Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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False Alarm

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It was almost complete. By seven o' six that morning, it would all be complete. His two chosen workers, however unwilling, would establish the secure connection. By seven o' six that morning, it would all be complete.

Kanaye sat down in front of the computer, eyeing the clock eagerly. Only a few more hours, he thought, feeling a sadistic joy arise from the thought. Destruction, chaos, utter oblivion...he longed for it. "Ai, are you ready?" he asked, turning to his female companion.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Ai placed her hands on her hips. "I get who Ranamon, Arbormon and Mercurymon are, but Grumblemon? He totally escapes me," she confessed, walking over to him and gazing at the clock. Ai draped her hands over his shoulders. "You know, for the devil, you can be pretty angelic sometimes. It really makes me sick," the girl told him, giggling slightly.

He chuckled in turn, shutting his eyes and relaxing. Kanaye leaned back in his chair and told her, "You're true to your essence, Ai. You really should take over for me." He was about to secure her arms in place when she pulled away. Startled, Kanaye turned to Ai, a puzzled look on his face. "What did I do now?"

"I'm serious. You're...oh, great, for all we know you could be the next Seraphimon!" Ai muttered with complete disgust. She turned away from Kanaye and marched towards the door.

Kanaye frowned. "I may be Devimon, Ai," he told her, "but I refuse to be reduced to an uncivilized barbarian like Lucemon. I have standards." The frown deepened when Ai refused to stop. LadyDevimon...such a confusing, jealous digimon. Maybe those are her best attacks, he mused, suppressing the smile that came onto his face at the thought. He rose to his feet.

"Fujitaka, I'm warning you," growled a girl.

A boy snorted. "Give me a break, Naoko. I'm only doing this to beat the idiot up," Fujitaka snapped, walking into Kanaye's room. In an icy voice, he said, "Get her off my back," pointing to a cross Naoko.

The girl glared before looking away. In a haughty voice, she told him, "I'm not talking to you anymore. You're heartless. And you don't even care!"

Kanaye twitched, wishing he didn't have to deal with their insubordinate attitudes after talking with Ai. He had been hoping to relax, but as it seemed out of the question now, Kanaye switched to plan B. "Both of you," he growled, trying not to twitch, "go get ready. We have less than three hours, and you're in my room, interrupting my peace with your bickering. Please, do it in your own room." Under his breath, he added, "Or Ai's."

Pointing to Fujitaka and turning to the vexed boy, Naoko yelled, "Tell him to stop picking on Kako and Kouichi!"

"THE POINT IS TO PICK ON KIMURA!" Kanaye bellowed at the top of his lungs. "We have to get Duskmon and Lowemon out of this battle or it's pointless. We'll lose." Confident that his message made it's way through, Kanaye gestured towards the door. "Go get ready and tell Ai that I'm not apologizing for something as stupid as that," he ordered, eyes flickering menacingly.

Fuming, Naoko stomped out followed by an ecstatic Fujitaka. Kanaye slammed his door shut and leaned against it, hoping to prevent any more interruptions.

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"This is early."

"I really couldn't sleep."

He stood there in an awkward silence and motioned for her to come in. Rai quietly stepped in, walking past Hideki without a glance. "You feel it to?" he asked, hoping for a decent conversation.

"Yes," she answered. "We don't have as much time as we planned, I guess."

There was a lop-sided grin on Hideki's face. "Well, we screwed up, didn't we?" Hideki asked. He shut the door, watched as Rai sat down, then walked into the kitchen. "You hungry?"

Rai was silent until Hideki came out again. He placed the bowl of popcorn down on the table, disappeared into the kitchen and later reappeared holding two cups filled with water. "Soda and popcorn don't go together. Neither do water and popcorn..." he muttered to himself. Rai watched Hideki go into the kitchen once more, waiting a few more minutes before he came out empty-handed. "Okay, Rai, clue me in here. What do you want to eat? I can't read your mind like you can read mine!" he told her desperately.

To her own amazement, Rai replied, "I don't want anything to eat." Normally she was more of the type to eat and ignore important manners, despite her reputation as a work-a-holic. Yet for some reason, all traces of an appetite left her.

Startled, Hideki nodded and sat down beside her on the couch, gazing absentmindedly out the glass door that led to the back. "Well..."

