Koichi's eyes opened decisively, his lethargic body pulling itself into wakefulness with a groan. The world outside had darkened, the last rays of dusk filtering through the chicken mesh that covered his window casting blended shadows across the floor. Shame, he had really been hoping to sleep through the night. Or at least for more than an hour at a time. But no, that would be too easy. Just like living in his own house would be too easy. Such was his life now, his choice, to be locked behind iron wires or trapped within his own mind. There was no middle ground, no halfway point. It wasn't that he harbored any particular resentment towards the situation; he was, from a certain point of view, in a corner of "his own" making. It was just… without Tache's signal to fill his mind, other things had begun to expand in the vacuum. Memories some aspect of his will he neither understood nor controlled had drawn from Dorian. And he'd really had enough of other people's thoughts.

"Hey buddy."

Koichi didn't have the energy to fake surprise at Takuya's entrance. Even without the squeaky door, he still would've felt the new presence. They moved like waves of temperature, some hot others cold, with the Digidestined burning with particular intensity. He'd sensed Takuya's warmth while he was still hovering outside, peering through the crack left by leaving the door ajar, debating whether or not to check on his friend. Koichi appreciated that struggle, turning to give him a tired but reassuring grin.

"Hey," he greeted, brushing hair from his face.

"Were you dreaming?"

"I'm always dreaming." The cryptic statement hung between them, stagnate, like some sort of quicksand. "I'm sorry. Yes, I guess you could say I was dreaming."

"Okay…" Takuya probed, his lips twisting into a well-natured but bewildered smile.

"Dorian's memories," Koichi elaborated with a heavy sigh. He brushed the hair back from his face again, biting his lips and tongue in frustration. "I wish I could just forget them altogether. Or at least go through and pick out the less personal stuff."

"Well," Takuya started, moving over and joining him on the bed. "You weren't really yourself at the time, but still, I don't think us having some sort of access to Dorian's past is a bad thing. 'Cause, you know, he never got the memo that sharing is caring or anything like that."

Koichi chuckled, shaking his head.

"I guess that much is true."

"Wanna talk about it?" He gave Takuya a sideways look, trying to assess whether he was just being supportive or was actually curious.

"Hydrogen peroxide is great for getting out blood stains," he offered. Takuya screwed up his face in revulsion, pulling away dramatically.

"Eww."

Koichi laughed again, softly, his mood already less sour for Takuya having come in.

"They also left a lovely stone memorial of our adventures in the Digital World, Bahar's a feminist, and…" He paused, looking out the darkening window again. Shadows obscured his features, even as Takuya leaned forward to get a better look. The Warrior of Flame blinked at him for a moment, hard learned tact keeping his burrowing questions at bay as he gave Koichi time to choose his words. "And I think Dorian may be in love with Ysault."

"Ah," Takuya breathed knowingly, nodding his head and making a "well poop" face.

"Yeah."

A moment of reflection.

"Any word on them? Bahar and Ysault, I mean."

"No," said Koichi, shaking his head and rubbing his face. "I can't control how the memories surface or in what order. And when I do see one, it's bizarre, not at all the way I'd expect a memory to be."

"What do you mean?"

"I took these memories from Dorian, but when I... play them, it's not from Dorian's perspective. It's not from anyone's perspective. It's like I'm actually there, observing the events. Like I'm a ghost."

Another moment of reflection. Takuya could almost sense the subtext of that last statement, like a nagging voice at the back of his mind. But almost wasn't good enough and Takuya wasn't the kind of guy that dealt in subtext. He was the kind of guy that believed if someone wants you to know something, they'll just tell you. Izumi, on the other hand, was good with subtext and she would've said something. Maybe even something helpful… The thought skipped across his mind, there one moment and dismissed the next. What had they been talking about?

"Are they all from when he was in the Digital World," Takuya asked, scratching his scalp. Koichi frowned in thought, nodding in affirmation. "Maybe that's why they're weird?"

"I suppose that's as good a reason as any," Koichi said with a shrug and a grin. He looked like he was going to say more, but stopped suddenly. A choking noise gurgled in his throat, arms and legs curling towards his torso, shaking.

"Whoa," Takuya exclaimed, flinching away, unable to stop the expectation of an attack from dictating his actions.

"It'll pass," he hissed through gritted teeth, pressing his eyes into his palms.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, his ribcage released and his body drew in a sharp, deep breath. Then another, and then a few pants. His hands relaxed, along with the rest of his body, but he didn't look up. An aura of fatigue descended upon him like a thin layer of dust, his burning flesh cooling much too quickly.

"That… happen a lot?" The question slipped out before Takuya had fully thought it through, and he kicked himself for the lack of verbal censorship.

