a/n: Thank you for reading! Enjoy!

"Just washing it aside, all of the helplessness inside. Pretending I don't feel misplaced is so much simpler than change." — Easier to Run, Linkin Park

Ch 04 || Secrets

Tap. Tap, tap, click. Click. Backspace, tap, taptaptap, enter. Enter. Click. Accidental caps lock. Shift. Tap, tap. Backspace, backspace, backspace.

Slam.

Koushiro startled for a moment as Taichi's hand connected on the top of his laptop, closing it roughly, and glanced up at Taichi with annoyed eyes. "Taichi, why did you do that?"

"You've been working on that for the past hour, Koushiro," the teen in front of him said. "Give it a break, would you? I'm not just gonna sit here and watch you type on your computer."

The computer expert sighed in exasperation, seeming unhappy that he had been interrupted. Taichi didn't care.

"You could have been more careful with it," the younger of the two said. "It's a laptop, not a punching bag. Did you not read Gennai's email? Something is out there, Taichi, and it's only a matter of time before it resurfaces. I need to figure this out."

"As I said, you've spent quite a bit of time figuring it out," Taichi groaned, feeling equally annoyed. "Take a break. I didn't come over to watch you unravel mysteries." He paused, collapsing onto the redhead's bed unceremoniously, sighing in the same manner that his friend had. "I'm just as frustrated as you are, you know. But it's summer vacation, damn it. Relax a little."

"I believe he's right, Koushiro-han," Tentomon commented, speaking for the first time in about ten minutes. "You can't continue to work if you spend all of your energy on one thing. Your body will wear out eventually."

Agumon, who had been equally quiet from his place next to Taichi on Koushiro's bed, nodded. "You should stop for a little bit."

Ever since they'd received the message from Gennai, they took turns retrieving their digimon partners from the digital world. It was a safety move, to have their partners close in case something did happen in either world. After all, they were stronger together. So far, his and Koushiro's parents hadn't questioned it. He wasn't sure about the others.

Despite their words, though, Koushiro did not seem fazed. Pursing his lips, the keeper of Knowledge leaned back in his chair, staring at his now-closed laptop. "The younger kids were in the Digital World about a week before we received the message. Did Hikari mentioned anything out of the ordinary when she arrived home that day?"

Taichi rolled over and mumbled something into one of Koushiro's pillows, making his response incredibly difficult to comprehend.

"What?"

"I said," Taichi started, taking a deep breath, "that she hasn't spoken of anything. When she came home, she was really quiet and a bit shaky. But when I asked her, she just closed up. She wouldn't even look me in the eye. It was... worrying, to be honest. I haven't seen her act like that since..." He stopped.

The Dark Ocean lingered on the tip of his tongue, but the words refused to leave his lips. Saying it out loud stung his insides a little, brought up memories he longed to forget. He decided to remain silent for a moment. Hikari rarely spoke of that. As a result, neither did he.

"...since before we defeated Belialvamdemon," he finished quietly, staring absently at the ceiling.

"And?" Koushiro prompted.

"And what?"

"Has she said anything now?"

The keeper of Courage frowned slightly. "Not yet. I heard her talking about the digital world before I came into the room. She and Tailmon... they were talking about Takeru. When I started asking questions again, she kept blowing off each one. It was like she was trying to cover something up. And then we got that message..." He paused and sighed again, looking away. "She stopped trying after that. She just froze. I've never seen her so scared."

Koushiro kept quiet as he finished. Tentomon and Agumon were silent, too, and stared at him curiously.

"She hasn't been herself lately, come to think of it," Agumon remarked absently.

"You said she was speaking to Tailmon about Takeru, correct?" Koushiro asked after a moment.

Taichi nodded without really realizing it and gazed at him with his brows raised. "Why?"

"Have you spoken to Takeru lately? Perhaps he knows something," the computer whiz suggested.

Taichi thought about it. He hadn't talked to the young blond lately. But maybe Hikari had. With school having ended almost two weeks ago for summer break, the younger group of Chosen were probably hanging out more than they were during the school year.

"Maybe they fought about something," Tentomon said suddenly.

Taichi looked at his partner, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Hikari and Takeru are pretty close," the orange dinosaurlike digimon explained for him. "They could have gotten into an argument. Maybe that's why Hikari is so worked up."

