Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

by digitaldreams0801

Three years have passed since the fall of BelialVamdemon, and the Chosen Children have grown older. A longstanding peace is disturbed with the appearance of a new Chosen Child, and possessed Digimon begin consistently attacking Earth. The past and future are inextricably bound, and unraveling one could pull the other to pieces. (Rewrite of Digimon Adventure Tri. Updated Fridays.)

32. Glass Masks

Every night was the same, and it had been for a while.

Ken wasn't even surprised when the images of the Dark Ocean came to the forefront of his mind as he sat up in bed. His stomach muscles had grown stronger than ever before over the course of the past month with how often he shot up in bed late at night as he tried to nurse away the pounding of a headache and the emotional turmoil of a nightmare. It barely even bothered him as he shifted his position so that his knees were pressed against his chest as he leaned against the wall, one hand brushing gently along his temple as he tried to banish the migraine before it could fully fester.

Ken had grown tragically used to the visions that came to him late at night. Every single night brought with it the same dizzying routine. He was standing in the Dark Ocean within his dreams, and he heard those familiar whispers pressed into his ear. The wind itself seemed to be delivering the sound to him, and there was little he could do to fight back against it. He would search for a source only to find nothing.

A week and a half had passed since he first saw the outline of Osamu cloaked in shadows in the depths of his nightmares, and the image had resurfaced each night since. Ken couldn't help but think with twisted bitterness about how he was older than Osamu had been at the time of his death by a few years, and he hated how he stood taller than Osamu even in his nightmares. Time was a cruel beast, and he was fully aware of it. His throat felt dry each time that he tried to articulate how dreadful it was to see his brother seemingly haunting him again after all these years.

July had arrived, and while the month was in its infancy, Ken saw this as one thing only: the days were crawling closer to the most dreadful anniversary that he knew how to name. The day on which Osamu died had been hot and suppressive in its summery haze. It was marked on no calendar, but he knew exactly when it was that his brother had died. He would wake up on the designated morning with a sensation inside of him like a punch to the stomach, as if the world was trying to suffocate him. He didn't even bother to fight back, and the grief consumed him for a few brief hours before sleep became his reprieve. A few times in the past, Ken could have sworn that his brother visited him in his dreams as a way of saying goodbye and to check up on his brother. He had never mentioned the nighttime visions to any other, instead keeping them as one final secret between himself and the last traces of the brother that he had once known many years prior.

All of that brought a new light to the recent events that had distorted Ken's life. He couldn't help but wish for the dreams of years past in which he was able to reach out and touch a fragmented image of his brother once again. These days, all he ever saw was hate and violence, as if every ounce of love in Osamu's eyes had been sucked out in the name of some harsh brand of cruelty that was trying actively to pull Ken to shreds. Part of him wanted to cry at the idea of seeing his brother turned against him in such a way. He knew deep down that it wasn't Osamu, but at the same time, he couldn't escape the outline of a figure so familiar that he had loved with all of his heart. Everything just felt too complicated and tempestuous for him to even want to come up with an explanation behind it.

Instead, Ken just allowed his arm to snake out towards Wormmon. His hair was a mess, and a few strands of it were falling into his eyes, but none of that mattered. Wormmon was still sound asleep, curled over himself in his favorite sleeping position. He was close to Ken as always, and his face was so perfectly at peace that it made Ken feel better by association. Wormmon hadn't been showing it openly, but he was struggling with a lack of sleep as well. He always seemed to wake up when he noticed that something was going on with Ken, and that had a negative impact on him as the days rolled by. Ken was glad that his partner was finally able to stay asleep for a short while, and he wasn't going to wake Wormmon up when it was just the same old story on a dizzying loop. Every night felt like some ghastly figure was pressing rewind on an old tape that just wanted to make Ken suffer, and he didn't want to pester Wormmon with the same song and dance for what felt like the thousandth night in a row.

Ken pressed his cheek to the pillow below and pulled his partner a little bit closer. Wormmon adjusted quickly but did not awaken, and his head found a home right up against Ken's chest. Ken smiled down at his partner despite how shaky and agitated he felt deep down. Having Wormmon around always seemed to make his life a little bit brighter. He needed that light given all of the suppressing shadows that were trying to suffocate him constantly at any given moment.

Ken...

Ken resisted the urge to shoot up in bed once again, knowing that it would disturb Wormmon if he tried. There it was again. The whispers from his dreams had been spreading to his waking hours even more than usual as of late. He still hadn't mentioned them to the rest of the Chosen Children. It seemed like no matter what happened, there was never a good time to bring it up. What was he even supposed to say? None of the words would feel right if he tried to say the fact of the matter. I've been hearing the voice of something that I may or may not recognize, and it may or may not be involved with the Dark Ocean. Ken didn't think that even made sense, and he certainly didn't want to start down that rabbit hole given that he didn't know where it was going to end up, so he just rejected the thought to the best of his ability and reached for another pillow carefully.

Ken hated how used to this he was, but it wasn't as if he had much of any other choice. He clamped the pillow down over one ear while leaving the other pressed against the pillow beneath him. It did little to quiet the voice, but in a way, it was a comfort to him. The fact that the whisper didn't get any softer as a result of the pillow's efforts at stifling the noise was concerning, but Ken's mind was moving at such a staggered and distorted pace that he couldn't even fully process what it meant. Besides, the voice just couldn't have been coming from inside of his own head. How did that even make sense? There was no explanation for it that he liked, so he just decided to reject it with everything that he had.

