Chapter 4: Koushiro's mystery
"LAKE!" Gomamon celebrated as he jumped into the crystalline water.
"I'm so thirsty!" Mimi said, picking some water in her hands and drinking it.
"It'd be better to boil the water first." Jyou warned her.
"No patience for that." Mimi replied, drinking more water.
"Alright but don't complain when you get an infection." Jyou sighed in frustration.
"It sure is good that we found a lake." Sora spoke in a cheerful voice as she sat on a rock. "I missed actually drinking water instead of getting it from fruits."
"Or sodas in a creepy toy hotel." Mimi commented. She regretted it immediately after feeling the mood get heavier. "Was it too soon to talk about it?"
"Ahm…" Takeru was looking for an excuse to change the subject. "So… you are all from the same school, right?"
"Yes, we are." Sora was glad for the little boy's intervention. "And Koushiro-kun and I are in the same soccer club."
"It's hard to imagine Koushiro-kun playing soccer." Mimi joked. "Whenever the teacher is not in the class, he picks up his laptop."
"You do that in school too?" Jyou had a disapproving tone of voice directed at the 4th grader boy. "Why is it that whenever I see you, you're with the laptop? Why don't you study in books?"
"I'm… sorry…?" Koushiro was not sure about how he should reply. He did not like it when he was the subject of others' conversations. "But a laptop can be very useful. If mine wasn't out of power, I could use it to try to connect to the internet."
Without thinking too much, the redhead took his laptop out of the backpack. It was when he noticed a static sound coming from the earplug he also carried in the backpack. Koushiro put the device on his ear and tried to make sense of the noise.
An acute scream made the boy throw the device on the ground immediately.
"HELP!" A female voice shouted, sounding terrified.
"What is that voice?" Sora was astonished.
"Sounded like an adult woman, didn't it?" Jyou was hopeful.
"We must help her!" Takeru stated.
Koushiro's laptop turned itself on and a map appeared on the screen. It showed the lake and had an X at its other margin.
"Did… did she do that?" Jyou asked.
"How could she hack the earplug and the laptop? How did she turn on an uncharged laptop?" Koushiro wondered in loud voice.
"Guys, do you think it could be a trap?" Sora asked.
"We should check it. If it's someone in trouble, we can't ignore her," Mimi replied.
"Let's go, then," Koushiro agreed.
They walked around the lake and got to the spot indicated, only to find trees there.
"Maybe she was turned into a tree?" Jyou wondered, stretching his hand to touch one of them. To his surprise, his hand went through the wood. The sixth grader took it back right away.
"Another dimension?" Koushiro theorized. Without hesitation, he slipped his head through the tree and saw a place with gray sand and sky, and a huge metallic building that resembled a factory. Before he had the chance to analyze anything, he felt himself being pulled back by the neck.
"What are you thinking? Don't stick your head into unknown places!" Jyou scolded, letting go of the redhead's neck.
"That was careless, Koushiro-kun," Sora chimed in.
"Sorry for worrying you." Koushiro apologized. "I think there's a pocket dimension at the other side. I saw a factory."
"Do you think that's where the voice came from?" Tentomon asked.
"It's worth a shot," Mimi said and jumped into the tree. The others followed her impulsive lead.
"This place looks abandoned." Jyou commented.
They got to the metallic door and pushed it open. Lights were automatically turned on in the corridor ahead.
"Now, how do we find her?" Mimi asked.
"If I can connect my laptop to the local network, I could figure out her location." Koushiro suggested, taking the lead.
"It's unusual to see Koushiro-kun so talkative." Sora commented in low voice.
"This is how he is when he's interested in something." Mimi told her, smirking.
"At times like this, I wonder if he forgets that other people are around." Jyou had a critical tone.
"Koushiro-san is so lucky." Takeru whispered to Patamon. "He's the person with the most friends in the group."
"Look at that!" Koushiro exclaimed, pointing to a giant battery close to a crate. He found a door on it and opened it. Inside the battery, there was a circular room with hieroglyphs written on the walls.
"There's nothing here, let's get moving." Jyou said, impatient. He could not wait to find a human adult.
"If I'm allowed, I would like to stay here a bit more and take a better look at the hieroglyphs." Koushiro spoke shyly.
