Human Nature

Summary: Everyone on earth now knows about digimon, but the summer before Taichi, Sora, and Yamato head off to university, the chosen children are threatened by a different sort of enemy. There are evil digimon, but then there are evil humans, and humans are all-too familiar with the way the world works. Can Taichi and his friends overcome obstacles that pit them against each other (and themselves), or will they fail as guardians of their newly integrated worlds?

Author's note: Before reading on, please note that this story will explore a number of different identities and themes. I expect there to be triggering material, but I will do my best to provide proper warnings for each chapter if they are applicable. Those warnings can be found at the bottom of each affected chapter so that nothing's spoiled, but I'll make them noticeable so you can scroll down without having to read anything else. On that note, I can only write with authority about a certain number of identities. I'm doing a lot of research for this story, but that will never be enough. If you feel that something was portrayed improperly please message me and let me know so I can edit it. The last thing I want to do is do a disservice to communities that I believe need more presence in fanfiction. However, please also note that the characters in this story will be experiencing incredible growth, so things might be written a certain way on purpose. Thanks everyone!

Chapter 1: The Stolen D-3


"Mimi, I can't believe you did all this for us." Taichi exclaimed, looking around him.

Mimi's apartment was filled with tons of Taichi's classmates. In typical Mimi-fashion she'd gone all out to throw her friends a surprise graduation party. Streamers were littered across the walls and balloons of all colors were tied on to every single piece of furniture. A giant banner hung across the doorway that read 'Congratulations Taichi, Yamato, Sora!'. High schoolers were standing around talking and drinking- there were so many people that Mimi had to leave her balcony door open so fresh air could come in.

"Oh, don't say another word about it," Mimi shushed him, "graduating high school is a big deal! And the three of you will be headed off to college soon. We needed one last hurrah, right?"

Taichi smiled and nodded at her. He still wondered how she'd gotten away with throwing such a party- his parents would have killed him. The brunette wasn't complaining, though.

Taichi felt a hand grab onto his shoulder, so he swung around to see who it was. A cheerful Daisuke looked up at him.

"So, do you think you're ready for college?"

"I'm so excited." Taichi replied.

Jyou must have overheard, because he piped up behind them. "Well, you shouldn't be." He sighed and looked at the floor, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "The excitement for me died down on the first day. I'm still drowning in school work."

"Well, no one told you to become a doctor, Jyou!" Taichi laughed, turning back to Daisuke. "I'm more than ready to get out of here."

In a few months, Taichi would be headed to Yamaguchi University. It was on the other side of Japan, but he couldn't turn down a top-30 offer. The school was a reach school and he didn't really expect to get in. When he told his family the news they were torn between joy and sadness because they knew they would see him a lot less. Hikari was the one who had really helped him decide, though. She pushed him to confirm his enrollment. His little sister insisted that it was the best decision for him, even though she would miss him. Taichi was convinced that she just wanted their room to herself.

On the other side of the party, Yamato was slowly sipping his cup of beer. Drinking wasn't exactly his thing, but he didn't want people to badger him about celebrating all night. He'd probably been holding on to the same cup for over an hour, but he doubted that anyone noticed. Ken Ichijouji was standing against the wall next to him, silently observing the party.

Yamato leaned over, "So, are you having fun?"

Ken seemed to snap out of a daze. "Oh, yeah! Thanks so much for inviting me- well, I guess it was Mimi, wasn't it?"

"We're all happy to have you here." The blonde replied, noticing the younger chosen child didn't have a drink either. Ken fidgeted with his hands once he'd realized the older boy noticed. Yamato smirked, slightly relieved that he wasn't the only one who wasn't celebrating in the conventional way.

"Hey, really," he went on, determined to stop Ken's fidgeting, "I'm glad you're here! I'm more of a people-watcher myself, but it's boring to do it on your own, you know?"

Ken let his hands fall to his sides. "Yeah, I suppose." He looked around and scanned the crowd. He only knew a handful of the people there because he attended a different high school. It seemed like everyone was having more fun than him, but perhaps it was just a different type of fun. Daisuke was milling around the room and making friends like the typical social butterfly he was. Miyako was sat on the sofa talking to some friends from her computer club. Hikari was… sitting off to the side. Ken cocked his head. It wasn't like her to look down at an event like this.