"It's...so close," Rai murmured, shutting her eyes and falling back on the couch. "I...I was sure we'd have a bit more time...I wanted more time...there was...there was supposed to be another week," she whispered.

Hideki smiled a small, sad smile. He leaned back on the couch, enjoying the silence that overcame them. He told her softly, "Well...like they say. A-" He stopped when he saw Rai turn to face him. Even more startling, he found himself pushed back, Rai's hand covering his mouth.

In a firm voice, she replied, "No, I don't care about commitments or jobs or all that. I hate being told that all this was premeditated. It wasn't. It isn't fair, Hideki."

It took several minutes before Hideki answered. He laughed lightly, shutting his eyes and pushing himself back until he was laid down on the couch fully, Rai resting on top of him and blushing madly. "You sound like Kako," he commented.

Rolling her eyes, Rai pushed away and stood up, gazing down at Hideki. "Do you...really think...?"

"Nope."

She was surprised. "No?"

Hideki chuckled, "They forgot one little thing. It'll take them a while. Probably until after they get back. Though I've got a sneaking suspicion it'll be when they come back." At that comment, he opened one eye. "Are you just going to stand there."

"We...have...time?"

"From what I see, yep. Despite the sense of impending doom."

"We have time," Rai repeated to herself softly. Her eyes slipped shut and she fell back onto the couch with a relieved sigh. "We have time, Hideki," she murmured aloud.

Smiling softly, Hideki sat up and wrapped his arms around Rai. "I guess...we always will."

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Ritsuo let out a curse and ran up the stairs, dashing into the room that had just closed its door to the world minutes ago. "Master Kanaye, it isn't working!"

Eyes wide, Kanaye whirled around, doubly annoyed than he had first been. "What?" the boy growled, following Ritsuo downstairs and into the main computer room. "What's this about?" he demanded angrily. He was in no mood to be trifled with a stupid matter such as a low battery or viruses.

Swallowing, Ritsuo told Kanaye, "He's asleep." His eyes quickly squeezed shut in anticipation of Kanaye's screams.

Kanaye remained calm. Asleep? Why do I deal with idiots? Flabbergasted, he motioned towards the large screen. "So have Grumblemon try again!" he snapped. Idiots...

"N-no, uh..." Ritsuo opened his eyes and looked around the room nervously. He was completely unsure of how to explain the matter. "H-he's asleep...and he's being watched..." the boy gulped and continued quickly, "by someone awake." His eyes flew shut and he dived under the desk.

"What?" Kanaye roared, storming towards the keyboard and quickly typing a few things. Eventually, he accessed the View system. A blurred image of Takuya was shown on the screen. The goggle boy was in front of the computer, so Kanaye couldn't be sure what he was doing. He didn't want to know what the boy was doing.

Cursing out loud, Kanaye raced out of the room, and Ritsuo crawled out from underneath the chair. A cell phone was in his hand and he was perfectly calm. "Yes," he murmured quietly. "We've delayed it some. Yes. Yes...I gave him a...a 'wake up' call. Alright. You've got it, Mr-oh, of course. Right. Can't say your name here. Yes, we'll keep him busy until then." Ritsuo ended the call and pocketed his cell phone. Being a quadruple agent these days was so hard...

Especially if you were working for more than four parties.

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"Give...no...n-no, give me a break!" Kouichi shouted as Kako handed him the shirt. "I'm not wearing a...y-you know, let's just narrow the search down to this: no shirts with logos, writing, pictures or anything. Plain shirts, solid colors, okay?" he asked, practically begging her.

Kako let out an exasperated sigh and threw the shirt on top of his head. "Please," she snorted, "Expand your closet!"

"I'm not a girl!"

Kako laughed, "Doesn't matter!" She continued the search.

While she wasn't looking, Kouichi snuck off, quickly placing the shirts Kako had gotten back on the racks and searching himself. Red shirt, green jacket, where can I-why do I get the feeling there's something...there...? Freezing, Kouichi stiffly turned his head to look over his shoulder.

Kouji waved to his brother, one eyebrow raised. "Hey. Suffering Kako's horrible fashion advice?" Kouji asked him, batting Piximon off his head.