"Ok. As long as Tentomon stays with you." Sora agreed. "We'll continue to look for the sender of the message."
As soon as Koushiro and Tentomon were the only ones left in the place, the boy with red hair closed the door and took a deep breath.
"You seem to be relieved, Koushiro-han." Tentomon commented. "Do you not like their company?"
"It's not that!" Koushiro hurried to explain himself. "I'm just not used to be around many people for so long. I missed having alone time."
This information upset Tentomon. Could it be that the boy wanted the digimon to leave him too?
"Do you want me to go away?"
Koushiro became nervous when he realized he had hurt the digimon's feelings. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that! I'm not good at expressing myself."
The boy sighed. He knew he was not a likeable person and did not have good people skills. Most of the time he avoided getting too close to people from fear that he would, inevitably, let them down somehow. He knew that people were better without him. These thoughts always made his heart ache; when that happened, he needed to distract himself quickly. The boy sat on the floor, opened his laptop and began to type the information he saw around him, written on the walls.
"Maybe I could figure out something about this place and you guys." The human boy had a small smile on the lips.
"Why do you want to do that?" Tentomon wanted to understand the other's motivation.
"I'm curious about many things and it's always good to gain new information. Besides, it could be helpful to the others." Koushiro was gradually feeling more enthusiastic.
"So, you like to help people, Koushiro-han?" Tentomon asked. "You're a really nice person."
Koushiro's fingertips froze after the boy heard that. Tentomon was confused by the sad, guilty expression in the human's face.
"Did I say something bad?"
"What? No!" Koushiro forced a smile but was clearly nervous. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"You apologize too much, Koushiro-han. I'm not mad at you or anything." Tentomon laughed. In reality, he was trying to figure out the boy's personality. Tentomon could not shake the feeling that he had a better understanding of the other humans than he had of his own partner. However, it seemed like Koushiro disliked personal questions and did not get happy with compliments. The digimon wanted the boy to talk about something he was comfortable with and brought him joy, so Tentomon figured out that it would be a good idea to ask about the hieroglyphs.
"Have you discovered something yet?"
"If only I could execute this program… YES!" Koushiro exclaimed, excitedly, as the program ran in his computer. The lights turned off and the writing on the walls glowed and moved around, imitating the pattern in the computer.
"This is definitely a different dimension." Koushiro mused. "Computer data assumes physical form here and clearly can interfere with reality."
"Of course." A feminine voice stated. It was coming from everywhere. "This is still the Digital World, after all. This is a dimension constituted by data that exists in the human network."
"It's the woman who was crying for help." Koushiro noted.
"Does that mean she's in here with us?" Tentomon wondered.
"I exist in this building's inner network and database, everywhere at the same time." The voice replied.
"Then it's not an actual person." Koushiro sighed. A part of him was curious about the creature in the database but he felt mostly frustrated. It was not as if he was desperate to find other people, like Jyou was. But Koushiro really wanted to see the owner of that voice ever since he first heard it, but he did not understand why.
"I apologize for choosing this voice. I took it from your earlier memories back when you heard my cry in the device."
"Do you mean that you scanned my mind?" Koushiro asked as he got up, agitated. The idea of someone lurking into his brain and seeing the things he kept to himself scared him deeply. Soon, another inquiry rose from his mind. "The voice you are using now… I don't think I know anyone who sounds like you. Who owns that voice? "
"Of course you know, you just don't remember." The female voice said. "After all, she died along with her husband almost a decade ago."
Tentomon saw his friend become sickly pale and start trembling, what made the digimon concerned.
"Koushiro-han, what's wrong? Are you feeling ill?"
"You can't mean…" Koushiro murmured. Tears began to appear in his wide eyes, "… died…"
"It's unfortunate that you'll never get to meet them but I can show them to you. If you allow me, I can revive the memories about them."
Koushiro began to breathe with difficulty. He located the door through tact and got out of the battery. The boy fell to his knees and covered his mouth with both his shaking hands.
"Koushiro-han, what happened?" Tentomon asked, deeply worried.
"They died." Koushiro murmured to himself. "They've been dead all this time. They didn't abandon me…"
"KOUSHIRO-HAN!" Tentomon cried, finally getting the other's attention. "Please, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."
