Niederdeut: Thank you for your words. I'm glad you identify with the way I depict the character's personalities. I guess this is the way I've always saw them.

Malalala11: Thank you once again. Let's see what Daisuke will end up doing!

Sakura0410: Thank you for reading. Yeah, I decided to bring him back quick, since this will only be a tiny part of the story ;)

Sorry for the delay updating.

Digimon still not mine ;(

Hikari's POV

I was sitting at the back of Koushiro's cars right next to my brother and Agumon. I couldn't avoid looking at him from time to time, to make sure he was still breathing. He had his arms wrapped around Agumon and his head resting on the window. He's struggling to stay awake. And he's afraid that Agumon might disappear again… He hadn't been this physically attached to him in years. I don't judge him, though. Ever since I acknowledge my time with Tailmon was limited, that I've spent every opportunity I had with her. As the thought crossed my mind, I hugged my partner even tighter.

"Here we are," Koushiro commented as he parked right in the building's front, where I and Sora still lived.

"Thanks for the ride." My female friend said.

"You're welcomed." He smiled at her. "Can you pass by my office tomorrow, Taichi? So I can take a look at your digivice."

"Sure. I'll pass by before going to work." His eyes opened wide as he realized he had missed work.

"Don't worry, we called while you were asleep and said you were sick," I tranquilized my brother.

"Thanks. You all really took care of me, today." He seemed even more worn out than before.

"You saved Odaiba all by yourself. That was the least we could do." Sora answered.

"Try to rest now. It's very late." Koushiro concluded.

"Only if you rest, too." My brother joked. "See you tomorrow, dude." With that, we got out of the car and Koushiro left.

Taichi was having trouble standing up, but Sora reached him before he fell. She gently supported my brother and helped him walk to our home. Her eyes were red, both because of tiredness and the tears she shed all evening. Earlier, when I arrived at Yamato's house, after coming back from London, I found her sobbing next to my brother's sleeping form while holding his hand.

She still cares about him so much. The same is true for him. If only they would stop being so stubborn…

"Are you sure your mom won't get mad? It's already past 2 am." My brother asked Sora, as we left her at her door. He has insisted on leaving her first, claiming he could walk to our apartment with my help.

"I called her early and explained the situation. She understood." She tranquilized him. "Besides, as I told you before, I'm not a child anymore."

"Fine! Have a good night then and thanks for being there with me." He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead, for a little longer than it would have been necessary. I didn't miss her blush. We then walked to our home.

"How pissed off is mom? You know… about my absence." He asked me as we climbed the stairs. He visited us twice since Agumon vanished, the last one over 3 months ago.

"She isn't mad. Just very worried about you." We got into the house, trying not to make much noise, but it was useless. Our parents were still awake and quickly hugged my brother and Agumon. They also learned to love our partners and got almost as upset as me when I told them he was gone.

"Are you hurt, honey?" My mother asked Taichi, as she noticed how miserable he looked.

"Just some scratches. I've had it worse." He tried to tranquilize her. He was tense at first but quickly relaxed in our mom's embrace. "I am only exhausted."

"How did you come back, Agumon?" My father asked the yellow dinosaur. "I am thrilled to have you back, but we believed you were gone for good."

"We don't know either." Taichi immediately answered, exchanging a warning look with me. He doesn't want them to know how Agumon came back. I understand why…

"What's important is that he's here with us now," Mom concluded. "Taichi has been devasted since you left. He hasn't been acting like himself." She spoke directly to Agumon.

"Really? What happened?" He asked, with the innocence that characterized him.

"He's been acting like an idiot," Tailmon answered, giving no one else a chance to answer. I laughed as I watched him getting embarrassed.

"And I apologize for that. Now, do you mind if I go take a shower and rest?" Someone else might have said he was running away from the issue, but I knew how exhausted he was.

"Sure, honey. But I swear I'll slap you next time you spend three months without visiting us." Mom joked. He smiled, hugged her and dad once again, and left for his old bedroom.

