptions of what to expect that I started to unlock everything. But it's hard. I keep running into these strange runes. I'm not sure how to decipher them. Literature wasn't my best subject, so it will probably take a while longer."

A map flashed on the screen of Koushiro's laptop, showing the Digital World. More than half of the world was missing, blank spaces where Koushiro's missing data likely would have gone were strewn throughout the map.

"Wow. Most if it isn't even there." Takeru said.

"That's because it isn't." Willis said. "That's what the Digital World actually looks like. I always assumed it was because the world was unfinished, like Tachikawa said in his book. But now that Koushiro is saying that's not the answer, I'm starting to wonder why it is that way."

A blinking red mark appeared on the map. Koushiro highlighted it to try and fix the error. Nothing he tried seemed to work. The door to the shack opened up with a loud bang against the back wall. Terriermon and Lopmon were standing in the doorway, panting heavily.

"A breach!" Lopmon said.

"A digimon broke through to the human world and the barrier over Shibuya!" Terriermon cried.

Chapter Text

“What?” Willis ran over to his partners. “Where? How far away?”

“They’re in Shibuya. Ura Harajuku.” Lopmon panted, before falling backward to sit down and catch his breath.

“What?” Taichi said, giving Koushiro and Takeru glances. “There’s nothing over there but clothing stores. What would they possibly want over there? Any digimon must be stupid to attack the shopping districts. They’re heavily guarded.”

“There’s not much time to think about that right now. We have to get going.” Willis said, standing up after scooping his digimon up in his arms.

“Wait a second, you mean you actually go to these fights?” Koushiro asked, incredulously.

“Of course we do.” Willis said. “We don’t want a fight breaking out between the digimon and the military. If we can convince the digimon to go back to the Digital World before the military gets there, we can avoid a fight.”

“Plus a lot of people could get hurt. Digimon aren’t exactly dainty.” Taichi said. “One of our priorities is to make sure the people get out before the military gets there and things get crazy.”

“Enough talking. Shibuya’s far away from here. It’s at least forty minutes.” Willis said as he ran to a closet and started rummaging through. “Takeru, are you coming?”

“Wh-uh, sure?” He glanced at Patamon, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Great.” He tossed Takeru a surgical mask. Takeru caught it and looked at it with a raised eyebrow.
“Are we bosuzoku, now?” He looked at Taichi, who had also been tossed one and was putting it on. He gave Takeru a wry smile.

“We might as well be.” Takeru thought about that for a moment before hastily putting on his mask. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea for him to have his face seen.

“If we cut through Yoyogi Park we can get there in twenty minutes if we run.” Taichi suggested, turning his attention to Willis. The blond bit his lip.

“That will still take a lot of time. I guess we have no choice.”

“Hang on just a minute, please.” Koushiro said, holding his hand up and waving it at them. “I think that the red blip on this map might be the breach between the Real and Digital Worlds. It’s closer to us here than it is in our world. If we can get there from here, you can arrive at the scene faster. Ten minutes max.”

Both Willis and Taichi ran over to look at the laptop again. “Are you absolutely sure?” The former asked. “We don’t have time to waste on guesses.”

“It’s an educated guess, though I think if it is true than this map is a little slow in updating. If I run some diagnostics I can perhaps update it to real time. It’s hard to know how long the breach has been there for.”

“We were listening in on the Digimon Sighting Hotline and the first call came in about seven minutes ago now.” Terriermon said.

“Four minutes slow. That’s not too bad. It might not be real time exactly, but it will get us closer.” Koushiro mused, his fingers slamming on the keyboard in fast succession. “I’ll work on this. You guys should go.”

Willis patted Koushiro’s shoulder before running out of the building, Taichi and Takeru following behind. It took barely any time to get to the site location the red blip indicated. Koushiro’s guess was right, a tear had opened, revealing Shibuya’s shopping district on the other side. Taichi and Willis wasted no time in running in. Takeru hesitated momentarily before following.

They came out on the roof of one of the buildings. Below, a crowd of shoppers were slowly leaving the district. At first glance it wouldn’t seem as though anything were wrong, apart from the mildly worried expressions on everyone’s faces. Takeru could hear pieces of the conversations, wondering if the evacuation was legitimate or a false alarm.

Looking around, it didn’t seem like there was any digimon in the area. Terriermon and Lopmon were on high alert, their ears perked up as high as they could go. Everyone’s attention turned east as an explosion broke the relative silence.

“It’s moved.” Willis said, taking a step in the direction. Terriermon put his paw on Willis’ neck.
“No! There’s another digimon inside. I can hear screams.”

“I can hear them too, Taichi.” Agumon said. “There’s more than one digimon. Should we split up?”
“Willis, I can stay with Takeru and investigate this digimon here.” Taichi said. Willis nodded. Without another word he ran toward a ladder and he and his partners vanished from sight. Taichi turned to Takeru.

“Alright. We’re going to have to get in there somehow without many people seeing our digimon. If there’s no hatch or anything we’ll have to go down the ladder and find a back door or something.”
“I can fly around the building and find a way in.” Patamon suggested. He rose out of Takeru’s arms.
“Would that be safe?” Takeru asked. “With all these people expecting to see a digimon it might cause panic. Or someone might alert the military.”

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take.” Agumon said. “If a digimon is attacking people below, and no one is running out, that means they blocked the exit somehow.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.” Patamon flew away, leaving an antsy Takeru behind.
“How long before the military gets here, do you think?” Takeru asked.

“It’s hard to say. As far as we know there’s only been calls about a single digimon sighting. But if there’s more than one digimon they could be going to where Willis is. What bothers me is why would one digimon be secretive about terrorizing this place while another is noisily making a fuss a few blocks from here?”

Patamon returned moments later. “There’s a back door to the building, but I’m not sure if it’s locked or not.”

“I can blast my way through.” Agumon said.

“Come on, let’s get down there.” Taichi said, pointing to the other building the mall was standing back to back with. He leaped over the divide onto the roof and made his way to the staircase, his digimon and Takeru following closely behind.

Agumon stayed behind Taichi as they walked along. It wasn’t a perfect disguise for the digimon, but as long as they kept to the back alley, they’d be less likely to be spotted. After he showed them the entrance, Patamon flew inside Takeru’s jacket. He looked like an odd lump on his chest, but at least he was hidden.

Taichi jumped the three steps to the door, and tried it. It jangled noisily, but seemed stubbornly stuck. Agumon patted Taichi, who moved out of the way.

“Baby Flame!” Agumon spat out a hot fireball at the doorknob, which heated and eventually melted after a few more encouraging attacks. Taichi kicked the door open, and it banged violently against the wall opposite. He and Agumon ran inside.

“What about the door?” Takeru asked fruitlessly as he watched the two disappear. He followed Taichi’s footsteps down the hallways and into an American brand clothing store.

At first there seemed to be nothing there. A rustling of a clothing rack told Takeru differently and both boys stiffened. Patamon flew out of Takeru’s jacket and hovered beside his head. A large pink rabbit-like digimon jumped out of the clothing rack, tangled in a small mound of clothes. Two high school girls were on the floor, the brunette wielding the end of a broken rack as a weapon. They looked at Takeru and Taichi, seeing the digimon beside them and screamed.

Taichi’s eyes widened as he stared at the girl with the weapon, as though recognizing her. He took a step toward the girls. “Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

But the brunette took a swing at him, which Taichi had to duck. “Get away!” She screamed.
“Dammit, would you rather get attacked by that Bitmon?” Taichi gestured over at the rabbit, who was now free of the clothes it was tangled in. Agumon immediately ran at it, spitting attacks at it. The girls looked at each other, deciding which would be worse. The brunette grabbed Taichi’s outstretched hand, her friend grabbing Takeru’s.

Taichi pulled her up just as Agumon was thrown against the wall. Still holding her hand, Taichi ran for the exit, Bitmon bounding behind them.

“Ear Lancer!” Bitmon’s ears stretched out toward the brunette, wrapping around her legs like bandages. With a scream, she fell hard on the ground. Takeru skid to a halt, his arm stretching painfully when the girl took a moment to realize he stopped.

Taichi turned toward her, now using both hands to pull on the brunette’s hands. He put a foot on Bitmon’s face, trying to pry her out of its grip. “Go!”

“But—”

“Bitmon’s not after you, now get out of here!” The girl looked at Takeru, unsure what to do. Takeru himself wasn’t sure what was going on, but the girl didn’t seem keen on leaving her friend.
“Do as he says.” Takeru said. “I can’t help her and protect you at the same time.”

Reluctantly, the girl ran down the hall to the exit he and Taichi burst into, screaming to her friend she’d get help. Takeru heard a muttered ‘Great’ coming from Taichi. Takeru ran to the bound girl, who was furiously trying to unwrap the rabbit’s ears from her legs. Takeru bend down, unsure of what to do. He tried helping her get the ears off her legs, but her clawing the area frantically made him change his mind after a smart scratching across his fingers.

“Takeru!” Taichi yelled, and Takeru looked over at him, who gestured toward Bitmon’s front paws. Carrots appeared, grasped tightly in Bitmon’s grasp.

“Carrot bomb!” Acting on impulse, Takeru kicked at its paws, sending one of the carrots underneath Bitmon. The bomb exploded underneath Bitmon, and the digimon was sent flying into the air. It was enough to pull the girl loose, and both she and Taichi scrambled to their feet.

Agumon had now recovered and joined Patamon in attacking Bitmon, who was doing its best to try and get at the girl again. Taichi kept her behind him, still grasping onto her wrist firmly. He turned and ran, keeping her in front of him as two more carrot bombs formed in Bitmon’s paws.

Takeru shielded himself, Taichi wrapping his arms around the girl, shielding her from the blast. The two of them were thrown a few metres away. Getting up, Takeru made a run toward them, but Bitmon’s ears wrapped around his waist, hoisting him into the air. Another bomb appeared as the girl managed to slip out from underneath Taichi, who lay motionless on the floor. It was thrown to her left, and exploded. With a cry, she was thrown again to smack hard against a wall. She crumpled to the floor.

Agumon ran to Taichi, attempting to rouse him. Takeru started to struggle, wildly wriggling and moving anything he could to get the rabbit to let him go. He felt his foot connect with Bitmon’s face, and the rabbit digimon dropped him. Without fear of hurting Takeru, Patamon continued his onslaught of attacks.

Taichi got up slowly, holding his head in his hand. He looked over at the unconscious girl, and with Agumon’s help, made his way over to her. Takeru followed.

“We have to get her out of here.” Taichi said. “Agumon, help Patamon distract Bitmon. Follow after us when we’re out. Takeru, help me pack her.”

Takeru walked over to Taichi, who was trying to figure out how to best pick her up. She didn’t look injured apart from hitting her head. Taichi was still gentle regardless, sliding his hands underneath her shoulders and easing them down her back to wedge between her and the floor. Hesitantly, Takeru grabbed her legs just above her skirt line, and after Taichi began to lift, placed a hand under her backside.

Carrying her like this was awkward. Apart from the dead weight, Taichi seemed to have a dubious grip at best, his hands underneath her arms and around her stomach. His grip was slipping slowly upward, and a good deal of her midriff was showing.

“Gah, this isn’t working.” Taichi groaned, bending down and trying to adjust himself. Takeru stopped, waiting anxiously for Taichi. He looked behind him. Agumon and Patamon seemed to be containing Bitmon, if only just. The small space was keeping Bitmon confined, though it also meant Patamon had barely anywhere to go out of reach of the digimon’s long ears. Agumon would fire an attack every time it reached for him, and his larger size at least was enough to keep it successfully getting past and reaching for its target.

A tug told Takeru that Taichi was ready, and they continued down the hallway to their escape route. The exit was in sight, though to Takeru’s horror, a familiar face was standing in the way.

Wearing full military garb, Daisuke stood in the doorway with two others flanking each side. Taichi swore as he looked over his shoulder, stopping and readjusting his grip on the girl. Immediately upon seeing the digimon past Taichi and Takeru, Daisuke and the older boy to his right drew what looked like guns from their holsters. The younger boy took out a small communication device and started shouting for some backup.

Takeru looked around, wondering if there was a second way out. Bitmon, seeing the military had arrived, lunged past Taichi and Takeru, opting to deal with them before going after the girl. Daisuke pulled the trigger, and a large needle flew at Bitmon. It lowered its head, letting the needle bounce off its armour before leaping again.

“Ear lancer!” Daisuke and the older boy dove out of the way. Daisuke looked up at the younger one, propping himself up with an arm, swinging the other at him.

“Iori, get out of here!”

“But what about-“

“You’re not authorized for combat!” The other boy shouted as he took a shot of his own. This time the tranquilizer dart hit a fleshier mark. Iori nodded and bolted from the scene. Bitmon shook the needle out before too much of the concoction could feed into its system. But it was already starting to take its toll, as Bitmon stumbled clumsily to a bipedal stance for a moment before dropping to all fours again and opted to simply body slam Daisuke and the other boy.

“Come on!” Taichi said, taking this opportunity to run past Bitmon and the boys. Takeru looked back. Patamon was flying close behind, and landed on his shoulder, clinging to his jacket. Agumon was a little further behind. Daisuke recovered from Bitmon’s attack just in time to grab his gun and take aim at Agumon.

“Baby Flame!” Agumon aimed his breath attack just above Daisuke’s head, and he ducked to avoid it, missing his shot. He followed the rest of them out the doors and up the stairs to the rooftop, Patamon spitting out air shots for good measure. Neither Takeru nor Taichi stopped until they were well inside the Digital World, setting the girl down gingerly before slumping to the ground, panting heavily.

“Wow… I thought we’d be caught for sure.” Takeru said when he finally managed to catch his breath. He looked down at the still unconscious girl. “So… who is she, anyway? Why was Bitmon so keen on getting her? You seem to know her.”

Taichi looked down at her, wiping the sweat off his brow and he pulled down his mask. “That’s Mimi Tachikawa. She’s Keisuke Tachikawa’s daughter. Eighteen years old, shopaholic, uninvolved in the war. She goes to a private girl’s school, Toyo Eiwa. My only guess why she was targeted because of who her daddy is.”

“Snob school’s perfect for a spoiled girl like that.” Willis said, causing Takeru to whirl behind him, hand raised to his chest. Terriermon and Lopmon were absent. “I take it you want to use her somehow? Leverage? You know that’s going to be risky, Taichi.”

“I take risks every day. I don’t see what’s different about this one.” Taichi said, shrugging. “How did your end go?”

Willis shook his head solemnly. “I couldn’t save Sepikmon. It was like he was a kamikaze scapegoat. He just didn’t care.”

Taichi took his head. “We should probably get Her Highness to the shack and set her up for when she wakes. Let’s try and get her up on piggyback because dragging her around like a dead sack is hard.”

Willis and Takeru hoisted Mimi onto Taichi’s back with moderate difficulty, and they slowly made their way to the shack where Koushiro was. Willis jogged there first, opening the door and running about to get a makeshift bed ready for Mimi, Takeru following behind.

Koushiro turned around to glance at them both. “Back already? How did it go?”

His question was left unanswered as they set up the bed, though moments later Taichi entered, Agumon helping to support Mimi and prevent her falling backward. He watched slack-jawed as the three of them set her down on the bed.

“So, you’re kidnappers now, too? What in the world happened out there?” Koushiro asked.
“Mimi Tachikawa. Digimon tried to kidnap her.” Willis said, not bothering to look at Koushiro. “Hopefully we can use her to our advantage when she wakes up.”

“Yeah but… she’s a person, not a chess piece.” Takeru said, finally expressing his dissatisfaction with how they were talking about her. “If we treat her as nothing more than a hostage, we’ll be no better than the digimon who were trying to kidnap her in the first place.”

“I agree with Takeru.” Koushiro said. “She has her own autonomy to listen to us. Hopefully she’ll be a reasonable girl.”

“Yeah, hopefully.” Taichi said. “We won’t know until she wakes up.”

“Wishful thinking.” Willis muttered, but stalked off anyway.

“Not a very optimistic guy, is he?” Koushiro said, turning back around to continue typing on his laptop.

“He’s just wary.” Taichi said. “We’ve had a lot of losses in a short period of time. He’ll need time to get used to you all. It took him three days convincing just to follow Takeru around.”

“Everything is moving very fast.” Takeru agreed. “It’s been a struggle to get me to adjust, too.
Mimi stirred about an hour later, her eyes opening slowly. She sat up with a groan and held her head in her hands. What followed after a brief scan of the scene around her was an ear piercing scream that made all three boys jump. Mimi stumbled out of the makeshift bed, kicking the blankets and flailing her appendages all over.

Takeru and Taichi, putting their masks back on, hesitantly walked over and attempted to calm her down. Mimi wasn’t having any of it though, and lashed out at either of them if they attempted to get within kicking distance.

“Please, calm down.” Takeru said, holding his hands up as he bent down, trying to show her that he meant no harm.

“Get away from me!” Mimi screeched, curling up into a ball against the wall of the shack. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” Though before either of them could answer, Mimi gasped, and pointed at them. “You’re those insane boys, aren’t you? Taichi Yagami and Wally McCaffrey, right?”
“That’s Willis, not Wally.” Taichi said, a worried frown spreading across his face. “And I’m Kamiya, not Yagami.

“Uh, I’m actually not Willis, either.” Takeru said with mild annoyance. “But I guess all blonds must be the same foreigner.”

That seemed to stop Mimi for a moment, as she stood and looked at Takeru. Her face twisted, as though the thought of apologizing to her kidnapper was extremely unpleasant. But he heard a muttered ‘sorry’ anyhow.

“B-But I heard that the blond boy with Kamiya was a boy named Willis!” Mimi said, regaining her angry composure.

“He is, but I’m not him.” Takeru said.

“We’re growing in numbers.” Taichi said. “Now please calm down, you hit your head.”

“I didn’t hit my head!” Mimi growled. “I was thrown against the wall by that monster of yours!”

“Fine, whatever. Look, we aren’t in league with that digimon.” Taichi said shortly, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips.

“And how am I supposed to know that?” Mimi asked, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t trust people who wear masks like criminals!”

Takeru and Taichi looked at each other. “We wear these masks to protect our identity. Though I guess since you already know my name…” Taichi removed his mask. Mimi’s eyes widened.

“You’re so young…”

“You thought I’d be older?”

“Well, yeah…”

Taichi nudged shoulders with Takeru. “This guy here is younger than you are, so please excuse him if he keeps his mask on. He’s just a kid.”

“You’re recruiting kids into your criminal organization?” Mimi yelled, causing Taichi to lean back in surprise.

“N-no! Please, let us explain…” Takeru said, holding a hand out to her. “Well, sort of… I mean, there wasn’t anyone else Patamon and I could trust other than these guys, so there wasn’t much of a choice.”

“Patamon?” Mimi blinked. Upon mention of his name, Patamon flew from the desk where Koushiro was still busily typing and landed on Takeru’s shoulder. Mimi blanched, backing once again into her corner.

“It’s one of those monsters!”

“He’s not going to hurt you!” Takeru said, raising his voice, though it didn’t seem like Mimi was hearing him now. She was sobbing loudly into her hands. Taichi held back, an uncomfortable look spread on his face like he was unsure how to proceed.

“Please. I just want to go home. Why did you bring me here?” Takeru inched forward cautiously, a hand held out to her. He touched her shaking shoulder, and despite a small flinch, proceeded to gently wrap his arms around her shoulders awkwardly.

“I’m sorry we scared you. But considering the circumstances, it wasn’t a good idea to leave you there. That digimon would have gotten you for sure and then you’d have been in real trouble.”Takeru said softly. “We were only thinking of your safety, we swear.”

“But you have one of them with you.” Mimi choked, her voice wracked with sobs.

“Patamon and Agumon won’t hurt you. They’re our friends.”

Mimi turned her head up, looking over her fingers. “Friends? How is that possible?”

“W-well, at least for Patamon and me… we talked to each other.”

“They talk?”

“Yeah! Yeah they do!” Takeru said, a wide smile crossing his lips. He turned to glance at Patamon.

“And bleed.” Patamon said, holding his wing out on display. There was still the scar from when his wing was trapped when they first met. “If Takeru hadn’t found me when he did, I’d have been in big trouble. He saved my life.”

“And Patamon saved mine. We’ve been friends ever since.”

Mimi put her hands into her lap now, though she was still stiff and stared unblinkingly at Patamon. Takeru pulled away from her now, giving her some space. A hand was placed on Takeru’s unoccupied shoulder, and Takeru saw an impressed grin on Taichi’s face.

“That’s essentially what we are, Miss Tachikawa.” Taichi said. “We’re just a group of kids who found a way to co-exist with digimon. We want to find an alternative to all the fighting. Like what we’re doing outside for instance.”

Mimi frowned, seeming like she wasn’t all that keen on coming out from her little corner.

“Of course, you don’t have to see.” Taichi said hastily. “It’s only if you want to.”

Takeru stood up, and nodded. He and Taichi gave Mimi more space, walking toward the door that led to their project. Mimi contemplated for a moment, before slowly standing up. She dusted off her skirt, adjusting it before following them. She glanced at Koushiro as she passed, as if only just noticing his presence. Koushiro turned his head away, stopping his typing as he did so. Mimi turned her gaze away, and continued to the door. She stopped a ways away from them still.

Taichi opened the door and stepped away, allowing her to get closer if she wanted. Takeru did the same. Mimi glanced at them before stepping closer and peering out the door.

Flamon had apparently gotten bored enough while they weren’t out there and proceeded to dry up the excess water from select areas. From what was already dried, the Floramon and Palmon had started their attempts to plant the trees and flowers.

With a frown, Mimi stepped back. “I don’t understand. What are they doing?”

“Gardening.” Koushiro’s voice made them all turn back toward the desk in the middle of the shack. “For some reason the Digital World has mostly disappeared. Your father wrote in his thesis that he hypothesized that it was unfinished, but I am gathering mounting evidence that the contrary might be true. It could be that the Digital World is disappearing and what’s left of it is mostly barren and kind of inhospitable and that is driving the digimon to seek out more stable land. Obviously that comes into conflict with us.”

Mimi’s gaze fell, processing the new information. She looked back outside. “Can I… talk to them?”
Surprised, but pleased, Taichi nodded. “Yeah, if you want to feel free to go out. Here, I’ll get you some mud boots.” He walked over to the closet.

“They won’t attack me, right? If I go out there…” Mimi looked at Takeru, who shook his head.
“No. I promise you they won’t. Even if there’s a small chance they would, we’ll make sure you won’t get hurt.”

“I want to go home after this. You guys will let me go, won’t you?”

“Of course.” Taichi said, returning with some boots. Mimi put them on, and slowly made her way outside. As she neared the flower planting digimon, she kept looking back at the shack, as though making sure they were still watching out for her. Takeru leaned against the door, and waved at her.
“That was impressive, Takeru.” Taichi said. “I’m surprised she is taking all of this so well.”

“We had to show her we meant no harm. You will be letting her go after this, right Taichi? I don’t want to be made into a liar.”

“Well, we have to now.” Koushiro said. “You built her trust up on the promise she wasn’t being held prisoner or anything. If you didn’t let her go now, that would destroy everything that’s happened up to now, and it would be virtually impossible to repair that.”

“No, we’re letting her go.” Taichi said. “It wasn’t my intention to bring anyone else here. But if we let her go with suggestions to her father that we’re not bad, or to change some of his policies, we could be in a better position in the future.”

He watched Mimi as she awkwardly spoke to the digimon, bending down after a while, and leaning forward to look at the flowers.

“Besides, I have someone I need to meet soon.”

Mimi returned half an hour later at Taichi’s beckoning. She waved goodbye to the digimon before walking back to the shack. Her face was flushed, and she was breathing a little heavily. Takeru could even see she was shaking a little. She took off the boots hastily for Taichi to put away, which he did promptly.

“That was something…” Mimi said, placing a hand on her chest. “I was actually having a conversation with a monster; a digimon.”

Takeru smiled. “Wild, isn’t it? We’re going to be letting you go soon. But Taichi tells me that to protect our hideout, we have to blindfold you until we get to the station. Is that alright?”
Mimi’s smile faded, but before she could reply, Taichi returned with the blindfold.

“Sorry, but it isn’t much of an option. Not for Keisuke Tachikawa’s daughter.” He gave her an apologetic look. Mimi huffed, but stood still and closed her eyes. Taichi wrapped the blindfold around her eyes, making sure it was tightly secure. He and Takeru then led her out to the hideout in the Real World.

Taichi twirled her in place a few times to confuse her before the two of them proceeded to take her to Shinjuku Station. When they were nearly there, he twirled her again before taking the blindfold off.

“There. Just as promised.” Taichi said, grinning at her.

“Thank you…” Mimi said, unsure of really what to do. She settled for a very small bow before running into the station. Takeru sighed, taking off his mask.

“I should probably talk to Yamato. I’ll see you around.” Takeru was waved off as he followed Mimi into the station. Taichi waited a little bit before getting his own ticket, taking his way to Nerima. He kept to the crowded streets and ducked into alleys when he could until finally coming to the dark alleyway where he’d be meeting her.He smiled when he saw her there, early as usual. She was in a casual military jacket with civilian clothes underneath. She turned when she heard him approach. A frown played on her face.

“We need to stop meeting like this, Taichi…I can’t keep doing this.”

“Hello, Sora.”

Chapter Text

Taichi gave Sora an apologetic grin. It did nothing to change the look on the brunette's face. His smile faltered, and he felt his hand raise to scratch the back of his neck. His eyes darted around the alleyway, eventually forcing his gaze back to Sora despite a growing feeling of uncertainty.

"I'm sorry, Sora. We had a bit of an issue that needed to be taken care of. I couldn't get here any faster."

Sora sighed, closing her eyes. Her arms folded across her chest and she gripped her sleeves tightly.

"It's not that you're always late, Taichi." Sora said, her voice barely audible as she carefully watched some people walk by the alleyway. "You're a criminal. You're working to hinder the military and their protection of everyone from digimon. I can't keep doing this now that I'm joining them."

Taichi's smile faded completely now, taking a step toward her. Sora took a small step away from him. He sighed, dropping his hands, which were stretched out for her.

"Sora... I can't just stand by and do nothing. I don't think that fighting digimon is the right way to go about it. You know I can't stand by and do nothing."

"Why not?" Sora looked up, her eyes searching his face, a desperate look spread across her face. "Why do you always have to be the one to go out there and do something? Why can't you just live a regular life and let someone else do something instead of you?"

Taichi watched her, trying to decide how to best respond. He could see Sora was upset, and despite his weariness, he knew he couldn't just brush it aside, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Who else will?" He said. "That other guy doesn't exist right now, Sora. It's just me and Willis and we're so small. But we're standing up for what we believe in. We aren't just taking everything at face value and swallowing whatever the military or Keisuke Tachikawa says."

"You wouldn't be doing this if that guy hadn't come here!" Sora growled bitterly, her hand flying to her face and she angrily wiped at her eyes. "Everything was fine until he showed up. Now you're... you can never live a normal life. You'll be put in jail if they catch you, Taichi."

He frowned. "Hey now, don't go blaming this on Willis. I have my own mind. He didn't just come to Japan and corrupt me, I thought the military was wrong before he showed up. I just didn't have any evidence there was another way until then!"

"What evidence!" Sora said, her voice raising. She leaned further back into the shadows of the alley.

"I've seen it with my own eyes! Humans and digimon getting along. They can work together peacefully." He said. Sora shook her head.

"Some kid manages to raise a baby digimon as a pet. That's all that is. Tachikawa said something like that could be possible. It's not much different than finding a baby wild animal and raising it. But they are still dangerous Taichi. You and that guy... are just deluding yourselves. Instead of going to Tachikawa and revealing you have these digimon so they could be used to help, you fell into some kind of fantasy world where everything can be easily solved with friendship or something."

"Maybe I am a little optimistic." Taichi said softly. Inside, he felt a growing sense of frustration. It was all he could do to keep from lashing out at Sora. He knew she was wrong, but there didn't seem to be any way of convincing her. He didn't want to tell her about Takeru, either. "But I can't just sit back and stand idly by when I know things are wrong. For you to stand there telling me to sit at home while you wear that jacket makes you a hypocrite."

Sora looked down at her military jacket and tightened her grip on it. Taichi continued.

"We've been friends for a long time now, Sora. I've known you pretty much my whole life."

She looked up at him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Taichi scratched the back of his head. "Nothing, really. It's just... we've been through a lot together, haven't we? We've changed a lot since we were kids."

Sora's shoulders laxed and her eyes found their way to the ground. "Yeah, we have. Things aren't as simple as they were back then, Taichi. You can't act like they are."

"I know that. I'm just saying that we have a lot of history together. There was a time we were inseparable."

She nodded. "We aren't the same as we were back then."

"Yeah. It's amazing that even though we're completely different people, we still managed to stick together, don't you think?" He asked. Sora nodded again. "We stuck by each other, and we supported each other even when we started gaining different interests."

Taichi heard a sniff and he looked up to see Sora was tearing up. He closed the distance between them, gently placing his hands on her shoulders, thumb rubbing them in an attempt to be reassuring. This time, Sora didn't back away.

"We're just going through more changes. But we're still friends, right? We have all that history, and a lot of history to still make. You trust me on that, right?"

Sora's head bowed down, and Taichi held his breath as he waited for her answer. She looked up at him. His smile faultered and his grip on her shoulders tensed.

"I'm saying we can still get through this and remain friends even if right now we're doing different things. But we still need to trust each other. I need you to trust me, Sora. I'm not deluded. We have other options than annihilating the digimon."

Sora stepped out of Taichi's grip, tears rolling down her face. "I'm sorry, Taichi. I can't trust anything I can't see for myself. I can't believe in something like that."

She quickly turned from him and hurried out of the alleyway, leaving Taichi there. He lingered, his arms dropping to his sides and his head drooped. Taking a step, he leaned his head against the wall of the building, closing his eyes to the stinging tears.

Sora walked aimlessly around the city in the vague direction of the nearby facility where she worked. She had spent the train ride drying her tears, but this walk was more to calm the redness and to help calm her down. She hadn't quite expected to end things with Taichi like that. While they had been friends for years, she couldn't see how they could survive something like this.

Yet, even after she said those things she found herself unsure. Perhaps it was because they were friends, some fleeting hope that maybe Taichi was right, or maybe just some part of her was foolish enough to believe in his childishly optimistic outlook.

Eventually she arrived at the building, convinced her face looked at least presentable. However, she didn't feel any better, and in fact felt like she was about to burst into another crying fit at any moment. She paced the building, an underlying stress filling her as she struggled to start her work. They had a new digimon captured that was ready for basic experimentation. She couldn't be in this state. She needed to pay attention.

Opening the door to the laboratory, she noticed it was mostly empty. She had arrived two hours early. Of course. Her shift didn't start until then, and the intervening time before that was supposed to be with Taichi. No matter. She'd start early and drown out her feelings in her work.

Sora paced uncomfortably around, with only the echoes of her footsteps for company. It was quiet, way too quiet for her liking. She'd find no solace in the solitude of her own thoughts. She couldn't trust her thoughts right now. The digimon they had in captivity watched her as she paced, having nothing much else to do in the small prison.

She hadn't been there when this digimon was captured, but she heard that it used to be bigger. Now, it was just a small pink bird-like creature, just barely leg-height. Sora glanced at the digimon occasionally, unable to ignore it. She wanted to. This creature was nothing but a painful reminder right now, and that was no help.

Even if she tried to ignore it, she knew it was inevitable. She whirled around and bent down quick enough to make the small bird jump.

"He's wrong." Sora told the monster. "Isn't he? Digimon are nothing but invading beasts that want to kill us."

The digimon cocked its head to the side, and didn't speak. Sora knew they were capable of speech. She didn't know if having it talk would be more comforting than the silence or more unnerving that a non-human creature used a human voice. But talking out her problems and frustrations to another being helped, even if it was to a monster.

"If a digimon is working with a human voluntarily, they must be brainwashing them, or lying to gain their trust or something." Sora continued, trying desperately to rationalize to herself why it would be the case. What if there really was a digimon that sided with humans? If there was such a creature, it would likely only be because it was something like the digimon Taichi claimed Willis had. They were pets. All they knew was a life with humans, so it would be natural they'd trust a human. But digimon were said to be intelligent.

If a digimon like that rationalized that being with their own kind was better, or that seeing their fellow digimon being slaughtered meant they could be next they could easily turn on their human owners. Sora didn't think she could bear it if she saw Taichi's picture on the news with the headline that he had been killed. Or worse, if she heard it at work.

Her jaw clenched and she felt tears stinging at her eyes. Sora lowered her head, squeezing her eyes shut and quickly wiped at her face. She stood up, still drying her eyes and went to gather the papers she left in her drawer.

Takeru's heart was pounding in his chest. He knew he wanted to talk to his brother, but had no idea how he would start the conversation. He had to try. It wouldn't be a good idea for him to ignore his family for too long on the subject. The last time he talked to his father and Yamato about digimon he had been considering joining the army. That seemed like a long time ago, now. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Things had changed so much since then. Thinking back on it now as he rode the train back to Odaiba, he realized how complicated his mindset had become after such a drastic encounter. It had been so simple. He was going to join the army, protect the people he cared about and bond with his family. But that wasn't possible anymore.

Takeru felt a tightness in his chest that he tried to ignore. But it was persistently being stubborn. How would they react when he told them he was going to quit the pursuit of a military career?

He already had his excuse. He was thinking of mom. If Takeru joined the army and began to fight, there was the possibility she'd lose all three of them. He couldn't do that to her. She'd be devastated. While that would be true, and a valid concern even if he hadn't met Patamon, the fact that he was resisting against the army and pretty much everything humanity was striving for these days wasn't much better.

Takeru felt sick, and a growing sense of dread as he got off the train and slowly made his way toward his father's apartments. The feeling didn't go away by the time he reached their front door. Standing there for a few minutes, Takeru breathed, trying to regain his composure.

Yamato answered. His eyebrows raised and a small smile adorned his lips.

"Hey. Didn't think I'd see you today." He said, his tone light.

"Yeah, I've been busy." Takeru mumbled, still not feeling he fully calmed himself, or perhaps he just regained his anxieties all over again upon seeing his brother's face. "Is dad home?"

"No, he's still at work. He'll probably not be in until late." Yamato moved from the door, inviting Takeru in.

"Oh." Takeru accepted the invitation and stepped inside, taking off his shoes. He didn't know whether or not he felt better or worse about this. For now at least he'd only have Yamato to worry about, and he wouldn't be double-teamed with aggressive questioning.

"So how's school?" Yamato asked. "It's been a while since you moved. I bet things have settled now."

"Yeah, I've made a few friends. I joined the basketball team." Takeru said. He followed Yamato into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. He didn't really want to talk about insignificant things. It only served to fuel his nervousness. Takeru fidgeted in his seat. Yamato didn't seem to notice.

"That's good. I've been busy, too. Military training is hard. But it's satisfying. Hopefully they won't go too hard on you when you start." Takeru straightened when the opening was presented to him.

"About that, Yamato..." Takeru said quickly, trailing off as he waited for his brother to pay attention. Yamato looked at him, leaning back into the reclining chair on the opposite side of the room. "I'm not sure about joining the military after all. I am just not sure I'm cut out for it."

"What do you mean?" Yamato asked, his brows furrowing. "Takeru, you're a really athletic guy. You can take the training they throw at you. Don't worry about it."

Takeru shook his head, "It's not that. I am not sure I can kill digimon. Besides, I have to think about mom, she's --"

"You don't think you can kill digimon?" Yamato interrupted. "What does that even mean?