"I'm sorry." Koushiro muttered. He had forgotten about Tentomon. "I didn't intend to make you worried. Please, don't worry about me."
"I'm already plenty worried!"
"I'm sorry…"
"STOP APOLOGIZING!"
Tentomon did not want to yell; neither did he want to see those big tears in his partner's eyes. Koushiro immediately faced the opposite direction and wiped the tears with the backs of his hands.
"I'm sorry." The digimon apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you more, Koushiro-han. But if you don't talk to me, I won't stop worrying about you. Do you think I'm too dumb to understand?"
"Of course not!" The human faced Tentomon again. "I would never think that of you!"
"Why don't you want to talk to me, then?"
"I never talked about it with anyone… not even my parents know that I heard them talking about it." Koushiro's voice was very low and full of sadness. "I don't even know if I have the right to discuss this. I think that they're waiting for the right time and they want to protect me, even though they shouldn't worry about that... they are too kind."
Tentomon hugged the boy lightly, trying to comfort him somehow, even though he still did not understand what his friend was trying to say. Koushiro hugged him back. It was as if he could feel the other's warmth (although ladybugs should not be warm like that) penetrating his skin and entering his human heart. Koushiro felt safe in that moment and that feeling led the fourth grader to speak those words:
"The parents that I have now adopted me."
Koushiro had confessed. He always thought that saying those words aloud would break his spirit. However, what he felt was a strange sense of relief.
"They have no obligation in caring for me but they still do. And I love them more than anything in the world." Koushiro added. "I don't want to cause problems for them."
"Who were the people who died?" Tentomon questioned gently.
"My biological parents." Koushiro replied. They could not be anyone else. Of course he had considered that possibility during his first days after knowing the truth. It was before considering that they could have left him behind; and it was before the mere act of thinking about his adoption had become so agonizing that the boy tried to escape that reality the best way he could: by focusing his attention on anything that had no relation to himself.
"I'm so sorry, Koushiro-han." Tentomon said with sadness.
"Please, don't feel bad." Koushiro let go of the hug and forced a smile. "I mean… at least I know that they didn't hate me or abandon me out of disgust or anything like that."
"You thought those things about your parents?"
The ashamed look on Koushiro's face made Tentomon regret what he had asked. The digimon was getting frustrated at his inability to make the boy feel better.
"I'm horrible." Koushiro muttered. The boy believed the digimon should find him repulsive. The fact that his biological parents had died brought him less sadness than considering that they did not love him and did not want him. And now Tentomon saw the despicable person hidden behind the aloof yet curious façade.
"Of course you're not horrible! Don't say things like that!" Tentomon scolded his partner, to Koushiro's utter shock. "Why are you putting yourself down like that?"
"Why are you still being so kind?" Koushiro asked in confusion.
The fact that Koushiro did not seem to understand Tentomon's most basic feelings crushed the digimon's heart. He wanted the other to open up and accept his affection. Tentomon imagined that if Koushiro remembered his biological parents and understood how beloved he was, the boy would feel better.
"You should go back in there and ask the database lady to show you your parents."
"I can't! I-I shouldn't do that!" Koushiro protested.
"Why? You want to remember them, don't you?"
"You don't understand… you can't understand this."
"I can only understand if you explain!"
Koushiro put his hands on his head and closed his eyes. He did not know what to do. And he did not want to make Tentomon feel worse. At the same time, a part of him longed to share more with the digimon. He had never met someone so interested in getting to know him better before.
"I don't know if it's right. I don't know if I'm entitled to that." Koushiro spoke honestly. "I don't know what I'm going to feel when I remember them."
"Not knowing makes you scared?" Tentomon asked. "I thought you liked to learn new things."
Koushiro really did like to learn new things. Usually, when confronted with an enigma, he would get excited to make theories and crack the mystery. But that was different. Searching for answers about his existence never brought him anything more than pain. Like when he found out that he was adopted and he looked for its meaning in the internet.
He learned that adopted children were stains to the family that accepted them. They were burdens, cursed people who could not honor their ancestors and could only bring shame to those who took them in.
