Author's Notes

First of all, a big thank you to Asarikou-chan and Alyss for reviewing, and for Alyss for reminding me of the cliffhanger I forgot about at the end of the last chapter. Which means I had to fix that before exams.

On another note, if any of the characters, namely Kouji or Takuya, seem OOC, it's because they're freaking. Badly. Anyone would be out of character in that situation, and the worst part is the inbuilt paranoia.

Second last, medical stuff. The only time I've been in the emergency department, it was empty except for the woman at the front desk. Brain injuries from my cousin's neurology books. She wanted to be a brain surgeon. Other stuff from the internet. As for car crash injuries…I sort of imagined the fall and improvised. Locality of bruises are relatively general though.

Last…updates. Exams are coming up, and as you've probably noticed, updates are consequently slowing. My first year at university is drawing to an end. Hopefully next year no-one will mix me up for a sixth/seventh grader. Oh, who am I kidding…

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

Knowledge without Force

Knowledge is power, but sometimes you need a little force to push. Experience shuns childhood, so it's not children caught in an adult's game. But a player had better yield, before others pay the price.

Kouji M & Takuya K

Genre/s: Drama/Suspense

Rating: M

Chapter 4

Warning Tone

The echo of twin screams resonated in his ears, even as silence came through the receiver. The dial tone had faded into a second scream, as akin to the first as one could dread, but even that had now faded into silence. Not even the sound of breathing came through the connection, save the echoing of his own voice shouting at his friend. But they fell to deaf ears, and the dreaded quietness echoed back to him.

Defeated, he hung up the phone. There was no use yelling when there was no answer. There was no telling exactly what that first scream meant. They could be wrong. It could have been a bluff. There was a bit of static, so it even may have been pre-recorded. Who knew, maybe the guy, whoever he was, had used one of those softwares to alter the voice and scare them both out of their wits?

Why Kouji had screamed like that however was a different story. The dial-tone indicated that the other had hung up by then, and while the pair did still occasionally get into tussles, neither one would make their friend worry as much as he was worrying now. And now he wasn't answering...Kouji always had a way of showing his aggravation even when he was determinedly ignoring the other. Normally by the usual "I'm pretending you're invisible" routine, which did make him rather annoyed in turn, and then the cycle continued.

The entire situation was making him a little paranoid. He could try and convince himself nothing had happened. Hell, a few weeks ago he would have thought this to be a rather elaborate prank, but whoever was behind the entire situation had taken enough care to grate their nerves. Enough for there to be very little hope of an elaborate prank...if one takes out the knowledge that no adult should know out of the equation. What was worse, was if something had really happened to Kouichi, one of their six membered team, Kouji's brother and their mutual friend, it would mean that their mysterious caller would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. And they couldn't give it to him. Not to mention they couldn't tell anyone. Besides, who, beside the other legendary warriors, would believe them? And if someone had been hurt just by being related...

The noise of someone throwing something heavy near the glass distracted him.

'Whoops,' Shinya's voice sounded from outside. 'Gomen Ni-san, but I didn't break anything.'

Shinya...

It hit him suddenly just how much danger everyone was in. He would be okay. Kouji would be okay. Their mysterious caller needed them. But their family and friends were in danger, if that latest call was anything to go by. Their parents would probably be okay; they're adults, anything would cause an uproar. But the younger people, like Shinya-

Not to mention, what the hell was wrong with Kouji?

Shinya was playing with the soccer ball by himself outside.

'Shinya!' He yelled loudly, causing the boy to jump, a little guiltily. 'I didn't break anything,' he protested.

Takuya ignored him, grabbing his brother's coat and the keys, before quickly locking up. Shinya made it over by the time the last lock clicked into place, to be awarded with the jacket in his face.

'Wha..?'

'Come on,' the other snapped, catching his hand and dragging him down the road. Startled by the sudden movement, Shinya stumbled a bit before catching up, utterly bewildered at his brother's behaviour. At least he wasn't in trouble, as the window's glass was a little bit cracked, but someone would only notice if they looked extremely closely.

'Where are we going?' Shinya asked, looking at his brother's tensed face as he scanned the traffic, passing through them a little more quickly than was strictly safe. He seemed in a hurry to the younger Kanbara to get somewhere, but that didn't explain why he was being dragged along. 'And why am I being dragged along?'

'Kouji's,' came the one word answer, which completely shot over the second question. But the other didn't have the time to ask again, because the double storey house loomed into view.