With a snort, Piximon moved onto Kouichi's head. He muttered, "Ungrateful..."

"For what?" Kouichi questioned. He trying to look up at Piximon, but seeing as how the digimon was on his head, it only took him a second to give up and grab the nearest appealing shirt. "Anyway, yes," he said to his brother's question.

The bandana boy chuckled. "You're mighty obvious with Piximon on your head," he told Kouichi. Kouji walked over to aid his brother in the clothes search.

Looking completely innocent, Kouichi pushed aside a few shirts, pretending to be absorbed in the clothes. When Kouji joined him, he stepped behind his brother. "Sorry," Kouichi muttered, yanking his brother's bandana and ponytail holder off and racing away.

Kouji's hand immediately went for his hair. "W-WAIT!" he screamed. Damn, if the damn idiot wanted me to pose as him I would have done so! He cursed silently and, keeping a hold of his hair, looked around for spectators. No one. Good. Reluctantly, Kouji placed his hair under his jacket and began to search for his brother.

As soon as Kouji walked away, Kouichi came out of his hiding place from underneath a clothes rack. He guiltily pocketed his brother's belongings and gazed at the clothes he had gotten. Almost a complete replica of his current outfit. Maybe Kako's right. A bit of diversity wouldn't hurt in the wardrobe, he decided. "I'll go for more green!" Kouichi decided aloud.

Piximon shook his head. And here I was thinking he was guilty for pulling that prank on his brother, he thought, hiding a smile. "Brilliant," he congratulated Kouichi.

The boy snorted and grabbed a few more shirts and pants off the rack. "I wish..." he muttered, violently yanking the shirt from the pile it had been placed in, "I didn't...forget...MY STUPID-" Letting out a yelp, Kouichi dove behind the nearest clothes as Kako turned the corner, looking around with a confused look.

"Damn, and I found this awesome jacket, too," she muttered, scratching the back of her head and gazing disappointedly at the purple jacket in her hand. Kouji walked up to her, an annoyed look on his face. He barely had anytime to say anything before Kako threw the jacket at him. "AHA! There you are! Go put this on!" Kako snapped, pointing in his direction.

Kouji was twitching; it was far past visible. Kako didn't seem to notice. Her back was turned when Kouji screamed, "I DON'T LOOK LIKE KOUICHI, DO I? NO! NO, I DON'T HAVE SHORT HAIR! I'M WEARING BLUE, DAMMIT! BLUE! BLUE JACKET! BLUE, NOT GREEN! I'M NOT A FREAKING CHRISTMAS TREE, I'm...uh...Kouji..." It was a lame finish, the boy realized, but he simply couldn't come up with anything else.

Surprised, Kako turned back around. "My bad. What happened to your bandana?" she asked, completely unaffected by the yelling.

The bandana boy was out of breath. It took a while before he managed to say, "Kouichi...took my bandana...and just had to undo my hair...so this would happen. Your taste...in..." He managed to regain his normal breathing cycle before he continued, "Your taste in clothes stinks, Kako. Sure, it works for you, but...Kouichi doesn't wear purple." An apologetic look on his face, Kouji placed the jacket back on the rack.

Rolling her eyes, Kako muttered, "You think you guys could take a joke. It's amusing, okay? So sue me. You guys had fun laughing at me in a dress, didn't you?" She glared at Kouji for the longest time before the bandana boy snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! Hahaha!" the boy laughed, "He was blushing like hell!" When Kako reddened and stepped back in surprise, Kouji rose an eyebrow. "You thought he was laughing at you then?" he inquired.

She brought up her hands to hide her face. "I wish! I really wish! YOU GUYS ARE ALL PERVERTS!" Kako shrieked.

From behind the row of green shirts, Kouichi sighed. I wish I wasn't reminded of that, he thought, taking the sleeve of one of the shirts and examining it. I'll never get pinched for St. Patrick's day, though, ever again! He took the shirt off the rack and gazed at it. "Hey, it's even got a four leaf clover on the shoulder," he commented.

The digimon on Kouichi's head flew down to face the boy. "When did Kako wear a dress?" Piximon asked.

Kouichi froze as Kouji fell silent. "Wait," the bandana boy muttered, "You hear that?"