Although Koushiro knew his parents were kind and loving people, he could not stop himself from wondering how much of a problem he was to them. What if they regretted having adopted the boy? Could they, one day, come to him and tell him that they did not want him anymore? That possibility terrified him to an extent that Koushiro put all his effort into being a good son and causing no trouble for his parents. He would never demand things, he would never complain, he would never worry them, and he would do everything in his power to be of use. Before he realized, that behavior had extrapolated from his family. His approach to people in general was to either stay out of their way or to search for ways to be helpful.
"I really think you should face this fear of not knowing, Koushiro-han." Tentomon gave his partner an advice. "I promise I'll be by your side all the time. I'll never let you alone."
Koushiro allowed a couple of tears to escape his eyes and gave Tentomon a slight but honest smile.
"Thank you." The human said, standing up and opening the door of the battery.
"Have you come to a decision?" The female voice inquired.
"Yes." Koushiro replied.
Far from there, the other children and their digimon had found an abandoned laboratory. There were parts of several broken instruments and furniture spread on the floor. Mimi was examining a big screen fixed to a wall.
"It looks like this was a scientific facility a long time ago." Jyou commented, looking at a notebook he had found. "Homeostasis…"
"Does anyone else think there was a fight in here?" Takeru asked, pointing to the broken furniture.
"The entire building seems to be in a bad state and I doubt the passage of time is the only thing responsible." Sora commented, approaching a metallic and rectangular box, big enough to fit an adult inside. "I wonder what's in here."
"Maybe it's food. Let's open it!" Jyou suggested.
"You're always thinking about food, Jyou." Gomamon mocked.
"Are you guys forgetting that we came here to rescue a woman?" Mimi asked, managing to turn the screen on. A video was shown. A small robotic being was talking to the camera in what seemed to be the laboratory the children were in. He seemed to be scared to death.
"This is Nanomon, team leader of the Homeostasis Project. We were found out! The Sanctuary has sent a perfect level soldier to annihilate us. Although we didn't manage to fix the problem of the prototype being infected by the host's emotions, one of the top scientists put the helmet on himself in hope of defeating the invader. The chaotic state of mind of the volunteer manifested in destructive paranoia and self preservation in the computer program. The members of my team that were not killed by that metallic abomination were destroyed by Homeostasis." The digimon was crying profusely, as explosions were heard on the outside. "I hope I can still escape and if I do, I swear I'll make all those Sanctuary villains pay! If anyone is watching this, if anyone has come to this place… run! I don't know if Andromon or Homeostasis will survive, but you must not fight them. They are both vicious murderers! Please, run!"
The video ended.
"So that's what happened here." Palmon commented, astonished.
"That Nanomon didn't say anything about a woman." Jyou sounded disappointed. "Don't tell me it was just a digimon speaking to us!"
"If Nanomon was right, it was either a digimon possessed by a murderous computer program or a perfect level digimon that came to this place to kill everybody!" Patamon pointed it out.
"We can't possibly fight an Andromon!" Gomamon was visibly scared. "Even if we all evolved, a perfect level is too strong for us!"
"We most likely walked into a trap!" Sora was furious at herself for letting that happen. But that was not the time to lament. She had to take everybody to a safe place. "Let's find Koushiro-kun and get out of here now!"
A punch sound was heard inside the box, which made everybody retreat a few steps. With another punch, the top of the box was thrown away and a tall android being rose from the recipient and faced the children and their digimon. The monsters immediately put themselves in front of their partners.
"It's Andromon." Palmon whispered.
"We'll slow him down while you run." Piyomon said.
"But you don't stand a chance against that!" Sora protested.
"Sora, you can't afford to worry about us now!" Piyomon stated. The girl knew it was true. She had to take the others to safety. But she could not bring herself to abandon her friend.
"The evil existence has found a host!" Andromon announced. "Are you at the enemy's side?"
"No, of course not! Absolutely not!" Jyou hurried to say. "We came here by accident. We had no idea about what this place even was."
"What are you doing, Jyou-san? That guy killed most of the scientists!" Mimi whispered angrily.
"Making sure we survive, that's what I'm doing!" Jyou replied.
"I sense no evil in you. You are free to go." Andromon said.
"Thank goodness!" Jyou sighed. Everybody was more relaxed.
"Now, clear my path." Andromon ordered, coming out of the box.
"Why were you in that box?" Takeru questioned.
