At precisely 1:17 in the morning, Koji was pulled from the arms of sleep by the sounds of ragged breathing and moaning. Typically, he was a light sleeper anyway, and on nights like this, when he was already a little on edge, the smallest creak was enough to fling him into full-fledged consciousness. As you might imagine, the distressed noised emitting from his twin's sleeping form were somewhat louder than floorboard creeks and Koichi wasn't more than two second into the nightmare before Koji knew about it.

At first, the Chosen of Light did his best to just ignore the sounds. Koichi was prone to vivid and… expressive dreams. Given the right provocation, gentle mumbling could easily turn into outright conversation. Koji had once made the mistake of asking him if he was all right, and consequently endured a good five-minute lecture on the aliens' plans to invade Kyoto by poisoning the wasabi supply with Scottish blueberries. Very specific. As fascinating as that had been, it wasn't an experience Koji really wanted to repeat. Especially when his nerves and patience were already frayed. He did not feel up to one of his twin's nightmares at the moment.

To be blunt, Koji didn't have the energy to worry about his brother any more. With the amount of worrying he'd already done that night, it was a miracle Koji'd fallen asleep in the first place. Their talk had done wonders to comfort Koichi, and he'd drifted off as soon as his head hit the pillow. Or maybe it was the anesthesia…. Whatever the case, Koji was not so lucky. The serenity of sleep had been hard won on his part; but now as he lay awake once again, all those fears that he'd managed to forget flooded back, heedless of his attempts to dodge them. Images of those people holding his brother, the gas mask over his nose and mouth, the needle pressing into the base of his skull…

Koji buried his face into the blankets, trying to block out Koichi's distress both past and present. Trying to focus on his homework or the chores he'd left undone at their dad's. Trying to keep his very conscious mind from returning to the terror it had been dancing around all night.

What was it that guy had said? "Soon he'll reawaken to his true self"? The hell was that supposed to mean? And then there was all that crap Lespion had been talking about. About his brother being some kind of cell tower or something. Like his brain was a computer and Duskmon was just going to download himself like a piece of software? How was he supposed to protect his brother from something like that? How was any of this even possible!

Oh, the same way it was possible for you to travel to the Digital World in the first place, breathed a voice in his mind matter-of-factly. And for the record, protecting him has always been a simpler task than you've cared to acknowledge. No, it's not that you can't protect Koichi, it's that you don't want to. It's too much work, so you just let it happen. Like earlier. You could have waited. You could have looked back and notice he'd gone. But no, you were angry with him about something stupid and you let him get caught.

"Don't think about it," Koji whispered into the cloth. "Stop thinking about it." The voice paid him no mind and continued its rant, the stillness of the night feeding his bleakest thoughts.

Just like before, five years ago. He needed your protection then, too. But you were too busy being angry with Dad and Satomi to notice you had a stalker, let alone a brother. Maybe if you weren't so self-centered he would have stood a chance against Cherubimon, then none of this would've ever become a problem. You could have just been two, happy, normal brothers dealing with happy, normal, brotherly problems. Too bad things didn't work out that way. You lost him then and, if you're not careful, you're going to loose him now.

The moaning, which usually only lasted maybe a minute or two at best, did not die down. Koichi's breathing only got more ragged as Koji tried not to notice and he began thrashing, like he was trying to run away from something. His foot managed to free itself from the blankets and shot out across the futons, striking Koji just behind the knee. Koji bit back a yelp as pain shot up his leg, now about as awake as a person could get. There was officially no hope of going back to sleep. Exasperated, Koji rounded on his brothers sleeping form.

"Koichi," he hissed, trying to communicate as much quiet annoyance as possible. "Koichi, wake…" His voice trailed off as his eyes found something even more aggravating. The cell phone Dorian had retrieved from Koichi's attackers was flashing over on the desk. Its screen kept lighting up as if receiving a call, though no ring tone had sounded as of yet. Gingerly, Koji crawled off his futon and went to investigate. The screen was filled with some kind of binary code Koji didn't recognize and, as he slid it open, a new set of ones and zeros popped up. Behind him, Koichi let out a small cry, causing Koji to start. In the light of the open phone, Koichi's skin shone paler than normal, a thin layer of sweat wetting his face and hair as his breath rattled over his lips. Then something occurred to Koji, something that made his skin crawl and his chest tighten.

