Digimon Adventure 08: Vaccine

by YukiraKing

Moments after the finale of 'Digimon Adventure 07: Virus' the core group of characters are faced with internal struggles of coping with the horrors they have finally escaped from. For some, the nightmare continues, and for others it is impossible to forget, but they will have to work together to move forward and face their newest and final foe.

11. Your Love Is My Drug

Y/N: It looks like I'm Koushiro this time around. I'm not sure what he was getting up to, but it probably wasn't good. He's not in the best place right now. But it was definitely interesting to write this stuff from his perspective, rather than just from outside viewers.

U/N: And here we have Neo who is always super fun to write, and while I don't really know what this chapter is about I want to bet that Evelen is involved? Just searched her name and she showed up, so yeah she's here. That's fun I like her a lot. Anyway, I hope you like this and I'm sorry for the break between the last chapter and this one. We were busy and such, but here you are!

Title: Digimon Adventure 08: Vaccine

By: YukiraKing and UrazamayKing

Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or its characters.

Part 1: Incomplete

Chapter 11: Your Love Is My Drug

Koushiro Izumi:

"Are you seriously not ready?" Mimi demanded. I looked up from my computer screen startled. She was wearing a dress—classy yet fun—that she definitely hadn't been wearing earlier. She was sporting freshly applied makeup, and her hair looked decidedly tousled. She wore bangle bracelets, and was clutching her purse. The only thing she was missing was her shoes.

"Are we going on a date?" I asked hesitantly, knowing that she would be very upset with my current attire, were that to be the case. "Isn't it a little early for dinner?"

"What?" she asked entirely confused. "Did you even sleep last night?" Her voice was cautious and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to answer that question honestly or not. I wasn't sure if I could. I didn't know when the last time I'd slept was.

"It's like, ten o'clock," I said, glancing over to the clock, hoping against hope that I was actually right for once. My internal clock was still skewered though, because the clock was telling me with glowing red numbers that it was nearly lunch time.

How had I managed to work an entire night away without even realizing it was happening?

"Seriously, Koushiro," Mimi said. "Come on. We're going to be late."

"To what?" I asked, still confused about her attire.

"We're meeting the others!" she told me impatiently. "I don't care what you look like," she warned me when I opened my mouth to tell her I'd have to change. "You just get your shoes, and get moving. I'm not waiting around forever, mister. Honestly, I can barely remember the days you had to wait on me. I miss those days so much right now. I don't know how you did it."

"Mimi," Palmon hissed from the doorway. "Don't be mean."

"How am I being mean? I'm pretty sure that there was a compliment in there somewhere," Mimi said defensively. Palmon giggled, though she tried to stay strong. Tentomon sighed from the doorway. He was impatient too. I heaved a sigh of my own, and got to my feet. I needed to take a break from my computer anyway. I wasn't having any more luck finding Gaia than I had been last night, or yesterday afternoon. Come to think of it, I couldn't even remember when I'd started searching for her at all.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to get my brain to function properly.

Mimi, Palmon and Tentomon were all getting impatient, so I told them to go on ahead, that I would follow them in a minute. They seemed happy, so I wasn't too bothered. Before I followed after them though, I took another of my pills. There weren't too many left, but I couldn't even hope to follow along with a meeting of digidestined without my amphetamines helping me to keep awake. I was too caught up in finding Gaia to be able to understand the mindless gossip that was often shared at such events. I threw the bottle into my bag, and caught up to the others.

The pill didn't kick in until we were arriving at the library. It was a good thing too, because everyone else had already arrived. I threw myself in the nearest seat, not wanting to waste any of the energy that the amphetamines provided me with for loitering. It was best if my mind was the only active part of me. It allowed for optimum brain function.

Takeru and Michael were goofing off, competing to see who could get Haruki to laugh the most. They were losing to the tag team of Warg and Melga—but they didn't seem to notice their extra competition since they were making funny faces behind Takeru and Michael's backs. Kurayami was seated with Sora, but was constantly looking over to Hikari, anxiously. Hikari was sitting next to Taichi and Jou. Neo was there, possibly for the first time since getting shot—but I wouldn't know for certain. I was continuously losing hours; I couldn't even remember the last time I'd been to a group meeting like this.

Mimi left my side upon entering, and headed towards the open kitchen, where Daisuke and Hideto were already set up. Veemon and Palmon decided to help them, and Tentomon followed along, just to have something to keep him occupied, since I was too busy to entertain him. My mind was still whirling, trying to understand how a woman from another world could blend so seamlessly into our society. There should be large neon signs pointing in her direction, but there was never anything. She had disappeared. She could be walking among us in Japan, or she could be in Siberia by this time. I didn't know.

Why didn't I know?

Miyako was with Mari. Mari had her hand on Miyako's shoulder, and was trying to keep her mind occupied, but I knew Miyako wasn't able to pay attention to anything that was here in the library. She was still with her daughter in the hospital, mentally at least. She was probably running over every possible scenario of what could happen during her brief absence. It was what I would've done in her case.

Ken was seated away from his wife, with Yamato and Iori. I didn't know what they were discussing, but I didn't really care either. I doubted it had anything to do with Gaia, and she was the topic I was most interested in at that moment.