"After I delivered a lethal blast on the former host, Homeostasis imprisoned me. I recovered from my injuries but could not escape until it focused its attention on something else." Andromon explained in an emotionless voice. "Now I can sense that evil existence in a new body and I must exterminate it."
The android digimon jumped over their heads and landed at the entrance of the laboratory. He ran down the corridor.
"Is he running in the direction of that battery where we left Koushiro-san and Tentomon?" Takeru asked terrified.
"You don't think… Koushiro-kun couldn't have been…" The thought of Koushiro being possessed by a dangerous entity made Sora shiver in fear and guilt. Why did she leave him there? He was her kouhai! He was under her care! If something bad happened to him it would be her fault!
"We have to hurry and save him!" Mimi had urgency in her voice and was about to start running but Jyou held her by the arm.
"Don't be irresponsible, Mimi-kun!" Jyou scolded her. "What is your plan? We're no match for that guy! We can't defeat him!"
"What is your plan to save Koushiro-kun, then?" Mimi questioned. There was no answer.
"Jyou-sempai?" Sora got anxious over his silence. "We need to think on a plan fast otherwise Koushiro-kun will be killed!"
"It might be too late for him." Jyou stated, trying to ignore the horrifying looks the others gave him. "Let's think about this logically. If this Homeostasis possessed Tentomon, he probably has killed Koushiro-kun already. And if it possessed Koushiro-kun, it's dangerous to even approach him!"
"Neither of them might've been possessed." Takeru said in a cold tone, walking away from Jyou and getting closer to Sora.
"Even if it is as you think, Jyou-sempai, we can still save them!" Sora stated, clenching her fists. "We can't just abandon them!"
"Stay quiet, all of you!" Jyou ordered. He felt that his knees were about to give out but the 6th grader forced himself to sound authoritative. The older boy did not want to abandon Koushiro. He knew it was his responsibility to protect all of the younger kids and the idea that he would have to explain to the Izumis what had happened to their son made him want to die. If it depended only on Jyou, he would do everything to save Koushiro. But he had to think about the other younger children under his care. He had to think on the greater good and make the difficult and painful decision. "The only reasonable choice we have is to leave immediately! I wish there was another way but I can't risk your lives just to save one person!"
"YOU COWARD!" Mimi accused. She felt her eyes burning and let the tears flow. She had never been so enraged at a person she knew. "You disgusting, heartless coward!"
"Mimi-chan, wait." Sora lifted her hand in a gesture indicating that she wanted Mimi to be quiet. She examined Jyou with wide eyes, still processing what he had said. However, the 5th grader knew that there was urgency in rescuing Koushiro and she could not afford a discussion now. The girl turned to Takeru, who did not take his eyes away from her, as if expecting for her decision.
"Takeru-kun, please you go with him to somewhere safe while Mimi-chan and I save Koushiro-kun and Tentomon. Our digimon partners are the only ones who can evolve right now." She told Takeru.
"I'm not going to leave your side, Sora-san!" Takeru protested. He had fire in his eyes. "Please, don't make me go with him!"
Although Sora wanted the smaller child to be safe, she had enough respect for Takeru not to force him to go with Jyou.
"Then stay right behind me." She agreed. "Let's go, Mimi-chan!"
"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Jyou yelled, angry. "I'm the oldest one! I'm in charge! You have to listen to what I say!"
However, Gomamon was the only one who stayed by his side.
Inside the battery, the entity that had been talking to Koushiro instructed him to type a code in his computer that made a helmet appear.
"Put it on." The voice said.
"Do it, Koushiro-han." Tentomon encouraged the other. He was sure that the memories of his parents would make Koushiro happy. And maybe then the boy would be more open and let the digimon get closer to him.
"Alright." The boy said in an insecure voice, placing the metallic device that resembled a samurai hat on his head. He felt it adjusting to his head's size as small electric shocks seemed to enter his brain. It hurt terribly, so the fourth grader closed his eyes.
"Focus." The female voice was louder. Koushiro was lying on what seemed to be a crib. By his side, there was a clown toy identical to the one that had saved him in the hotel. When he looked up, Koushiro saw two people observing him with familiar adoring eyes and broad smiles. The woman had long red hair, black eyes and many of her traits made Koushiro feel like he was looking at a mirror. The man had short and spiky black hair and deep black eyes. He had a serene aura, contrasting with the energetic one the woman had. They were singing a lullaby but Koushiro could not pay attention to their words. He was too busy taking in their voices and all the details he could.
