Sorry for the late update.
Replying to the review from 'Your name here,' I actually hadn't known that as around here, students start switching classrooms for almost all subjects by sixth grade and most of the warriors are now in ninth. I'm assuming though that doesn't apply for electives, so just assume Science is one (along with math, language and art). Our school did plan to do that at one stage, but it fell through the roof because the result was a three person class and a 75 person one. So science is an elective, so classes are different from the homeroom ones (do they even have electives in Japan? I hope so, otherwise things really get confusing).
Enjoy.
Immortal
He wasn't alive. Not truly. Some part of him had died that day. But the others didn't know. But they can tell something's wrong, and they won't stop till they find the answer. But sometimes, it's better off not knowing...
Kouichi K
Genre: Supernatural, Angst
Rating: T
Chapter 4 – Progression
He woke to the sound of someone humming a lullaby he distantly remembered like the feel of a soft hand running through hair or the soft touch caressing skin, a part of a world mostly forgotten as it was replaced with newer memories...but at the same time, it sounded vaguely different.
Lazily, for the first time in a while feeling more refreshed than he had been before going to sleep, he opened his eyes, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the warm afternoon light, before focusing on his brother sitting at the edge as the melody changed to a gentle laughter.
'What are you laughing at?' he yawned, unwilling to move.
The elder twin shook his head. 'You complain about napping, then sleep through dinner.' The bed creaked as he stood to leave. 'Are you coming down or should I get something for you?'
'I'm not-' the other began, simply wanting to return to sleep, before his stomach protested his half-complete statement. He blushed, looking down at the offending organ before looking back at his brother's laughing gaze, though now as the darkness of sleep faded from his own blue orbs, he could see something akin in his brother's, along with the omnipresent shadow that lurked there and had become slightly more prominent in the last few months.
'You won't catch up a fortnight's worth of sleep without food,' Kouichi pointed out. 'You're letting your nightmares keep you from the sleep you need.'
'Again,' the younger twin groaned, lifting the covers off of himself and almost reluctantly dragging himself out of bed.
'I could just bring you something-'
'How do you know they started two-' He cut himself off as he realised he had fallen for the same simple trick again.
'You just admitted it,' the other replied redundantly.
'But still, it's too much of a coincidence that you just manage to say the right things.'
Kouichi stoped by the door. 'That's not it,' he said quietly. 'It's easy enough to see.'
He was gone before the other could say anything else.
Perhaps on purpose, it had been Satomi who would up bringing the dinner up for him five minutes later so Kouji had to wait for answers. But the miso soup had made him sleepy again, and by the time the elder twin abandoned his vigil downstairs, the younger was far gone in sleep.
Two fragments, three hours apiece and for the most part uninterrupted, were making the sleeping boy look more refreshed, and yet he still looked exhausted and slightly apprehensive, brow furrowed slightly in preparation to blot out the visions that tormented him.
The elder twin frowned lightly, wondering as to the change. He knew the other had nightmares...or rather, he had assumed and the other verified, as his at times seemed to be from the other's point of view. He was sure they at least could not be his own as the perspective was simply...wrong. He remembered his fear of the darkness well, and this was not it. There was hate mixed in both accounts, but a different hate. And he could not imagine such a connection between anyone else.
And though he hadn't voiced his views out loud, his observations of his brother had revealed the same fear buried within and now worming its way outwards, simply in a different form. His hate did not come from darkness; if anything, it was the other way around. But for his twin, the brother of light, if the venom in his memories of the Demon Lord were any indication-
He stifled a yawn before removing the covers from his side of the bed and sliding into them, ignoring the brief flash of white as he pulled them close to his body to savour the heat when the night's winter chills attempted to sit, and closed his eyes and waited for the vulture to fly a shorter flight.
It was a vague sense of déjà vu, two variants fighting as the two immovable forces attempted to direct the other into submission. It had taken a while for him to realise the two voices were actually variants of each other, one slightly lighter than the other...and it seemed to fit, as if you could pull the main issue into two sides of the debate, the former battled for the side of light while the latter, the darkness.
Okay...that may not be exactly true, because there was a sense for want of balance too that didn't seem to fit into either of the two dreamworld personalities, as though there was another external force overseeing the events and choosing his most favourable outcome. But as is said, when two immovable forces meet, sooner or later, one is going to have to give.
And the way things were going, it seemed that darkness had the leading edge, and was attaining more so by the day.
What he failed to realise though, was the decline was linked to his own fear, and hatred...
The black masses of shapes suddenly shifted and he flinched away instinctively, not wanting to feel the cold touch, only to find the dim light which by day grew even duller curl around the darkness (or perhaps a perspective somewhere had shifted as the darkness was lessening) in a way that winged-figurines appeared to be cast on the plane, one side shades lighter than the other and the grey darkening like a gradient.
