Chapter 34

Four Days on the Other Side

In another Zone far from Takuya and Kari; Koji was beginning four important days of his own. While they spent their days in the Dark Ocean, Koji continued to search out a way back to the Dimensional Corridor. The first of those days begins now.

Day One-

Koji had spent the last few days searching the city for answers to what had happened in that abandoned warehouse. Each of his leads kept coming back to one name; the ODC. Whatever it was, it was his only chance of finding a way back to the Dimensional Corridor. The problem was finding the place; for all he knew it might not have even been located in the city.

"O… D… C…?" Koji repeated over again as he shifted through the pile of papers he had gathered over the last few days. Among the information were police records about similar break-ins to that at the warehouse and a copy of the "Resist ODC" posters that could be found scattered around the city. Stopping at the poster copy Koji picked it up off of the table and began examining it. As he did the sudden feeling of being watched made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Without lowering the piece of paper Koji began to survey the area around him. In front of him a couple was sharing a lunch and staring off into each other's eyes; it wasn't them. At the table next to him a mother was trying to feed her children while they seemed to prefer to play with the food. On the other side of him two businessmen argued about something; Koji hadn't bothered to pay attention to them until now, but he assumed they weren't watching him. At a table in the back two men in black suits sat reading newspapers and would every so often look about; they were possible candidates. On the corner behind him was a man in a long brown trench coat and a dark brown hat, pulled down so it hid his face, reading a book.

"That guys a possibility." Koji whispered to himself. "But nothing's definite." He finished with a sigh. He couldn't pin down an answer since the streets were filled with possible suspects.

It was at times like this that Koji really missed Takuya. Takuya might not have been great when it came to gathering information but his instincts were on a whole different level. If it was Takuya he would have already located the one watching him; he probably would have noticed that they were being watched long before Koji had.

Suddenly Koji's eyes fell upon a teenage girl staring out at him from behind the edge of a building down an alleyway. She appeared to be about fifteen-years-old. She had long dark black hair that ran down past her shoulders to the middle of her back and light blue eyes. She was wearing a dark blue jacket over a white tee-shirt with a pair of simple blue jeans. Whoever she was she seemed more interested in the fact that Koji was interested in the poster than in him in general.

She was definitely the one who he was looking for; unfortunately now that he had found her he had no idea what to do. He would have to think fast because the moment she realized he had spotted her she took off down the alley. Not wanting to lose his only possible lead Koji jumped up from the table, sending the chair crashing down to the ground behind him, and ran straight towards the alleyway the girl had disappeared down seconds ago.

Koji reached the alley just in time to see the girl make a left down an adjoining alleyway. Considering the distance between them and Koji's superior physical condition he would catch up to her in no time. He took off down the alley and slid around the corner. The moment he did he felt something was wrong. He felt another presence in the alley, right in front of him. Suddenly a blur of gray appeared before him and Koji instinctively raised his arms up to block just as an attack impacted the bracers on his arms. He was sent sliding backwards by the powerful blow coming to a stop ten feet from where he had been standing moments ago. When he pulled his hands away from his face he caught a glimpse of red fabric, gleaming metal, and feathers.

"Damn…" Koji cursed to himself knowing that the girl was long gone by now. But all wasn't lost; he had a renewed sense of hope now. He might not have been able to make out what kind it was, but he knew he had just been attacked by a digimon. This meant that there had to be a Digital World in this Zone and a way to get to it.

"Whatever digimon that was, it was probably that girl's partner." Koji pondered as he looked around the alley making sure he was alone.

When he had recovered from the incident Koji began making the long trip back to his home base to get some rest. Tomorrow he would have more to do besides from checking every inch of the city for a digital signal. He would begin searching for the Digidestine of this world.

While Takuya and Kari wake up in the cave before making their way through the dark forest to the abandoned village beyond it; Koji's second day was starting.