Taichis's POV

Two days later, at University…

It'd been over 24 hours since Agumon reappeared in my life and I was still drained. I've skipped classes the previous day, being unable to wake up in time. My parents and my sister didn't wake me up either.

It was nice to spend the night at my parents'. I missed that comfort. I almost missed my mother's food, as hilarious as it may sound. But the best was having Agumon with me. We slept like babies. He rested above my tummy all night, in the exact same position he used to sleep in all those years ago, during our first adventure in the Digitalworld.

Speaking of Agumon, he was waiting for me at the digital dimension Koushiro created. I wanted to bring with me, unlike I did in the past, but had to follow Koushiro's advice and leave him there. I had already risked when I took him with me to work and hide him in the dressing room with a pack of candy. The look on his face when he realized where I worked was priceless. Yet, I felt embarrassed after realizing in all those years I've never spoken with him about my part-time. As I didn't do about so many subjects of my adult life… There are a couple of issues I'm sure I'll never discuss though.

"Is everything ok? Why did you miss classes yesterday?" Aimi, who joined me at the lunch table, interrupted my thoughts. This girl is persistent.

"I was a bit under the weather." That wasn't a full lie.

"So it had nothing to do with the monster's attack that happened in Odaiba." She had a mischievous smile.

"Are you calling me a dinosaur?" I tried to joke. However, she was already placing his phone under my nose where I could see images of the fight between Tyranomon and Greymon. There were also some pictures and videos where it could be seen a brunette guy standing up against one of the digimons. It was hard to deny that he was me. I was already aware the pictures were online and had spent the entire day avoiding people in general, even the ones I considered as friends. There had always been rumors about me being involved in the Digimons' attacks. I was already used to have people talking behind my back, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with them at the moment.

"Just tell me the truth. I've always had some curiosity about those monsters." She insisted. "Everyone is talking about how you were involved in those incidents again. Some say it's your and your friend's fault that those attacks keep happening. But, Kenta, for example, was saying you saved the town…"

"I know what people say about me…" I muttered, more to myself than to Aimi. "What about you? Do you think I am one of the good guys?" I stared deep into her green eyes. I didn't know anymore which team I belonged to.

"I don't have reasons to think otherwise…" She answered with a contemplative expression.

However, I didn't give her the chance to keep talking since my phone started buzzing with notifications. It was Koushiro saying on our group chat that we had another Digimon to deal with. I texted back, saying I was on my way, and stood up.

"Sorry, Aimi. I have to go." It somehow relieved me I had a reason to leave her.

"We still have an important lecture today… You are going to face those monsters once again, aren't you?" She would not give up. I took a deep breath and faced her once again.

"They aren't monster. They are Digimons, and yes, I have a long past with them. Now, if you excuse me, there's a wild Parrotmon that needs to be stopped, before any harm is done." I knew I sounded harsh, but she was getting on my nerves.

"I'll go with you." She declared.

I can't believe I have to deal with this. What does she want?

"Do as you wish, but it's gonna be dangerous and I won't have the time to save your butt, or to explanations," I warned her. I started running outside and to my surprise, she followed me.

Yamato's POV

The moment Koushiro sent the message to our group chat saying there was another Digmon attack near us and Taichi responded he was on its way, I knew I had to go. Without Gabumon I was useless in battle but at least I could prevent Taichi from doing something dumb. Like making Agumon evolve to Wargreymon... Sora probably got the same idea as me, since she immediately said she would check on things, too. I offered her a ride, and that's how we both ended on my motorbike, riding towards the conflict.

"Funny how not so long ago, when we all still had our Digimon partners, it was hard to find more than two of us available to fight when needed. Now that we are limited, we all want to help," Sora commented.

She is right. Screw college, work, dates, and hobbies.

"Perhaps if we had had this attitude before, our partners wouldn't have gone away… I guess we'll never know." I added.

"Maybe. But Koushiro and Taichi were the ones among us who stayed more present, and they still lost their partners. We got penalized either by trying to break free from the battles and by keep fight."