I cradled my head in my hands, and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out all external sounds. I didn't need to hear Wormmon's animated movie blaring in the background. I didn't need to hear the ruckus the digimon were making as they booed at the screen, unhappy when the bad guy seemed to be getting the upper hand. Emiko was over with Patamon, Labramon, Agumon, Biyomon and Gomamon. They were all watching the movie with greedy eyes, desperate for the next scene, hoping for the good guy to rise supreme and take out the villain.

Gabumon was sitting with Tapirmon, Terriermon and Lopmon. He was quiet, and I appreciated it almost as much as I was sure Tapirmon, Terriermon and Lopmon did. They didn't want to be asked questions about their missing partners. They didn't want to have to think about it at all. Gabumon was wise enough not to do any of that, and instead sat quietly, offering his steady support for when they wanted it.

Hawkmon and Armadillomon were having a loud discussion about the best way to raise children. I was intrigued only for a few seconds before I realized Hawkmon was raving about his new Poramon, while Armadillomon was fretting over a fossilized egg that potentially would never hatch. Any other day, I might've been fascinated with the subject, and made a few inquiries about the topic, but that day, Gaia was my only priority, and I wasn't going to deviate from it.

Not that my dedication was really helping in any way.

I still had no answers, and my head was starting to hurt. I couldn't help but wish I'd taken two pills, instead of just the one. Two pills would have kept my head on straight. I would've been able to keep working through this problem. If I'd taken two, I could work on two problems at once and finally feel like I'd accomplished something.

"Do you think they'll have peanut butter?" Dracomon asked Neo, desperately. His whining voice cut through my thoughts of Gaia, despite my best efforts to simply not allow that to happen. I looked at him, unable to hold back my frosty glare. Dracomon didn't notice it though, and neither did Neo. Neo was too busy rolling his eyes at his partner to look my way.

"You can have some when you get home," Neo drawled.

"But I want it now," Dracomon whispered, afraid of offending the chefs.

"You'll eat what they give you," Neo said firmly.

"Don't worry Dracomon," Betamon said gently. "The food always tastes really good. You won't even miss the peanut butter."

"You say that, but you don't know," Dracomon said, sounding absolutely miserable.

I was miserable. I was letting an argument about peanut butter of all things distract me from what was really important.

Gaia.

Gatomon plunked herself down on Iori's lap, much to his surprise. She joined their conversation, talking about Mai, and their jobs, and their futures. Ken complained loudly about how long it was taking to find a new head chief, especially with the Moretsuna case being so publicized. Iori expressed his anxiousness about his coming exam results. Yamato waxed in a poetic manner about his new muse, Amai, and how his music career was finally getting a breath of fresh air.

Gaia.

"Who's got your nose?" Takeru cooed. Haruki roared with laughter.

"Who's got Takeru's nose?" Michael countered. Haruki laughed some more.

Neither noticed Warg and Melga who were doing a jig behind them.

Gaia.

"She'll be big soon enough, and then you'll get to bring her home," Mari comforted Miyako.

"But why isn't she growing as fast as the other babies?" Miyako asked, pleading for Mari to give her the answers she desperately wanted, but could not have.

Gaia.

"Do you know just how many movies we missed while we were away?" Taichi asked Hikari and Jou. "So many. It's ridiculous just how many we missed."

"But it was only two months," Hikari pointed out.

"I know," Taichi said. "That's why it's ridiculous."

"But how many would we have seen if we were here," Jou wondered. "Probably none of them."

"I don't know," Hikari countered. "You guys went to see Slug Attack. You'll watch anything."

Gaia.

"Do you know where the oregano is?" Mimi asked.

"Here it is!" Veemon called, tossing it over.

"I need a strainer," Daisuke complained. "It's gone!"

"Warg's wearing it on his head," Palmon told him.

"Warg!" Hideto whined, embarrassed by his digimon's behaviour.

"I'll get it," Tentomon announced.

Gaia.

"NO!" the movie viewer's shouted, as a dramatic scene played out before them. The hero appeared to have lost the battle, but would inevitably get back to his feet and win the fight. The climax was just about at its peak now. They wouldn't have long to wait for the victory they all craved.

Gaia.

"You look bad," Sora said. I blinked. She wasn't talking to Kurayami anymore. The pair of them came over to sit on either side of me. I blinked again, wondering whether I really ought to dignify such a statement with a response.

"Are you feeling okay?" Kurayami wanted to know. I nodded jerkily, trying to keep the sound blocked out, but it wasn't working.

"When was the last time you slept?" Sora asked. "When did you last eat? You look like you got run over. You should be taking better care of yourself."

"I'm doing just fine," I snapped. I took a deep breath and ran my hands over my face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

"I know," Sora sighed. "I'm a little testy too, you know. Apparently I killed Moretsuna."

"You don't have to agree to that," Kurayami protested, but Sora waved her off. Sora had a habit of doing things for other people, and pretending that her acts of kindness weren't above and beyond what anyone would expect. She was acting so nonchalant about being accused of murder, but I knew it was freaking her out. I knew because I was feeling the same way, and it wasn't even about me.

