Izzumi (Izzy) Koushiro was struggling to breath. He clenched his neck muscles to make as much room for his airway as possible, however it wasn't working. He meekly used his computer-softened hands to pull at the arm that was forcing his trachea shut.

"Tai…" Izzy coughed.

"C'mon, Izzy, spill it!" Tai leaned in on Izzy's back.

"Can't… talk…" Izzy spat.

Tai loosened his hold and chuckled, "Sorry, Izz…" he tapped Izzy's back, "Guess I don't know my own strength." He flexed his arms for his own benefit.

Izzy clasped his throat and rolled his eyes, "no kidding." He loosened his collar of the button down shirt that he was wearing underneath his dark suit. He took a couple of deep breaths stretching his neck and turned to look at his tormentor. They had been friends for so long, and now they were in college, sharing a room at the local dormitory.

They were on their way to a special party, an event that Izzy had been dreading. Tai's interrogation started simply enough, a few questions about Izzy's brooding behavior for the past month. Izzy tried to act cool, pass it off as a simple preoccupation with a project, but Tai wasn't budging.

"Izzy…" Tai repeated.

Izzy sighed and sat down on a park bench. He forced a couple of coughs to buy time. He glanced at his watch; saw that they had plenty of time. Tai wasn't going to give up. Izzy rested his arms on his knees and stared at the ground.

"Don't make me beat it out of ya," Tai started as he landed his hand upon Izzy's head.

Izzy pushed Tai's hand off forcefully, "Tai, your sister…" he cleared his throat, "…kissed me."

The force of the comment caused Tai to overreact to the push and fall back. He landed on the sidewalk and looked up at Izzy, "MY sister? Kari?"

"No, your other sister, jerk," Izzy growled.

Tai jumped up to his feet, "What's the problem with that? Other than it's hard to believe…"

"That's it," Izzy stood suddenly, "I'm going back."

"No, no… stop Izzy, it's just… you and Kari…"

"Yeah, I know. It's impossible," Izzy said dejectedly. He started walking back.

"Izzy, stop." Tai ran and placed his hand on Izzy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I don't mean it that way."

"Then how do you mean it?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"It's a shock, Izz. That's all. How'd it happen?" Tai asked.

Izzy sighed, "She came to me with her computer course. It counted towards her college credits, so she wanted to do well, although she really didn't need my help except with some issues from time to time."

Tai nodded, "yeah, I remember that."

"It was her last day, and we were wrapping up. There really wasn't much for her to do, all her work was in early to begin with. We were more or less just reviewing for her exams. I leaned against the desk where her workstation was and told her that I was positive her work would be exemplary." He paused. "I've replayed these events over and over and I still am caught off guard."

Tai nodded, afraid to say anything that would cause Izzy to clamp up.

"She stood to leave, I bowed my head and she reached up and…" Izzy turned scarlet.

"She kissed you," Tai's eyes widened.

"Yeah."

"What happened after that?"

Izzy shook his head, "it's stupid."

Tai lifted his fist, "Izzy…" he warned.

"I fell down. I was so shocked and caught off guard I took a step back and fell flat on the ground. She started to cry. Then she ran out the door," Izzy stared at his feet. "I was too dumbfounded to go after her." He shook his head, "even if I did, I wouldn't know what to tell her."

"Have you talked to her since?" Tai asked.

Izzy looked up with a wry expression, "no." Tai blinked. "I wasn't even going to come tonight. But, she called. I was assuming she wanted to talk to you, but she asked me to come. Tai, I haven't felt this uneasy since Diaboromon."

Tai chuckled, "girls do that."

"She's not just a girl, she's your sister. She's always felt like a sister to me. I did not see this coming."

"Kari has always had good judgment, Izzy. Everything she does, comes from her heart and is usually the right decision," Tai said. "Why didn't you talk to me about this?"

"Because I knew you would kill me. I swear Tai, nothing happened," Izzy gestured emphatically.

Tai smiled. "I know, and I guess I can respect your reasons for not talking to me about it. Even though we have been best friends since…," he shrugged.

"Promise not to kill me?" Izzy asked meekly.

"I won't kill you, today, Izzy," Tai grinned.

"I can't stop thinking about her and the uh… the…"

"The kiss?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Izzy sighed.

"You've got to talk to her about it, Izzy."

"That is if she hasn't found someone else. That event occurred over a month ago," Izzy said.

Tai shook his head, "you know that ain't true."

"Yes, I know it did happen more than a month ago."

"Izzy…" Tai frowned. "She hasn't found someone else."

"What makes you say that? Have you noticed that your sister is amazingly beautiful?" Izzy stressed.

"Heh," Tai chuckled, "not really, but then she is my sister." His smile faded slightly, his eyes had a faraway look to them. "But I know what you mean."

Izzy looked up and saw a troubling expression on Tai's face, "Sora?"

Tai cleared his throat the light mood had darkened; "I will kill you if you ever hurt her." He walked passed the red head. A cold breeze stirred around them. Tai felt a chill climb up his spine. At first, he thought it was his imagination, and then realized that Izzy was shivering too. He thought his words were somewhat profound, but not enough to cause a chill in the atmosphere. His senses piqued, he casually studied the area.

He recognized the curiosity in Izzy's expression as he too surveyed the park. The air around Izzy distorted, a scene he had all too known so well in his youth. He ran straight at Izzy, and before Izzy could process what was happening, Tai had shoved Izzy out of the way of a small man that appeared out of nothing. The man looked like an adult even though he had a short stature. He wore a striped suit with a red scarf tied around his head.

"Who are you?" Tai asked.

The man leered and unsheathed a black sword from his side.

"Digimon?" Izzy asked softly.

"What do you want?" Tai demanded. In response, the man swung the sword at Tai. Tai felt a slight sharp pain in his upper left arm, but leaped out of the way. He kicked the man's forearm in an attempt to disarm him. The arm flailed back throwing the sword away. The man smirked at Tai and vanished.

"What in the world?" Tai asked.

"Tai, your suit…" Izzy began.

Tai looked down at the pain in his arm, "Ah man, this was a rental, too." The sword penetrated the suit leaving a cut in the suit, the shirt in the suit, as well as a small skin abrasion. "It's not bad."

"That's unusual," Izzy looked at Tai's arm. Tai shook him off and picked up the sword that landed upon the path.

"Not a big deal," he murmured staring at the black blade. "Does this look familiar?"

"The sword, no, the black material reminds me of the…"

"Dark spires, dark wheels, general dark evil Digimon energy," Tai rattled off.

"I should go run some tests…" Izzy started.

"No, I'm not letting you out of this party that easily," Tai halted him. "Besides, the gang will be there. We should tell them what happened. And you need to talk to my sister." He pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off what appeared to be his blood on the sword. He looked at the bloodstain on the cloth, which to Tai's surprise had turned black. He held back his concern, folded the cloth and shoved it in his breast pocket before Izzy could sneak a peek.

Izzy looked up at Tai cautiously, Tai smiled. "Barring any more attacks, the worse you have to worry about is the slow dance."

Izzy's face paled, "Slow… Dance?