"It means I don't think I can actually kill a digimon directly or indirectly with my own hands." Takeru said, trying to keep his voice calm. He wouldn't know the circumstances of the digimon's appearance in the real world if he were with the military, and he wouldn't be given any opportunity to find out. It was more dangerous.

Yamato gave a long, drawn out sigh. He brushed his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. "I don't understand what's gotten into you, but you shouldn't just quit something so easily like that for something that trivial."

Takeru's face twitched involuntarily, but he kept silent, hoping his brother didn't notice. "What do you mean, trivial?"

"There's other jobs you can do in the military. But even as it stands now, you won't be on any kind of front lines as a trainee." Yamato said. Takeru glared at him, unsure if Yamato was giving him a blatant lie or if he was just ignorant.

"What about Daisuke Motomiya going into combat with a hostile digimon just to-the other day?"

Yamato's brows raised, and he gave Takeru a confused look. "Who now?"

"Er, my classmate." Takeru said hastily. "He is always bragging in class that he's in the junior division. He was bragging just the other day about going into direct combat with a digimon." At least, Takeru was sure that was what Daisuke was going to do.

"He must be exaggerating, then. They wouldn't send a kid after a digimon."

"Well, I'm not sure if they did or not. But he said he battled with a digimon. I don't want to call my classmate a liar." Even if he was telling the truth, Takeru wouldn't go that far. Daisuke being there at the mall proved to be useful in hindsight, both in helping get Mimi Tachikawa out, and keeping from an even bigger lie to his brother than he was already giving. At least their stories would match up. Takeru had to be careful to keep any details out that he shouldn't know. Nothing to suggest he was in the mall at the time.

Yamato's eyes narrowed, glancing down to the floor in thought. "What kind of digimon was it? I know they let them practice if it's a low-level digimon."

"It was a rabbit, I think." Takeru instantly regretted the decision to answer with the way Yamato's eyes snapped back up to Takeru's, boring into him.

"A rabbit? Did he describe it?"

"It's not--" Takeru quickly adjusted his words awkwardly. "clear in my mind what he said. I think he said it was something like, red or maybe pink."

"Pink?" Yamato leaned forward. "Pink and what?"

"...White?"

Takeru was stiff in his hair, watching Yamato carefully. He seemed to have been searching for something with those questions. Had he unintentionally given something away?

"Did he say what level it was?" Yamato asked after a heavy pause.

"Champion, definitely." Takeru said.

"I see. Well, that's a really scary situation your classmate was in. I might have to ask dad about something like that."

"I take it he's working late?"

"Didn't I say earlier that he was?"

"Right, right, sorry!" Takeru nodded with a nervous laugh, and took a dry gulp to ease the tension in his throat. "I guess I'll have to see him another day, when he's less busy."

"Oh, are you leaving?" Yamato stood from his chair.

"Y-yeah, I probably should get going." Takeru said, standing up as well. "I have homework to start on."

"Probably a good idea." Yamato said. He gave Takeru a smile. "It was good to see you again, Takeru."

"Yeah, you too." Takeru slowly made his way to the door, his brother following behind him. Takeru looked back at Yamato after slipping his shoes on. "Um, Yamato, what would you be doing if you didn't join the military?"

"Hmm?" Yamato blinked. "I don't know. I always wanted to start a band. Protecting the people I cared about seemed much more important than what I wanted to do."

"Right." Takeru looked back in front of him, staring at the bottom of the doorway. "So, you'll never quit and pursue that goal?"

"Maybe someday. Maybe I'll stay and work in the military. I am really good at engineering, turns out."

Takeru opened the door. "I think... it would be nice if you started that band."

Before Yamato could respond, Takeru slipped through the door with a quick goodbye and started on his way back home. He stopped in the kitchen for a glass of water before heading to his room, downing it in one go and flopped face first on the bed.

That conversation took more out of him than he thought. He didn't know what it would be like to try and talk to his father about it, and who knew what the conversation would turn out to be if Yamato talked to him about what they discussed.

Rolling over, Takeru placed his arm over his eyes, shielding them from the blinding light bulb above. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but today it was far too bright. It was shining down, revealing all parts of him he didn't want exposed, and was thankful no one was in his room with him to see.

He lay there for several minutes before a buzz swept him out of his racing thoughts. Sitting up, he reached over to his cellphone. Hikari texted him.

A smile crept to his lips, and it felt that a lot of the weight of his troubles dissolved into dust. The light bulb's harsh glare long forgotten as he grabbed his phone and propped his pillow under his arms.

Are you excited for tomorrow? I forgot to ask what time you wanted to meet, and where. Hikari wrote.

Takeru smiled at the cute emote and quickly typed out his reply, I'll be free all day. Whenever you feel comfortable getting up.

That's right. He was going to spend the day with Hikari tomorrow. A well-needed break after everything that's happened so far. Maybe Hikari could give suggestions on what to do about convincing his brother out of the military.

His brows creased into a frown. Perhaps not. It would likely be in bad taste to ask how to rope a brother out of something when her own brother was one of the leaders of the pro-digimon group. The very same digimon group he happened to be a part of. Plus he didn't know how pro-military Hikari really was. No, talking to her about that wouldn't be the best of ideas unless he kept vague. He could also talk to Patamon. Though the little digimon wouldn't know much about siblings, he could at least provide encouragement and support.

Getting up, Takeru changed his clothes and crawled into bed. His mind wasn't free of worry, but it was enough to keep his dreams pleasant.

Chapter Text

Despite feeling too excited to sleep, Takeru woke up rather early, having fallen asleep not long after dinner. It would be a while before he met up with Hikari, so he chose to spend the time reflecting on his options.

Taking a shower and grabbing some breakfast, Takeru thought about what things he could possibly say to his father should he come over and discuss his decision. Then again, maybe he wouldn't bring it up until Takeru came over again. He couldn't avoid his father forever.

Perhaps he was being paranoid. He didn't have to mention anything about Patamon or the group he found himself associated with. Even so, knowing he was going to spend the entire day without having to think about everything at least for a little while helped keep his stress level down.

Takeru sat on the couch after checking the time and seeing he still had a little while left. His mom was already hard at work, typing furiously on the computer. Takeru turned on the TV, and a news report was airing.The channel was left since last night when his mom watched the evening news right before Takeru went to bed.

Just about to change the channel, Takeru paused when the woman started talking about recent digimon attacks, and the brief disappearance of Mimi Tachikawa. Takeru froze his finger hovering above the button. They were reporting on that after all. Even though she was gone for a few hours, it was still newsworthy.

"Oh, they were talking about that last night, too." Takeru turned to see his mom craning her neck to glance over at the screen, checking her work as she continued to type. "It makes me a little worried if it was just a coincidence or if they sought her out deliberately. Some people are saying it was intentional. I have my doubts."

"Who knows." Takeru mumbled, listening carefully for the story. To his surprise, Daisuke appeared in an interview with the news anchor. It made sense, as it was Daisuke that appeared first on the scene. He talked about the fight with Bitmon, and chasing after the infamous members of the digimon sympathizers group. Luckily Daisuke didn't give any names.

Then Mimi Tachikawa came on screen and Takeru's jaw clenched, feeling his body stiffening. This was it. She was going to talk about her kidnapping, how much she saw and what was happening in the Digital World.

He held his breath unconsciously, waiting for the anchor to stop babbling and let the brunette speak. Mimi gave a courteous smile as the mic was pointed to her lips. "Please tell us your feelings on being attacked."

"It was terrifying. One minute we were shopping in the mall, picking out clothes to try on, the next there was panic and screaming. People were rushing out. We tried leaving too, but the digimon cornered us. There was no way we could even leave the store. I thought we were seriously in trouble when the two masked men and more digimon showed up, but they fought against the digimon, and protected my friend, who was knocked unconscious. Then the boy over there arrived and chased after when I was being kidnapped."

"It seemed all very organized. It must have taken a lot of planning to be so elaborate. Right when the rest of the military group was busy with another digimon not far away. Do you think it was an attempt on your life?"

"Well, actually, I don't think the rebels were there specifically to capture me. I'm not sure what they were doing there, but they protected my friend and I from being attacked. Actually, I think them running away with me was because the digimon was at large. I'm not sure about the intentions of the digimon, though."

"They let you go a few hours after your kidnapping," The reporter elaborated. "if you feel comfortable, would you be willing to give us any details you might have seen?"

Mimi shook her head. "Unfortunately I didn't see much at all. They blindfolded me and I wasn't able to keep my bearings. They rarely spoke. I was so terrified I don't think I would remember anything anyway."

"You poor thing." The reporter said. "Is there anything else that you would like to say about your experience? What about security? I hear that your father has hired bodyguards."

Mimi laughed, uncomfortable and nervous. She shifted her weight to the opposite foot, and back. "Um, well, it's just temporary. My father wants to make sure that I'll be safe, and I appreciate that. I don't want to go through that sort of thing again."

"Now that this has happened, are you going to become more active in your fathers studies?"

"Oh, no, no." Mimi shook her head, holding her hand up to wave it off. "I don't hold any interest in digimon, or fighting. I'd rather stay out of the whole thing. But it has been recent, so I might change my mind after thinking about it. I need to rest and collect my thoughts from the experience."

"That certainly sounds like a good plan. Thank you Mimi Tachikawa, Daisuke Motomiya." The reporter faced the camera. "These criminals are still at large and it's unknown just how dangerous they are to the public. However, they are digimon sympathizers, so it might be best for everyone to avoid them if seen and to call authorities."

Takeru turned off the TV, staring at the black screen. Did he hear that interview right? Maybe there was a different one where she revealed in greater detail everything she'd gone through. What if she didn't? She lied to the reporter after the fight with Bitmon. He didn't know how to feel about this, a mixture of feelings swirling in his chest. Had Willis and Taichi seen the news report? What would they think of it?

He stood up. "Mom, I'm going to spend today out with Hikari. Do you need me to pick up anything when I get back?"

"Dinner would be nice." His mom replied. "I think I'll be too busy today to do cooking. I don't mind what you get, so pick up what you like."

"Sounds good."

Hikari was waiting outside the apartment complex when Takeru walked out of the elevator. He paused for a second or two before collecting himself, raising his hand to greet her as he opened the door.

"Good morning, Hikari. You didn't have to walk all the way here. I thought we'd be meeting half way."

"Good morning, Takeru." Hikari smiled. "I know, but I left a little early so I thought I'd wait outside."

"Ah, I was going to leave early, too. But then I saw the..." He stopped, glancing at Hikari's face, his brows knitting.

"The news report, right?" Hikari said, her voice soft. She had a smile, but it seemed forced. "I didn't think brother would go that far. Kidnapping, I mean."

"So, you did see it." Takeru scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I'm sorry."

Hikari shook her head. "No, it's alright. I don't want to dwell on it today. I just want to have fun and get my mind off it."

He smiled, his shoulders relaxing. They were both wanting to evade the stress. He didn't know quite how stressed Hikari was over the news report. He wouldn't press her on it. "Yeah. Let's just not think about those kinds of things."

They talked about various things as they walked down the street, heading toward the main traffic roads. Takeru talked about his life in his previous home and school, and Hikari talked about her life in Odaiba. Her brother came up infrequently, always preceded by a brief pause. Before they knew it, they walked all the way to Ariake.

"Looks like we lost ourselves." Hikari said with a laugh. "I didn't think we'd get this far just wandering."

"Yeah. Since we're here, why not just go sightseeing? It's been forever since I've been over here. Has anything changed?"

Hikari shook her head. "Not much. There are military bases set up in Ariake to protect the area by sea. So you'll likely see military personnel all over. But I don't think all that much has changed. Maybe a building or two being closed down from attacks."

Takeru nodded. "It's the same back at my old neighbourhood. Not as many buildings being abandoned, but there were a few. I knew some guys in my class who would get in trouble for poking around in them after being sectioned off."

"They're lucky they didn't run into any danger." Hikari said, keeping her eyes to the ground. "They could be mistaken in their intentions and be suspected to work with my brother."

Takeru stopped, Hikari stopping just a moment later, wiping her eyes. "Hi-"

"I'm sorry, Takeru." She said, her voice strained. "We said we weren't going to talk about it."

"N-No! It's fine, Hikari. If you want to talk about it, we can. If there's something you need to say it would be better to say it and not bottle it up, right?"

There was a vending machine nearby. Takeru dug in his pocket and took out some loose change. He walked Hikari over to the vending machine and bought them both bottles of milk tea. They walked only a little ways until finding a bench to sit down. Hikari sat, thumbing the bottle and stared down at it intently. Twice she lifted her hand to wipe away a stray tear.

"I'm just worried about Taichi." Hikari said finally. "And I miss him a lot. He left so suddenly after he was discovered to be running around with that group. I didn't even get to ask him why."

Takeru fiddled with his drink as Hikari opened hers and took a long drink. "I can imagine it was hard. So you really didn't get to talk to Taichi about his decisions?"

Hikari shook her head. "He seemed like he was always busy, sneaking around or doing work. Mom and dad figured he had a secret girlfriend or something. Dad was even expecting he was training for something. Hoping that maybe Taichi'd go into the army. But he never said a word about what he was doing. If I could just talk to him... I think I'd be able to understand his mindset. Maybe I could understand why he risks himself like that. I don't even care if I have to be around digimon to see him."

"Hikari, do you mean that?" Takeru asked, carefully picking at his words. She sniffed.

"Yeah. If Taichi doesn't hate digimon, I at least want to know why."

He nodded. "I guess that's true. I hope that maybe one day you'll be able to bump into him somewhere. Then you can ask him all the questions in your heart. I'm sure he'd answer them happily."

A smile crept onto her lips. "Thanks, Takeru."

"You're welcome."

"I'm happy you'll at least be able to spend time with your brother, even if you are going to join the military." Hikari frowned as she mentioned the military, half emptying her bottle. "Daisuke always talks about what he does when he goes. But I still worry about the kind of things they make him do. You know, I never talked about these kinds of things with Daisuke."

"You haven't?" Takeru asked, surprised. He was sure Hikari and Daisuke were so close, considering he protected her from a lot of backlash from their classmates due to Taichi's actions. "You don't think I should join?"

"No, I don't think he'd listen to me if I told him. He might get offended, saying they were doing good work. I believe him, but I can't help how I feel. That it's a little too intense. I can't stop you if that's what you want to do. But I didn't expect you of all people to join. People change of course, so it can't be helped."

"You haven't changed." Takeru said, leaning closer to her just a little. He placed his hand on the bench between them for support. "You're still the same Hikari I remember."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I am?"

"W-Well, I mean, personality-wise. You've changed in a lot of ways, but not in any bad way." Takeru said hastily. Hikari laughed.

"Thanks."

"I'm not going to join in anything military." Takeru said. "At least I don't plan to. I don't have any desire to harm digimon. It upset my brother to hear that, because I guess he was expecting to see me more often than if I just visited on occasion. But that would mean my whole family being in the army aside from my mom. That would worry her sick. It would also make a friend of mine really upset, and I couldn't do that to either of them."

"Your friend?"

"Yeah." Takeru smiled softly at the thought of Patamon. "I was actually thinking of having my brother meet him, but I'm afraid of what he'll say. I don't want any bad feelings between us."

"A friend that you're afraid of your brother meeting? Who's that?"

"Would you like to meet him?" Takeru quickly searched her face. Hikari looked confused for a moment.

Takeru bit his lip. He said it without thinking. It was ridiculous to have Hikari meet Patamon, and here he was casually offering her to see him. She was already upset with her brother, and yet he was doing the exact same thing. The situation wasn't lost on him. Takeru opened his mouth to retract his offer, but before he could, Hikari answered.

"Sure, I'll meet him." Hikari said. Takeru blinked, closing his mouth. "I'd be happy to meet your friends. You don't seem like you have many here, so I'm glad you're already making new friends here so quickly."

"Y-Yeah. Well, unfortunately it's a bit of a ride over. I don't want to inconvenience you."

"It won't be an inconvenience." Hikari said. "We can go after school, or next week when we have more time. It will give your friend a chance to hear about me coming to visit. I don't want to come out of the blue. Oh, what do you think they'd like as a gift?"

"Uh, any food would be fine."

"By the way, what's your friend's name?"

Takeru couldn't tell if he was sweating from the question or the heat. "Pata."

Hikari gave him a look. "Pata? That's a weird name."

"It's a nickname." Takeru said hastily. "You'll understand why when you meet him."

"Oh. Okay." Hikari still seemed confused, but Takeru was lucky she didn't press the matter. They left the bench, walking along the shore and looking at the sights, the ocean, Tokyo Big Sight, and other buildings. Along the way they found an ice cream store. The bought tickets for the train home. Getting off the train, they took the scenic route around the island, walking to Palette Town and around to Decks Odaiba before finding themselves on the beach again.

Hikari took her shoes off and sat in the sand. Takeru joined her. Hikari looked like she had a lot of stress taken off of her, a lot more than earlier when they met. They talked about classes and homework, how thing were going with their after school activities. They occasionally got up, dusted the sand off and dipped their feet in the water.

She walked with him to the store to buy dinner for himself and his mother. Nothing special, just bento boxes. The walk home was slow, and they walked in a comfortable silence. Reaching the entrance to Hikari's apartments, she turned around.

"I had a lot of fun today, Takeru. It was nice hanging out with you properly."

"Yeah." Takeru smiled. "It's nice after everything's been so hectic. We should spend time together again, soon."

"Have a good dinner, Takeru." Hikari said, waving and disappearing into her apartment. Takeru walked home at a brisk pace, having walked slowly with Hikari despite the bento having been warmed.

After school the next day, Takeru took the train to Shibuya. It felt like such a long time since he had last been there, despite it being only a day and a half. After everything that happened with Daisuke and Mimi, there was a sense that everything was starting to change.

Patamon greeted Takeru at the door flapping vigorously after the latter announced himself. "Welcome back!" He tackled Takeru.

"Hey! You're acting like I haven't been around in a week." Takeru laughed.

"I missed you yesterday." Patamon pouted. "There wasn't all that much to do except watch Koushiro on his laptop. Willis, Terriermon and Lopmon were busy. So was Agumon and Taichi."

"I'm sorry, Patamon. I spent the day with my classmate."

"Hello." Koushiro's voice came from behind as the door opened with a nervous creak. "I'm back again. Ah, good afternoon, Takeru, Patamon."

"Good afternoon." They said in unison.

"So, Koushiro's been coming here often?" Takeru asked, as both boys took off their shoes. "Have you been learning a lot?"

"There's been a little progress. There's still a lot more to do, but yesterday I mostly became interested in how well certain things you can do normally on a regular computer could affect the Digital World. It doesn't seem like it's a straight conversion."

"That sounds complicated." Takeru said. He followed Koushiro into the living room area, where he left his laptop. There were a few mismatched other electronics attached in a sea of wires and cords. Koushiro jumped over what looked like a modem and sat cross legged on the floor. Tentomon was sleeping in the corner.

"Actually, I wanted to get you, Taichi and Willis here to show off my du--" Koushiro stopped talking when they heard the door creak open.

"Did you leave the door open?" Takeru whispered. Koushiro shook his head.

"I was sure I closed it."

Patamon crept into the corner with Tentomon and Takeru took a blanket off the couch, covering them. He slowly started to walk toward the entrance to the living room. He'd just be peeking at the door. There were many things it could be. Well, not many. But the first thing that came to mind was a kid. Sometimes kids ventured out of the safe zones to mess around.

Koushiro stood behind Takeru as they slowly made their way to the door. The door, which was ajar, moved again with a loud creak, making the boys jump. Mimi Tachikawa poked her head through.

"Hello!" She chirped, stepping inside now. "Looks like I did find the right house after all."

Takeru and Koushiro stared. Things were rushing through Takeru's mind at such a quick pace, there was no time to respond appropriately. Koushiro recovered first.

"I'm sorry, but what house were you looking for?" He asked slowly.

"Well, the hideout of course." Mimi said, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't deny it, either. I recognize this place a little, and you look at least a bit familiar. So I'm almost certain this is it."

"H-How... but we--" Takeru stopped as Mimi looked at him. He stood frozen under her gaze.

"You're blond, so that makes you Willis, right?"

"Uh--"

"Or are you that other one?" Mimi asked, sincerity in her voice.

"Th-the other one." Takeru muttered uncomfortably. She bent over to stare at him in the eye. Takeru leaned back. A sympathetic expression appeared on her face.

"You're even younger than Kamiya." She murmured. "What's with you, I thought you guys all would have been a lot older than you are. But you're just kids. My father can't really be worried about you."

"He worries about us?" Koushiro asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "I wouldn't think Keisuke Tachikawa cared about a rag-tag group of dissenters."

"Well, it wasn't until you guys kidnapped me that he really started getting concerned." Mimi said.

"That wasn't intentional." Takeru said, folding his arms across his chest. "Not completely. I was just doing what Taichi told me, mostly. I've never gone out before."

"I don't mean to be rude, Miss Tachikawa, but I'm curious what you're doing here, and how you found this place? Are you here to turn us into the authorities?" Koushiro said. Takeru relaxed when Mimi retreated to a much farther distance from him.

She frowned at Koushiro. "Fine, if you don't want any friendly greetings."

The two watched, confused as she turned to leave. Did they make a mistake and now she was going to call the police?

"H-hey, wait." Takeru only made it to the door when it swung open again. Takeru barely dodged getting hit in the head. Mimi was standing with two bags of fertilizer. She was carrying them the best she could, but the large, heavy bags were still slipping from underneath her small, delicate wrists.

"Oh, you came to help me? That's sweet." She dropped one of the bags into Takeru's chest with an 'oomph' from the younger male. Mimi walked inside. "You can help, too. I've been carrying these all the way from Uehara."

She dumped the other bag into Koushiro's arms. Koushiro stumbled back. "You walked from there to here?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Mimi laughed. "I took the bus. But I still had to carry it a fair distance."

"Why did you bring fertilizer here?" Takeru asked.

"You said you were trying to regrow things in that other world, didn't you? I thought a lot about what happened the other day. I felt that it would be better to see how far we get here, since there's another option."

"Is that why you lied in the news interview?" Takeru slowly made his way to the living room. He set down the bag next to Koushiro's computers.

"Well, they were getting a little too personal with the questions if you ask me. But I didn't technically lie. I just left out a few details."

"I never thought you'd actually join us." Koushiro said. "Even I only joined the other week."

Mimi sat down, combing her fingers through her hair. "It's crazy. I know it's crazy. My dad always talked about how dangerous digimon were. I'm sure he did it so that I'd never put myself into a situation where I'd be around one intentionally. But after seeing everything... You guys working with digimon so harmoniously, and the state of that world. I had to reevaluate my perceptions."

"Not everyone is willing to do that. It's impressive." Koushiro said. He booted up his computer and started typing.

"Where's the other two?" Mimi asked.

"Patamon said Willis is out with his partners. I'm not sure where Taichi is."

"Taichi could be standing right behind you, Takeru." Takeru jumped, spinning around to see Taichi leaning against the door frame, arms folded over his chest. "Well, it seems our princess has returned to us. How'd you find your way back?"

"I made sure to remember the direction you walked me back to the station."

"We twirled you to make sure you wouldn't know which way. I guess that wasn't effective." Taichi sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Nope!" Mimi smiled. "Though you almost got me. Dance lessons were helpful for that."

"Well, I guess you're here now. You nearly gave me a heart attack the other night on the news." Taichi ran his fingers through his hair, shaking it. "Koushiro, has what you've been working on been successful?"

"Actually, I think it has. I might test it on the bags."

Mimi walked around to face Koushiro's computer, bending over to look. "What is it you have there?"

"This is a duplication program. It's just a test to see whether or not basic functions of the computer could still be used on the Digital World. Copy and Paste for example. I started working with Keisuke's thesis on duplication and how it could apply to something like, say the twin partners of Willis. But I'm leaning more towards being similar to a digital form of mitosis."

"Well, aren't you the clever one." Mimi said, ruffling Koushiro's hair. Koushiro ducked with a strangled cry of surprise, his cheeks tinting.

Mimi turned around to face Taichi, who was now joined by Willis. Terriermon and Lopmon were both in his arms. Willis was glaring at her. Mimi frowned back.

"That guy just keeps bringing more and more people, doesn't he?" Willis gestured at Takeru as he said this. "Now what's Keisuke Tachikawa's daughter doing here?"

"I came here because I wanted to." Mimi said defiantly. "And I don't appreciate being referred to as 'Keisuke Tachikawa's daughter' all the time. This daughter has a name. It's Mimi."

"Fine, sorry, Mimi. Why are you here?" Willis said, exasperation in his voice. "I don't exactly trust you due to who your father is."

"I know that. I just wanted to help Palmon, that's all."

"Palmon?" Willis raised a critical eyebrow at Taichi. The brunet held his hands up. "When we brought her here we kept her busy by having her spend time with the Palmon and Floramon. I guess she made a friend!"

"That's right, maybe I did." Mimi stamped over to Willis, puffing her chest out. "I brought the fertilizer here as a token of my sincerity. But I figured that wouldn't be enough, so I brought these."

Mimi dug into her purse, taking out two electronic devices. They were somewhat square, with heavily rounded edges. They were a metallic light blue colour. with three dark blue buttons and a black antennae. Willis picked up one.

"What are these?"

"They're something my dad was designing. I'm not sure if he completed testing or not. But they're a new portable weapon to use against digimon. They're supposed to shine a powerful anti-virus program or something and delete digimon. I thought... maybe you guys could do something with them, I don't know." Mimi shrugged, dropping her hand and stepping away.

Willis looked up at her, a gentle smile like something Takeru hadn't seen before on his lips. "Thank you. I'm sorry, I was too judgmental of you. It's been hard lately. I don't like trusting anyone unless we can be sure."

"Mimi, is it okay for you to betray your father like this?" Taichi asked, looking up from the device. Mimi's smile faltered.

"No. I actually felt awful. I didn't know if you were going to accept me. But, I think that if we can at least match him in power... Just please, don't destroy his work. Turn those into something else. Don't wreck them."

"I'll make sure they get put to good use, Mimi." Koushiro said. "You said that it deletes digimon? I'll have somewhere to look in it's programming now. Maybe I can reverse it to do something opposite."

"You mean like make our digimon stronger?" Takeru asked.

"It's a possibility." Koushiro said. "If that happens, we can be a little more aggressive when it comes to keeping digimon and humans from fighting. But I say we shouldn't be any less cautious."

"Sounds good. Koushiro, please start work on that right away." Taichi said.

Chapter Text

"GAH!" Taichi's scream of pain rang through Takeru's ears as he was blasted by a digimon called Shellmon. There was a sickening crack as his body slammed against a building wall and crumpled to the ground.

"Taichi!" Willis yelled, jumping over the digimon's leg. Takeru ran a few steps, only to be stopped by the shell smashing against another building between them. Willis' cry of pain was heard, and Takeru tried desperately to see. However, the tight space and Shellmon's massive size made it impossible.

"Air Shot!" Patamon spat his attack at Shellmon, who was slowly crawling away from Takeru. The large digimon turned, creating an opening between it and the space between buildings to catch a glimpse of Taichi and Willis.

Willis was bleeding from the right shoulder. He was holding Taichi up with his good arm. The brunet was holding his head, which meant at least he was conscious.

A tentacle reached out and grabbed Patamon, whose screams were strangled by the fat tentacle closing over his mouth. Takeru stumbled, grasping his own head as images flashed through his memory. He couldn't get distracted.

With a defiant yell, Takeru lunged, jumping onto Shellmon's back and started climbing the spikes. Agumon's Baby Flame attacks were sufficient enough to distract Shellmon from the human climbing up his body. Even with help, Takeru still paused to dodge stray flying tentacles. He was getting more frustrated by the second. He could see Patamon's eyes roll to the back of his head.

He weighed his options. There was no time. He jumped, catching the tentacle with his arms and clutched to it tightly. Climbing up slowly, grasping at the appendage desperately with his legs, he reached toward Patamon. A few desperate tugs proved ineffective. Without thinking, Takeru opened his mouth and bit.

Shellmon shrieked, the tentacle loosening and Patamon fell to the ground. Tentomon swooped in, catching the unconscious digimon. With nothing to keep him there, Takeru dropped to the ground, narrowly missing being picked up himself.

Lopmon and Terriermon joined Agumon in attacking Shellmon. After setting Patamon on the ground to recover, Tentomon added to the assault. Slowly, the clumsy mollusc digimon stepped backward, ever so slowly inching back toward the breach it came from.

Takeru gently picked up Patamon, cradling him in his arms and jogged toward Willis and Taichi. Taichi was leaned up against the building. Willis was sitting away from the wall, trembling as he tried peeling his clothes off of his wound. Takeru bent down, helping to pull his shirt off.

It was a bite mark. Shellmon's jaws were more deadly than they looked. "Lay still." Takeru said, lengthening the shirt out and wrapping it around the wound. Willis' face scrunched and a grunt of pain growled in his throat.

"You need to go to a hospital." Koushiro said, bending down in front of Taichi. "Both of you."

"What?" Taichi leaned forward slightly. It was a mistake, as Taichi groaned and doubled over. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"He can't hear well. He might have double vision. My guess is a concussion." Koushiro said.

"No hospitals." Willis said. "I'm a foreigner. They'd need to see my medical card. If I go there I'll be held there until I'm arrested."

"You still need to get that shoulder treated." Koushiro huffed.

"The only thing I'm worried about right now is the lack of noise. The military are finished with their own fight and are coming over here. Let's go." Willis stood up, helping Taichi to his feet.

"I still think they should get some kind of help. Willis probably needs stitching." Koushiro whispered to Takeru as they followed behind. "Unfortunately the only solo medical personnel are military medics."

"Well, why don't we just get one of them over here?" Takeru asked. "I'm not sure how, but at least Willis' shoulder can be treated."

"The only way we can get a medic over here is if we pass off as civilians caught in the crossfire, or if we were to kidnap someone."

Takeru paused. "We do what we have to, right?"

"You're not serious." Koushiro said, his voice raising slightly. Willis looked back at them.

"What are you two muttering about?"

"Willis," Takeru jogged up to him, standing opposite to Taichi. "What if we get a military medic to treat you? We could pass you off as just people caught in the battle."

"I don't think that's a safe idea." Willis said. "As much as I'd like my shoulder to get treated properly, there's still the matter of our digimon. We need to get them out of here as well. We have to wait to get Patamon treated."

Takeru looked down at Patamon. He had fallen asleep in his arms. "Yeah, but Willis..."

"If you're that concerned, I won't stop you, Takeru." Willis said. "I just want you to be careful."

"R-right." Takeru gave Patamon to Koushiro and let them walk back to the breach they created. He faced the general direction they had seen the military fighting from and felt his heart thud hard in his chest.

The thudding would become more frequent as he spotted the uniforms and briefly wondered if he'd accidentally run into his father or Yamato. There was no sign of the digimon. There were soldiers laying or sitting, getting aid from the medical team. It was likely they also drove back the digimon they were fighting, or they destroyed it. A lump formed in Takeru's throat at the thought.

Willis said before their numbers were cut they used to face the military head on in battles like they did with digimon. He wondered if since they were growing again if they would be facing three-way battles instead of trying to force digimon back to the Digital World. How would the deletion devices that Mimi brought over two days ago help? So far there wasn't much word from Koushiro on their progress.

A tall, lanky man in a white coat looked up as Takeru approached. He adjusted his glasses. "Hey! This is a restricted area. You shouldn't be over here!"

Takeru shook himself to his senses. "Please, help! A friend of mine was attacked by a digimon. He needs medical care!"

The man stood up, grabbing a large bag of medical supplies and strode quickly over to Takeru. "Didn't you hear the evacuation order?" The name on his name tag read 'Jou Kido.'

"Yes, but there was a large digimon in an alleyway. It trapped us." Takeru said as he started back over to Willis and the others.

"Do you know where it went?" Jou asked.

"Not really. I think it ran off."

Jou sighed. "I should have asked for backup. Well, you'll just have to play lookout for me while I look at your friend." He dug in his pocket and took out a radio. "This is Medical Officer Jou Kido. A civilian has been injured. I'm leaving the area to tend to them. Please stand by if I need assistance."

Something moved out of the corner of their eyes. Jou stopped and turned around, squinting into the poorly lit alley. "Stay close. That might be trouble."

Takeru stepped closer to Jou. "It's this way." Another corner, and they arrived at the tear. The entrance to the Digital World was gone now. Patamon and the other digimon seemed to have gone through. Willis was leaning against a chain link fence. Taichi was hunched over, head in his hands.

Jou bent down in front of Willis, taking off his medical bag. Koushiro and Takeru stood behind Jou, looking out for any digimon that might still be roaming around as Jou cleaned and sterilized the wound area.

"Are you afraid of needles?" Takeru heard Jou ask.

"No." Willis said. "I'm not allergic, either."

"Good. Please bear with me, I'll work once the anaesthetic kicks in."

Takeru tried not to listen, and kept his mind and ears tuned for any noises besides the ones behind him. There was nothing but the litter of broken buildings and damaged boxes, bins and other alley debris.

Scanning his eyes for a third time, he now noticed a glint in the darkness. Takeru frowned, squinting his eyes to try and view it better. They were eyes. Large, round eyes staring back at him. Takeru took a step closer to Koushiro, not taking his eyes off the creature. He could barely make out a silhouette of a head; round with long ears and fur.

"How fast is it going?" Takeru asked.

Koushiro looked back at Jou and Willis. "He just started. They'll be a while yet. Why?"

Takeru frowned, jerking his chin slightly in the direction of the eyes, which hadn't moved. They did blink twice now. Koushiro moved his eyes roughly in the general direction until they settled on the eyes.

"What should we do?" Koushiro whispered.

Takeru shook his head. He didn't know. It was clearly a digimon. It was small, likely a weaker rank. He didn't know how hostile it was, or if it was scared. If they tried to approach it, would it attack or run away? Either option would be troublesome.

Takeru glanced back only for a moment, but when he did, the eyes were gone. Panic filled him as he searched desperately for the eyes. He walked over to the boxes and debris, searching closely. Nothing even resembling a digimon or other animal, just a trail in the dust that quickly disappeared.

"Shellmon really got you good, huh human?" Jou's scream echoed off the walls of the alley. Takeru and Koushiro ran back to the others. Jou, holding his medical tools as weapons was beside Willis along the wall. Willis was looking at the small digimon with mild surprise, sitting there with a large sanitized sleeve on his shoulder, which was bloodied from the wound dripping. His shoulder was only a quarter stitched, and the hook and thread dangled from his flesh where Jou dropped them.

The digimon was small and white with purple marks. It closely resembled a sea lion. It seemed to have no fear of Jou at all despite his military uniform, or Taichi and Willis for that matter. Willis leaned forward slightly, wincing from his shoulder.

"You're far away from home, little guy. I wouldn't think you'd want to show your face with all of us here."

"Why are you talking to it so casually!" Jou yelled. He fumbled for his radio and gun, his medical tools falling into his lap. Taichi grabbed Jou by the wrist, squeezing it until it was easy to pull the gun out.

"I'm known for being a bit of a violent guy, I admit." Taichi said, his voice light. "But even I have limits. No guns, army boy. I'll take the radio, too."

Jou hesitated, but eventually relinquished the radio at Taichi's prodding. He glared at the brunet, who tossed the radio to Koushiro. Taichi sat down immediately, still holding his head.

"Are you traitors? Rebels?" Jou asked. "Why in the world would you defend that thing?"

"Hey, that 'thing' has a name, you know." The little digimon huffed indignantly. "I'm called Gomamon."