It was only thanks to Ken's overwhelming exhaustion that he was able to even come close to getting back to sleep. It only took five minutes of thinking over the dream again in a dizzying cycle before his tiredness got the best of him. He knew that the dream was coming once more, but there was nothing he could do to fight it. He had to get at least some sleep whether he wanted to or not, and the dream wouldn't be able to stagnate his progress in advancing through life forever.

Work at the restaurant had gotten back to normal for better or worse. Kaya and Chisane were once again able to join their other employees as they went through the daily motions that came with keeping everything in full operating order, and it was beyond relieving to Chisane. She had spent so much time resting as of late that she was halfway convinced that she was never going to need to sleep again. Realistically, such a thought process was questionable, but she felt that way regardless.

Much to the surprise of exactly nobody, Chisane had started getting better almost as soon as she and Kaya were far enough from the gate for their proximity to make a difference. Odaiba was connected with the Digital World, but Tottori's link was minimal at best. That was the reason they had selected this town to be their home in the first place; they needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the portal, and Tottori had quickly proven itself to be their resulting paradise. Chisane was glad that they had moved away; it was certainly less stressful for her all the way out here.

One thing that was certainly not less stressful though was Kaya when she worked herself up into one of her anxious and protective states. She walked around behind Chisane as the latter flipped the 'OPEN' sign around to indicate that they were closed for the day. All of their employees had already left for the night, leaving them to clean up the rest of the restaurant in preparation for the next day of business.

"Are you sure that you're alright?" Kaya questioned, her voice laced with intensity as she watched Chisane's every action for a sign of shakiness. It had been a few weeks since Chisane was able to get back on her feet without needing to lean on Kaya for help, but there was just no stopping Kaya once she got herself into a worried mindset. Kaya was stubborn if nothing else, and she knew just how to make sure that Chisane wasn't neglecting her wellbeing.

"I'm fine, Kaya," Chisane assured her. "I have been every other time that you've asked me since I've come back to work too. I promise you that if anything happens to make me feel even the slightest bit sick, I'll tell you immediately. I would never be able to leave you in the dark about something so important."

Kaya glanced up and down Chisane's body once again before she was seemingly satisfied, at least for the time being. "You've had some awful habits in the past of hiding your pain for the sake of not bothering others, you know," she pointed out softly. "I'm just trying to make sure that you don't slip up and do anything risky by mistake. It's the least that I can do given how awful you were feeling a few weeks ago."

"I know," Chisane assured her with a light shake of her head. "I'm fully aware of why you do this, but... Kaya, I'm fine. Really. I like to think that I've gotten better about not hiding things from you or the rest of our friends. Everything is fine now with them too. We've all reconnected, and I would say that we're well on our way to making a brighter future thanks to the rest of the Chosen Children that are around now."

Kaya shook her head as she retreated to the countertop at the back of the main area of the restaurant. After preparing a wet cloth, she started to wipe down the surface carefully. "I don't know about that. When we were in the Digital World, you weren't in peak condition either. I know that you were trying to hide it because you were excited, but... I could tell as soon as we got there that something was off about you. I know you just about as well as you know yourself, Chisane. You forget sometimes that we've been around each other a lot over the past fifteen years," she pointed out.

Chisane hesitated before sighing. "To be fair... I was trying to hide the truth from myself too," she murmured to herself. "I didn't exactly want to admit that the Digital World was already causing me so much grief after we arrived there again. I was looking forward to being back with Varodurumon, and... I didn't want to have to leave after we were away for so long. I really did miss spending time with him and the rest of the Digimon."

"I know," Kaya muttered under her breath. "You seemed to be awfully deep in your denial while we were there though. Pardon my bluntness, but I could tell that you were trying to shove away the bad memories by focusing on all of the good things happening at present."

"The Digital World is different now," Chisane pointed out. "It's not as bad as we remember it being in terms of brutality. I don't think that we're ever going to be able to forget about what happened back then, but... Well... I want to try and be optimistic and look to the future. Maybe it is because I'm in denial and don't want to think about everything that we've been through in full detail. I don't know. Then again, it's not like any of us have ever given ourselves the chance to process what we went through. We wouldn't ever dare to talk about this with people outside of our group, and..."

"We all drifted apart," Kaya finished for her. "We were so focused on trying to forget the bad things while remembering the good, and I guess that it drove us to the different corners of the world. At least a few of them were able to stay in contact with one another. I'm glad that we're back together now, but... I wish that things could have been this peaceful back when we were younger."

"We were children in those days, and the Digital World... It gave us a lot to deal with. I think that it would have been better if we went there around this age. At least we have better coping mechanisms now when it comes to dealing with hardship," Chisane told her.

"'Better coping mechanisms?'" Kaya echoed with a snort. "I don't know if I would go that far. If by 'better' you mean 'blatantly ignoring everything that has ever hurt us,' then maybe you have a point."

Chisane laughed even though she knew that the subject at hand was far from being at all hilarious. "Okay, maybe you have a point," she agreed begrudgingly. "Perhaps the better phrase would be somewhat better coping mechanisms with a heavy emphasis on the 'somewhat.' Is that better for you?"