"Less and less frequently," Koichi offered from between his fingers, unable to bring himself to look at him. Unwilling to show his already uneasy friend his bloodshot eyes. "It comes in waves."

"Can I get you something? Like water?"

Like your brother?

"No. Thank you, but I- I think I'll just try and go back to sleep."

You don't have to stay with me.

"You sure?"

Are you okay to be alone?

"I'm fine now. Really. Just tired."

"Sorry I bugged you."

"No. I'm glad you came to check on me. Would you mind closing the door behind you?"

So I can't hear what gets said outside.

"No problem, bud. I let you get back to your dreaming."

"Thank you."

Takuya slipped out, holding the handle so the door closed silently behind him and berating himself for the way the conversation had ended. When he'd first decided to check in on Koichi, it had not been his intention to do any actual talking. Now that he had, he wished he'd had a more comforting set of things to say. He wished he had the compassion and, he didn't know, whatever it took to focus solely on Koichi's suffering. That he could've forgotten the unrecognizing, empty gaze, the certainty in those fingers as they curled around his throat… who was lurking just beneath his friend's skin. The transition from Duskmon to Koichi had been comparatively easy; at least the two had separate faces. And, back in the Digital World, Duskmon couldn't possess the dark twin at will; he was one or the other but never both. Neither comfort was available to Takuya this time, and that brought up some uncomfortable questions about his friend's nature. Questions he didn't want to ask with answers he wasn't going to like.

That was a problem for another time. Right now, Koichi was safe, tucked away in a room where not even Tache's whispers could reach him. Whatever alter ego he had locked up inside was going to stay there. For the time being. Takuya nodded to himself, a silent affirmation that all was as well as could be expected. Then he turned, heading back up the stairwell. Grateful as they all were for Koichi's safety, he, Izumi, and Koji had lasted all of two days without their phones. While their charge was up and about (as about as he could be while being generally restricted to a few sets of rooms), the three of them were in there with him, talking, playing some game, generally hanging out. It was a little bit like the summer camp they'd all told their parents about, minus the rigorous intellectual, or in Takuya's case physical, as his parents were more liable to believe he'd been invited to a football camp, training. Then the sun started to go down and the strain of pretending everything was normal began to weigh too heavily on the older twin, and he retired to the ground floor bedroom. The others flocked out to the stairwell, to the internet and phone calls. To the sanctuary of not-closeness with a psychic.

Without Tache pressuring him, or really any wireless signal of any kind, the… particles in Koichi's brain had sought other sources of amusement. Namely, messing with the lights when he was frustrated and reading the other Digidestined like a library. He didn't mean to, obviously, the lights thing made him sick, but in the isolation, Takuya and Izumi had grown a newfound respect for how Koji handled his brother's ESP. With only three days of their vacation to use for reference, it was hard to say if things were getting better or worse. Dorian, perhaps still a little sore about Izumi punching him in the face, Koji shoving him into a wall, and Koichi causing a nasal hemorrhage while dissecting his brain, refused to be around them any more than was absolutely necessary. Which limited their interactions to morning meetings. For his part, Takuya didn't feel quite as hostile towards the Frenchman as the rest of his friends. Actually, he was beginning to think him rather reasonable, and the longer they went without an alternative plan of attack, the better Dorian's sounded. But that, too, was tomorrow's problem.

"How is he," Izumi asked, coming over to meet him at the second floor landing. Her hair was a collage of twists and braids, a testament to her anxious and bored hands.

"Good," Takuya answered with a shrug. He turned towards Koji, who was playing some sort of game on his cell phone over by the railing. "How long has he been having those… fits?"

"Since we got here," Koji answered, feigning disinterest. "It's those things inside him; they're more active at night."

"Of course they are," sighed Izumi, staring longingly down the stairs. "Is there really nothing we can do?"

"Right now? Stop fretting over him. He hates that."

"That's hilarious coming from you."

"Look, he's locked up in here, with the exception of supervised pee and bath breaks, until we figure out a way of dealing with Tache. That's bad enough without us hovering."

"I know… I just… hate this! I wish we were back in the Digital World and I could just Spirit Evolve and hunt the thing down!"

"Don't we all, Zumi, don't we all." Takuya reached around her shoulders and gave her a quick, soft hug. He grinned, as if planning to tell some sort of lame joke to cheer them all up, but was cut off by a low buzzing sound. Both Koji and Izumi jumped, looking suspiciously down at his pocket. He laughed sheepishly, releasing his girlfriend and fishing out his own cell. A name flashed across the screen in bold letters.

"Hang on guys, it's Shinya," he said as he pressed the answer button and brought it to his ear. "What's up little buddy?"

"We have your brother."

His fingers went limp and the phone clattered to the floor.