Yami no Umi
Prologue

The world was black, save for a single lighthouse and its white beam washing over both the water and the land. He avoided the water though; too many times had he seen demons in there. He knew though that the land too contained demons: the forest, the shore, the cave…really, there were no limits to where once could find a demon within the darkness, but somehow the open clearing seemed the safest place to be.

Except he wasn't alone, for there was another already sitting in his place.

Actually, Ken realised as he took a tentative step closer, the unknown looked to be a human and was sitting rather close to his usual spot, but not directly upon it. There was enough space for him to sit in his seat if he wished.

The boy – or the one who looked like a boy – turned to him. 'You can sit if you like,' he said softly. His voice sounded human as well, and alive as opposed to the static he sometimes heard from shadows.

'Ah…thank you.' Seeing nothing else, Ken decided to accept the invitation and sit.

The other turned away again; the visibility was even worse in the clearing than it was on the shore, however that meant that the shadows too were less. Unfortunately though, Ken found he could barely make out any distinguishing features of his companion.

'Huh?'

Ken blinked at his hand, realising he had unconsciously reached out to touch the other.

'Sorry.' He quickly snapped his hand back. 'It's just that…well, the shadows aren't really solid. I mean, they can touch me but I can't –'

'I see,' the boy replied. 'I'm the one who should apologise…or maybe my predecessor. It's a little hard to say.'

Ken turned to the boy. 'What do you mean?' he asked.

'This world…' The boy looked up. 'Like all other worlds, it is built from darkness by the light of dreams, but this one still has more darkness than most because it was built upon it.'

'Didn't you just say all worlds are built from darkness?' Ken slowly mulled the words over in his head; he was no longer a genius thanks to the dulled influence of the Dark Spore, however he had gained a far deeper enthusiasm for learning than he had ever had. 'Unless you mean built "from" and built "upon" as two separate things.'

'Indeed.'

Ken wasn't sure, but he thought the boy glanced at him.

'Care to comment on that?'

'Me?' Ken asked, before shaking his head. He was usually more eloquent than that, but something about the other boy made him feel like a child. 'Like experiences?'

'Interesting metaphor,' the other said. 'But yes; experiences upon a core essence build up a defined form, but the basic elements of existence are light and darkness.'

'There are other theories about the existence of the universe.'

'True, but I can only speak about what I believe, and I've witnessed what light and darkness combined can create.'

'A miracle,' Ken said slowly; for some reason, the digtama of miracles came to mind. He knew next to nothing about it though. After all, it had been Daisuke and Veemon utilising it to digivolve into Magnamon. The Kiseki no Kagayaki, he had called himself from memory. A miracle that could only be born in the face of darkness.

Or maybe not darkness, as the other seemed to speak of it as something else.

'That's one way of putting it,' the other said. 'It doesn't sound like you've had good experiences with darkness though.' He paused. 'It's sad, really. I wonder if it's part of the reason this place his so…empty.'

'Empty?' Ken echoed, foregoing the subtle question in the previous statement.

'When a place is empty, the mind fills it up with shadows…or one definition of them in any case.' The tone turned a little more contemplative. 'When a place is crowded, the shadows seem to create a little more space. It's interesting to think about, and it's always hard to put it under light or darkness and it's something undeniably created with the both of them. Perhaps not like miracles though.'

Ken got the feeling he was being slightly teased. And tested. Perhaps the first was a little farfetched, but he was definitely being tested on…something.

'Shadows hide secrets,' he said slowly, as it appeared the other was waiting for his opinion. 'They hide the sun. Some people even think of it as hiding pain and suffering…apathy I guess, but –'

' – but apathy's only good in short term, right?'

Ken turned to his companion. 'You –' he began, before realising he had little idea to put his thoughts into his words. Somehow, it sounded like the other understood – but what, he couldn't really say. Darkness maybe? It was what they were talking about after all? Or maybe it was this strange world, so like the Dark Ocean but without the strange oppressive feeling that always assaulted and tore through his memories.

In any case, it was a bizarre discussion to be having with anyone…except perhaps Kouishiro.

'I know,' the other said, replying an unasked question. 'I know apathy, and I know darkness. I suppose you could say I know shadow as well…but then again, everything is relative isn't it.' The other leant back fully, spreading himself out in the clearing to look fully at the sky…even if there was nothing but a wave of sweeping light to see. 'I used to think that the only two absolute things in the world were life and death, but being declared dead does tend to change your outlook on that.'

'Uhh…' It wasn't often someone managed to confuse Ken. 'You're not..?'

Silence. 'This time you've managed to lose me,' the other admitted finally.

It seemed a bit silly, but the boy did somehow remind Ken of Osamu. Not like the shadows often did, but like how Daisuke sometimes reminded him of someone, a person he had long since forgotten…or who perhaps had never existed. 'It's just,' he said, a tad hesitantly. 'You remind me of Ni-san.'

Another bout of silence, this one a little more serious. 'Ichijouji Osamu?' the other asked finally.

'Yes.'

'He was the only person I could think of.' The boy's tone sounded apologetic. 'So you must be his little brother, Ken. He spoke of you…quite often for someone who rarely spoke outside the topic at hand.'

'You knew my brother?'

'That's a hard one to answer.' The boy sat up again. 'I knew of him certainly; you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't, and I have been acquainted with him. We played chess against each other at one point. But as for knowing him…this was at a time where I didn't even know myself.' A pause. 'Oh, I haven't mentioned my name, have I?'

Ken shook his head, before opening his mouth when he realised the other probably couldn't see the action in the dark. There was no need though, as the other pressed on. 'Kimura Kouichi desu. Yoroshiku.'

'Kochira koso,' Ken responded. 'But, I don't think I have –'

'Met me before?' the other asked, sounding amused. 'I think we have.'

'You think?' Ken repeated. 'You mean you're not sure?' And the conversation had been plenty confusing before. But before he could question further, he felt himself being pulled from the world.

'I suppose it's time for you to wake up,' Kouichi commented offhand. 'I'm sure glad I don't have to go to school today.'

And Ken sat up in bed, watching Wormmon turn on his belly and thinking that was quite unfair, as he had a test he didn't think he was sufficiently prepared for.

Translations

Yami no Umi – Ocean of Darkness

Digitama - digiegg

Kiseki no Kagayaki – the radiance of miracles (this one's from the wiki page on Magnamon)

Ni-san – older brother

Desu – I am/its (informal)

Yoroshiku – nice to meet you (informal)

Kochira koso – likewise

The reason I've done this is because the subtleties of Japanese language allow me to play around a little more with semantics. Ken is being rather formal, all things considered, while Kouichi, while he's certainly polite, is speaking Japanese a little informally, for example saying Kouichi desu instead of boku wa Kouichi to moushimasu, which is the more formal equivalent (or watashi wa instead of boku wa for a girl). Same with Yoroshiku and the more formal Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu. And notice I haven't used Hajimemashite, which is used only at the first meeting, which hints that Kouichi at least has met Ken before.