"You know it," Kaya replied. She laughed as she dropped the cloth into the sink after finishing with wiping off the counter. Once again, there was little humor to her chuckle, but it wasn't as if Chisane was expecting anything of that nature to begin with.

Chisane was quiet for a while, and contemplative silence fell over them both. "You know... I guess that I was just sort of hoping to leave everything in the past for a little while," she confessed. "When we were in the Digital World, I mean. I want to try and make good memories there. I feel like that's what we deserve. After the Emissaries of Chaos are defeated, everything is going to go back to being peaceful. That means that we'll be able to go there whenever we want to spend time with our partners."

"I bet that Hiraku will be able to figure out a way to make it so that we can go to the Digital World on our own terms. I mean, he's really good with technology, and we have an example Digivice to go off with the new Chosen Children," Kaya said. She leaned backwards against the counter, glancing at the cabinets latched against the wall nearby.

"Then again, I guess that we'll be free to go back there whenever we want after the Digital World has been saved," Chisane pointed out. "Back to Odaiba, that is. When the gate is no longer in a state of deterioration, we'll be able to do what we want, and I think that we could really enjoy ourselves there. Maybe we can spend time with Atsuo while he's still in town. The others all live in the area, so... I guess it would be just like going back to old times."

"Do we even want to go back to old times?" Kaya snorted with a shake of her head. "I love all of our friends and our partner Digimon, but it's not like I'm exactly desperate to get back to fighting for our lives in the Digital World. That was much easier said than done, and I would prefer to not have to experience it again."

"Yeah... I guess that you have a point," Chisane murmured under her breath. "I... I really do miss the days when everything was a little bit simpler. The Digital World itself was always complicated, but... We were living it. I know that it's hard to live through something like that, but... In a way, I guess the memories are a little bit worse. You can't get away from it no matter how hard you try."

"No, you can't get away with it. Not being able to escape the memories of the past is the exact reason that Maki nearly drove herself up a wall over the span of fifteen years trying to get back to the Digital World," Kaya told her. "Not being able to escape the memories of the past explains precisely why Daigo always looks tired even though he's only twenty-six. Not being able to escape the memories of the past is exactly why we decided that we wanted to pack up and leave in the first place. Memories can be awful things the same way that they can be beautiful."

"Memories are how we were able to remember our partners for all this time, but it's still hard to remember everything that we went through," Chisane said softly. "I know that our partners remember too, but... They've had hundreds of years in Digital World time to cope with what happened. We're all only in our mid-twenties, but it feels like we've been around for a thousand years because of everything that we remember."

"I believe that trauma is the word that you're looking for, and you would be right," Kaya sighed. "If I'm being honest, I've always sort of hated the Digital World for that. It's stupid to hate something that isn't even sentient, but I hated the realm itself for putting us through that. It didn't transport us there deliberately, and it's not like there was anyone out there with the set purpose of taking us down, but... I was mad at it. I'm still mad at it. The Digimon that we fought against were not made to be malicious against us, but they chose it. So many creatures kept choosing that option, and it... I don't know. I guess that I hate the Digital World just as much as I hate all of them. The Digital World was brutal, and I'm never going to forget what it did to us."

"I can't blame you for being upset, if I'm being honest," Chisane told her. "I don't think that any of us could. You're right in saying that it could be considered trauma. I don't... I don't know if I want to admit that openly though. The Digital World did so much good for us by helping us to meet our partners, but it also did a lot to hurt us. Who would have thought?"

"It's yet another complication that just sort of comes with our lives," Kaya said with a loose and jerky shrug. "I hate the place, but I love it too... No, that's not true. I love the Digimon that are there. Even if they've been regenerated so many times that they don't even remember us, I love them. I still remember, and that's what matters. I love our partner Digimon to death too, but... I hate the Digital World. I don't think that I'm ever going to stop hating it no matter what happens, and to be quite honest, I don't think that's my problem either."

"I wonder if any of the others feel the same way," Chisane confessed. "Either from our team or from the new generation of Chosen Children. I don't know if I even want to come close to asking though. It... It just wouldn't be right to do something like that. I don't think I could do it even if I tried. Somehow, that's too personal, and... I don't even know how to describe it."

"And you don't have to. I know what you're talking about," Kaya assured her. "And I somehow doubt that I'm the only one. Maybe I'm just a bit bitter and volatile with anger issues, but no amount of talking my problems out is going to change the fact that I'm not happy with the Digital World. I doubt I ever will be at this rate, and that really is not my problem."

"That's okay," Chisane responded. "I think that it's okay. We're going to find a way to get through all of this no matter what happens, and there's nothing for us to be nervous about. I promise. For now though, I think that we should go on and head back home. I don't know about you, but I'm getting kind of tired."

Kaya, so relaxed just a moment prior, immediately shot up into a defensive stance. "What? You're not feeling well? We have to get going immediately then," she declared. She started walking to the door immediately, her fingers reaching out for Chisane's wrist to drag her along.

Chisane carefully pulled her wrist away. "I'm tired because we were working, not because I'm still feeling sick," she corrected, though it did little to calm the tension in Kaya's shoulders. "You keep on getting on me for not taking care of myself, but you're so stressed that I can hardly say that you're doing anything to look after yourself either."