"Do you mind if I step outside for a moment?" Yamato asked, pulling Ken out of his thoughts.

The younger boy watched his friend pull out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Oh, not at all… I didn't know you uh, you-"

"It's a new habit." Yamato stated bluntly.

Ken waited for a moment to see if he was going to explain himself, but he didn't. "Well, I'll head over there." He said, motioning towards Hikari.

Yamato looked concerned. "Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine." Ken replied, smiling again. "I'll go check on her."

The blonde made his way towards the front door. He thought it would be a better idea to smoke out on the front walkway so he wouldn't fill Mimi's apartment with a terrible smell. Plus, he really didn't want all his friends finding out about his bad habit.

Mimi saw him go by and cut off her conversation with Taichi to ask him if he was leaving.

Yamato smirked at her, "You think I would leave your party this early?" He raised his voice so she could hear him over the crowd before walking out the door. It shut behind him, muffling all the voices. Quiet.

Meanwhile, Ken approached Hikari, unsure if something was wrong or not. She had her phone out, but the boy could see that she wasn't actually using it.

"Erm, hey..." he began, hoping his company wasn't unwanted.

"Oh, hi!" Hikari replied, raising her head to look at him. She instantly put a smile on her face as if she was trying to pretend she didn't look sad a moment ago.

Ken stopped in front of her, unsure of where to place himself. Hikari was sat in a single chair and there wasn't any place else to sit. "You alright?"

"Of course!" the girl said a little too quickly. "This is one heck of a party, huh?"

"For one heck of an occasion." Ken concluded. Hikari bit her lip. He decided to push further. It was better than leaving her alone again. "So, Taichi's attending Yamaguchi, huh?"

"Yeah," Hikari forced another smile, "isn't it great? I'm so proud of him."

"And rightly so." Ken shifted his weight on his feet. "That's a great school. I would be proud to get in there."

"Mmm…" The girl's voice trailed off.

It was silent for a moment, and Ken couldn't think of what to do. "Well-"

"I'm going to miss him." Hikari said suddenly. She bit her lip again and looked back at the ground.

Ken's eyes widened. He was great friends with Hikari and all, but he never really knew what to do when girls were sad. He pushed his hand through his hair and sighed. "He'll miss you too. You guys are a great pair of siblings."

The brunette smiled, and this time Ken could tell it was genuine. "Thanks," She said, looking up again, "but don't you think it's a little selfish of me to be sitting here at his graduation party? After all, it's not every day you get to send your older brother off to college."

"Not at all!" the boy retorted. "I think it's a bit natural. I imagine that I would feel the same way if I was seeing my older brother off to school."

Hikari furrowed her brow and muttered a quick apology, realizing that what she was saying probably sounded selfish to him. The boy insisted it wasn't a problem. Hikari nodded but didn't believe him, unaware that Ken was internally scolding himself for being so awkward.

Their conversation dwindled again, but luckily, Ken spotted Takeru across the room. It looked like he'd just finished a conversation with someone.

"Hey, why don't we go hang out with Takeru?" Ken asked, pointing in his direction. "He's sending Yamato off too, you know. Maybe he'll be able to help cheer you up."

Hikari smiled and got up. "Sure. Let's try and have some fun."

Sora, the final graduate, was standing in the kitchen talking to some members of her tennis team. They were going on and on about how she wasn't going to continue playing in college.

"But you're so good!" One of them lauded.

"Really," another girl piped up, "you were the best doubles partner I ever had!"

"Thanks, Nori." Sora blushed, taking another sip of her drink. She already felt a bit red in the face and these compliments weren't helping. "But hey, what about you? You'll be a senior next year, do you have any plans?"

Nori sighed and pushed a lock of black hair behind her ear. "No. Not yet at least. Well," she chuckled, "I won't be majoring in math like you!"

Sora smirked. Whenever she told anyone about her planned major, no one seemed excited about it. It was math, the subject that most people despised in school. Sora, however, always found that it came easy to her. It was something she was good at, and when she was pressured to decide what she was going to study, she put it down on her applications.

"Hey!" Nori reached over and grabbed some shot glasses off the counter, "Another round for Sora, huh?"

