Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon…

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Dilemma: Chapter Two - Solitude

In the vast eastern sky of Maeli the sun began to set, leaving behind a orange glow that gracefully reflected off the ocean's delicate surface. A young bird flew by a large hill, just barely dodging a small stone that had been thrown unintentionally in its direction.

The bird chirped sharply at the rock as if warning it to stay away. An old man sporting a straw hat came into view. From the odd way he walked, his jerky long legs and the slight sway of his head, one might draw the conclusion that what they were witnessing a blind man struggling to find his way home. Not that it would matter. Even if that were the case surely someone else would help him out.

Two years later and the town was just how they'd left it. Heartless.

Another rock flew from the hills and skipped across the ocean's surface.

'Clink' 'Clink' 'Clink' 'Plunk'. Four times.

The old man turned his head.

"Whoo hoo! Great shot!"

A boy on the hill cheered. His companion smiled, showing his appreciation. "That was…" The praise, in mid high-five, suddenly died on his lips. He felt odd. He felt that someone was watching them.

A moment after scanning the area, the boy's tense shoulder's relaxed. Relief washed over him. There was no one but the blind man. Had there been anyone else by the hillside they would have seen the lonely silhouette of a teenage boy, chatting quietly to himself gaily throwing rocks into the water.

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Eleven-year-old, Takeru Takaishi, had been searching for his older brother for over an hour now. His dirty blonde hair clung to his forehead, absorbing the sweat that had formed there. More than a week had passed since their family had moved to the busy town of Maeli and Takeru expected his brother to warm up to the new district enough to stop his thoughtless behaviour.

Every morning since their arrival Takeru woke up to an empty household. Dad, of course, was excused from the matter. He had to get up early and head down to the TV station for work. It was mandatory that he worked late some days, which often meant cold meatloaf and leftover macaroni salad for dinner. Many times this sort of tragedy could have been avoided had a certain someone remembered that he had a house to live in. That certain someone happened to be Takeru's brother.

Almost always, the older boy could be found somewhere on the shore of Magasaki beach or Birch Cove. Takeru figured it had something to do with the view of the horizon. His brother always had a thing for the way the sun was able to "transform a scene". The subject of scenery and colour never mattered much to Takeru because he wasn't really into the arts. However, he certainly admired his brother's passion for his work. He was so much like his mother.

What worried Takeru the most was how sloppy his brother had been lately. His prize hairstyle had become a potential nesting spot for birds; his exquisite taste in fashion had become no more than a plaid T-shirt accompanied by ripped jeans and worst of all, his most prepared dish had gone from Fettuccini Alfredo to pop-in-the-microwave Mac n' cheese.

"Yama!" He tried calling his brother's name. No response.

Like his mother, the older boy's emotions were always apparent in his work. And seeing that his brother was never an open person to begin with, there could be a serious problem if his source of release was tampered with. Or at least there should be a problem. Strangely enough, it'd been almost a year since he last touched his sketchbook.

Takeru decided that his older brother was feeling stressed from the move; hence, the sudden change in his mood and behaviour. It couldn't still be an after-effect from the incident. That was so long ago. All the doctors agreed that the move would do him good; give him a chance to start anew. And didn't their father spend generous amounts of money to make sure that he received the best help possible?

Besides, it'd been so long since they'd last been to Maeli. My brother is behaving the way he is simply because he's still in shock, Takeru concluded. Within another week's time he would be back to his usual self.

"Yama!" Takeru tried again.

About a third up the hill, Takeru heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. One, Takeru recognized, to his surprise, as his brother but he was hearing more than one voice. It seemed as if there was another person laughing along with him. That wouldn't be right, Takeru thought. My brother hates everyone in this area. Wouldn't even crack a smile. If he talked to anyone I would have known…

Takeru followed the foreign sound all the way to the top of the knoll. From behind a large bush, he was able to see what was going on. Takeru gasped. The older boy had his head comfortably leaned to the side and his pink lips moved as if he were talking to someone beside him. There was a small collection of rocks at his feet and he fiddled with a small bluish device around his neck that Takeru couldn't quite make out. However, it did look mechanical.

One minute he had an absent look in his eyes, as if he were on a planet millions of miles from the earth, then, sensing another presence, the older boy was snapped back to reality. He shoved the device under the neck of his shirt and stopped talking.

Oh no! If he finds out I was spying on him he'll kill me!

Thinking quickly, Takeru pretended he was still searching for the brother he had already found.

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"Yama" A voice called shrilly from somewhere behind him. The older boy turned around at the mention of his name. It was his kid brother, Takeru, with a goofy grin plastered on his handsome face.

The boy brushed aside a long strand of blonde hair and regarded his younger brother. They were almost the same height, he observed. A few inches more and Takeru would no longer be the shortest in the family. Personally, he was proud of his accomplished 5"10. Their father was a whopping six feet. Sadly, Takeru stood at only 5"7.

"What do you want, T.K?"

So now I'm T.K? Well at least we're past the formalities. Some change is better than no change, I guess. Here goes nothing…

"Don't you ever get tired of running away?"

"Who's running-", his brother began.

"Last week I found you on the west coast of Magasaki and a few days before that on top of Birch Cove. What's next?"

Sigh. " I never thought I'd find you up here, Yama".

The older boy lifted a fair eyebrow as if to say, well you found me.

Takeru paused hoping his older brother would explain his strange behaviour. Nothing.

He continued, "Dad was so confident you'd be in the cove that he bet me ten bucks. Guess I won, huh?"

Getting no response, Takeru rolled his eyes. Just trying to lighten the mood.

The older boy sensed what his brother was trying to do but didn't rise to the bait. Instead he released a heavy sigh. "Listen T.K, I…"

"What", T.K interrupted, "were you doing up here anyways?"

As the words escaped he thought, Curiosity killed the cat.

T.K felt his brother's frown deepen. The tension in the air only seemed to rise and the older boy's eyes were turning darker, a sure sign that he was getting angry. They changed from light cobalt to stormy blue.

"None. Of. Your. Damn. Business" He spoke through gritted teeth.

Whatever Yama. I don't know what your hiding but I bet it has something to do with that device around your neck, doesn't it?

"Well, Dad wanted us to help him clean the house. He said something about fixing the bathroom sink and retiling the kitchen. Some furniture needs to be moved around too. Actually he bought more furniture that needs to be moved into the house first. We should have started earlier but, meh!"

"Leave it to Dad to find work for his lazy sons"

Takeru smiled, glad that his brother was warming up again. "Right. I think it's best if we started for home now before it gets too dark…"

T.K stopped. It was there again, that dreamy faraway look.

"Yama?" Takeru tried breaking the trance. It was something he hadn't seen in a long time and hoped he wouldn't have to see it again. He didn't want to lose his brother a second time. Fifteen seconds, sixteen seconds…it seemed like an eternity. Then it was over.

"Yama?" T.K tried again, "Were you…were you thinking of mo-"

Wordlessly, the older boy got up from his comfortable spot on the hill's edge.

"Don't worry about it", his brother interrupted, "I'm fine, really. Let's just go home"

An overwhelming sadness took over Takeru. Who are you trying to convince, Yama? Me? Or yourself.

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