Falling Inside the Black
Summary: Yamato, Hikari, and Ken find themselves being drawn back to the world of Darkness. There, they must traverse the Digital World's Hell to take down the Demon Lords and Dagomon while overcoming their personal dilemmas.
Warnings: Heavy violence, mentions of abuse, incest, and rape.
Pairings: Taishirou, ex-Sorato/ex-Jyoumato, hinted Takari, hinted Kenyako. Also DaemonxLilithmon.
A/N: This is part of the headcanon, but can be read as a stand-alone. The Chosen's Digimon will likely not make an appearance (the Digital World was cut off in 2004).
1 – Vestibule
2006
She sat up in the bed. Her clock read seven-thirty A.M. A little late to get ready for school, but it would be fine. Everything would be fine. Hikari threw her legs over the edge of the bed and took a breath. Her biggest decision should be deciding what to wear, not lingering on things in the back of her mind.
After getting dressed, she went to brush her teeth, but the door was locked. She kicked the door, about to yell at Taichi when she remembered that he wasn't there. She looked back at the dining table where her father was eating in silence. "Sorry, Mom," she whispered to herself. In the back of her mind, she wondered why her mother hadn't woke her.
She went to grab a plate of food. Normally, she would be up on time and the food would be warm, but it was cold to the touch. She grabbed a piece of toast and walked over to the couch, unable to shake worries from her mind.
She told herself they were about normal things. Math tests. The occasional worry about how Gatomon was doing. Maybe even anxiety over her warring studs, Takeru and Daisuke. Then again, she hadn't seen much of Takeru lately. He was preoccupied with his mother's escalating illness. Daisuke seemed to have given up on her and in the back of her mind she wondered if she was good enough.
Then, she glanced to her father again and told herself it was the greatest worry on her mind: her brother, Taichi, who had just started a scholarship out of town. But that wasn't the biggest deal. No, her father's stoicness was more to do with the real reason her brother left: he was now with Koushiro Izumi. That lovely red-headed geek. To say their father wasn't even awknowledging it was an understatement.
Hikari's Mom emerged from the bathroom, donning make up. Something she didn't normally do, either. Is my entire family falling apart? Hikari wondered. Must be if Mom's the one holding it together.
She gathered her things, said goodbye to her family, and was off. For school.
She met Takeru, Iori, and Miyako about halfway to. Miyako was carrying a bag of snacks- an old habit from when the Digital World was still active that made Hikari cringe each time she thought of how she was locked off from her best friend forever. Iori was a little solemn; he had just broken up with his girlfriend of two years and doing a good job at hiding it- except from Hikari.
Damn my sixth sense, she cursed herself. Then she looked to Takeru. He had her exceptionally worried with his nose buried in a bible as he walked. It seemed that each time she tried to talk to him about anything serious, instead of listening and giving his opinion, he would recite some psalm or ignore her completely.
"Hey, guys!" she said, putting on some fake cheerfulness.
"Oh, hey Hikari!" Miyako greeted. "Want some mocchi?"
"No, thanks," the bearer of light replied. "So, what's on your agenda today?"
"Nothing much. Helping Yutaka with some new mixing this afternoon."
Ah, that, Hikari noted, trying not to remember Yamato as he smashed his bass guitar on the stage and wandered off in a drunk stupor the night of his last concert. The Wolves were doing quite well for themselves, having since replaced their bassist.
"How's your brother?" Iori chimed in.
"He said he's doing really well on the team at his new school," Hikari said, despite having a bad feeling over that entire ordeal, too. Aside Summer Camp '99, she hadn't been seperated from him too long and she supposed that was why she felt so strange. Nothing else was going on, right?
"I'm glad."
"How about you, Iori? I'm not trying to pry..." Hikari started.
"Oh, right..." Miyako said, having forgotten the youngest's situation. Hikari gave her a glare. She had such a penchant for stating her mind that sometimes grinded on her nerves, but today, she definetly couldn't take too much of it.
"Ah, we're... amicable," Iori stated, then started hanging back in line with Miyako.
Hikari sighed and picked up her pace as they neared the school. She tapped Takeru on the shoulder, hoping not to disturb him too much. He shrugged her off with a mumble. "Stop, Miyako."
"It's me, Takeru..." Hikari said.
He stopped and she nearly crashed into him. He frowned, "Oh, Hikari... Sorry. How are you?"
"Fine. How is your mother?"
"A better day, I guess," Takeru replied. "She has another doctor's visit next week."
"Maybe I could go with you-"
"No, I'm fine."
Hikari clamped her lips shut. Damn it, Hikari. Stop saying the wrong things. Talk about rainbows and bunnies. Takeru just doesn't want to think about all that right now, just like you don't want to think about your own problems... Let's try this again. She took a breath and waited for Takeru to look up from the Bible again. "Wasn't that biology test killer?"
"Mmhmm."
Hikari huffed and he didn't even notice. Back in the day, he would have asked her what was wrong. He would be pelting her with questions. Now... Hikari walked ahead of them and continued to class. She found herself waiting outside the door. Daisuke wasn't anywhere to be seen. Everyone else was already settled in homeroom but she couldn't bring herself to cross the threshold.
"Woo!" called Daisuke from down the hall, running towards her at full speed. "Guess I'm not the only one whose late, huh, Hikari-chan?"
"Hey, Daisuke," Hikari greeted.