What intrigued Koushiro was the familiarity of the way they looked at him, their warmth and their joy. It was not exactly that he remembered them. Those smiles and those glances were things he had seen many times during his life but on different people. When the realization stroke him, the boy felt as if time had stopped. The way his biological parents looked and smiled at him was identical to how his adoptive parents did those things.
That powerful and unconditional love was something he had known his entire life. Something he never doubted during his early childhood. But then, when he heard them talking about him being adopted, Koushiro built an opaque wall to keep them at distance. And the distortion caused by that wall made him doubt everything he had once known. It had made him seriously believe that those two fantastic human beings who had taken care of him for almost his entire life could eventually stop loving him. He had convinced himself that he was something unworthy, below everybody, something that could never bring happiness to people and should spare everybody from his presence unless he had a way to be of use to others. And yet, Koushiro was loved by his parents as much as he had been loved by his biological parents when he was a baby. A love that would never end, no matter what he did.
"Thank you." Koushiro said, opening his real eyes and taking the helmet off. The tears fell as if washing away years of insecurity. "Thank you so much." There was no feminine voice outside to reply. The lights had gone back to normal and the hieroglyphs were no longer shining.
"The database lady has been silent for a while." Tentomon commented. "How was that? Tell me everything!"
The door of the giant battery was pulled out and a tall android stood at the entrance. His chest opened and two missiles were visible.
"An Andromon?" Tentomon was surprised. "What do you want? Why are you pointing those things in our direction?"
"I sense the great evil inside of the human creature. He cannot be allowed to exist." The android replied harshly.
"What…?" Koushiro felt his heart sink and could not move. His deep fears reappeared to drag him to the darkness once again. Luckily for him and Tentomon, Birdramon kicked Andromon out of the way. His missiles did not enter the battery but hit the ceiling of the factory. Tentomon pulled Koushiro to the outside where they saw Togemon and Birdramon fighting the android and Mimi, Sora and Takeru hiding behind the nearby crate.
"Koushiro-kun, Tentomon, hurry!" Sora shouted. The two of them ran and hid behind the crate as well.
"Are you alright?" Mimi asked. "Did Homeostasis do something to you?"
"Homeostasis?" Tentomon questioned, without understanding.
"Homeostasis project." Koushiro started speaking in a slow monotone. "Developed to free the Digital World from the evil queen."
"SHE IS THE GODDESS!" Andromon roared. He threw Togemon and Birdramon against the wall behind the children so forcefully that it cracked. The two adult digimon devolved to their prior forms.
"Palmon!" Mimi ran to her friend. Sora wanted to run toward Piyomon but the crate in front of her was lifted by Andromon and thrown behind him. Unconsciously, Sora put herself in front of Takeru.
"Why did you say that, Koushiro-han? It made Andromon angry!" Tentomon questioned Koushiro, who looked at him without understanding.
"I didn't say anything, it was the database being!" Koushiro defended himself.
"You were the one talking, Koushiro-kun." Sora informed as cold sweat ran down her face.
"But I wasn't. Why are you saying I was…" Koushiro had begun talking in an anxious tone when his voice suddenly returned to the monotone. "They say that because I talked using your mouth, Koushiro. I am inside of you now. Your body and soul belong to me for as long as I want."
Koushiro's face gained a horrified expression as he continued to talk in monotone, while the others stared at him in terror.
"I realize that I have not properly introduced myself. I am Homeostasis. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Koushiro."
"Do you understand now?" Andromon inquired. "Your friend is the host of a diabolic slaughter machine created to defy the Goddess. He's nothing more than the bringer of death and chaos now."
Koushiro started to laugh nervously.
"The bringer of dishonor, the stain, the burden, the cursed child!" His voice said with irony.
"Leave Koushiro-han alone!" Tentomon cried.
"What a change of heart from five minutes ago." Koushiro's voice was taunting and a vicious smile was on his face. "This would never have happened without you."