And suddenly, something clicked. Light, darkness and wings were associated with only one being he knew...and the one he hated more than anything because of what it had taken (despite the fact that all had been renewed in the end): Lucemon.
There was a saying that claimed lust dug the dead from the grave and hatred buried it. And it was doing both. Just not necessarily the way one expected.
There was only two conclusions. Either he was losing his mind...or they had failed.
Kouichi awoke a half minute before his brother, which was fortunate as the younger opened his eyes to find the other's ocean eyes staring back at him, but otherwise, nothing else out of the ordinary.
'Why are you awake?' Kouji whispered softly so as not to disturb the remaining sleeping inhabitants of the house.
Kouichi shuffled under the sheets for a moment to get more comfortable, before whispering back: 'Morning I suppose. Dont wanna get up though.'
'Comfortable.'
'Mm-hmm.'
He closed his eyes again, enjoying the warmth trapped beneath the blankets...well, until the other flicked on the lights.
'It's too early for the lights,' the elder twin grumbled, wincing slightly at the sudden increase in exposure.
'It's too dark outside,' the other countered. 'It's still dawn.'
Kouichi cast the blankets aside and sat up, rubbing his eyes a bit and letting them adjust to the artificial luminescence before fully opening them. 'You normally don't have a problem seeing in this.' He frowned lightly, before letting a small smirk grace his face. 'Don't tell me my ototo is scared of the dark? That was my job.'
'That's not it,' Kouji snapped, before realising he'd once again let something slip. 'How'd you know this time?'
'You did a horrible job at hiding it.'
The younger twin was quiet for a moment, before speaking again, almost hesitantly.
'How did you get over it?'
'Get over what?' the other asked.
'Get over your fear of darkness.'
The ex-warrior of darkness' mouth made a slight 'oh' in comprehension as he thought about that. 'I suppose it was when I was staring down Cherubimon-sama-'
'You still use that suffix? Why?'
'Huh?..Oh...well, I suppose because in a way, he taught me a lot of things, things that helped along the journey even when both he and I were misguided by other things. I can still respect him for that. And I suppose a force of habit...after all, he is a Celestial Digimon.'
'They have made their share of mistakes.'
'Haven't we all?' Kouichi sighed, finally getting off the bed. 'I can respect a man that realises those mistakes and tries to do something about them, even when it doesn't seem that way.'
'You're too forgiving Ni-san,' the younger muttered. 'But I don't think I could do so that easily.'
'That's the answer to your question then. Understanding and forgiveness.'
And before the other could say another world, he had snuck past and through the door. A moment later, the sound of a tap running could be heard from the bathroom.
'You know Ni-san,' Kouji sighed to himself, looking for a change of clothes. 'That's one of the most straight-forward answers you've given...and it still didn't make any sense.'
'Kouji!' His father yelled from the foot of the stairs. 'Turn the light off. You're wasting electricity.'
He flicked the switch, watching the room blacken before his eyes adjusted. Even after a few minutes though, the room looked washed out, shadows cast by various furniture and staining the walls, just like a more greyscale variation of his dream world...
He would have smirked to himself had it been any other situation. After all, his brother was the artist. He was the science guy, sticking with facts...save when it came to the Digital World...and his brother.
And the darkness, but he did not care to intentionally admit that. He could say to himself though, that it took quite a bit of self restraint to not turn the lights back on.
'Are you staying for lunch Kouichi?'
'No, I told 'kaa-san I'd be home by two.'
By the time Kouji got downstairs, the other three were already eating breakfast at the table, and discussing the day's plans.
'You guys could have waited,' Kouji grumbled, pouring himself some cereal, only to realise once done that some had spilled onto the counter...something that he well did not do, even if he couldn't get past the not-burned toast part of cooking. After all, doing such a blunder in a science experiment could be far more dangerous, depending on the chemicals involved.
Quickly, he swiped them into the disposer before adding milk, this time more slowly to make sure nothing spilt, before taking a seat with the bowel and a spoon and starting on it, before remembering something.
'Takuya said he was coming over.' Inwardly, he groaned. He really did not feel like playing soccer with the hyperactive brunette.
'I can ring 'kaa-san,' Kouichi offered, correctly reading the other's discomfort. Unlike Kouji, he actually liked playing the sport with the ex-warrior of flame. 'See if she'll let me stay later.'
'Remember you both have school tomorrow,' their father reminded as both his brother and stepmother agreed, and the elder twin nodded and went for a phone.
Only to return a few minutes later looking confused. 'She didn't pick up,' he said, a hint of worry in his voice. 'The hospital said they're not expecting her for another hour, so I probably just missed her. I won't be able to reach her in time for an answer.'