Day Two-

Koji had spent half the morning looking over maps of the city trying to figure out where the girl might have lived. There weren't many homes near the city; a small island that ran along the far north side was the only place where one could find traditional single family homes. They wouldn't be too hard to check; just time consuming. Unfortunately the city was also filled with apartment buildings and he had only checked about one-tenth of them so far. They were going to be even more time consuming.

Earlier in the day Koji had decided to inspect the north island homes, but when he got there he was turned away. Apparently the entire island was a gated community where you could only get in if you were invited. He had considered sneaking onto the island, but doing it as a digimon was sure to get him noticed and the fast moving currents of the river made it impossible to get in as a human. Koji also observed that every so often private security patrol cars would scan the streets looking for anyone who didn't belong.

Unable to gain entry to the island Koji had decided to start with the apartment buildings until he came up with an answer to the security problem. He slowly progressed through each complex, checking each floor for any sign of a digital signal before crossing the building off his list.

"Damn this is aggravating." Koji moaned after another unsuccessful building check. "This is the fifteenth one today and I've barely covered three blocks." He sighed before stepping into the elevator.

Koji reached for the ground floor button but a sudden pinging from his D-tector stopped him. He quickly pulled out of his D-tector and flipped it over in his hand so he could see the screen. It wasn't a signal from the Dimensional Corridor but it was a digital signal and it was coming from the roof.

Koji quickly ran out of the elevator and headed for the rooftop access stairs. Halfway up the stairs the signal moved out of range but Koji hoped that he could still spot what had triggered the sensor from the roof of the building. He burst through the door and quickly scanned the rooftops for any sign of a digimon. There were none.

Slightly disheartened Koji walked over to the spot the signal must have come from and looked over the edge to the street below. When he did he was met by something he was looking for.

Down on the street below there was an expensive looking black car parked outside of a bakery across the street from the apartment building. Stand next to the car were two people. The first was an older gray haired man in a black suit and hat; he must have been a butler. The other was a girl with black hair in a very nice looking school uniform. She was currently eating some kind of sweet bread while the older man in black held the back passenger door open for her to get in. It was the same girl that had been watching him the day before.

The girl looked up to the rooftops of the buildings as if she knew something was up there. She most likely was looking for her partner who was following her car just out of sight. She returned her sight to the street and got inside the car. The older man closed the door and returned to the driver's seat before starting the car and driving away.

Koji couldn't lose this girl again but he also couldn't let her partner catch him following her or things would get very complicated. He quickly made his way back inside and hit the ground level button on the elevator. A minute later he was down on the streets and running off in the same direction the car had gone. He didn't have to travel far because when he turned the bend he saw the car outside the gates that lead to the north island. Luckily he had decided to stay in the area after he wasn't able to get in earlier that day. If he hadn't he would have missed the girl.

The driver flashed some kind of identification to the man in the guard house who quickly pushed a button and the gates dropped into the ground. The car drove across the bridge to the island while the gate rose out of the ground and once again blocked all entry.

"Great… now I have to somehow get on to that island and locate that girl. All without getting caught by those patrols or her partner." Koji sighed as he watched the car disappear somewhere deeper into the housing development.

Having been stopped there for the day in his search for the girl Koji returned to searching buildings while thinking about how he was going to get to her. After a few hours it began to get dark so Koji made his way back to the car in the alley to get some rest and something to eat.

At this very moment Takuya and Kari were making their way through the dark forest once again and would soon arrive at the old festival grounds. At that same time Koji was beginning his third day.

Day Three-

Koji let out a muffled yawn as he watched the locked gate that lead to the north island community. He watched as the guards walked around in the gate house and cars came and went. The bright lights which had once illuminated the big fancy words "Twin Rivers" on the stone structure next to the gate had turned off when the sun had begun to rise.

Twin Rivers was apparently the name of the community. The name probably had something to do with the fact that it was an island created by two rivers; but the truth be told Koji didn't really care why it was call that. He had made sure to get up early today so he could stake out the gate. His entire plan relied on him not missing his target; a certain expensive black car belonging to the teenage girl he had run into twice now while tracking a digital signal.

