"Takuya? Takuya!" Izumi's voice was sharp, but not shrill, resonating in a pale reflection of the fear that consumed the Warrior of Flame. All the blood had drained from his face, pooling on the floor at his feet with the rest of his organs and his strength. She caught him as he began to crumple, wedging her shoulder under one arm and grasping at his chest. The panic in her wide, jade eyes was obvious, but contained, focused into action as she shot Koji a commanding glance. He moved like lightning, scooping up Takuya's fallen cell, registering the caller ID, and pressing it to his ear.
"Shinya," he probed cautiously, navy gaze assessing his best friend in reserved worry.
"Shinya is with us." His lips parted in shock, eyes meeting Izumi's in fear. "He is safe. We will not harm or attempt to convert him so long as he is with us."
"Then why take him," Koji hissed through his teeth, filling the silence as he concocted a more suitable threat.
"We told your brother we would. We warned him that, if he continued to deny us, he would force us into taking more drastic action."
"Don't you dare try to blame my brother for this."
"Do not provoke us, Chosen of Light, lest you too should force our hand. We have no interest in the child, but we will not hesitate to make a permanent ally of him in the event of any foolhardy rescues or attempts to remove the Chosen of Darkness from our reach. Return the phone to the Kanbara boy. We would discuss terms with him. Only him."
"You're not getting Koichi you bastards!" Silence. Koji worked his jaw in quiet rage, knuckles white as he gripped the cell. The outburst seemed to jolt Takuya back to his senses, his features hardening as he took his weight back from Izumi.
"Give it." There was no question in his voice, no desire for permission in his outstretched hand. Reluctantly, Koji yielded, handing the little blue box off like it was something both precious and filthy. Takuya pressed it to his ear, teeth grinding. "What do you want?"
"You know what we want. But not yet. All in good time. We will contact you again to make further arrangements. For now, rest peacefully, Kanbara Takuya. Your little brother does not even know he's a hostage. Take any uncalled for actions, look for him, or pressure us in any way, and that will change."
Takuya continued to hold the phone for a moment after the line went dead, his face a mask of terror and rage. Izumi rested a hand on his arm, her eyes searching, concerned, but he pulled away. His breath was frayed, ripping at his nostrils as it pulsed in and out, every muscle in his body tight. Then, features twitching, he turned, heading back towards Koichi's apartment. Koji leapt into action, steel fingers grasping his arm as eyes like the edge of a knife sought his gaze.
"What are you doing," he hissed, now making a point to keep his voice low. Takuya snarled a warning, but Koji's grip held fast.
"What do you think I'm doing," he spat back, his voice uncharacteristically low. Dangerously low. "I'm going to find out where they're keeping my little brother and then I'm going to go get him."
"Koichi can't help you with that."
"The hell he can't!"
"Boys please." Izumi slipped between them, positioning herself between Takuya and the stairs. She pressed her fingers against his chest, catching his molten gaze and holding it in her own for a long, dense moment. "Not here. Upstairs in Dorian's room."
Takuya worked his jaw, chewing his tongue so hard he almost thought he could taste blood. Wordlessly, he turned, marching up to the sixth floor with terrible intensity. His body seemed to radiate with heat and wrath, like a barely contained forest fire eager to escape and commence its destructive mission. Izumi wanted to know exactly what had brought about this horrible change. Explicitly what message that call could've conveyed. Why the man she loved had so suddenly transformed into someone she didn't recognize. Someone who frightened her. Her need for answers was surpassed only by her desire not to disturb Koichi; he didn't need to see them like this. He didn't need this kind of pressure.
Dorian was, not surprisingly, in his room, sitting in his chair by the table. He was busy pouring over a pile of papers when the three entered, with Koji mindfully bringing up the rear and snapping the door closed. Disdain soiled his expression, which had been rather pleasant before they'd crashed his study party, his hands absently adjusting his scarf the way a lady might tighten her robe in the presence of intruders.