It was possible. Taichi had to admit that he was worried, for his sister and her best friend. Agumon's words caused something to stir in his gut, and his older brother instinct told him that he should be checking on both of them at that very second to see if they were ok.

He knew from the moment Hikari had come home from the digital world that day that things were not as they should be. But no matter how hard he tried to pry, she wouldn't open up. Wouldn't spill any details.

"If that is the case, surely they would have resolved any conflict between them by now," Koushiro pointed out, speaking the other's thoughts aloud. "Those two are like siblings. They don't argue for long before one of them apologizes to the other."

"She said something about him lying to her," Taichi murmured suddenly. He sat up, no longer able to fight that brotherly urge to see if she was alright. His leader instinct also told him that no matter how far Hikari or Takeru tried to distance themselves from anyone, they were still a part of a team, and whatever secret they were hiding couldn't stay a secret for long.

"What are you doing, Taichi?" Agumon asked.

"I'm going to ask the younger kids what happened in the digital world that day they went to the lake," he answered as he stood, grabbing his d-terminal from the other side of Koushiro's bedroom. "There's gotta be something they're not telling us."

"Taichi—" Koushiro started, but Taichi raised his hand, frowning.

"No. I may be wrong, but the others could know something. They were in the digital world, too. Maybe they do know something. And if they don't, well, at least I know I tried."

Koushiro bit his lip, thinking it over. "It couldn't hurt to ask, I suppose." Then, after a moment, he added, "Let me know if they have anything."

"Planned on it," the keeper of Courage said and began typing on his d-terminal.

Hey, guys. It's Taichi. Just out of curiosity, did you guys run into any digimon or anything when you went to the digital world a few weeks ago? Or have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? I know you probably would have said something earlier if you had, but... Koushiro and I are looking for leads. He debated on hitting the 'send' button but hesitated. Decided to be honest and add, And I'm a little worried about Hikari. Has she said anything? To any of you? She's been acting strange since she came home that day. Thanks. Let me know asap.

He included Daisuke, Ken, Iori, Miyako, and Takeru in the message, and gave them a few minutes to reply. Waited. Waited. He wasn't known for his patience, obviously, because Koushiro sighed and said, "Stop pacing, Taichi. It hasn't been that long."

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Don't be," the keeper of Knowledge replied. "It's just you were so adamant that I needed to take a break, and now you're the one riled up."

Tentomon gave an affirmative nod. "Now Koushiro-han is the one that's right."

"Sit down and wait a little longer. They'll respond at some point," Agumon added.

Sitting back on the bed, the seventeen-year-old parted his lips to reply, but a knock on Koushiro's bedroom door caught the teen's words and trapped them in his throat. The four of them looked at the door as it opened slowly, revealing Koushiro's mother, holding a plate of cookies.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, smiling sheepishly, "but you four have been in here for quite a while, and I figured you might need a snack. Anyone up for a cookie?"

Tentomon and Agumon didn't object. Her smile grew as the two digimon raced toward her, eyes alight with excitement and hunger, and Koushiro quickly stood to take the plate from her grasp before their digimon accidentally knocked it out of her hands.

"Are you two working on something?" Koushiro's mother asked, gesturing to Koushiro's closed laptop and Taichi's d-terminal.

"It's nothing important," the computer whiz said easily. "Thank you, Mom. We appreciate it."

"Thanks, Koushiro's mom," Agumon cried.

"These are delicious," Tentomon said.

She smiled and disappeared into the hallway, and Koushiro set the plate on the floor for their partners, careful as to not break it. Then he returned to his desk chair, his own smile fading as looked at Taichi solemnly. While the digimon could easily be distracted, he was unfazed. "Back to the topic at hand..."

Taichi's d-terminal beeped before he had a chance to respond, bringing his mind back to what they had been talking about. He didn't hesitate to open up the message but was disappointed when his eyes skimmed over what had been sent. It didn't include the answer he'd been looking for.

We stayed around the lake. Nothing too bad happened, Ken had written.

Nothing too bad. That had to mean something had happened, then, didn't it? A few moments later, he received a similar reply from Miyako: We just went swimming. I haven't heard from Hikari in the past few days. Is she ok? She's not sick, is she?

