Wherever You Will Go Chapter 24, a digimon fanfic

Finally, chapter 24! It took me forever to get this finished. But nonetheless, I'm posting this from Canada! I'm on vacation presently (that's why the update had taken so long) and taking the Lake Superior Circle Tour. It's been so hot, but the water is so freezing! I'll be back on the 8th, and when I do get back, I'll probably be back into the groove of updates about once every 10 days or so.

And now, enough with my blabbing about with my vacation, I'll get on with it. In this chapter, Mirai is pretty much pushed off the edge. It's when I really get into developing her emotions, and so she kinda loses it. I'm trying to achieve the perspective of her actually thinking she's the good guy and Takuya's at fault, but really, you can clearly see it's the other way around.

Finally, I present chapter 24! Almost half done!

Chapter 24

I wasn't sure if I should have said anything about that little embrace that Takuya forced me into or not. I had remained silent about the whole concept, finding this rather awkward to be completely honest, as everyone was pretty much watching this and staring in the maximum amount of confusion possible. Koji wasn't surprised about this, but when I snuck a peek back at him, I was rather taken back at what I saw. He looked as pissed as hell. If he didn't have some sort of reputation to uphold as the group's uncaring loner, I bet he would have torn Takuya into pieces. But, despite how I felt about this in the past, I wouldn't have let him follow through with that. I wasn't exactly confident I knew why. It's not like our current erm, "relationship" now was mended to be exactly the same as it was though few years ago, but it was of a different kind of level. Nonetheless, putting aside the thinking, I decided to figure this thing out later.

Going back to original topic of thought, I couldn't really comprehend why Koji seemed so hot under the collar. I wasn't really that important, why would Koji Minamoto be jealous of Takuya? Because even the Warrior of Flame had to admit, he just wasn't a stylin' spiffy boy such as Koji. Sure, Takuya had his physiques: good smile, nice hair, and if I remember correctly, a little more than an adequate kissing ability. But everything goes downhill on the chart when you get to brainpower. Put his wit on the charts and what you have before you is the characteristics of a sexy little moron.

But I digress. If you lacked logic, things seemed a whole lot simpler at the planning stage. And thus, with a positive feeling that everything is going to work out all right, that sexy little moron is bound to have a hellofa lot more fun…and a larger hospital bill.

Figuring by the evidence of Koji grinding his jaws and sending a death stare that could murder through the back of Takuya's head, I assumed that at any given moment, he would just pop and lose all self-control he possessed. So I tried to pry the gogglehead off of me and prevent such a situation that would probably humiliate more people than just Koji alone. "Okay, let go. Moment—if I'm actually lying by saying this is a moment—is over." When he did nothing in effort to remove himself from me, I gave him a hard jab in the side right below the ribcage (aka a taser), and he sprung loose like he touched a hot stove. Although if you touch a hot stove, you don't grab your side and cringe. Or at least I didn't think so. "Dude. We're. Done. Hugging." I gave him a quizzical look as to why he had gotten so carried away. "In fact, a handshake or something would've sufficed just fine at that point."

He smiled genuinely. "Okay, then." He held out his hand and looked at me expectantly. "Let's do it over. Friends?" Is that it now? All he desires is to be friends with me? I wouldn't have gotten that impression if we just left it up to his instant reaction.

I shrugged, pondering his request, and took his hand in mine to shake it. I felt that same familiar spark, but tried to keep it hidden. I was thinking that if Koji saw it, he'd be more than off the wall. He'd be on the ceiling. Besides, I told myself, it was probably just a little reminiscence of the past. It'd be okay after returning to familiarity. And the thing I found the most adhering was that I had to keep telling myself that. "I'm not so sure about 'friends', but we do have an awkward bond of sorts."

I was going to stay nonchalant about that comment I just made and dismiss it without a second thought, but then I realized he was laughing. Smiling and laughing. And then it surprised me more to notice that I was smiling and laughing with him. And that observation made me correct myself. That hug didn't piss Koji off. This pissed Koji off. He was flippin' mad now. Because now that I was actually getting along with Takuya, I had all the more reason that I would ignore him. I'm sure he knew I wouldn't, but some thoughts were just unavoidable. And negative thoughts were like weeds: Once the seed was planted, all of the other plants around it were sapped of life and eventually wilt into death.

"Did we miss something here?" I heard Zoe question, seemingly a little hint of anger evident in her voice. But it was mostly consumed by all of the perplexity that was shown on her and everyone else's faces. And she, I knew was speaking for the rest of the group, aside from Koji whom even if he didn't know what was going on, probably wouldn't have even given a crap anyway. "Because if any of this going on here made sense, I'd be totally, flat-out lying."

Takuya put his arm around me and I weaved my way around, avoiding the embrace. But he quickly put that in the past and grinned, beginning to answer the question Zoe presented, "This Mirai Kimishima, she's one of my old friends, except we haven't seen each other in almost three years—" He kept track of the time? "—And we hadn't even tried to keep contact! 'Cept I don't know why she, uh, ya know, cross dressed…?" He turned to be, the smile fading and eyeing me in suspicion.

I scowled from the sudden attention I was suddenly given, my face turning suddenly red from the number of eyes that were laid upon me. "Well, it kinda started with…" I trailed off, going over everything in my mind that provided reasoning for my disguise. Taking my brother's place, the tension of seeing Takuya, the whole reason of not showing my whole self. To be honest, I couldn't recall what had compelled me to do it in the very beginning, the thing that made me actually decide I'm gonna do this. But despite that, I had a pretty long run. I could have assumed that I could've gone longer if I hadn't conveniently decided to beat Takuya with my hat. But the longer I thought about it, the more I just didn't care. "Ya know what? It doesn't matter. Find someone else to interrogate. I don't want to be put on the spot just because you found a good reason to ask me stupid questions." I pursed my lips firmly into a straight line.

"C'mon, Ka—er, Mirai. If you feel the need to keep it secret, that just means you need to get it off your chest," Zoe insisted, prodding more than I liked. She probably wouldn't have given this much attention if I was still going as a guy. I figured out a lot of things from that experience. One, Zoe pays more attention to girls than guys, but even so, she's still unbelievably annoying. I wondered if she was just made to irritate people with that helium voice of hers.

"Yeah, we're all friends. Pretty please?" Tommy continued, folding his hands together in a slightly pleading manner. As if that dumb kid would change my mind. He never did anything to faze me before, and he wasn't about to start now.