Kaya sighed. "You're just as good at deflecting as ever, I see," she muttered with a shake of her head. She wrapped one arm around Chisane's shoulders just to make sure that the other woman wasn't shaky. Both of them knew that it wasn't an issue, but Kaya didn't pull away even with this knowledge in mind. "Let's go home. I think that we've done more than enough work for one day... And I'm not talking about running the restaurant." This earned her an open laugh from Chisane as she pushed the door open, and they walked out into the silent summer night.

Maki was used to being at least somewhat passionate about her work. She had been a private investigator looking into strange happenings that could be connected to the Digital World for many years, and every single day was a new chance for her to find out more about what it could possibly mean to bridge the gap between worlds and see her partner again. Even after the data bureau was established and she was given a new chance to conduct her research, Maki rather enjoyed her work. It was a means to an end, but she didn't mind in the slightest. It was a purpose that she knew was right for her, and she wasn't going to suddenly feel distaste towards a position that she was so affectionate of.

Her previous optimism had been melting away as of late though. It wasn't exactly the fault of her work no matter what she tried to say; she was still having trouble sleeping, and that made it immensely difficult for her to find a way to learn more about the Digital World and its inner workings. Maki normally enjoyed waking up to go and face whatever it was that the world thre win her direction, but it was hard to want to confront the day when she struggled to get out of bed.

It was always the damn ocean again and again. She would wake up with the taste of salt on her lips and the memory of waves crashing against her ankles. The sound would fill her mind until she found other distraction to banish the lingering memories. Maki was absolutely tired of it, and she couldn't help but wonder just how paper thin her ideas of stability had been in the past. She had been so sure that she was over whatever it was that she had dealt with back in the days of the Digital World, and yet, every single night seemed intent on proving her wrong. She was most certainly not over it, and she had to wonder if she ever would be at this rate. Everything was nauseating when she focused on it enough, and that was hardly how she wanted to face much of her life.

Maki was shuffling out of her office late that night when she heard something from beside her. A brief glance off to her right showed that the one behind the noise had been none other than Daigo. His hand was pressed against the wall, and he was leaning his weight against it in something that he probably assumed was casual despite the pose appearing as the complete opposite. "You seem tired today," he said airily. He already knew that it was the case, but he was careful and weary of the question anyways, sensing that Maki was hardly in much of a mood to discuss her recent troubles with sleeping.

"Maybe," Maki responded with a loose shrug. She shut the door behind her and let one hand drift down to her bag. She shoved her fingers inside after pulling open the flap of the messenger bag, making sure with as much swiftness as possible that she had grabbed everything in her haste to get out of the office and retreat to the comfort of her home. She had already checked that she had grabbed everything three times, but somehow, it never felt like it was entirely enough.

"It's the ocean again, isn't it?" Daigo asked. Once again, he already knew what response he was going to be receiving, but he was as cautious about the subject as possible. After all, he wanted everything to move at Maki's pace rather than his. Daigo had always been the better out of the two when it came to matters of the heart; it was the reason that he had gravitated towards the position of leader among the original Chosen Children. Everyone could count on him to rally their spirits and raise their broken souls. Maki might have had the Crest of Light, but Daigo was the one who truly shone with the glow of the future.

"When is it not?" Maki replied. Daigo was the only person that she had ever mentioned her nightmares to in the past. It had never felt like the right time to mention it around the rest of the team, and so, she instead opted to avoid it. What was she even supposed to say? None of the words would feel right if she tried to speak them in the first place.

If she was being honest, she hadn't even meant to tell Daigo to begin with. it had just sort of happened that way. Back in the days when they had gone to the same college-back when they were still newly-crowned adults-Maki had fallen asleep at the table in the library she was sitting at. Daigo was nearby, and he had been the first one to soothe her when she shot up from her dream and immediately started clawing at her throat to banish the phantom sensation of water attempting to suffocate her. After Daigo escorted her from the library, she explained in hushed tones that she had been dreaming of the sea ever since they returned from the Digital World. If it wasn't the Dark Ocean, it was something far worse, and while she preferred seeing the sea when she closed her eyes since it was the better alternative, she still didn't want to deal with it if such a thing could be avoided.

Daigo reached an arm around her shoulders in a casual sling, and Maki had to resist the urge to set her head against his body. She had learned back when they were kids that Daigo was nothing if not warm, always too hot for his own good in terms of external temperature. It was so soothing that Maki was struggling to keep herself awake given her recent restless nights. "Do you want to talk about it?" Daigo asked, his voice a rumbling hum across his chest that resounded endlessly in Maki's exhausted mind.

Maki didn't know what to say to that. She knew that talking about it would probably at least help to get it off her mind since she wouldn't be the only one burdened with her twisted memories, but at the same time, she didn't know if she had the strength to follow through with it. What if talking about her dreams only made them seem more real? She didn't know if she could deal with that given how awful everything was already.

"Yeah," Maki whispered. "I keep dreaming that it's going to come back for me somehow. I know that it isn't realistic to assume that whatever dark being was trying to suck me in is still around, but... I don't know. Part of me is convinced that it wants the Crest of Light again one way or another, and if I'm not going to go there, then it's going to try and pull me through itself. Maybe I'm going a bit too far and assuming the worst, but... That's really what it feels like."

"Sometimes, our fearful and paranoid thoughts aren't realistic," Daigo said simply. "That's just how we feel, and that's just how it is. If you think that it feels like the Dark Ocean is trying to pull you in again though... That's something we have to be careful about in the future. We don't want anything to happen for it to pull you back."