Those words pierced Tentomon like knives and left him motionless. Koushiro walked away from the children, in direction of the corridor earlier used by the others, but Andromon was preparing another missile attack. However, cables pulled themselves from the walls and tied the android down.
"I still have control over everything connected to the network." The voice of the redhead had a cold tone. "Give up at once."
"I'll escape in no time and slay you, you evil beast!" Andromon threatened. Palmon and Piyomon had gotten up and were ready to attack the android at any moment.
"I am not evil!" Koushiro countered with cold fury. "Nobody is entitled to tell me that my existence is wrong!"
"Of course it isn't!" Jyou was coming through the corridor and stopped a few steps away from Koushiro, with Gomamon by his side. "You are Homeostasis, right?"
"What do you want to tell me?" Koushiro's tone was a mix of defiance and hope.
"Jyou-san came after us. I thought he was going to run away." Mimi was astonished.
"I wonder if he got a plan now." Sora thought in loud voice.
"I find you truly fascinating, Homeostasis. And I have a proposition for you." Jyou continued. His entire body was shaking and his face was covered in sweat. "Koushiro was not a good choice of host, you know? He's too polite, too shy, too short, you'll never look intimidating in that body!"
"Did he come here just to trash talk Koushiro-san?!" Takeru could not believe his ears.
"Wait." Sora said in a serious voice. She had a bad feeling.
"Why possess Koushiro-kun when you can take over the body of an older, taller and outspoken leader like me? Plus, I already provoke a violent reaction on other people!" Jyou's voice was breaking and small tears were forming in his eyes, but he kept the bravado act. "With my body, I guarantee you t-that it will be a lot smoother to do whatever it is that you want to do."
"What the hell are you saying, Jyou?!" Gomamon was shocked. When Jyou had told him he had a plan to save everybody, the seal digimon was not expecting that.
Koushiro approached Jyou and examined him attentively.
"You are serious." The smaller boy made an affirmation, somehow sounding incredulous. "You are willing to sacrifice yourself to save this person."
"I'm the oldest one. I'm responsible for them all." Jyou stated. "Just promise me you'll let them all go and you can do whatever you want with my body."
"JYOU-SEMPAI!" Sora tried to stop the older boy.
"Don't do that." Koushiro's voice sounded as if the boy was pleading. "Please, don't do that, Jyou-san."
"Koushiro-han?" Tentomon felt revived when he recognized his partner's tone of voice. The ladybug flew toward Koushiro and landed at his side. "It's you! Koushiro-han, it's you!"
"I don't want to cause harm to people." Koushiro's voice broke and he started to cry. "I don't want to be a problem. Don't get close to me."
"You're not a problem, Koushiro-kun!" Jyou assured the other kid. "This is not your fault!"
"No." Koushiro's voice became harsher. "ALL OF YOU, STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
New cables grabbed Jyou and Gomamon, as Tentomon embraced Koushiro and tried to make him react.
"Koushiro-han, please!"
"NO! NO!" Koushiro screamed. "Don't look at me! Don't look at me! I need to run! I need to hide! Please, leave me alone!" A trapdoor opened under him and he fell inside. Tentomon grabbed the boy in time and flew with him, safely, until the ground. They were now in a storage room filled with crates.
"Why this fight? Whys this resistance?" Koushiro kept crying. "You are full of fear and yet you don't want to cause pain to anyone. I don't want to be a problem! Why do you care? I can't stand this! I can't stand to do this to other people. Please, don't make me do this. You are nothing! Your life doesn't matter! WHY RESIST? I can't let them be hurt! I'll destroy you from the inside out! Then do that and leave them in peace!"
"KOUSHIRO-HAN!" Tentomon cried louder, managing to make Koushiro look at him. Distress was evident on the boy's tear stained face.
"I'm sorry, Koushiro-han." The digimon sobbed. "I thought I was helping you. I wanted to make you feel good and for us to bond… I never wished for all of this to happen. I'll never be able to apologize enough or to make it up for you."
Koushiro felt his heart get heavier. The sight of his friend's tears seemed to paralyze Homeostasis. Feeling that he once more had full control of himself, the boy stretched his hand to Tentomon, who stretched one of his arms in response. They looked at each other's eyes and their agony diminished. It was a brief silence that felt like rain.
