It had been a few weeks since Koji and Koichi had traveled to the other world and were found by TK and Kari's son. Now both boys were healed enough to leave, but here came the problem. They had nowhere to stay. Eventually Koji managed to explain this to Takashi-San, and he and his wife Hikari had proclaimed that they'd be happy for them to stay with their family. Now all that had to be done was for the family to get their and the hospital forms to be signed. The hospital wasn't too far from where their new temporary house was, but apparently Hikari-San had work today, so they had to wait for Takaru-San instead. Koichi sat quietly on the couch in the lobby with his brother beside him. Koji unfortunately was in a bad mood today, and having to wait for their "Foster father" to pick them up was straining the last of the other boy's patience.
The hospital staff had agreed to let them stay with Takashi-San, on the condition that he and his family foster them, as they had no "known" family. Koji was upset by this. He was willing to accept his step mother and call her "mom" and be with his birth mother and call her "mother", but living with a bunch of strangers and having to consider them family was not something he was comfortable with. This was part of the reason that Koji had so little patience with the man. Koichi sighed, "Koji, please sit down, I know you're upset, but what did you want us to do? Live out on the street while we try and stalk Kai-Kun?" he asked. His brother didn't answer. The Dark Twin closed his eyes again and took his D-Tector out of his pocket. Lowermon stared up at him. "At least they gave us back our D-Tectors pretty soon, but that Izzy guy seemed intrigued by them," he turned back to look at Koji, "do you really think that it's true? Digimon can exist here without causing damage to the world with their presence?" he asked.
When there was no answer, Koichi looked up again, "come on Koji, stop trying to wear a hole in the floor and relax- I think this would be a good time for us to talk about how we're going to do this" the Dark twin said. "Do what?" Koji asked, sounding distracted. "Uh, what do you mean 'do what?' Complete Lady Ophanimon's mission?" he whispered, looking around to make sure no one heard him. The long-haired boy stopped and stared at the floor for a moment, before looking up at his brother. After a moment, he sighed, "fine, I guess that is something we should probably talk about" Koji replied. He went and sat down next to his brother. "So, no one has said anything, but I think the person we're looking for is Kai" the Kimura whispered. Koji furrowed his eyebrows, "are you sure?" he asked. Koichi nodded, "it's not as strong as mine, but I can feel Darkness surrounding his heart. Not evil mind you, just Darkness, like me" he confirmed.
He looked down, "I think that's why he was drawn to me and was able to find me in the forest after we just got here. He sensed my Darkness. Not to mention that he instinctively called me Senpai. I think he can feel it, at least a little." The older twin explained. Koji nodded, "I felt something like that after he came to visit me too. But I just thought it was residual energy from you. Your aura from being a Digimon is stronger than most of us, being that you spent a full year bonded to your Spirit before we met, not to mention you were bonded Spirit to spirit, leaving a stronger aura than otherwise. But maybe it wasn't just from you. Maybe the Darkness that I was sensing really was from him" he replied. Koichi scowled slightly, "his name is Kai" he replied softly. They sat in silence for a moment, "so, after we leave, we need to keep an eye on that kid, while avoiding suspicion" Koji said to himself. The shorter-haired boy sighed silently.
It seemed not being able to see their Mother was even more stressful for his brother than it was for him. After all, Koji was reverting to the boy who never showed his feelings or tried to connect with people that he had been before he had freed him from the corrupted Spirits of Darkness. He was tense, and just saw this as a job that he wanted to complete as fast as possible. He hoped that he could get Koji to relax while they were here. Suddenly the doors to the hospital opened and Takashi-San walked in with his two children. Koichi took this time to get a closer look at the bearers of Light and Darkness from this world. Kai and MJ walked closely together, and while the girl was smiling brightly, the boy was staring at the ground with a closed off look on his face. Of course, to the untrained eye, it would seem like he was just shy, and not as out-going as his sister. But to the brothers it was like a Neon sign saying: "here I am! I'm the bearer of Darkness! I'm also really uncomfortable about it!"
Koichi would recognize that look on the blond boys face anywhere. It was the same look that he wore every once-in-a-while. The closed-off, uncertain and slightly fearful expression of someone who was afraid of themselves for something that they hated. Kai held the look for a few minutes, before smiling and looking up, dark emotions buried underneath a mask of cheerfulness. The Dark twin recognised all the signs instantly and frowned. He had obviously been dealing with the burden of being a bearer of Darkness for much longer than he had, and the stress and shame for it showed so clearly that it was painful for the older boy. Here was a child who was suffering under the heaviest burden you could carry as a DigiDestined, and it was so obvious that he had no one to really confide in that it made Koichi wince. He knew that pain. Knew it intimately. The pain of wondering: "why? Why me? Why do I have to be the one to carry this? Why couldn't it have been someone else? I don't want it". He knew because he had felt it often himself.
After he stopped being Duskmon. After his Spirits were purified he still thought those things every once in a while. And after they went back home, he still felt that pain. Though mostly because of nightmares. Mentally shaking himself out of those thoughts, he managed to place a smile on his face at about the same time his 'jr' looked up and smiled, "Koichi-Senpai! Are you and Koji-San feeling better now?" Kai asked as the group of three came to a stop in front of them. Koichi opened his mouth to reply, before Koji beat him to it, "don't call me 'San' it makes me feel old. I'm the same age as my brother" he muttered, looking away. "Sorry, anyway, I thought I'd introduce you to my family- well, most of them," Kai smiled at the girl next to him, "this is my twin sister Misa Jun Takashi, but we all just call her MJ" he explained. The brown-haired girl grinned and bowed, "nice to meet you both!" she said cheerfully. "This is our Papa" Kai said, smile fading just slightly.