"Something like that." Willis said. "We just won't stand for violence from a medical officer. Now, if you'd be so kind, I'd rather have my arm fixed up before the numbing goes away."

Jou didn't move, merely glaring at Willis. But upon prodding with Taichi at gunpoint, he went back to work.

"So, if you're not going to attack us, what are you doing here, Gomamon?" Willis asked, turning his attention to the digimon instead of the gore of his shoulder.

"Well, it was my job to do some reconnaissance. A little spy work. But I went through the wrong doorway. So I thought I'd just mind my own business, have a little fun. I've never been to the real world before. It's weird. Then I saw you all with other digimon so I figured if they weren't scared of you, why should I be?"

"How clever of you." Willis said. "However, it would have been better if you didn't come out to play until later."

"Eh, it's just one guy." Gomamon said, looking at Jou. "Even I could take on someone like that."

"I'm not a fighter. I'm a doctor." Jou said curtly.

"For a doctor, you sure shake a lot." Gomamon lifted his clawed flipper. Jou was shaking slightly as he worked on Willis' wound. "Scared, are you?"

"I'm not one for blood." Jou said. He kept his eyes focused on his work. "But I wanted to help people. So I became a doctor even if some aspects made me queasy. I figured I'd get over it eventually. It's a lot more rewarding actually going out there and learning by on the job experience than sitting at home wishing."

"That's actually laudable of you." Gomamon said.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to concentrate. It will be your fault if I poke the needle through unevenly and my patient doesn't heal properly."

"Okay, okay. Just trying to relieve tension." Gomamon crawled away from Jou. Takeru laughed softly.

"He's got a firey spirit, that Gomamon." Takeru said. He watched as Gomamon turned around and started walking over to him, likely hearing his comment.

"Hey, buddy." Gomamon said, looking up at Takeru. He bent down to better face the small digimon. "You know where the water is from here?"

Takeru blinked. "We're in Ginza now. So you'd have to go through two firewall tolls to get to the Sumida River."

Gomamon's head sank. "It's not just the mission. I'm a water-based digimon. I do my best in the water."

"We'll find a way to get you to some water, Gomamon." Koushiro said. "Though we might have to take you back to the Digital World."

Gomamon backed up. "No, I don't want to go back there! I'd rather play here!"

"Okay, okay. We'll see." Koushiro said, hands gesturing downward as he looked around. "We're on the outskirts of Ginza. I think that's a twelve minute walk, even for a person walking normally. It might take you twice as long or more by yourself."

"But wait, I think the Ginza firewall still stretches to the Sumida River if we go in the direction of Shiodome." Takeru said. "So it's possible to get Gomamon to water if we head that way."

"We can do that, and on the way get rid of this guy." Willis said, gesturing to Jou.

"Wh-what?" Jou leaned back, his wide eyes fearful underneath his glasses.

"Calm down, I just meant we'd part ways with you. I want to be far away from a military group so you don't go running after us." Willis sighed. "Besides, we still have to take care of that guy over there, and make sure his concussion heals properly."

It was another twenty minutes before Willis' wounds were stitched up. Gomamon helped wash the blood off with a bottle of water. Willis put his shirt back on with slight difficulty after it was bandaged.

"Okay, we head toward the Sumida River. Watch out for anyone that might be trouble."

They kept as much to the back alleys and low traffic routes as possible, though there were't many people around. Most of them evacuated with the announcement of a digimon rampage. Down along the Inner Circular Route, Jou eventually bent over and picked up Gomamon.

"What are you doing?" Gomamon asked, trying his best to look up at the human despite the angle he was being held.

"We're going too slowly. I'd feel more comfortable if we could go at a faster pace." Jou said, keeping his voice low. "Besides, it's not going to stay this empty for long and I'd rather not be seen walking with a digimon."

"Oh, well, thanks I guess." Gomamon said, tucking himself in as Jou fitted the digimon inside his medical bag. They picked up their pace, heading toward the Hamarikyu Gardens.

Willis and Taichi stopped in their tracks just before they ran over the footpath to the forested area. Takeru, Koushiro and Jou stopped behind them.

"What's wrong?" Takeru asked. He looked around nervously. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Gomamon jump out of the medical bag and start crawling toward the footpath, slipping between and falling into the river with a plunk.

"The barrier's broken." Taichi said. "Looks like we've got trouble."

No sooner had Taichi said this when a large figure swooped down. The group ducked, but talons still picked Jou up by the shoulders, carrying him into the skies.

The digimon itself was brown and white, with goggles over its eyes, and a heart-shaped symbol on its forehead. It looked like it had some strange armour along its body.

Jou's yells were futile as the bird digimon flew higher and higher with him in tow. It was flying further away from the group and even the gardens. It picked up altitude, flying ever farther toward the centre of the river. Takeru watched, eyes wide and cursing that he couldn't do anything. It looked like the bird was going to drop Jou into the river and have the hard water's surface smash Jou's body.

Grasping desperately at his medical bag, Jou took a pair of medical scissors and stabbed the digimon's feet. There was a cry of pain and the talon let go. Jou cried out as half his body dropped. His medical bag slipped off his shoulders, plummeting toward the river below.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and stabbed the scissors into the other claw. The digimon let go, and Jou fell. At this height, he'd likely survive the fall. However, surviving the impact was the least of his worries.

Hitting the water with a large splash, Jou was nearly knocked out. Taichi leaned over the railing as though he was going to jump, but thought better of it when he clutched his head. Jou's head surfaced momentarily, taking a big gulp of water before sinking. Takeru looked around desperately, looking for an easy way to get in. Dragging Jou out would be impossible if the only option was jumping.

He removed his jacket and shoes, running barefoot into the gardens. From the bushes he could see Jou's head pop up again, this time with the round white head with a streak of red fur, which Takeru could only guess was Gomamon. He and Koushiro, who was trailing behind, ran waist deep into the river holding their arms out for Jou as Gomamon pushed with a moderate amount of difficulty to the shore.

They hauled him onto the bank, their hands slipping off his wet clothes and sat down in the tall grass, panting. Gomamon crawled out, sitting beside Jou, who was sputtering and coughing, but otherwise breathing. He looked over at the small digimon.

"Thank you." He whispered underneath a laboured breath. Gomamon smiled.

"It was no big deal." He said cheerily. "I decided I like you."

Jou laughed weakly, followed by another round of coughing. "You're not bad yourself, Gomamon."

Willis and Taichi made their way down to the slope, stopping behind the three of them.

"Good. Looks like you made it out alive." Taichi said. "We can leave without feeling guilty."

"Leaving?" Jou said, looking up at the brunet. Taichi nodded.

"Well, being seen around you wouldn't be good for either party. We'll just leave quietly and you can go back to your section. Besides, Owlmon probably only left temporarily. It might be back." Jou looked down at Gomamon.

"What about him?"

"What about me?" Gomamon asked. "I'm not exactly a fighter. I'll hang about in the water and keep watch on things. Unless another opening forms around here I'm going nowhere fast."

"I never thought a digimon would save my life." Jou said, sitting up and leaning his arms against his knees. "Is this what the rebel group is fighting for?"

"Yeah, it is." Willis said. "We don't care what you do after this. As long as you remember what Gomamon did for you and keep that in mind as you make your decisions."

"I'm a doctor. I don't fight. I am not going to quit my job just because of this. There are people who need medical attention and that's what's important to me. But if you don't mind, I would like to visit you occasionally."

Visit. Right. That was something he discussed last week, too. Takeru nodded to Jou, with Gomamon agreeing. Willis left with a general direction of west of Shinjuku station if he ever wanted to meet up with the group. Takeru and the others followed. He walked with Taichi as they made their way to the train station. He thought about bringing it up several times over the trip. Keeping quiet until they were at least back in the hideout was the best option after all.

"Taichi?" Takeru's voice was tentative.

"What is it?"

"Um, how should I say this... What about Hikari?"

Taichi stopped. Takeru stopped and turned back to face Taichi, giving a worried, questioning look. "What about Hikari?"

"Well, I was wondering if you missed her. Of course you do but, I guess what I'm trying to say is how did you feel about leaving her?" Takeru flinched. Yeah this was going to go well.

Taichi made a grab for Takeru, who ducked out of the older man's reach. "Where do you get off asking something like that?" He growled through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry!" Takeru said, holding his hands up defensively. "It's just... I was talking with Hikari last week. After seeing that news report about Mimi she was really upset. She told me how hard it was on her that you never talked to her about why you made the decisions you did. So I was wondering your feelings."

Taichi lowered his hands, eyes cast down to the ground. Takeru lowered his guard. Willis and Koushiro were nowhere to be seen. Likely they saw the fight and left for them to sort things out, or moved on without hearing the skirmish.

"I was lonely." Taichi admitted. "And I felt guilty that I left like I did. I wish there was a calmer atmosphere that I could explain myself, or at least ease a bit of her heartache. I know she is bullied because of me, and I can't do anything to help her."

"What if you now have that chance?" Takeru asked. "Talk to Hikari for as long as you like?"

"What are you saying?" Taichi narrowed his eyes.

"I'm bringing Hikari here tomorrow. I promised her she'd meet my friend. I just never told her Patamon was a digimon."

"DON'T INVOLVE HER IN THIS!" Taichi screamed. Takeru stumbled backward. Taichi advanced on him. "Don't you dare get my baby sister wrapped up in this! It's exactly why I left like I did in the first place!"

"That's not your decision to make!" Takeru yelled back, standing his ground. Taichi glared. More calmly, quietly this time, Takeru tried to elaborate, carefully watching Taichi's movements in case he started throwing punches. "Hikari is her own person, isn't she? I'm not trying to recruit her. Inviting her to meet Patamon was a mistake, but it would be suspicious if I said no after. Hikari told me she wouldn't care about running into digimon if she got to see you again. Well, why not talk to her tomorrow?"

Taichi's rage ebbed and his stiff stance relaxed. His hands were balled into fists. "I don't know. I want to talk with her. But I won't forgive myself if she gets hurt."

"Why not wait and talk with her when she gets here tomorrow?" Takeru suggested. "I'm sure things will work out."

"Did you plan this?" Taichi asked, scratching the back of his neck. Takeru chuckled nervously.

"Well, no. But I figured that if Hikari was going to come here, she could visit you, too."

"You know it's not just me, right?" Taichi said. He walked over to the couch and sat down, holding his head in his hands. "Willis is worried. Ever since you joined we've been growing rapidly. There's more people, more secrets. A greater risk every time we come into contact with someone."

"It's only Koushiro and Mimi. Jou never said he'd join us." Takeru said, leaning against the wall. "That was all Gomamon, it had nothing to do with me."

"I guess not."

Takeru walked over to the fridge, taking out a bottle of water and an ice pack from the freezer. He handed them both to Taichi.

"Thanks." Taichi mumbled, his voice weary. "When's she coming?"

"Tomorrow."

"Alright. I just hope you know what you're doing."

Takeru had no idea what he was doing, or even if this was a good idea. He realized this the moment he met with Hikari at the train station. He kept mostly silent when on the train, talking with Hikari when she initiated conversation, but rarely took initiative himself to be social. Perhaps it was because he'd be afraid of what kind of things he'd say. At least Hikari didn't seem like she minded.

They arrived at Shinjuku station and Takeru led Hikari by the hand through the busy crowd and into the emptier streets. Most people avoided the areas near the attacked areas, or even places near the outskirts of barriers. Hikari looked increasingly nervous the closer they got to the hideout.

"Takeru, are you sure it's fine for us to go all the way over here?" Hikari asked, walking closer to him.

"Yeah, it's fine." Takeru said. He glanced down at her.

"I didn't know your friend lived outside the barrier."

"Some people have to." Takeru said. "It can be hard sometimes, but there hasn't been much activity around here at all."

"That's good." Hikari murmured. He led her to the hideout. Willis and Koushiro would be in the Digital World, along with Terriermon, Lopmon, Tentomon and Agumon. Taichi would be in the living room with Patamon. Takeru knew Taichi wouldn't likely make his presence known until he needed to. He only hoped Hikari would keep her mild manner after opening the door.

Hikari looked around, examining with her mouth slightly ajar at the run down look of the building. She took off her shoes, leaving them clumsily at the door and barely remembering to put on slippers. Takeru glanced into the living room, beckoning Patamon over. He took a deep breath.

"Hikari... I'd like you to meet my friend." Takeru said, holding his breath. Patamon flew into the hallway, landing on his shoulder. Hikari froze, her smile faltering as she stared at the digimon.

"T-Takeru, what...?" Hikari took a step toward the door. Takeru held his hand out to her.

"Please don't be scared." Takeru said. "He's harmless, I assure you."

"Your friend is a digimon? How did-- why... Takeru?" Her eyes were darting wildly, looking at Takeru's face, glancing at Patamon and back to Takeru.

"It's really a long story. We'd be happy to tell you, though!" Patamon said. Hikari's eyes grew wide and for a moment he was scared she'd faint.

"Hikari." Taichi's voice called gently from the other room. Slowly, he walked in, leaning his arm against the frame. He gave his sister a soft, apologetic smile. Hikari was leaning against the door now, and her face twisted as her eyes teared up.

"T-Taichi?" Her voice broke as she strangled back a sob. He had an uncomfortable look on his face and leaned forward as if he was going to embrace her. Hikari ran past Takeru and Patamon, tackling Taichi in a hug. He caught himself with his leg, and wrapped his arms around her. Taichi held her close. "I missed you." Takeru heard her whisper.

He leaned back, folding his arms across his chest as he watched the Yagami siblings reunite. A small smile graced his lips. Patamon was watching curiously, leaning far on Takeru's shoulders to get a good look.

Hikari broke the hug, wiping her eyes of tears and sniffed. She looked at Taichi and then at Takeru. "But this means Takeru is working with you?"

"Well, yes." Taichi said. "But he only came to us after meeting Patamon. Come sit down. Would you like some tea?"

They spent the next half an hour telling Hikari about how Takeru met Patamon, and how that got Taichi's attention. Taichi explained that he always felt the military was a little too brutal with how they handled digimon. He met Willis over online forum discussions when Willis posted a handful of critical posts about society's view of digimon. They planned on finding out how everything came together.

"I still didn't trust digimon." Taichi said. "I didn't understand how Willis and his partners could be so close. But after seeing Patamon and Takeru, I thought maybe it wasn't just an isolated incident. That maybe more people could understand digimon."

"But why all the way out in Shinjuku?" Hikari asked. "It's so far away from Odaiba."

"Well, this is around where those kids disappeared ten years ago." Taichi said. "This area has a lot of tears opening between this world and the Digital World. We figured that if we were going to get any answers, it would be here."

"Were you able to find anything?" Hikari asked. Taichi shook his head.

"Not much. We've been kept busy since it was just the two of us for the longest time. But I think we'll find more information soon now that our numbers are growing."

"There's more than just the three of you?" Hikari asked. The boys nodded.

"There's two more down in the Digital World, actually" Patamon said. "They became friends with us only a little while ago."

"I see." Hikari said. "So you guys have actually been to the Digital World?"

"Yeah. We're working with digimon there right now. Trying to see if we can help them." Taichi said.

There was a knock on the wall. The three of them turned to see Koushiro at the entrance way to the living room. "Sorry for interrupting. But I think I've finished working with the deletion devices Mimi brought us."

Chapter Text

Taichi glanced at Takeru and stood up. Takeru stood as well, followed by a confused Hikari, still carrying her tea cup. They followed Koushiro down the stairs and through the doors that led into the Digital World. Hikari was trailing behind, taking in the scenery of the outdoors after having just gone downstairs into what would logically have been a basement.

Mimi and Willis were there, sitting in the small shack set up for basic workings. Mimi was sitting on a large stack of fertilizer, likely copied by Koushiro's duplication program. Willis was sitting in a chair, the back facing the table with Willis straddling the chair, arms resting on the back. Koushiro sat down in his own chair.

He held up one of the deletion devices. "This is the one I've been working on the most. Since Mimi only brought two, I have left the other one untouched for later duplication if something goes wrong with this one. However, my research has come to the point where I believe I have isolated the mechanism used to delete digimon and actually reversed the deletion properties. Of course, that simply wasn't enough if we were going to use Keisuke's weapons against him.

"Considering digimon have some special ability to change as they grow stronger, I looked into the process of how that might work and have come to this solution. This digivice, in theory, can cause a digimon to digivolve. These are terms we coined to differentiate from the original device and from evolution, since it's closer to a metamorphosis process and even then it's -- sorry, I went off on a tangent."

"So, it still hasn't been tested then?" Taichi asked. "How are we going to know if it still won't delete a digimon even though you tinkered with it?"

"Well, that's where the difficulty comes in. It will need to be beta tested. But considering this weapon is highly dangerous to digimon in the first place, I hesitate to casually ask for volunteers. Perhaps if there was a digimon that we were fighting for our lives against, I'd have few qualms about testing it in case the deletion process was still in effect."

"Well, there aren't many digimon so far that are after our heads. The digimon that are at war with Earth are usually only concerned with fighting for control over territory. Unless we make more of a splash, anyway." Willis said. "So finding a digimon for that situation isn't common. We could have used Shellmon the other day, but Koushiro hadn't completed his work."

"So, there's still the need for a volunteer." Taichi said. He looked over at Agumon, who nodded. "What about us?"

"You?" Koushiro asked. "But Taichi, what if I made a mistake? Like I said before, everything I've done is hypothetical. Until we actually test it there's no way to know for sure."

"If we can get something that is beneficial for our cause, I'd be willing to take the risk." Taichi said. "But it's Agumon's body."

"I want to try." Agumon said. He walked over to Koushiro. "I trust Koushiro's mind. Even if I die, I'll be happy to know I helped."

"Agumon..." Koushiro sighed. "Alright."

He gave the digivice to Taichi. He stood there, looking down at the device. "How is this thing supposed to work, exactly?"

"Keisuke had some sort of mechanism that only activated when the user was in danger. I liked that idea, so I decided to keep it. We can wait for a battle."

"Why not make a battle?" Willis suggested. "Terriermon and Lopmon against Agumon."

"Hang on, would that really work?" Mimi asked. "You're friends, aren't you? Wouldn't that mean it's not really dangerous?"

"Then I'd just have to make it dangerous. I won't hold back." Willis said, looking sternly at Taichi. The atmosphere suddenly became thick. Takeru looked between the two boys. He glanced over at Hikari. She sat back silently, watching as this conversation was taking place. He wondered what she was thinking.

"That's fine with me. I want to test this thing properly. So we need to make it realistic."

Willis stood up from his seat and started for the front door of the shack. Taichi and Agumon followed. Hikari stepped forward, before running after them. Koushiro and Mimi brought up the rear with Takeru. By the time the three of them exited, the fight already started.

Taichi and Willis were already some distance away, on opposite ends of some imaginary field. Terriermon and Lopmon were both running around, trying to get past Agumon, who was standing a ways in front of Taichi. Agumon would throw a fireball at either that crossed into Taichi's zone, causing the rabbit-like digimon to fall back.

This strategy didn't last long as Lopmon made it past Agumon with Terriermon divebombing Agumon. He ran toward Taichi, who dove to the ground to dodge an attack.

"Blazing Ice!" Taichi yelled in surprise when Lopmon's ice breath shrouded his arm, freezing it. He scrambled to his feet, holding his arm. Agumon rushed to Taichi's side, headbutting Lopmon away from him. Terriermon jumped from behind Agumon, using his head for leverage. Lopmon jumped as well.

"Double Typhoon!" Together, the twins started spinning, creating a massive tornado. Taichi fell to the ground, digging his fingers into the dirt as his body started lifting off the ground. Agumon fared better despite his smaller body, his claws anchoring him securely.

"Ah!" Taichi lost his grip, and was sucked into the tornado. A light shone from inside the tornado, and a harsh sound beeped repeatedly.

"I feel strange." Agumon said, as he began to glow. "Agumon digivolve to..."

"Greymon." In Agumon's place stood a massive orange and blue-striped dinosaur. He had a mask over his face with three horns, one on each side of his head, and one at the end of his nose. Easily, this larger digimon reached into the tornado, gripping Taichi and pulled him out. Immediately, Terriermon and Lopmon ceased, and stood in awe at the larger digimon in front of them.

Takeru barely paid attention as the familiar feeling of sickness overtook him. His body ran hot and cold at the same time, and his hands were shaking. Images he was now somewhat familiar with seeing flashed in his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Patamon was doing about as well as him.

"Takeru? Are you okay?" He could hear Hikari to his left, but she felt distant.

Takeru grunted. "I-I'm fine. I just need water."

He somehow managed to pick Patamon up off the ground without spilling his guts before Hikari directed him back inside the shack. He sat down on a chair and leaned over, resting his chest on his legs, and let his head dangle. Hikari wordlessly placed a glass on the table. Takeru didn't touch it.

"What happened?" She sat down in the chair beside him. Takeru shook his head.

"I don't know." He slowly sat up, still not feeling well, but his mouth was dry. He took the glass and gulped down the water. The others came back into the shack, crowding around him. Annoyed, Takeru placed the glass next to Patamon for him to finish, and glared at Taichi and Willis.

"Where the hell do you two get off risking Agumon's life like that?" Takeru growled. Both men took a surprised step back.

"We wouldn't have done it if we weren't sure, Takeru." Willis said, trying to calm the boy down.

"That's not good enough! Koushiro said he wasn't sure! Yet you did it anyway!"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Taichi said, brows knotting together. "Agumon's just fine!"

"That's not the point!" Takeru slammed his fist on the table.He whirled around, storming out of the shack and ran back to the breach. Patamon, getting a little colour back in his cheeks, flew after Takeru.

They rode the train together, back to Odaiba. Takeru had to stop a few times in order to get through a weak spot in the barriers, but by now he was knowledgeable of the weak points thanks to Willis. He was silent, even as he snuck Patamon in his backpack to his apartment, saying a dull hello to his mother before dropping onto his bed.

Patamon crawled out of the backpack, and fluttered to land beside Takeru's head.

"I know. I shouldn't have snapped at them like that." Takeru said, sighing as he turned his head away from Patamon. "I don't know what came over me. I don't know why I keep feeling sick like this."

"I felt sick, too." Patamon said. "I don't know why. Maybe because I'd been in danger like that before."

Takeru turned his head back toward Patamon. "You have?"

"I was deleted before, by a human." Patamon said lowly.

Takeru sat up, folding his legs on the bed. "When was this?"

"It was a long time ago. I barely remember it. I can't even remember what level I was, or what I was doing. All I can see are flashes of memory. A human's face here and there. But that's all."

"I see flashes too." Takeru said, holding his head in his hand. "Bright lights in my eyes, blinding me. I see a few faces, maybe a military uniform or two. The smell of wet dirt, and flashes of orange. For some reason it makes me want to throw up. I don't know why. I don't remember anything like this before."

He fell backwards onto his bed, letting his feet rest on his pillow. "Those deletion devices are dangerous. Lots of digimon are going to get destroyed in droves."

"I know. It will make confrontations with the military more dangerous than ever." Patamon said.

"We should destroy them." Takeru said, staring at his ceiling. "If we could find a way to get in there, and destroy their stock before they can send them out... It might not do much, but at least they can be delayed. Maybe we can even destroy Keisuke's notes."

"That won't make Mimi very happy." Patamon said. "She still cares for her father, and I'm guessing he spent a lot of time and effort into making them."

Takeru frowned. "Even so... They were still made to kill."

There was a knock at Takeru's door. Patamon scrambled under the bed and Takeru sat up. The door opened, and Takeru's father walked in. His eyes widened.

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

"I was talking with your mother. You looked so upset when you came home, I guess you didn't see me in the kitchen, or see my shoes at the door."

"I'm sorry." Takeru murmured. He moved over when his dad walked in, and the older man sat down beside Takeru.

"You look pale. Is everything alright?" Takeru looked down at the floor.

"I don't know." Takeru said. "I thought I was. But there was a fight and I lashed out. I felt sick."

"Was it a digimon fight?" Hiroaki asked softly. Takeru looked up at him.

"How did you know?" His father adjusted himself on the bed.

"Well, it has to do with something that happened eight years ago. We didn't think you'd remember."

"Eight years ago?"

"You were attacked by a digimon." Takeru stared at his father, unsure how to take this. He was attacked by a digimon? He wouldn't have been much older than eight. Why wouldn't he remember something like that? Takeru's eyes fell to the bed.

"I was?" He asked finally.

"Almost killed." His father said, running his hand through his short hair. "It's actually the reason why I quit my old job. I didn't want my family in danger."

"What happened?"

"We lost sight of you. Normally you'd go off to play with that little Yagami girl, but you weren't outside, and you weren't at her house. So we searched for you. We searched for over an hour and there wasn't any sign.

"Things were chaotic. We just started the war with digimon officially not even two years ago. We didn't know what to do, so we called the newly created Digimon Eradication Unit. Our fears were right. You were being attacked by a digimon. You were outside the save zone, in a trench left over from the destruction."

Takeru listened to his father's words, closing his eyes as he concentrated on the flashes of memory. Slowly, they grew from being segmented. He could see his father's face clearly. It was twisted into an expression of anger and worry. He slid down the trench, muddying his clothes. The military personnel were behind him, setting up bright lights. Takeru was huddled toward the back of the trench, covered from head to toe in mud. He held his hand out to his father, but it wasn't reaching out.

"What... what kind of digimon had me?" Takeru asked slowly. Though he was sure he already knew the answer.

"A Patamon."

Takeru felt sick, and leaned over. His father called out to him, placing a hand on his back. But he ignored it. He was being dragged away by his father, kicking and screaming, reaching out for the small orange digimon. He watched with wide eyes as the military closed over the tiny form, and Patamon's screams. Takeru could see the tiny pixels explode and scatter, dissolving into the wind as Patamon was deleted.

"It still affects you." Hiroaki murmured. "That's why your mother and I were talking.She says you've been acting different lately. Maybe coming back to Odaiba, where there are more attacks, did something to affect you subconsciously. We think it's best if you get over your trauma. I'm signing you up for the Junior Division."

He stayed there, curled up and concentrated on his breathing. His father kept calling to him and it was all Takeru could do to lift his arm up to show him he was alright. He could never tell him. He could never say that he wasn't nearly killed; that he and Patamon had been friends.He stayed there, curled up and concentrated on his breathing.

Hiroaki stood up, giving Takeru's shoulder a light squeeze and left him. Takeru didn't move until he was sure he heard the door close. Patamon crawled out from under the bed, his face pale.

"We... we were friends." Takeru whispered. "They murdered you right in front of me."

"I remember now." Patamon said. "You would often come outside the safe zone to play with me. I didn't think I'd ever have any memories from before I was deleted."

Takeru scooped up Patamon and held him close to his chest. He forgot on purpose. Maybe it was why he stayed that day, reuniting with Patamon like that. Things were starting to make sense, falling into place.

"You're not really going to join the military, are you Takeru?" Patamon asked. "What if they make you fight?"

"I don't want to join." Takeru said. "But if dad thinks that will make me better, I might not have any choice. But I can use it to our advantage."

Patamon curled up in Takeru's arms, but his expression told Takeru he wasn't so sure.

"I promise, I'll try everything I can to keep from going. I think what we're doing is much more productive."

He let Patamon spend the night, pulling him behind the pillow and against the corner of the wall where his mother couldn't see. It was unlikely she'd come in, but he didn't want to take the chance. He laid in bed, watching Patamon sleep and thinking about the memories that newly surfaced in his mind. He wondered how many other children were like him. Willis was one, and he knew now that he and the American were more alike than ever. They were both somewhat lucky. But how many people were found out and their friends destroyed?

He'd apologize to Taichi and the others tomorrow. The reversed deletion device worked. The digivice. A tool to help channel their energies to make digimon digivolve. That and the delevices brought a whole new level to the war. An uneasy feeling sat in Takeru's stomach. He had to make sure he kept up.

Takeru let Patamon fly out the window early in the morning. While it was still risky, it would be better than taking him to school. Daisuke was there, as well as many other people. At least this way Patamon mostly had to worry about sonar. If he kept to the water, he could make it out of Odaiba to the less heavily guarded inland sections.

To his surprise, Hikari was standing in the entrance. She was dressed for school, while Takeru still had on his pajamas. Takeru bit his lip, avoiding eye contact with Hikari as he slowly walked toward her.

"Hikari... I- what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you're alright. You were really upset yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't really thinking." Takeru gave an apologetic smile. "I plan on apologizing to everyone after school. I'll tell them everything."

Hikari cocked her head to the side. "You know why you lashed out like that?"

"Yeah." He looked around, searching for his mother. She was in her room, but Takeru still didn't want to risk it. "I'll talk to you about it on the way to school. Do you want to sit down?"

He directed Hikari to the living room, and she waited as he scrambled for his uniform and got something quickly to eat. He stopped to check himself in the mirror, flattening his hair as he chewed on a piece of toast.

He swallowed the last of his breakfast, and walked Hikari out of the apartment. They walked slowly, and Takeru told her in a low voice exactly what happened last night. Hikari had a grave expression on her face.

"So your dad thinks you should join the military because of that incident? What will you do about Patamon and your group?"

"I don't know." Takeru sighed. "I'll talk to him tonight and try to convince him to drop it. Patamon will likely tell the others when he gets back."

"He'll be alright, flying on his own?"

"Yeah, I think so. We know some secrets to getting around the city unharmed." Takeru said "Willis said it's harder every time they upgrade the shields, though."

Hikari nodded. "I'm not sure about everything, Takeru. But I talked more with my brother after you left. I think that he's doing something good. Your hearts are in the right place. Can I come visit occasionally?"

"Yeah!" Takeru smiled, his heart thumping. "You can help us out."

"Maybe I'll find my own partner." Hikari said softly. "But I guess that means I'd have to fight, too."

"You don't have to." Takeru said. "We'll all understand if you don't. Mimi hasn't fought with us yet."

"I think I might want to fight, if I bond with a digimon." Hikari said. "Because I couldn't stand doing the bare minimum for them. I just... hope no one at the school finds out that I am starting to follow Taichi."

"Nevermind about them." Takeru said. "All that matters is what we're doing. But I promise you, Hikari, we won't do anything to compromise you."

She smiled. "Thanks."

They reached the gates, and Takeru saw Daisuke was waiting at the entrance, his arms folded across his chest and a glare directed straight at Takeru. He groaned.

"Here's trouble." He muttered.

"Trouble?" Hikari looked over at Daisuke. "Daisuke's trouble?"

"Looks like he's going to be." Takeru said, and stopped in front of Daisuke, who straightened his posture to look authoritative. "I thought we got through th-"

"So, you actually went and did it." Daisuke said, still not looking all that pleased. Takeru blinked.

"Did what?"

"Don't be dumb! You actually signed up for the military. I don't know how but apparently you have the right qualifications to be accepted."

Takeru and Hikari exchanged surprised looks. "What? I never signed up!"

"Yeah? Well, your name is on the list for my division. Apparently Keisuke Tachikawa is going to be personally supervising you, too. Heck if I know why."

Chapter Text

Takeru's head was reeling. How was it possible he was signed up so quickly? Had his father already sent in the forums before he talked to his mom? Why was Mimi's father going to supervise him? So many questions ran through Takeru's head he almost forgot he was with Daisuke and Hikari, standing in front of the school.

"But you listen here," Daisuke held his hand up to Takeru, leaning in. "you're gonna be under my team, so you are gonna start following my rules. No backtalk. We may be a digimon specialty division, but we're still part of the army."

Takeru frowned. "We're going to be late for class, Daisuke. You might be able to get out of trouble with your credentials, but I'm not part of your group yet, and Hikari isn't a part of it at all. Let's at least discuss this later."

Daisuke's face twisted, but he nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

They walked to their class together, Daisuke walking alongside Hikari. Takeru trailed back, his mind still lost in thought. It seemed his choice on the matter was no longer an option. He sat through his classes on autopilot, taking down notes due to habit, and twice he didn't notice when the teachers changed and they were onto a different subject. By the time lunch came around, Takeru was exhausted mentally. He knew the talk with Daisuke was coming, and he was dreading it.

He still didn't particularly care for Daisuke. Despite mostly leaving Takeru alone when he deemed him harmless, the aggressive encounter when they first met still lingered in his mind. He felt himself stiffen whenever he got too close in proximity and dreaded anything involving the possibility of them doing anything together.

That would become more frequent now. He knew keeping the small grudge against Daisuke was unfair. Perhaps he was wrong about him. He had an attitude that didn't mesh well with Takeru, but he could still see Daisuke cared. Everything he did was high energy and emotive. He didn't do anything half way unless it came to something he really wasn't interested in. In a way, Takeru admired that. Still, his general attitude and egotism was something prominent, and he could only wish that it would subside after they started working together.

Thinking about this gave Takeru a bit of energy as Daisuke approached him. Takeru pulled out his lunch box. Daisuke pulled up a chair and straddled it. He rested his arms against the back of the chair and stared intently at Takeru. He raised his eyebrow at the brunet.

"What, are you expecting me to talk first?" Takeru asked, picking up his chopsticks.

"Something like that." Daisuke said. "I'm mostly curious why Mr. Tachikawa is so interested in you."

Takeru shrugged. "I don't know. I was only thinking about joining to be with my family. But I changed my mind. It can't be helped if my dad signed me up for it after all."

"That doesn't explain much." Daisuke grumbled.

"Maybe because I met him a few months ago." Takeru shrugged. "He recognized my name, probably. I did tell him who my dad and brother were. How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, even if Mr. Tachikawa is interested in you, that doesn't mean you're gonna be staying with my group. We're the top group." Daisuke said, sounding almost like he was boasting. "You're an athletic guy, but that won't completely saving you from training. Just a heads up."

Takeru wondered if it was his imagination that he detected a gleefully sinister undertone to his words. Still, it was a much better encounter than Takeru had been dreading all morning. After school, his father's car was parked out front, the man leaning against the driver door with his arms and legs crossed. Hesitantly, Takeru walked over.

"We're not going to waste much time." His father said, walking around and opening the passenger door for Takeru. "You can go in your uniform, they won't mind the first day."

Takeru slipped into the car, the sensation of being in a strange vehicle unnerving him more than going back to Shinbashi did, if only for the moment. They were mostly silent on the drive across the rainbow bridge, which didn't help matters in the least. Takeru looked out the car window, watching the buildings and people pass by.

"When did you sign me up?" He asked finally, his voice low and nearly inaudible.

"This morning." Hiroaki said, his voice gravelly, like he hadn't spoken much today. "I was also surprised how fast they sorted you. But it seems like someone took a shine to you."

"You mean Keisuke Tachikawa?" Takeru looked over at his dad, who merely nodded. "But why? Why is he so interested in me?"

"It's possible he saw something in you." He said. "He could also want to test out how fast you can recover from your traumatic experiences. Who knows."

They arrived at the building. Even though it was a while ago, Takeru still recognized it as the building he took a trip to and met Tachikawa in front of. He followed his father meekly into the building, hunching his shoulders. There was paperwork to be filled out, and a lot of small talk. Thankfully most of the social aspect was filled in by his father. Takeru didn't know if he was capable of feeling talkative right now.

It wasn't long before Keisuke himself appeared. "Ah, Mr. Ishida. Very nice to meet you in person at last."

"Mr. Tachikawa. It's a pleasure. This is my son, Takeru."

Keisuke looked down at Takeru, smiling and held out his hand. "Yes, we've met before. Do you remember?"

"I remember." Takeru said, hesitantly taking his hand and shaking it.

"Good, good." Keisuke said, a kind smile appearing on his face. "If it's alright with you, I'm excited to get started. Shall I show you around and introduce you to your new team?"