It was about her, and Kurayami, and Moretsuna—and lying about who killed him.

"How's your shoulder healing up?" Sora asked me. I shrugged, and tried not to wince. The wounds were still tender, but they were doing their best to heal without any help whatsoever on my end. I wasn't going to dedicate the time and energy into healing when we had a literal threat on our hands.

"Food's ready!" Mimi sang, and everyone sort of migrated to the tables heavily laden with food. I put something on a plate without looking, and ate it the same way. It wasn't important to me what it was I was eating. It wouldn't make a difference in the long run. I had a pretty iron clad stomach. I chewed and swallowed methodically, while the others chatted. For once, our minds were on the same topic.

"Has anyone seen any sign of Gaia?" Taichi wanted to know.

"I haven't even heard a whisper of a rumour," Sora sighed.

"Do we know that she's actually a threat?" Miyako asked tentatively.

"Damn right she's a threat," Hideto snapped.

"She killed our friends," Mimi pointed out. "That's more threatening than almost any of our past foes. We killed all of them without thinking about it. We have to at least take her captive for what she's done."

"I'm thinking worse," Hideto grumbled.

"I don't want her to get away with what she did," Tapirmon said softly. "I don't care if she's a sweet person now, she can't make up for her actions. Nothing can redeem her."

"We're going to treat her like we treated any of the great evils," Yamato said, sounding unsure of himself. We'd spent ages trying to find our humanity and simply not kill everyone we faced against, but this was different. I couldn't find the humanity the way Miyako was still able to. This woman, this Gaia, killed my cousin. My only blood family that had been left for me. She was going to pay for that. I was going to find her. I could do that much to avenge Kiyoko and Willis. I had to. I couldn't sit around and do nothing. I needed to find her.

"I don't know," Miyako said miserably. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

"She's already committed two wrongs," Neo pointed out. "We'd just be adding a third."

"I don't know how that's better," Mimi murmured.

I was done with the argument. I was going to find her, and clearly when I did, I was going to have to point Alias III and Taichi in her direction, because they seemed like the only ones that wanted to do anything about it. She needed to pay, and they were willing to do whatever it took to make sure she did. That's what I wanted right then. I didn't care about anything else. I just had to do my part and find her first.

So I ran through everything I knew about her. She'd planted a seed that Yggdrasil grew out of. She married Yggdrasil's son Sigma, and bore him four daughters. She betrayed Sigma in the worst way possible when she tried to kill him, and failed, and was banished from the world along with the wild lands, which I assumed became Witchenly when it was a world of its own. Earth was banished whilst still in its Pangaea form, because of her actions, and then Sigma banished his heart, to rid himself of the last reminder of her.

"Sigma's heart is in a box somewhere," I muttered aloud, without really paying attention to it. Sigma's heart was somewhere. Maybe, that could provide me with some new information? I couldn't be sure. I wasn't sure of much when it came to Gaia. It threw me off balance, being so out of my element. I was doing my best to keep my mind in focus. I was spending far more time than I used to be able to, trying to find her. I wasn't sleeping much in order to really optimize my chances of success.

I needed some way to gather information about Gaia—even if it just meant I learned about other magical beings, in order to find similarities in their genetic makeup. Maybe I could find a weakness, or something. I had come down to the question of the heart numerous times, but I had no leads. I needed something to aid me in finding any answer. A single answer would at least show me that my strife was worthwhile.

"Yamato and I found a box," Patamon said, startling me. Everyone was looking at me, and at the sight of my surprise, Jou, Sora and Mimi narrowed their eyes worriedly at me. I shrugged of their worries and looked to Patamon. "It was in that white world," Patamon added.

"Theta," I realized. "That makes sense. Where better could there possibly be for Sigma to hide his heart than in the remains of his mother?"

"What are you talking about?" Taichi asked.

"Are you telling me there was a heart in that thing?" Yamato asked, disgusted.

"Didn't you feel it beating like that?" Patamon questioned him, unable to believe Yamato was that unobservant. Yamato shrugged at him. "It's a heart for sure."

"You know where it is," I realized. My mind was already churning out possibilities. I needed to find that heart. If I did, then the problem with Gaia would be that much closer to being solved. I was envisioning the wall behind my desk that was a collage of information, wondering just how many questions I'd be able to answer if I was able to study a fairy's DNA.

Then I was struck with the realization that Gaia wasn't from Sidhendor, which meant she wasn't a fairy at all. She was from Pangaea, which became Earth. So, didn't that just make her an immortal human? How did her DNA differentiate from our own? I'd have to do research. I'd never studied my own DNA before, but I could always start. I speculated that Gaia's DNA would be closer to that of Sigma's than it would be to mine, but it was just a hypothesis. I needed facts and experimentation to confirm it. I was already speculating a way to return to Theta—perhaps Sigma's three remaining daughters could bring me back—when I realized Taichi was looking at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked, defensively.

"You didn't hear a word I said did you?" he said, getting angry at the thought. "You've been missing work, Koushiro. Do you have an explanation for that? You missed a council meeting too. You need to be there! Don't you realize how bad it is for the digimon to see that the digidestined can't be bothered to show up on time when our job is literally to protect them and their world?"