The girls on Sora's team nodded in approval, reaching out and taking one. Sora, however, placed a hand over her stomach. "Oh gosh Nori, I really don't think I should have another, I-"

Her friend cut her off. "Come on! It's your party. Just one more, okay?"

Sora grudgingly took a glass. Although her and Nori were great friends, and even better partners, their drinking habits didn't really match up.

"Alright," Nori smirked once everyone's glasses were full, "to math!"

"To math!" The group replied, laughing as they downed the alcohol.

"To math." Sora grimaced, making the mistake of smelling the liquid before throwing it back. She stuck out her tongue and waited for the unsettled feeling in her stomach to end. Two seconds turned into ten, and the redhead realized that the feeling wasn't going to go away.

"Erm, excuse me…" Sora muttered, clumsily placing her glass back down on the counter. She pushed her way through the crowd in the kitchen, but it felt like she couldn't get out fast enough.

Outside, Yamato lit his cigarette and rested his arms on the railing, looking out across the city. He inhaled the smoke and pushed it back out, watching it dance it's way across the red and white lights. The silence was nice, but the cool air felt better. Mimi's apartment was packed, and it was cool to see all his friends in one place, but the blonde didn't flourish in crowds. Throughout high school he had enjoyed performing in front of them, but being in them was a different story. He flicked some ash off the side of the balcony and brought the cigarette to his lips again. He barely had time to enjoy the hit before he heard the door open behind him.

The blonde dropped his cigarette off the edge- a gut reaction- and turned around to see who it was. He raised a brow once he recognized her.

"S-sora, what are you doing out here?" He bit his lip, wondering how badly the air around him smelled. "Shouldn't you be inside with everyone else?"

The redhead simply shook her head as she closed the door behind her, leaning against it for a moment. She closed her eyes, tilt her head to the side, and breathed a sigh of relief once the cool air hit her face.

Yamato stared at her. "You're drunk."

Sora nodded, looking more disheveled with each second that passed.

"Why did you drink so much?"

The girl opened her eyes and stepped towards him, reaching out for the railing once she was close enough. "It wasn't my fault."

Yamato tensed up. He could feel how thick the air around him was. If he kept quiet, maybe Sora would head back inside.

She didn't, though. In fact, she really seemed to settle into her spot. She shut her eyes again and took a deep breath. Yamato cringed.

As expected, Sora furrowed her brow. "Why does it smell like-" she snapped her head and glared at him. "Yamato!"

"W-what!?" he tried to play it off like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh, don't give me that!" She stood up straight and shot daggers at him. "You told me you were going to quit when I caught you before."

"W-well-" Yamato struggled to come up with something to say.

"You know how unhealthy smoking is!"

"I-"

"It'll ruin your voice!"

"Sora, I-"

"I'm so disappointed."

Yamato gave up trying to interrupt her and went back to staring out over the city. He tried to think about something else, but his mind was blank. He only spoke up again once the silence between them became uncomfortable. "You know, I'm a grown man now, and I can make my own decisions."

He could still feel Sora staring at him when she responded. "Well you're a pretty stupid grown man to be making that choice."

The blonde sighed, deciding to drop it. Sora was stubborn, not to mention drunk, and he wasn't going to win even though deep down he knew she was right.

"You know," the girl spoke again, placing her hand on her stomach as she straightened herself up, "I know we aren't as close as we used to be… you know…"

Yamato still refused to look at her, knowing where she was going.

"…But I still care about you, and I don't want you to get sick or anything."

"Thanks, Sora." He mumbled bluntly, and silence overcame them again. They both stood there for a moment, looking out over the lights. Yamato became hyper-aware of himself, wondering if there was too little space between them. "Um," he began, realizing he should probably make sure she was alright before attempting to make an exit, "well-"

The door opened again.

"Oh, there you are!"

It was Mimi. Yamato turned around to face her, and it was clear that she'd only been looking for Sora. He caught her throw a puzzled look his way and figured she was probably wondering what the two of them were doing off together. Before he could get a word out, the girl fanned the air in front of her.

"Jesus, Yamato! Have you been smoking again?!"