"Um," Takeru looked up at his father, silently pleading that perhaps there was more left to do.

"I think it would be more interesting than him sticking around here." He said. "What do you think?"

"Yes. Please, show me around." Takeru said, trying not to sound awkward. He followed Keisuke down the hallway.

"The facility here is big, but it shouldn't be that hard to find your way around. Many of the rooms you'll not have to bother with." Keisuke explained, as they walked swiftly into the middle of the building. "It will be in the training arena where you'll spend most of your time. There are bed rooms here, in case you want to rest, aren't feeling good or want to spend the night. Of course since you're a high school student I wouldn't expect you to be that dedicated to us just yet." He laughed.

Takeru gave a weak smile. "N-no, not yet."

"You know my daughter is only a few years older than you. Graduating this year."

"Oh?" Takeru tried to sound curious, already knowing a lot about Mimi personally.

"She's not all that interested in these kinds of things of course. You'll likely not see her around. Ah, here are the medical rooms. And just over here are the showers." They entered a large dome-like structure, with the hallway splitting into two, railings reaching past the chest and beyond was a large expanse three floors to the training arena below. Takeru stopped and stared, gripping the bars tightly.

"We have an extensive arena for all kinds of training, and can fit many people in here if need be. This place is sturdy, and can be an emergency shelter if the area is lost temporarily. However, I doubt it will come to that. The bottom floor contains most of the supplies you'll be using, as well as some digimon we've captured."

"You keep digimon in here?" Takeru asked.

"Yes, for experiments and training." Keisuke said. "They're heavily guarded, so there's no need to worry."

Did he say that because of what his father told him about Takeru's past? He turned to Keisuke. "Mr. Tachikawa... why did you- why choose me specifically?"

Keisuke scratched his head, and walked over to stand beside Takeru, leaning against the rail. "Well, partially because your father is a friend and respected member of the Eradication Program. It would also be beneficial to better study the effects of digimon trauma on youths to combat it. But also... I felt something in you, Takeru. There was a certain fire in your eyes; a determination. I felt you were perfect for our program. So when your father suggested you, I wanted you in."

"What exactly will I be doing here that will be so different from everyone else?" Takeru asked. He saw what must have been Daisuke and his group walk out of a room at the bottom, weapons in hand. Daisuke had a towel around his neck.

"You won't be doing anything all that different from your group. But the group as a whole will focus more on my experiments than others." Keisuke said. "The more I research the Digital World, the more I'm finding, and the more ideas I come up with to stopping digimon. Even though I see someone else is starting to research, it won't stop me."

Takeru turned to him. "Someone else?"

"Yes, recently there has been someone else who is looking at the general code to the Digital World. Though I don't know who they are or where. I can only hope they're on our side. But they must be incredibly intelligent to do all that. In truth, it was't until a few days ago that I discovered them."

Takeru bit his lip. He must have been talking about Koushiro's research. He wondered how Keisuke would handle being told that a teenage boy was discovering most of his research was flawed.

He left the rail and beckoned Takeru to follow. He obliged. "So, Takeru, would you be willing to tell me a little about yourself?" Keisuke asked. "Your thoughts and feelings on all of this, perhaps?"

"Well, it's a little overwhelming to be honest." Takeru said. "I never thought I'd actually end up here."

"You were visiting a few months ago, so I assumed you already had an interest."

"I did. Not very big. But I was at least thinking about it at one..." Takeru trailed off when he looked up at a pair of men in white lab coats passing by. One of them was Jou. Takeru stiffened when Jou stopped, and looked right at him. His heart began to race and he could feel his palms sweat. Jou had seen his true face only a couple of days ago after the fight with Shellmon. He was going to be called out.

Jou frowned, looking at Takeru and over at Keisuke. "Someone new?"

"Yes, he just joined us today." Keisuke said.

Jou turned back to Takeru. "Have you had a proper medical examination?"

"A proper wh-no. No. I haven't." Takeru stuttered, confused. Jou sighed bowing to Keisuke.

"I apologize, Keisuke. But all new recruits should have a physical before officially joining. I thought you knew this. If you would be gracious enough to excuse my intrusion I'm going to steal your recruit for a little while."

"Ah, pardon me, Mr. Kido. In my enthusiasm, I must have let proper protocol slip my mind. It's very unlike me." He let Jou take Takeru by the arm and lead him with purpose back to the medical wing. Takeru followed, unsure what was happening.

Jou opened the door to an empty room and pulled Takeru in, locking the door behind them. He backed away from the older man, still feeling stiff.

"Well, I didn't think someone like you would ever show up here, and in broad daylight next to Keisuke Tachikawa of all people." Jou said. He turned around. "You seem to be in a complicated mess."

"You could say that." Takeru said. He sat when Jou gestured for Takeru to sit down. "My father recruited me all on his own. Now despite everything, here I am. I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were going to call me out."

"I wouldn't do such a thing." Jou said, starting his examinations. "You were worried for your friends, and if it hadn't been for Gomamon, I would never have known you were a part of that group. It's not my place to say what you feel or believe in."

"Do you... still visit Gomamon?" Takeru asked hesitantly. "Is he doing alright?"

"I haven't had the time. Though if I am to be honest, I am not sure if I would. He saved my life, and I'm grateful for that. But he's still a digimon. My feelings are still mixed whenever I think about my stance. My feelings of being able to help people is my main concern."

Takeru nodded, and silently performed what Jou needed to. He was glad that he didn't call Takeru out as a traitor, or tell the military where to find Gomamon after they left.

"Tell me..." Jou said, sitting back down on the table and writing something down. "What's it like being in your group?"

"Uh, well we're small." Takeru said. "There's only about four of us, really. Humans, that is. There's quite a few digimon that are in our group, though they stay in the Digital World."

"The Digital World? You go there frequently?"

"Yes."

Jou was silent for a moment, and even stopped writing. "I would have thought it would be too toxic to go there regularly. But from this basic examination you seem fine. Your lung capacity is above average."

"The Digital World isn't toxic." Takeru said. "It has air, just like our world. It is in a bad state though. We mostly try and make the Digital World a better place for the digimon to live."

"I wonder how their world got like that. Mr. Tachikawa's research team brought back photos of a desolate world. They couldn't stay very long without breathing masks."

"I can assure you, Jou, you don't need breathing masks. You could even come see for yourself."

"You had invited me before." Jou nodded. "Somewhere near Shibuya, correct?"

"Yeah. If you tell me a day, I'll meet you."

"I'm off in three days. I'll come meet you in the morning. Ah-- well, maybe I should wait until after you're done with school. Unless you tell the other two."

"I could. But I'm not sure if I'll be able to see them much now." Takeru said. Jou shrugged.

"I can wait for the afternoon. It would be a good idea for me to get groceries and other chores anyway. I've been busy myself lately." He gestured for Takeru to stand. "Well, you look like you're in good health. You can go back to Keisuke now. Tell him I'm sorry again for making him wait."

Takeru thanked Jou and walked out, walking back to where they left Keisuke. However, he was gone. A note was left where they last stood, taped onto the railway. He needed to do important work and apologized for leaving before Takeru returned. But he told Takeru to feel free to wander. Takeru sighed, pocketing the note just in case he'd potentially get in trouble.

He supposed he could get a good layout of the building. It could be useful. Likely Keisuke kept a store of his inventions in here. He wandered around the ring of the arena and branched out. It was a circular building with the middle being the massive arena. But everything in between the arena and the outer wall seemed to be a maze. Most of the rooms seemed to be offices or living quarters with a few medical rooms in between. Once or twice Takeru stumbled on a kitchen or recreation room. He supposed the latter was for breaks or if an employee chose to mostly live in the building. It could also be an extra living space, or entertainment if the building needed to house civilians.

The second floor seemed to be more for research purposes. He found a couple store rooms containing rows upon rows of shelves fitted with various boxes and other things. There seemed to be a few computer labs, both for more general work and for what looked to be specific digimon research. One door opened to a dark room with red lights. He poked his head in, hoping no one would yell at him. No one seemed to be in the room, other than a lone woman.

She was standing next to a cage, which was producing most of the light in the room. She was bent down at the knee, clipboard in hand. She seemed to be muttering to herself. Upon closer inspection, Takeru could see a pink bird-like digimon in the containment field. He craned his neck, and accidentally opened the door wider. It creaked loudly, causing the woman to stand up abruptly and whirl around.

"Who are you?" She demanded. She looked up and down at Takeru, her eyes narrowing. "This place is off limits to Juniors like you. Where is your uniform?"

"I just started today." Takeru said, stepping fully into the room. He held his hands up, letting the door close with a bang behind him. "Keisuke Tachikawa gave me a note saying I was allowed to explore. He didn't say anything about restricted areas. I'm sorry."

The woman glared at him suspiciously. Takeru dug in his back pocket for the note and held it up. She gestured for him to come closer. He carefully made his way down the steel grate steps and cautiously walked over to her. He couldn't help but stare at the pink digimon.

The woman inspected the paper. "Well, Takeru Takaishi, this is definitely Tachikawa's handwriting."

She put the paper down on a table and put her hands on her hips. Takeru was bent down looking at the Biyomon. It stared at him, feathers slightly ruffled with indignance, as though to say 'how dare you look at me'. He smiled.

"That's a specimen we're using for non-lethal experiments." The woman said. "Our team for this room isn't very large, so usually it's just me down here after peak hours. My name is Sora Takenouchi, by the way."

"Oh, sorry." Takeru gave her a small bow. "It's nice to meet you."

Sora sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I suppose if Tachikawa allows you in here, you can look around. But don't touch anything. That was the digimon we caught a few months ago in Odaiba."

"I was there." Takeru said, bending down and staring at the bird. "I watched the whole thing."

"Did you?" Sora placed her notes on the table beside Takeru's paper and walked back to him. "So you live in Odaiba?"

"I moved there recently to be closer to my brother and father. They work in the military. Dad is stationed at one of the Odaiba camps. I think my brother is stationed in Ariake."

"So your family is separated." Sora said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Takeru glanced over at Sora. "Were you... talking to Biyomon earlier?"

Sora stiffened, her back straightening. "It can get maddening in here. I talk at it to help with the solitude."

"Does... does it talk back?" He waited tentatively for the answer. He watched Sora's expression carefully. She stared at Biyomon, who had turned it's attention toward Sora after she came over, and rarely took its eyes off her since. Around Sora, Takeru was invisible to it.

"...Sometimes." Sora said finally. "I didn't think digimon could talk, or would talk to us. But I guess confiding in it... I don't know."

She turned away, and walked back over to the table, sitting in the chair. Her eyes stared at the Biyomon with heavy lids. Under the strange light, it didn't look like she was sleeping well. She looked like she had something on her mind. Takeru didn't think it was his place to pry.

"I'll go now." Takeru said. "It was nice meeting you."

He took his paper and made his way toward the grated steps. "Wait." Takeru turned around. "I would appreciate it if you didn't... mention any of this to anyone. About talking to-around Biyomon. Some people might get the wrong impression."

Takeru gave her a smile. "Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with talking. I won't say anything."

He left Sora with a smile on her face, and continued his exploration, tucking his note back in his pocket. Eventually he made it to the last floor. Many of the doors were locked here, and Takeru suspected this was because of the weapons technology. The kitchen was larger on this floor, as was the rec room. They were also significantly messier. He was sure he saw Daisuke's jacket on one of the chairs.

"Who let you wander on your own?" Takeru jumped, whirling around to see Daisuke with three boys behind him. Two of them Takeru saw before when they were fighting Bitmon. He put a hand to his chest.

"You scared me."

"If something like that scares you, you're going to have a hard time here." Daisuke said. He walked over to his jacket, pulling it off the chair.

"So you're the new recruit." The boy with the neatly cropped hair said. He inspected Takeru. "I must say I do agree with Daisuke that you don't look army material. Then again, neither did I. My name's Ken Ichijouji. This over here is Iori Hida."

"Hello." Iori said.

"Hello." Takeru said. "Um, forgive me but... aren't you a little young to be in the military?"

"I'm unofficially a member." Iori said. "I help out with things while my mother works."

"I see." Takeru looked to the last member, the only one he had never seen before. "And you are?"

"I'm Aoi Minemura." He said. Aoi had short cropped black hair, and was easily the most well muscled out of all of them. He hung back from the rest of them. "I go to Ken's school."

"So, Tachikawa wanted you and then left? I wouldn't think he'd just leave you to wander around." Daisuke said. "I would have thought you'd at least come greet your new teammates. Rather rude of you."

Takeru frowned. "It took me a while to find the stairs. Besides, there's nothing wrong with learning the layout of this place."

"I suppose not. So, you up for a spar?" Daisuke glanced at the two older friends, smirking. They smirked back.

"Spar?" Takeru frowned. "You mean fight? Here?"

"In the arena, dummy." Daisuke rolled his eyes. "I wanna see how you far in battle."

"I'll go get Kairi, Minami and Satoru." Aoi said, disappearing out into the hallway.

"Is it just me or is he taking some sadistic pleasure at the idea of this?" Takeru murmured under his breath.

He wasn't even sure he wanted to spar with Daisuke. He had no training. He didn't know how to fight. It became clearer to him as they approached the arena they might be setting him up in some kind of trap. Hazing? No matter. Takeru wouldn't easily let Daisuke get the best of him.

They walked out into the arena and already Takeru's body was pumping with adrenaline. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aoi with another boy and two girls. They were on the sidelines, soon joined by Iori and Ken. He turned his attention fully to Daisuke, who once again took his jacket off.

"We'll go with just our fists. Then if you're still conscious we'll see how well you are with a weapon." His voice was dripping with superiority. The hair on Takeru's neck stood up.

He was going to go at him for real. He tried to keep his fidgety body from shaking. If they didn't start moving soon, his body might move on it's own. Daisuke on the other hand seemed to be enjoying how nervous Takeru was.

Daisuke jumped at him and Takeru dodged. Daisuke swung his arm, barely missing Takeru's head. He ducked, balling his fist and aiming for Daisuke's chest. He caught Takeru's fist, pushing it to the side and held on to keep him from escaping. Takeru felt a powerful blow to his chest as Daisuke kicked him right in the chest. The force of the blow sent him back, stretching his arm at the shoulder joint. Daisuke wrapped his other arm around Takeru's neck, restricting his air.

Takeru cried out, and dropped to his knees. Daisuke let go of his neck and arm, which he held, rubbing tenderly. He glared at Daisuke.

"Is that all you've got? I thought you'd be stronger than that." Daisuke taunted. With a growl, Takeru leaped at Daisuke, tackling him to the ground. He managed to land two punches to the face before Daisuke threw him off. Takeru landed roughly on the ground, barely missing landing directly on his sore shoulder.

"Don't rough him up too badly, Daisuke!" One of the girls called. "We still need to break him in!"

Daisuke recovered faster and ran at Takeru, who was scrambling to get into a defensive position. He grabbed Takeru by the scruff of the shirt, throwing him back onto the ground. Takeru got up, running at Daisuke. He got behind Takeru, grabbing him around the neck again, and forced his arm painfully behind his back. He let go, and Takeru whirled around, attempting to punch at Daisuke again. He dodged, pushing Takeru's hand down and swung his hand, landing the hit on Takeru's throat.

He sank to the floor, coughing and held his throat. Daisuke towered over Takeru, a smug smirk on his lips. "I am breaking him in, Kairi."

"You're such a showoff." Takeru choked through strained breaths. Daisuke shrugged.

"Maybe, but at least I know when I'm gonna shine." He bent over to help Takeru up. He struggled out of Daisuke's grasp. "Whoa, whoa, feisty. I'm calling the match. I might have hit you a bit too hard. Don't want to injure you for real, y'know."

"I can stand on my own." Takeru growled. "You didn't hurt me that bad."

"No, but I could've."

"Just what is your pr-oughblem?" Takeru tried to yell at Daisuke, only to find himself in another small coughing fit when trying to raise his voice. "I've never fought before. You--"

"I'm breaking you in." Daisuke said. "Testing to see what you've got already. You have stamina, and you're stubborn. I'll give you that, but I know just how little skill you have and what you have to work on. I'm not going to deny it, I thoroughly enjoyed kicking your butt. What, you think that just because you're Keisuke's favourite we're going to go easy on you? You think the digimon will go easy on you? You have to train like the rest of us and it's going to be hard."

Daisuke walked away, leaving Ken and the two girls with Takeru. The rest them followed Daisuke back to the rec room.

"He is right, Takeru." Ken said, giving him an apologetic smile. "I don't exactly know why he's being as cocky as he is, but it was a good idea for us to test how much we have to teach you, and your skill picking stuff up."

"Yeah? Some teacher he didn't even tell me how well I did."

"I think you did well." The short haired brunette said. "Daisuke's one of the best though, so you really didn't stand a chance."

"Wow, thanks." Takeru said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm being serious, though. Once you learn the basics, I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly. Do you need a drink?"

"Y-Yeah. Thanks."

"I'm Kairi Mogami, by the way."

"And I'm Minami Endo." The other girl, who had shoulder length black hair said.

They entered the kitchen to get water. Takeru sat down, leaning back against the chair. From the room next door, he heard Daisuke yelling.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" He screamed. "He's just a trainee, and that's experimental technology you're talking about! You'll kill him!"

"Calm down!" Aoi's voice said, sounding annoyed. "If we train him up a bit first he won't be that much of a rookie. Come on, Daisuke. Where's your sense of fun?"

Thanking Kairi for the glass of water, Takeru gulped it down and walked over to the rec room. The four boys looked over at Takeru when he entered. Curious to what the commotion was, the rest of their group followed.

"What's going on?" Ken asked. Daisuke folded his arms across his chest, glaring at Aoi. Aoi was leaning against a couch, his arms also folded. He rolled his eyes and let out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"This idiot thinks it's a bright idea to make Takeru go up against a Champion for his official initiation."

"What? No!" Minami cried. "How could you think that's a good idea? Satoru!"

"What?" Satoru asked. "I think it's fair, Minami."

"What? That's crazy, Aoi. We don't even deal with Champions." Ken scolded.

"Yeah, but if we use Keisuke's new weapons it shouldn't be too hard." Aoi said. "We all have to learn how to use them eventually anyway. Why not use it as an opportunity to have Takeru show us what he's capable of?"

"I'll do it." Takeru said. "But I want to be trained properly first. Don't just send me in like you did with that fight out there."

"Of course not." Daisuke huffed. "Fine. But you have to be on standby in case something goes wrong. And you," He walked over to Takeru. "I want you properly trained. I want you nearly as good as me. I don't want you dead under my watch."

"Yes, sir." Takeru made a mock salute. Daisuke slapped his hand away.

"Stop that, I'm serious."

"So am I. If you're going to train me, we need to at least get along a little better."

Daisuke's expression softened. "Good."

Chapter Text

"Mimi, get Palmon out of there!" Willis yelled.

"Okay!" Mimi scrambled to reach her partner, who was being targeted by a large yellow digimon that looked like it belonged in a construction site. The variation of digimon often amazed Takeru, especially if there was uncanny similarities to objects in the real world. However, he barely bad time to reflect on it as he blocked the claws of an animal digimon with a stick.

It was a fairly large child level, a bear-like digimon with restraints on its paws and wore clothing, notably a baseball cap. It growed at Takeru, taking another swipe at him. He fell to the ground.

"Air Shot!" Bearmon was tossed back at the force of Patamon's attack. Takeru could see Wilis fighting off a small pack of Gizamon out of the corner of his eye, and Mimi was desperately trying to keep the machine digimon Kenkimon away from the flowers and trees. The Floramon were by her side, but compare to the adult level, they were hardly a match. The Flamon that hung around jumped onto it's back, and was subsequently swung around on the ball crane sticking out of it's back. It desperately hung on, if only barely.

Taichi and Koushiro also had their hands full with Gazimon and Kokuwamon, the former in a pair against Tentomon and the latter was electrocuting Agumon.

"I've had about enough of this." Taichi growled as he kicked a Gazimon away from his leg. "Agumon!"

The digivice pinned up to Taichi's belt started to glow, and the now familiar beeping started. Agumon himself began to glow and in an instant he grew. "Agumon digivolve to..."

"Greymon." As Greymon, he easily stomped Kokuwamon into submission. He swung around, using his tail to smack the Gazimon away from Tentomon and Koushiro. More of these hoards were joining, and Koushiro was tackled to the ground, and held down by large claws of more Gazimon hiding in wait behind the brush.

"Koushiro!" Tentomon called, as Koushiro's own digivice glowed. "Tentomon digivolve to..."

"Kabuterimon!"

"Whoa, now my digivice activated." Koushiro said, bracing himself as Kabuterimon swooped in, grabbing the Gazimon off of his partner. He stood up, dusting himself off. "Looks like the other duplicated digivices will work just fine if Tentomon was able to digivolve."

"He got really big! Ick!" Takeru heard Mimi's shrill cry as Kabuterimon flew past her and Palmon, throwing the Gazimon far into the distance.

"That seems to be the trend." Willis said. "Adults seem to get a lot larger in comparison to their child forms."

"You act like you've never seen Champions before." Koushiro said. It took a moment for Takeru to realize the terms were still yet interchangeable. Likely he'd start doing it too once he became more familiar with the military team.

"I've seen a few. Not all of them are large. Terriermon and Lopmon also have never digivolved past child." Willis said. He seemed to not mind the switch.

"You might get your chance." Koushiro said. He dove into the dirt as a large red humanoid with bat wings and a pitchfork dove at them, spearing at the air near them, attempting to skewer their flesh. This digimon had black markings all over its body. None of them looked familiar, not even similar to digicode.

"What the heck kind of digimon is that?" Taichi said.

"Looks like Boogiemon to me." Kabuterimon said, having returned from dumping the Gazimon. "I'll take care of him!"

Boogiemon dodged Kabuterimon's grasp and let out a sharp, high pitched chuckle. "You think you can catch me so easily you slow oaf?"

Both Greymon and Kabuterimon doubleteamed Boogiemon, grabbing at him from both the ground and the air. Boogiemon darted between them and giggled nasally.

"Double Typhoon!" The twin digimon unleashed their double attack, a massive whirlwind. It caught the smaller child digimon and even Boogiemon struggled to keep from being sucked into the vortex. Greymon and Kabuterimon escaped simply from their sheer mass.

"Ugh. I didn't expect these idiots to have the power to forcefully digivolve their toys." Boogiemon said. "Looks like I'll have to call for reinforcements."

"Stop him!" Takeru yelled, and ran toward Boogiemon. His legs gave way and he fell into the mud. Pain shot through his body. Boogiemon flew away and within minutes, another wave of digimon flew in the form of Flymon and Roachmon. There were several of them each.

"Ick! Gross!" Mimi cried. "We're not going to be beaten by all these gross digimon are we?"

"Not if I can help it. I'll protect you, Mimi." Palmon said, managing to roll out of the way of Kenkimon's wheels. "Palmon digivolve to..."

"Togemon!"

"Wow. A cactus." Mimi said. "From a little plant like that?"

Togemon turned to Kenkimon, who since threw Flamon off. Flamon luckily made a soft landing in the brush. She wound up her arm, punching Kenkimon in the side before it could land a blow. Kenkimon flew a few centimetres into the air, and landed on it's side, completely immobile.

Togemon ran toward the fast approaching small army, joined now by Greymon and Kabuterimon. The smaller Gazimon and Gizamon gave up on fighting the stronger adult levels and were focusing on Patamon, Terriermon and Lopmon.

Takeru struggled to get up, his spent muscles straining. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a Gizamon creeping up behind him for an attack. Takeru swung his arm much like Daisuke the other day, hitting Gizamon in the nose. With a noise of pain, Gizamon hopped away.

"Takeru, are you alright?" Patamon asked, flying over to his partner.

"I'm alright." Takeru said, panting and wiping away muddy sweat from his brow. "Daisuke's been working me too hard. All my muscles feel fragile."

"You don't have to fight." Patamon said. "The others have stronger bodies right now."

"Don't say that! If I go and rest I'll feel like I haven't done anything! What's the point of all this training if it leaves me too weak?"

"But Takeru..."

In the distance Takeru could hear another digivice chime. There was only one person left.

"Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!"

"Lopmon digivolve to... Tururiemon!"

"They're wearing pants now." Willis said, his tone both impressed and amused.

"Is this really the time to crack jokes?" Taichi asked, though he was smiling seeing Willis so light hearted for the first time in a long time.

"Well, I'm liking the odds. I think we're in a position to be at least a little cocky." Willis said as his digimon sprang into the chaos.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Ninja Claw!"

"Needle Spray!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Nova Blast!"

Their combined attacks easily sent the Flymon and Roachmon fleeing. Boogiemon didn't escape the blasts either, managing to dodge the more physical attacks, but eventually succumb to Kabuterimon's attack. It stumbled in the air, and with a mangled cry of frustration and anger, followed it's underlings in retreat.

The group cheered, hugging their digimon and each other in celebration. By this time, Takeru gained enough energy to stand up, and with mild joy, hugged the rest of his friends.

"Why were they even attacking us?" Mimi asked, sipping her drink from a straw. They moved back across the barrier to recuperate. Takeru was laying on the couch with ice packs strewn over his body to combat the swelling in various places. The boys were sitting at the table. "I mean, we aren't really doing anything other than trying to help."

"I don't know." Willis said. "Maybe they don't want the Digital World healed because that means they can stop fighting humans? But that wouldn't make sense."

"What about the reason the Digital World is in it's current state in the first place?" Koushiro asked.

"That's probably the case." Palmon said sadly. "It was a really long time ago, but I hear that most of the destruction of the Digital World was at the hands of a powerful, evil digimon. Maybe those were some of his underlings."

"Really? A dgimon that would ruin it's world on purpose?" Taichi asked.

"Sure." Tentomon said. "There are digimon out there who will stop at nothing to conquer everything and reshape the Digital World as it sees fit. Usually there are champions who rise up to combat them. But no such champions have this time around. So efforts could have been made to relocate everyone to a different world."

"Is that really the reason?" Takeru asked. "Then how did everything go so wrong? If digimon were looking for a refuge, why were there so many human deaths at the start?"

"I just don't know..." Tentomon said. He bowed his head in shame.

"Oh-OW!" Takeru curled up into a fetal position after sitting up suddenly. It shot stabs of pain through his abdomen.

"Hey, careful. What's the big rush to get up?" Taichi asked.

"Jou was supposed to come over today." Takeru said, laying back down. "I was supposed to go meet him at the station."

"When was he supposed to arrive?" Willis asked, frowning.

"A little after class ended. But I had training and then that battle. He's probably long gone by now. I'm so thoughtless."

"Calm down." Mimi said. "How about we go and meet your friend? Or at least see if he's there? Maybe you can call his work place to find his personal number?"

The boys all looked at Mimi. She was the only one to not participate in battle that day. She looked around, confused. "What?"

"It's nothing, Mimi. It's just... Jou works for your father. How often do you go to the facilities?" Willis asked.

"Not very often." Mimi frowned. "I guess I should leave if I don't want him telling father about me."

"N-No, I don't think he'll tell on you." Takeru grunted as he struggled to sit up. Mimi came over and helped him to stand. He quietly thanked her. "Jou met me when my dad took me to the facility where I'm training. He didn't say anything or he could have easily said I was a rebel and I'd have been arrested there. I trust him. He's just still on the fence about everything."

Mimi smiled. "Then let's go."

"Are you sure you're up for walking all that way in your condition?" Willis asked. "You're pretty stiff."

"I'll be fine. The ice packs helped." Takeru grunted as he tenderly tested his flexibility. He and Mimi walked out of the building, leaving the others behind to rest. Mimi seemed only too happy to go for a walk. She was nearly skipping, her steps bouncing her almost weightlessly and she was humming to herself.

"You're in a really good mood, Mimi." Takeru said, almost wishing he could join in if he weren't feeling so bad. Her attitude was contagious.

"I am." Mimi said. "None of our hard work was destroyed and Palmon was able to digivolve. I feel like we made some good progress today. Maybe we'll even be able to do double the work if we can employ a digimon like Kenkimon. I wonder if there are non-evil Kenkimon somewhere nearby."

Takeru chuckled. "You like gardening, huh?"

"Well, I guess I do. I don't particularly like getting dirty or getting my clothes filthy. I could wear something old, but it also still has to be cute. But that's a challenge. Then again, I kind of like the challenge. Don't you think what I'm wearing is cute?"

She was wearing a faded pink dress with ruffles at the ends. She had stockings underneath and wore worn knee-high socks and sneakers. Everything was covered in dirt and grass stains, however.

Takeru smiled. "I think it's cute."

They arrived at the station and Takeru sat on a bench with slight difficulty. "How about I get us some bubble tea and you can rest for a bit?"

"Sounds good." Takeru sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He wondered if he'd ever feel right again. He felt awful and yet tomorrow there was going to be another intense training regimen. Would he be able to survive?

Mimi came back with the bubble tea, both taro flavoured. She forgot to ask him what he wanted, and said she hoped he liked taro. Takeru accepted it graciously. He was only halfway done his drink when Jou's shrill cry came through the crowd, and the rather sweaty medical doctor ran up to them.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Jou said through heavy panting. "There was a workshop to brush up on skills and there was also a fight that broke out so I spent an hour patching up soldiers. Also... I didn't know how to get through all the barriers with... you know."

Takeru looked down at his bag, which began to wriggle. He looked up at Jou. "You didn't... Really?"

"I thought he'd want to see, too." Jou said. "I have to admit it was really awkward going to see him when I don-"

Takeru blinked, wondering why Jou stopped. He followed his gaze to Mimi. Jou seemed to have only noticed she was there at that moment. Mimi gave a nervous smile and waved.

"M-Miss Tachikawa! What are you doing here?" Jou stuttered.

"Surprise?" Mimi said, glancing around. "I'm a bit of a rebel after all?"

"So you... you weren't kidnapped then?" Jou asked softly. Mimi sighed, turning toward Takeru and set her drink on the bench, helping to pull him up. With a grunt, Takeru managed to get to his feet.

"Let's get back. I'm sure the others are waiting for us." Mimi said.

"Is something wrong Takeru?" Jou asked. Takeru turned his head away.

"Takeru's not feeling well from all that training going on at dad's work." Mimi said. "They're pushing him too hard too fast, if you ask me."

"I'll give you a massage when we get there, then." Jou said. "You'll seriously hurt yourself if you don't look after your body."

"I don't--"

"Everyone else got massages and proper care for their muscles when they go through straining exercises.' Jou said calmly. "You'll be no different. Especially since you're doing double the work."

"By the way, I was kidnapped." Mimi said. "I just didn't want to say anything around the station. But that was how my involvement got started."

"Oh, so kind of like me, then." Jou chuckled. "Takeru and his friends make a habit of kidnapping people at gunpoint then?"

"Gunpoint?" Mimi said, shocked. She glared in the direction of the hideout. "No, I was just thrown over Taichi's shoulder like a sack and brought against my will."

"We didn't have much of a choice. If Daisuke caught up to us we'd be arrested. We panicked and brought her along."

"Jou I can't breathe!" Gomamon's voice was muffled in the bag. Jou opened the bag slightly and Gomamon took the oportunity to poke his head out. "Owah! I'm alive!"

Jou stuffed Gomamon's head back inside the bag. "Idiot! What if you're seen!"

They arrived back at the hideout, and Jou quickly instructed Mimi to set Takeru down on a soft surface. There wasn't much in a way of a soft surface, so Willis and Taichi brought down a mattress from upstairs. Takeru laid down and allowed Jou to work on his sore muscles.

"It's nice to see you again, Jou." Taichi said. "No hard feelings about the gun thing, right?"

Jou glanced at Taichi for a second before resuming his concentration. "I'll forgive it considering the circumstances. Plus you did give it back to me after. I explained the situation to my superior officer and I didn't get into trouble."

"Well, that's good, anyway." Taichi said. "It's also nice that you and Gomamon keep in touch."

"Actually, we kind of didn't." Jou said. "The battle I went to was out on the ocean, and it was against a Seadramon. The boat we were in capsized and Gomamon rescued me despite how many humans were around. He stuck around until I was finished."

"Wow, Gomamon. Despite your size you really are strong." Taichi grinned.

"Aw, it was nothing." Gomamon said, though his small tail wagged.

"I guess you and Gomamon are really good friends now." Mimi said.

"Yes." Jou said, pressing on a very tender spot on Takeru's back that made him yelp. "Sorry. I think I am friends with Gomamon. But being friends with a digimon and another perspective on the war as a whole are two different matters. So I came to see what your perspective is."

"Our little patch of paradise is a little roughed up." Koushiro said. "Digimon attacked us earlier while we worked."

"Really?" Jou adjusted his glasses and resumed working. "I take it your presence isn't welcome then."

"There aren't a lot of digimon around the area." Willis said. "But the digimon that do live in the area I've been in contact with for a long time, and they fully support us. But today was different. We think there's a third party at work, or rather a fourth party."

"Fourth party, you say." Jou murmured.

"The Digital World wasn't always as desolate as it is now." Palmon said. "But no one has really seen the digimon who's been behind everything. But if it's true those digimon worked for him he hasn't gone dormant. It could be he just hasn't made it quite this far yet."

"Of course he has, Palmon." Agumon said. "Why else would the land look so dead?"

"Well, hang on, Agumon." Koushiro said. "It might be true that this digimon's actual reach hasn't come this far, but the effects of his destruction could still be felt. Broken code can still affect how other code works, after all. What we're doing may be terraforming on the surface, but we are trying to repair the broken code in our immediate area of operations."

"So what are we going to do?" Mimi asked. "If we're going to be fighting people as well, how will we talk to each other freely?"

"What do you mean, Mimi?" Koushiro asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that my father or anyone who worked under him would recognize if one of you said my name when we're fighting. If we all get found out and captured, we won't be able to find out the mystery."

"Well hang on, that's not a guarantee." Taichi said. "There are lots of people out there, and I'm sure you're not the only Mimi."

"Regardless, it is a problem if we shout out each other's names all the time. I'm sure it's fine if a few of us use our real names if others use obvious fake names." Willis said. "That's pretty much what our group did before the others were arrested."

"Even you, Taichi?" Mimi asked.

Taichi smiled. "I shortened my name to Tai."

"Takeru would need to shorten his name. It was fine when he could be mistaken for me, but with his blond hair, Takeru would be too recognizable if we were to call out his name." Willis said. "What about T.K.?"

"T.K.?" Takeru tested it out. It felt so foreign. "It's not something we'd normally say in Japanese. They could think I'm another foreigner."

"All the better, wouldn't it?" Wilis said.

"Yeah, actually. I felt a lot better when people would mistake me for you."

"Thanks, I guess." Willis muttered.

"What about Koushiro? It's a slightly more traditional name. We could use the kanji for kodai." Taichi suggested.

"Or use katakana." Takeru said.

"Oh not this again. Yeah, but you're forgetting it will still sound like Koushiro when spoken." Willis said. "If you were going to give him a different name, it would be something like Shiro. Or better yet, give a more foreign name like yours and Takeru's."

"While I would prefer to be called Koushiro, I do agree with Willis that a foreign name would also be preferable."

"What about Izzy?" Willis said. Koushiro gave him a look. "Well, instead of taking from your first name, we'd take from Izumi and make a nickname out of that."

"It works." Koushiro said. He returned to what he was doing on his computer.

"What about us, Jou?" Gomamon said. "I wanna fight with these guys too! And having a secret name sounds fun!"

"I'll stick to Joe, with a Western spelling." Jou said. "If I ever do fight with you it will be pronounced differently anyways."