Takuya slammed a finger onto the doorbell, other hand still tightly gripping his brother's. To the other's credit, he hadn't immediately tried to price his hand out claiming he was old enough to walk without such a chaperone...however the pace may have made him grateful for the association. Besides, it was normally Takuya who didn't like holding his brother's hand, so the fact that he was willingly doing so was both welcome (if even a little late, because everyone, no matter what the age, took comfort in little things like that) and worrying.

Even more annoying was the growing agitation when no-one answered the door, save a bark from behind the fence.

'Kouji,' the older brunette muttered under his breath. 'You had better have a very good reason for this.' It may have sounded annoyed to the outside observer, but Shinya knew his brother well enough that it was worry that clouded the tone.

'Maybe he's not home,' Shinya suggested, after they stood, and the elder knocked, with no result for about five minutes. Takuya had even tried the doorknob.

'He's home,' the other responded, tuning away from the door and trying to see through the closed windows. He considered climbing over the gate, but it was rather difficult to do that without letting go of someone, so he left that as a last resort. Worst case scenario, the back door would be similarly locked.

'You could try a window,' the younger Kanbara mumbled, faintly annoyed now. He was still waiting for a legible explanation, but his brother didn't seem to be in the mood to entertain him. Which was an oddity in itself; Takuya and quiet simply did not go together, unless you counted his birthday three years ago when one of the other's friends had died and resuscitated in the space of about twenty minutes. But that was a special case. That was the only time he had seen his brother in tears too.

Takuya looked at his little brother at the suggestion, then ruffled the hair somewhat distractedly. 'I hadn't thought of that,' he said quietly, going to the nearest ground floor one. However, circling the perimeter, he found them all locked too. And the curtains were drawn too tightly to see anything inside.

He could hear the phone ringing now, but no-one was answering. The car wasn't in the driveway; apparently his parents weren't home. He knew Kouji had to be though; he couldn't have disappeared that fast.

'That's it!' he exploded suddenly, unable to stand the waiting. 'I'm breaking this stupid glass!'

Seeing as replacing window panes was rather costly, especially with a teenager's allowance, that should have brought Kouji running. The fact that it didn't sucked out practically the last remnants of doubt in his mind. All he needed now was to see his ailing friend; perhaps he had fainted from shock by the phone. But something told him it was more. It might as well have been. The twins had a bond he would never understand.

It took him a few tries to break the glass, all the while Shinya stood gaping at him. Once it did, it broke completely, falling into three long jagged pieces with crumbled glass all around. Luckily, the break was rather neat, all things considered, so he could slip in easily enough without getting cut, ordering Shinya to do the same.

Shinya would have asked to be released at that point. Actually, he would have asked earlier, but this new Takuya was scaring him. He seemed extra paranoid for some reason, and he had a feeling the other wouldn't be placated until he was proven either right or wrong.

It was the former, as he easily spotted the sprawled form beside the phone, which was figuratively ringing off the hook.

He ignored the phone himself, intent of shaking his friend awake. There was a grimace of pain seemingly permanently etched onto his face, even though the rest of it had somewhat relaxed.

Shinya looked between him and the phone, which was still ringing insistently. Seeing his brother's friend begin to stir, and his hand released as the said brother had need of both his own, he picked up.

'Moshi moshi, Minamoto residence,' he said after a brief pause, correctly remembering the other's surname. He then listened intently, stating the reason for his and his brother's presence, then making a few noises of agreement.

Takuya meanwhile was still shaking Kouji, whose face twisted into an all-out grimace as light began to seep through his closed eyelids. He groaned out loud, both in pain and reluctance to the light, but forced them open when the constant rocking caused his head to spin and bile to rise up in his throat.

'Stop it 'kuya,' he slurred, words barely understandable but tone immaculate.

Takuya stopped immediately. 'You okay?' he asked worriedly, helping the other up. The ex-warrior of light tried to feebly push him away; it was a bit of an embarrassing situation, but that wasn't the reason.

'Kouichi!' Kouji gasped. 'Something happened! What?-'

He looked almost desperately at the other, as though looking for something to prove him false, but Takuya had nothing like that. Even worse, that was proof that it hadn't been a bluff at all, that whoever was calling on Susanoomon would go any lengths to get what he wanted. It was a beautifully wrought plan on sadism and hunger for that power. There were plenty of pieces, and they were young, too young. Perhaps the experiences in the Digital World had helped them grow. They had lost their childhood innocence, killing and witnessing others be killed; whether they had been digimon or humans really didn't matter. The worst of all of them had been the two of blood pitted against each other, the ultimum of light and darkness clashing, destroying, and remaking each other. Looking back, they realised just how lucky they had been. They had met in a battle to the death too much. At the end, one had died; Kouichi's selfless sacrifice to save the world and the people he loved giving the powers of darkness to his brother and uniting the two forces. The final clash between them, where they eventually yielded to grief, desire and will and created the power that had been that salvation.