"Oh, god." Yamato muttered, rolling his eyes. He expected Sora to answer for him, but she didn't. He took advantage of the chance to change the topic. "Erm, Sora's feeling… not too well…"

Mimi raised a brow and turned to look at her friend who was leaned up against the balcony railing again, looking out over the edge. "Sora, are you alright?"

The redhead didn't turn around, but she managed to mumble that she was okay and held her arm up at her side to flash a thumbs-up.

Mimi chuckled. "Well at least that means you're having fun!"

Sora turned around at that and shot Mimi a skeptical look. "I don't think I ever want to have this much fun again." She paused for a moment, stood up straight, and pushed her hair out of her face. "Maybe we should head back inside, maybe we could get some water?"

Mimi nodded sympathetically. "Water, sure! And Yamato, are you coming, or are you going to stay out here and light up another death-stick?"

Yamato rolled his eyes again and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Ah, Mimi, why do you always have to be like this?"

Sora answered instead, keeping her words quiet but strict. "If you didn't make stupid decisions then neither of us would have to nag you."

"I appreciate the concern guys, but it's not like I'm addicted, alright?" He pulled the front door open and instantly felt the hot, heavy air seeping out. "There's just a lot of people here and it's stressing me out."

Mimi grabbed hold of Sora's hand and helped her step through the doorway before turning back and shooting Yamato a glare. She pointed at her eyes, then at him. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly, secretly hoping that neither of them would tell on him. He thought Mimi and Sora were bad with nagging him, but Takeru was even worse.

Yamato barely had time to shut the door before he spotted Taichi walking towards him. The brunette was balancing tons of little glasses in his hands.

"What are you doing with those?" Yamato asked hesitantly, looking down at the clear liquor that filled each of them.

Taichi nodded at Yamato and motioned down at them. "Take one, will you? Where's everyone else? We have to do a proper toast!"

Yamato blinked. He glanced over Taichi's shoulder and saw Sora gripping onto Mimi's hand as they walked across the room. "I don't really know if-"

"Oh, just take one!" Taichi spun around and scanned the room. He spotted his friends one by one and called them over. "Eh, hey," he leaned back over towards Yamato, "will you do me a favor and give one to my sister?"

"What? Why?" Yamato asked, still considering whether to turn Taichi down on his offer.

"I'm her older brother!" Taichi explained, "I can't just give her alcohol! You do it, so it's not technically from me."

Yamato sighed and took two of the glasses. His friends joined them one after the other.

"Taichi, you've got to be kidding me…" Sora groaned.

Jyou looked appalled at his. Koushiro glanced around at his friends, trying to search for the reaction he should have in the faces of others.

"We've got to do a proper toast!" Taichi exclaimed, making a point to lock eyes with those who'd tried to reject his offer. "When's the last time the eight of us have been together at once? We've got to celebrate all the incredible times we've had."

The group became silent. Taichi looked expectantly at each one of his friends. He knew that this could potentially be one of the last times they would all be in one room. Did they?

Someone in the group sniffled and Taichi looked around to see who it was. Everyone's eyes were locked on Mimi, but the girl was looking straight down at the ground.

"Hey," Taichi began, treading carefully, "are you alright? I… I didn't mean to upset you."

Mimi looked up at him and offered a sheepish smile. "I just… I just can't believe at the end of the summer you'll all be gone! That's all." She used her sleeve to wipe some water out of the corner of her eye.

"Eh, Mimi," Jyou piped up, "where was all this emotion when I left for university? I've been gone for a year now!"

Mimi's lower lip quivered and she teared up again. "Jyou!"

Everyone laughed. No matter how much time their group of eight spent apart, they always seemed to pick right back up where they left off when all of them got together. Perhaps some dynamics between them had changed, and perhaps some of them had grown and changed and matured, but at the end of the day they made a good team. They always had. Taichi raised his glass in the air and looked around at his friends. They all smiled and looked back at him. If they still had any qualms about one final drink, it didn't show on anyone's face.

"Here's to us!" Taichi cheered, and they all clinked their glasses together.


"Taichi! Taichi!"

The brunette didn't budge. He laid tangled in his blankets, hoping that whoever was calling him would give up.

"Taichi!"