"No... That's the last thing I want to see happen again," Maki muttered with a shake of her head. She hadn't ever seen the monster that had come close to reaching out for her, as thanks to Bakumon and her Crest, she had managed to find a way to escape. Still, the mere mention of the beasts that were out there searching was terrifying enough for her, and she didn't want to have to face it a second time. Her nightmares did more than enough to upset her on that front, and she preferred to distance herself from it as much as possible.

Daigo was quiet for a long moment before his hand reached out in her direction, and before she knew it, her fingers were intertwined with his. It was a simple gesture that he had used with her multiple times, but it seemed to take on a while new meaning this time around. "If anything happens for the Dark Ocean to try and find you again... I'll fight with everything that I have to keep you safe," he told her. When she stared at him in blank confusion for a long moment, he shook his head. "I know that it's a bit ridiculous for me to say, but... I mean it. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you, Maki."

Maki didn't know what it was that she was supposed to say to that, so she just stared at him for a long time, her expression still as empty and vacant as could be. There was something about those words that had taken on a new meaning for her, and she didn't know what she was supposed to think about it. Was there anything that would fit what he had just told her? She wasn't sure. Maybe her exhaustion really was starting to get to her. Perhaps the situation was even worse than she thought.

Daigo pulled his hand away slowly before shaking his head. "Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit ahead of myself. I'm just... I'm worried about you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. When we were kids, I... I thought I lost you back then. I don't want that to happen again. I can't have that happen again." His words were quick and starting to blend together in a fruitless effort at speech, and his eyes fell to the ground in an attempt to avoid the awkwardness that he was sure was going to bloom between himself and Maki.

Before she could fully register what it was that she was doing, Maki closed the distance between herself and Daigo, throwing her arms around his shoulders. He was too stunned to move for a moment before he relaxed into her grasp and returned the gesture. The lower half of Maki's face was buried into his shoulder, and her eyes fell shut a moment later.

"Are you alright...?" Daigo finally managed to question once he had gotten a grip on his emotions. He continued to hold her tight, and the exhaustion in his eyes both seemed more prevalent than usual and as if it had never existed in the first place.

"I'm fine," Maki murmured, uncertain as to if she was lying or not. Did it even matter? She was trying her best in that moment, and Daigo was what she needed as far as she could tell. "Just... Stay for a while longer, would you?"

Daigo nodded gently, and the motion was almost imperceptible. There was a soft hiss in the back of Maki's mind that insisted she was being ridiculous, that she was acting weak, but she did her best to silence it as soon as possible. Everything about this just felt right for better or worse. After struggling for so long to do anything that would bring her peace, Maki finally felt as if she had found a place where she could be happy. Nothing else seemed to matter aside from the fact that she and Daigo were there together.

"I don't want anything to happen to you," Daigo reiterated, his voice coming out more confident than before. "I don't want you to disappear from our lives. Call me dramatic all you want, but... I don't think that I would be here right now if I didn't have you at my side. I don't want you to lose to something that I have the power to stop."

Daigo's voice was so raw that Maki was once again stricken clueless with no way to formulate a response. Her throat had gone dry, as if every part of her body was trying to deprive her of the ability to respond to him. She looked up at him once she was able to wrestle together her courage, and she could have sworn that she saw something reflective shining in his eyes. Was he tearing up? Perhaps she wasn't the only one who was displaying weakened and emotional behavior.

"I'm here," Maki told him, though she wasn't even sure if she was being honest. It felt as if she had been separated from the rest of the world as a result of her own exhaustion, but the strings that were pulling her away from reality held her tethered to this moment at the same time. This was the most relaxed and relieved she had felt in ages, and she didn't want to let it go. For a few fleeting moments, everything just felt perfect. There were no other words to describe the soft and delicate sensation.

For a long time, Daigo and Maki remained that way, and Maki was silently relieved at the fact that everyone else at the data bureau had packed up to go home ages ago. She was burying herself in her work as a distraction against her struggles even though she yearned for something called home that only slightly fit its title. Somehow, that moment felt more like home than anything Maki had experienced over the course of the past few weeks, as if the universe had fallen into perfect harmony in a way that would never again repeat.

By the time that they pulled away from one another, Daigo and Maki were both satisfied and yearning for more. Daigo's fingers hooked with hers once again, and the two of them started walking through the darkened halls of the building. The moonlight streamed through the somewhat distorted glass, and the gentle glow from the sky was all that illuminated their path. They remained tight to one another through that single point of contact, and neither one of them dared to pull away as they left the building behind and walked out into the night once more.

Maki didn't wind up walking back home that night. She instead followed Daigo back to his apartment, and she wound up falling asleep on his couch. She didn't even lay down, instead sitting on the cushions and tilting her head backwards. It was bound to give her a wicked ache in her neck the next day, but she could hardly bring herself to care, still caught up in the memory of the beauty she had just experienced. Daigo sat beside her, curling an arm around her shoulders, and she repositioned herself so that her head was resting against his shoulder. They remained that way until the next morning, and when they woke, neither one of them mentioned it, almost as if it was too important to dare speaking of.

The events during Golden Week turned out to be Hiraku's greatest foe as he continued to conduct his research into the Dark Ocean. It seemed like there was always some new piece of information that would appear regarding the attack, some new weakness would come through the building's structure, and he would be pulled away from his work. He could barely find a moment of peace, meaning much of his work had to be conducted outside of his normal hours. It seemed as if there was scarcely a moment of peace for him anymore because of how much he was caught up in everything that was going on around him.