"My name would be difficult to change. I think Mimi is already used all around the world as it is." Mimi sighed. "My last name wouldn't do much good either. Plus if I am going to have a nickname I want something elegant or cute. Like Hime."

"Hime works, but it's a bit..." Taichi looked to Willis, trying to keep a giggle in.

"What about Usagi?" Takeru suggested. "It's cute, and rabbits have long ears. It would be a perfect code for Mimi. Besides, I heard Keisuke Tachikawa is very attached to his family."

"That is true." Mimi sighed. "Daddy calls me Hime at home. Usagi is still a cute name."

"Looks like we've got trouble." Koushiro said. He stood up. "There's three breaches and it looks like there's one really close to us."

"Man, the digimon are really going at it." Taichi said, standing up. He stretched.

"It doesn't look like it. I think the breach came from this side. The military is attacking instead of defence!"

"What? Willis ran over to the computer. "Since when has the military made outright assaults on the Digital World?"

"I don't know what they're up to. Do you want to intervene? It's going to be intense."

"It depends on the digimon. They're the ones that have to do most of the fighting." Taichi looked at the group. The digimon all hopped to attention.

"Just give us some food and we'll be ready to go!" Agumon said.

"Good." Willis looked over at Jou and Takeru. Jou finished the massaging of Takeru's calf muscles.

"How are you feeling Takeru?"

"A lot better, actually. Nothing hurts anymore." Takeru flexed his body to test it. There was a little bit of throbbing, but it was something easily ignored.

"Jou, you don't have to come with us." Willis said. "As for you, Takeru, don't overdo it. You're still gaining muscle and that's going to take time. It will only put you in a worse position if you injure yourself trying to force your body to do too much."

"I know, I know." Takeru said. "I'm fine. Let's go."

"I'll come. But I don't know how much help I'll be since I'll be aiding the military personnel with their injuries. Plus, Gomamon, I don't know how much you can do."

"I can do enough." Gomamon said.

"Well, here." Koushiro tossed Jou a digivice. Jou inspected it.

"A deletion device? How did you get one of these?" He cast a wary glance at Mimi, who nervously laughed and waved.

"It's called a digivice. I modified it so that it helps make our digimon stronger instead. Funny enough, it was actually really easy to do once I figured it out. I think the properties of digivolution is something the digivice is somehow naturally able to mediate in one form or another."

Jou looked down at Gomamon. "With that thing I can digivolve?"

"Yes. Though to what I can't say."

"Good enough for me!" Gomamon said. "Let's go!"

Food was quickly gathered for the digimon to give them strength for the battle. They took the route through the Digital World, bypassing the barrier gates. Koushiro was right, the military was taking an active stance, as tanks rolled through the crusty dirt from the pavement of the Real World. Soldiers walked around the tanks. Already there were a few digimon in combat, trying to push the military personnel back through the forced gate they made.

"Let's try and get the military back. Then we can concentrate on breaking up the digimon from the soldiers." Willis said. He glanced around. "Looks like it might be time to implement our new nicknames."

"Right. Izzy, you take the digimon attacking from the air. Usagi, I want you and Togemon to keep a barrier between the military and the digimon. But make sure the tanks don't get you." Taichi said. "T.K., Joe, if you guys can get your digimon to digivolve, then great. If not, do the best you can as you are."

"I'm going to leave you here, Gomamon. I'll slip around back and see if I can sneak into the ranks unnoticed." Jou said.

"Fine." Gomamon sighed. The group split up, with Patamon and the newly digivolved Kabuterimon going to fight the Airdramon attacking the soldiers. Takeru adjusted his mask. Everyone by now had their partners digivolve and were wedging themselves between the battle. Patamon in contrast was doing his best, but his attacks bounced harmlessly off of Airdramon's tough skin.

A feeling of frustration filled Takeru as he glanced down at his digivice. Silent. Patamon would have to deal with the battle as he was until Takeru could find some way to activate it. Was it broken?

Togemon used her Needle Spray attack to stop the soldiers where they stood. And Greymon shot fireballs at the tanks. He watched as one of the tanks aimed at him, barely dodging the blast. He rammed himself against the tank, pushing it. With effort, he rolled it onto its side.

Gargomon and Turuiemon were using more direct attacks against the soldiers, pushing them back toward the breach. They'd alternate between pushing the soldiers and keeping the digimon that wished to attack at bay. They seemed to be in perfect harmony.

A Minotarumon managed to blunder his way clumsily through the resistance, bowling over some soldiers as he went. He aimed for the real world, around where Jou was treating a woman with a head injury.

Gomamon leaped onto his head, biting him. The adult level screamed, flailing his head about. There was a beeping from Joe's direction. He put his hand over the hidden digivice, and made a quick reference to his cell phone. Gomamon began to glow.

"Gomamon digivolve to... Ikkakumon!" The massive hairy walrus easily flattened the Minotarumon to the ground, and pushed the remaining soldiers out of it's path. Ikkakumon got off of the other digimon, headbutting it away. The soldiers attacked, and Ikkakumon quickly retreated away from their midst.

Confused yells of anger and frustration filled the area as the battle continued. Togemon would send a flurry of punches at any digimon that dared come too close to the soldiers. Kabuterimon managed to render Airdramon immobile with a series of electrical shocks, and was scanning the area for any more flying digimon. Galgomon and Turuiemon were having a more successful time, now physically throwing the soldiers out through the barrier.

"This is actually going a lot smoother than I thought." Willis said, inspecting the scene. He ducked as one soldier being picked up by Turuiemon fired rounds from his gun. "Just what a difference the element of surprise makes."

"Having Champion level digimon also helps. Wow, what a difference." Taichi said. "We barely had to get involved ourselves at all."

"That's just fine by me." Mimi said. "I'd rather not get shot at."

"None of us do, Mi-Usagi. But that's just the risk we take." Koushiro said. "Though I'd rather avoid it myself."

The soldiers finally retreated from the gateway, and soon it was closed. Jou went with them, leaving Gomamon with the others. He de-digivolved soon after the barrier was closed. The digimon that were left still looked highly agitated for the interference. Greymon let out a loud roar, stamping his feet, daring any of them to come close. A few of the digimon retreated, and seeing their numbers dwindle, the rest were forced to leave as well.

The digimon returned to their child forms, and they along with their human partners slumped to the ground. Takeru looked down at Patamon, who was curled up on his lap. He fought hard, and the battle wore him down. He fell asleep not long after landing.

Taichi and Agumon managed to evolve. Mimi and Palmon, Koushiro and Tentomon and even Willis and his two digimon all also digivolved their digimon with ease. Even Jou, who only received his digivice moments before the battle had a connection with Gomamon strong enough for him to digivolve. He gently stroked Patamon's back.

He exhaled sharply. "That leaves just us."

Chapter Text

It was evening, and the whole of the group were slumped in one way or another. Koushiro was resting his head on the table. Mimi and Taichi had taken up the couch, both sprawled out, though Mimi was still conscious of her knee-length skirt. Willis was laying face down on the floor and Takeru was up against the wall by the couch. Hikari was the only one who looked the least bit awake. She was sitting on the arm of the couch, looking out at her friends, brows furrowed in a slightly worried manner. She had come to visit only recently, and came to find all of them like this. The only person who had any kind of life in them was Koushiro, who immediately went dormant once he sat down.

The digimon were equally dead, with Patamon resting on Takeru's head, Tentomon, Palmon and Agumon curled up in a pile on the opposite side of the couch from Takeru. The Floramon and Flamon also looked slightly more alive, but their eyes were droopy. Terriermon and Lopmon were using Willis' legs as a bed, and could have possibly been the reason for Willis' continued use of that position; a sort of digimon version of cat gravity that Hikari only knew too well.

She stood up and walked around, inspecting each one of them. Mimi had her eyes closed, and was resting her head on Taichi's chest. He didn't seem to mind, also having his eyes closed. Koushiro's eyes were opened, and she saw Willis staring blankly off in the direction his head was pointed.

"What happened to all of you?" Hikari finally said.

Koushiro raised his head. "It's been non-stop. Ever since yesterday there have been a lot of battles, both against the digimon and the military."

"I didn't think it would be this much commitment." Mimi said, the whole sentence coming out in a sigh. "I've barely been doing anything but going to school, sleeping and coming here, and the second part only barely. I'm going to get bags under my eyes and I'll have to wear extra make up to cover it up."

Takeru raised his head, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "I barely made it through school today, too. The battles kept me up really late last night. I think I dozed in third period, though."

"I thought the battles got easier after our digimon got stronger." Taichi said. "I guess we got a little too cocky because we chose to intervene in something, and then it only escalated into an inferno."

"That's... pretty descriptive." Hikari said. "Should I shut the blinds and let you go to sleep?"

"I'd like an energy drink. Or maybe coffee." Willis said. "At least it would get me through the rest of the day."

"You mean none of you have slept today?" Hikari asked. "Takeru?"

"Today's the weekend. I thought I could commit myself a bit more with no school."

"Speaking of school, it's going to be summer vacation soon." Mimi said, perking up a little. "Why don't we take a vacation together? We've been doing a lot lately, it would be nice to relax by a beach or go to a hot spring."

"What?" Takeru slowly looked over at Mimi. He didn't exactly want a vacation. He still had a lot of training to do, his muscles were only starting to get used to the intense training Daisuke was putting him through, and their adult leader was only happy to let the boy have free reign over him. Plus, he and Patamon still hadn't managed to digivolve.

"Don't you think it's a good idea? Taichi?" She poked Taichi's chest lightly. It seemed he had actually fallen asleep. "Taichi!"

Mimi poked him harder, only to yelp when her finger bent wrong. She glared at him and cradled her finger back into her fist. But he did wake up. He opened his eyes, confused and rubbed the sore spot where she poked.

"What did you do that for?"

"I was asking you a question." Mimi said. "You hurt me."

"Rock hard abs." Taichi grinned, lifting his shirt so Mimi could see. She turned her head away, smacking at his hands.

"I don't want to see that!" She shrieked, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Yes or no on the vacation idea?"

"Oh, a vacation?" Taichi sat up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows. "I'd love one."

"I'm not really one for the outdoors..." Koushiro murmured. "If we go to a hot spring, I'll probably stay in the hotel."

"Oh, Hikari! What do you think about trying for an authentic outdoor onsen?"

"It might be too hot for a hot spring in summer." Hikari said. "I think it would be nicer to go to the beach."

"We can light fireworks." Willis said, lifting his head up. He rested it on his arms. "I've actually always wanted to try smashing a watermelon on the beach. You... do actually do that here, right? It's not just a strange thing in anime?"

Everyone laughed. This woke the digimon up. Agumon pulled himself from the digimon pile and rubbed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"We're planning a vacation."Mimi said. "Oh... I guess it wouldn't be much of a vacation for the digimon, though."

"A vacation, you say?" Agumon said. "I wouldn't mind just relaxing in the Digital World."

"Are you sure, Agumon? We can make plans to include you in it." Taichi said.

"There isn't much we can do as digimon in the Real World." Terriermon piped up. "And you guys have a chance of getting attacked in the Digital World. Not much of a vacation if you ask me!"

"That is true." Taichi said. Mimi gasped loudly, causing Taichi underneath her to jump.

"I want to go to Shirahama!" She announced. Willis raised a confused eyebrow at her. "Think about it! White sand, onsen by the beach, fireworks every night, beautiful sunsets. It's the perfect vacation spot!"

"How much would it cost?" Taichi asked. "Unlike you, Mimi, we don't have a lot of money. Heck, Willis and I can barely get by."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Taichi! I'll pay for the hotel." Mimi said, waving her hand as if to dismiss his concerns. "I'm sure dad will be only happy to pay if I ask him nicely to go with my friends."

"Your dad must be a very relaxed person to let you go on vacation with a bunch of guys." Koushiro said. Mimi giggled.

"Well, actually no. But I don't have to say the gender of my friends, now do I? Besides, I don't think you're going to do anything questionable to me while not under my father's supervision, are you, Koushiro?" She winked at him and Koushiro quickly turned his gaze away, his cheeks flushed a deep red. Mimi laughed.

"Paid vacation using the Tachikawa cheque book? I'm for it." Willis said. "I actually can't remember the last time I've had a vacation."

Takeru listened silently throughout the whole conversation. It sounded really tempting, he had to admit. But he was hoping to make more progress with everything before settling down. Would he even be deserving of a vacation?

"Oh, Hikari, what kind of food do you think we should get? Do you have suggestions?"

"I have a few." Hikari said. "Are we going to take the train, Mimi? Wouldn't they provide a lunch for us?"

"Yeah, they do. But still, I like being able to eat a bunch of really tasty things while I'm on vacation. Oh, maybe I can go online and search up some Osaka cuisine. Maybe we can get permission to make a bonfire. No, that wouldn't work. Maybe they have a regulated area for fires. I'll have to see. Or maybe we could have a bonfire in the Digital World after we get back!"

Taichi chuckled. "A vacation after a vacation? You seem to be going all out, Mimi."

"I want a rest!" Mimi whined. "It's been really stressful the past month and I haven't had much time to do anything I want to do. I'm sure even my friends are wondering what I've been up to. I have to make an excuse why I've been too busy to meet with them!"

"Mimi, you can take breaks once in a while." Willis said. "I think it would be good for all of us to rest."

"I can watch things for you, if you like." Hikari said. "I don't have a partner so there isn't much I can do other than keep you company. Maybe I can do a little bit of my own research."

"That sounds good, actually." Koushiro slipped off the chair, holding the seat out for Hikari. "My computer holds all of the information I've been able to gather, as well as a lot of research that Mimi's father wrote, and many others. I've been doing a comparison of what I've been finding out. Feel free to look at whatever makes you interested."

"Uh, thanks." Hikari sat down and stared at the computer, which had a complicated string of code in one corner, a document opened underneath with a half-finished sentence from what Hikari could only guess was Koushiro falling asleep at his computer, and a map of the Digital World taking up the second half of the screen.

Koushiro moved to lay on the mattress left over from Jou's massage therapy, with Takeru joining him. Willis got up and went to the couch, tapping Taichi and Mimi's legs to get them to move. They moved their legs, Taichi resting his legs bent while Mimi waited for Willis to settle before sprawling her legs on top of him. He glanced over with a questioning smirk before settling down.

"Wake someone up if you want to go outside." Takeru said, opening one eye to glance up at Hikari. "If you don't feel safe by yourself, that is. Patamon will probably go with you if you asked. Or Agumon."

Hikari gave him a soft smile. "Thanks. I might do that."

There were papers strewn about on the desk, mostly with what looked to be Koushiro's messy writing. Symbols repeated over and over with commentary around each one. From what Hikari gathered, it was the code of the Digital World, which was heavily intertwined with if not completely replacing regular computer coding. Koushiro's notes indicated that he wasn't successful at deciphering any of the symbols. Hikari read his notes, pouring over the symbols. There were hundreds of them, but there were two sets Hikari noticed seemed to stand out more than others. She thumbed around the map, watching as those common symbols changed as she left the main continent and nearby island and went to another patch of land.

She thumbed through the world and the papers, lining up whenever Koushiro found a breach. There were many across the world, but Koushiro kept to doors and gates more in the downtown area of Tokyo, where it would be easy for them to access. Most of these doors were situated in certain areas that coincided with the familiar symbols.

Perhaps the keys to unlocking the gates? It wasn't required to know these codes in order to open up a pathway. She worked on the symbols mostly out of her own curiosity for the next several hours, feeling rather at home and strangely pleased to hear Taichi's snoring again. The symbols were a language, and the symbols, from what she could find, seemed to coincide with human languages that spread across the globe. In Japan, the symbols representative of English and Japanese were most prominent. North America and Europe had a cacophony of different codes using what must have been the equivalent to latin lettering, that is, if these particular symbols did somehow coincide with English. There seemed to be a little more to it, however, though she wasn't sure what it was.

Hikari wondered if the military or anyone who studied digimon understood these. Likely they would. But none of these were taught in school, so it was likely that kind of information was left out. It also seemed possible to crack the code in a more mathematical way, as judging from Koushiro's near-decipher of three of the codes.

She'd always been rather good at the language classes. Perhaps that's why she was able to figure out what they were so easily. Then again, Koushiro had an extensive vocabulary. Maybe he didn't see the patterns because he was more mathemetically inclined? Still, there was a lot of work to be done to decipher the individual symbols. It wasn't like she cracked any kind of code or anything, but she still felt proud of the fact she had a working hypothesis. Plus she couldn't be sure if her hypothesis about the codes being a parallel to other languages was even correct. The fact that there was nothing published on it made the possibility strong.

Sighing, Hikari got up and walked around, mindful to keep her slippers from clacking hard against the flooring. She found her way downstairs and through the barrier. The Digital World... Even if this was her second time, she still could barely fathom the fact she was standing in another world.

She looked around at the half-repaired devastation from a battle that took place recently. Hikari wasn't there, but Taichi told her it was the first time they were openly attacked after they started the project. She shivered in spite of herself.

Maybe she should have woken one of the digimon up. Ever since she came in she had a sense she was being watched. Was it her imagination? She looked around. There was nothing but the rustling of leaves in the wind.

"Hello?" Hikari called, immediately feeling a little ridiculous for doing so. If there was no digimon there, she wouldn't have to worry. Then again, why would a digimon call back to her if it didn't want to be found? She looked around again. "M-My name's Hikari Yagami. I am with the other humans that come here a lot. They're trying to help make the Digital World green again. I want that, too. I'm friends with some digimon."

Her face grew hot, and her heart began to pound in her chest. She should at least get into the shack. That would ease some of her paranoia, surely. She swiftly made her way toward the small shack in the middle of the territory that her brother worked.

A rush of wind from behind made her turn around. There was nothing there. But there had been, right? Increasingly, Hikari decided this was a bad idea. She looked back at the gateway to the Real World. It was too far away in comparison to the shack now. Should she dare try to go back?

She turned back around and was startled to see a small white cat-like digimon standing in front of her. Hikari fell back with a yelp, landing painfully on the hardened ground. The cat stared at her with large, cold blue eyes.

"So, this little freakish band is growing in number then." A female voice purred out with an undertone of superiority. "You're the latest addition, then? Where's your traitor partner?"

Hikari adjusted herself. "I don't have a partner. I came here because my brother was fighting, and I decided I wanted to support it on my own."

The cat's eyes narrowed slightly. "An anomaly with no partner. How unusual."

"Who are you, then?" Hikari asked. She tried standing up, but her body was shaking. A look from the cat told her that standing up wouldn't be a good idea anyway, so she sat back down.

"Our species has at least two designations depending on where we're from. I'm Gatomon, though I also go by Tailmon. I'm a part of the resistance force against humanity. I'm not a local girl, I came to help breach the weak points in this area."

"So, you came here for my brother and his friends?" Hikari frowned. "But we're not doing anything wrong!"

"No, I didn't come for them. I merely came to observe." Gatomon said. "Your little band of misfits have been causing some trouble lately. From what I hear, you had been a bit stronger earlier on. Now that you're a possible threat again, we came to see how much."

"They don't want to harm anyone." Hikari said, leaning in toward the digimon. She took a step back, and her short hair stood on end. "I don't want to harm anyone. We just want the war to stop."

"We all do!" Gatomon spat. "As soon as we break through to the Real World, there won't be any war."

"But at the cost of how many lives? How many humans and digimon will die before that's completed? It's an invasion, so of course we're going to defend our home!"

"I only care about safety. That's why I'm on reconnaissance and that's why I'm talking to you. Because you're alone and vulnerable."

Hikari swallowed hard. Gatomon only revealed herself to get information out of Hher, then. "But Gatomon... Why are digimon so desperate to get to the Real World? Why is the Digital World falling apart?"

"There's danger here." Gatomon said. She looked at Hikari and her ears fell. "I don't know much. All I know is that far inland there was a powerful digimon that gained the means and the urge to destroy. From what I hear, no one has been able to oppose them. So it was proposed to save digimon from the loss of this world by going to the next."

"Don't you want to fight it?" Hikari asked. "If it's tearing your world apart, wouldn't you want to stop it so everyone can safely go home?"

"We all want to, human."

"Hikari."

"Hi...kari. But it's not that easy. From what I've heard, this digimon is immensely powerful." Gatomon sat down. Hikari's heart fluttered. Was Gatomon trusting her enough to relax?

"My friends have the power to become stronger." Hikari said, a smile spreading on her face. "They have the ability to change their partners to the next level, to Champions!"

Gatomon let out a cynical snort. "Champion, you say. I hear that's another name for Adult Level. I'm Adult Level, Hikari. I wouldn't stand a chance against that thing."

"You're really that strong? But I hear Champions are really big."

"Not all are." Gatomon sighed. "It depends on the data compression. Most have a lot of power, and need the big data packaging to fit all that power. But others have a much better compression storage than others, resulting in a smaller size. It also is dependant on our coding, since we're partially based off the code for real life things from your world. If there is no coding for size, the size of the digimon in comparison to it's real counterpart will differ."

"I didn't know that."

"I am curious... what the Real World is like." Gatomon said, now looking Hikari in the eye. She stiffened, feeling the eyes bore into her, searching. "I don't particularly have any dislike for humans myself. Most digimon have gained some dislike, and are optimistic about the war. As far as we're concerned about you, you're on their side, even with your digimon."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Gatomon." Hikari said. "I know my friends are in a tight spot. Taichi told me about a battle that they had here the other day. The digimon weren't military. I think it could be a different party altogether, though I can't say for sure who was behind it."

Gatomon's eyes widened and her body became alert. "A third party, you say? This was a few days ago?"

"Yes?"

"I must tell this to my boss. If the reach of the digimon has spread, we must step things up. It was... nice talking with you, Hikari. It was a relief to voice my stress."

"Wait, Gatomon." Without thinking, Hikari threw her hand out, clasping it around Gatomon's paw. The cat jumped in surprise, claws flexing slightly. "Wouldn't running away not solve anything? Shouldn't you make all your available digimon strong to fight against it instead of humans? We can help! We'll fight the digimon that's coming after the Digital World!"

"Humans would do that for us?" Gatomon asked. Hikari nodded. "These digimon are our precious friends. Taichi, Willis and Takeru would want to make sure they're safe."

Gatomon's expression softened, and she placed her paw on top of Hikari's. "Thank you."

She slipped out of Hikari's grasp and jumped onto the roof of the shack, then again into the bushes. Hikari stood up, slowly making her way back to the gate. By the time she arrived back, the others had woken up from their naps. Just how long had she been gone for, she wondered.

"There you are!" Taichi ran toward Hikari, his hands planted firmly on her shoulders. "Where have you been? There were alarms!"

"Alarms?" Hikari asked. "I didn't hear them."

"They're from my laptop, so if you were in the Digital World, you wouldn't be able to hear them." Koushiro said. "I set up some defensive lines in case another attack happened. It seemed like one had been tripped."

"That must have been Gatomon." Hikari said. Everyone looked at her. "She's a spy that came to check up on us. Taichi, I think you're getting noticed by more than just the military now."

Everyone looked around at each other, their faces turning to expressions of worry. Taichi was the first to turn back to Hikari, his grip on her shoulders tightening. "She didn't harm you?"

"Just scared me. But she wasn't hostile." Hikari said, placing her hand on her chest as if just now realizing she walked away from a dangerous situation. The beeping from the computer was still going, as Hikari soon realized when her heart rate started slowing. "Is that a fight?"

Koushiro looked down at his laptop. "Wait, that is this?"

He picked up Hikari's scribblings about the symbols. He looked up at Hikari, his mouth hanging open slightly. "Did you do this?"

"I was just trying to keep from being bored, really." Hikari said, her cheeks flushing. "I don't think I really did much."

"Here I was thinking it was a long string of code similar to computer algorithms. How could I have missed this. It's so simple now that I think about it."

"Koushiro. The breach?" Willis said, annoyed. Koushiro dropped the papers and went back to the computer.

"Oh right! The breach is... it's near Nakano, the south stretch."

"It's near here then." Taichi said. "I'm feeling rested up. I could use a little exercise after a nap like that."

"Wait a minute, Taichi." Koushiro said, his voice high with panic. "There's multiple spots coming up all over this area. They're using old scarred barriers from ten years ago. It's a larger scale invasion unlike anything we've seen in years!"

"What?" Willis ran to the computer, pulling the monitor in his direction. "It can't be. Why are they taking such a big risk?"

"It could be..." Hikari's voice was low, and it took everyone a second to register she said anything. "It could be that I told Gatomon about the attack you guys had. She said the whole invasion was mostly because they were running away from something."

"From something? What something?" Mimi asked. "You mean this isn't just about the land in the Digital World disappearing?"

Hikari shook her head. "No, I think something is actively attacking digimon, and from what Gatomon told me, it was mostly kept far to the west. The digimon mostly appear in this and other areas where they attack because it's safer."

"It could be they're attacking now because they're scared." Takeru said. "If something is after the digimon and even Ultimates are afraid, what are we going to do?"

"We'll figure that out as we go along." Taichi said, grabbing his mask. "I can't just sit here while humans and digimon tear each other apart and being forced to pick sides!"

Chapter Text

"Everyone get your masks on." Willis instructed, handing them out. Takeru looked down at his mask, glancing around at the others before putting it on. Mimi didn't seem too happy about hers either, especially after wearing it so much. He thought he could hear her mutter something about permanent lines on her face from the elastic.

"I'm coming, too." Hikari said, placing a hand on her brother's arm. Taichi looked at her incredulously.

"Out of the question!" He said. "You'll get hurt, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if that happened. Besides, you don't have a digimon partner. I wouldn't be able to protect you."

"I'm going." Hikari frowned. "I survived this long without my big brother's protection. I think I can do just fine still." She snatched one of the extra masks, and walked out. Taichi made a move to follow, but thought better of it. His head sunk low into his chest, his shoulders slumping.

"Don't worry, Tai." Willis said. "I doubt she'll be in the middle of it without a partner. We'll make sure of that. I'm sure she's just worried about the fight and wants to make sure everyone's safe. We could use some eyes overseeing everything."

"But we'll be split." Takeru said. "Won't we? There are so many gates opening. That'll spread us thin."

"It will. But we'll be close to one another. We can use short-range radios to keep in contact." Willis said. "We can come to each others' aid if we get in over our heads. Taichi can go with Mimi and you can go with Koushiro. I'll head over to the third place."

"By yourself?" Mimi asked, stopping to look at him. He gave her a quick nod.

"Don't worry about me, Mimi. I have both Terriermon and Lopmon. I'll be fine."

"As long as you're sure..." Mimi said lowly.

"We don't really have a choice." Koushiro said. "If we're going to be monitoring all three areas, we have to. There's an uneven number of us, so it makes sense the most experienced of us goes off alone."

Takeru's heart was pounding in his chest as they went through the gate back into the real world. It took them a while to reach the battle zone from where they were, being too dangerous to enter from a gate closer due to the likeliness it was being used by the digimon to break through. It only served to make each of them more tense and on edge.

It didn't take long for the sounds of gunfire and digimon yelling attacks to fill their ears. The streets were deserted for the most part, with cars abandoned if parked, bikes laying forgotten on the streets and the occasional debris where there shouldn't be. They split up, with Takeru and Koushiro taking the alleyway to the second breach point, Taichi and Mimi taking the nearest. Willis had gone off on his own almost immediately after going through, the third breach point was the farthest away.

Hikari also followed them through, and seemed to go after Willis. Takeru hoped she'd keep her distance and serve mostly as surveillance. Something like a guardian angel.

There was a crash some ways in front of them, and a large bear-like digimon broke through a wooden door to a building, standing some distance from the two of them. Tentomon and Patamon stood in front of their partners. The digimon came into better lighting, showing off a thick hulking body in purple-blue fur, the head and back sported a thick mane, and a crescent moon symbol hung on its forehead. Red shoulder pads and huge red claw gloves twice the size of the digimon's back paws clawed at the pavement. It snarled at them, standing up on it's hind legs.

"Oh no." Takeru heard Koushiro murmur behind him.

"We should get out of this alley." Takeru whispered back. "Then Tentomon can digivolve. and we'll have a better time getting past this thing."

The digimon charged, sending both boys scrambling back through the alleyway. Tentomon and Patamon served to slow it with their respective attacks. Takeru and Koushiro managed to break out into an empty street, with the digimon body slamming Tentomon and Patamon out with it. Koushiro wiped his forehead, taking a step forward.

"Tentomon!" His modified digivice lit up, filling with power.

"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!" In the span of a few seconds, where the red beetle digimon once stood was now a much larger blue insect, much more in line to grapple with this massive bear. Kabuterimon halted the digimon's advance, planting his feet firmly on the ground and managed to push him back.

"You two should go!" Kabuterimon said. "I'll follow!"

Takeru looked at Koushiro, who glanced back at him. "Should we go?" Takeru asked.

"We shouldn't ignore his wishes." Koushiro said. "He might fight worse if he's constantly worried about us."

Despite getting further away from Kabuterimon, the attack yells were still all too clear in Takeru's ears. Though even then, they were quickly being replaced by the battle before them. It wouldn't be long until the three of them would be immersed in the middle of the fight.

Clearing a fence, the three of them ran out past a line of buildings to the sight of massive digimon battling tanks and other large machines, and soldiers littering the surrounding areas, fighting off smaller digimon on the ground. It was hard to know where to look. Both digimon and human were animated, with coordination from both sides, some airborne digimon picking up an unlucky soldier, only to be rescued by the cooperation of his fellows and a net. A mammal digimon climbed the skyscrapers and other buildings, dodging attacks. Soldiers to the other side were herding a bunch of smaller digimon by creating a wall, their shields reflecting most of the digimon's smaller attacks.

Bright lights occasionally blinded him, with mixture of fire and electric attacks or other energy firing every which way. Takeru was only brought out of his stupor when Koushiro pushed him to the side and out of the way as a fly-like digimon fell to the ground, landing where the two of them stood only moments ago.

"Where... do we even begin?" Koushiro asked. "I don't even know if we can push in."

"Let's start from the outside and work our way in." Takeru said. "Come on, we'll go around and find an opening on either side. Let's make sure Kabuterimon can still find us."

They backtracked, working their way around the fight, dodging the occasional stray bullet or attack. Scouting was much easier when there wasn't as many buildings or objects in the way. The sheer scale of the fight didn't help either. Though he suggested it, Takeru still didn't know how they could begin to wedge themselves between the two groups.

Kabuterimon joined them shortly after they started making their way along the outskirts, weaving between buildings and over various objects. The occasional digimon was seen, though none of them as big or powerful as Grizzmon, which was what the bear was named according to Koushiro. For a creature like that to get past the military, they must have been short handed themselves. The smaller digimon all rookies, fled from the approaching group.

A cry was heard ahead. Takeru sped forward, with Patamon flying after him, leaving a confused Koushiro to call after him. He leaped over a pile of boxes, grabbing the top of a fence and leveraging himself to jump over it, landing hard on the flats of his feet but he didn't stop until he reached the scene.

It was a group of rookie and in-training level digimon, about ten or so huddled in a corner. He could recognize a few of them, Tsunomon and what looked like some bird and insect types. Their names escaped him at the moment. Surrounding them were seven adult men carrying bludgeoning weapons and laughing to themselves, taunting the digmon.

Takeru looked at Patamon, gesturing over to the men. Patamon nodded, taking to the air. "Air Shot!"

The attack hit one of the guys in the back of the neck, causing the soldier to fall into the closest companion. The others turned, and spotted Takeru standing there alone with Patamon. Koushiro had yet to catch up it seemed.

"You're one of those rebels." One of the men said, his face twisting into a look of disgust.

"And you're just some thugs who joined the military because beating up digimon seemed more fun than each other." Takeru shot back. The man took a few steps forward.

"What did you say, punk?" He growled. The others were now fully facing the rebel and his tiny companion, seeming to forget the group of weak digimon they were terrorizing. Of course, rookies weren't quite as weak, but considering the number of rookies to soldiers, he could tell the digimon weren't looking for a fight.

"You heard me." Takeru said, raising his voice a little loudly. He hoped that didn't betray how nervous he felt. "There's a huge battle going on just to the left, and you're here picking off tiny digimon instead of helping your comrades, who are fighting for their lives?"

"Traitor brats should be the last ones to talk about what we're doing." Another soldier said. He was tapping his club against his open hand threateningly. Takeru stood rigid, taking a step back. Kabuterimon landed in between him and the men, causing them to scramble out of the way.

"If you want to beat something, try me." Kabuterimon growled. "Unless you don't have the guts." To emphasize his threat, Kabuterimon curled his arms together, sparkes of electricity cutting into the heavy air. Half of the men fled immediately, with three standing their ground and assessing the situation before determining it wasn't worth it, and joining.

Takeru let out a sigh. "Thanks, Kabuterimon."

"What are these toddlers doing here?" Patamon asked, flying over to the small group. They flinched and cowered away from the remaining humans, who also approached. Koushiro having found his way around the barrier, not being as athletic as Takeru.

"Bubble net." Kabuterimon said. "The digimon army brings out hundreds of the young ones to make a bubble net. Make it easy for humans and their machines to get trapped inside to be easily picked off. But things are so chaotic around here I don't think that strategy would work. It requires too much stealth."

"It wouldn't be a good idea to keep them around." Koushiro said, panting slightly. "We should get them back to the Digital World. Then at least they'll be out of the way and we can focus on more important things."

"How do you suppose we do that?" Takeru asked.

"Give them to me." Kabuterimon said. "I can fly up top and drop them in from the sky. The digimon won't attack me."

"No, but anything from the human military might." Takeru said. "Be careful."

He got out of the way to let the large insect have room to scoop up the scared tiny digimon. He flew off, leaving the three in the alleyway.

"This is a mess." Takeru muttered. "We should press on."

"Shouldn't we sit and wait?" Koushiro asked. "Kabuterimon's our only defence if something attacks us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Takeru snapped, causing the older boy to back off. "Patamon's with us, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but... I mean, I didn't mean to imply he was weak or anything..." Koushiro stammered.

"Patamon will digivolve." Takeru said, though to reassure himself. He couldn't lose trust in that. "Let's go, Patamon."

He left Koushiro, not caring if the other stayed behind to wait for his partner or if he followed. Even if Patamon hadn't digivolved right away, Takeru was learning enough about self defence to protect them until he could. He was sure of it. He wouldn't allow himself to believe otherwise.

The battle was intense. Takeru found himself in the middle of it all, attacking digimon and disarming soldiers when he could find an opening. But there wasn't much he could do without power backing him up. The humans merely picked their guns back up and the digimon would either come back from a daze, or were deleted in their momentary weakened state. Patamon was doing his best, but even for a rookie, he was rather weak. Takeru didn't know if he'd ever felt as helpless as he did now.

Kabuterimon returned and aided him and Patamon greatly, but it still was so chaotic, humans and digimon scrambling all over to the point they blurred at times. Takeru was running on automatic, relying on the training he was getting from the Youth Division and the ever increasing reflexes that he was honing. At the very least, he could get Daisuke off his back if he claimed he wasn't training.

His frustrations built with every movement. Every punch fuelled his need to keep moving; to keep attacking. He ignored the ache in his lungs or the straining, weary feeling in his arms and legs and the bruised feeling in his knuckles, knees and feet.

Takeru was startled out of his rage and frustration induced drone when a sharp static noise shot into his ear. "T.K. how are things in your area?"

It was Taichi.

Takeru glanced down at the communicator, and picked it up. He dodged a lightning shot from some electric digimon he didn't recognize, and the creature got bowled over by a group of soldiers. He glanced around, ducking as he fled for the edge of the fight, hiding inside a store with broken windows.