He grumbled a little and rolled over, still not opening his eyes. He guessed that it was close to noon. Someone had left his bedroom window open and he could feel the warm air blowing in. The sun must have been heating it for a while.

"Taichi!" This time, the shout of his name was accompanied by a knocking on his door.

"Ehhh?" The boy groaned, squinting through one of his eyes. He could already tell it was his mother. His father's knock was much louder, and Hikari never bothered to announce herself before coming in.

Mrs. Yagami cracked the door open and leaned inside. "Taichi?"

The boy groaned again, rolling back over to face the wall.

His mother wasn't pleased. "Listen young man, you need to get up or I'm going to give your breakfast to your sister. It's been sitting on the table for an hour now."

Taichi remained silent. He wasn't ignoring his mom- he was just half asleep. He pulled his blankets up over his head and curled up.

Mrs. Yagami sighed. "Maybe you wouldn't be so tired if you had gotten back at a reasonable hour last night. I told you not to have Hikari out too long!"

Taichi rolled back over and peeked over the top of the blankets. "Sorry mom." He said, unsure if he should actually apologize. 'Don't be out too late' was a loose command to him. Who defined "too late" anyways?

"Come eat. You have to be at practice soon, don't you?" Mrs. Yagami walked away and left the door open. The television was on in the living room and it was just loud enough to be annoying.

Taichi glanced over at the clock sitting on his desk and gasped when he realized what time it was.

"Noon…?" he muttered to himself. Football practice was supposed to start in an hour and he'd forgotten all about it! The boy laid in bed for a moment, trying to decide whether he should panic and rush to get ready or simply accept the fact that he would be late. Either way, there definitely wouldn't be enough time for breakfast. He begrudgingly got out from under his blankets and sat upright, turning so he could put his feet on the floor.

Taichi blinked a few times and gave himself a minute to truly wake up. He definitely didn't feel well rested. In fact, he felt pretty bad. He thought about calling his coach to say he was sick and couldn't play, but that would be pretty irresponsible for a captain to do. The boy knew that he had a responsibility to be there. He sighed as he stood up and stretched. He might have been awake, but his muscles definitely weren't.

Hikari, on the other hand, had been up for hours. She put her empty plate into the sink and sat back down at the table. The news had been on the entire time she was eating, but this particular segment caught her attention.

A middle-aged news anchor just introduced a scientist as a guest on the show and he called him a 'Digital World expert'. Hikari raised a brow at the word 'expert'. She imagined that he would just be another fluke ready to join the ranks of obsessed professionals trying to find out something- anything- about digimon.

Over the years, a number of people had come forth with theories about the digital world. The hype had died down a bit since their last battle with BelialVamdemon, but every now and then the media would feature someone. Common themes of interviews like this one included scientific theories about where the digiworld was, how it was made, and how earth could defend itself against possible intruders. At first Hikari, Taichi, and the other kids were nervous about all the attention digimon were getting. They were unsure whether humans could handle that sort of information. Eventually though, the existence of digimon became an accepted fact. As the time of peace went on, folks became more at ease with the idea of a parallel world. Well, most folks.

This scientist seemed a little bit off. Hikari zoned in on the television as she listened to him speak.

"What we've seen from these creatures is that they can possess extreme amounts of power. My question is- why hasn't anyone tried to harness that? It's a lucrative idea, and one that I've been working on for years now."

"For years?" The news anchor asked, "What sort of work have you done?"

The scientist pulled himself up in his seat and straightened out his jacket. It was like he was preparing to say something he'd been rehearsing. "Most of the work my research team has done has consisted of analyzing the powers of the monsters that we've seen right here in Tokyo. We've looked over tons of film and data files that were picked up by local radio and satellite stations. We want to figure out how these creatures attack and where that energy comes from."

"And what would you plan to do with that sort of information?"

Hikari leaned in closer towards the television to hear the answer, but a loud clamor coming from her and Taichi's room suddenly grabbed her attention. Her brother threw open the door and struggled to tie one of his shoes as he hopped into the main living area.

"Taichi, you should come look at this." The girl said, gesturing towards the television. She seemed unphased by her brother's clumsy demeanor.