"I missed one meeting," I told him.

"And the RISE meeting," Mimi added.

"And the last digidestined meeting," Sora felt the need to point out.

"I'm working," I hissed. "I can't drop everything just to bless you all with my presence. That's not worth it. I'm not getting paid to go to the Digital World every day anymore. I can do my work just as well at home. I can do it better in fact, because there are fewer distractions. In case none of you realize, I've been working on this Gaia problem for a long time. I'm trying to understand her so I can track her down. Every second I spend away from my work is a second Gaia has to come up with a plan to end us all, and take complete control of our world, and potentially all other worlds as well. That's what her original goal was, by the way. I read about it in Theta."

"He's right," Michael sighed. "Merlin told us as much."

"She's greedy, and she has big goals. She's already proved that she is a deadly force. We can't pull punches when it comes to this one," I told them. "She's got the upper hand, because I can't catch up with her. I can't understand her, and there's not much to go on, but I'm trying. I'm doing the best I can."

"There are so many other things you should be doing too," Taichi argued. "You can't spend all of your time on one project when you made the commitment to the Digital World, to your research team and to the Council. You're neglecting your duties."

I knew I was, but I was just one person; one person who was getting ridiculously bad at remembering to watch the clock and kept losing track of time. I was trying to stay on top of all the other duties, but I couldn't keep up, even with my pills. I was taking as many as was feasible at that time. I didn't have an unlimited supply. They were going to run out, and I needed to know that I'd given this Gaia problem my all before they did.

"Well, I'm sorry for trying to save all of our lives and avenge my family," I snapped at him, grabbing my bag and storming outside. Taichi called after me, but Hikari intervened.

"Don't be so rude, Taichi," she scolded. I couldn't hear anything after that, because I slipped out of the front door and threw myself on the stoop. My bag fell to the steps beside me, and I opened it with shaking fingers.

"Koushiro?"

Takeru's voice surprised me, and I dropped my bag. It rolled down the steps, and the amphetamine bottle rolled out onto the concrete stairs, and bounced down onto the sidewalk. I raced after it, not wanting to lose the only thing that was keeping me grounded. I needed those pills to keep working. Taichi was right, after all. I had so many things to do. I couldn't possible handle any of it without amphetamines. I didn't know how I'd managed before.

I was on my knees on the sidewalk, clutching a bottle of medication when I looked up to Takeru. He was definitely suspicious, to say the least. His eyes were narrowed on the bottle, but I didn't want to draw attention to them. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was intelligent, and I could manage the pills just fine. But he would draw incorrect conclusions that I just didn't want to deal with at that time.

"You okay?" Takeru asked slowly.

"Yeah," I said. "I just needed some fresh air."

"We all do…sometimes…." he said, skeptically. His eyes were still on the bottle. I got to my feet and stuffed it back in my bag. Out of sight, out of mind—except it wasn't working, because Takeru was now looking at me like I was a skittish woodland creature, and might run away if he made too sudden of a movement. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about," I countered. "Taichi's right, and so am I. I'm just going to have to do both at the same time. It's not a big deal. I can handle that easily enough."

"Are you sure?" Takeru wanted to know.

"Absolutely," I said. "In fact, I think I should go tell Taichi now, don't you? I'm going to go do that."

"Koushiro," Takeru called, as I hastily walked passed him, back into the library's entrance. "You're not alone you know. I can help if you'll let me."

"There's nothing to help with," I told him, nonchalantly. "Unless you have a thorough understanding of Gaia's DNA, because that would be incredibly handy at this moment in time."

"Sorry," he said apologetically. I shrugged, and walked inside, leaving him to come to whatever conclusions he wanted to. I knew he wasn't going to bring it up to anyone else yet. Not until he actually knew what was happening. He wouldn't want to risk the friendship we'd re-established after our fighting in the Land of Dreams.

Not that there was anything wrong, so there was nothing that he could gossip about.

I went to the coat rack, intending to put my bags with the others. There was nothing suspicious about my bag, and keeping it close to me at all times was just going to make Takeru even more curious. As I was dropping my bag with the others, I couldn't help but pull out another pill. The last one wasn't helping me any, but I was sure this one would. I swallowed it dry, and zipped my bag up securely. I was just about to leave when I spotted Jou's work bag among the collection.

A rush of daring possessed me and I quickly found his prescription pad, writing out a quick prescription for myself from memory. I could clearly picture the one the doctor had given me after Summer's suggestion. This new one was identical, except for Jou's signature. I had to forge it, but I was pretty sure it was passable—not that doctors were known for their incredible handwriting.

"Koushiro?" Takeru asked again. He was behind me. I shoved my new prescription into my pocket, and stuffed the rest of the pad back into Jou's bag. "You should talk to someone if something's going on."

"Nothing's going on," I said quickly. "Everything's perfect actually. Don't worry about me."

Somehow, I didn't think he found my words encouraging in the slightest.