I crossed my arms, giving them all a hard stare that lacked most emotion. "No," I scoffed coldly. "And no little cutsie act will do you any good. I'm not one to fall for that." Except when it's Koji, I added in my mind, He's got a gift. A spellbinding gift. I looked at said Warrior of Light for a quick moment, seeing that he was feeling a little more self-controlled, probably because I had refused and avoided Takuya's arm-around-shoulder embrace. He was still watching with a cautious gaze, however.

"You sure?" Takuya questioned surreptitiously, grinning the smirk he always put on whenever he got a good idea. And this idea he had, he followed through with before I knew what happened, and it was certainly not a good idea to the majority of the group standing here.

I could barely blink before he had his lips on mine. I was caught completely off-guard, but almost immediately, I recognized the familiar feeling of the heat and intensity his touch created. As a gained habit, I quickly fell into the kiss and let it overcome me. But many alarms cut through the moment and went off in my head. They were screaming out Koji! Koji! Koji! You can't forget Koji! That suddenly clicked in my psyche and my eyes widened, my body instantly tensing. So I did the first thing that came into my mind: I punched him in the gut.

Anger suddenly filled me, remembering the last time I saw Takuya kissing, the memory playing over in my head like a movie that I hadn't willed to play. And it wasn't me. "You think you can just go and do that after what you did? You remember the last day you saw me, but you don't remember what had caused me to change schools? What made me the way I am? You sick, lying shiseiji!" I would have tried to rip him into shreds if I didn't have better control of myself. I decided to let my words do the damage that they could instead. I didn't want to have to rebuild any of the trust I had gained, even though this whole reveal-yourself-shtick already probably did so.

He scowled, guilt suddenly filling his gaze. I didn't wait for him to answer my yelling. I didn't want to hear what he had to say, just like when I saw him on that crushing day. I had the same anger dwelling in me, a consuming, burning fire that not even the largest of tidal waves could put out. I wanted him to hurt, just as I had, I wanted him to see how much I was affected by that very moment, the moment I had reached the top of the mezzanine steps and saw it all, and I wanted him to know I wasn't one to forgive and forget by just a simple 'sorry'. I wasn't like that, and if he was one to think I was, that showed just how much he knew me and how much he cared. "Maybe you've forgotten, but I haven't! I can't just dismiss something you've never apologized for! You went around my back, Takuya, was it really worth it? Was she worth it? If she was what you were after the whole time, I would have bowed out, you could've just asked! But I guess you were too caught up in the moment! Well, thanks for destroying the only happiness I had!"

I began to stomp off when I found it extremely hard to continue. I stopped and put my head down to stare at my shoes. I held myself in my arms, feeling his stare burning through me. I didn't know why I felt any kind of remorse for all that I just said. I should have been angry, I had a right to it. He had it coming to him for years and I finally gave it to him, I should have been okay with it. But now I was here hating myself for yelling at him, trying to give him what he deserved, dishing out vengeance where it was due. And now I could just see his face in my head, the way I knew he was looking at me in that moment in reality. His soft auburn eyes showing all of his own remorse and sadness. A look that just cried out to the sky, crying out to the pouring rain. The look I had in my eyes on those days my face was drenched with my own tears, when I hugged my legs up close to me and just thought about how everything went wrong, if there was just some way I could change things so I didn't have to feel this sorrow. The look of hopelessness.

I struggled not to cry. I wouldn't show weakness, I wouldn't allow myself to stoop to such a low level as to do that. I was self-regulating; I didn't have to be buried by all these futile emotions. I didn't have to have someone there all the time to catch me when I fell. In fact, before someone even came around, I'd make sure I was on my feet. Help was something I refused to ask for, nor wanted. I had to be reliant on myself; I couldn't let phantasmagoria get to me and soften me. I had always been rather independent, so nothing should change, despite how I became when coming here to the Digital World. Koji didn't change anything, nothing besides throwing my emotions to the back of my mind. They weren't removed. In a way, I didn't want them to disappear. To be stuck in perpetual emotions was almost a comfort, painful, but nonetheless, it gave me a feeling of life. I hadn't completely drowned in the waves of my transgressions, and that made me crave any sense and sensation of livelihood. It was like me drug. I needed it to survive. Withdrawal would come upon me without it. That's why I had to strive to receive it. Despite the times that I wanted to be freed from these emotions, I'd die without them.

I held myself tighter, gripping my fingers firm against my arms. I looked up, straight forward into the eerie darkness, looking for something—anything—that would give me some sort of mental support. "You enjoy doing this to me, don't you?" I surprised myself with my voice coming out toxic like poison, cold like ice. It was a hiss that fitted how I was feeling to a T. If gestures and tones could commit homicide, he would have his time quickly approaching. Too bad I didn't lose control of my Beast Spirit when he was around; it would have made life simpler. "This is all just a sick little game for your entertainment, is it not? Why don't you find someone else to play with? This is getting old."

"Miri…" I could hear his voice cracking at the source, but I tried my hardest to ignore it, all that emotion that had always gotten me to break down before, I had to block it out. The best I could do was walk away, which is exactly what I proceeded to do. I knew that if I didn't leave now, his words would make me stay. Just saying the name he had given me back when we were six meant so much to me, hearing it again as he always used to say it, it almost brought me to my knees. But I held my legs in place, locking my knees so they wouldn't bend.

I took a step and a breath. This wasn't as hard as I had lead myself to believe. Just one step, I could take one more step. I did so and repeated the mental coach of one more step, just take one more step. It was working for my body, but my mind was still not off of topic. I was being offered the temptation to turn around and apologize. But I mentally shook my head; it wasn't my fault. It was his fault. I was always the victim, but too many times was I made the bad guy. I wouldn't stand for it, I would rise up against that little voice in my head that told me make things right. Well, if he wanted everything right in the same way I did, he would have to do it himself. Prove that he had matured in the situation, he could offer up some sort of conditions that we'd both agree to. I wasn't the weaker one here, I would wait until he caved. I could do that; I could be patient enough as to await said agreements.

Managing to get far enough away that I couldn't feel his stare, I slowly made my way into the darkness, noting a canyon nearly completely shrouded in the haze just off to my left. I had to remind myself to still retain my common sense and remember to keep my mind off of the things that'll drag me down without any other matters distracting me. I had to keep track of my environment and location, that was the main thing. And while doing such, I had to keep telling myself to cool down. But there was a part of me that didn't want to feel better about this. It was the emotion I knew and was used to, maybe that was part of it. I scowled, the thoughts of the past coming into my head. I knew Takuya longer than I knew anger and loneliness…But why do I know them better? Is it because all of the things I thought to be true showed me those were the only things that could remain constant and unchanging?