His plan was to track the girl and figure out who she was; and what her connection was to this Digital World. He guessed that she was most likely a Digidestine but he couldn't be sure without proof. This was one of the many ways Takuya and him differed. Takuya would go with his gut and most often he would be right. While Koji had to know for sure before acting; which kept him out of the trouble Takuya often found himself in. From what he had learned about this city he knew that today was a school day so the girl would have to leave the compound at some point in the morning.

Whatever school the girl went to it was most likely a private one since her family could afford to live in such an expensive community. But considering that there was about twenty private schools in the city it would just be easier to follow her than to check each school one by one.

"Finally…" Koji sighed tiredly as the black car pull up to the gate waiting to be let out.

Koji moved further behind the wall so he wouldn't be seen by the girl and began scanning the sky for the digimon he had run into a few days before. He looked along the rooftops but saw nothing. A few seconds later the car drove by and Koji quickly took off in pursuit. With his speed and the constant stop and go traffic of the city it would be easy for him to keep track of the car.

The car made a few turns here and there along the crisscrossing streets for about fifteen minutes until it pulled in front of a shiny metal gate in a large stone wall. Past the wall was an old stone five story building lined with windows. It wasn't old in a bad way; it was old in an expensive and historical way. The building was bordered by a small stretch of grass and trees on all sides separating the school from the towering steel and glass office buildings that surrounded it.

Once the car came to a stop the girl exited and headed for the open gate. However she stopped half way and stared at a poster attached to the stone wall. It was the same poster Koji had been looking at when he first met the girl. It was the poster that simply read "Resist ODC". As the girl looked at the poster she smiled and gave a determined nod before walking in through the gate.

"Interesting…" Koji whispered to himself as he watched the girl go in through the main doors of the school.

Outside of the school the black car hadn't pulled away yet. The driver's side door opened and the man with the silver hair stepped out of the car and walked over to the poster on the wall. He stared at it as a sour look spread across his face. An instant later he ripped it off of the wall and began to tear in into pieces before throwing them to the street below.

"Again, interesting…" Koji whispered to himself once more. These two acts he had just witness were just two more pieces of the mystery situation growing around him.

The man returned to the car, shifted it into drive, and took off for somewhere in the city. Koji remained hidden in the alley looking for any sign of the girl's partner digimon. He scanned the rooftops until he spotted a human figure looking over the edge of one of the buildings. All Koji could see of the figure was the head which was wrapped in a red cloth but he was sure that it was a digimon. If he wanted to get near the school without drawing any unwanted attention to himself he would have to wait for the digimon to look away. He wasn't sure if the digimon would attack him if it saw him again, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

After about half an hour students stopped arriving at the school. When the bell rang the gates began to close and the digimon on the building above disappeared. Koji quickly made his way across the street and slipped in through the narrow opening left before the gate closed completely; glad that the gates was automatic so no one saw him slip inside. He quickly made his way to a group of trees and leaned against the back of the biggest one so he couldn't be seen from the school windows.

From his position behind the tree Koji began scoping out the front entrance of the school. The first thing he noticed was a pair of security cameras above the main door. One was aimed so it could watch who came and went through the front doors while the other moved back a forth along the school grounds. Koji hadn't noticed it before he entered the school, but he felt safe since if it had seen him he would have been rushed by the school security by now. He would just have to be careful of it from here on out.

"Can't get in through the main door with that camera there." Koji sighed to himself. He hadn't really planned on going in through the front door since he didn't have a school uniform, which really made him stick out, and someone would most likely notice him.

He wasn't going to find a way into the school from the front so he turned his attention to the sides of the building. He ran his sight down the side of the building he was currently on and smiled. Near the back on the right side one of the windows had been propped open. Koji made his way to the window as soon as the camera switched to the other side of the school. He ran at top speed to the window making sure to stay as low as possible so he could stay out of sight of the windows. Koji slid to a stop and crouched below the window, listening.