Neo Saiba:

I hadn't been around this enemy camp since I had taken the mirror and 'betrayed' them all, and so I certainly felt bizarre about coming at all. It made sense however to investigate to the utmost detail that I could bring myself to be bothered by. The campsite had once been the home of Maugrim, and it was clear to Koushiro, as mentioned very hastily when I had last seen him, that Gaia and Maugrim had some kind of personal relations. Of course I had already made that assumption. Gaia was the woman he had spoken to through the mirror—the very same mirror that also connected to the Coliseum where Jou and I had interacted.

The issue I had run into however was that the people around here were not high in the ranks as I had been hoping they would be. Maugrim and his entire tent were gone, and so to me at least, keeping the other tents set up seemed meaningless. Not to mention the reality of the legality of the situation. It was true that this site was in fact a campsite, and when I had informed Koushiro of where the enemies were keeping themselves concealed he informed me—or mumbled to himself—that it was the very same campsite that the seven original Digidestined had come to sixteen years prior to now. The assumptions I made, by myself because Koushiro had run off, was that this was actually an area that was sensitive to the boundaries the worlds set for themselves.

Of course I'd already known that to some extent. I could clearly remember Kiyoko—though really, it had been Sigma—informing me of that. He showed me the exact weakest location, and that was why this area had looked so familiar to me. I had been here before when I had instructed Sigma—the second member of my team of three—to break open a portal back into the Digital World.

I had of course recently been reminded of that very day due to Yamato and his ridiculous claim that this action was the cause of the grief the worlds were going through. It was ridiculous to quite a high level, and also it was cruel. To imply that my decision had inadvertently caused the death of Rei, my sister was beyond any place that Yamato had gone to before. The man was just asking for me to hit him. I was not much of a fighter truly, but striking Yamato across the face was not something I was entirely opposed to.

But of course, everyone expected me to thrust myself into all of their drama as everyone else felt inclined to do, but I had no desire to assist Sora in finding a way out of her cell. I did not care that she was arrested because it had been her own decision. Kurayami had done the act of murdering a man, and while I suppose it was true that he deserved it, Sora could tell the truth and she would be set free. I did not care about whatever secret that Koushiro was concealing, and nor did I care to point out the obviousness of Kurayami and Hikari's deceit. I did not know what was going on, but I knew it was something. I did not feel at all bothered by Yamato's need for a new house, or Jou's confusion over his brother proving to be the terrifying masked figure. Mimi's restaurant being temporarily out of business did not matter to me as I tried quite effectively to avoid eating there when it had been running smoothly—or as smoothly as Mimi could manage. None of their issues mattered to me.

What mattered was Mari and Hideto. Tapirmon, Dracomon, Warg and Melga were all going through the same feelings as the three of us, and together, as Allias III we would work through the grief. It was deep and it hurt to exist. And that was deducting the pain from the bullet wound in my shoulder. I had lost my sister, and one of my closest friends. And then Willis too, I supposed. Rei was everything to me. I had once deleted an entire world for her, only to lose her when the next man tried the very same thing. Why had she run out of the Coliseum? Why could she not have stayed just moments longer?

And if I was attempting to work through an ever growing depression, what was I doing out of the comfort of my clean and trustworthy apartment, wandering through a disease infested crowd of obese humans who spent weeks at a time camping in a rundown bug ridden field, who showered only when they deemed themselves 'dirty'. I deemed them all vile crusty piles of vomit by this point, and I couldn't see how they did not feel the need to clean themselves. And so the question rose once more, why was I here?

I was here simply to find Maugrim and get the answers to the questions that Koushiro desperately craved results from. I was not in his corner, and I did not care that he found himself stressed, but I did care about finding this woman who claimed to be 'Gaia'. She knew what had happened to Kiyoko and to Willis, and while I sought revenge for the simplicity of the statement alone, I wondered if perhaps she had come across Rei as well. As a whole, the world had been lucky to have so many survivors. The Digidestined alone had mostly survived by means of travel to a separate world, and it was true that even Willis and Kiyoko had gone off to Witchenly—or where we assumed to be Witchenly—before Gaia had killed them. So was it possible that Rei had made use of another mode of transportation? Had she used the Looking Glass before Takeru and Ken had taken a go at it? Was she lost somewhere? What if she had founded a new world after slipping through the melted iron door that once held the ability to travel through space and time?

Was it possible that my sister was alive somewhere all alone?

I knew it couldn't be true. But it was possible that Gaia knew the answers. She was the highest power that we had life status confirmation of. Norn of course would have been much more preferable and yet not a soul had heard from her since before the virus. I had been sure to inquire about such a thing, Kurayami had been distraught at the thought of Norn passing and of course I felt for her. I felt for her in the same way I felt for Terriermon and Lopmon. I was sad that they found sadness, but truly it did not matter to me, and it did not affect me. What mattered most was that there was no one who could confirm to me how, where or even when Rei had died.

I needed that. I could not find it in myself to explain why I needed such confirmations, but I knew that I could find inner peace if I could at least know these simple answers. It seemed as though Taichi did not care that she was gone. He made his way to work diligently and with ease, as though he had not a single care in the world. I knew it to be false, but it still worked away at my last nerves to know that such a possibility even existed.