Kicking a rock with the toe of my shoe and my hands in my pockets, I thought hard about everything I thought I knew. I furrowed my eyebrows. There was really nothing I could be truly sure of. Everything that I thought to be true turned out to be all lies. I couldn't find anything to put my faith in that I actually found reliable. There was still Koji, but I found it awkward to speak of the things I went through with Takuya to him. If he were to get the wrong idea and thought that I actually still cared about Takuya, I would probably kill myself. I couldn't be sure what the Warrior of Light would do, but I was afraid to think about it. I was afraid of those who found things better in life and just packed up and closed up shop. I hated to be left for dead, with nothing more than my foolish dreams and fears to go on a free exploration of my mind.

I climbed up on a fairly large boulder and sat down on top of it. Propping my chin on my knuckles, I just stared out into the blackness that surrounded me from every direction. I had thought I'd gotten better since my arrival here, but really, I had a growing doubt. Nothing had changed than back then, and I loathed that knowledge. If only things had been different then, if I hadn't been "with" Takuya, if I knew and could've stopped what happened to Koichi.

Koichi. My nii-san.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by footsteps walking in my direction. A voice emerged from behind me, cutting through the darkness like a knife through butter. "Are you always like this?" The voice was soft, the tone seemingly more concerned than how the words were put together. If I would have just seen the question written out, I would've assumed it was more of an annoyed rhetorical inquiry. But really, it was quite the opposite. And that surprised me.

I shifted my position so that I cradled my head in the flats of my hands. I let out an exasperated groan as I heard the footsteps turn into the sound of shoes digging into the rock in effort to climb up it. I didn't feel like having any unwanted visitors at that particular moment in time. Or really any other time, that matter. "Do I really wanna know what you want, Zoe? If you've come to provide moral support, I'm not gonna listen. Wake me when your lecture ends." I didn't feel she would provide me with anything, namely anything that would be of any use to me. She didn't appear to be very educated in the area I was dwelling upon, but I didn't really read up on her to be completely sure.

She smiled, or at least tried to. I saw by the look in her eyes that she was trying to force some sort of positive expression onto her face. "C'mon, now that I'm not the only girl in the group, we have to rely on each other. We can't have those boys taking all the world-saving glory, can we?" She looked to me for a response, got none, only an unbelieving stare, and decided to continue, "I don't know what went on between you and Takuya, but I can tell it's not right, and no one's getting any good out of it. If you told me what happened, maybe I can help." That was just about a hint and a half that had 'let me into your life' written all over it like graffiti on a brick wall.

I narrowed my eyes, looking off into nothingness while just pretending I wasn't having this conversation. "Doubt it," I replied quickly and without emotion. "Though you can help by backing the hell off and staying out of my life." I tried to keep my mind off of her never-ending staring at me, her waiting for some nice, friendly reaction to come from me under some demeanor. She should've known by now that that just wasn't going to happen and she was just going to have to frickin' deal with it.

She suddenly giggled, that among all the things she's said and done since she got here to er, "chat" with me taking me by the most surprise. "Fine. I'll get off of the touchy stuff. Ya know, you're actually a good singer. Now I know why you got those notes in that Evanescence song. You've got a good voice." I ignored all of her compliments, which I knew were all just an attempt to make me feel less rough around the edges and actually open up to her. "You should sing me a song. Why put such a nice voice to waste?"

She caught me on a weak spot. Even though I wouldn't want to sing for her personally, I did love to sing. I'd been told in the past I didn't seem like that type, but really, music was one of my few passions that I took at a rather high level. I looked at her through the corner of my eye and said, "I can think of many answers to that question, but nonetheless, I was probably going to do it to myself, anyway. And don't think you've won, because you haven't." I took a deep breath, thinking of the lyrics that were to come out of my mouth. Despite my memory for most other things, as long as I had a melody in my head, I learned a song in a rather short time. And it was able to stick as well, which was all the more surprising.

"The walls between you and I, always pushing us apart. Nothing left but scars fight after fight, the space between our calm and rage started growing shorter, disappearing slowly day after day…

"I was sitting there waiting in my room for you. You were waiting for me too, and it makes me wonder…

"The older I get, will I get over it? It's been way too long for the times we missed, I didn't know then that it would hurt like this, but I think the older I get, maybe I'll get over it. It's been way too long for the times we missed. I can't believe it still hurts like this.

"The time between those cutting words. Build up our defenses, never made no sense, it just made me hurt. Do you believe that time heals all wounds? It started getting better, but it's easier not to fight when I'm not with you.

"I was sitting there waiting in my room for you. You were waiting for me too, and it makes me wonder…

"What was I waiting for? I should've taken less and given you more, I should've weathered the storm. I need to say so bad, what were you waiting for? This could have been the best we've ever had.

"I'm just getting older, I'm not getting over you. I'm trying to. I wish it didn't hurt like this. It's been way too long for the times we missed, I can't believe it still hurts like this…"

Zoe smiled, this time seemingly not faking it and dismissing the displeasure she had of talking to me and getting almost no affirmative response. Or at least hiding it well. "Well, at least that's still in you." She looked up at the dark, gloomy sky that held no light of sun, moon, or stars at all whatsoever, pondering something in her mind. "Hey, can you at least answer me this question?" I saw her face pretty much completely start glowing red in the darkness.

I laid down on my back, resting my hands under my head and closing my eyes briefly, thinking of all the things I could've been doing right then. "Do I want to even know your question?" I retorted back flatly, my mind wandering back onto the same, aggravating subjects they had been in for the past while. Music normally calmed me, but this time it had done little. I wanted to stomp away to avoid any interrogation from anyone and find someone to rip in half with my bare hands. But then again, there was another part of me, a weaker side that just wanted to crawl under a rock and cry its heart away in reliving memories in my mind. But sometimes I pretty much did obey that part, although I preferred the first over it.

She ignored me seemingly rhetorical question, even though I was literally asking her that specific question, and spoke nonetheless, in a quiet whisper that I under no circumstances expected at this point, "Do you still like Takuya?"