"Your hair looks funny," Kako muttered, shaking her head. "It's a real good thing you don't keep it down." She was now standing beside him, examining the length of a strand of the boy's hair.

Kouji scowled, "Shut up!"

Laughing, Kako commented, "You should cut your hair! And then you and Kouichi would really look like twins!" She walked up to the rack of green shirts Kouichi hid behind. "Right, Piximon?" she asked the digimon, yanking both Piximon and Kouichi out by the ears.

There was a murderous look on Kouji's face. "MY HAIR TIE," he growled, hand held out expectantly in Kouichi's direction.

Chuckling nervously, Kouichi pulled the bandana and hair tie out of his pocket. "Uh...sorry...?" he said in an apologetic voice.

"I'm so sure," Kako and Kouji muttered under their breath. The girl shot both boys a glare and let go of Piximon. Her grip on Kouichi, however, merely tightened. "Let's just hurry up, okay?"

"Okay," Kouichi muttered, wincing at the pain. "J-just...hurry up with the letting go of my ear part."

Kako let go of Kouichi's ear and muttered something as the boy collapsed on the ground, rubbing his ear. With a sigh, Kouji walked up to his brother and helped him up. "Darn, I was hoping that part would go slow," he murmured.

As Kouji redid his ponytail and bandana, Kouichi forced a smile onto his face. This really hurts, Kouji, he thought as they walked to the register. I wish...it didn't have to be this way. I'm sorry.

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"Just one change of clothes?" Kouji asked skeptically. "Will it last?"

Kouichi nodded. He looked towards the shoreline absentmindedly. "You guys are only spending two more days in Hawaii, right? I use the new clothes tomorrow, wash my current clothes, and then I'm set for the next day," he informed the younger twin.

There was a snort. "If you say so..." muttered the bandana boy.

The older boy smiled. "I say so. Kako, what are you doing? Piximon can't see!" Kouichi exclaimed, averting his attention to Kako. She had placed the straw hat she had bought back at the store on Piximon, whom was now flying blindly, trying his best not to bump into a wall.

Kako slowed her pace until she was walking beside both boys. Turning her head in Kouichi's direction and returning a smile, Kako replied, "If Piximon wants to be the best trainer ever, he's got to train himself, you know. This'll improve his-"

There was a crash, and they all turned to find Piximon on the floor, the straw hat beside him. Shaking her head, Kako ran over to Piximon, picking the digimon up first and then the hat. "Well, scratch that," she murmured.

The twins exchanged looks before shaking their head in exasperation. "How about going out for lunch?" Kouji suggested. He wasn't exactly hungry, but he wasn't in the mood to spend the entire day at the beach again. There was no objection from anyone, and soon they were seated in a small restaurant overlooking the beach.

"It's so pretty," Kako said in awe. They were seated by the window, making it easy for Kako to spot the waves. While she and Piximon admired the waves, Kouji and Kouichi sat opposite of each other, engaged in what seemed to be a staring contest until the menus came.

Kako ordered for the most part, while Kouji ordered a soda and Kouichi politely skipped all thoughts of a meal, saying he'd prefer a glass of water. The entire time consisted mainly of Kako and Piximon devouring the food, Kouji staring at his soda, and Kouichi removing all the ice cubes onto a napkin and watching them melt.

By the time Kako and Piximon finished, all the ice cubes were past finished. "I'm paying," Kouichi announced quickly, bringing his wallet out quickly. Kouji was about to object when the older twin reminded him, "You paid for my clothes. I have more than enough money to pay for lunch."

Pointing to Kako, Kouji argued, "Let me remind you she ate most of the food. What does that have to do with anything?" He sat back in his seat, folded his arms and waited for the response with a smug look on his face.

Smiling, Kouichi replied, "So I'll pay for Kako mostly. That's fine by me."

"Hah...ah-" Kouji stopped before he could continue his comment. Disturbing, he thought, making a sour face. "I...really should stop thinking," he muttered.

Kako snickered. "I agree," she told Piximon under her breath.

"I heard that!"

Kouichi quickly paid for the bill and they were on their way out again. "I really should go talk to Duskmon and Lowemon," he murmured absentmindedly.

"Those two are here...I forgot," Kouji muttered, a hand slapping his forehead.