"Sorry, Hikari!" he responded, out of breath. He dashed over towards the table and picked up a handful of food that he quickly shoved into his mouth, not caring to swallow before speaking, "I'm running late! Tell me about it later, would ya?"

"Wait-!" Hikari stood from her chair and raised her hand out, trying to catch his attention as he bolted down the hall.

"Sorry!" He called back, running out of the house and slamming the door behind him.

The younger Yagami sighed and slumped back down into her chair. She'd missed the rest of the interview.

"Thank you for being here, Mr. Endo! Endo Hiroki, everyone!"

The show cut to commercials and Hikari was left a little stunned. Hiroki Endo. His name left a sinking feeling in the girl's stomach. Maybe he was a fluke, but there was something about him. He wasn't like the other 'experts'. Hikari could feel it.


Daisuke sat huffing and puffing on the bench as he watched Taichi score the goal that would end practice. A boy named Reiji was acting as goalkeeper, but Taichi's perfect shot flew right by him, much to his dismay. The scrimmage was over and Daisuke realized he had a lot of work left to do if he wanted to be as good as Taichi was.

"Taichi…" the younger boy sighed as his role model walked towards him, "how can you run for so long?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Reiji glare at him, but he let it be.

"Practice!" The elder Yagami replied with a cheesy smile. "The transition from playing in middle school to high school is tough. You've just got to keep working at it!"

Daisuke frowned and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"But for the record, I think you're pretty fast! You've got a year under your belt and you're faster than some of the seniors already." Taichi added on, tossing the younger boy his football.

Daisuke let out a yelp as he caught it, struggling to not fall backwards off the bench. A group of boys around him laughed and he frowned again.

Taichi took a seat next to Daisuke and rummaged through his bag to find his own water bottle. He didn't feel too tired, but the summer heat was making him thirsty. He took a giant gulp and poured a bit on his forehead. "Ahh… wha..?"

The boy heard a quiet beeping noise coming from inside his bag. He pushed his hand in and pulled out his digivice. Taichi looked bewildered at the screen. It hadn't gone off like this in a long time. Was something wrong? Nearly on cue, his cell phone rang.

Daisuke looked over curiously. "Is that your digivice?" he asked, "Who's calling you?

"It's Koushiro." Taichi replied, answering the call. He could feel butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. "Hey, what's up?"

Daisuke leaned in so he could hear what the other digidestined way saying.

"Hey Taichi, there's something going on in the digital world."

"Ah." Taichi perked up. His suspicions were confirmed. "Is your digivice going off too?"

"Yeah," Koushiro began, "but I've known for hours."

"Right…" The brunette replied, wondering why he wouldn't have automatically assumed that by now. He glanced over at Daisuke, whose ear was now only a few inches away from his own. "Well, what's going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Koushiro replied. "My computer started picking up alerts and changes in data around noon. I'd go check it out myself, but I have a prior commitment."

"A prior commitment?" Taichi asked, raising a brow.

Koushiro ignored his question. "Can you take a buddy and go in and check things out?"

Daisuke leaned back and tried to conspicuously shoot a fist into the air. "Yes! Some action!"

Taichi glanced over at Daisuke again and shot him an agitated look. The younger boy slumped down a bit, glanced around, and noticed that some of his teammates were now staring at him. He turned red and focused on putting his things back in his bag so he could be prepared to go whenever Taichi was. Although he was also concerned about whatever threat was arising in the digital world, he was also excited to be back in action, even if that action was simply going to take a look around.

The older boy pressed his phone back to his ear. "Daisuke and I are at the school now. We can get into the digital world through the computer lab."

"Great." Koushiro responded. He could have left the conversation at that, but he felt the need to tack on some sort of warning. "And will you and Daisuke please be careful? I'm not too concerned about whatever this is but please don't do anything reckless."

"Right." Taichi rolled his eyes. He expected that sort of disclaimer when he was younger, but he didn't think he needed it now. "We're not going to start any trouble, you don't need to worry about us."

"I'm just saying," Koushiro explained, "if things get dangerous, don't stick around. We can always regroup and go in as a team later."

"Got it." Taichi replied, hanging up his phone. Daisuke was looking at him eagerly, waiting to hear the words. "Are you ready to open the digiport?"

Daisuke practically fell over in excitement.