"Tai, it's madness." He said, trying to keep from panting too hard into the grate. "There's barely anything we can do here on our own."

"It's the same over here, too. Togemon and Greymon are exhausted."

"It's getting dark out but nothing is letting up!" He could hear Mimi cry a little in the distance.

"We found a place to lay low while our digimon get their energy back. I think this fight might even last a couple of days." Takeru leaned back into the cold surface of the counter he hid behind, painfully aware that it was about as safe as tissue paper in front of a nail gun.

"A couple of days? What are we going to do? There's only five of us." Takeru said. "This feels hopeless."

"It might be. But we'll keep trying anyway. Save as many as we can, disrupt all we can, and keep safe. If we have to, we can try different tactics. As for you, Willis, Izzy, and Usagi, you guys can all take breaks to go to school."

"What!" Takeru heard Mimi's shrill voice from Taichi's end. "What about you?"

"I dropped out of school. I'm only working part time, so I can be here longer. You guys need to keep up with your lives outside of this. Don't worry about me."

"Tai, you dummy!"

Takeru chuckled softly. "You really are a dummy, Tai. But I think you're right. It will be suspicious if we don't show up to our regular lives only while this fight is here. But I don't like it."

"How's Izzy, Kabuterimon and Patamon doing? Has Patamon digivolved?" Takeru's jaw tightened so he could feel his jaw muscles burn at the sides of his face.

"They're all fine. Tired, I think. Resting. Patamon... is Patamon."

There was a long pause on the line. "Don't give up."

Takeru put the communicator away, heading back out to the battlefield. He didn't want to think about that or anything else. He let his instincts take over, and let the rush of battle fill all his senses and thinking processes.

Hikari found a rooftop overlooking the battlefield. She was still far enough away to be out of harms way, but still close enough to see the action with binoculars. She was mostly watching for any sign of her friends; her brother.

Occasionally she saw one of them for a brief moment in the crowd before something obstructed her vision. Those brief glimpses filled her with relief. There was nothing she could do, after all. It was silly to watch something like this up on the top of a tall building like this. It was an apartment complex just overlooking the two impact areas of downtown Shinjuku. The third area was too far away to really see anything. But the occasional radio signal from Willis to the others told her he was still alive.

The radio was next to her on the edge of the building, sitting there constantly turned on. The communication wasn't frequent. Other than that, there was nothing but the loud sounds of battle, the cries of both humans and digimon, and Hikari, sitting there like she could do something. She wouldn't be alone if she was down there, but she didn't know if that would be worse or better than sitting on the roof, alone with her thoughts near a battle with dangerous creatures and weapons, allowing her imagination to run wild. Sitting at home would be worse, at least she knew that.

She leaned against the concrete stone of the roof, checking her binoculars again. It was getting dark out now. She wondered how long the battle would go on for. Would the others leave? She and Takeru had school tomorrow. Would he skip school? Should she come up with an excuse why he wasn't in class?

There was movement out of the corner of her eye. Hikari whirled in the direction, seeing nothing. She shivered, holding herself. Great, was she seeing things now, too?

The battles shifted, sometimes getting nearer or farther away from her building, but she was sure she was far enough away that she wouldn't get caught up in the chaos. Though she was sure she was still inside the barrier that would have been temporarily set up to keep any stray digimon from escaping and wreaking havoc on the city.

Hikari looked around again. There was a scraping noise. It was faint. Grabbing her communicator, Hikari backed away from the edge. It might be a good idea to pick a different location.

A hook curled around the ledge, feeling its way to a steady hold as though it was a hand. Then a hideous creature sprang up; large jawed with huge diamond shaped ears, red bat wings and a blue body. It had no hands or feet, despite having both separated from the wings. Instead, the appendages ended with scythe-like claws. It sat on the ledge, looking at her with beady golden eyes.

Hikari held her breath, watching it unblinkingly. The digimon opened its mouth to an unnaturally large length, rows of pointed teeth bared. A screech cased Hikari to fall instinctively to the ground, not expecting the pulses from what must have been an attack to send her rolling back three feet. She got up and scrambled for the door.

The bat leaped up, slamming its body against the door just as she reached it, digging its claws into the metal. Hikari backed away, barely managing to keep on her feet. She looked around wildly. There was no other exit.

"Pipsimon!" A voice called behind the bat creature, as it slowly advanced on Hikari. It stopped, turning around. Hikari looked up to see a familiar cat-like digimon standing on the roof of the door that lead inside. She had her claws on her hips, glaring down at the bat. "You're supposed to be patrolling for a weakess in the perimeter barrier."

"I was, Gatomon. But I saw this human here." Pipsimon tried to explain, pointing a curved scythe at Hikari.

"And?" Gatomon growled.

"I figured I should get rid of her if she was going to alert the humans!"

"That is not what you were ordered!" Gatomon hissed, jumping down from her perch and landing silently on the concrete. "Do I have to show you your place?"

Pipismon looked at Gatomon, and glanced back at Hikari. "Does it matter? If I kill her, it will only make my mission safer."

"Time is what matters in your mission." Gatomon said icily. "Wasting your time on what is clearly a non-combatant civilian who is trapped on a roof when you could be looking for an escape route for our people! Where is your head at?"

Pipismon ducked his head down in apology. "I'm sorry, Gatomon."

"Leave. I'll deal with the human." Not needing more tongue lashings, Pipismon clumsily took to the air and flew off to scout more of what Hikari assumed was the perimeter of the barrier. She then turned to Hikari.

"Th-thank you... You are Gatomon, right? I mean... the one from before..." Hikari's voice trailed off the longer the cat stared at her. Maybe this wasn't the same Gatomon after all. She wasn't sure if it was possible to tell them apart.

"You're welcome, Hikari." Gatomon said finally. "Though Pipsimon really was out of line. That digimon has always been a little bloodthirsty."

"Oh." Hikari slowly stood up. "Is this all because of what I talked with you about?"

"Sort of." Gatomon said. She looked out toward the battles taking place. "We were planning on doing something of this scale sooner or later. Actually much bigger. However it was my information that I gathered about the incident in your area that caused it to speed up. We think something is happening in the Digital World and it would be a good idea to get as much ground claimed in this world as possible just in case things go sour."

"What sort of things, Gatomon?" Hikari asked. "Maybe there's something we can do besides killing each other."

"I don't know. I'm not as high up the ranks as you might think I am. All I know is that there isn't anything sustainable in the Digital World anymore to support all the digimon it used to. And I don't know how much longer we can do this. It's bad over there, Hikari."

"What about my friends?" Hikari asked. "How are they doing? Have you seen them?"

"What do they look like?"

"They'd look like me. Just a civilian. No uniform or anything, I mean. But they'd be fighting with digimon."

"Right. I remember that you're the rebels. I'll look for them." Gatomon jumped to the edge of the building. "Is there anything you want me to say?"

Hikari paused for a moment. "Just tell them to be safe. There's a blond boy down there that needs to be in class."

"Class..." Gatomon seemed confused about the word. "I'll tell him if I see anyone like that."

She was gone, and Hikari watched as she leaped across the buildings and back into the fray. Gatomon circled the central battle zone, searching for anyone of the description that Hikari gave. It wasn't the best of descriptions, however. She stopped as a large Kabuterimon flew overhead. Was it her imagination, or was it physically larger than any she'd seen before? Maybe it was her imagination.

Below, there was a boy with no armour, at least like the soldiers. Blond hair and a mask, assisted by a Patamon. He was protecting an injured Garurumon from being shot, grabbing the rifle and pointing it up in the air. The soldier tried wrenching the gun out of the boy's hands, but he kept a firm grip. The soldier charged the boy, and was hit in the side by an air attack by the Patamon. Who she assumed was Takeru threw the gun far away, where it was crushed under the foot of a Mammothmon.

The soldier, defenceless, ran back to the far end of the battle, where the military had set up camps. This was primarily where the weapons and medical supplies were kept. The digimon had something of their own base of operations just in front of the scarred gates.

Gatomon followed Takeru as he and Patamon fled into a building that hadn't been as badly damaged.

"Are you doing okay, buddy?" Takeru asked, panting. Patamon was laying on the ground, ears drooping to the ground in a way that only happened when the little digimon had no energy.

"I can still go." Patamon said. "But I'm getting tired. And it's getting harder to see now that the sun is setting."

"You should just give up for the night, Takeru." He spun around to see Gatomon standing half lit in the shadows. She delicately stepped into the fading light, large green eyes glinting.

"How do you know my name?" Takeru asked, body tense. His hand slowly hovering the ground for a weapon didn't escape her notice.

"I've been in contact with Hikari." Gatomon said flatly. "She says she wants to leave, and that you have... class tomorrow."

Takeru glanced at Patamon. "Patamon does need a rest."

"It would be best." Gatomon said. "And to show I won't attack you as you turn your back to leave, I'll go first."

She slowly walked toward the broken window, watching Takeru carefully as she did, before jumping out of sight. Takeru gently lifted Patamon, walking deeper into the building. "There's probably a back door or window we can find."

He dug in his pockets for the communicator. He gave a short message to the others he was leaving for the night and slipped out into the alleyway. It didn't take long to meet up with Hikari, who messaged him after spotting him up on her perch and together they found their way to the nearest working train station.

In comparison, Takeru was covered in dirt, cuts and his hair was unkempt and filthy. She tried helping him pat himself down before buying their tickets. They didn't talk much during the trip, settling on enjoying each others company and the silence and peace of the train.

Taichi was happy there were two less people to worry about. He stayed close to Mimi, leading her to a building and away from the fight. She had been sprayed with some sort of sticky webbing, her mask either sliced off or removed at some point and was panicking as her hands flew around her head, looking for a way to get it off. It was a mess, wrapping around her entire head and getting tangled in her hair. Unfortunately it was also wrapped around her face. He tried to keep her calm, whispering to her in what he hoped was a soothing voice and he fumbled around in his pockets.

He found his pocket knife, opening it silently to not frighten her, telling her to sit still as he carefully inserted the blade between her delicate cheeks and the threads, cutting chunks off. She took a loud gulp of air. At least she could breathe now, so the immediate danger was over. There wouldn't be any hot water around to get the webbing out.

"Looks like we might have to retreat for a bit. Unless we can find some way to heat up some water."

"Greymon can heat up water. But I don't know if he's busy." He could tell Mimi was trying to stay calm despite the fact that she couldn't see. He touched her cheek to reassure her.

"I'll try. I'll have to find a bucket and water first." Taichi stood up, only to be stopped as Mimi's hand shot out and grabbed his.

"You won't go far, right?" She asked, her voice slightly strained. Taichi placed his free hand on hers.

"I promise I won't. You'll be safe here with me, okay? We'll get you unstuck out of that in no time." Taichi wandered around the building. It was a small business. So perhaps there was a storage area they kept their buckets and mops in. He checked around, eventually finding a closet with an old bucket. Clearing the cobwebs out, he ran around again until he found the bathroom, running the water until it was hot, and filling the bucket up. He dragged the bucket over to her.

"Okay, I have something. Unfortunately the bucket's plastic so if Greymon tried to heat up the water, the whole thing'd melt. But let's get you dipped in." He placed the bucket behind Mimi and gently lowered her back. Her hair floated in the water, and Taichi could see the strands of thread slip off. It would take a bit of time to get all of it out. The hardest part would be her face.

"It's funny..." Mimi said, as she relaxed as best she could on Taichi's lap. He could feel her shoulder blades relax over his thighs. He tried not thinking about it too much as he was gently combing the webbing out with his fingers. "You would think that fighting like this would be a little more glamorous. Or action packed or something. But instead it's a lot of hiding and maintaining yourself."

"Yeah, well, when there aren't a lot of us we have to look out for one another." He splashed a bit of water on her face, rubbing at the webbing there, and gently tested the webbing over her eyes. It was still no good. He'd probably end up pulling out her eyebrows and eyelashes. "I'm going to dunk your head okay?"

Mimi held her nose as Taichi carefully dipped her head into the bucket, rubbing at her face until the webbing gave way. Outside he could hear Greymon and Togemon attacking any digimon or humans that came near. They were both protecting the building while their partners were vulnerable.

He lifted Mimi's head, and she opened her eyes. It wasn't perfect. There was still a lot of silvery strands in her hair, but most of it washed off her face at least. She smiled at him. "Thanks for taking care of me, Taichi."

He nervously scratched the side of his face. "You're welcome, Mimi. How about we get back out there?"

"It looks pretty dark out now." She stood up, wringing out her hair. "Fortunate for me because my mask snapped."

"You should probably start heading home soon." Taichi said. "You are all still in school after all."

Mimi huffed. "Taichi Kamiya, you are not the boss of me." She placed her hands on her hips. "I'll leave when I feel like it."

"When would that be?" Taichi walked over to the front window. "Greymon, we're coming back out."

"When I feel like you won't need help anymore." Mimi said quietly, stepping beside him. "Or when Togemon can't fight anymore."

"You're stubborn." Taichi murmured. "You can always come back after school. Agumon and I will probably grab a bit of sleep tonight ourselves. Mistakes are deadly."

"Four hours."

"What?"

"Four hours of sleep." Mimi said. Her voice was clear. "That's how much I want you to sleep tonight at minimum."

"Why that number?" He asked, perplexed.

"You'd sleep less, otherwise."

"What are you, my mother?" Taichi laughed.

"What happened to looking out for each other? Doesn't that also include health?" Mimi asked. She had her hands on her hips.

"Touché. Four hours. I promise." He left her side, jumping onto Greymon's tail, finding his balance before climbing up the large orange dinosaur's back. He rested on his shoulders and Greymon charged a tank, ramming it hard.

Mimi looked up at Togemon, the small flower-like digimon had grown into, amusingly enough, a large boxing cactus. "How are you holding up, Togemon?"

"I can still fight!" Togemon punched her boxing gloves together.

She faced a white quadruped dinosaur digimon with grey armour. It was thrashing around, a clear area around the creature was carved, with anything getting within its horn or thick tail, human or digimon alike were mowed down. It set eyes on Togemon, pawing at the ground in a challenging motion. Togemon puffed her chest out and stood tall.

Monochromon charged, running at Togemon. Mimi backed out of the large dinosaur's way as Togemon met it head on, grabbing it by the shoulders. Her feet slid back several feet, but were kept planted firmly on the ground. They stood still, both pushing back against one another. Mimi could see both of them shaking as they struggled to best the other. Monochromon's muscles bulged and seized under the pressure. Mimi was holding her breath, silently willing Togemon to go on, give just that much more to best the dinosaur and throw it down.

Eventually, something gave way with Monochromon hunkering down, pulling its horn up and lifting Togemon in the air. Mimi cried out to her, watching as Togemon lost her balance as she went over the other digimon's back, managing to balance on the creature's back so she didn't topple to the ground. Togemon steadied herself on the ground and started punching wildly at its back and head, Monochromon immobile under her flurry of punches.

A leg caved, and Monochromon was brought to its knees. Togemon jumped off, landing several feet away and watched carefully in case it got back up. Togemon wobbled before falling backwards into a sitting position.

"Mimi... I think I'm done." Togemon said. She glowed, and shrunk down several times her previous size until Palmon emerged. Mimi ran over to her partner, picking her up.

"I guess it's all we can do now." Mimi said, gently cradling the exhausted plant. "I feel bad for leaving Tai all alone."

"Willis and Izzy are still here." Palmon said. "Did I hear that the other two went home?"

"They did. They're younger than me so they have more to worry about." Mimi slipped through the buildings, making sure to dodge what might have been large pockets of military and digimon, making her way back to the working train.

"We'll come back tomorrow, as soon as you're able." Palmon said.

"I hope they're safe."

Chapter Text

He was restless. The teacher was droning on about history, and he was sitting in class half listening. His mind was too focused on the battle raging halfway across the city in Shinjuku. Hikari could see Takeru constantly re-positioning himself in his chair, and was sure if he were allowed to stand he'd be pacing. She glanced at him occasionally, brow furrowed as she watched him fiddle with his pencil, twirling it furiously between his fingers until it nearly went flying.

School only started four hours ago, but he had been unable to think of anything else since he woke up. It was the worst she'd seen him, though his grades were slipping for a while. She'd seen the progression of his grades since he was enrolled and they had been getting worse for some time now. She figured it started after he joined the rebel groups. Even then it was only a little bit.

She watched him worriedly as he tapped his foot on the ground. He grasped his hair in his hands, leaning over his desk before setting his hands over his book and picked it up only to set it down again. Even some of the other students, including Daisuke were noticing this behaviour.

"You okay, dude?" Daisuke whispered at him. "You look like you have some kind of itch."

"Charming." Takeru muttered back, looking unimpressed with Daisuke's attempt at being lighthearted. "I'm just... there's something I need to do after school that's important."

"Yeah, it's called training." Daisuke said, his voice still hushed. Once in a while he glanced at the teacher to see if he was still teaching. Though normally the teachers let the Youth Division slack off. "Two hours after school. It'd be longer, but the battle out in Shinjuku takes priority."

Right. Of course the Shinjuku battles took priority. But why couldn't the training be cancelled or postponed because of them? Takeru didn't know if he could stand to sit through school and go to training. He needed to get back. It was murder not knowing what was going on. The newscasts were going on all day and night reporting about the incidents. Despite having trouble sleeping last night, he had only managed to catch a small glimpse of the nightly news reports. He didn't have time to see anything new from this morning before heading to school.

It took active willpower to settle his body down, though every once in a while he caught his body tensing as he let his mind wander back to the fight and how he was not there. The papers and sheets in front of him were as unappealing to every facet of his existence as a toddler being force-fed disgusting cough medicine. He didn't think he ever experienced in his life the feeling of something being so unappealing it made him physically antsy but the school work in front of him did. Of all the subjects covered so far, Takeru only managed a fraction of the daily work load.

The hours passed by agonizingly slow. Takeru had his mask and the clothes he wore in his backpack underneath his military uniform. Both sets of clothes he kept in there now, along with all his school work and books. It was a tight fit, but it was better than the alternatives. He was sure he'd be scolded for leaving his books or his uniform behind and wearing his rebel clothes underneath his uniform and mask ran the risk of him being recognized.

He didn't want to think about that right now. If he thought about the battle, Patamon or even his training, the day would drag slower. Lunch time and the classes that followed felt hours longer than they were, with what felt like every second prominently felt on his consciousness.

There was little room for Hikari to approach him during the break, though he could tell with how often she looked at him, she wanted to. There would be no private enough place to talk about it safely, and if there was, there would likely be rumours and whispers spreading around. Hikari's bullying situation might increase. He caught the end of one such confrontations the other day in the hallway to class. Daisuke was already there, a protective arm around Hikari and telling off some girls who were glaring at Hikari. The girls were pretty, with straight black hair and pale skin, but the look on their faces was ugly with the scrunched skin of their scowls. Seeing Takeru approach, they backed off for good, walking to their respective classrooms.

He wouldn't want her to go through that. Though maybe he was being paranoid. After all, he was just the new guy.

One of his friends he made from the basketball team flagged him down and started a small conversation with him. Takeru went through the motions, answering with short, concise sentences when he could, and once or twice put some genuine thought into his replies and asked a few questions himself when it seemed the other boy was getting upset.

"Well, I tell you, Takeru. I think it's kind of silly that we're focusing so much of our energy on a concert with everything going on."

The sudden change of subject from basketball shook Takeru out of the mental fog he settled himself into. "Hu-what?"

"You didn't know? There's this huge concert that's going to happen in Setagya in about a week. Rumour has it that it's got ties to the military and most of the money's going to help fund the new military weapons. But I think having a concert for that is dangerous. Like a big red target on the area. Especially with the battle going on downtown now."

"Y-Yeah. Yeah it's silly. Will there be extra security?"

"I think so. Who knows, maybe even your group will be there. You lucky guy, getting free access to a concert like that! Maybe I should join the Youth Division, too."

He heard nothing about this. Maybe it would be brought up at the meeting Daisuke talked about. They said goodbye with the bell to start classes, and Takeru slowly made his way back to his seat.

Takeru couldn't distract himself successfully enough. It was still lingering there at the back of his mind. The frustration inside only grew more powerful as the hours wore on and school ended.

Thankfully he could opt out of basketball now that he was in the Youth Division, though he was sure that the latter was worse. Even if he finally managed to get back to the battle site and help Taichi and the others, what could he do?

He and Patamon were near-useless. Though he didn't want to say anything bad about Patamon, Takeru was making efforts to make up for his weakness by pouring himself into the training. Patamon couldn't digivolve to match with the others. Takeru had to pick up the slack for his partner, protect him, until they somehow unlocked the secret. He knew Patamon was trying his best. He was working hard trying to digivolve and Takeru was sure he was just as disheartened with the lack of results as Takeru was. So then why? Why couldn't they do it? He didn't want to be a burden.

Takeru was fierce in the training spar with Aoi. He attacked viciously to the point that the more experienced member was having trouble blocking, let alone getting a hit in. Takeru fed all his frustration and rage into the battle, letting his mind grow blank with his reflexes and training doing the thinking instead. Thinking was too upsetting right now.

Aoi got through his defences.

Surprised, Takeru stumbled back, clutching his side where Aoi hit. He didn't give Takeru time to recover as another massive blow aimed for his chest. Takeru barely managed to shield himself with his arms, and was sent flying into the mat.

"Get your head on straight, newbie!" Daisuke called. "You're going to get killed if you rampage like that."

With a growl, Takeru got up and ran at Aoi again, but he used Takeru's momentum against him, sending him tumbling head over heels onto the mat.

"Dammit, you don't listen!" Daisuke growled. "Don't just charge in without thinking! Takeru, go run the course and get your head cooled off."

Takeru stood up, walking over to the obstacle course. Taking a minute to catch his breath, he ran in. His muscles ached, but he pushed on, despite the fumbles. He jumped to a bar, his hands slippery from sweat and slipped off. With an audible cry, he landed hard on the ground.

"Dead, Takeru! Go again!" Daisuke said. "What's with you today?"

In the end, Takeru had to repeat the course thrice more. It wouldn't be much longer... Just a little more and he could go. The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow as Takeru took a break to rest and water himself. He squirted some water from his bottle in his hair, wiping it all over and down the back of his neck.

This was stupid. He was letting himself get worked up in training. He should be saving his energy for the battle, but he'd use it all up before he got there. How stupid would that be? To top it all off he'd be sore by the time he'd get out there. The thought only frustrated him more as he sat in a silent stew at the back of the end meeting where Daisuke went over some things.

"The new experimental technology we'll be testing will already be quality tested for us so we know it will be safe. If this stuff works, Kensuke says there might be a way that we could join regular battles."

"Regular battles?" Megumi said, frowning. "But we mostly deal with the small stuff that the military can't bother with. We rarely go after rookies and that's hardly a battle. Are we really going to become full soldiers?"

"I don't know." Daisuke said. "But Kensuke says it will change the war. Anyway, we'll see soon enough when the time comes. He says that it's almost ready. In other news, our unit is hosting a concert, and our group is going to be on inner security duty. Last line of defense. I'll fill you in when I get more information."

The meeting went on for another ten minutes. Takeru stood up immediately after Daisuke called an end to the meeting. He barely said his goodbyes and walked to the door when he was blocked by Daisuke. Takeru glared at him, quickly getting tired of the brunet pulling that.

"Not you, Blondie." Daisuke said. "You were crap out there. At this rate, you aren't going to be ready for anything. Go back and do everything once, properly. If you fall, start from the beginning."

"I have somewhere to be!" Takeru said, voice raising.

"Too bad!" Daisuke said. "I say you're not leaving until you get it right. If you perform out on the field like you have these last two days, you're going to get someone killed. Now do it again."

The two glared at each other silently, staring each other down. There was no point arguing. Takeru turned back and walked back to the training area, punching at a wall as he did so. At this rate, he wouldn't get to the others until after dark.

Takeru ran the drills carefully. With Daisuke against the wall, watching him carefully/ He knew if he slipped up there would be no chance of getting out. Another half an hour and Daisuke finally left, with a final yell to hit the showers signalling Takeru's freedom card.

After a quick shower to clean off and assess his bruises and flexibility, he swiftly walked down the long hallways of the giant facility and out the door, heading for the train station. At least he didn't have to travel all the way from Odaiba. But it was still a ways to Shinjuku. Already he could feel his muscles getting stiff and sore.

This time he did pace. The length of the train served to be sufficient enough for him to walk swiftly up and down. It couldn't reach the right station quick enough. Of the few passengers on the train, many watched him curiously. There weren't many people who got too close to Shinjuku in the last few days.

He sat down, deciding to conserve his energy as best he could before the closest stop. But he still felt like he had to move somehow, as though if he stopped, then the ride would take longer. He fiddled with his backpack straps and hoped his muscles cooling down wouldn't signal his body going rigid.

When the station came up Takeru stood at the door, sprinting out when they opened, nearly clipping himself on the way out. Even though it was far away still, he could still hear the sounds of battle in the distance. With a clenched jaw, he made his way as best he could toward their base.

"Patamon! Are you ready to go?" Takeru called once he entered the house. "Patamon?"

Maybe he was in the Digital World still. He started to make his way to the gateway when Patamon came flying at his head. Takeru ducked instinctively, Patamon pushed off the walls with his feet to keep from crashing into them.

"You're here!" Patamon said. "Are we going back to the fight?"

"Yeah. I'm worried about Taichi and the others." Takeru stripped his clothing as he fumbled with the zipper on his bag. He pulled out the mask and his spare clothes, kicking the bag under the table with his foot. The bag spilled over, dumping his military uniform out. He threw his school uniform over top.

He struggled to keep his balance as he rushed putting his clothes on, barely having his shirt on properly before rushing out the door, Patamon following behind. He adjusted the mask on his face once his shirt was properly in place. He could feel his muscles starting to burn as he sprinted at top speeds, his legs threatening to give way at any second so he'd crash into the pavement. Still, somehow, his feet safely found their mark with every step.

There was a lot of smoke in the area now, and it seemed both the military and digimon fighting had thinned. There were tents set up for sleeping that had been trampled in scuffles and there were broken bits of machinery and weapons strewn about. It looked like the battle shifted either during the night or the morning in the digimon's favour. Takeru rummaged in his pockets for his communicator.

"Tai?" Takeru called. "Are you there? How are you doing? Are the others okay?" He held his breath waiting for Taichi's answer, hoping he'd get a response. His body began to tingle from lack of oxygen despite the exercise.

"T.K." Taichi's voice allowed Takeru to breathe a sign of relief. "We're fine. Koushiro's a little banged up, but otherwise we're fine. We are all in the second zone area. Splitting up last time didn't have an effect so we're focusing on one area today."

"Right. I'll be over then." He pocketed the device and looked at Patamon. "They're over in the second zone. It's a three minute run."

"I'm not tired" Patamon said. Takeru smiled.

"Neither am I." He took off, jumping over some sort of dragon-type digimon and continued through the outskirts of the battle and on to the second zone. He heard screams to stop behind him, some soldiers spotting him through the fog.

Takeru ducked as bullets shot into the building wall next to his ear, and with his feet sliding on the gravel, grasping desperately to a broken part of the corner, Takeru slid to safety, recovered and continued running. A concrete wall was up ahead. Takeru jumped, using the building wall as leverage and his chest landed hard on the corner of the concrete. He scrambled, struggling to get a foot hold and heaved his body up just as the soldiers rounded the corner. A bullet flew past his arm close enough that he could feel he heat graze his skin.

With no time to calculate the safest descent, Takeru dropped hard onto the pavement below, rolling to take some of the shock from his feet. However, the shock still seared up his legs. He stumbled, slamming his shoulder into the building to his left and pushed off, continuing to run.

He was slower now, trying to give his legs time to recover before asking his body to go on. He really was putting himself through a lot, he realized. But that was something to look out for at a future date. For now he had to endure.

He stopped just before rounding the corner to a building where it felt like the battle was just beyond. He leaned heavily against the wall, panting heavily. It was no good. He would have to rest and regain some of his energy before continuing on. He'd be no good to anyone like this.

"I'll look for the others." Patamon said, flying higher.

"Wait." Takeru started.

"I'll be careful and I'll come right back." Patamon reassured him, though Takeru still had his doubts. He watched as his partner flew into the fog, becoming an orange blur before vanishing. Takeru slid down the wall to a sitting position, lowering his head to his chest.

Patamon came back several minutes later, landing in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Where are the others?"

"They're not far from here. I can take you. But it's going to be rough just getting to them."

With a straining in his muscles, Takeru stood up. "Let's go, then."

He ran into the chaos of battle, dodging the large stomping feet of a mammothmon, sneaking behind a large group of military personnel. It didn't take long to spot Tururiemon, Gargomon, Togemon and Greymon. Likely Kabuterimon was up in the sky. Takeru ran around the massive fighting digimon to stop in front of his friends.

"You're here!" Mimi said happily. "I'm glad you made it safely."

"Great. Now that everyone's here we can focus more on the battles." Koushiro said. "I vote we try and push the digimon back to the portal and keep the military from going through."

"Sounds great. Would be a lot easier if there was more of us." Willis said.

"It might be possible now that it's thinned out, though." Mimi said. "We could try."

"Let's go, then." Takeru said. There was barely any planning. Just a few directions from Koushiro and they headed off. Takeru went with Mimi, Willis and Taichi headed off in the other direction.

Patamon was trying his best, and Takeru fought just as hard to make up for their lack of digivolution. Together perhaps they could almost match up. His feelings of frustration for his busy day slipped into frustration and anger over his powerlessness once more.

They were focusing mostly on the digimon now, driving them back as best as possible. He still was a beginner with his combat training, which mostly consisted of hand-to-hand combat and other non-weapon forms of combat. So there was little that Takeru could do simply on his own against a stronger or faster digimon. Combating a Champion level made his heart pound violently in his chest. Patamon, Taichi and Willis fighting by his side made it better, but he was still struggling against the feeling something was going to leap out of his throat.

A brown ogre-type digimon called Fugumon was swinging his club at Takeru and the others. He fell to his knees, leaning back, the spikes on the club missing his head by a foot. Takeru adjusted himself, kicking the club up in the air and out of the way as Taichi ran past, using Fugumon's moment of confusion to take the club out of his hand. It was too heavy for a much smaller human to handle, so he used gravity to deliver the blow.

There was a loud crunch as the club found Fugumon's skull, and the Champion fell to the ground, motionless. Kabuterimon, who was now mostly retrieving digimon for transport back to the Digital World, picked it up and flew it away.

Takeru wiped the sweat off his brow. His muscles were aching and his whole body was trembling just from standing up. The others around him looked tired too. Their digimon had a slightly easier time if they ganged up on a single digimon at once. A few times the military even helped in a way. It wasn't true help, however. A few times the soldiers deleted the digimon they were trying to push back.

All that wasted effort; those destroyed lives. It fuelled Takeru, willing him to go on when his body screamed for him to stop.

A blast shot from the fog landed in front of their group. It exploded, sending Willis, Mimi and Taichi flying. Takeru was also knocked over by the force of the blast. With unsettling speed, a Centaurumon leaped to the spot where the blast exploded. He reared on his hind hooves over Mimi and Koushiro. With a scream, Mimi rolled out of the way. Koushiro wasn't as quick, and shielded himself uselessly as the powerful hooves came down. Patamon flew toward Centaurumon, body slamming him. It was enough to make his attack miss Koushiro, though his sweater on the shoulder was caught underneath.

Willis ran to Koushiro helping him to slip from underneath the centaur as the digimon in question was grabbing at Patamon, who was flying in and out of reach in an effort to keep it from killing the rebels.

With an unlucky grab, Centaurumon caught Patamon by the wing, dragging it back well within arms length. Patamon cried out, pulling helplessly against the digimon's hand. Takeru ran up to the digimon. He could clearly see it was Patamon's scarred wing.

"Patamon!" Takeru cried. He leaped back as Centaurumon lunged at Takeru. He fell back, scrambling to get away. It wouldn't let go, no matter how much he struggled. Takeru looked around quickly. The other digimon were all caught up fighting the Mammothmon from earlier. They didn't seem to be doing well against the Ultimate. Around Centaurumon, the others were attempting to reach Patamon, but with how the digimon would thrash and buck when anyone got near, it seemed impossible.

"TAKERU!" Patamon cried. "Don't come any closer! He'll get you!"

"Patamon, you've got to digivolve!" Takeru ran as close as he could to Centaurumon, taking his digivice out of his pocket.

"I-I can't! I don't know how!" Patamon cried.

Centaurumon laughed. "Don't be foolish, traitor. Someone as disgusting as you cannot digivolve. I'll destroy you to make sure of that."

"Patamon!" Takeru looked around. "Taichi! Willis! How did you guys get your partners to digivolve! Tell me!"

"The light responds to friendship!" Koushiro shouted. "The feelings the digimon have when their friends are in danger and the need to protect them!"

That's right. When Taichi put himself in harm's way, that was the first time any of their partners had digivolved.

The answer seemed so simple. Takeru clenched his fists. He'd been trying so hard to hold up both his and Patamon's end of things, but all this time, he'd just been holding Patamon back. No more. He wasn't going to be the weak link any longer.

Takeru ran straight at Centaurumon. The monstrous digimon reared up, iron hooves cleaving the air on a course for Takeru's skull. Patamon screamed. "Takeru!"

At Takeru's belt, the digivice shrieked in reply. The note that reached Takeru's ears seemed too low, not like the others' devices, and it cut off with a crackle. Panic stabbed Takeru's heart. Was his digivice broken? Would it hurt Patamon?

It was too late to do anything. A strange off-white light had enveloped his little digimon. Patamon's data fell away from Centaurumon's hand in a roiling cloud of grey and red that stretched and molded and grew as it fell. Goosebumps rose on Takeru's skin as he watched. His heart beat wildly but he couldn't tell if it was excitement or fear. Patamon was finally digivolving - but something felt wrong. Something felt horribly, horribly wrong, and all he could do was watch it take shape.

The data cloud elongated, taking on a form that almost looked human except that it rivaled the Centaurumon in height. Blackened data burst out from the mass and became wings that caught the air even as holes ate through the membranes. More data stretched outward in both directions - further - further still - and then split into five strings that became clawing bone-like fingers. Something like leather seemed to cover the too-thin body, haphazardly crisscrossed with belts and straps. Horns extended from either side of a helmet with a fanged grin that framed deathly pale cheeks and lips. Amidst the blackness, slashes of red shone bright: a spiky symbol on his chest; another on one boot; a single red finger.

Gone was the sweet-tempered little bean with his stubby fat paws and too-small wings and wide innocent eyes. In his place stood a nightmare.

For a moment, Takeru ignored every instinct screaming at him and held tight to a shred of hope. Digivolutions all looked different from their previous forms. Just because this one was stranger than usual didn't mean-

And then the nightmare laughed. Pallid lips split into a smile and uttered a slow, deep sound of sinister pleasure. Red eyes glowed with malice from narrow slits in the helmet.

Takeru felt his blood turn to icewater.

Movement dragged his attention away for the first time in what seemed like an eon, but was less than ten seconds. The Centaurumon was turning to run. The monster that had been Patamon reached out, unhurried, almost lazy. Takeru felt his stomach lurch as he watched the too-long arm unfold. Spindly fingers wrapped around the Centaurumon's human torso and drew him into the air. Centaurumon flailed, but the deceptively frail fingers held him fast. He tried to train his cannon arm at his assailant. The nightmare simply took hold of the arm and pulled.

Takeru wrenched his gaze away, but he still heard the sick tearing sound, then Centaurumon's scream, the all-too-familiar crackle of data deletion.