"I can't believe how dusty it gets in here." An older female voice stated from within the room.

"It's because of all the unused school uniforms stored in here." An older man voice explained.

"The air in this storage room always gets so stale." The female voice complained again.

"Just leave the window open for the rest of the day so the room can air out." The male voice offered.

Koji continued to listen from below the window until he heard the door close and the voice drifted away. Not wasting any time Koji peered into the room and looked about. The two were definitely gone leaving the storage room empty. With no more obstacles in his way Koji slipped in through the open window and set his feet down on the dust covered wood floor.

The storage room wasn't very big and was covered in a thin layer of dust. There were two sets of shelves lining the walls stacked with cardboard boxes. At the end of the right row was a large cardboard box with the words "Lost and Found" written across it in black marker. Near the door was a light switch which Koji flipped on bringing the soft florescent light above his head to life.

Now that he could see better Koji began running his hands along the cardboard boxes that lined the shelves. Each box was labeled "Twin Rivers Private School" and had sets of measurements and genders on each of the corresponding labels. He read each one until he found a box of male uniforms in his size. He pulled it down from the shelf and set it on the ground before he opened the top. Inside were a couple pairs of shrink wrapped black uniforms. They were the same ones all the boys he had seen going into the school were wearing.

Koji tore open the packaging and pulled out a white dress shirt, a black jacket, and a pair of black pants. He quickly took off his own clothes and replaced them with the school uniform. When he was sure it was on straight he walked over to the lost and found bin and began rooting around. He quickly pulled out a dark blue backpack, which he proceeded to put his original clothes and possessions inside. Before turning off the lights and exiting the storage room Koji took a minute to attempt to straighten out the creases in the new uniform. When he was done he closed the door behind him, swung the backpack over his shoulder, and began to walk along the empty white hallways lined with blue lockers.

As he walked past the different classrooms Koji couldn't help but smile at his luck. If that window hadn't been left open, if it hadn't been the storage room where they stored the uniforms. Hell, if it hadn't been for him reading that poster just as that girl saw him he would still be going from building to building checking for signals and getting nowhere. He couldn't be sure this lead would pan out but it felt like it was his best chance.

He spent the rest of the school day looking for the girl and exploring the school. Every so often he would have to duck into an empty classroom or make up an excuse to a facility member about why he wasn't in class; but besides from that things went pretty smoothly. Eventually the school day wound down to only five more minutes and Koji still hadn't found who he was looking for.

Suddenly a door just ahead of Koji swung open and the girl walked out holding her vibrating cell phone in her hand. Koji quickly ducked behind a row of locker before she saw him. The girl looked up and down the hallways making sure she was alone before hitting the receive button on her cell phone.

"Hey, it's me." She answered.

Koji could hear talking on the other end but it was to low even for him to hear from this distance. He would just have to piece together the conversation from what she said.

"Yes, I can meet up tomorrow." She said.

"How about after school?" She suggested.

"We can meet here at the computer lab. I'll let you guys in through the service entrance after everyone leaves." She explained to the person on the other end of the line.

Suddenly she stopped talking and stared at the row of lockers Koji had ducked behind moments ago. "Hold on…" She whispered through the phone. She slowly inched towards the lockers and looked around them. There was nothing there.

"It's nothing… I guess I'm just working myself up." She laughed uneasily before returning to her conversation.

Koji was already heading down the stairs towards the front entrance with all the information he needed. Tomorrow he would get the answers he needed and hopefully some help as well.

Today Takuya and Kari would face a destine enemy in their path. By the end of the day their enemy would fall and they would be returned to the bright sunlight once more. Today Koji was going to make a big step forward towards getting back to the Dimensional Corridor. Unfortunately it would only one of the many required steps; but for now it would be enough.