I shuddered as a woman brushed past me, actually daring to touch me even with the stench she so cheerfully threw out into the supposedly 'fresh' air. It was such trouble to stroll through crowds such as these. These people thought they mattered but they did not mean a damned thing to Maugrim and they were useless. I feared that he may use them as pawns if ever a battle were to rise, and I merely feared this because their numbers were growing. I feared this because they were people, disgusting people of course, but they still existed as a loved one in someone else's perspective. Someone loved these people and I would not hesitate to kill them if they stood in my way of avenging Kiyoko and Rei.

I found myself scowling and trying desperately to avoid any further contact until my eyes fell to the beautiful blonde woman standing in the sunlight. She had round sunglasses on her face and a pretty bonnet like hat concealing most of her hair. She held a glass of wine in her gloved hand and stood with her knees together which I could barely see because of the length of her dress. She looked as though she had walked right out of a black and white movie, and as much as I found comfort in watching the films, I did not welcome the diva who had entered our world.

Of course I was tempted to make a timely escape before she caught sight of me, but I did not succeed. Her shoulders drooped as she used her free hand to lower her sunglasses down her nose. Her big blue eyes trained in on me and her red lips pursed. It did not take her long to decide that she wanted to come to me, and she was quickly striding across the flattened, thinning grassy landscape.

I did not fear her, though I did loathe her, and so I stepped away from the decidedly disgusting crowd of intermingling people and mimicked her dramatic strides.

"Good morning Mr Saiba," Yorokobi Fujimoto said with a tight expression. "Whatever are you doing in a place you do not belong?"

"You can cut the innocent act, Yorokobi," I said snidely, adjusting my posture and putting my free hand in the pocket of my tan jacket. I crinkled my nose in frustration at the thought of my wounded arm, still stuck in an ugly blue sling. "Once you show someone how much of a bitch you are, they don't easily forget."

"Me?" she gasped in shock, "You think I'm the bad guy?" She held her white wine out, away from her body and put her free hand on her hip. "Now how did you jump to such a conclusion?"

I let my eyebrows rise because I wanted her to know how much of my time she was wasting, "You mistreated my best friend to the point of mental damaging him, and you took part in the 'Delete the Digimon' project which effectively made you to be simply the worst kind of person who actually killed one of my best friends by joining in the fun, and not only him either. You killed my sister."

Yorokobi paused for a moment and looked astounded, unsure how to counter everything I had spewed to her. "Well," she said, evidentially she was dumbfounded. "You rejected me."

"And I'm doing it again," I said stiffly, making way to side step around her.

Yorokobi was apparently not finished yet and she cut me off quickly, "I'm not hitting on you. Not this time."

"If you say so."

"I'm really not," she said sternly. It was clear to me that she wanted to have the last word, and I was going to let her have it. I wasn't ready to take her down just yet, but I would be. She wouldn't get away with all she had done, but she would live to see another day at least. As I made to walk away she grabbed my shoulder roughly and spun me around. I winced in pain but did not let on how much she had hurt me, when truthfully the pain genuinely took my breath away. I felt several steady stings of pain sprouting from the wound itself creeping along my entire body. I felt sick immediately and my head began to spin, "And to be clear, you were hitting on me too." I didn't respond. She could think what she wanted, "I only started flirting back because I pitied you. I didn't want you to feel upset. I was doing it for you. But now that I know what kind of a jerk you are, don't worry. I'll be telling everyone not to date you."

"I really don't care, Yorokobi," I said.

"I think you do," she said flatly, her nostrils flaring, as she poked my wounded shoulder again. I gasped and she smiled, pleased with her accomplishment.

"Okay," I said, barely finding a voice to speak with.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Fine," I said snappishly, turning to get away from her.

"Fine!" she yelled after me, just to get the last word. If it shut her up, then she could have it. The conversation was going nowhere aside from a longing to return to my apartment for more pain medication. She accomplished nothing and neither had I. All I knew now was that Maugrim, who had little to no respect for Yorokobi, had obviously left her in charge of the camp. Putting this in perspective it made sense that he was not here. He did not feel as though this camp of foolish individuals was worthy of his time or any of his higher accomplices.

That train of thought helpfully led me to my next destination. Kansui. It was clear to me that if Maugrim wanted this camp to be run by those which he did not want in his presence that Kansui himself would be here as well. And I was quickly proven to be correct when I spotted him standing atop an overturned keg and shouting out commands at the top of his voice.

"My new system is very clear, and none of you are listening! I'm in charge here!" he shouted. "My father trusted me with such an important task of getting you all in shape for whatever is to come!" The people all ignored him and continued walking. He did not falter though. "Keep it moving! If you fail to complete your tasks I will report you to my father and he will surely rid of you in the worst way you could imagine."

One man stopped on his way past Kansui and looked up to him. "Hate to break it to you kid, your dad doesn't give a crap about who is in charge here. You have no more power than I do."

"That is simply not true," Kansui declared, though he seemed worried that perhaps it really was the case. "I—I'm sure my father said..." he trailed off thinking to a previous moment in time, "Yes, surely he told me I was in charge of you all. He trusted me to get this task completed."

"If he trusted you so much, then why did he abandon you?" the man questioned. "And what damned task are we accomplishing?"