I nearly choked on my own saliva at her inquiry. Instantly I felt a paroxysm of rage, but I tried my hardest to contain it. I turned over onto my side, my back now to the Warrior of Wind. "Wish I never did in the first place…" I answered crossly, not technically answering her question, but still being a proper reply to it. "Don't know why you would even want to know that. Why would you even care enough to even bother asking?" I glared at the clouds of black, purple, and blue that shifted around before me and in every place I couldn't see at all other sides. "My life shouldn't even matter to you." I wanted her out of my head, to stop talking about things that made me wonder if fate had a reason for doing what has happened to me, to stop mentioning all the things that just want to make me scream, to stop inquiring about matters that I wasn't even sure of. I wasn't even certain of the answer of her previous question, and that really made me unsure of this whole situation. It made me frustrated that I couldn't even be definite in things that should have remained in the past, all the matters that I should have already forgotten. And maybe that was why I had forgotten many things of the past. I held onto the wrong things, making them the center of attention and never focusing on the things that truly mattered. I didn't allow myself to remember, because I simply didn't care about everything else.

"You gotta think about the full picture, Mirai." Her opening phrase took me into slight astonishment. She was actually daring to tell me what to do. Under most circumstances, I wouldn't take that lying down, but I was unusually curious as to what she had to say. "When you take a look at everything as a whole, you'll come to realize the world isn't as cold as you think. There are people out there that actually care about you and you actually matter to them. Maybe you can't see it, but really, there are people that want to see the bright person you are deep down. Past all of your anger and sorrow, there's someone there I really want to become friends with." She smiled at me the split-second I turned back to look back at her, and I turned back around so I could continue to scowl without any objections.

"I wish I could believe that." My mood not being lifted at all by her little "sentimental words", I got to my feet and hopped off the rock. "You're like every other person that talks to me. They say the same things as you just said now. But were there any actions behind those words? No. You think I'll actually get over it just by the word. It makes me believe that all you want to do is just make me shut up and get off your back. Well, I'll be off your back when you're in hell." I began to walk off.

"Mirai, stop! Don't take another step!" I paused, not turning around to look at her. She continued when I had halted, although I wasn't planning on staying. "I know you're upset right now, but must everyone, namely Takuya, take the blame for it? Is he really the reason behind all of this?"

That name burned in my chest and I was livid at Zoe now because she had mentioned that name. I wanted to Beast Spirit Evolve and destroy everything and everyone in my path. I could feel my pulse pumping through me at a rapid pace and my palms begin to sweat as I clenched them hard enough that my fingernails began to make them bleed. I craved something to beat into a pulp. I wanted to punch it till my arms were immobile and my knuckles were covered in crimson. "Yes, you don't understand what happened. Only if you were in my place, you would understand. It seems that not even he understands. And if he doesn't care enough to even give a crap and remember, it shows just how much he cares. Everyone thinks about forgive and forget, but he never apologized to get the forgiveness. As far as I'm concerned, he's no better than the dirt we walk on."

She frowned, giving me a WTF look. "Maybe you're the one that has to apologize to him! Did you ever see how much he cares just by the way he acts around you? I haven't seen the real you for very long, but I can see it clear as day!" She went onto a much softer note, trying to get onto common ground with me, although I knew that wasn't going to happen. If it ever happened, it would be a shock to me. "He laughed with you, he tried to kiss you, he laughed with you, gave you a cute nickname. And by the sounds, he used to call you by it for a long time. Miri…"

I was standing over her in a second, glaring down with fiery eyes. "You have no right to call me by that name." I was ready to punch her lights out, my patience hanging on a very thin thread. I had to struggle with myself as to prevent myself from unleashing my fury upon her. "You make it sound like everything is all right, that it'd be okay! Haven't you ever considered the idea that maybe it's not a happy ending for every single person out there? Or are you too caught up trying to just get the clear from me to go for that stupid gogglehead? I don't care what you do, go for the shiseiji, you selfish subeta!"

She stood up and slapped me across the face. "Maybe it's you being the selfish one here! You were the one yelling at Takuya, and you're the one waiting for the apology? I don't think he is really the one that has things that he should say sorry for!" She glared at me, giving me the it's-your-fault look that I was much too used to. I hated the words she used, the order she put them into, the tone that she used. It brought back so much for me, things that I didn't want to ever go back to.

I put my hand to my burning face, narrowing my eyes into a deep stare. She thought she knew me so well, when really, she didn't know me at all. She didn't know what happened, and she was making stupid assumptions. "You don't understand me. You're just like all the rest, none of them see me the way that I truly am. No one ever takes my side, and if you honestly think that you've actually done something for me, for him, you're dead wrong."

She stared back at me, though the absence of anger in her gaze was easily noticed by me. I didn't know she was keeping a relatively calm mood in a time like this. Shows how much she cares. "Haven't you ever thought that maybe you are the one that is wrong?"

I didn't know why she was going to this again. I was certain of the things I was speaking of and no stupid girl would stand in my way of such a thing as this that she knew little to nothing about. I wasn't going to take any of the crap that she was offering up, since she had no knowledge of what was going on. "What? I know I'm not wrong! You can't make any demands of me or my past! You can't claim that you instantly know me just because you know who I am now!"

She seemed to show no sympathy for me or anything that was happening at all whatsoever, which proved my thought that she was nothing more than uppity and selfish. "You're not that different from others! Don't think your situation is so different. People have got cheated on, got over it, and found someone better. Happy ending, okay?" Then that little strand of patience snapped.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had my fist connected with her face. "Okay, what about those that didn't get that happy ending, huh? You never hear about them! Well, I'll tell you! It's frickin' hell, all right? You don't know how much it hurts! How many sleepless nights I got because every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same thing! If you saw what happened, you wouldn't know even a fraction of the sadness, the rage, the pain that I felt! You can't say that you know how you feel, because you don't! You can't say to get over it, because I've tried! So why don't you just shut up and live your own life?"

I couldn't really find a good way to express my anger in a rational demeanor. I wanted to do so many things right then, but none of them would quench this need for relief alone. It's how it always was. I was a ticking time bomb, it was only a short matter of time till I gave way and lost it all. It made me think about all the things that had made me this way. How I was always short of patience, and yet, I had to keep all of my emotions bottled up. No one cared how I felt, so why express such things? Just because I felt some sadness, it didn't automatically assume that they were going to pull me in from the rain, give me love, and make sure everything was all right. Things were just not like that in any world. In a perfect world, maybe. But it still didn't remove the feelings of the things that had gotten you down. But then again, if it was perfect, there would be nothing to dwell upon, nothing that you could possibly be concerned about. If only that was the case.

