Kouji couldn't stop worrying about Kouichi, no matter how much he was reassured of him being perfectly fine now. The gentle look in the elder twin's eyes had calmed most of the Chosen Children about the nature of his powers, even if his eyes were unnaturally red. If three Angel type Digimon assured them of the differences between Kouichi's power and the one from the World of Darkness, then they shouldn't be too worried, right?

However, not everyone thought like that. Takeru was still suspicious of the boy, and no matter what anyone told him, he wasn't going to change his mind, at least not yet. He was worried of the possible effects that this boy's powers could have on Hikari and Ken. Both of them had horrible experiences when dealing with darkness, and Takeru didn't wish that kind of thing to happen to them again.

Takeru looked around the room, wondering where Hikari was. Had she stayed behind with those three Digimon? He felt the need to go back there and see if she was okay, and he was about to do it when Hikari walked into the room with Tailmon. She seemed to be better than the past days, and she was actually smiling a little too. What had happened?

As the brunette reunited with her friends, Takeru could see the way the other team was looking at his own. It was almost as if they approved of their not so subtle change of mind. However, he could also see that they noticed that he was the only one who still didn't accept Kouichi completely.

After a while, Kouichi stayed in silence after having being talking with his brother, and looked at the Chosen Children, who looked back at him, a little confused.

"May I know your names? I'm afraid we haven't been introduced properly." He said with a smile. He was still nervous though; he was aware of what they might think of him, and he didn't want to have any kind of misunderstanding with them since they were supposed to work together. And also, he was just afraid of being rejected because of the element he had power on.

Daisuke smiled at the other boy, and stepped closer to him along with his group, though Takeru remained at the back. He still wasn't convinced.

"I am Motomiya Daisuke."

"Inoue Miyako, nice to meet you."

"My name is Hida Iori, it's a pleasure."

"I'm Ichijouji Ken."

"My name is Yagami Hikari."

"…Takaishi Takeru."

The smile on Kouichi's face remained even as he noticed the tone in Takeru's voice; however, Kouji did notice the slight change of his brother's emotions. The younger even frowned a little, disapproving of the way Kouichi hid his emotions just for the others' sake.

And while Kouji was thinking that, Kouichi was trying to get out of bed, commenting something about stretching and that he needed to walk a little after being confined to the bed for almost two days. Kouji managed to hold him just before his legs gave up.

"Thank you, Kouji." Kouichi said with a sheepish smile.

"You have to be more careful, Nii-san. Otherwise it'll take more time for you to be well enough to leave." Kouji scolded, but the concern in his voice was obvious.

"Don't worry about that, Kouji. I was told that I would leave soon after you arrived, so there's no problem." The elder twin commented. "I just need a bit of exercise."

Kouji rolled his eyes and Kouichi chuckled in amusement. Goatmon led the kids and Digimon to a garden, where they could continue talking and Kouichi could walk as much as he wanted. The fact that they were out in the open helped the reborn boy to gain some strength due to the natural dark environment of the continent. Soon he could walk without his brother's assistance, though Kouji was keeping an eye on him to be ready to help him if he needed it.

Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan; April 13, 6:50 p.m.

Tomoko was grateful that Kouichi's friends had given her their numbers before leaving the first day. She had already called their homes, informed her parents of what she had found —or what she hadn't— and getting their answer of 'I'm on my way'.

Kousei had helped a little, calling Takuya's and Tomoki's houses, though he needed some coaxing from Tomoko. He wasn't comfortable with having to call the parents of his son's friends to tell them that they had mysteriously disappeared while visiting his other son whom he was just about to meet after a decade; however, that same son he was just about to meet was the reason he was calling. He wanted to meet Kouichi after all that time, and he couldn't believe that he had disappeared just like that.

The parents were soon gathered in the Kimura house, and after calling the police the mothers were trying to calm each other down and the fathers were trying to come up with a reason of why the kids would leave just like that. They all thought highly of their own kids; although sometimes one would get in trouble, there was no way they would risk the safety of one of their friends.

Tomoko had been pulling herself together, and was actually the calmest of the women there, followed by Kanbara Yuriko and Satomi; on the other hand, Tomoki's mother was a ball of nerves, worried about her younger son. The others reassured her that their sons —and daughter— would look after him.

Mrs. Orimoto approached the blue-haired woman. "Kimura-san, aren't you worried about your son? After what happened…"

Orimoto Fumiko had heard about Kouichi's accident from her daughter, who had just one day arrived home and started talking with her about meeting 'the best people in the world', and about what had happened to Kouichi. She had felt proud of her daughter for having made friends, and gave her the emotional support she needed after seeing her friend like that.

Tomoko smiled just a little bit. "I am, but… somehow I have some peace in my heart, that he's safe." She then sighed, losing her smile and acquiring a slight frown. "I just don't know why they would leave the house. It doesn't make sense, and none of them are answering their cell phones." She felt a little bad while saying that, because she wasn't able to give her son the same things that the other parents gave theirs. However, she knew that Kouichi understood their situation, and never complained, not once.

Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan; April 15, 11:34 p.m.

The group of mothers that didn't have to work —Orimoto Fumiko, Himi Airi, Kanbara Yuriko, Minamoto Satomi and Shibayama Saki— continued to look for any clues about their children's whereabouts during the day. The police was still searching, the schools had been informed, and by now the news were already on T.V. After all, the fact that six kids, one of them still recovering from an injury, had disappeared without leaving any trace was mysterious.

At afternoon, the parents that were already out of work joined the mothers at the task of looking for their children. Himi Makoto had enlisted his older son's help, and Yutaka looked around alongside Shinya, who was also worried about his older brother.