And now it could be their destruction. Kouichi had pulled through, with some help from Ofanimon as they had all witnessed the glowing symbol on his forehead before his miraculous revival, both to them and the befuddled Doctors around them. Luckily, no-one else had seen the symbol, though perhaps they wouldn't have questioned the rescuing of one more life.

Takuya just shook his head, before suddenly remembering his own brother. 'Shinya!' he yelped.

'I'm here,' his little brother's voice said from behind him, stepping around the pair, no guilt this time causing him to jump out of his skin. Certainly he hadn't done anything wrong by answering the phone?

'He called him a little brat,' Kouji reminded, seeming more awake and aware now as he pulled himself off the ground. 'There are bigger fish he can go after.'

The haunted look in his eyes was the only betrayal to how much it cost to say that.

'Who was on the phone?'

'Minamoto-san,' the young Kanbara replied, having met the entire assortment of friends and family several times since they met three years prior, and the teenagers even more so. 'He wants you to meet him at the hospital.'

He was talking to Kouji as he said it, but blue and brown exchanged glances.

'We're coming,' Takuya said before the other could open his mouth again.

'Taku-' Kouji began.

'No Kouji. We're coming.'

It was hopeless to argue, and his head was still killing him.

'Fine,' he groaned. 'Go get the aspirin then.'

Takuya knew his friend well enough to know that telling Shinya to go wouldn't cut it. He didn't drag his brother up the flight of stairs though, only because the sharp wolf's eye, even when dulled with pain and premonition, were locked in on him.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he felt like his brain had only managed to grasp a part of the entire situation. It seemed odd, funny even (except no-one was laughing of course), that he had dragged Shinya all the way here on a whimsical fear, and the other had allowed himself to be dragged. It seemed odd, bad even, that he was more worried about the twin downstairs than the one God knew where. But the twins were different, and he knew them both quite well. He couldn't imagine how someone would be able to make their way under Kouichi's skin, unless it was a repeat of the whole Duskmon incident. And he was sure nothing remotely like that had happened lately. That guy was a little too easy going it seemed sometimes; he'd smile off any insult…unless you insulted his family and friends, and in that case some randomly divine force would interfere before he could anyway. Normally pure luck or someone acting on his behalf. Or him doing something sneaky as opposed to upfront.

But then again, this wasn't a matter of skin at all, was it? It was their skin surely, but if they could put any stock to the other's words, it was only them. Him and Kouji, the two who had originally become Susanoomon. He didn't seem to think too much about any of the other Legendary Warriors. Hell, he didn't think much about the rest of the world.

It still seemed unbelievable. It's a job catching a hold of the intangible darkness after all. Cherubimon couldn't manage it. Lucemon couldn't manage. Heck, even the warrior of darkness himself couldn't manage it.

He had completely lost himself. His heart was still hammering insistently in his chest, and for the first time, he noted the light-headedness that accompanied the short and all too quick breaths.

He forced himself to calm down. It would do no good to hyperventilate. Then it suddenly hit him. The only reason he would collapse in pain like that was if something had happened to Kouichi that he couldn't handle. It wasn't like they were Siamese twins; that might be a blessing in disguise with how things were spiralling out of control.

It didn't even occur to him to think about the cause. It was the effect his mind was still grappling with.

And he didn't even want to know what was going through Kouji's head. Hopefully, it would stay nice and numb for awhile, until he had his own screwed on straight.

'How are we going to get to the hospital?'

Leave it to the kid of the bunch to be the voice of reason.

'We could ask 'kaa-san?' he suggested, when no-one answered, save the barking from outside.

For some reason, the fact that they were called to a hospital didn't really click in Takuya's mind until they found the Minamoto couple and Kimura Tomoko in the lobby of the emergency department. Someone in a white coat, blue gloves and a blue mask, a Doctor or Surgeon presumably, was talking to them.

Satomi was the first to spot Kouji, and she immediately alerted the others, who suddenly stopped talking…or listening. The Doctor looked towards the teenagers and the child, then frowned.