She has a point. Koushiro had always multitasked and been fully present on his duty as a digidestined. As for Taichi, ever since what happened with Meicomon, Homeostasis, and Yggdrasil, he had attempted to be there when needed. He gave up playing soccer at a professional level after it and focused on studies, work, and being a digidestined. There were periods of time he looked exhausted during those last five years, but he always showed up to fight when there was no one else available to do so. Yet, he still lost Agumon… I guess the explanation behind our partner's disappearance is much more complex than the one Gennai tried to sell us.

My thoughts got interrupted by the appearance of Taichi himself. The coordinates Koushiro gave to us about the whereabouts of his digivice were correct. He was already with Hikari and Takeru and to my surprise with the girl I caught him with last week. I felt Sora tensing up by my side.

I can't believe this idiot got a girlfriend now.

"I told you you didn't have to come." He said as we saw us. "Miyako and Daisuke are on their way too. You are just getting yourself into a dangerous situation." Right at that moment, Parrotmon unleashes a powerful bolt of lightning from its forehead. Luckily, it was still flying over a field where I hoped no one was passing by. I grabbed Taichi by the arm and took him somewhere the others wouldn't be able to listen to us.

"What about your girlfriend? Aren't you afraid to get her into a dangerous situation?" My tone was harsh. I looked back and saw the girls exchanging some intense looks between them.

"My what?" He seemed confused by a few moments, and then it hit him. "I assure you, Aimi isn't my girlfriend."

"So now you bring your one-night stands to the middle of Digimon battles?" I insisted, without understanding either.

"She was curious and followed me. I have no idea why. Now that you ask, she's interested in having a date with you." He shouted at me.

"That's not how you set a date, dumbass. Besides, you had sex with her, that excludes…" I didn't have time to finish my argument since people started screaming around us.

"Parrotmon is heading towards the schools" Hikari warned as they ran towards me and Taichi. Definitely, we would have to discuss those matters later.

"We need to evacuate them," Sora said, panicking a bit. We all stared at Taichi, waiting for him to tell us what to do. He was looking around, in a clear effort to evaluate the entire situation.

"Yamato, drive to the school's block and tell everyone to leave. Hikari and Takeru, evolve Tailmon to Nefertimon and Patamon to Pegasusmon. Try to deviate Parrotmon to the open field near us. I'll be there with Greymon to end this." It indeed sounded like a plan.

"Why Nefertimon and not Angewomon?" Tailmon, who was resting on Hikari's arms, asked. I could notice Aimi's shocked expression after listening to what looked like a plush talking. "Maybe I could even deal with him alone."

"Save energy. I don't know how much time you've left with Hikari. Until we fully understand how it works, we have to avoid unnecessary digievolutions." He wisely explained. I couldn't believe my once impulsive and hot-headed friend came to those conclusions.

"But now we know they can come back." It was my brother's time to interrupt.

"I was with Koushiro yesterday trying to figure this out, and it's both complex and dangerous. He's trying to understand a couple more issues, but until then we can't count on it. Enough talking now, we have work to do." His assertive tone disarmed the younger "kids," who made their partners evolve and flew with them towards the enemy.

"I'll go with Taichi." Sora announced while grabbing his arm. We both stared at her, astonished by her odd behavior. "Someone has to make sure he takes it easy." She tried to justify.

"I can go with you, Ishida-san. My father works at the elementary school, I can speak to him." Aimi managed to say after recovering from seeing Patamon and Tailmon evolving. She was avoiding staring at me, though.

"Great. Let's go then." He demanded. I could tell he seemed relieved to have Aimi away from the battleground. However, he passed the responsibility to keep her safe right to me.

I looked at the girl just to see her getting astonished by Agumon jumping out of Taichi's smartphone.

"Are you ready, buddy?" My friend asked him.

"I was waiting for you to take me out of there." He had already listened to the plan. Koushiro's technologies keep getting more sophisticated. A couple of years ago we'd have never thought it would be possible to have our partners accessible through a cellphone.

I exchanged one last look with Taichi. We both nodded, and he ran, followed by Sora. I looked at Aimi, told her to follow me, and we also left on my motorbike.