"Tentomon, I don't blame you for anything." Koushiro tried to comfort his friend. However, there was no forced smile, neither there was a dismissal of his own problems. He had come too close to Tentomon to allow such lack of respect. Closer than he had ever been to anyone. Despite the terrifying circumstances, there was delight and a sense of peace in it; it felt like being hit by a warm wave, with no resistance. "Before all these horrible things started to happen, I was very happy. Thanks to you, I remembered something important. It was a thing that I had stopped seeing because of my foolishness."
Battle sounds came from the floor above. The boy's eyes widened. By being so close to Tentomon and after seeing all of the children putting so much effort into trying to save him, Koushiro became aware of the obvious.
"You are all fighting because you want to protect me. This is not just kindness, is it?" Koushiro asked in a progressively credulous low voice. "You want to save me because you care for me."
"Of course!" Tentomon confirmed with vehemence. "How could you not understand this until now?"
"Because I still have a lot to learn." Koushiro said with a chuckle. That sensation was strange and the boy wished for more of it. "With you by my side, I'm not so afraid of the unknown. If it's not too much to ask, please keep on teaching me."
Andromon jumped to the floor below, through the open trapdoor. Tentomon positioned himself in front of Koushiro, adopting a protective stance. The device on the boy's backpack glowed as the ladybug digimon said "I'll always support you."
"Tentomon evolves to Kabuterimon!"
The giant blue wasp charged against Andromon, delivering an electrical attack. From above, Mimi appeared at the trapdoor's hole.
"Koushiro-kun, Palmon will stretch her ivy so you can get out of there." She said.
"Are you guys too hurt?" Koushiro asked in a concerned voice.
"We're going to survive, don't worry." Mimi assured him. "Better said, worry about yourself! Jyou-san and Sora-san are looking for any information to help you in the laboratory but first you need to escape!"
"They are not going to abandon you." Koushiro heard Homeostasis say, knowing that it was using his voice. "No matter what any of us does, they won't leave you."
"It seems so." Koushiro agreed.
"My creator, Nanomon, said that I had a bug called emotional contamination." Homeostasis narrated. "He only saw me as a flawed first attempt: Homeostasis prototype one. Nobody ever fought for me. Nobody tried to help me. The only feelings I got from them was contempt, anger and fear. That led me to close myself in this dimension, changing its entrance location every few minutes. I was afraid that someone else would find me and destroy me like that Andromon. And, at the same time, I wanted someone to come to my rescue. So I cried lowly in a specific and weak wave, I don't know for how long. Until today, when someone heard me."
"I understand."
"Nobody can ever love me. But thanks to you I know what that feeling is. You might not believe me but I hope that someday you'll love yourself at least half as much as you're loved by others."
"I believe you." Koushiro smiled.
"I know." Homeostasis added, when Palmon's ivy arrived.
That sad existence had seen some light at last. But if it kept going, something precious would be lost in vain. Those were not logical statements a proper Homeostasis should think. But they fit the contaminated one well, despite coming from another child.
"Time to give in."
Koushiro collapsed. Kabuterimon was losing the fight when Andromon stopped the attack. He analyzed Koushiro but could not sense Homeostasis in him. And then all the lights turned off.
When Koushiro woke up, he found himself lying in a cold cave. Tentomon was close to him.
"Homeostasis left your body and self-destroyed. Andromon helped us get out of the building before that dimension collapsed. We arrived in a snowy part of File Island." Tentomon informed. "Andromon said he was going back to the Sanctuary and left."
"How are the others?" Koushiro asked.
"Only the digimon got hurt, but they'll feel better after resting and eating properly. Mimi-han found a refrigerator filled with eggs, so we'll have a great feast. I feel that there's something going on with Jyou-han and there's this weird atmosphere among the others but nobody explained me anything." Tentomon continued. "How are you feeling, Koushiro-han?"
Koushiro thought about what answer he should give. The problem was that he had not yet processed everything that had happened that day. So the fourth grader decided not to think about an answer and simply stated how he felt.
"Lighter."
I'm very sorry for the delay, my classes are back. Koushiro is a very special character to me and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next time and thank you for reviewing.
P.S.: The internet information Koushiro found when little is based on a few things I read regarding Japan's cultural prejudice against adoption.