"Get back to work!" I jumped in surprise at the sharp voice from next to me. I turned to see Evelen coming to her brother's rescue. Kansui's chest inflated with pride again and he recomposed himself thinking the man had been wrong. Surely he had not been, but Kansui thrived on praise and he was back to shouting out orders. Evelen elbowed me playfully and smirked, "Sorry I'm late."

"There is a leaf in your hair," I said as my simple greeting. Evelen reached up and pulled the fallen orange leaf from her hair and looked embarrassed. I set off toward Kansui. It was clear to me that the man who had spoken of Maugrim's trust in Kansui was correct in that there was very little of it, but it was also obvious to me that if anyone here were to know the whereabouts of Maugrim or Gaia, it would be him. "Were you in the woods?"

"I—" Evelen paused and then said, "No, I was just on a walk."

"That didn't sound very convincing," I said.

"I thought we agreed we would stop prying into each other's lives," Evelen reminded me as we made our way to her brother, passing by the man who had spoken up. He looked to Evelen with a vile expression and made his way. I could not help but to turn my nose up at the smell of actual manure.

"I thought you were better at lying," I said to her, but she could not respond because we had made our way to Kansui already.

He looked down to us and a great big smile grew on his face, "Roomie! Evy!" he leapt off of his keg and threw his arms around us roughly.

"Release me immediately," I said coldly, "I have been shot, you buffoon."

Kansui was quick to oblige and he leaned closer, taking a better look at my arm and the sling. He winced and pulled back, upset, "I forgot about that. Sorry, Roomie." He patted my other shoulder and looked to Evelen with another smile, "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in a while!"

Evelen looked affronted, and embarrassed that she had spent so little time with her brother, but I did not blame her. He was irritating, opinionated, rude and dramatic. He was not a bad person however. He did pretend to be pleased with the spread of the virus but I knew that to be untrue. He thought his father would love him more for his barbaric thoughts and he would do anything for his father to show him that he was cared for. I thought perhaps that Evelen was nervous around Kansui because she was sensitive to my relationship with Rei, which she knew to have been terminated because of the virus. That thought was rather self-involved however and I was sure there was more to Evelen than pleasing me or worrying about my emotions. "She's been busy, Kansui," I told him simply when Evelen did not respond, "As have I. We are here now to talk to you."

Kansui nodded fervently, like a petulant child, "Oh you heard the news?" he leaned in closer, "It's true, she is preggers. Can you believe it? I didn't see that coming."

"What?" Evelen asked, "Who?"

"Whoever it is, I'm sure they'll be a lovely mother," I cut into their gossip session with a bored voice, bored because that was how I felt. "That is not what we are here to discuss."

Kansui seemed genuinely shocked, but then after a moment of thought he seemed to realize what must be the true reason for our visit, "You want to talk about Yorokobi and her fatuous rumours about how you tried to kiss her but she told you that you were ugly, so you kissed her anyway and you kissed like a lethargic dog with epilepsy?"

"She said what?" I asked through gritted teeth, but Evelen snorted, trying to conceal her laughter. The complete and utter animosity I felt toward Yorokobi was growing to be more distinguished as time went on, and sooner or later I would not permit her to continue on her egotistical frenzy. "No, we are not here for Yorokobi—"

"Then surely—"

"No, please silence yourself," I interjected. "We are here for none of your senseless gossiping or scandalous news, we are here simply to talk to you about your father. More specifically, his exact whereabouts."

Kansui suddenly looked superior again, as though he could only flourish while retaining information from those he deemed to be lesser than he. I attempted a condescending look but it did not have the desired effect. There seemed to be very little of my cold personality that was able to seep through my new stylish sling. It neared an impossible status to be viewed as threatening while only possessing one useable arm. "What would that information do for you?"

"It would make us happy," Evelen tried, but it wasn't enough for Kansui. Evelen looked to me and blinked once. It was clear to me that she was holding back sudden tears in her eyes. When she returned her intense gaze to her brother she said, "Neo's sister died, Kansui." Kansui gasped and turned to me, clutching his chest in mock sadness. If my arm was still able to I would have punched him in the face. My sister was not the subject of some kind of acting practice, and I could not see how I was meant to take kindly to him pretending to care. I couldn't find it in myself to be bothered by other people not caring about my sister—I would have preferred Kansui to have no reaction at all—because the only concern I had between my sister and I was whether or not we cared for one another. And we did. Even now, I cared for her. More than I had ever cared for anyone else. "Dad is to blame, and Neo needs to find closure. You have to help us find that for him. Surely you understand what it means to need to move on."

Kansui thought for a moment and then nodded, "Yes, once my pet turtle ran off. He scampered away and there was nothing I could do but watch him go." He then looked to me very seriously, "I understand." He then looked upset and nervous and I found that to be rather unsettling. "Follow me."

Kansui was off and Evelen looked to me, leaning in to whisper into my ear. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?" I asked her, unafraid of being heard as she seemed to be. "I could not care less about finding Maugrim if it means I am to utilize the death of Rei to attain results. Rei is more than an object we can use to pull the outcome of a situation our direction and I trust you understand that."

"I do—" Evelen tried.