The others were regrouping. "Wh-what happened to Patamon?" Mimi asked.

"I don't know. It's like he's gone insane," Taichi said.

"That digimon is called Devimon," Tururiemon said, a trickle of sweat pouring down the side of his face. "It's a Fallen Angel Type digimon. Even worse, it's a Dark Digivolution. I've rarely seen anything like it, but it's said those are way more powerful than normal."

Not content with the deletion of Centaurumon, Devimon made a grab at some soldiers that were standing a little too close. One managed to slip away, but two were caught up in Devimon's iron grasp.

"We have to do something," Willis said. "Everyone, let's all combine."

"Will that even be enough?" Galgomon asked, now joining his brother. Kabuterimon, Togemon and Greymon now appeared to stand beside their partners.

"It has to be," Taichi said. He put a hand on Takeru's shoulder. Takeru jumped. "Come on, we need you in on this too."

"What?" Takeru croaked. He swallowed hard. His shoulder shook under Taichi's hand.

"We're going to get Patamon back! We need to wear him down. We need you to help! Try and get through to him!"

"I-I don't know if I..." Takeru squeezed his eyes shut, tears stinging in his eyes. This was his fault. His own anger and selfishness and inadequacy had turned Patamon into a monster. It seemed impossible that the Patamon he knew was even still in there. "Patamon..."

He wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream. He wanted to curl up and cry. He wanted to run and never stop running.

He wanted Patamon back.

Takeru set his jaw and stepped forward, swiping the tears away. The other digimon were already attacking Devimon, trying to get him to safely let go of the soldiers.

He didn't know what he was doing, or how he could reach him. Takeru found himself sprinting at the demonic entity, jumping as Devimon was brought to its knees. He grabbed onto Devimon's arm, scrambling to reach the shoulder.

"Patamon!" Takeru cried. "Patamon, it's me! You have to stop this! This isn't like you!"

His plea for Patamon to come to his senses was met with those large wings, stippled with holes in the membrane, to shoot out behind him, waving disturbingly in the breeze. He rose, spindly legs straightening and eventually leaving the torn up concrete. Takeru wrapped his legs around Devimon's arm, looking at the retreating ground.

The other digimon ran at Devimon, reaching for him with arms and maws attempting to drag him down. With swift maneuvers that almost made Takeru lose his grip, Devimon evaded.

"Gatling-"

"Stop!" Willis ran to Galgomon, putting a hand on his partner's gun arm. "You might hit T.K."

The soldiers quickly surrounded the group below, some shooting at Devimon as he rose. Greymon roared at the soldiers, barreling through the crowd. The other digimon follows, their partners in between, shielded from capture.

Devimon avoided the bullets with ease, flying toward the top of the barrier that kept the battle relatively contained. At the outskirts, flying digimon worked at the barrier, weakening it. Approaching at a high speed, the digimon scattered. Outstretching his long arm, the red claw touched the area and the barrier shattered, creating a sizable hole.

Flying through it, Devimon wasted no time distancing himself from the battleground. Takeru opened his eyes, looking down at the buildings below. Between, Takeru could see the occasional digimon scurrying through the back alleyways, and the odd, brave human who still went about their lives in the area, though didn't come within four blocks of the barrier.

"Patamon, please list-AH!" Whether as a deliberate attempt to shut him up, or he found something interesting, Devimon took a sharp turn. Takeru nearly lost his grip on Devimon's arm, holding on b the tips of his fingers and the strength of his legs.

He was flying toward a tall apartment building, gaining altitude. He suddenly felt cold as the figure on the roof came into focus. Hikari.

"Patamon turn around! Please!" Takeru begged, his grip tightening on his arm. "Leave Hikari alone!"

As Devimon approached, a white blur jumped off the building near the retreating Hikari. A white and purple cat sped toward Devimon, green-yellow paws with long claws outstretched. Devimon reached out to grab it.

The digimon flipped in mid-air, a white back paw landing on Devimon's palm and jumped off before he could close his hand. Landing on his wrist, the cat ran on all fours up the length of his arm, clawing at his face. Devimon screamed in pain, swatting at the cat, which leaped back to the building.

"Takeru!" Hikari called, running to the ledge of the building. Takeru struggled to turn his head to look at her. He was just too far from the building. If he tried jumping off now, he'd fall to his death.

"Hikari! Get out of here!" Takeru said.

"What is that thing?"

Takeru felt a twinge in his chest. "It's Patamon..."

"He digivolved." The cat said, glaring at Devimon, who since recovered, grinning toothily, his clawed hand still over the scratch mark on his cheek. "But not properly. He isn't in his right mind."

"Gatomon, can you get Takeru off him?" Hikari asked tentatively. She had her hands clasped together over her chest, watching Takeru.

"I can try." Gatomon said, lunging when Devimon flew toward her. Devimon missed, his hand smashing into the side of the building, debris flying everywhere. Hikari had run to the other side, and shielded herself. Gatomon landed on Takeru's fingers, and with a surprised cry, let go. His torso fell backward, still clinging to Devimon by the legs.

Devimon growled angrily and swiped at Gatomon. Takeru's legs slipped, and he landed hard on the building roof, his head and chest getting most of the blow. He bounced and rolled until finally coming to a rest a two metres from Devimon's arm.

"He's mine!" Devimon snarled, his voice unnaturally deep and hard. Gatomon jumped at Devimon, but was batted away by a wing as he made a grab for Takeru. Dizzy, disoriented, and struggling to regain his breath, Takeru barely managed to roll away from Devimon, but any attempts to stand up were met with falling down again.

Spindly fingers wrapped around Takeru's body, squeezing hard. Takeru cried out as he felt his body constricted. "P-patamon..."

"Beet Horn." Takeru felt his body jerk as Devimon was hit with Kabuterimon's horn. This time he managed to properly get away, stumbling away from the demonic digimon, clutching his chest. Now that he was away, he could see Devimon was beaten and tired as badly as he was. The attacks were taking their toll.

"Patamon..." His voice was a whisper, and despite his aching chest, took a few breaths. "Patamon!"

That time he got Devimon's attention, and he looked straight at Takeru. He walked over to the edge, keeping mind of the debris.

"Patamon, I shouldn't have pushed you. I put all my frustration into you because I felt I wasn't strong enough. I blamed you. Now I hurt you, I turned you into this. It's all my fault." His voice cracked as emotion strangled his throat, tears dripping down his cheeks. "I'm sorry."

Chapter Text

Devimon's body shook and jerked wildly. He clutched his head in his hands, the lengthy bone fingers disproportionately long in comparison, wrapping around his head. He cried out, a desperate, strangled scream mixed with agony. His body glowed with the same off-white, the form breaking up into millions of pixels reforming and breaking up again several times.

Takeru leaned forward in spite of himself, watching with wide eyes and clenched teeth as his friend flailed in the air, just out of reach.

Eventually, the off-white faded to a purer white, ones and zeroes bubbling under the brilliance as the spindly arms and legs went limp at his sides. They dissolved at a rapid pace, the data scattering in the wind, leaving only a tiny bean shape. The light faded, and Patamon hovered in the air unconscious. His body gained gravity and fell.

Without thinking, Takeru jumped over the rubble, his foot catching the unstable corner of the building and leaped off, feeling the foundation break away as he did. Reaching for Patamon, he tucked the small digimon protectively to his breast. He could hear Hikari's shrill screaming of his name through the rush of wind at his ears.

Hard, sectioned appendages wrapped around Takeru's body, the loud thrumming of wings filled his ears, and he felt the vibrations through the breeze. Opening his eyes, he'd see Kabuterimon above, having been circling around as he waited for an opening to attack Devimon.

He gently laid the two of them on the concrete, in a place that was still smooth and not torn up by the struggle. Still, Takeru didn't move, and stayed curled up around Patamon's body. He had no energy to move. Instead, his body shook with sobs as all the pent up emotions burst out of him.

A warm hand rested on his shoulder, and Takeru flinched at the feeling. Immediately after, he heard Taichi's voice, "We're sitting targets out here. Let's leave."

Even so, Takeru's body felt covered in a layer of concrete. It took both Koushiro and Taichi lifting him up before he was able to even move. Everything was a blur to the senses. His eyes stung with built up tears, preventing clear vision. His nose was plugged and running and the voices around him all sounded muffled. He barely remembered being led away from the battlefield. It took a few minutes to even realize only two people followed him away, and were now sitting with him on an empty train heading for more populated, active areas.

Takeru sat with the unconscious Patamon still in his arms, staring blankly at the opposite side of the train. Hikari and Koushiro were seated near him, a de-digivolved Tentomon and Gatomon in between. The cat was standing on the train rather than sitting on her seat, staring at the comatose boy and his partner.

"I've never… seen a human nearly die to protect a digimon before." Gatomon's voice was barely above the noise of the train. It broke the uncomfortable silence of the car. Her ears were half flattened, and she stood stiff, with tense muscles while still maintaining enough flexibility to keep perfect balance on the floor.

"Patamon and Takeru are a rare case." Koushiro said. "I hear they built up a strong bond, maybe only matched by Willis and his partners. The rest of us are… getting there."

"Takeru has always been gentle. But everyone has their breaking points." Hikari said. "I just hope Patamon turns out fine."

"I'm worried about the battle." Koushiro looked out the window as they neared their stop. "We may not have been doing much at all, but it was at least satisfying to think we were stopping some amount of carnage. Who knows how bad it will get. But for now there's nothing else we can do. If we were a larger group, I wonder if things would have turned out differently."

"How large was the group before?" Hikari asked. Koushiro shook his head, standing up as the train stopped.

"I don't know. Willis and Taichi don't seem to like talking about it. I imagine everyone was still around our age. So if they did get captured, it's likely they're in jail. If they're digimon sympathizers… that could be a different matter altogether, as they were likely caught by the Digimon Unit. They are separate from the rest of the military and the law to a small degree. Just in that they have their own jails and their own courts. So most likely anyone jailed for being a sympathizer wouldn't even land in a normal prison."

"So it's even more unlikely they could break them out, even using digimon as brute force." Hikari helped Takeru off the train. She watched him, hoping to see any sign that he'd snap out of it. He was staring at the ground still. Lucid enough to run on autopilot, but it was clear from the amount of times she pulled him back from running into signs or tripping over rubble that his mind was elsewhere.

She managed to get him seated on the couch. Takeru's face twitched in the first sign that he was coming around, and his face twisted horribly as he curled up on the couch, hiding his face in his arms.

The others arrived twenty minutes later, each of them layered with dirt, sweat and blood. Willis was banged up the most, carrying his unconscious partners in his arms. There was a large gash on his forehead, blood trickling into his eye. Without much of a word, he gestured with his head to the door leading to the basement.

Silently, the group made their way down to the Digital World and the shack to talk in privacy.

"What was that?" Mimi asked as soon as the door was closed. "Was that really what Patamon becomes when he digivolves? Why'd he go insane?"

"It's called dark digivolution." Willis said, placing his partners gently down on the floor. The two rabbits curled up to each other and continued to sleep and the other exhausted digimon joined in the pile. "Digimon are highly susceptible to emotions, especially when they form a bond with someone. If they're surrounded by too much negative emotion, they'll digivolve improperly. Not all digimon can meet their full potential, which is why there is so much variety with different species.

"Dark digivolution is reserved for particularly nasty situations like the one we just went through."

"There's never been anything about dark digivolution in Keisuke's notes." Koushiro said. Willis chuckled, shaking his head and placed his hands on his hips as he looked back down at his partners.

"Why would he know anything about something like that? You have to be a Tamer to know how digimon are affected by care. Keisuke and any other military rat wouldn't know a thing other than deletion."

"Tamer?" Hikari asked. "Is that what all of you are?"

"What else would we be?" Willis said. "It's not like we're chosen for anything. We're just a bunch of kids who crossed paths with digimon."

"Chosen? What do you mean by chosen? Where'd this come from all of a sudden?" Taichi asked. Willis looked up at him, exhaling through his nose and ran his fingers through his hair.

"There's some talk about some mystery beings referred to as 'Chosen'. I don't know what they are exactly, but what could be deciphered from ancient digimon writings, they are supposed to be special champions chosen to perform a great trial or service with powers unique from anyone else. Come to think of it…" He took his digivice out of his pocket, inspecting it. "There was a broken symbol on one of the walls that resembled these things. I wonder if Keisuke took inspiration for the design from that. Anything to defile the Digital World and anything it might hold dear."

Mimi turned her head away, frowning. Taichi also took his device out. "So our feelings affect whether or not our partners go into a blind rage. It's the first time Patamon digivolved. Tell me… is Patamon stuck on that path now?"

"I don't know."

The room fell silent with a heavy atmosphere. One by one the group slowly walked back to the exit. Patamon was on the couch by himself, with Takeru nowhere in sight. Eventually they dispersed back to their homes. Taichi walked Hikari back to the station and saw her off.

Hikari walked past her building walking to the end of the street, standing in front of Takeru's apartment. She stared at it silently in contemplation, as though that would give her an answer to his condition. She slowly turned back around, walking back home and hoping she could sneak into the shower before her mother caught the condition of her clothes.

Takeru didn't appear at school the next day, or to the hideout in Shibuya or subsequent battles. Patamon woke up by then, and asked for Takeru. No one could answer him no matter who he asked.

"Do you remember anything, Patamon?" Willis asked, mixing the rice in his bento with his coveted fork. Of course he knew how to use chopsticks, but anything from home was well appreciated.

Patamon shook his head, his ear-like wings sinking to the floor. "It's a blur after Centaurumon. I mostly see flashes. I remember more the more I think about it. Enough to know I did some horrible things."

"That's not your fault." Willis said, taking a bite of his food. "You couldn't handle the power and the dark programming of that form took over your reasoning."

"It's not Takeru's fault either!" Patamon cried. Willis held his hand up.

"I never said it was. It was an unfortunate event. There's no use pointing fingers."

Patamon still didn't seem satisfied, his short orange and cream fur fluffing up. He flew toward the door, plopping himself down just outside of the entrance to the living room, watching the door. Takeru wouldn't come.

Takeru was at school the next day, though he looked only marginally better. Daisuke chastised him for skipping out on practice, though when Takeru didn't respond other than short answers up until class started, Daisuke had to drop the questions.

He knew his attitude only drew more attention, but Takeru didn't feel like talking or interacting much with anyone. His brain was still a foggy mess, and he felt empty inside, like all of his emotions had broken from the force of his fits over the last day and a half. He wasn't sure what was scarier; the numbness itself, or the fact that slowly it was going away.

He focused on his schooling and training for the next week. He refused to speak to Hikari or Koushiro on the subject of going back to Shibuya. It was decided. He couldn't go back. He couldn't keep up with it, and he couldn't hurt Patamon anymore.

A jacket from the Youth Division was folded neatly in his locker over top his outdoor shoes. He was given the jacket three days ago from Kairi, who was excited to see him try it on. He wore it while training, but couldn't bring himself to wear it while in school yet. He took the jacket, slipping his arms through before switching his shoes.

Takeru looked up at the sound of papers and books falling to the floor, and a chorus of giggling girls. Looking around, he walked over two rows and saw Hikari kneeling on the ground, picking up her books and the loose leaf papers, pens and other school supplies that flew everywhere. Her bag had been dumped, being held by one of the laughing girls.

"Oops, so sorry." The girl said. "Your bag is so ugly, I didn't know which way to hold it up."

"Makoto saw you on the train heading over the bridge. Visiting that criminal brother of yours, Hikari?" Another girl asked. Hikari stayed silent, continuing to pick up her belongings.

Takeru frowned, stepping out from behind the shelf. All four girls looked over at him. The expressions on the three girl's faces changed to a mixture of surprise and horror.

"T-Takeru!" Makoto exclaimed, her cheeks colouring. He held his hand out for the bag. Makoto looked down at his hand, unsure of what to do. After further prodding with his hand, she handed the bag over to him.

"We were just-" Another girl spoke up, but a glare from Takeru cut her off.

Silently, he bent down and helped Hikari pick up the rest of her things. When he stood up, giving her back her bag he looked at the nervous girls again. His eyebrows slightly raised as he studied their expressions. He barely knew these girls, but he did recognize them as classmates. Classmates that admired students in the Youth Division. The look on Makoto's face in particular was telling.

"Girls like you are especially disgusting." The tone of his voice was a lot more tired than intended, giving in his mind at least a dose of poison that sent Makoto's eyes to mist. She ran away with her friends running after her.

Hikari took a hesitant step closer, biting her lip. "Thank you... for sticking up for me."

Takeru's eyes darted away toward the floor, turning his head away slightly. There was still that risk she'd ask in her eyes, even if she wasn't there with her words yet. "You're my... Don't worry about it." He turned away from her this time. "If they bother you again, you can come get me."

"Takeru-"

"I have to go, sorry." Despite protests from Hikari, Takeru left the school in a hurry, heading out toward the training facilities. Anything to keep his mind off Patamon, even dealing with Daisuke and subsequent battles alongside the military was better.

A look on his phone as he rode the train told him Keisuke requested him. His training was nearly over. The man must have decided he was ready for whatever he had in mind. Instead of walking down the long hallways and stairs to the bottom facility, he went to reception. It thankfully only took minimal convincing of the secretary that Keisuke did in fact request him and he wouldn't be intruding on business.

"You're a little early." The woman said as she hung up the phone. "He's free in forty minutes, if you'd care to wait."

"Thanks." Despite that, Takeru was barely able to sit still for long. Shuffling his feet and adjusting his lean a few times proved unsuccessful in calming him and he finally stood up to stroll around.

He knew where he was going, though the destination wasn't exactly where he wanted to go.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

"Are you sure?" Takeru's voice was tentative as he looked down at the slip of paper Mimi gave him. "This is a little expensive for a gift."

"Nonsense!" Mimi waved him off, placing her hands on his shoulders. "This is a celebration! You deserve it after you and Patamon finally reached Champion! Adult! Whatever we're calling it!"

"Ahh!" Mimi pulling him into a hug was unexpected and he could feel his face burn. Willis was snickering just within Takeru's peripheral, though Taichi beside him was looking away.

"I'm so proud of you! Our little T.K. all grown up!" Mimi spun the both of them around before letting go. She bounced back to the table with their plans for the evening, picking up a paper and discussing it with Hikari, who occasionally glanced up at Takeru with a smirk.

He ran his hands nervously through his hair, exhaling as he turned away from them, heading out to the balcony. Shirahama was gorgeous. White sands and marbled green-blue sea separated by a white foam. He leaned against the rail, taking in the warm breeze and smell of the sea.

Mimi was insistent they take a break after everything they'd done. It was hard convincing Willis and Koushiro to break from their routines, but Mimi was rather stubborn when it came to getting her way, they found. It was only for the weekend. Takeru, Hikari and Koushiro boarded the train as soon as school was finished, swimsuits, towels and extra clothes pre-packed in their bags. He had to admit Mimi had very good taste in vacation destinations.

Hearing the door slide open behind him, Takeru glanced back. Taichi joined him at his perch, looking out at the water. Takeru eyed him for the long moment of silence. A glance, and Taichi smirked. "She's something, isn't she?"

"Y-Yeah. You'd think she was a foreigner like Willis with how she acts."

"She said she actually spent a few years living in America. Before they shut down most overseas travel, that is. Her father switched professions to specifically work on the digimon projects and they moved back to Japan before things got too bad."

"That explains a lot." Takeru relaxed a little as more things fell into place. A small smirk intruded on his lips. "Were you jealous?"

"What?" Taichi sputtered, turning fully to the younger boy. The smirk became a full grin as Takeru looked at Taichi now.

"Come on, it's no surprise to anyone you spend the most time with her. Even when you don't need to, you're always close by. Partnering up with her a lot. Always nicknaming her 'princess' even outside missions. I started wondering if she was turning you into her 'knight.'" Takeru laughed as he dodged a playful swing, hopping on one foot as he tried to keep his balance.

"You're a brat," Taichi said, grabbing Takeru's arm to steady him. However, he used this moment of capture to bring his hand down hard on the back of Takeru's head, pushing his head down nearly to the bar of the rail. Takeru cackled as he moved to escape the hand and right himself.

"We just really get along," Taichi said, glancing for a moment at Takeru, his gaze hovering on the boy before trailing down to the streets below. "I don't know what she feels. But we're... Working on something. She's asked me to help."

"What's that?" Takeru leaned closer. Who knew what kind of people were around to listen on the other balconies. If anything was to be said, it was best in a whisper.

"She wants to get something done to raise awareness of the increasingly violent methods used by the SDF. If we can get anyone on our side with this, we can be taken more seriously about there being another way."

Takeru's eyes widened slightly. "She's going against her own father? Won't he be mad?"

"Maybe. We haven't figured out what to do yet. Just keep it between us for now, okay?" Taichi locked eyes with Takeru, searching for a positive answer.

"Sure." Takeru's attention was pulled back into the hotel room as the door opened, Mimi calling out in suprise

"Jou! You made it!" Jou expertly dodged Mimi's affections, his face red at the mere idea of it. His arm stretched as far as he could, hand still keeping the door open. He cleared his throat, straightening his glasses. Both Taichi and Takeru stepped back inside the room.

"I managed to get some time off. I haven't had a proper vacation yet. I think that's why they allowed me." The door opened as Jou talked, and a familiar feminine face of a woman with light brown hair nervously stepped in.

"Hello?" Sora looked around the room at the shocked faces of the rebels around her. All except Mimi, who was already running to Sora, grabbing at her hands.

"Sora! You made it!" The older girl smiled at Mimi, gently squeezing her hands. "Yes, thank you for inviting me. It means a lot."

"What's she doing here?" Willis asked. There was enough of a bite to his voice that caused Mimi's smile to slowly fade as she and everyone looked to the American. He was leaning against the wall, hand still on the lid of Koushiro's laptop, having closed it. "I don't mind if you're actually bringing all your friends. I was under the assumption this whole thing was for us."

"W-Well, yes." Mimi sputtered, brow furrowed and eyes wide with incredulous surprise.

"Then what is this?" His posture was rigid as he looked at Mimi. Takeru could tell he was trying to keep calm and not snap at her.

"I know who you all are," Sora said, looking calmly at Willis. "Taichi is here. It doesn't take any guessing to know who you are, Willis."

He took a step forward. "Then what-"

"You're here because of Biyomon, aren't you," Takeru said, stopping Willis in his tracks. Sora looked over to Takeru, eyes raising and mouth parting as she stared at him. Then, she nodded.

"What's this?" Taichi asked, walking over to Sora. She bit her lip as she looked at him, head tilted down as though expecting to be reprimanded.

"I thought about what you said after our talk that day," Sora said slowly. "Then I just... started talking to her. Eventually she... started talking back. Now I don't really know what to think. After talking with Takeru and Mimi, I started thinking maybe I couldn't just ignore it."

"How'd you figure out we were part of the rebellion?" Takeru asked. As happy as he was that Sora sorted things out, he couldn't deny the itchy, antsy feeling he got after hearing his name.

"I heard you talking to Mimi in the hallway. I wouldn't have thought anything of it if I hadn't been talking to Biyomon."

"So, you're going to join us?" Koushiro asked, slowly moving Willis' hand from his laptop and opened it again.

"Maybe. I don't know," She admitted. "I don't know what to do at all. I just want to set her free."

"Don't worry about it right now," Taichi said. He placed his hands on Sora's shoulders, "Just enjoy the vacation. We can sort things out after we've had a rest. But if you do decide to join us, we wouldn't mind having more eyes and ears inside the military. It will keep us all alive."

Sora nodded, setting her bags down. A ding from Hikari's phone made her jump, pulling it out.

"I thought we agreed no phones!" Mimi pouted. "Didn't your parents already know you were coming?"

"Yeah, sorry," Hikari rushed her message out and closed her phone, turning it off. "It was just Daisuke."

"Why is that kid messaging you?" Taichi folded his arms across his chest. Hikari squared her shoulders as she looked at her brother, sticking her nose up a bit.

"Because we're dating. He wanted to know when we should reschedule our trip to the new cafe that just opened up."

Takeru couldn't tell whether or not the room went silent after Hikari's revelation or if the sound of his heart breaking made him go deaf. He just sat there, frozen as he watched Hikari and Taichi have an argument about this. The others watched awkwardly for a moment before seeming to decide it was best to give the Yagami siblings some semblance of privacy and went about their own business.

Mimi shuffled over to Koushiro, starting a conversation with him about his work. He seemed surprised at Mimi's genuine enthusiasm about it. Jou, Sora and Willis all went outside on the balcony to talk. Takeru was stuck sitting on the bed, processing.

"I'm telling you it's too risky to date someone like that if you're going to be with us!" Taichi said, gesturing to Koushiro's laptop. "What if he finds Gatomon?"

"He's a good person! Besides, we're not heavily dating. We aren't even seeing each other that often!" Hikari was standing firm. She seemed a lot braver facing her brother than the meek girl she was at school.

"So you're really doing this?"

"I am."

"What happened to the cute little girl who always listened to her brother?"

"She had to grow up without him there to protect her." The two went silent. Taichi's eyes fell off to the side, finding an interesting patch of carpet while Hikari stared unblinkingly at her brother.

"I'm sorry," Taichi said through his sigh. "I really am. I didn't mean to hurt you. That's why I stopped coming around. That's why I started living with Willis."

"I know." Hikari stepped closer to her brother, holding her hand out and brushing it against his arm. "Things didn't end up that way. I'm not blaming you, but I had to adjust to a world without you. I started relying on other people. On myself. Daisuke has always been there for me."

Taichi scratched the back of his neck. "As long as you know what you're doing. If he catches on, we'll all be in deep trouble."

Hikari nodded, watching her brother as he joined the others outside. When he was gone, Hikari let out a big sigh, sitting on the bed next to Takeru. He barely had time to process when she twisted to face him. "Do you think this is the right thing to do?"

Takeru was slightly taken aback. He leaned away from her, blinking. "U-Uh... Well, Daisuke certainly is uh... persistent." He was struggling to find his words. As much of a shock as it was for him to hear the news, he couldn't let that affect him. He took in a massive breath of air, filling his lungs completely and exhaling. As he did, a smile formed on his lips. "As long as he doesn't find out, and as long as he makes you happy, I think that's all that matters."

Hikari's squared shoulders sank and a smile bloomed across her face. "Thanks, Takeru."

"No problem." It was okay. That smile made everything worthwhile. After everything that happened with Patamon, the days of being in a funk because of that, he wasn't going to let himself get caught up in those feelings again. He decided that in that very moment, and it was surprising just how much at peace he felt. Daisuke was annoying, but he'd tolerate him. He'd tolerate them.

Just to see her smile.

The beach weekend was only too short. The days of swimming in the gorgeous ocean and eating delicious food by a warm fire, laughing and finally feeling normal. Takeru wished it could last forever. But before he knew it, they were back on the bullet train to Tokyo. His life would resume with just as much chaos as it had before. Now after his rest, he had to focus all his time and energy on that initiation and what they'd do to him.

The plan was to start waking up an hour earlier and warm his muscles for the day. He'd do short runs and stretches during lunch and break and run to the facility. At night his mother would fix him a hot bath to soothe his strained muscles. Anything to keep them in good condition for the hard training that was to come.

It was as hard as expected. Takeru spent the next week with absolutely no free time to spare for the rebellion or socializing. The only time he could eat was during a short break between exercises, and never enough to give him cramps. He only saw his mother for a minute or two before retiring to bed, and that was the only non-military and non-school related social interaction he had for the most part.

Keisuke Tachikawa would keep him long into the night performing tests, and trying out weapon responses with Takeru. Despite everything the man was working to accomplish, Takeru had to admit he enjoyed these few hours. The older man was kind and friendly, with a disarming personality. It was easy to see where Mimi got it from.

The most curious thing was the new weapons Keisuke was asking him to test. Some sort of black collars made of metal.

"And these things are supposed to respond to our digi—delevices?" Takeru asked, handing his digivice over.

"Yes. Certain button combinations. But I am afraid that the current models might not have the power to sufficiently work these at the long distances I require. Plus, inspiration from those children who are causing some problems, I've looked into the secret of a digimon's evolution code."

Takeru could have sworn his heart stopped for a moment there, his breath catching in his throat. His voice came out hoarse and frog-like. "What?"

"Oh, just some hooligans who are playing a dangerous game. I commend them for being passionate about their cause. But they'll no doubt one day get hurt. Somehow they managed to control digimon and make them evolve from Rookie to Champion." Keisuke moved over to a box in the corner of his office. With a small grunt, he lifted it onto the table, opening it.

Inside were what looked to be digivices. They were larger, somewhat egg-shaped or like a walkie-talkie. They had colour to them, white in the middle with red, blue, green, pink, and yellow grips, respectively. The two digivices on the end broke the pattern; a gray device with black grips, and a navy blue with green grips.

"I call them D-3s. It stands for Digimon, Detect and Delete. The old models I'm going to throw away. It seems a while ago a handful were stolen from my stores."

"I see. So we can't use our old delevices anymore?" Takeru asked, still studying these new D-3 delevices.

"You can." Keisuke handed Takeru back his delevice when he was finished. "These D-3s will likely have the main purpose of keeping the digimon in check, while the old delevices can be used as they always have."

"You're saying we really are getting digimon partners?" Takeru could only imagine the look on his face as Keisuke chuckled.

"Yes. But don't you worry. I'm still finishing up testing on these controlerings. I want to make sure there's no room for error. I wouldn't send these things out, especially on your team unless I was confident a digimon would be so tame my own daughter could be left alone with one."

"That is confidence." Takeru stepped away from the case. "But sir... why are you showing me this now?"

He glanced at Takeru, sighing and adjusting his glasses. "Because I know about your initiation, and I know what Daisuke has planned. It's perfectly fine. I sanctioned it. You'll all need training on how to use these new devices. You'll just get a head start, and if I do say, a more interesting learning experience than sitting down listening to a stuffy old lecture."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?"

Keisuke chuckled. "You'll be in a safe environment, don't worry. You're getting necessary field training as well as weapons training. It kills two birds with one stone, if you ask me. If anything goes wrong, there will be people there to make sure you don't get hurt. I believe in letting kids be kids, but have the strong safety net of adult supervision. The illusion of danger is there, and that's vital to going on the battlefield."

"Thanks, I suppose." He gripped his digivice tightly in his hand.

"Well, once we finish testing how the D-3s and your delevice respond to the dark rings, we can both go home." Keisuke gathered a ring, taking the red D-3 out of its cradle. One thing Takeru liked about Keisuke was how efficient he was. He thankfully didn't have to do much himself. He stood there as Keisuke moved about the large training room, occasionally yelling to Takeru to press the specified buttons. Once or twice he left the room entirely to go into another or past a concrete wall.

It was all he could do as his mind fogged, and his body felt unbalanced and heavy. He didn't know how long they were there until Keisuke patted him on the shoulder, alerting him to his presence. Takeru jumped, looking up.

"You can go home, now. We're done for the night. Get some sleep. Good luck tomorrow." Takeru thanked the older man and went on his way.

He fell asleep on the train, and barely remembered waking up and walking home. The next thing he knew, his mother was waking him up. Sitting up, Takeru groggily reached for his phone to check the time. He also sent a quick text to Taichi about the initiation.

Taichi wanted to attend, if only because it was a good distraction while they infiltrated the facility. Apparently sometime time before he passed out, he texted Taichi about the dark rings. Mimi couldn't be asked to grab more lest she fall under suspicion. It was the same for Sora and Jou.

He went through his morning rituals, occasionally texting Taichi with any information he had. But his cell phone was turned off for good after he headed out the door. This was it. The day of initiation was here. He'd have to prove himself in front of Daisuke and who knows how many others.

Daisuke and the others were sitting in the lounge by the time Takeru entered. Even Iori was there. Their leader stood up, placing his hands on his hips. "You're late."

Takeru frowned, undoing his jacket and placing it on his usual chair. "No, I'm not. I'm early."

"You're late for warm up before the initiation. I thought I told you to take this seriously!"

"Give it a rest. I've worked my ass off all week for this. A couple of minutes of warm up isn't going to help." Daisuke took a few threatening steps forward, but Takeru just turned to meet him.

"Let's just focus on what we're here to do. I'm ready for this. You don't need to worry." At Takeru's calm voice, Daisuke stuck his nose up.

"Who says I'm worrying? I want to see you doing stretches until I come back." He walked past Takeru and out the door. The blonde sighed, getting into position for stretches.

"He's nervous." Minami giggled. "I think he wants to see you succeed." Aoi and Satoru followed Daisuke out of the room. Takeru paid them no mind. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his breathing. It wouldn't be long now. Time was ticking down until the initiation began, and Takeru couldn't afford to think about whether he was ready or not.

Daisuke returned twenty minutes later carrying the case from Keisuke's room. Takeru inhaled, watching as the others crowded around the box to take a look.

"Is this the new gear Keisuke made for us?" Kairi asked. "I haven't seen it yet!"

"No one should have," Ken said. "He only released it for final testing today. If all goes well, we'll be using this stuff by next week."

Takeru stood up, slowly walking over to the case. Aoi and Minami parted to let him in. He reached out, grabbing the green and white D-3 and the dark ring, holding them firmly in his hands.

"Because this initiation is also a test, there's personnel on standby in case anything goes wrong," Daisuke explained. "Takeru's goal is to use the new delevice and dark ring to take control of one of the two digimon we send out, and use it to battle the other."

Takeru nodded. He had no idea what kind of digimon he'd face, but it couldn't be any worse than the digimon he had to battle with Patamon. It couldn't be any more difficult than that. Just this time he didn't have the others or Patamon to back him up. The soldiers were there, but it wasn't quite the same.

Perhaps it was because there was no more waiting, or because of his realization, but Takeru no longer felt nervous. A zen-like calm washed over him as he placed his D-3 next to his digivice on his belt and walked out the door. The others followed behind him.

The arena somehow felt a little bigger than usual, though he couldn't tell if it was because all the equipment was put away or not. He walked nearly to the centre of the room, looking around. Many soldiers were standing by, watching and ready to help if needed. His team found their seats to watch his progress from a safe distance. Up in the higher floors, he could see a messy mop of brown hair and someone else next to it. Taichi and Koushiro were there, and half hiding in Tai's hair was Patamon. Taichi raised his hand very slightly to wave. They were in place, on a floor Takeru said barely had traffic. It was dangerous, but it was the best place to be so far. Takeru held his hand up to signal he was ready.

Two doors opened. One directly ahead, and one off to his far left. The first to emerge was a magnificent golden rhinoceros. It's horn was a lance sticking out from the thick gold plating of the armour. It looked like a stout steed ready for battle.

The second digimon to step into the arena was a blue and white dinosaur-like digimon. It had a V-shaped marking on its chest and its horns somewhat resembled a V as well. Takeru recognized both of the digimon from his studies. Rhinomon was an armour-level digimon, and a possible evolution of Patamon. A sudden twinge hit his chest at the thought of destroying what at one time could have been a patamon just like his partner. The other digimon was called V-dramon.

The armour digimon and V-dramon were both powerful. Takeru quickly ran through his options as he carefully watched the two. V-dramon seemed a bit timid, stepping away from the Rhinomon, who seemed much more aggressive. It snorted, scraping the floor with its front foot, horn pointed directly at Takeru. With all that bulky armour, he was sure it was slow. He could use speed to his advantage.

Immediately, Takeru bolted toward the blue dinosaur, who seemed to jump at the movement. Rhinomon charged at that moment, and to Takeru's surprise, he landed where Takeru was standing just moments ago before he could run even halfway to V-dramon.