Day Four-

Koji didn't have to wake up as early today as he had the day before but he still got up pretty early. He spent most of the early morning thinking about how he would crash the secret meeting being held today and studying the map of the school. Before he left yesterday he had pulled one of the small school maps off of the wall near the entrance to the school so he could find the computer lab, where the meeting was going to take place. He was also looking for a place to stay hidden during the course of the day since he decided it would be easier to spend the day in hiding rather than sneaking in after school had started; when he would have to jump the fence, which would most likely get him noticed by someone. He also voted against trying to get in at the end of the day since if she was meeting with other Digidestine from this world he didn't want them or their partners to spot him and call off the meeting.

It was about forty minutes until classes started and it was a twenty minute walk from his home base so Koji headed out. He exited the alleyway dressed in the school uniform he had taken from the storage room the other day and started walking towards Twin Rivers Private School. It had apparently been built by the same family that started the Twin Rivers community; it also seemed that most of the students at the school came from the community as well.

Koji arrived with twenty minutes to spare and quickly looked around for the girl or her partner. When he saw neither he stepped out of the alley, crossed the street, and went in through the main gate. Koji entered the school and quickly made his way to the fourth floor AV storage room. He had picked that room because it was on the same floor as the computer lab, was close to amenities like the restrooms, it was out of the way, and if someone did find him there he could always say he was getting a piece of technology for a teacher.

The day progressed without Koji running into anyone. He spent most of the day looking through the Zones internet for information about the ODC. Besides from some conspiracy websites and deleted pages he didn't find anything. The conspiracy sites ranged from claims that it was a government agency that hunted or harbored aliens to a special group of cooks who had found the secret to immortality; either way both claims sounded like nonsense; especially the league of immortal cooks one.

Finally the bell rang signaling the end of the day and the children flooded out of the school. Cracking the door open slightly Koji watched as the crowded hallways emptied out until he spotted the girl. She checked each of the classrooms around the computer lab before she headed downstairs. She was most likely going to let her friends in through the service entrance like he had heard her say on the phone. During this time Koji slipped out of the AV storage closet and into the empty classroom across the hall from the computer lad, and waited.

A few minutes later he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. The girl was followed by two boys and another girl. One of the boys appeared to be that same age as the first girl. The other boy was younger than the others; he appeared to be about eleven years old. The new girl seemed to be older than the rest by a year or so.

All four of them entered the computer lab and closed the door. From his vantage point Koji could see the girl walk over to the window and open it. She stuck her head out the window and beckoned for something outside to come to her. She then stepped away from the window seconds before an adult sized angel digimon came in through the window quickly followed by three other digimon.

Koji recognized the angel digimon as the one who had knocked him back a few days ago when he tried to chase the girl. Now that he could see the digimon clearly he knew what kind it was; it was a Darcmon.

Right behind Darcmon was a blocky digimon who appeared to me made of colorful building blocks. Once it was in it quickly walked over to the older boy of the group and sat down. Koji recognized this digimon as the rookie level digimon, ToyAgumon. He still remembered that from his first time in the Digital World.

Next was a small green and cream colored digimon with big ear he knew as being a Terriermon. It jumped off of the windowsill and wrapped itself around the younger boys shoulder.

The last to enter the room was strange floating digimon that looked like a large metal gear. The teeth of the gear were a golden color and the center was a gray metal riveted dome in which a crooked face was carved. A pair of large red eyes looked out from the uneven eyeholes. Sticking out from each side was a pair of silver gears which were most likely its hands; or at least looked like them. This strange digimon was Hagurumon.

When all the digimon were inside the computer lab the girl shut the window and their meeting began. Koji slipped out of the empty classroom and carefully leaned up against the computer lab door out of sight so he could listen in on their conversation.

The first part of the conversation was all friendly chit chat; nothing really useful. He did however learn that the girl he had been trying to track down for the last four days was called Ayame. The older girl was called Haruka. The older boy Masato and the youngest boy was Akito.

Even though Koji didn't find any value in what the group was talking about he continued to listen. Eventually they did start talking about something of interest.

"I saw this guy, he looked about sixteen, looking at one of the posters you put up all over town." The girl now identified as Ayame announced to the older boy.