Daisuke and Iori had been next, but neither of their responses gave away anything useful. In fact, their responses seemed a little too innocent.

Takeru did not reply.

Taichi cursed under his breath, wanting to throw the damned device across the room if it would soothe the frustration bubbling through him. Since he couldn't do that, though, he just settled for letting slide out of his grip and onto Koushiro's bed sheets and worked his jaw silently.

"What did they say?" Agumon asked, abandoning the plate of cookies to look up at his troubled partner, frowning.

"Nothing. That's the problem." He glared at his d-terminal with such menace that it would suggest the device had insulted him. "Either they're all out of the loop, or they're hiding something, too."

"You don't know that," Tentomon assured gently.

"Apparently, none of them have talked to her," he explained. "Ken said nothing 'too bad' happened. Too bad? How am I supposed to take that? I'm not dumb, Koushiro."

"Nobody said you were," Koushiro said carefully. "You tried, Taichi. Maybe they are telling the truth."

He took a few moments to calm down. But he couldn't stop thinking about how Koushiro hadn't seen the horrified expression on Hikari's face when they received that message from Gennai. Hadn't heard the pieces of the conversation between Hikari and Tailmon that he had heard minutes beforehand. There was definitely something wrong, he knew it.

"Did Takeru say anything?" Agumon asked.

Taichi sighed. "No."

"He could be busy," Koushiro offered.

"Whose side are you on?"

"I'm not picking sides, Taichi." The keeper of Knowledge gave him a stern look, frowning. "I'm trying to be logical. I want to figure out what caused that disturbance that Gennai spoke of in his message. I know you want to figure it out, too, and I know you're worried about your sister, but you're looking for answers from people who might not have them."

Taichi bit his lip to stop himself from making a rather rude comeback. He sighed again and decided that, yeah, ok, his friend did have a point. But there was still one person who hadn't replied to his message yet.

"Who are you going to talk to now?" Koushiro inquired when Taichi picked up his d-terminal again.

"Yamato," he answered without hesitation. "He is Takeru's brother, you know. And Takeru seems to be the reason why Hikari is acting like this. Maybe Yamato can figure something out."

"Did you not hear a word I said?" his friend asked, exasperated. "Give them some space. Let them be. Gennai sent that message to all of us—meaning Takeru received it, too. Don't you think he would have told us something out of the ordinary happened?"

"Yeah, he would have," Taichi said. "So would Hikari. So would the others. But there's a reason they haven't. And I want to know that reason."

He typed out a message to his best friend before Koushiro could reply. He didn't even bother to read it over for mistakes before he hit send. Yamato's response was instantaneous.

I'm going over to my mom's place tomorrow. I'll talk to him then.

Taichi didn't know if he could wait that long.

Across Odaiba, Takeru stared at his d-terminal, unsure of what to do. Taichi's message lit up his screen and made his heart thunder in his chest. Made his throat tighten up.

He'd screwed up. Badly. And it was starting to show.

His blue eyes skimmed over the words Taichi had sent him. Twice. Three times. The keeper of Courage was asking for help on finding a lead, but the only thing that really stuck out was Hikari's name.

Taichi was worried about her because of Takeru's choices.

Biting his lip, the blue-eyed teen closed his d-terminal. He couldn't deal with questions yet. It hurt to lie, yes. But how could he explain what had happened to him in the forest if he wasn't even one-hundred percent sure that it had actually happened? That he hadn't been hallucinating the whole time?

They'd think he was insane. Hell, he thought he was insane. There was no explanation for what his imagination had created, was no way to prove that it had been real. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make sense of any of it.

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

He'd said it out of nowhere. The question was directed toward his digimon partner, who was sitting next to him on his bed. As soon as he realized that Takeru had addressed him, his ears perked up slightly. "Why would I think that?"

"I told you why," he murmured quietly. "Do... do you think that I really did imagine that? The kids at the lake, I mean. And the house."

Patamon was the only one he felt safe enough with to admit anything to. Not because he didn't trust anyone else, but because he knew that even if he were crazy, his partner wouldn't judge him. He'd always be there for him. And his point was proven when the little guy crawled onto his lap, resting a paw on his chest and looking him straight in the eye with absolute certainty.