'You could stay,' Satomi offered. 'I'm sure Tomoko wouldn't mind.'
Kouichi however shook his head. 'She had a double shift yesterday as well,' he admitted. 'I think it's pretty safe to say she hasn't cleaned up yet if she has a day shift today as well.'
'How much mess can one small apartment accumulate in a day?' the youngest twin wondered out loud.
The remaining three turned to him, before pointing at the barely eaten bowl. 'Eat!'
'Sheesh, I'm eating already.'
He dug the key out his pocket to open the door, the metal turning smoothly and the lock clicking without a hitch. What lay beyond was as empty as he had expected, and slightly dusty as no-one appeared to have gone passed the bedrooms and bathroom for more than twenty-four hours, and the breakfast dishes were still left in the sink (yesterday's breakfast dishes that was). Sometimes it really did seem remarkable how messy a place could lock when one abandons it in a rush and returns later...but his mother should have still been home for a few hours between the night and day shifts and he had expected at least the dishes to be done, even though he knew quite well there would have been no time for the dusting.
His mother forgetting to do the dishes, or perhaps not being in the mood to do so, wasn't the worst that could happen, but he was worried all the same. Despite protests from family, friends and work colleagues, she only ever skipped necessary chores (and sometimes not so necessary) when she was simply too exhausted or sick to do so. And she had been more tired than usual lately...though that could be attributed to the shortage of staff at the hospital and the remaining nurses working double shifts to compensate.
So he was probably worrying for nothing...which his grandmother, mother and himself had all insisted to the next youngest in lineage in turn. So that didn't really account for much.
But in any case, the dishes weren't going to wash themselves. And he didn't want to be the unfortunate soul left to scrub the brown from the pale pink walls...nor would he wish that upon anyone else...even if the two colours did make a rather interesting combination. It just wasn't hygienic, nor really suitable for the current situation. Natural beauty, peaceful love...the shadows cast on the walls due to the closed curtains said far more truth.
But that didn't change the fact that the dishes needed washing. So he opened the latch and the window itself, before turning on the taps.
Halfway through and with soap buds to his elbows, the phone rang, the sudden sound of which caused him to almost jump out of his skin and accidently cut his thumb on the butter knife while he was at it.
He quickly dried his hands, being careful not to smear the thin droplets of blood on the towel, before fetching the phone.
'Kimura residence,' he said into the receiver.
/Kouichi-kun,/ a breathless voice responded from the other line. /It's Tomoko.../
His brain froze, although his voice was still working, rather urgently too. 'What is it Kiyomi-san?' he asked urgently. 'Is she okay?'
There was a hesitant pause on the other end. /She collapsed at the station,/ she replied eventually, sounding as though she really didn't want to be the one to tell the boy this. /The doctors think the cancer's reaching it's final stages-/
He never heard the rest of her words, the receiver already fallen from his limp hand.
Post Author's Notes
The reason Kouji didn't have a nightmare in his nap was because Kouichi was awake. Notice with the other nightmares that both were sleeping at the same time (in this story, they both have the sleeping patterns though it is deterrent from the normal clashing system). It has to do with the degree of subconsciousness acting on both parts, so both have to be asleep for both to see/feel in that detail, and that creates the dreams/nightmares. Kouichi's more used to it than Kouji because he's dealt with it longer and also because he is the Warrior of Darkness and sleep is one of it's secondary powers (ie. Powers apart from evolving).When Kouichi is awake, it doesn't impact Kouji's subconsciousness that much, so there's no disruption...well, hardly any. Sleeping people still pick up stimuli from outer surroundings and their dreams can reflect that, so Kouji's angel at the end of the last chapter is explained in this one.
To make things simpler, I'll split up the main secondary powers (for this story) here (not everything shows up, but these things go towards shaping their characters):
Darkness: aids sleep/rest/healing, night vision, inner perception (which leads to acceptance/change), deception, agility
Light: aids awakeness/alertness, focus, speed, outer perception, fear (ie. Got to do with flight/fight response)
Fire: Outer strength (not only physical), fear, outer perception (less than light), agility (different manner to light)
Ice: Inner strength, precision, speed (depending), outer/inner perception, focus
Thunder: aids acceptance/change, outer/inner perception, deception (lesser degree to darkness), alertness
Wind: Agility, speed, inner perception (to a lesser degree of darkness), fear (same as fire), aids sleep (depending) or alertness (again depending) (lesser extent to darkness/light)
You'll note that some overlap, so in other words, none are purely independent, but light and darkness are the two cores which form the foundation from which the others stem.
Remember Lucemon though when thinking about the above. It will eventually be clearer.
