Kari picked up her backpack from her dresser. She had on her school uniform and was getting ready to go.
"Tai!" called Kari.
Tai ran into her room. His college semester had not begun yet and he spent most of his time at home.
"What's up Kari?" he asked.
Kari sighed. "I'm ready to go."
"Alright," responded Tai, "do you need to pick up that Chinese kid?"
"Yeah," said Kari.
Before TK had left for Japan, he asked his friends to make sure Liu fit in all right. He did fit in all right, but there was something off about him. He wasn't rude, or devious, nor did he give anyone a feeling to not trust him. In fact, the odd feeling was not necessarily bad, but there was something different.
Kari and Tai got in Tai's car and drove down the Odaiba streets. Kari looked out the window at the familiar streets. She had seen them all her life, but now everything was different.
"It's over," whispered a voice in Kari's ear.
She tensed up. She started looking around in fear.
"Did you hear that?" she shouted to Tai.
"Hear what?"
"Oh nothing," said Kari, much quieter.
"Kari, what's going on?" asked Tai, very concerned.
"It's nothing Tai, let's just go get Liu and get to school."
"Kari…"
Before Tai could finish, he had reached the curb by Liu's apartment and Kari had jumped out of the car to get Liu. Tai watched his sister ring the doorbell and bring Liu to the car. What was going on with her? What happened?
Ken sat at his desk writing the assignments for the day down. He looked up to find Kari and Liu walk into the classroom. His eyes narrowed. What was it about Liu that made Ken uneasy?
"Hey Kari, hey Liu," he called out to them.
"Hello Ken," said Liu. Kari just walked on to her desk.
"Is something wrong with Kari?" asked Ken to Liu.
Liu shook his head. "I don't know."
Ken looked over to Kari, his eyes still narrow.
"What's going on with her?" he thought.
The school bell rang and all the kids got in their seats. The teacher began a lesson on the Meiji Restoration when Liu raised his hand.
"Excuse me teacher," he said, "but may I leave for something important?"
"And what is so important?" asked the teacher.
"It's something to do with the language barrier," Liu replied.
"Oh," said the teacher, "well that's fine, go to the Chinese language teacher, she can help you."
"Thank you sir," said Liu as he walked out.
Ken watched Liu leave. He knew Liu had no problem with the Japanese language, there was something else going on. Ken raised his hand.
"Excuse me teacher, but may I use the restroom?"
"What? Now!"
"I'm sorry sir."
"…Well go on, and make it quick."
"Thank you sir."
Ken slowly followed Liu down the hallway of the school.
"Where is this guy going?" thought Ken.
Liu walked down a couple hallways and entered into the computer lab. Ken watched from the door, cocking his head so that he could hardly be seen by anyone.
As Liu typed into the computer, Ken tried to see what he was writing.
Izzy was typing away. Ever since he had gone to college, all he had been doing was typing up a paper. He took a deep sigh, reminiscing about the old days when he could simply roam free through the internet.
"Forget it," thought Izzy, "I'm taking a break."
Izzy pulled up the Internet and decided to take a look through the Digital World. It had been a long time.
"Huh?" thought Izzy, "what's this?"
Kari screamed.
"Yes Miss Kamiya?" asked her teacher, greatly shaken.
Kari was panting heavily as she stood up from her desk.
"I can't take it anymore!" she shouted, "I just can't take it anymore!"
Kari bolted out of the classroom. The rest of the class just stared at the door. No one knew what to make of it.
"Stop right there!" shouted Ken to Liu.
Liu turned to Ken quickly.
"Oh, hey Ken…"
"Shut up!" shouted Ken, "what are you doing?"
"What do you mean?" asked Liu.
Ken pointed to the computer screen. On the computer was a map of the Digital World. Liu was looking through it to see what was going to there.
"How do you know about the Digital World?" asked Ken, "are you some kind of evil Digimon?"
Liu smiled. "Please Ken, please, you misunderstand!"
"What? What do I misunderstand? Who are you really?"
Izzy looked at the e-mail that popped up on his screen before he could access the Digital World map.
"What's this?" thought Izzy, "an e-mail from Willis! I haven't heard from him in ages!"
Izzy read through the e-mail. As he read through it, his hands began to shake on the keyboard.
"I have to tell the others!" thought Izzy.
Liu held his hands in front of himself. He was still smiling, as if he thought the entire situation was humorous.
"Look Liu," said Ken, "all I know is that Kari has been acting strange ever since you came here."
"I can explain all of that Ken," responded Liu, "but all in due time."
"How do you know it all Liu?" asked Ken.
"Please Ken," said Liu, "the Digital World needs you and the others, you can see that, can't you?"
"How do you know all this?" asked Ken desperately. "Who are you?"
Liu smiled at the confused Ken. It was a calm, kind smile that confused Ken even more. What could Ken make of this? Who was this man?
"Ken…" said Liu with a laugh.
"I am Gennai."