Orimoto Takumi, Shibayama Haruki and Minamoto Kousei had hired detectives to help with the search, while they and Kanbara Hiroaki searched every day.

Tomoko was always the last to join. She lived further away than the other families, which was just one of the difficulties she had. Unlike the other women, she had to work hard to provide for Kouichi, and barely had any time to look around. After another exhausting day, she returned home, feeling defeated. Where were her sons? Where were their friends? Were they alright, or injured? There was so much she wanted to know, and even though she felt peace in her heart, her maternal instinct told her that there was something else, something big.

Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan; April 15, 10:00 p.m.

Yagami Taichi was watching some T.V. with his parents. They knew that Hikari had gone to the Digital World for some days —though Taichi was almost sure that it wouldn't be just 'some days'— and they couldn't do much, except wait. The news report was starting, and the first note was about six kids that had recently disappeared in Shinagawa, although apparently not all of them lived in that zone. Taichi listened to their names and looked at them closely; one of the brunets was wearing goggles, just like he used to do, just like Daisuke did… and just like Hikari and the others had said that the apparent leader of the kids they had found at the Digital World did. There was also the big, tall kid, the blonde girl, the small boy with the big hat, and the guy with long, black hair.

And without a doubt, the other kid, the injured one, was the one who apparently had died. The news reporter said that he was injured, and if those kids were the ones his friends had met, then it made some sense; fighting while injured isn't the brightest idea.

But what had happened with the kid? Had he actually died? They were able to transform into Digimon, right? Or at least that's what the youngest member of his team had said. If that was true, then could he be reborn, just like a Digimon would? He would have to talk to Koushirou about that.

After the news shifted to another topic, Taichi stood up and went to the phone to call Koushirou. He asked him if he had seen the news, and that he needed to talk to him about it. After an hour was set, Taichi hung the phone and went to his room to finish his homework and then go to sleep.

Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan; April 15, 7:45 p.m.

Katsuharu, Teppei, Teruo and Chiaki were reunited near Shibuya Station. All of them had seen the news about the disappearance of the kids that they had met in the Digital World, and wondered whether their disappearance was related to the Digimon.

"Remember that when we came back, it was the same day we left." Chiaki pointed out after Teppei said that it would be too soon. "Probably in the Digital World many years have passed already."

"You're right, Chiaki." Katsuharu added. "More than disappeared, I think they left willingly… even if Kouichi is injured. I don't think any of them would stand to stay behind."

"Well now that we at least suspect that, what should we do? Tell their parents?" Teruo asked. "It's unlikely that they'll believe us."

"Yeah, they probably won't, but we don't lose anything if we at least try. We can even show them the Trailmon under Shibuya Station." Katsuharu replied while looking in the direction of the place he had just mentioned.

It was night in the Digital World. It would be the last night Kouichi would spend in the Three Angel's care, and thus he was excited at being able to leave and continue his journey with his friends and the Chosen Children. However, when everyone had gone to the rooms Cherubimon had provided for each one, Kouji decided to address the problem of a certain Chosen Child's distrust of Kouichi's powers.

"Kouichi?"

"What is it?"

The younger twin looked down for a moment before returning his gaze to his brother. "You noticed… that he doesn't trust you like the others do."

Kouji was already expressing certain regret over mentioning it, because he knew that Kouichi didn't like it; but the situation had to be solved somehow. He saw how his brother looked down and closed his eyes.

"I know, but I don't blame him."

"But it still hurts, doesn't it?" Kouji said as he moved closer to his brother. Kouichi looked up and his eyes met Kouji's, which were full of concern for his brother's well-being. The elder twin looked down again and just nodded slightly.

Kouji soon found himself embracing Kouichi, who moments later started sobbing quietly. For him, it was such a great pain, but as he had said, he didn't blame Takeru. He would have done the same if he was in the blond's place; who would trust Darkness so easily? Especially after everything he had done as Duskmon, even if he regretted all of that and changed for the better. He didn't blame Takeru at all.

But Kouichi had another reason to be sad. Cherubimon had told him that there was no time difference between the human and Digital worlds anymore. That meant that his mother was well aware of his disappearance, and she was probably worried about him; the thought of giving his mother more trouble grieved him.

"Mom… I'm sorry." He muttered softly, and he could feel Kouji's arms tightening around him, and the hint of Kouji's tears falling on his hair.

"Nii-san, don't cry… We'll go home soon. You'll show her that you're fine, and you'll meet Dad too."

Kouichi calmed down a little at the idea of meeting his father. He didn't know what to think. All of what he had done as Duskmon was mostly fueled by a thirst of 'vengeance' towards the man. So, as much as he actually desired to actually meet him and get to know him, he was afraid. His father might not know about what had happened, but he knew. Kouji knew. His friends knew. Cherubimon knew.

He decided to keep those thoughts out of his mind for the time being. They had a mission in that world, and he didn't need any depressing thoughts taunting him. There would be plenty of time for that later, but he needed to focus now unless he wanted to end up dying once again. He even recalled hearing Cherubimon saying that he 'already died too much', and the memory made him chuckle softly, catching his brother's attention.

"Kouichi?"

"Sorry, it's nothing… Just something I remembered."

Noticing the strange look on Kouji's eyes made Kouichi frown slightly. "What is it?"

"Nii-san… your eyes changed their color. They're back to blue now."

"Strange… The Angels didn't say anything about that. It must be nothing."

"They're red again."

"Stop worrying, Kouji." Kouichi said with a slight smile. "Nothing's going to happen."