If Hiraku wasn't at work, he was trying to find a way to piece together a gateway to the Dark Ocean. There wasn't an easy path to the Dark Ocean like there was for the Digital World, and there was little consistency or safety found in the past methods that had the different generations of Chosen Children transported there. Everything was a roadblock in its own way, and even when Hiraku wasn't actively trying to figure out a way to get there, he was thinking about it. The anxiety and lingering helplessness that surrounded the concept permeated his daily life, keeping him from truly understanding peace. He wanted to open the gate not just for the sake of the Chosen Children, but also for his own peace of mind.

Hiraku had ultimately opted to use his lunch break to travel to the Digital World. His recent issues with helplessness had kicked him into high gear when he had a particularly restless and paranoid night, allowing him to figure out something new for the Digivices of the original Chosen Children. Through the help of Koushiro and Miyako, he had been able to offer an extension to the original Digivices that would allow them to be transported to the Digital World without the need for the devices of their successors. He had installed the program on Daigo, Maki, and Atsuo's Digivices as well, though he hadn't sent the program to Kaya and Chisane. He preferred to be able to install it in person in case anything went wrong, and he knew that neither of the women had the talent of being technologically savvy enough to figure it out without issues on their own.

He used this new feature to his advantage and traveled to the Digital World since he was too anxious and stressed to bother with eating. Hiraku had been able to meet with Qinglongmon to ask a series of questions about the Dark Ocean and share his theories about how to get there. Qinglongmon had been able to share quite a few enlightening answers, and Hiraku's first order of business upon returning to Earth was to make a few notes about what he had learned. He had forgotten his notepad in his haste to go to the Digital World, yet another symptom of the fact that everything about him seemed to be falling apart at the seams due to something that tasted a lot like desperation and terror.

The Dark Ocean seemed to have split off as a direct result of the Digital World's past instability. In fact, it had formed around the time that the original Chosen Children first went to the Digital World. Its basis had been the Dark Area deep beneath the sea, the hub where the data of evil Digimon stayed to prevent twisted creatures from being reincarnated. The Dark Area hadn't been in excessive use in those days, instead merely acting as a hub for corrupted data since there was no easy way for creatures to deliberate what Digimon fell under the category of evil. Still, it had existed, and it spawned the birth of the Dark Ocean.

The darkened sea was a result of the Digital World's structure failing itself, leading to a division of the Dark Area that spawned a new world. The Dark Ocean was ruled over by the Digimon that had been the strongest among the creatures in the Dark Area at the time, and the Dark Area was emptied when said beast pulled all of the other occupants of the space into the new world. The data of the Digimon was twisted into darkened creatures that resided in the ocean and served only the master who had freed them of mortal form. The beasts were no longer constrained by the normal boundaries of Digimon shapes, and it was terrifying how easily they had been able to take over the world so quickly after it was established.

The realm as a whole was a dark and dreary place because of the nature of its creation. Hiraku remembered that he had felt sick as soon as he traveled into the Dark Ocean in his pursuit of Maki so many years prior. He had never been vulnerable to the distortion of the worlds' barrier, but the Dark Ocean proved itself to be something entirely different. The world itself felt like poison, and just being there made him sure that he was going to pass out. It made him want to hide under a blanket and never come out to see the light of day again out of pure fear. It was awful, and that was the simple way of putting it.

At least Hiraku had been able to learn more about the Dark Ocean from Qinglongmon for the time being. He was unsure as to what was going on with the world of fire that Homeostasis had mentioned, but this was progress as far as he could tell. It would be a while before the fiery realm became the forefront of his attention, and he was sure that he wasn't going to be able to take much more curiosity before his mind collapsed in on itself. He was too overwhelmed for his own good, and he didn't want to make it any worse than he absolutely had to.

As he finished his quick session of notes, Hiraku let out a sigh. His gaze wandered over to the clock, and he did his best to resist letting out a small whimper. It was time for him to get back to the daily grind, it seemed. If nobody came to check on him, maybe he would be able to get away with continuing his research into the Dark Ocean. If he could find a way to open the gate, then everything was bound to improve exponentially. He had to at least try it.

Hiraku could feel a headache offering its precursory warning pounds, a sign that he was pushing himself too hard. However, he knew that he would be able to sleep when his exhaustion grew to be too much for him. At least that way he wouldn't have to deal with the stress of trying to slip into slumber in the first place. He could hardly call it healthy, but he knew what was necessary. Everyone was counting on him, and he knew better than to dare letting any of them down.

"Are you sure that you're alright?"

Takeru's voice roused Hikari from her daze, and she looked up in his direction slowly and carefully. It took her a moment to realize that she was walking back to her home after a long day at school. Daisuke and Ken had already branched off, and Hikari wondered just how long it was that she had lost her sense of focus for. It wasn't a good sign that she wasn't able to concentrate all of a sudden, and Hikari wished that she could pull together the ability to fully acknowledge how dreadful that was.

"I'm fine," Hikari said, though the words were stated more on principle rather than being rooted in fact. She wasn't entirely sure why it was that Takeru was with her in the first place, and everything inside of her head was hazy. It was like she was viewing the rest of the world on the other side of a layer of film that was intent on isolating her from everything that she knew. Even worse, she didn't know how to fight back, just being positive that the brain fog was absolutely exhausting to endure.