The older twin nodded. There was a half-smile on his face. Duskmon...how did I forget? He found his eyelids drooping. "Y-you know...I think I'll go take a nap in the sun," he murmured, jumping over the wooden banister of the ramp that lead towards the main street. He waved to Kouji and Kako once he was a few feet away. "I'll catch up with you two later!" Kouichi called out.

Exchanging a confused look with Kako's eager one, Kouji let out a sigh. "Go ahead," he murmured, motioning towards his brother. "I'll take Piximon..." And I can't promise he'll be alive later, but I'll try.

Kako turned to face Kouichi. She smiled and murmured, "Actually I was wondering if you wanted to come along too, Kouji. You seem pretty stressed out yourself." She looked behind her shoulder. "I can take Piximon, by the way. He's way too much trouble for you," added Kako.

Kouji watched Piximon flutter beside the girl and nodded. "I'll..." Take a nap at home, he finished in his head.

"Okay. Catch you later," Kako replied before he could finish. She placed the hat on her head and hopped over the fence, racing Piximon to Kouichi.

Watching the sight, Kouji smiled. Peace, quiet...and they're happy. Take that, idiot. He walked back to the house, making a note to call Takuya and the others once he did.

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Takuya watched over his brother for the hours until morning before Shinya finally awoke. When he did, he nearly rolled out of bed in surprise, the first thing seen being Takuya's goggles. Before he could yell, 'Wow, I get the goggles...?' all of last night's happenings were remembered. Shinya's expression changed from joyful to desolate.

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" Takuya asked with a grin.

Guiltily, Shinya looked down at his feet.

The older Kanbara sighed, "Shinya...I'm calling the others. I don't know what's wrong, but do you know what you were doing...?" When the younger boy shook his head, Takuya let out an uneasy laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't, either. So right know we'll call Tomoki, Hideki, Izumi, Junpei, Kouichi and-oh wait, those two aren't here," Takuya muttered under his breath.

"Neither is Kouichi. He went to Hawaii, too," Agunimon said.

The goggle boy jumped. His head swung wildly from side to side until he spotted the digimon behind him. "WHA-! Oh, Agunimon...you scared me," Takuya gasped, a hand placed over the general location of his heart. Catching his breath, he rose to his feet. Clearing his throat, Takuya ordered, "Shinya, you go take a bath and eat breakfast and stuff. I'll call the others!"

Shinya nodded unenthusiastically and scrambled out of bed.

Precisely thirty minutes later, all save the twins, Kako, Hideki and Rai were in Shinya's room (along with a tired Shinya) gazing at the computer with interest. Tomoki held Bokomon's book in his hand, opened to the last page. "I recognize some characters," he murmured, holding the book up. He pointed to a character on the page and then to the first on the computer. "But how did Shinya stumble across it?"

"It says annihilation," Shinya whispered, shrinking behind the chair as everyone turned to him.

"Ah, um...y-yeah, she's their biology teacher and um...um, I'm their...uh, their..." Hideki's loud stuttering was heard from the front.

Smoothly, Rai intervened, "Foreign language teacher, Mr. Sakai."

"Oh...how are Takuya's grades?" Mrs. Kanbara inquired curiously.

Takuya dashed out of the room with a scowl plastered on his face. "Mom!" he whined. "Hey, Mr. Foreign language teacher! Get over here!" he snapped, motioning to the two grown ups and racing back to Shinya's room.

As Rai and Hideki entered the room, Junpei rose an eyebrow. "Wow...holding hands? Is that part of the job?" he asked, eyeing their hands.

Rai quickly removed her hand from Hideki's grip and walked over to the children. She placed a hand on her hip and looked down at Izumi. "So, what's the deal?" asked Rai, unsure of what was going on. Takuya had been abrupt on the phone as he thought he had interrupted something of importance (if romantic breakfasts were important), and he had hung up after fifteen seconds of quick stumbling over words.

Trying to make for under the bed, Shinya let out a sob. Hideki quickly lunged forward and caught the boy, dragging him up onto his feet and holding him still, despite his cries. "Let me go!" Shinya shrieked, wriggling in Hideki's grip. "Let me go! Let me go, please! I don't want to read it! Let me go!" He broke out into cries as his eyes shut and he continued to scream.