TK smiled and bowed, "Takaru Takashi Sr, but everyone calls me TK" he held out his hand to the boys. Koji shook it unenthusiastically, while Koichi shook it happily. The Kimura indicated his brother, "This is Koji Minamoto and my name is Koichi Kimura," he bowed, "thank you for taking us in, we're both very grateful, aren't we Koji?" he asked, noticing his brother was still staring at their Foster family. He looked away, "yeah, thanks" he muttered. The bearer of the Spirits of Darkness sighed silently before straightening up, "I'm sorry about him, he doesn't like hospitals very much" he apologised on his brother's behalf. Takashi-San shook his head, "don't worry about it, let's get going to my house, and you can meet my wife" he said with a smile. Soon everyone was on their way back to the Takashi's house. As they walked, Koji and Koichi looked around. They couldn't help their eyes widening at the sight of so many Digimon. 'I guess in this world, Digimon don't do damage to the Real World just by coming here'.
As they walked, MJ spotted an ice cream van, "Papa, can we get Ice cream? Please?" she pleaded. TK thought about it, "well, lunch isn't for a little while- sure, let's get some ice cream" he decided with a grin. The group went over to the van and the man running it smiled at the kids, "good morning, what can I get for you today?" he asked happily. MJ look at the flavours, "ooh, can I have chocolate chip, please?" she asked politely. TK nodded, "and you Kai?" he asked, turning to his son. "Just chocolate thank you" Kai replied quietly. Koichi spoke up then, "may I have the same please, Takashi-San?" the older twin asked. Koji looked over the flavours silently, "Cookies and cream?" he suggested hesitantly. The adult nodded, "right, so that's one chocolate chip ice cream, two plain chocolate and one cookies and cream" he said to the man, while handing over the money. As the van owner was getting their ice creams ready, Koichi again looked around at all the people with Digimon in this world. It was like a dream come true for them, something that was impossible in their own physical world. Some part of him wondered what it was like to have a Digimon partner instead of becoming a Digimon yourself.
There were benefits that he could see. Like having a friend who would never leave you. Not having to worry that you wouldn't be strong enough. And having someone who could lift you up out of your hard times and cheer you up. They had to do all of that themselves. But despite it's difficulty, being a Legendary Warrior had it's benefits as well. By becoming the Digimon themselves, they had the experience and strength to fight their own battles. They were literally one with their partners. Their Digimon Spirits were a part of them and gave them the confidence and power to protect the people that they loved themselves instead of having to rely on someone else's power. Even when they'd had to leave the Digital World, their Digital World and leave their Spirits behind, some of the strength they'd instilled in all of them was left behind. He had been able to feel Lowermon and JagerLowermon's presences in the back of his mind if he focused hard enough. Even if he could never become them again, being able to feel his other half (excluding Koji this time) was enough for him.
Koichi knew that many of them missed their Spirits. They'd become part of each other, and it was very hard to leave them behind. But now, at the very least both he and Koji had them back. They'd been reunited with their Spirits and, to him, that was more than enough to make up for not having a physical Digimon partner. "Here you go" a voice suddenly said, breaking him out of his thoughts. The Dark twin looked up at Takashi-San as he held out the ice cream that he'd ordered. Koichi took his chocolate ice cream with a smile, "thank you Takashi-San" he replied. Once everyone had their snacks, the group continued on to the Takashi family home. Looking over at Kai as he ate, Koichi knew that their mission was going to start soon, and they had to be ready.
The five soon arrived at the Takashi family household. It seemed alright, a two story building with a balcony on the top floor of one of the rooms and painted a cheerful yellow and red. The twins followed the others inside, where MJ let out a loud "we're home!" Soon a small dog with a golden collar around it's neck came running down the stairs, "Misa! You're back!" she squealed happily, practically leaping into the girls arms. MJ giggled, "nice to see you again too Salamon" she replied, stroking the dog Digimon's fine fur. "Kai, there you are, I've been waiting forever!" another female voice exclaimed in exasperation as Tokomon came into view from the living room. She walked over to the boy, who crouched down to pick her up in his arms, "sorry for making you wait Tokomon" he replied softly, scratching a spot between his Digimon's flat ears that always made her relax.
"Welcome home!" a female voice called from another room. Soon the woman came into view as well. She had shoulder-length brown hair and wore a pink shirt and white jeans. The woman walked over to the twin boys and smiled at them, "it's nice to meet you both, my name is Hikari Takashi, but everyone calls me Kari, I'm TK's wife and Kai and MJ's mother. I know you probably aren't very happy with this situation, but until we can find your parents, you're going to have to stay with us I'm afraid. Please, don't be afraid to ask about anything you might need to make your stay here more comfortable, I am a teacher after all, and my husband makes plenty of money from his books- they're best-sellers. So we'll be happy to help as much as we can, okay?" Kari asked, holding out her hand to the boys. Koichi smiled back and shook the woman's hand, before bowing, "thank you very much for having us, we appreciate your hospitality" he replied, truly grateful. After all, not only would this keep them from having to stay on the streets, but Kai and MJ were the very two children that they needed to help for their mission. And from what he had seen so far, the boy definitely needed his help.
To Be Continued