For as long as I could remember, there was always something there, something buried that made me the insecure person I was. There was always someone that never seemed to care, and at times, it seemed like that person was everyone. There was no one to confide in that I could fully trust. I remembered that one of those people that I threw all my trust into was Koichi. He always looked out for me, he always was there to hold my hand and comfort me. But like all good things in life, he had to disappear. He was pulled from my arms, never to be seen ever again. That's what supported my reasoning that nothing good remains so. It's always tainted by something foul, like the world I was in at that exact moment. Perfection was something that never lasted; there was always something there to corrupt it.

I wished there was something that I could do to change that, something that I could possibly do to make it possible to find someone that I could rely upon. I preferred solitude and aloneness, and I could easily deal with it for a rather long period of time by myself, but at times, I felt that I needed something—or someone that could help mend the scars I bore. But then, if I had found some sort of reliable companion that I always thought could help me become who I truly was, I felt like I kept being stabbed in the back, everything would turn back to them and them alone, like I didn't matter anymore. A loathing would begin to build up, a distain that I just couldn't stand. It reminded me of part of a song, Don't wanna hear your stories, don't wanna hear you laughing, don't wanna be standin' here taking your orders. Don't want the quality, don't want you to bother me. When I'm dead and buried, I don't want you to remember me…

"C'mon, we're going so you can go make amends." A single tear escaped her eyes from the blow as she grabbed my arm and began pulling me back towards where the group was. I didn't know whether to call her headstrong or just plain stupid. Despite how much I yelled, how much I resisted her assistance, she still found a way to drive past it and try to force me into doing something that she thought would benefit the group as a whole. I decided to classify that at stupidity. Maybe just because everyone else would content by what was going on, I wouldn't be. I shouldn't have been forced into an apology for something I didn't even do. I wasn't my fault, why did I have to play the weaker link? Was I the little scapegoat that took the blows for the group while everyone else was as happy as could be? No matter what Zoe was thinking she could do, I wasn't going along with it as long as I was living and breathing.

I ripped out of her grasp by whipping my arm around. "You're not making me go anywhere! And even if you make me go, I won't say whatever you want me to like this is some sort of movie and it's all just a script! Life isn't a movie, there's no little plotline we're following, there's no acting! And so I'm not going anywhere without a fight!" I walked off into the distance, my thoughts clouded with thoughts of how everyone was trying to control me, like I was some sort of slave. I wasn't going to concede to those demands, I wasn't going to submit to those who weren't of higher authority than I.

Suddenly, I made a misstep and my legs buckled under me. I felt myself plummeting into darkness and heard myself screaming until my lungs and throat went sore. Battered by the canyon wall, I recklessly reached out for something I could take hold of. My hands beat against protruding rocks as I struggled to grasp something to stop falling. But then I felt my back hit a hard surface, a small shelf a distance down from the top. I let out a groan as I wiped a mixture of blood and sweat off my face. I pulled my head over to look downwards. I had no hint of the bottom being even relatively close to my location. All I could see was blackness, and it was closing in at all sides.

Before I opened my eyes, I felt all of the pain radiate from my entire body. I reminisced over what had happened, forcing the memory to replay in my mind's eye. I felt conscious of my surroundings, taking time to hear everything that surrounded me. I heard whispers and the shuffling of feet. Then I felt something cold and wet—a dampened cloth, possibly—graze over my forehead. I took in the feeling of the soft material and took a long, strained breath, trying to figure out my situation without opening my eyes. I recognized the voices easily, already figuring beforehand at everyone that was there, that they were the Legendary Warriors. The thing that bothered me the most was the wondering of who was touching my face. I felt them tuck a stray hair from my face behind my ear and dab my cheeks with the cloth.

I wrapped my head around the feeling of their touch. Gentle and caring. It felt like I was being stroked with a cotton ball that was being held by an angel. Never before had something felt so good, so rich in relief. With the touch, all of my pain seemed to just cease right then and there. I became conscious of a liberation from my head down to my feet that made me release all of my harms of all sorts. Taking another breath and then blowing it out again, it was easier than previously. I focused on the tender sensation on my face and everything else followed in perfection.

My allowed my eyelids to flutter open and I found myself staring at a compassionate, concerned face. I subconsciously reached up with a single hand and stroked his cheek, whispering out, "Angel of Light…" I stared up at his crystalline sapphire orbs which gazed back at me, and laid all of my attention upon it. A smile escaped my lips before I could stop it and a nonchalant expression was returned, all of his words expressed in his deep, mesmerizing eyes.

Another voice snapped me back into reality. "Bokomon, are you sure that you didn't give her any painkillers that would drug her up?" I heard JP ask, most likely referring to my latest action. His comment made me smile turn back into a frown, everything returning back to me in a single instant and making me suddenly feel very sour and angry with the world around me. How quickly things could change for the worst, a snap of the finger was like the butterfly effect.

I felt my face grow crimson, a mixture of anger and embarrassment at the same time. I didn't know what currently overpowered what. "W-what happened?" I questioned, my mind failing me of what exactly happened. I raised my arm to rub my head, but in the process, my hand touched his. Before the realization hit me to move it, I froze. A few moments passed and my hand just slid back down to my side. "It's all blurry…" All I could remember was screaming, echoing in my ears and reverberating in my head.

"Zoe said you stormed off and then fell into the chasm. I'm pretty sure everyone heard your scream, but we didn't know what happened until Zoe came running." I didn't bother looking at the speaker. I knew the voice when I heard it, and when I had, I felt a hurt larger than the physical filling my body. It was in my head, my heart, my whole being. It felt like I was being stabbed in the back on each word, no, each individual syllable. With that metaphorical blade, I wanted to steal it and stab him with it, so he could see just what it felt like. What it felt like to know pain like never before.

I didn't care what had happened, how Zoe reacted, who the hell even saved me in the first place. I didn't want to be where I was, and so I abruptly decided to do something about it. I sat up, ignoring the soreness that filled my entire back and struggled to my feet. I didn't care how stubborn I was acting; I had a reason behind my actions, and that should have been enough to justify all of this. I doubled over and had barely managed to catch myself, tensing up my body as to lock it into place and prevent my stumbling. I tossed my head around, glaring at the Warrior of Wind as if she somehow, for some demeaning reason, even mattered in the least. "Oh and now you're expecting a thank you, I'm assuming. I never asked for your help. I don't want it, and I don't need it."

She returned the facial expression, giving me also a look of intense questioning in the mix of it. "Why do you honestly think I did it to owe you? No one here is your enemy, I don't know why you see us in that way." She crossed her arms and batted a look towards Takuya, making a face that seemed to say that she was giving up on me once and for all. But was I really supposed to care? No, it was more of a relief than anything that she was giving up.