Startled, Izumi sent Takuya a desperate look. "He wasn't this bad a few hours ago," Takuya muttered, walking up to his brother and placing both hands on the younger Kanbara's shoulders. "Shinya, stop," he ordered.

Tears streaming down his face, Shinya quieted down and looked up as Takuya instructed. "Please," he whispered in a quiet, almost toneless voice. Yet there was the slightest hint of a frantic plea.

Lowering himself to his brother's height, Takuya let out a sigh. "Listen," he told Shinya, "I need you to tell us everything it says. If you do, you'll help us out a lot, okay, Shinya?" The boy nodded and Takuya continued, "If it scares you, we'll give you a break, but please, just try. For Izumi if not for me?"

Shinya couldn't help but laugh at the last comment. Through his tears, he nodded and stepped up to the computer. The boy flinched as, raising a finger to the screen so the rest could follow along, he read aloud, "'Annihilation will come...t-to those...who take place in this moment.' And then...'Darkness and Light, created from Chaos, bend to our will and...'" Shinya broke off, shivering and whimpering.

"I see," Rai murmured, pulling Shinya back. She smiled down at the boy. "Thank you, Shinya. You can stop now," she told him, smoothing down his hair.

Junpei murmured, feeling slightly guilty, "I think...Kanaye did this to him."

The goggle boy turned to him with a look of pure disbelief. At the top of his lungs, Takuya screamed, "WHAT?"

"Takuya-" Izumi started, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

Takuya shrugged it off, sending a piercing glare in Junpei's direction. Gulping, Junpei continued, "No, it's okay, Izumi. I...I was forced to work for Kanaye for the while since you guys have been calling me like crazy you know? And...just the other day, Shinya found me. I was attempting to steal, but Shinya bought the candy for me anyway, so it wasn't too much trouble. He followed me after that, though, and I couldn't lose him. Ritsuo and the others pounced him and tied him to the chair and Kanaye came in and...I'm not really sure what happened." Junpei shut his eyes as Takuya grabbed him by his collar and lifted him to his feet. "I...I didn't mean for this to happen, Takuya," he choked.

"You damn well should be!" Takuya snarled, throwing Junpei to the floor. Furiously, he looked in the direction of Hideki and Rai. "What does it say?" he growled.

Soothingly stroking Shinya's back to comfort him, Rai (who had squatted down to Shinya's level) replied, "It's basically just a rite to open a gate to the Digital World. It can't be done alone, though. There has to be a replica of the rite done in another computer somewhere else. The space in between the two computers will be the space the gate occupied. I know what you're going to ask, spare me." She held up a hand as Tomoki opened his mouth. "We already have an opening to the Digital World through the train station. Well, that one's probably shut off now, and all other openings are random since Lucemon's pushed through to the real world. To get a gate to open almost permanently, this rite is needed. To get a gate to be physically real in the real world, this rite is needed."

There was silence, save the occasional sobs of Shinya into Rai's shoulder. "Ph-physically real?" Takuya repeated, taking a step back.

Junpei picked himself up off the floor and fell back down again. "So Lucemon is-"

"He's obviously got someone else opening a gate elsewhere. I have a sneaking suspicion who it is," Rai muttered the last part under her breath.

Hideki, for the first time in minutes, murmured, "And you're probably wondering about the last page of Bokomon's book? See, that's...kind of a funny story, actually." He let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "You see...I'm...well, since the incident with Angemon...I've been switched to the shadow...of...uh...well, this is kind of embarrassing..." They all watched as Hideki turned read.

Curiously pulling away from Rai, Shinya gazed up at Hideki. "Yeah?" he asked eagerly.

Scowling, Hideki folded his arms across his chest. Looking away, he snapped, "Okay, okay! My digimon shadow is-"

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A/N-

Hah! Cliffy return! Take that. And while I may not like the look of the new season of Digimon, Wada better do some songs or...somehow...I'll go to...Japan...and, uh...() I give up. On a side note, I updated sooner than I thought I would! (It's thirty minutes before school) It pays to wake up early.

THAAAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUUUU for the ever so beautifully (as Crusadermon would say) lovely reviews- GemmaniGirl, Winter's Light, The Light's Refrain

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