"So…?" The older boy Masato replied a questioning tone in his voice.

"Well when he saw me watching him he chased me. If it hadn't been for Darcmon he probably would have caught me too." Ayame answered.

"What!?" The group responded in shock.

"Yes, he seemed quite fast for a human." Darcmon added.

"Do you think he was part of the ODC?" The older girl Haruka asked.

"I don't know… For some reason something about him seemed akin to us." Ayame replied.

"If the ODC is using kids our own age to investigate our actions it will make things more difficult for us." The older boy Masato added.

"Yeah! How messed up is that." Haruka sighed with a heavy breath.

"Isn't it bad enough that they caused the connection to the Digital World to collapse and now hunt down and contain any digimon who manage to find their way here?" Masato stated angrily slamming his fist down on the table. "Now they're using kids like us to do their dirty work."

"We can't let things go on like this. We have to do something besides from trying to oust the ODC to the public." Ayame announced hoping to turn the conversation back to the original reason for the meeting.

"The posters and the websites aren't really working are they? The ODC can take both down faster then we can put them up." Haruka added slightly depressed by what she had just said.

"Well what do you guys suggest?" Masato asked hoping somebody had a new idea. He would get a suggestion; it just wouldn't come from one of the three he had expected it to come from.

"The first thing you need to do is reestablish a connection with the Digital World." A voice from behind the group offered with a cool tone.

The group instantly whipped around and looked towards the source of the voice. Leaning against the wall near the door was Koji. He was looking at the group with a calm expression like he belonged there.

When Koji had heard enough of the conversation to know what was going on he decided it was time to introduce himself to the group. So he took a lesson from Takuya's book and just went right ahead and did it; but with some of his own personal style. He actually thought to himself as he slipped into the room that this was exactly how Takuya would do it. Koji's own way would have been to confront Ayame later when she was alone.

"You!?" Ayame stuttered in surprise.

"This is him!" Masato quickly asked his voice filled with panic. They had been found out. They wouldn't be able to avoid the ODC now and their families would be in trouble.

"Calm down and let's talk about…" Koji stopped in midsentence when he saw the four digimon suddenly make a move toward him. It was pretty obvious what the partner digimon were thinking. They had to protect their partners no matter what it implied.

"We can't let you harm the children!" Darcmon announced as she reached behind her and took hold of one of her swords.

"I see it's going to be that way." Koji quietly sighed to himself. He flipped his D-tector around in his palm and slid the fractal code in his other hand across the top.

Darcmon was shocked by the sudden flash of light that filled the room but she continued forward towards the boy. Her hand was slowly removing the sword from its sheath when a blur appeared next to her. It was a larger digimon covered in shining white and blue armor and it was holding a glowing beam saber at her neck with another one pointing at the three stunned rookie digimon.

Everyone in the room just froze. In an instant this digimon who had appeared out of nowhere could delete them all.

Now this was more of Koji's style.

"Now if you all will just relax, I'll explain a few things to all of you." Lobomon spoke still holding the beam sabers up to the partner digimon. Knowing they couldn't do anything at this juncture in time the digimon ceased in their attempted attack and stared at the new digimon.

When Koji saw that they had given up, he released his spirit fusion. When he did they all stared at him in surprise. This they hadn't expected.

"Good now that everyone is calm we can talk." Koji stated coolly.

"How did you…? When did…? Where did…?" Haruka stuttered in shock.

"Who are you?" Ayame asked with a calm tone. While her voice seemed calm her tense body movements betrayed her.

"It depends…" Koji answered in the same cool voice from his spot next to the stunned Darcmon.

"Depends on what…?" Ayame inquired, confused by his last statement.

"It depends on what you know about existence and your place in it." Koji answered a slight smile spreading across his face.

For now Koji's fourth day draws to a close. What will come of this meeting is still up in the air. But for now Koji's one step closer to his goal and one step closer to a new future.

To be continued…