"I really don't know what you want me to say, Miri." That name. Why is he using that name? "I don't understand why you're still mad at me. It's been three years, and you haven't even tried to get over it. Have you ever known that it wasn't—" I cut Takuya off, my temper rising and taking hold of me.

"Get over it, Takuya? Honestly? I thought you were different, okay? And you never even gave me an explanation or anything! No apology, nothing!" I balled my fists, wanting to take him down at that very instant, although my conscience told me not to. There was another voice inside that said 'yes, just save your strength. He will know no mercy when the time is right…' I conceded to that voice, dropping my arms down back to my sides. I shook my head, knowing he just wasn't going to get how I felt, how much that it really affected me that I cared so much.

"Come on, guys, don't fight," Tommy cut in, trying to keep the peace among our stupid little group that we could hardly call a team. "We've got more important things to do, like get to the Rose Morning Star and beat Cherubimon."

Despite how much I wanted to beat Takuya instead, I knew Tommy was right. Cherubimon was a bigger threat than that moron Warrior of Flame. I reminded myself of the goal in hand, and even though that didn't help at all, I had to persist. I couldn't control the emotion building inside of me and I wanted to release it, give those who done wrong their just desserts. "Fine, let's go to that stupid hellhole," I scoffed, narrowing my eyes into a glare at the ground before my feet.

At that moment, the ground split and crumbled into chunks of rock and a strong wind picked up. It was the force of a tornado, whipping around and seemingly trying to attack us. But instead, we were uplifted and I could for a split-second see a large pea-green blur before being momentarily enveloped in darkness. The darkness was soon replaced by falling and hitting a rather spongy surface. For a moment, I thought I could feel a pulsating, like it was breathing, but left that up to my own imagination and my increased heart rate at that particular moment. Whatever the place was, I wondered, we were either teleported there or sucked in by that gust of wind.

We landed in oddly colored tunnel-like corridor, spongy like previously noted, but the smell almost immediately taken in. But it made sense since it looked as though we were trapped inside some demented living creature, by the red and yellow bone marrow-looking colors of the entire passage. But be that as it may, it was highly unlikely, and thus I dismissed the idea almost in that instant, thinking a little bit rationally on the idea, boosted with the distractions of all of the other things plaguing my mind at that moment.

Complaints acknowledged and overall ignored, I brought myself to my feet and looked around. I ran my hand along the side of the wall or whatever it was, thinking not about what it may be or how it came to be in the state it was in. None of these things really dawned on me as to consider them, having been distracted by everything that had been in my head before any of this even occurred. We appeared to be trapped, and I doubted I could deal with the confined space without losing control and doing some kind of damage. After all, I had a right to it, he had it coming. It was all just a matter of time and how much hell I wanted to give him at that moment. And at that very instant in time, I wanted to give him everything I got, just so he could get a little sample taste of what I had in me.

I walked down part of the hallway and just saw a giant eyeball-looking thing that was at the end of it, marking a dead end. I watched as JP had mindlessly walked past me, ignoring me and I him. "Aye yai yai, a dead end," he stated, seemingly more to himself than me. Oh, so now people that have no idea what's even going on aren't paying attention to me? That just figures. It's all so typical. Then, a large, actoplasmic-appearing red hand emerged out of the wall and shoved him into the eyeball, out of sight. The arm retracted back in to where it had appeared like nothing had even happened. It was strange. Maybe there was some sort of parasite living in the walls or something.

Walking back over to the rest of the group in silence, I heard Takuya ask Zoe a question and the Warrior of Wind's response, "I saw him go that way." As I neared, I saw her point in my general direction and said nothing. She noticed me and thus asked me, "Hey, Mirai, have you seen JP? I thought for sure he went this way." She gestured to the direction of which I was coming from, past me and towards the dead end of which JP had disappeared into.

I said nothing, not wanting to say anything. It wasn't my problem, and I wasn't about to make it my problem. They didn't care about what was going on about me, so why should I give a crud about them? So what if he disappeared, I wasn't the Warrior of Thunder's keeper, nor did I want to be. I just wanted to get the hell out of there and away from everyone that had a problem with me. I didn't want to deal with them, I had my own complications to dwell upon. I didn't care about them, or their stupid friends, and vice versa. If I got lost, no one was going to look for me, because they simply didn't have enough space in their selfish, black hearts as to let anyone else in. That's how it was, how I was stuck with it being, and honestly, I didn't even find a reason for me to let them inside, some sort of reason that I would have a single need as to keep them in the confines of my heart. I knew it would all end for the worse anyway, as it always has. I never got a happy ending, no little thing that I could possibly do to make things better. Because there was always someone there to ruin it again, people so self-involved that consequences didn't even matter, as long as numero uno got what they believed they deserved.

They breezed past me and walked ahead, seeing the large eyeball as just a thing that showed you couldn't go on in that direction. And of course, Takuya had to make a stupid comment, as if everything wasn't as bad as it seemed, as if he didn't care about what was going, what anyone else thought or felt, "The owner sure has a scary decorator." He cupped his hands over his mouth, shouting out for his disappeared comrade, like he could actually hear his voice, "JP! Where are you?"

"He couldn't have just disappeared out of thin air," Tommy stated, as if that wasn't even remotely obvious. Stupid kid didn't know left from right and he thought that he was telling us something that we didn't already know. He was a useless child, I didn't understand why they kept him around. If I had been in charge of things, I would have sent him back home to his stupid family on a Trailmon the very first day. He and I both knew that he didn't deserve to be here, and he would be any good, either. He was a stupid kid that does nothing but get in the way and get us all killed in the end. Anyone would realize this by just looking at him: He was worth nothing to our group and only deserves abandonment.

"Mirai, you have had to have seen him! What happened to him?" Zoe shot her head around and cast me a glance that tried to look past my scowling face and into my head. I wouldn't let her into it, into all the things I think about and contemplate, and even if I did give her even a glimpse of everything that was caged in corridors of my mind, she wouldn't understand. No one ever did, no one knew how I felt deep down, and no matter how many times I tried to exhibit even a fraction of this emotion, I'd always find myself alone, disowned by all those I thought to be true. I was always stabbed in the back, time and time again, and from that experience, repetitive, agonizing gashes into my flesh, I learned there was no one I could lay confidence into.