He took her hand and lead her inside and for the first time that day she felt normal. Class killed time (and her thoughts) efficently, until she felt her lack of sleep draining her. Hikari wasn't the type to sleep in class, like Daisuke, who had been snoring since ten and still managed to pass with a B average. What would the other kids think? But she couldn't keep her eyes open.
She could hear waves.
Her eyes snapped open again and she found she wasn't in her classroom anymore.
Ken had just finished his roll call and checked the clock. Five after two and anyone missing was officially 'tardy' for his study hall, held during the last period of the day. Another student absent? That makes three now.
"Where is Chabo?" he questioned.
"Says he doesn't need tutoring anymore," whined one of the kids, kicking back in his desk.
How disrespectful, Ken couldn't help but think.
"W-Well, that's his choice," Ken replied. He could feel sweat gathering on the back of his neck. He only started this tutoring program to fill his spare time. The entire thing had been hard enough with everyone wondering if he was truly smart at all, after his scores dropped. Ken had been comforted originally, knowing that his "smarts" were only tied to an evil seed, but now he was wondering if going back to being alone would be any different than things were now. Without having to conquer/save the Digital World and without Wormmon to talk to, his life had grown horribly empty.
Now he was concerned with a few of his students. They seemed to be exceeding too quickly and as he exited the room at the end of the session, this weighed heavily on his mind. He had even increased the difficulty of his curriculum in the last week and there still seemed to be no dent in the progress.
"Mr. Ichijouji."
Ken turned to the child addressing him. The others all gave him smug looks and started past him. Ken glanced back to the desks where their books rested. Returned. "Y-Yes?"
"I won't be attending your class, either. It's really too simple. In fact, you're barely worth my time."
Ken stammered, speechless. The kid walked off without a word. I don't understand. These kids are below my grade level; they shouldn't know more than I'm able to teach... Not that I'm upset. I'm glad they're doing well, but it's just so unusual. At this rate, I'll lose everyone. What do I do...? I'll no longer have a purpose...
Ken gave his mother a quick dial to let him know he was on his way home early and exited the school. He looked around at everyone around him and was reminded of his lack-of-signifigance. He strived to make a difference- good or bad, that was what he knew how to do. Wormmon's encouraging words were growing into a distant memory, a fuzzy hallucination and he wondered if his entire life had been a dream until now. Or was becoming a nightmare.
He could smell the scent of roses as he passed by the freshly bloomed buds of their porch. He followed his mother and tried to forget the Hellish day of school and the stern words his father would be imparting to him that night.
The six year old usually went straight to the TV to watch after school cartoons with his little brother, even if Natsuko claimed they were 'too voilent for a three year old'. However, the spot on the couch was empty.
The front door slammed shut.
The tiny apartment grew dark, as if the sun had been eclipsed. He could hear whispers.
"Takeru?"
He explored the rest of his old Hikarigoaka home and heard voices. His parents' room. Were they arguing about him again?
He tiptoed forward and looked down the suddenly long corridoor that was the hallway spanning their bedrooms. Each step, he felt unable to balance. He caught himself against the wall, eying hieght charts and family photos. Then he reached the door.
His shadow lay outstretched by the nightlight from the bathroom. He followed it until it shrank to normal size. Then, he was at the door.
Yamato could hear her. Whispering secrets in the lonely dark. Like how much she loved her sons. His blue eyes looked through the crack in the door.
Then, Takeru was crying.
The door slammed shut.
"Takeru-!" he screamed, throwing his fists at the door.
Yamato's body was paralyzed as he woke. He could move his eyelids, nothing more. His sheets were tangled amongst his feet and he kicked them loose. He could still hear her, still felt the cold hardwood of the door.
He couldn't catch his breath as he rose. Anger boiled in him and steamed away the tears gathering in his lashes.
He reached for his guitar stand and slammed it downward at the nearest thing to him; he would break that door! Several old lyric books and video games crashed to the floor.
"I hate you-! Let him go-!" Yamato screamed. "For what you... took from me... I hope you die in that hospital bed!"
Hiroaki didn't let this tantrum go unnoticed. He was used to it. He opened his son's bedroom door and immediately went to him, embracing him, and waiting for his form to calm after disarming him. Hiroaki chunked the stand aside and withheld tears as he held his son in his arms. How many nights had he stayed awake, blaming himself?
"Yamato. It was only a dream."
The young man heaved in his father's arms. His anger subsided and he started coming back to reality. "T-Takeru..."
"Your brother is fine, son."
"Dad... where am I?" the teenager's voice cracked.
Hiroaki hesitated. He had seen his share of his child's nightmares, but this was worse than ever. He pulled the sobbing boy closer, if that was possible. "You're home with your father. No one can hurt you. Takeru's fine."
"But he's with her-!"
"Yamato. She's at the hospital, remember? It was a dream, son. Snap out of it."
"Oh fuck... Dad..?" the boy whispered, looking back to his father with a blank stare.
"It's that medication... We'll try something different."
Yamato blinked. Yes, the sleeping pills. "Damn it, if I need help, I'll ask for it!" A pause as he wiped drool from his mouth and composed himself. "I didn't take the damn pills..."
He broke away from Hiroaki and shoved him out of the room. Hiroaki knew better than to fight. That wouldn't lead to anything worthwhile. Yamato slammed the door in his face and locked it.
A painful wail eminated from the room.
Yamato composed himself and searched for his clothes from the day before- really, the week before, and immeidately he ached for any kind of human contact. He found his high school uniform- his father didn't need to know he hadn't been in attendance. As the blonde stormed out, he looked in the many estranged numbers of his cell for a hook-up.