Taichi smirked. "Well why don't you finish getting your things together? I'm gonna run ahead and make sure no one's around."

"Right!"

The elder boy jogged ahead as Daisuke shoved the rest of his belongings into his bag. He took off his cleats, replaced them with regular sneakers, and made sure to finish the rest of his water. At this point, only him and another one of his teammates remained. Everyone else had left and gone home.

Right as Daisuke picked up his bag to go, the other boy walked up to him. "Er, hey, Daisuke…"

"Hey Reiji." Daisuke muttered quickly, taking one last look around to make sure he'd gathered everything he needed. He wanted to walk off and join Taichi, but his teammate was still staring at him. "Do you need something?"

Reiji blushed a bit and spoke slowly, like he was carefully choosing each of his words before saying them out loud. "I, uh, I overheard you and Taichi talking and… you're going to the digital world?"

Daisuke stopped rushing and gave Reiji a confused look. "Yeah…" He said, matching Reiji's caution.

"Do you, uh, do you," Reiji shifted his weight on his feet, "do you think I could tag along with you? I've wanted to see it since I found out it existed."

"What?" Daisuke said, perhaps too quickly. "No way! It's dangerous. That's why Taichi and I have to go."

"Oh." The boy replied. His nervous persona disappeared and his response was a bit cold.

Daisuke kept looking at him confusedly, but his brows furrowed a bit now. "Listen… maybe another time."

Reiji shook off whatever was putting Daisuke on edge and smiled again. "Fine. I understand. I'll walk to the school with you, though. I have to go to the bathroom."

Daisuke nodded but didn't say anything. For some reason, Reiji's company started to make him feel uncomfortable. They walked in silence for a bit and nearly reached the school entrance before the boy piped up again.

"What's it like?"

"What?"

"The digital world." Reiji clarified. "What's it like?"

"I don't know," Daisuke responded as he pulled the door open, "digital-y, I guess?"

Reiji frowned. "No, really! It must be great."

"Sometimes." Daisuke mumbled, starting to wish Reiji would get lost.

Reiji was a bit of an odd kid. He was tall and had dark eyes with dark hair to match. He was a bit lanky, too, but he was fast. Sometimes it was impossible to catch him on the field, especially if he got a head start.

The boy gave up asking, but he went right past the bathroom when they went by it. Daisuke side-eyed him and began to think of how he could shoo him away.

"Didn't you say you had to go to the bathroom?" Daisuke questioned.

Reiji sighed. "Can't I just see the digital port? It's not like I can actually go in, right?"

"Taichi-san isn't going to like this…" Daisuke muttered to himself, giving in to the boy's persistence. Questions like Reiji's were common when the world first found out about digimon. Daisuke liked the attention at first, but it quickly grew annoying. Now the questions were rare, but the digidestined was still thoroughly agitated.

In a matter of moments the two of them were standing in the computer lab. One of the computers flashed on when Daisuke entered the room. Reiji looked over at him enviously.

"Now where is it…" Daisuke wondered as he dropped his bag on the ground and rummaged through it. He was sure that he packed his digivice that morning. Once he located it he zipped his bag back up and placed it down on top, realizing that he was the one who needed to go to the bathroom now. "Ah, shoot." The boy stood and turned towards Reiji. "Listen, don't touch anything, I need to run to the bathroom really quick. Taichi-san should be back any minute."

Reiji nodded and pulled out a chair as Daisuke dashed out of the room. He looked around for a minute and wondered how a computer could react to a human being's presence. As his eyes locked onto Daisuke's D-3, though, he wondered if it was due to humans at all. Reiji walked over and grabbed the device and looked at it for a moment. It felt heavy and worn out in his hands, and it was easy to imagine that he was the one who'd been using it.

The boy hesitated for a moment and listened for footsteps in the hall. There were none. He was all alone, at least for the time being. He gripped the D-3 more tightly and walked defiantly towards the computer.

"I'll see what it's like." He whispered. "I'm sure it's better than here."

With that, he pointed the device towards the screen. He really didn't expect anything to happen, but he was determined to see the digital world somehow. "Now how does this- whoa!"