"…He's just a signal receiver. Like an antenna specially designed to accept and amplify anything on Tache's wavelength."

Cell phones are essentially the same thing, constantly receiving and transmitting signals from here or there. Like little way stations between origin and destination. Like little, unnoticeable spies sent to infiltrate their home. The strength left Koji's fingers and the phone struck the carpeted floor with a dull thud.

"Koichi," whispered Koji, throwing himself at the older twin's side and grabbing his shoulders. "Koichi, you need to wake up! Koichi!" Each syllable was accented with a firm shake as Koji tried to forcibly haul his brother back into the world.

Koichi's back suddenly arched and he sucked in breath as if to scream. His eyes shot open, but not in wakefulness, and what Koji saw in them made his blood run cold. The irises and pupil had gone a dull, homogenous grey that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, like two endless pits of overcast sky. Koji recognized those eyes from those first flashes of his brother's face, from when Koichi was fully possessed by Duskmon. They were they eyes of the corrupted Spirit of Darkness and, as he watched, the tiny, spider web capillaries became inflamed, turning the whites of those eyes red. Koichi sat up like a puppet on strings, dark liquid shining in his ears and, in that instant, Koji remembered what it felt like to be truly afraid. He felt Koichi's horror and Duskmon's thrill like screams in his head, screams he couldn't help recoiling from.

Then there was a short, electrical noise and a spark as the cell phone short-circuited, plunging the room back into darkness. For a moment, the two sat still, as if frozen in time by forces beyond their understanding. Then Koichi blinked and his eyes were just blood-shot navy. Soft and kind and still caught in the terror of his dream… if you could call it that. He stared straight ahead, holding his breath and keeping his body still as a mouse. The tightness of a prey animal laced his form, outlining it against the black.

"Koichi," Koji tried tentatively, leaning towards him. Koichi started and turned, inhaling sharply as if preparing to run. The dark liquid in his ears dislodged and two shining drops began to roll slowly down either side of his neck, but he didn't notice. For a moment there was a look of non-recognition on his face, as if he didn't understand what Koji was doing in his room. Then wakefulness finally took hold and he smiled faintly, shaking his head.

"What a nightmare," he whispered lightly, readjusting on the futon and pressing one palm to his forehead. "I'm sorry, was I talking in my sleep again?" There was nothing about him to betray any misdirection, but Koji sensed it anyway.

The younger twin frowned, reaching out slowly but deliberately to his brother. His fingers brushed the wet streak on Koichi's neck, causing the latter to jerk away convulsively, shuddering.

"What are you-" He fell off suddenly, his gaze finding Koji's fingers then flicking back to his face fearfully. Koji looked back at him meaningfully, rubbing the blood between his pointer and thumb as if to test the consistency. There was something in his gaze Koichi didn't understand: worry, fear, and… disappointment.

"It was him, wasn't it," Koji said in a low voice.

"No," Koichi hissed defensively. Koji's expression didn't change even as a firmness came into his voice.

"It was Duskmon." Koichi gave him a defiant stare; yet as the seconds ticked by his mask began to crack.

"I thought-" The elder twin's lips pursed together and he shook his head in disbelief. He stared at the blood on Koji's fingertips, black in the darkness, as his own reached up to trace the wet path from his left ear. "I thought he'd leave me alone for at least a night. I thought, if I could just sleep, then I could get away from him just for a little while. Prepare myself. But he was there, Koji. It was waiting for me."

He pressed both palms over his ears and pulled his knees to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. "My head…" Koichi moaned in a low voice. "My head really hurts…"

Koji reached out hesitantly, unsure of what he was supposed to do or how to go about doing it. There was something foreboding, something irrefutably bleak about Koichi's silhouette. Balled up like a psychotic hiding from imaginary monsters or a child trying to ward off the shadows. The darkness seemed to encircle him tenderly, though whether it was to lend comfort or assert control was anybody's guess. Yet even now, broken and alone, Koichi did not allow himself to be swallowed.

But he wasn't alone. A look of determination came into Koji's eyes and in one swift motion, he wrapped his arms around his brother, holding him close.

"It's alright," he whispered, recalling words from the time nightmares had plagued him and family's comfort had been his only strength. Imagining what their mother must've done when the infant twins had been frightened. "You're okay. It's over now."

"No it's not," murmured Koichi, his eyes wide open in Koji's shoulder. "It's just starting…"