Sora's POV

We were on a sprint to reach the meeting point with Takeru and Hikari. The moment Taichi told me he was going to take a part in the fight I knew I had to be here with him. What I didn't know was where the feelings that hit me the moment I saw him with the girl came from. I tried to fight them, I really did. After all, jealousy wasn't an appropriate sensation for the keeper of Love to have. Yet, as soon as I realized we were going to split, I clinched on his arm before the other girl had a chance.

My thoughts, however, stopped the moment we reached our destinations, and Taichi had to sit down. His breathing was weirdly heavy for an athlete.

"Are you ok?" I asked him. The number of times I've asked this question in the last couple of days was ridiculous.

"A bit out of breath. Give me a minute." He justified. Agumon was also staring at him, worried.

"Are you sure you want Agumon to evolve? There are other ways to take Parrotmon down." I suggested, concerned about his well-being.

"Definitely. We need to get used to this." He was already back on his feet. He was unusually pale and a bit sweaty, but I acknowledge it was useless to try changing his mind. I used the chance to clarify something else instead.

"So, are you dating that girl?" I had to ask.

"Why do you all keep asking me that? She's… a friend." He seemed compromised, though. "She is curious about the Digimon attacks and interested in Yamato." He suddenly shut up and seemed even guiltier than before.

He's worried about my reaction towards Yamato seeing other girls.

However, I didn't have the time to explain myself since Pegasusmon and Nefertimon were dragging Parrotmon towards us. They were having some trouble in doing so. Taichi grabbed his digivice and was about to help Agumon evolve when an X-shaped beam crossed the sky and hit the giant bird. It made it fall above some vehicles. X-Veemon showed up and tried to hit him on the ground, but Parrotmon easily got rid of him and flew away, leaving an injured Veemon behind.

"Fuck." Taichi muttered while clenching his fists. We both saw Daisuke running in his partner's direction while Hikari and Takeru landed.

"You are an idiot, Daisuke. You fucked up our entire plan." The blond guy screamed. Hikari was holding him in an attempt to prevent any further damage. Taichi also gave the younger leader a look that intimidated him from even trying to speak. In all those years, I've never seen him so angry with his successor.

"We can discuss later, we need to catch Parrotmon now." I ended up saying while pointing to the flying digimon. He was once again heading in the school's direction and this time leaving a trail of destruction behind.

"Right!" Taichi acknowledged and called Yamato, telling him to keep the kids somewhere safe instead of running out of the school. "Daisuke, try not to get yourself killed." That was all he said to the younger one, before we all left on the back of Nefertimon and Pegasusmon. We quickly reached Parrotmon once again. This time Agumon jumped out of the back of his ride, getting involved in an orange light while falling down.

"Be careful with the buildings, Greymon." Taichi screamed at his partner. Nonetheless, as he reached Parrotmon, they both violently landed in the middle of an avenue. We stayed on the top of a tower so all the Digimons could help, and by the sight of the fight, our friend would need it.

Greymon was having trouble just to keep him on the ground, trying his best to grab him. Parrotmon used another of its bolts of lightning that hit the giant dinosaur right in the middle of his abdomen. To my surprise, the moment it touched Greymon, Taichi screamed and curled up into a ball.

"Onii-chan! What's wrong?" Hikari knelt by his side and I followed her example, neither of us understanding what was going on.

"It hurts. Everything hurts!" He gasped. The agony I saw in his eyes made my own stomach roll.

"We need Angemon." Takeru told his partner, who quickly returned to Patamon and evolved to his angelic form. He also seemed confused, and a bit scared by our usually strong leader behavior.

"Did you get hurt, Tai?" I tried to comprehend what was going on with him. He tried to answer but instead threw up. None of that was making sense… Until I looked at the fight and saw Greymon was getting badly beaten.

Yamato's POV

I took the mission of informing the Middle School while Aimi went to meet his father at the Elementary. To my surprise, the guys at school took my instructions very well, probably due to the fact we all could see Parrotmon causing trouble in the distance. What I also noticed was that something went wrong with Taichi's plan since Parrotmon was once again approaching us. Taichi's quick phone call confirmed it, and I decided to check on things at elementary school. Surprisingly, all the kids were already being evacuated to the gym.