Light flashed out of the screen and engulfed him. The boy barely had time to react before he felt himself being pulled in. He let out a short gasp, and then the light ate him whole. Reiji was gone, and so was Daisuke's D-3.

If all of this had happened fifteen seconds earlier, Taichi would have caught him. The older boy walked into the room and saw Daisuke's things on the floor, so he took a seat and waited. He wondered what had been sending the alert. Koushiro had mentioned something about data changing, so he wondered if something evil had appeared or evolved. No matter what it was, though, Taichi was sure that Agumon and him could destroy it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Taichi-san!" Daisuke exclaimed as he hurried back into the room. He looked around and, to his relief, noticed that Reiji was gone. Perhaps Taichi had gotten rid of him.

Taichi stood and nodded. "It's not problem. Let's just get in and out as quickly as we can. I told Koushiro we wouldn't take too long."

"Right." Daisuke went back to his bag to grab his D-3, but it wasn't where he left it. He furrowed his brows and unzipped his bag, wondering if he'd only imagined pulling it out before. When he didn't find it in there he began to panic. The boy looked back towards Taichi, who was now looking at him with confusion.

"Are you alright?" He asked, peering over Daisuke at his mess of things. "You brought your digivice, didn't you?"

"I… I did…" Daisuke began, his voice trailing off as he realized what must have happened. "Oh, no…"

The boy stood and dashed over towards the computer. It was still on, and the digi-port had been opened. A small blip on the screen was supposed to represent Daisuke, but now it just represented Daisuke's device. Reiji was in there somewhere. He must have taken it.

"Oh no… Oh no, oh no." Daisuke mumbled as he ran back towards his bag, digging through it again. Maybe he was imagining all of this.

"What's going on?" Taichi asked, his voice filled with concern now.

Daisuke turned around defeated and looked at Taichi with apologetic eyes. "Reiji took my digivice."

"Reiji?" Taichi asked, wondering what in the world Daisuke was talking about.

"Ugh!" Daisuke slapped a hand across his forehead. "I let that stupid kid walk with me because he said he was going to use the bathroom, but he asked if he could see the digital world and I left him alone here."

Taichi quickly put two-and-two together and stood up rapidly from his seat. "What?!" He exclaimed, running over towards Daisuke's bag and starting to rummage through it himself. "Are you sure it's not in here? What do you mean he wanted to go to the digital world?"

"He asked me to take him with us!" Daisuke explained, stepping back to let Taichi search. "I told him no and kept trying to lose him but he persisted. I didn't think he'd do something like this!"

"So you left him alone with your digivice?!" Taichi spat, spinning around to look back at the boy. "Daisuke, how could you be so careless?!"

"Taichi, I'm sorry!" he pleaded. "I didn't think this would happen!"

"Well, you should have thought!" Taichi yelled, suddenly realizing the volume of his voice. He pushed his hair back and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Daisuke stood there silently, his eyes locked on the ground. "No, you're right. It's my fault, and now we don't even have a digivice that can get us in there."

Taichi hadn't even thought of that yet. He couldn't open the digiport with his own device and no one else was around. There was nothing they could do in the moment, and that's what frustrated Taichi most of all. "We need to call Koushiro." He muttered, realizing that he'd broken his word to his friend before they'd even left the computer lab. Did letting an average kid take a D-3 and run into the digital world during a dangerous situation count as something reckless?

"I'll do it." Daisuke offered. "He'll be really mad, but he should only be mad at me."

Taichi didn't dispute that point. He reached into his pocket and tossed Daisuke his cell phone. He'd make it up to the kid later for losing his temper, but right now they needed to focus.

As Daisuke dialed, the older boy walked back towards the computer and collapsed onto the chair in front of it. The blip of the stolen digivice was still on the screen, but so was Koushiro's alert.

"Shit." Taichi muttered, leaning back and looking hopelessly at the ceiling. "This is bad."

He could only imagine what Koushiro would say.


Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. It took me about a month to write, but I promise the next one won't take nearly as long. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated, as my goal is always to improve my writing. If you notice any grammatical mistakes as well, please let me know so I can edit them out. I can read over a chapter as many times as I want and I'll still manage to miss something. Anyways, I can't wait to begin exploring some more themes and relationships, so I'll try to update this as quickly as I can.

-garudamon