"You're not crazy, Takeru. Trust me. I've seen crazy."

"Like what?" the blond asked through the knot forming in his throat.

Patamon thought for a moment. "Like the silly devil who thought he was strong enough to take my partner away from me when I'd only first met him. Like that stupid ball with wings that thought he could tear apart an inseparable team. Like a vampire who thought he could take over an entire world full of humans who he'd only heard of in legends. Not only once, but twice. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried again. Who was he to think he could outsmart the human race when they had us on their side? And... and like people who put cherry flavoring in water. What is the point in that? That, Takeru, is crazy."

A bubble of a laugh slipped from his lips without his consent. His fingers dusted against the little guy's fur, wondering how he was so lucky to have a partner like him. "Thanks," he muttered. "I needed that."

Patamon smiled reassuringly, but it faltered as he glanced at the d-terminal in Takeru's other hand. Confusion swam in his eyes. "Did you get a message from someone?"

Takeru exhaled slowly. "It's from Taichi. He's worried."

"Why?"

"They haven't found anything that could have caused what Gennai was talking about in his message. And he's worried about Hikari."

"Hikari's worried about you," the small digimon said, poking Takeru in the chest. "And so am I. Tailmon has even been asking me about you, you know. And..." Patamon hesitated, lowered his voice slightly. "You're still having nightmares. Don't you think that could be connected to the forest? Or possibly even Gennai's message?"

Takeru stiffened slightly, swallowing hard. He didn't want to talk about the nightmares. Couldn't talk about the nightmares. "Why would it have anything to do with that?"

"I don't know," Patamon said. "But there is a small chance. If you talk to someone besides me, they might be able to help you."

"I don't need help, Patamon."

He wasn't sure why he said it. The words came out on instinct, rolled off of his tongue reflexively in a sharp, not quite whisper. But Patamon's hurt, concerned expression was enough to soften the glare in his eyes, enough to make him regret speaking in the first place.

"I hate seeing you hurt like this," his partner told him tearfully. "I hate seeing you struggle. You need to tell someone that's not me, Takeru... you need to explain what happened. They're not going to think you're insane. They're your friends."

Patamon had said it like it was true, and Takeru wanted desperately to believe him. They were his friends. Friends didn't judge. Didn't jump to conclusions right away. Didn't lie to each other. But the bigger part of him told him that they didn't need to know, that it would complicate things. It was the part that he was afraid of. He wasn't sure which part to listen to, or what to do. Hikari really was concerned about him.

You know you can't hide from her, he thought. Just tell her already. She'll believe you. She has to.

He put the d-terminal down, decided to ignore Taichi's message for the time being. It was rude, sure. But he needed some time to clean up this mess that he had created, needed some time to fix things with Hikari.

Takeru pulled his phone out of his pocket, fingers hovering over the keyboard. He bit his lip. Hard. Didn't stop until a small sting of pain told him he'd broken through the skin. He tasted blood and didn't care.

Patamon stared at him as he finally punched in his best friend's number. "Who are you calling?"

"Hikari," he answered. Explained, "You're right. I need to tell someone."

The blond brought his phone to his right ear and waited. One ring. Two. Three, four, five.

Six. Seven.

Her chirpy voicemail filtered through his speaker after the eighth ring. Takeru opened his mouth to leave a message when his phone offered him the chance, but the words wouldn't form.

He sat mutely until it beeped, telling him that his time was up. Takeru had no choice but to set his phone back down, and when he did, he gathered a confused Patamon in his arms, leaned against the headboard, and wondered if it was best not to tell her.

"She didn't answer," he murmured softly without having to be prompted, feeling his throat close up for the third time.

"Try your d-terminal," his partner offered. "She probably just doesn't have her phone on her."

The blond stared at the device on his nightstand, remembering his reluctance to reply to Taichi. Took a deep breath. And another for courage. "O...ok."

He reached for it again; picked it up. Ignored the words on his screen as he created a new draft and typed up, Hey, Hikari. Can I talk to you? Added, I need to tell you something about the forest.

He hesitated. Stared at it for a long time. His thumb was poised just over the send button, and he worked his jaw. Swallowed shakily.

Discarded it.

Wondered where his headphones were.