I said nothing, staring past her and into the hypnotic eye behind the group. As they were watching me, I was just gazing into it, feeling drawn into it. I wanted to take that calling, just to get away from those who antagonize me and drag me down into the perpetual feelings of hopelessness and despondency. I wouldn't be swayed by those actions as I had in the past. I would let all those who dared to do such know my anger, let them learn of the taste that is bitterness. I would teach all that darkness was nothing to be afraid of; it was something that should be pondered and taken as comfort. The shadows shot across on the walls would make shapes of friends, no longer the frightening foes that aligned with creatures and half-dead apparitions.

I didn't look at anyone's faces. I didn't want them to think that I was responsible for the actions of which I didn't even commit, although I knew already I was to be blamed. I held no worthy innocence within my being; I never had anything that was worth anything to anyone, aside from a seemingly-always unprepared stature that allowed anyone to place the fault upon my shoulders. I was always the one to take the fall for things, Yukio made certain of that time and time again. I didn't want to be the one that got all of the undeserved that punches and just rolled with them without a problem, I had gotten too many bruises for that to be at all amusing. Now, I knew I had to be the one to be throwing the punches, making them hurt and bleed. Only then would they understand just how I felt, so they know I wasn't just giving false pretenses and earn some pity points.

Takuya stepped up to me, putting my face in him that I could feel his breath blowing on my face. "Okay, I don't know what kind of thing you did, but you have to tell us where JP is. This isn't some joke, no little act of revenge, because that would be just cold for dragging other people into your problems." It surprised how calm he was. With those particular words, on first draw, I would've thought he was exhibiting some sort of hard anger. But no, he was just using a slightly rough voice to make sure I took it what he was saying and so I'd know he wasn't kidding about anything he said.

I didn't doubt that he wasn't joking, I just didn't give a kuso. I shoved him back, almost catching him off balance and almost causing him to topple over backwards. Normally, I would've laughed, but honestly, I just wasn't in the mood for rude humor, not even if it was of my doing. "I. Didn't. Do. Anything," I managed to growl through gritted teeth, annunciating each and every word as a single separate sentence in itself. I wanted to do more than shove him then, I wanted to tackle him down and just beat the crap out of him with my fists in his face, until there was no turning back. I wanted to relieve of all this anger that was stored up inside me, making me dangerous to the touch.

Zoe was the one to step up after this, a little more than apparently pissed off by my shoving of her little crush or whatever she called it. I'd rather call it the annoyance that gave Takuya life insurance. "Hey, if you have a problem—!" she was suddenly cut off by someone that for once wasn't me, although I was eventually going to do it anyway. There was only so much of that irritating voice that I could take at one time, and I was about to breach that limit.

"Wha~!" Takuya suddenly gasped and spun around, looking back at the eyeball once again as if it was for some dumb reason appear to have called out to him, the moron. If he was hearing things, that would only make me all the more annoyed and eager to make him hurt, to see if he was hearing things beyond the ringing in his ears I would cause.

"Huh? Takuya, what's wrong?" Tommy questioned, as if these little comments would actually prove his worth here. He never cared how I was, no one never really had. That just caused me to grow all the more eager to inflict some sort of damage upon these stupid kids, to show them what conditions really needed the questioning of health, and also the treatment. People actually think they help anyone or anything by asking questions? That was demeaning, a little thing that I could just do without hearing.

"You hear something?" Zoe asked, stating the plainly obvious. Such pathetic inquiries for such pathetic people, if only they knew what importance really was. To Zoe it would be all about her, she came first. Well, maybe things just didn't work that way, maybe someone had to show her the right direction. And a little physical convincing wouldn't be so horrible, would it? If only I could show her just what came first in life. Namely wounds to be tended…I can show her that through experience…

"No, more like a feeling. JP's in trouble." As if that makes sense. How could you possibly know about feelings, or sensing when someone needs help? Is that a little thing that you recently developed, or something that you just don't care to use on significant others? Am I just one you never cared to figure out? Was I the one that you just never found important as to know when I needed assistance, and enough to actually gain it from the likes of you? Honestly, I don't care anymore. When you're out in the cold and looking for love and compassion, don't come knocking on my door. I won't answer, just because that's what you deserve. Maybe things would be different if you hadn't found yourself to be so selfish…

At that moment, large, metal-appearing slabs fell down from the ceiling, like a brown, polished steel that rained upon us. I maneuvered away from the falling steel, and Koji grabbed Tommy in his arms when he lost his balance. When the slabs hit the ground, they seemed to melt back into the corridor, becoming that of the ground we stood upon. More of those actoplasmic, ghost-like arms emerged from the walls and reached towards us. I could tell what they wanted; they wanted to seize us and drag us into those portals, where we would suffer ultimate torture. What such persecution would be faced, I had no guess, but nonetheless, I felt that there was something important behind it all.

"Guess that feeling was right!" I don't understand why you believe in such things as feeling when others are in peril. Such care for others makes me sick, the way you honestly think that you matter to them enough as to know what they're going through. You don't know what it feels like as someone else, to know their pain, their sufferings. All their emotions. To think that you know what that really feels like, you're lying to yourself and only causing others pain.

"Get away, Slimy! Back! Back!" Tommy tried to do actual damage by threatening to step on the red hand. I doubted it would do any damage worth even noting, aside from maybe being pulled into the ground by its grasp upon his ankle. At least he would be gone and it would be at least a little more quiet, there being less annoyances around to cause noise worth beating.

Another arm shot out of the wall, went inches past Takuya and touched Zoe's oshiri. Violated, she grabbed one of the slabs and tried to whack it, missing and nailing the unsuspecting, moronic gogglehead over the head. The shiseiji deserved that one, he deserved every blow he received. Despite the vengeance not being delivered by me, the suffering made it all suffice enough. Though he merited much more than the previous and was still earning more, it still didn't do me any pleasure as to witness such things.

With a silent gesture shared between members of the group, they all Spirit Evolved into their Human forms. I did nothing of that sort, feeling that none of this was my problem, nor was I going to make it so. If they were going to waste their time and effort as to Spirit Evolve and fight something that wasn't even a Digimon, then so be it. I wasn't going to assist them and become one of them, I wasn't like them. They knew I wasn't, and they were the reason it was like that. Apparently I was different. Apparently I couldn't fit in. Apparently what I said didn't matter. Apparently I was loved by no one.