Aimi isn't that useless, after all. I guess I owe her an apology.

I took a moment to contemplate a bunch of kids, no older than eleven, following their teacher. Some looked scared, some were even crying, others were trying to understand what was going on.

I can't believe we were that young when we met each other and the responsibility to save lives… entire worlds fell on our shoulders. I guess it's not that surprising we are all messed up.

I entered one gym where the kids were hiding and immediately spotted Aimi trying to organize them. By her side was no other than Fujiyama-sensei, our old teacher.

"Yamato! Of course, you had to be one of the guys my daughter said were handling the issue." My former professor commented as soon as he saw me.

"Fujiyama-sensei, it's nice to see you." I greeted him, trying to be as polite as possible, considering the situation. "I did not know you were Aimi-san's father."

"He had already mentioned Taichi, before," the young woman confessed while blushing. "He used to tell him, and his friends were the weirdest group he had ever seen. I didn't know you were one of his friends, though"

"Were we?" I stared at the older man in the eyes. I know we were all a bit… peculiar, but not to the point of the teachers noticing and keeping us in their mind for years.

"Definitely. It isn't very usual to have the soccer club captain, the popular guy from the band, and the computer geek as best friends." He joked. "Who also had a weird friendship with some younger kids. And there was also Sora Takenouchi… I always thought she would end up with Yagami. I even embarrassed the poor guy with talks about bees and birds regarding the issue." He laughed while Aimi's cheeks turned into a bright shade of red.

I don't blame her. Her father basically said he once had the talk with the guy she slept with a couple of nights ago. At least I hope he didn't forget the safety advice and used protection. As for his closeness with Sora,… I don't want to think about it right now.

"Actually, Taichi is out there right now, trying to take down the digimon." I ended up saying, trying to deviate the issue from those dangerous grounds.

"Should we trust that he'll solve this situation?" The teacher asked. There was a draft of a smile on his lips.

"Absolutely. I've seen that guy surpassing worst scenarios. Besides, he's not alone. Our friends are there with him and nothing can beat us when we are together," It was my time to smile. I truly believed in my words. "You must stay here, with all the kids. We'll take care of the issue." I concluded as I started turning my back on them.

"And where are you going?" Aimi screamed at me.

"My friends need me right now."

He didn't tell me on the phone or anything like that, but I could sense that my place was not hiding here, but there with Taichi and my brother.

"Don't worry, Aimi, I'll call you when this is all over." I winked at her and ran.

I already had my suspicions that things weren't going that great. But I didn't expect to see Greymon, Nefertimon and Angemon having their asses kicked by Parrotmon, while Taichi was knelt on the floor. They all seemed lost in the situation. At that moment, Parrotmon used its Sonic Destroyer attack to send our digimon's away and directed its attention towards my friends.

I started running to them, without even thinking about what I was supposed to do, in order to help them. The only thing I remembered was grabbing my digivice.

Come on, Gabumon. If you are somewhere nearby, this is the right moment for you to show up. Help me save my brother, Taichi, his sister, Sora…. Just like we did so many times in the past. Taichi always trusted that we would show up… Ever since we were boys.. I'll never forget the day that idiot betted his own life against Piedmon in how we would return. Please, Gabumon! We are a little too old to let him and the others down!

As my thoughts flowed, the cold stone that coated my digivice broke and I got involved in a calming blue light. And then there he was. My friend, my partner, the owner of the bits of my soul that had been missing for over six months was there, right in front of me. We exchanged a smile, and he wasted no time evolving to Garurumon and attacking our enemy.

Parrotmon was still too strong, but it gave time for Greymon and the others to get back on their feet. I looked once again at my companions and realized they were all standing up. Takeru had a protective arm around Hikari, and Taichi was being supported by Sora. Even in the distance, I could guess they were all grinning. However, that distraction revealed itself to be a huge mistake. The bird-like creature released another Sonic Destroyer, and I was on its way. The last thing I felt was a sharp pain in my chest.