Takeru clearly didn't believe her, and Hikari resisted the urge to let out a heavy sigh. It seemed that her lack of understanding had shown on her face though, as Takeru explained his presence a moment later. "Daisuke and Ken are already on the way back home. Daisuke wanted to escort Ken back to his apartment, and I wanted to do the same for you. I know that you've been acting strangely lately, and I want to be sure that you're feeling alright," he said."

"Nothing feels right," Hikari told him, unsure as to where the words were even coming from until after they had already left her lips. Everything about her was hazy and fuzzy, and she couldn't seem to ground herself no matter how hard she tried. Was she even really there? She knew that she had to be, especially given that she was walking down the street the same way that she always did, but it just didn't feel right. Nothing felt right, and that was the problem.

Takeru's eyes were swept over with concern, and he looked down at his feet as they kept walking. "Is it the ocean again?" he asked, though it was clear by his tone that he already knew what the answer was going to be. He had grown much closer to Hikari ever since he moved back to Odaiba, and Hikari had to wonder if it was at all possible for her to hide things from him. If she was being honest, she sincerely doubted it.

"I think so," Hikari murmured. She had promised to herself in the past that she would do what she could to no longer hide her emotions from others, and admitting that she was unsettled to Takeru was a first step that she needed to take in that moment. Hikari hadn't even felt fully safe talking about this with Tailmon lately, but she wouldn't be able to keep it to herself forever. She had seen more than enough already, and hiding how she was feeling was only going to cause her other issues.

"Hey," Takeru said gently, and Hikari stopped to face him with knots already starting to tie themselves in her stomach. Something about his tone almost terrified her, and she knew deep down that she was already aware of what he was about to say.

Takeru took a deep breath and made eye contact with her. Hikari wondered if his eyes had always been that bright sapphire color. "I'll be here no matter what happens. Everyone is going to be here for you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you no matter what. We'll all make sure that the Dark Ocean doesn't come back for you. It's going to be okay," he whispered, his voice the most soothing melody that had ever graced her ears. It was a gentle rhythm that was familiar to her in a way that felt just so perfect, and she found herself newly infatuated with his kindness all over again.

"I know," Hikari murmured back, closing her eyes slowly. Of course Takeru was going to be there for her. She had known for ages that he would do anything for her, and she would more than return the favor. It was something that the Chosen Children did for one another, and that was all there was to it. Somehow though, the words seemed to take on a new sense of beauty that she hadn't ever noticed before. Maybe she had noticed and had just been too detached to notice until the time was either right or wrong enough to feel applicable.

"Tailmon feels the same way," Hikari heard Takeru say next, and she glanced up to meet his eyes once again. "We're all going to be here for you no matter what happens. We won't let the Dark Ocean take you. The monster that's behind this... We'll defeat it together. I promise."

Hikari nodded and let her eyes fall shut. She didn't realize just how tired she was until after she had come to stand still with her eyes slipping closed. Sleep had been difficult for her to capture as of late, but the issue had never seemed more pressing until right then.

Takeru caught on and noticed this as well, and he slipped his arm around her shoulders for some extra stability as they continued their journey towards the Yagami apartment. The gentle sounds of summer surrounded them in a melodic whisper, and Hikari opened her eyes to take in the sights around her. This was something that she wanted to protect. This particular part of the city showed few signs of the monster attack, having recovered for the most part from the damages that were done more than a month prior. She would fight on the behalf of this no matter what it was that the Dark Ocean wanted from her. She would stand up against anything that tried to take her just to have a chance at defending something this beautiful.

Soon enough, the summer air transitioned into something cooler, and Hikari realized that she and Takeru had arrived in the apartment building where the Yagami apartment was located. Hikari's fingers slipped into her bag as she fumbled for her keys, and she pulled them free of their confines a moment later. She shoved the key into the lock and let out a sigh as she twisted the knob to the side.

Agumon was out of sight when the two teenagers arrived in the apartment, but Tailmon could be seen draped on the back of the couch. Her tail dangled down off the side of the cushion, and her eyes were pressed shut in a gentle display of serenity. Hikari smiled at the sight of her partner so happy and peaceful, and she walked carefully over to the couch before sitting down. Takeru joined her, keeping his eyes locked on her all the way just to make sure that she didn't suffer from a sudden moment of weakness as a result of her recent exhaustion.

Hikari's eyes fell shut soon afterwards, and it wasn't long before the land of the waking slipped between her fingers. She hadn't even meant to fall asleep, and she didn't even seem to notice that it had happened to begin with until well after it was too late. When her eyes next opened, the shadows in the room had shifted, a clear mark of the passage of time. Tailmon had shifted from the couch to rest on Hikari's lap, though her tail continued to swing at the ground below, this time as it hung over Hikari's knees. Takeru was sitting elsewhere in the living room, his pencil scribbling against a piece of paper that was pressed against the front cover of one of his notebooks. If Hikari had to guess, he was doing homework.

At first, Takeru didn't notice that Hikari was awake. It wasn't until after Hikari rubbed at her eyes and let out a clipped sigh that Takeru glanced up in her direction. "How are you feeling?" he questioned. He didn't at all address the fact that he was still there, almost as if he believed that it didn't matter that he hadn't yet left.