"These things probably attacked JP, too," Agunimon concluded, trying to find some glimmer of evidence that I wasn't the only thing likely enough as to shove the Warrior of Thunder into a portal. I would have nonetheless, probably; I would have done it to every one of them. I didn't care what happened to them, they only get in my way. If only things would have been this easy back then, I would have been rid of all these nuisances long ago. The first candidate being without a doubt, Karin, so none of this would have happened in the first place. Everything would be so simple, so perfect. Maybe I wouldn't have even had to come to this stupid place in the first place.

"But where is he now?" Kazemon questioned, looking around. She still didn't seem to accept the fact that I might not have been the one to get rid of JP, since it was the most likely idea and it seemed that she didn't trust me anyway. I didn't doubt that no one standing there did. I didn't lay trust them in them either, I had no reason to. I learned that to trust was like to give someone right to your health and life, to let them into the farthest corners of your head.

They turned around to look at the eyeball. "The eyeball," the Warrior unworthy of being the element of Flame began. "I guess that it's some kind of portal, and he's on the other side." Everyone Di-Spirit Evolved, a demeaning cause because they were only evolved for a couple minutes. "So we're gonna have to go through, too. It might be the only way." He began to walk to the portal, reaching out towards it as everyone just stood there watching. Until Koji grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks right before he went in. "What? Is something wrong, Koji?"

Koji gave him a stare as if he was the absolute dumbest person on earth, of which he had a good chance of being. "You're not serious about going in there, are you?" A deranged look as a response. "We don't even know if that's where he went. And even if he did, what are the chances the portal will take us to the same place? We have to think this through first before doing something totally rash." I couldn't have thought of a better way to say what he was thinking, so calm. But I didn't want to be completely soft with that gogglehead anyway, I wanted to tear him limb from limb, until there was nothing left. That craving to make him see just how much I cared about what happened was growing increasingly stronger, almost undeniably irresistible.

Takuya spun around, about to give his I'm-not-going-to-leave-anyone-behind speech, of which I knew by now was only just a load of crap. Just words he threw together to make everyone believe that they were someone special to him, despite how true that was. He didn't care about anyone but himself, and used a façade of a sweet, charming guy to only get what he desired. Whoever got hurt, it didn't matter; it never mattered, as long as he got out without a scratch in the end. "Well, what do you propose then? We can't just stand here and hope for the best, JP may need us. And I don't care how many portals we have to go through, I'm gonna make sure we're all together and that we all get out okay."

"I'm with Takuya.—" As usual. It's obvious you'd agree with him of all people. "—JP may just be another guy trying to hit on me and score points, but that makes him no less of my friend." Zoe stepped up next to Takuya and smiled, letting out a girly giggle that made me just want to kill her all the more. Not as much as the Warrior of Flame standing next to her, but she was increasingly getting more and more on my nerves. I'd kill one, then go through the next one as a little dessert. Then I'd go to JP and Tommy to see who wanted to be the next contestant.

"All for one and one for all!" Tommy blurted out, pumping his fist up into the air. "Now into the fray!" Then he more or less composed himself. "And remember, don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes." Scratch that, I know who my next victim would be after I'm done with Romeo and Juliet over there…

I involuntarily cringed at my latest thought. They way he could just forget about me and move on to another girl just made me sick to my stomach. Did nothing I said earlier that day mean thing to him? Did anything I ever said mean anything to him? It explained a lot as to why he did nothing as to make amends with me, but nonetheless, it didn't quench that anger—that craving for the much-needed apology that I had bubbling up in my chest. He never made a single effort to do anything about our broken bond, he just merely snipped the ties that held us together like he was just sick and tired of it. Just overly sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Koji crossed his arms, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I've heard Zoe talking about you, saying you were brave and bold. Well, I think one more should be added: brave, bold, and incredibly stupid." With a look of 'fine, you win, moron' from Koji, Takuya, Tommy, and Zoe headed through the eyeball. Koji glanced back at my expressionless face. "I'm not forcing you to come or anything, but I think it'd be better if we all stayed together as a group." With that said, he disappeared into the portal.

I contemplated a moment about my next action. It seemed that the only way to go was actually through one of the eyes. I didn't want to go the same way they had, however, so I made my way back in the other direction. At the other end of the hall, was another eye. At my passing of the entire corridor, I noticed no other way out, so it was my only option that I was willing to abide with. I wondered what it held for me on the other side, what this place even was. It didn't seem natural, although for the Digital World, I had to make an exception. There were things that I thought couldn't exist here, things that in the human world, would be deemed unreal and something as in a story or such.

Whatever notions I was getting from that portal, of which I weren't completely certain, they were making my emotions soar. I found things inside me I didn't know existed, buried deep down until this moment then they were uncovered and revealed to me as what they truly were. I didn't know what to make of them; habit made me wary, on my guard of things that may try to get inside my head. I was heated in rage and fury for thinking that something would try to attempt to do such. It made me believe that all wasn't unruffled in this place, there was some strange force hidden from plain sight, readying itself to take over its victim, and this put me in a bad way mentally.

I stepped up to the portal, preparing myself for whatever may be awaiting my arrival within what area lied before me. There was no way for me to really assume what kind of monstrosities were there, poised and crouched down to strike. My Spirits sent me a bad feeling down my spine, like some kind of warning as for me to know that evil hid within the shadows of the next location that I needed to go. The Spirits seemed to be aware of everything that was there, but hiding it all from me, nevertheless. It would have assisted me to know end to have knowledge of what I was about to face, but for whatever reason it may have been, they were to be kept a secret from me.

Maybe the Spirits weren't completely sure, themselves, and so, didn't want to worry me. It didn't seem like the case, since I knew they were highly reliable sense-wise. But why would they hide something from me anyway? They were connected to me, more than before because of my new D-Tector. I felt that since my D-Tector repaired itself, so was the bond between me and the Spirits of Time. It was strengthened beyond what it had ever been, but now, it was strange.

Now, soon after we defeated Ranamon and Mercurymon, that connection seemed to have gone dim again. It seemed that the angrier I got, the weaker our bond gradually became. Maybe it was because when I fought with that moronic Warrior of Flame, I was disobeying my intentions here in the Digital World, doing opposite as what my goal in mind was. That thought, when it had all come together in such a way, just made me simmer under the collar. I was solving my problems, despite the fact I was doing it by force. It seemed to be the only way that was getting things done.

All of these things put into my mind, I walked forward into the portal, suddenly feeling that what I just did was a very bad idea.

Finally, they're into Sakkakumon. I'm gonna have an interesting time with these next couple of chapters, and these are the ones I'm gonna really want support. So reviews would help me out more than ever for this! Thanks!