Taichi's POV

I didn't remember with detail what followed Yamato being hit by the attack. Truth be told, I didn't even recall exactly what happened before. First, my entire body started aching out of nowhere and that was terrible.

In the past, I've suffered nasty lesions playing soccer and digimon attacks have hit me more times than I can count. I've been almost crushed, I've almost drawn, I've been projected in the air and I've fallen into abysses that should have killed me. All of those experiences hurt like hell, and I have scars all over my body to remind me of them. However, the kind of pain I felt earlier differed from all of that. It was like a mix of all the previous ones… Like my bones were being crushed, my guts being ripped, and the air sucked out of my lungs, all at once.

Then Yamato showed up and so did Garurumon. Somehow he achieved the same kind of miracle that I did, and it looked awesome. I don't know if that was psychological, but the pain subsided enough for me to exchange a look with my friend and watch the battle that was taking place. Sadly, our advantage only lasted a couple of minutes, until my blond friend got hit by one attack and felt inanimate a few meters behind.

Takeru screamed his name and ran to his brother as fast as he could. In the meantime, Angemon evolved into Holyangemon and quickly took care of the fight. I also wanted to run to check on my friend but the pain and the tiredness that resulted from helping Agumon evolve, prevented me from doing so on my own.

That's when everything got blurry in my mind. I remember listening to sirens, I've a vague idea of Koushiro and Miyako showing up. At some point there were people checking if Yamato was still alive while I was being held by both my sister's and Sora's arms. Someone eventually suggested that they should take me to the hospital. I tried to resist, but it was useless.

That's how I ended in the hospital, receiving IV fluids that Jyou believed would help me recover my strength quicker. I also took some exams, just to make sure I wasn't physically hurt.

"You can be with Takeru. I won't get jealous." I tried to tell my sister. She and Sora stood by my side during the entire process.

"I am with my brother and he's with his." She replied. "I won't leave until I know you are ok." Almost like it was planned, Jyou chose that moment to enter my room.

"Are you here to tell me how amazing I am?" I joked. I had to admit the fluids he gave to me kind of worked.

"None of the exams we run showed lesions." As soon as those words left his mouth, I tried to get out of bed.

"What about Yamato?" Sora asked.

"Some bruises. It'll hurt for a while, but won't kill him," He also explained, and I felt a heaviness being taken from me. "It could have been much worse, though. Actually, we don't understand how you were in such pain with nothing being physically wrong. Meanwhile, Yamato took the blow you described and survived with only a few injuries."

"I believe I have an explanation for that. I realized that as I investigated your digivice and had a quick chat with Gennai," Koushiro informed as he entered the room. "When you brought Agumon back, there was an interaction between your Materia and his data…"

"Short version, please," I asked him. My mind was still too blurry for me to concentrate in detail.

"You were feeling Greymon's pain as he fought." To my surprise, it was Sora who answered.. "Isn't it, Koushiro?" She stared at him, looking for confirmation.

"Yes. The process that allowed Agumon and now Gabumon to return has even more to it than the draining of your vital force." He explained it in typical Koushiro's style. "You are connected on an even deeper level now. The human partner will feel the pain of its Digimon injuries. However, it's more or less reciprocal, since the impact of the injuries on us will be partially absorbed, at lack of better words, by the digimon." He concluded. I conceded that he did his best so it would sound easy, but I still had some doubts about what he just said.

"How far does it go? I mean, how much damage can we sustain that it's partially taken by our partners?" I tried to explain myself.

"You are not immortal, Taichi." My friend scolded me. Suddenly we were both back into Datamon's pyramid. As of instinct, activated by the memories of that traumatic event, I grabbed Sora's hand. She looked at me confused and I felt my face getting hotter.

"That's not what I said, man. I'm not eleven anymore… I know the limits." I raised my other hand, defensively.

"I know... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh." He was being honest and also seemed embarrassed. "What I meant was we don't know, yet, the extension of this connection and, just for once, I don't want to see you risking too much." He pleaded, the level of emotion in his voice seemed higher than usual.