It took a moment for Rhinomon to turn around, and gave Takeru just enough time to catch up to V-dramon. The dinosaur shook itself, realizing Takeru was running at him. Opening its mouth, V-dramon shot out a V-shaped heat ray.

"V-Breath Arrow!"

Takeru took a dive into the dirt, rolling away from the blast. He felt the heat on his back, looking behind him as it sailed on to hit Rhinomon. It bounced harmlessly off the armour.

Scrambling to his feet, Takeru lunged at V-dramon. He took the D-3 and dark ring from his belt, readying it. V-dramon's clawed hand balled into a fist.

"Magnum Punch!" Takeru dodged the punch, but felt a knuckle graze his cheek. It was enough to send Takeru flying to the ground, but not before throwing the ring. He pressed his finger hard into the D-3s buttons, and the ring opened, flying into V-dramon's neck with a force that nearly knocked the dinosaur over.

The ring closed tightly around its neck and V-dramon went limp. Takeru pressed another button on the D-3, but a bright light and shrill screech sounded from his belt. It was his digivice.

V-dramon was filled with an off-colour light, partially eclipsed with a yellow light. With a gasp, Takeru put his hand over his digivice in an effort to stop the signal. V-dramon began convulsing before its entire appearance filled with a black light, and it grew. All the while it was struggling, as if in pain.

Standing in front of Takeru now was a digimon so much larger than V-dramon. All white, its body covered with cables, wires and metal. What was left of living flesh was scarred. The most prominent thing was the metal jaw, with angry teeth cut out of the sheet and covered even much of the top of the maw. It towered over both Takeru and Rhinomon, its head even reaching Taichi and the others several floors up.

Takeru only barely saw Taichi bolt away down the hall before the newly digivolved MetalTyrannomon bent over, crushing Rhinomon in its claws. A lump formed in his throat as he watched the pixels dissolve into nothingness, his breath hitching in his chest. He could feel his body shaking.

The beast turned toward Takeru, barely seeming to notice the tiny human below. Takeru went rigid, carefully watching MetalTyrannomon. Had the dark ring worked? Was this creature now under his control?

Spotting him, MetalTyrannomon reached out for Takeru. He dove out of the way, body bouncing as the force of the Ultimate's hand shook the floor, reverberating through the entire stadium. The whole area was stunned to silence as the deafening boom settled. It was delayed, but the military personnel who were armed and ready ran out.

Shouts filled Takeru's ears as the panicked men and women screamed for resources to deal with an Ultimate, a level of digimon that was seen only few in number, but was dreaded. Takeru felt the heavy atmosphere daily during his time at this facility when topics of Ultimates came up. He didn't see any during his time with the rebels, but now that he was face to face with one, he finally understood. The magnitude of an Ultimate far outclassed a mere Champion level.

It paid no mind to the skittering of the personnel, taking a step forward toward Takeru with the same rumbling force as the hand, leaving Takeru to feel like his stomach would escape and run away on him. He needed no further incentive and ran in the opposite direction.

He barely noticed his digivice was screaming at his belt until he saw a blue, white and gold mass moving past him.

"Angel Rod!" Angemon's golden holy rod slammed down on MetalTyrannomon's hand, knocking the blast away.

"Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon flew down from above, buzzing around MetalTyrannomon's head. The Ultimate flinched, curling in on itself slightly. Angemon looked behind him at Takeru as he floated down until he was only a metre off the ground.

"Takeru, get to safety," Angemon said, looking back at MetalTyrannomon.

He didn't have to tell Takeru twice, siezing the moment herushed toward his group; Minami and Kairi both waving at him to come their way. Behind him, he heard someone scream.

"We're under attack!"

Takeru practically fell into Minami and Kairi's arms. The girls buckled at his weight. Pushing him to a stand, they pulled him toward the exit. He pulled against them, trying to look back to see a glimpse of Angemon.

His vision was shaky, the girls trying to egg him to follow not helping. His breathing quickened as he desperately searched whatever he could see for Angemon. He wasn't on the ground. Was he okay? Had he been captured or deleted by the military?

The anti-digimon weapons meant for larger, more powerful digimon were coming out now, sliding along on heavy wheels through the mighty doors the two digimon meant to help with Takeru's initiation came out of. A deafening blast from one of the cannons filled Takeru's ears, followed by a small shockwave. The girls screamed, letting go of Takeru to cover their ears and shield their heads.

MetalTyrannomon fell with an earth-shattering crash. The wall closest to the fight split in a hairline fracture to the ceiling. Then, he heard the voice of Kabuterimon shout another attack, followed moments later by Angemon.

Relieved, Takeru turned to the girls. "C'mon, let's get you-"

An explosion; this time from the other side of the hall rocked the hallway. The hairline fracture split wider, breaking off chunks of plaster to the undercoat behind. Smoke billowed out from a room not far from them, and a figure shrouded in the smoke appeared with a smaller grey mound beside him.

Taichi and Agumon emerged from the cloud, in full rebel garb to conceal his identity. He pushed past Takeru and the girls. He had a bag slung over his shoulder, no doubt filled with dark rings and whatever else he could steal.

"H-Hey!" Minami shouted, watching Taichi run past. "Who are—what did you do?!"

Minami ran after Taichi, with Kairi following on her heels. Taichi was bold, running directly into the fray, past military personnel before they even realized what was going on. MetalTyrannomon was distracted by the attacks from Kabuterimon, Angemon and the weapons to pay attention to what one lone human and a tiny Agumon were doing.

Daisuke was to Takeru's far left, where the team was originally sitting to watch the initiation. He tried to run onto the floor, but was stopped by an older soldier. "After him!"

Takeru rushed forward, following Taichi. The girls tried to follow, but based on their cries of struggle, they were grabbed as well. Takeru dodged a man reaching for him, letting his knees cave and he fell backwards, hand stretched to catch his weight, using that leverage to launch himself back up.

Taichi jumped onto MetalTyrannomon's tail, running up the length to the base. He used the cables and cords to anchor his feet, pulling on the black spikes that ran along the spine of the mechanoid digimon to the base of his head. Takeru followed quickly on his heels.

Taichi stumbled, falling to his knees to keep balanced as the giant digimon looked around, attempting to see what odd thing he was feeling. Takeru was grasped tightly to its spines. Next, he started swinging his head around, attempting to get it off. Pulling back, he rammed his head into the balcony of the upper floor, Koushiro diving out of the way. Taichi jumped off just before the land connected, Takeru only barely doing the same to the opposite end of the hall.

The smack, combined with another round of attacks from the Champion level digimon was too much for it. Closing its eyes, MetalTyrannomon began to glow and shrink. From a massive several storey-sized monster, down past the formidable size it was as V-dramon, and tinier still, until the digimon was the height of a medium-sized dog.

The dark ring around Vmon's neck broke, and it opened its eyes. Looking around in horror, the digimon cried out, curling into a ball. Angemon swooped the tiny digimon up.

"Thank you for saving me from that mind control ring!" Vmon said, his voice slurred. Angemon set him down.

"Go with them, they'll help you." Angemon gestured to Taichi and Koushiro.

"Really? But they're-"

"Human, yes. No time; just go!" Takeru urged, finally righting himself and shoving Vmon as gently as he could in the direction of the others. Vmon needed no further coaxing and ran for Tai and Izzy. Takeru also ran after them, just a little ways behind. Kabuterimon was doing his best to shield himself and Angemon from attacks, but as the humans escaped down the hall, there was little excuse left to stay. Both Kabuterimon and Angemon de-digivolved, following the boys.

The door in front of Tai swung open, nearly smacking him in the face. Out popped a panting Daisuke, pointing his pistol. Izzy stopped dead in his tracks, but Tai, recovering from the blow, grabbed Daisuke's arm.

The two struggled, the gun flailing all over as Daisuke tried desperately to keep control, while Tai tried to both wrestle it out of his hands, and keep him from shooting a dart at any of them. Even a non-lethal dart hitting the wrong place could cause serious harm.

Hesitantly, Agumon, Izzy and Tentomon squeezed past them. Vmon and Patamon were left. Patamon pushed Vmon forward when the pistol was knocked out of Daisuke's hand. Now Takeru was free to move without fear of getting shot in the face.

He grabbed for the digimon, Patamon Air Shotting Takeru in the chest and pushed Vmon to safety. Izzy smashed through a window where Tentomon already flown through and digivolved. The computer whiz jumped through the window, Kabuterimon catching him with his bottom set of arms.

Tai kicked Daisuke's legs out from under him, pushing him to the ground and bolted for the window. Takeru ran to help Daisuke up. Patamon flew out after him with Vmon following. Jumping onto the ledge, minding the glass, Vmon took a moment to steady himself for jumping.

It was one second too long as Aoi grabbed Vmon's leg just as he jumped. A dull thud told Takeru that Vmon must have swung around, hitting the outside wall. With some difficulty, Aoi pulled Vmon's body back into the room, cutting his jacket on some glass. Vmon hung limp in his arms, his nose slightly smushed and bleeding.

Daisuke sniffed, wiping his nose as he pulled a dark ring out of his small messenger bag, and the blue D-3. Pressing a button, the dark ring opened, and he slapped it around Vmon's neck. Takeru's shoulders sank. So that was it, then. They couldn't even get Vmon out. Kabuterimon was frantically flying away with vehicles soon following in pursuit. He could only hope they manage to get away without incident.

"Good work, Aoi." Daisuke said, patting him on the shoulder. He looked to Takeru. "And you, why didn't you run after them?"

"I couldn't exactly do that with your gun pointing around my head." Takeru said. He gingerly stepped over to the glass, looking down through the broken window. "How's you suppose they got in?"

"Dunno. But I bet security's gonna be beefed up after this. No more anything without someone knowing about it." Aoi said. He pointed to Vmon. "Guess I'll take this guy back."

Daisuke followed Aoi down the stairs. Takeru stayed by the window for a few moments. He closed his eyes, feeling the breeze on his face. One small opening of freedom.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

There were a lot of folks attending the concert. A lot of people Takeru recognized from school. He was ordered to patrol near the entrance of the Tokyo Dome, and along the lineup of concert-goers and look for any potential threats there.

From what he knew, there was a lot of debate on where the concert would take place. The Nippon Budokan was suggested for its smaller seat capacity, many fearing the greater numbers would already attract digimon to attack. Tokyo Big Egg, as the Dome was affectionately called, was chosen instead specifically for it's forty thousand capacity seats. This was a show of might on the part of the SDF. Reassure the public of their safety in their hands as well as a demonstration and stress test for the Dark Ring Program all wrapped into one.

The looks on most faces of the people he passed were conflicted. It was a practiced routine he never heard of before. Their eyes, wide and glistening with fear and worry, would flick over to DemiDevimon, then down to the Military Youth Division jacket with the insignia marking him as part of the SDF. Their bodies wouldn't relax and still kept a stiff posture until he moved on to a new section.

DemiDevimon kept as still as ever, though its claws dug into Takeru's shoulder a little tighter than usual. He wondered just how much DemiDevimon could process with the dark ring around his leg. He knew the programming made DemiDevimon behave himself and listen to Takeru's orders. But was there still sentience? There had to be if he was able to squeeze his shoulder, or look interested in the food he cooked. So that meant the dark ring forced through programming a relationship that people and digimon could naturally gain. He wondered if Keisuke knew about this.

An orange and red glow cast a ring around the horizon as the sun set, and there was a noticeable chill in the air. The lights surrounding the building and the line into the stadium would soon light up the night like a beacon brighter than anything the city has seen in a while. Half the lamps and lanterns and all manner of advertisements were shut off before midnight. Partly it was to reduce light pollution to scan the skies. It was also easier to detect the digital signals of more dangerous digimon. Only the essentials were kept on until now.

Still, the sight was amazing to behold. Concerts like Yamato's were usually small, and almost always indoors. Online and VR technology developed quickly to compensate for the lack of safe overseas travel, allowing many people to watch sports and concerts in the comfort of their homes. Many adults lamented it never quite reached the level of physically being there.

This foreign sight was bringing all that back. He'd been moving or standing in place for the better part of the day. Just being able to give people a sense of normalcy, something swelled in Takeru's chest that made his steps lighter despite the ache of his feet. Lucky that Bunkyo City wasn't far from Minato. But it would still take roughtly an hour and a train switch to get home.

As Daisuke came into view to take over the area, Takeru gave him a short wave of acknowledgement before running over to the side of the stadium building. There was a makeshift ladder there for him and the other kids to climb to the top. The roof of the building was all fabric and mostly held up by pressurizing the building. Not safe to stand on, but there was a ring around where they could walk around and check for threats from the sky. They also got permission to climb the Thunder Dolphin rollercoaster if they needed to.

The regular military personnel for the Digimon Division were also patrolling and acting as general security, but the Youth Division was meant to shine if a threat took place. With the crowd thinning as most people found their way inside, the team were more free to patrol the area without worry.

He'd only get a single lap around the ring before bumping into Satoru. Takeru stumbled back in surprise, barely registering seeing the other boy barely keep upright on all fours as he fell backwards, all too aware of one leg slipping off the side and how his body weight followed the momentum.

Clawed fingers lunged out, grabbed Takeru's hand and pulled him back onto the ledge. Takeru opened his eyes, taking a moment to look around as his breath returned to his lungs. He heard the beating of wings somewhere up above his head. Dracmon was standing there, hands facing him, with those eyes staring unblinkingly at him. Did eyes in the palms of hands even have eyelids? It was kind of creepy.

Satoru stood up to his full height, and turned around slowly. "That was a close one. We both could've tumbled off the edge!"

"Y-Yeah. Glad that didn't happen." Takeru stood up, still staring at Dracmon. It wasn't until he was still did DemiDevimon land back on his shoulder. "Thanks for getting Dracmon to catch me. I could have slipped right off the building."

Satoru tilted his head, brow knitting. "Huh? What ar–"

"Nevermind." Takeru waved his hand quickly, he inched himself as best he could toward the ladder. "Since you're here, I'll not worry about patrolling the roof. Be careful."

"S-Sure. You too." Satoru had his hands folded across his chest, eyebrow raised at Takeru as he descended the stairs. Takeru looked at him one more time, eyes falling one last time to Dracmon, who was standing stock-still, smiling. A high pitched giggle from the digimon sent shivers down his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut, sliding down the rest of the way when he was sure he wouldn't injure anything and quickly made his way across the street.

At this point he just wanted space from that thing. The Thunder Dolphin was a good spot. Away from the main area, and he could spot potential threats from so high up.

He was so distracted by the feeling he got from Dracmon's stares he didn't realize how fast he was climbing the support trestles until he felt his foot slip. This time he felt a warmer, more inviting hand grab his wrist.

"Careful!" Minami's voice said as she struggled audibly, knees bunching together around the handrail as she struggled to pull Takeru up to her. Gaining a decent hold, and a sturdy foot on a beam, Takeru pulled himself up.

"Thanks, Minami," Takeru said. Carefully, he pulled himself up enough to turn around and secure himself enough to sit. He rubbed at his forehead and briefly wondered if he was panting due to adrenaline from a potential fall or from Dracmon. There was a quiet, high pitched sound in the air. "I didn't think anyone would be up here."

"Good thing I was, dummy!" Minami scolded, her cheeks puffed as she glared at Takeru. "You could have been killed!"

Turning to Minami's direction, Takeru clasped his hands together in front of his face, bowing his torso. "Sorry! I was distracted! Thank you for saving me, Minami!"

"It was Dracmon, right?"

Takeru looked up, his mouth hanging open slightly. "How did you know?"

"It's not like I didn't watch you bumping into Satoru or anything. You almost fell off the roof of the Dome! Seriously Takeru, I'm worried about you. Don't be climbing tall things if you have your head in the clouds!" Minami placed her hands on her knees and she leaned forward as far as she could without bumping the handrail. "Is working with digimon that upsetting for you? You don't have to put on a brave face and act like everything's okay, you know! Ken's also having a hard time."

Takeru shook his head. "It's not that. I wasn't paying attention to what was in front of me with Satoru. I'll admit that. But that Dracmon just unnerves me. I think it reached out and grabbed me all on its own. Satoru didn't order it to."–That's right, Minami was watching the whole thing– "You saw Dracmon grab me, right?"

Minami shook her head. "As soon as I saw you were about to run into Satoru, I turned around to grab my radio. By the time I got it, you were already steady and back up on the roof."

She held out the two-way radio in her hand. Each of them were given one to communicate in case of a threat, orto say whether an area was clear. Takeru forgot about them. He supposed there was no way to prove Dracmon saved him. It was probably the first time he worried whether or not the dark rings worked.

"This is exciting, isn't it?" Minami pulled Takeru out of his thoughts. She looked over to him and grinned, her legs swinging back and forth. "I mean, I never thought I'd get paid to sit on top of the highest point of a roller coaster like some sort of delinquent, but it's totally allowed!"

Takeru couldn't help but smile, her excitement and energy were contagious. "I never took you for the rebel sort, Minami."

"How rude!" A slight nudge of his shoulder with her hand made him chuckle. "I'll have you know I'm quite the model student at my school! It's just… we'd never be able to do this sort of thing normally! Not ever!"

"You're right about that." Takeru leaned back, finally noticing Labramon off to the side and more directly on the tracks. It was curled into a ball and shaking. The high pitched noises he was hearing was coming from it. It was whining.

"Is… Labramon afraid of heights?" Takeru asked. Minami twisted until she could look behind her at her digimon.

"Oh. Yeah, it's been doing that for a while. I guess I never thought about it. I didn't think digimon could have emotions like 'fear of heights' or other things like that. It's strangely human. I couldn't stand the creepy way it was staring at me, so I loosened the control the dark ring had on it. I know they're not alive or anything. But it's only slightly less creepy that the non-living thing moves and acts living than stares deadly at you like a statue while it moves."

"You don't think they're alive?" He couldn't help but stare at Labramon. Its eyes were closed, but he could clearly see there was an uncomfortable look on its face.

"How can they be?" Minami shushed Labramon, who stopped whining as loudly, whining softer. "They're not animals or people. They're made of data, Mr. Tachikawa says. So they're not alive at all. They imitate life because of all the data of our world that's leaked over to their cyberspace. So anything remotely similar to our world is because of that."

"I wonder." DemiDevimon took to perching on the handrail, looking out over the city. "They're completely alien to us. They come from a world that isn't on Earth, but are they really just data? How is it possible that they have things like desires to take over Earth if there's nothing to them? How can they all have the exact same programming like that?"

Minami shifted uncomfortably, her face twisted into a frown. "I don't know! But they're all programmed for battling and all that. So why is it a stretch to think they all didn't also gain programming for maliciousness and murder? It's only natural that kind of information would lead them wanting to destroy humanity, right? I kind of thought that was obvious.

"They are creatures. Maybe they do have feelings and emotions, like you say. But I don't see why it's necessary at all to attack people and come into our world."

Minami's hand landed on Takeru's. It was warm and soft despite the cooling of the night. He felt his face heat up. "Mina–"

"Takeru…" Minami was facing him now, leaning in. Her hand wrapped around his, and squeezed. "You're a kind person. I could see that from the first time I saw you. A little bit stubborn, maybe. But you're gentle. That's what I like about you, and what makes you easy to get along with even if we haven't known each other more than a few months. But this is the SDF, even if we're focused on digimon. This is war. It's a bad idea to have empathy for digimon. So please just… don't think of such things anymore. You might get hurt. You might get killed!"

A brief pause as Minami stared at Takeru intensely before reclaiming awareness of her self and the situation. With a squeak, Minami pulled her hand away from Takeru's, turning away from him.

"I-I'm sorry! That was too forward of me! Please forgive me!"

With everything that happened over the last few months, such a gesture wasn't quite as shocking after getting to know someone like Mimi. Even so, it was still startling. Takeru shook his head, laughing softly. "It's fine, Minami. I know someone who is a lot more open than that. I'm getting used to it."

He was allowing the awkwardness of the situation cloud over having to take any responsive action to her words. After all, it was already far too late for him to do as she asked.

Something in the periphery of his vision moved. His body went rigid as his head shot up, scanning the skies.

There!

A humanoid winged figure was flying toward the dome. An anthropoid bird with large wings on its back, red and yellow kimono and an amigasa on its head. It carried two katana on either side of its hips. Takeru stood up. "We've got a digimon incursion."

"Crap." Minami pulled her radio out just as the digimon flew past them. "Daisuke! There's a digimon!

It looks like a Buraimon!"

"DemiDevimon, after it!" Takeru ordered. DemiDevimon dove off the handrail, flying after Buraimon.

"Demi Darts!" Buraimon whirled around, in an instant unsheathed its katana and sliced through all of the darts. It stared unblinking at DemiDevimon for a moment, assessing it. As it was distracted, Vmon leaped into the air, headbutting Buraimon between the shoulderblades.

"Aerial Vmon Head!"

With a piercing cry, Buraimon fell several metres. It was enough for Gazimon to grab onto Buraimon's clothes with its claws, opening it's mouth, poison gas shooting from its mouth. "Paralyze Breath!"

Buraimon shook off both the poison gas and Gazimon, who opened its mouth as it fell. "Electric Stun Blast!"

A ball of electricity flew at Buraimon as Gazimon turned around mid air just in time to land on its feet.

Takeru looked back to Minami, holding out his hand for her. "Let's go! We'll be more help to them on the ground, and it's safer in case it comes to attack us."

Minami nodded, taking Takeru's hand. He helped start her descent safely before turning back to Labramon. He'd have to carry it somehow. There was no other way. Tucking his shirt and jacket into his pants, Takeru unzipped the jacket part of the way down. Glancing periodically back at the fight, Takeru approached Labramon, picking the dog digimon up. It squirmed in his hands, but calmed down when against his body, feeling its feet touch something solid. With Minami a fair ways down, he started his own descent.

The fight behind them was no where near in their favour. Buraimon, Takeru could tell from the sounds, was keeping high in the skies. The digimon could jump up, but they would have to come back down eventually. The only digimon that could match it in the air was DemiDevimon. But this digimon was clearly a Champion level. There was no way they could take Buraimon down unless they digivolved.

Takeru stopped his descent, using one hand to clutch onto the heavy digimon in his jacket. He couldn't let Buraimon get to the Egg. Under no circumstances could that be allowed! Buraimon could breach the dome before the military fully gathered appropriate numbers to take on this strong a digimon. But if they lost and the military had to defeat it with the weapons already standardized, could that mean the public wouldn't want this project to go any further?

The rings worked, but the digimon would be useless in battle! It would end, right? But the digimon might be straight up killed if they were no longer useful.

What should he do?

The grip on Labramon tightened. His eyes squeezed shut and his forehead hit the cold steel beam. What should he do? What should he do?

Labramon whined.

Takeru opened his eyes. Glancing down at Labramon, who was staring back up at him. His teeth clenched tightly, the hand gripping Labramon's body moved to his coat pocket, grabbing his D-3. He pointed it at DemiDevimon, twisting his torso.

"DEMIDEVIMON!"

A familiar scream from the digivice, though lower pitched and somewhat distorted. A bright light emitted from the screen.

"DemiDevimon digivolve to..." The bowling ball-sized shape grew huge with a more humanoid shape. Long, grotesque gangly limbs, unusually developed, pitch black with red claws at the end. A long tail with a grasping claw and an elongated snout filled with teeth and four glowing red eyes. "Devidramon."

Takeru shuddered at the sight. It was too similar. From it's appearance to its name, everything was too similar to Devimon. Why? Was this another dark digivolution? Was it his fault, or was this natural, and Takeru got unlucky with the digimon given to him? DemiDevimon at least looked like it was more suited to this line.

Devidramon's eyes glowed, and Buraimon's body seized up. Opening it's mouth, a black ball of energy charged with red electricity grew. It shot at Buraimon. "Dark Gale."

The paralyzed Buraimon was hit, landing hard on the concrete below. Devidramon didn't give it time to recover, raising its claws in the air.

Buraimon took out its second katana. "Swallow Due–"

"Crimson Nail." A trail of red slashed across Buraimon's body. The katana dropped to the ground, both dissolving into millions of pixels. Buraimon was shaking, trying to move its body. It gave up as its body burst.

As Takeru finally landed on solid ground, Devidramon landed where Buraimon's body once stood. It stared at Takeru, red eyes boring into him. He stared back, frozen in place. It was only Kairi and Minami's calls that brought him out of it, as the team gathered around.

"How were you able to make DemiDevimon digivolve?" Aoi asked between pants. He was carrying Penmon in his arms. The digimon wasn't winded at all.

"I was wondering if a foreign digimon would even be compatible with Japanese tech," Satoru said.

"Uh, I just... I didn't think about it much, really." Takeru held his hands up, breathing somewhat strained as his mind wandered to all the fights leading up to learning how to digivolve Patamon. "I just wanted to stop Buraimon before he hurt people."

"Just a natural way with dealing with digimon. No wonder Tachikawa chose you for the experiments to build these things," Aoi said, his head bobbing up and down in approval.

Daisuke and Ken were behind Aoi. Daisuke was scowling. Ken's face was unreadable. Of the two of them, Takeru wasn't sure which was worse. He placed a hand on Aoi's shoulder, pushing him gently to the side. "Yeah. Good job on figuring out digivolution, Takeru. We're one step closer to catching up to those rebels and their secrets. But we should all get back to work. The concert's not over. There might be another attack."

The others break up from the crowd. Daisuke leaves to report to some personnel about the attack. Realizing the digimon was still in his jacket, Takeru gives Minami back Labramon. It isn't until Takeru looks up to see Devidramon has de-digivolved back to DemiDevimon does he notice Ken is still standing there.

He hesitates taking a step. "Is there something you needed, Ken?"

Ken's body jolts, and he slowly shakes his head, giving the blond a polite, practiced smile. "No. Good job handling the digimon today. You're turning out to be a real natural at this. Better than your hand-to-hand."

The smile took a lot of the bite away from his words. It was likely meant as a joke anyway. More than that, Takeru was more curious about how distracted Ken was. Had he been wanting to say something and thought better of it?

Takeru nodded and thanked Ken, not walking over to retrieve DemiDevimon until he left. There was still two hours left until the concert was completely over and most people emptied out of the Egg. It was going to be a long night. Then off to the Digital World the next day. Takeru wasn't sure if he was even able to see Patamon before he'd leave.

Yamato found his way over to Takeru and stuck relatively close for the rest of the night. He appreciated it, even if they didn't exchange many words. The last few days was the most he'd gotten to spend time with Yamato since before he met Patamon. He was a completely different person now.

Before he'd been nervous because he didn't know what he'd say to his brother. He knew of the things he'd taken interest in, like his band. There wasn't much else he really knew about him. He supposed that could have been the other reason why their father signed him up for all of this.

He still regretted it; even taking interest in the first place. It couldn't be helped. He knew that. It had been his intention to spend more time with them in the first place, so in a way his original goals were being met. Even so it felt like there was an invisible divide between them now. Perhaps he was imagining it; perhaps it was only on his end. Ideologically he was very different from his father and brother now. Truth be told, at some point along the way being swept up in all of this, he'd forgotten all about trying to reconnect with them. It didn't matter as much anymore.

Takeru cluched his chest as he sat on the train, staring at the floor. His teeth clenched.

He regretted admitting it.

"Something on your mind?" Takeru looked up at Yamato's question.

"Uh, no. Not really. I guess I was just thinking about things." Takeru's loosely threaded fingers tightened into a clasp. He could also feel DemiDevimon's talons dig into his shoulder, as though also feeling his anxiety. Maybe it was just his imagination. "It was only since April everything started happening. The move, the military," –befriending Patamon, joining the rebels, all things Takeru couldn't talk to anyone about–"and now this? We're going into the Digital World. I'm kind of reeling."

Yamato leaned back, tilting his head to face the ceiling of the train. "Normally even military personnel aren't allowed to just go in and out of the Digital World. It's unexplored territory. It's behind enemy lines. Keisuke Tachikawa and his team are usually allowed in after a bunch of paperwork and waivers to explore and collect data. I can't imagine how many hoops he needed to go through to allow something like this, I'm going to be honest."

"It's going to be worse for us. None of us are legally adults. I'm surprised they're even letting you escort us."

"It's because I didn't go into the Youth Program and am roughly half a year away from reaching adulthood." Yamato tilted his head forward, then leaned his whole body forward. He clasped his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. "I had to sign a bunch of forums and all that showing I acknowledged my age and that I had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, as well as the trust put on me, both from you guys, your families, my superiors and society. Mr. Tachikawa thought it would be better if either myself or dad went with you."

"I'm surprised dad didn't stop you and come himself."

"Ah, I had to fist fight him for it." The casual way Yamato said it made Takeru snort. "Dad's mid forties. It was decided I'd handle any kind of terrain better. Plus my team is going to be the first after your trial period ends to get digimon. Still, they gave me a D-3."

He dug in his pockets, pulling out a dark blue and green delevice. "Digimon, Detect and Delete. D-3, huh?"

Takeru took out his own D-3. "We're doing the trip tomorrow to get tools to upgrade our D-3s, right? So our digimon will digivolve. Wouldn't that make them D-4s?"

"Digimon, Digivolve, Detect and Delete. Digivolve, Detect and Delete. More appropriate to the function. You know, that man has never been good with coming up with clever names as well as his clever ideas." Both of them laughed as they looked at their respective digivices.

"You're going to be okay, right? Dealing with digimon every day?"

"Huh?" Takeru looked up at Yamato. "Yeah. I just... I wasn't expecting DemiDevimon to digivolve into such a demonic form."

"They're all fairly demonic, if you think about it." He wondered if Yamato would really say those things if he saw Devidramon. A silence filled the car as the remainder of Takeru's energy was diverted to keeping him awake. Not that he wanted to talk about Devidramon anyway.

The train stopped at Uchisaiwaicho Station. As they walked the short distance to Shimbashi to board the Mita Line, Yamato filled the silence with talk about the mission. Takeru would have to pack tonight and wake up early. They expected everyone to arrive at 6am and enter through a gateway that frequently opened between the two worlds in Hikarigaoka. The trip might last for a day, and they'd all be given camping gear and enough food to last two days, just in case anything went wrong.

Arriving home a little after 1am, Takeru unlocked and crept through the door, gingerly closing it before taking off his shoes. He placed a hand on the wall and felt his way to his door in the dark. The lights to his room were only switched on after closing the door. With a hand motion, DemiDevimon flew to his perch.

Clothes were thrown into a pile on the floor beside his backpack along with a few necessities. He made sure to set his alarm for five. A whole four hours of sleep. Joy.

When he was thoroughly satisfied he stripped out of his clothes and flopped down on his bed, barely remembering to switch off the light.

It would barely feel like he got any sleep before the alarm on his accursed clock went off. Groaning, Takeru pushed his body's dead weight up with his elbows, neck straining as he worked to find the wakefulness to raise his head up. Sitting was a slothful chore, and it wasn't until he was upright did he shut the alarm off, nearly falling back over in the process.

Getting dressed was a chore. Moving was a chore. His whole body felt heavy. He was sure his feet were dragging on the ground. At this rate he'd have no time. He'd grab something at the konbini across the way. Some food, and coffee. Lots of coffee.

DemiDevimon watched from its perch as Takeru dragged himself across the room. When the time came, he obediently hopped onto his arm, scuttling up to his shoulder. He went to grab his saving grace before taking the train to the Division's building.

Daisuke, Ken and Iori were already in the break room by the time he arrived. Iori was sitting on a bar stool chair, idly swinging his legs back and forth, barely missing the floor. He was glaring down at his yellow and white D-3. Out of the four of them, he was the only one who looked rested.

Takeru grumbled a sleepy good morning before sitting down in a chair. Immediately his body relaxed and his eyes went out of focus. Nope. Sitting down was a bad idea. He downed the rest of his coffee to wake himself up as he stood.

"Are you okay, Iori?" Ken asked, taking a few steps toward their youngest member. "You've been staring at that delevice for a while."

"I'm not allowed to come with you guys. Even if I'm part of the team, I'm too young." Iori's voice was quiet and solemn as ever. "I overheard Mr. Tachikawa and my mother talking. I'm allowed to get my own digimon but the Digital World is too dangerous."

"There's a lot of red tape and ethical and societal complications that have to be worked around for us to even go." Ken said. He leaned against the smooth marble counter. "You're only thirteen."

"I'll be fourteen soon enough. I'm only two years younger than you. I don't see why I'm just an honourary member. I've been training longer than Takeru has along with you." Iori glanced over in Takeru's direction, his chin tilted down in a meek apology. "No offence."

He smiled. "None taken."

Iori looked back at Ken. He held out his D-3 to the older boy. "Even with a digimon I won't be as helpful if I can't keep up with you guys. My digimon will need to digivolve. Could you take mine with you?"

Ken reached out, gently placing his hand over Iori's delevice. "Sure."

There was a loud commotion as Aoi, Satoru and Kairi entered the room. Once again, Aoi and Kairi were arguing. At some point, Minami slipped in without being noticed. Yamato and Keisuke followed after the three only a minute later, stopping the argument immediately. While he expected Yamato to have bags under his eyes, Takeru wasn't expecting the same dark circles under Keisuke's.

"Hello kids," Keisuke's voice was just as cheery as ever. "The van to Hikarigaoka is here. Now, I'll explain to everyone what we're expecting."

Keisuke proceeded to tell everyone what Yamato told Takeru last night. He couldn't bring himself to fully pay attention. Perhaps he could sleep for the hour it would take to drive all the way to Hikarigaoka? Why did they have to go all the way out to Nerima?

"From my research, digieggs force digivolution of certain digimon. If we can obtain samples of these objects, we'll be able to force digivolution onto your digimon and help unlock the secrets to digivolution. There is a big stash of them near a common opening in Hikarigaoka. Your job is to retrieve these digieggs as fast as possible with as little attention brought to you as possible. That's why we're keeping the team as small as possible."

Keisuke continued to talk as he led the team out to the entrance of the building. Takeru didn't remember much after that. It wasn't long before the majority of them fell asleep in the vehicle. Takeru would be woken up by Yamato's hand on his shoulder once they arrived.

It was just a bridge. The location was at Hikarigaoka station underneath the bridge. The half-destroyed Hikarigaoka IMA mall sitting abandoned. The frequency of this gate opening up made the building an unpopular site to think of rebuilding. It was just outside of a barrier. The trains had their own system that protected them underground apart from what was above. The dark rings protected their digimon from being hurt by the barrier changes. Handy in some ways. Briefly Takeru wondered if Willis and the others could use something like that.

As Takeru got out of the van he couldn't help but be struck by a heavy atmosphere. Was it his imagination? It felt like there was a sort of history here. Or nostalgia. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Men and women in military uniforms were already at the site. They had some complicated looking technology with them. It was likely to force the gate to open.

"It's been a long time since we were here," Yamato said quietly. He glanced at Takeru as he said this. His eyes flicked down to Takeru's chest. "You okay?"

Takeru looked down at his own chest. He hadn't realized he was clutching it. His hand shot back down to his side. "Y-Yeah. It's just... a weird feeling to this place."

"This was where they found you, I was told." Yamato grasped at his shoulder, squeezing it. "That was the night dad decided he'd join the military and when we'd move away from this place."

The memories were filling out as Takeru looked around the area. Patamon had been leading him somewhere. He was six, being led by the hand through the portal. There was a smile on Patamon's face. Through a mass of pixels and the urban cityscape of Tokyo instantly melted away to a forest with muted colours. Patamon looked back to say something to Takeru, his face twisting in horror, as Takeru was snatched by strong arms, military personnel and police filing in from Takeru's peripheral.

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. They were all ready. While this was new territory for everyone else, he'd done this before. This time, he'd see more of what lay beyond this digital gate.