"Better," Hikari murmured. It was true; she hadn't suffered from any unpleasant dreams while she was asleep, and that was one bar that she was more than happy to pass given her recent and unfortunate record regarding rest. She rubbed at her eyes once again, and while she knew that she should check the clock, she couldn't bring herself to do so, knowing that it would disturb her sleeping partner.

"Good," Takeru said gently with a smile that threatened to eclipse the sun in its effortless brightness. When he noticed that Hikari was confused over why he was still there, his expression faltered slightly, slipping into something that seemed to resemble sobered weakness. "I wanted to make sure that you were alright. I've been worried about you, and I know that the others have been too."

Hikari smiled, not having realized how much that mattered to her until after she had heard the words. "Thank you," she told him. There was no way for her to fully express her gratitude no matter how hard she tried, and so, she chose to not even bother. She knew that Takeru understood what she was feeling regardless. That was how they worked, and it had been the case for years.

Takeru didn't leave until after both Taichi and Yuuko had arrived back home that night. He declined to stay for dinner, smiling and thanking Yuuko for the offer as he retreated to return home, but Hikari couldn't get the image of his smile out of her head. It was like a balm against her darkest nerves and worst habits, and she needed that. Who would have expected peace to come in such a random but beautiful form? Hikari didn't know, but she was more than fine with it no matter what.

The days passed as the weak drew closer to its end. The heat of the summer grew more intense. The school year's first semester was getting closer to its conclusion, bringing with it the precursors of vacation that spread like wildfire among anticipating young hearts. It was incredible to think of, and the mere notion seemed to bring smiles to the faces of young students.

To Koushiro, the notion of a break from school meant something entirely different. He knew that it would give him more time to concentrate on opening the path to the Dark Ocean, and that was what he needed. He still had not found success in his search for a portal, but he was getting closer. That was what he was choosing to believe, at the very least. He had to cling to the idea that he was making progress so that he didn't completely fall apart under the weight of everything that had been placed on his shoulders.

Tentomon was succeeding in terms of the war to get Koushiro to sleep more for the sake of his bodily health. Tentomon was fully aware of Koushiro's bad habits once he allowed his curiosity to get the better of him, and he would do anything to prevent that. Koushiro couldn't help but thank his partner for everything, and his body was already starting to thank him for the extra kindnesses that had been granted in terms of health. He had been pushing too hard in the past, but hopefully, that would no longer be an issue for him.

Koushiro was at his office bright and early that Sunday morning, and he started to type away at the keyboard as soon as he was settled in. Much of his research during the week took place in his room since there was less time for him to travel to the office given how much time school took out of his day. He was glad to be in a different environment, and Koushiro couldn't help but feel as if he was able to face the research at hand with a refreshingly calm and collected eye since he was able to get out of the house for a short while.

Tentomon was sipping at a juice pouch as Koushiro tried to sift through the tabs that were pulled up on his magnificently large screen. Both of them were so distracted that they almost missed the gentle beeping that the computer started to emit. It wasn't until after Koushiro was able to tune back in and focus on the world in full that he realized the sound was familiar to him. It was identical to the noise that he heard whenever his computer was trying to alert him of a Digimon signal. Koushiro's stomach dropped, and he tried his best to pretend that this wasn't happening.

Koushiro's mind was racing as he slid over to the tab that held the radar for the city. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried desperately to not think about the fact that this could be a sign that they were out of time. What if this was it? What if they were being attacked by another surge of Emissaries of Chaos before they were able to infiltrate the Dark Ocean? That would be a worst case scenario, and Koushiro didn't even want to imagine how awful the city would be in the aftermath of something like that. The damages that Odaiba had already taken were substantial enough as it was.

However, Koushiro was met with a different sight that caught him by surprise. According to the radar, the screen wasn't showing a widespread invasion across the city. Instead, all of the Digimon signals were centered around one location. They were clustered together along the line of the beach, and there were still more of them coming. Even if the Digimon didn't seem to be as powerful as the past invaders had been, it was still more than enough to make Koushiro feel panic and paranoia start to rise in his chest anew.

He reached for his phone and sent out a message to the rest of the group as quickly as possible, his fingers shaking from the newfound adrenaline. It seemed as if his research into finding a gate to the Dark Ocean was going to have to wait a little while longer. This matter had to be dealt with first, and Koushiro couldn't hold it off if he wanted to defend the city.

Koushiro got to his feet and walked towards the door. "Come on, Tentomon. We have to go," he told his partner. The bug Digimon simply nodded and finished off his drink from the juice pouch before setting the empty article of trash down on the table before him. They were out of the building in the blink of an eye, and soon afterwards, Kabuterimon took off into the sky with Koushiro clinging to his helmet fiercely.

---

Another update is here!

The period of peace is about to draw to a close, to say the least. The Chosen Children might have had a little while to calm down, but that's not going to last much longer. Oops. Act three is about to get into full swing, and that means we're going to be seeing a lot of angst over the course of the next few chapters. Let's just say that it's all downhill from here.

All things considered, I really don't have all that much to say about this chapter, so I'm going to leave it here. I'm going to take this chance to go to sleep since it's really late at night as I'm typing this, and I need to crash. Next week, we'll see what this mass influx of Digimon signals is about and who exactly is in Odaiba. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed. Feedback is always appreciated. Have a nice day, everybody!

-Digital