"What will happen if the digimon dies?" Tailmon asked from his corner. She had been quiet since they arrived at my room.

"I don't know either." Koushiro answered once again. I knew how hard it was for him to admit his lack of knowledge about any subject. "I brought that up to Gennai, and he believes it'll lead to a scenario similar to the one we can have if you spend too much energy in an evolution."

"I don't want Taichi to get hurt because of me." Agumon suddenly said. His high-pitched voice was full of worry.

"It's ok buddy. You spent your entire life getting hurt while defending me. I guess we can share now," tried to joke and give him some tranquility. "I can handle it."

"What if I die?" His enormous green eyes showed a level of concernment that I've never seen before.

"We'll make sure you don't. None of us will die. No human and no Digimon." I snuggled Agumon in my arms and stared at each one present in the room. My eyes got stuck for a bit longer on Koushiro until we exchanged a meaningful smile.

I may not have the same emotional connection with Koushiro that I have with Yamato, but he'd always been my right hand in a way that only he manages to. Actually, he's as much of my best friend as Yamato is.

"Am I discharged, doctor Jyou?" I asked my older friend. I was grinning, but he didn't seem in the mood for jokes.

"Would you stay if I told you it's better if we monitor you for a couple more hours?" He questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Not really. Besides, I need to check on Yamato and talk to some people." Jyou sighed while disconnecting my IV line. As soon as I found myself free, I walked outside, followed by my friends. I couldn't say it surprised me to find Daisuke in the hospital's waiting room.

"Taichi-senpai. I'm so glad you are up." He tried to talk to me, however I'd already decided I would not be nice to him.

"Look Daisuke, I don't know what's wrong with you but you have to get your shit together." I asked him, in my most serious tone. "When we needed you to be assertive, you hesitated. Today we had a plan, we were working as a team and you acted on your own. Not to mention the other day, when you took the team to the digital world without informing us."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to help…" He was still trying to defend himself.

"Are you aware of the amount of damage your help brought? People got hurt. Yamato could have been killed." I was losing my calm. "All because you didn't even bother to ask what was the plan."

"It's not my fault he decided to walk to the middle of the battle. And it's not my fault either, that you didn't wait for me to arrive." He raised his voice, too.

"Don't forget you're still in an hospital," Jyou warned both of us. "Keep it down or I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Don't worry, Jyou. Our conversation is almost over." I answered the older guy and then looked back at Daisuke. "You're not in charge anymore. From now on, before deciding anything, you report the entire situation to either me, Koushiro, or Yamato. Did I make myself clear?" I inquired.

"Sure, senpai." I didn't miss the bit of irony in his voice and got the impression was about to say something else. In the end, he turned his back on us and left the hospital.

The other younger members of our team stood there, staring at me. I could tell they were thinking if they should tell me something or not. I locked eyes with Ichijouji for a little longer. I knew the former emperor was very close to Daisuke; they shared a bond like the one I shared with Yamato, and I could guess what he wanted to say to me.

Nonetheless, in all these years, he never got the courage to speak with me beyond what was strictly necessary. He had always been on good terms with Yamato because of their trip to Mexico, and I knew he used to spend hours being nerdy with Koushiro. With me, though, he could barely look at me in the eyes.

"You didn't have to be so hard on him, Taichi." To my surprise, my sister was the one trying to defend him.

"He needed it. I'll talk with him again later." I justified it before leaving for Yamato's room.

I found my blond friend sitting on his bed, receiving the same fluids Jyou gave to me. He seemed exhausted and not very comfortable, but was unharmed. He also seemed somehow happy, which I believed was due to the fact Gabumon was right next to him.

"It's nice to have you back, Gabumon." I welcomed my friend's partner. "You look terrible, Yamato." I teased him, however I was relieved to see him awake.

"You should look into the mirror, dude." He also complimented me. I didn't have to do so in order to acknowledge it. "I'm impressed, by the way. You almost sounded like me, scolding our protege."

"Did you listen to it?" I was surprised.