"I'm sure that's true," I said sarcastically, striding away from Evelen and toward Kansui. I could feel rage inside my chest and yet I knew it was not directed toward Evelen. It was a rage that was seeking escape from its prison, an escape it may never find, and directing this feeling toward Evelen was wrong. I had no intention to apologize, but I was sure Evelen could find it in herself somewhere to understand.

Kansui wove himself through the crowd, and I could not have been less excited about drowning myself in the woes and mediocre affairs of the chattering idiots that seemed to do everything they could just to stand in my way. I was aware of Evelen coming after me but I did not look back. Looking back would imply that I cared whether or not she was following, and if she knew that then she would know more about me than I did of her.

When we emerged from the crowd I spotted Kansui standing, with his hands on his hips, waiting for us to catch up to him. "Perhaps, if you're so inspirational to these clumsy halfwits you could instruct them on proper shower etiquette."

Kansui looked affronted and folded his arms across his chest, "Are you trying to imply that I'm not a bona fide leader?"

"I'm simply stating that your friends are repulsive." I explained.

"I could say the same about yours." Kansui rolled his eyes.

"Your resentment is delicious," I drawled.

"Could you two stop arguing to see which is more pretentious," Evelen pleaded having finally caught up with the two of us, "Just go in the damned tent Kansui." Kansui looked like he wanted to argue for a moment but instead he shut his mouth, looked upset that he could not continue whatever was going on between us, and then turned to his ridiculously bedazzled and elaborate tent. He threw the flap of canvass out toward us and I caught it with my uninjured arm. My eyebrows were enough to tell Evelen that she was to slip in before me and she sighed, upset. She was gone in a second and I followed her. Kansui was rummaging through something in the room to the right and when Evelen and I stood in the doorway looking to Kansui's back as something rattled on the wooden table in front of him. When he stepped back and spun around he was holding a detailed wooden box. He looked up to us with a smile like he was showing us his deepest and darkest secret. "What the hell is that?" Evelen asked.

Kansui looked to the box startled and then tried to hand it to her but he retracted it quickly, "W—well it's just—and I—I mean—"

"Are you having a stroke?" I asked with my eyebrows rising again. Evelen laughed.

Kansui, with a reddening face, shook his head quickly, "No!" he looked away as he thrust the box forward sharply. The sound of metal jangled inside and I was reminded of the sound of—

"Keys?" Evelen asked as she looked inside the box. I leaned toward her and looked down into the tiny wooden crate. Inside, as Evelen had suggested, were keys. House keys, bronze or golden in colour, they were accompanied by silver car keys with gaudy black plastic at the ends. There were tiny keys that looked as though they may open a child's diary, and silly plastic keys that looked like an infant's play toy, attached by a bright plastic key ring. Evelen looked up to Kansui expectantly but he was still looking to his feet nervously. "Well?"

Kansui looked up with wide eyes and then took a deep breath. "They're looking for keys," he told us simply. "Once Father sees how hard I've been trying to find the keys he'll surely understand how serious I am about his cause. I'll help him until the day he dies."

"Well that won't be any time soon," Evelen said, rolling her eyes. Kansui waved his hand nodded his agreement as if to say, 'well that's true'.

"It doesn't matter," Kansui decided. "I'm helping him find the keys they're looking for."

I took another look into the box and smirked at the ridiculousness of it all. "You should give them to him. I'm sure he'd love to see them."

"You think?" Kansui asked, excited.

"Mhm," I nodded. "Now, who is they?" I asked, making note to explain to Koushiro that Maugrim was seeking the keys that were kept safe at the Temple. "You mentioned that your father is working with someone."

"Of course," Kansui nodded. "Aesop and Bitoru." Of course that was true. I knew that already. "And that other girl."

Evelen and I exchanged a look and then turned back to Kansui. "Who, sorry?" Evelen asked.

Kansui shrugged his shoulders. "Never met her," he said. Of course Maugrim would be wise enough not to trust Kansui with this information. At least we had picked up what their goal was, and while that was not what I had come here for, it was enough to comfort me. It was enough to go on, and enough to help us find her surely. "Evelen," Kansui said, I followed his gaze down to Evelen's legs where a streak of mud was staining her black jeans. "I cannot believe Neo agrees to spend time with you. You're embarrassing. Why are your pants so dirty?"

Evelen rolled her eyes and took her own turn at looking embarrassed. She grabbed my arm and began dragging me away from her brother, annoyed. Kansui shouted his dramatic farewell, and we were on our way. I didn't mind taking a leave from the annoying boy, but what I did note was that he was still somewhat in contact with his father. This would not be my last visit to Kansui, and if I had my way, the next time I arrived to interrogate him, he would not be alone. Next time I came I would be reunited with Bitoru, Aesop and Maugrim himself. And finally, I would meet the infamous Gaia, and she would tell me what happened to my sister, because surely she knew the answer. And if she didn't, then it did not matter to me what happened to her, and I would gladly allow the Digidestined to do with her as they saw fit.

Next on Digimon Adventure 08: Sora and Ken narrate a duo plot chapter where they connect and whatnot. It's strange because Ken hardly ever intermingles with the rest of the group, but here we go anyway!