'Are all these your children?' he asked, as only Kouji came closer. The Kanbara brothers hung back; it didn't feel right to be there, surrounded by all that panic and apprehension and blood. That was where only the closest in blood ever tread, and besides, they were about to be kicked out in a minute anyway.

Yep, as soon as Kousei shook his head. Tomoko did too, but it was harder to tell because of the loose hair falling around her face and her intertwined fingers covering it.

And it hit him after they were in the main lobby again, that given the time passed, why were they still in the emergency room?

The rest of his brain caught up at that moment.

'Takuya?' Shinya was poking him. When he was smaller, he'd just pull at the sleeve, but the height difference didn't seem so massive any more.

Takuya didn't hear him. In the distance, he could hear sirens. Through the door, he could see a victim covered in blood and being carried away on a stretcher. Any one of those could be someone he knew. Any one of those could be his fault. He realised at that moment he finally understood truly how hard it had been for Kouji to fight against Velgemon at that last leg, how hard it had been to drive the other to the brink of death to free him. But he had been a child then. The decision had still lain in his hands; do the right thing, or take a life?

Once again, that choice had been thrust into their hands, and once again, someone else would be taking the brunt.

His head was moaning. His heart was screaming.

'Takuya?' That was his mother.

He accepted the embrace, letting go of the steel of an adult to sob like a child. It wasn't right. It wasn't even fair. They had no right, no right at all…

But what else could they do? One life…for the life of the world?

But at the same time, he wondered if they could make a decision like that again, after the sledgehammer blow dealt to them? Because there, behind those doors, was the final proof that surpassed all proof. It didn't matter whether it was caused, or accidental.

A piece had already been knocked out of the game.

Kouji looked between his birthparents and his stepmother; in essence, they were all his parents, and sometimes, it was very difficult to distinguish from them. Unlike the turmoil raging in Takuya's brain, his was oddly numb and disjointed. His head still hurt, as if someone had slammed into it with considerable force, and he knew, without a doubt, that something had happened to his brother again. Just like when he had fallen down the stairs at the station, that sudden jolt of pain. But this was more intense. More lasting.

He forced himself to focus on the surgeon's words once the other, turned out he was a nurse, had led them from the crowd and outside a door and he had finally graced them with their presence.. The window was drawn with curtains, but they all knew what, or rather who, was inside.

'…basilar skull fracture,' he explained, showing an X-ray of a human skull, with a visible crack which he was circling with the closed tip of his pen. 'This here is the temporal lobe, responsible for auditory sensation and memory, and this crack…' He traced his pen down the line. '…is rather worrisome, more so the damage underneath.'

There was a sharp intake of breath as the Doctor exchanged glances with the three adults, before continuing.

'It's hard to tell at this stage,' he said, warding his words carefully. 'We'll need him to be awake before we can run a full analysis of the damage. The fact that the skull cracked is actually a good sign as much as it is a bad; it means at least there is no pressure build-up in the cranial region, which can go undetected and is a major cause of death in brain injuries. That is not, of course, the only injury, but it is certainly the most severe.'

'What else?' Tomoko asked faintly. 'He'll recover? Won't he?'

The surgeon frowned behind his mask. 'It's hard to tell Kimura-san,' he replied. 'Brain damage can at times be rather unpredictable. Physical damage can heal, but as much as we try, sometimes we can do nothing to save a person's life, or their spirit. But rest assured, we are doing what we can.'

He paused for a minute, before returning to the first question, shuffling through the X-rays. 'The force was focused mostly on the upper left part of his body. Ulna fracture, some bruising up the left arm and side. An abrasion on the lower part as well; it seems he reflexively tried to block the fall with his arm.'

He frowned suddenly. 'I've spoken with the police officer. It seems eyewitnesses are disagreeing as to whether he fell or was pushed. No-one saw someone do the latter, but it is possible to somewhat discern one from the other. But either way, neither Kimura-kun nor the driver of the car had much time to react.'

He took a deep breath in the silence, before concluding. 'We've stabilised him for now, but I'm afraid we can't allow any visitors till tomorrow at the earliest.'

'For now?' Kousei repeated, a little hoarsely.

The surgeon nodded, but said nothing else. But they all knew what had been left unsaid.

The grip on Kouji's shoulders tightened, but it still felt somewhat distant. The surgeon looked at him carefully, but his face remained impassive under the scrutiny.

The surgeon left them. In a couple of minutes, the nurse returned with a cup, which he forced into the teenager's hands.