"I guess the entire hospital did." It was Takeru's time to speak. "I know he's been a pain in the ass lately, but your plan also had flaws. If you had allowed Patamon to evolve to Holyangemon from the beginning, none of this would have happened." Unlike the rest of the younger generation, Takeru didn't have issues confronting me.

He looks kind of pissed. I mean, a couple of days ago I had to stop him from beating the shit out of Daisuke, and now is angry at me for doing so? But maybe he has a point..

"I guess we'll never know if my plan would have worked…" I tried to defend myself. Yamato's grunt of pain spared me from more explanations.

"He's been suffering," Gabumon explained while looking at him with concern. The exact same set of feelings I could find in Agumon's eyes.

"We can't explain it. The amount of pain he's in isn't proportional to his injuries." Jyou shared it with us while checking Yamato's monitors.

"If my theory is correct, the energy of attacks may not lead to the injuries it's supposed to, but the pain will still be proportional." Koushiro tried to clarify. Just then I realized Yamato's room was getting too occupied.

"What theory?" Takeru and Yamato looked at us, confused. Koushiro gladly shared the details with them, while I sat in the armchair. As much as I tried to pretend I was ready for another round, my vision was getting blurry again. Hikari sat right next to me.

"Did you want us to save energy, or did you want to get involved in the fight?" My sister whispered, hitting me right where it hurt. Long were the days she would blindly trust my decisions and the worst part was I didn't know what to answer.

"A bit of both, I guess." Her ruby eyes got softer after I admitted it.

"You have to take it slow. Unfortunately, I believe you'll have plenty of chances to get involved." She enigmatically said.

"Enough talk." Jyou interrupted the improvised meeting. "Yamato is on painkillers and needs to rest. I have to ask all you, who aren't relatives, to leave."

"Come on, Jyou, you know we are a huge family." I tried to mess with him, but he was having none of it.

"Explain that to my superiors. Besides, you are also in need of some sleep." He reminded everyone in the room of my fragilities. "You shouldn't be alone, though."

"You are right, dad. And don't worry, I'll be with Agumon." I exchanged a reassuring smile with my partner as I slowly stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow, man." I told Yamato.

"Sure. Can you send me Aimi's number?" He surprised me with his request.

"That was a quick one. You never change, do you Ishida?" I teased him, forgetting how the girl got into our lives in the first place.

"I want to make sure she's alright. Do you want to talk about being quick?" He answered with a mischievous smile. "By the way, she's the daughter of Fujiyama-sensei"

"Oh, shit." I really got myself into a mess that night. Yamato laughed as if that was the funniest thing ever, while the rest of our friends stared at us in confusion.

Daisuke's POV

I entered my house, hit the door, and headed to my room without speaking to anyone else there. I listened to my mother complaining about something, but I ignored it.

"Are you angry, Daisuke?" Veemon asked me. My partner had followed me across the city and didn't even look back when he tried to call me.

"Of course not." I ironically replied. "I know I made some mistakes lately, but they are being unfair."

"Taichi just wants everyone to be safe." The blue dragon tried to console me.

"I'm tired, Veemon. Tired." I almost screamed as I kicked a chair. "When he has the time and Agumon, he orders me to step back. When he isn't available and wants to study, play soccer or go to parties, I can be in charge."

"Daisuke…" Veemon was staring at him without knowing what to say. "But it never bothered you."

"It does, now. Actually, I have been bothering me since they forgot about us during the Alphamon incident." I confessed.

"I thought you all agreed that something weird happened with their memories during those times." He tried to remind me, "But maybe you should tell the older team that it still upsets you.."

"As it would change anything… They never cared about what happened to us while we were missing." I vented while sitting on my bed. "Mainly Taichi-senpai. He never mentioned those events." I wasn't screaming anymore, all my energy had been drained.

"I'm sure all you need is to talk with him and play some soccer together." My partner tried to motivate me, with a confidence that I wished I had. His innocence was reminding me of the one I once had. "Also, we need to work harder next time, and prove to Taichi-senpai and the others that they can still trust us."

"We'll try buddy…." I finally gave up and agreed with him.