"Excuse me," he said, indignant with an edge of frost. "People in polite company generally knock before barging into someone's private space."
"What was that about!" Izumi ignored the French Digidestined, rounding on Takuya and Koji alike. Her own indignation did not conceal her fear.
"They got to Shinya," Koji sighed, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms. "They say they don't care about him, that they won't do anything to him as long as we behave, but still..."
"Behave," repeated Izumi, incredulity salting her tone. Takuya ignored the exchange, moving to Dorian and leaning over the table threateningly.
"You still have the phone? The one they planted in Koichi's bag." His voice was much too cold, his face too hard and his eyes too wild. Dorian pulled away from him, guarded.
"Yes…" he answered slowly.
"That chair. If we use it to connect him to their signal, will he be able to see where they're holding my brother?"
"Possibly…"
Takuya turned, looking back at his friends expectantly. There was an insanity about him, a barely directed craze that raised the hair on the back of their necks. Izumi frowned, not quite following the pronouns. Koji hardened.
"You can't be serious," he whispered, unblinking.
"I am completely serious."
"Takuya, I know what you're feeling-"
"They have my brother!"
"And I won't let you give them mine!" Koji looked away, swallowing, regaining composure. "We have no idea what that thing will do to Koichi if we use it, let alone the consequences of intentionally connecting him to Tache's signal again. Shinya is safe for now-"
"You don't know that," spat Takuya vehemently.
"Yes I do. Whoever was on the phone explicitly said not to go after him. If they hurt him then they have nothing to bargain with, no way to control us."
"You're just saying that to protect Koichi!"
"If I may," Dorian interjected, raising his hands defensively and getting up. "How do you know they have the boy?"
"The call was made from his phone."
"Did you talk to him? It would not be uncharacteristic for Tache to go after your families to achieve its goal, but there is, as of right now, no definite proof they have your brother, Takuya. If they do, then Koji is correct, he is probably in no immediate danger. Tache does not make idle threats, nor does it weave false promises. If the caller said the boy is safe, but will not remain so if you try and rescue him or otherwise displease Tache, then it would be prudent to believe him."
"Prudent," growled Takuya, his already balled fists shaking. "What's prudent is to get my little brother away from those crazy ass holes before they infect him or whatever! If none of you will help me then I'll do it myself."
He made a stiff, jerking movement, intent on barging right through door and Koji alike on his way to his destination. Dorian reached out across the table like lightning and caught his elbow.
"Wait," he hissed through his teeth, icy blue eyes almost aglow with intensity.
"Get off me!"
"I cannot allow you to do this."
Takuya spun around and drove his fist into the other's gut. Dorian gasped, doubling over and releasing his arm. It was official; all four of them had hit him. Short-term objective completed, the Warrior of Flame continued towards Koji's stonewall form. Izumi looked between them, torn, twisted every way. Dorian preaching foresight, Takuya out to save his younger sibling, and Koji defending his twin. There was no winning. There was no right side.
"Takuya, if you confront Tache now you damn your brother!" Takuya froze, muscles pulling in opposite directions. Dorian straightened, pressing one hand to the tabletop and the other over his gut. He looked pale and angry and deadly sincere. "Go to the Chosen of Darkness, tell him that your brother's been kidnapped, and he will do something incredibly stupid. We will probably loose our only chance at keeping Tache contained and your brother will be doomed by default. Go out on your own, sojourn down to the docks, and Tache's people will carry out their threats and move on to their second choice. Maybe even you. Moving down their list until we comply."
"I can't just leave him out there." Takuya meant to sound angry, but it came out frustrated, afraid, and hurt. He tightened his lips, holding in whatever stupid noise his body would undoubtedly try to emit.
"We're not going to," Izumi soothed, sliding to his side and pressing a warm, reassuring hand between his shoulder blades. "We will not let those monsters hurt the ones we love. We're going to defend them. We're going to save them. But Dorian's right, now's not the time to act. It's dark and we're all tired. We have to think. Plan."
"I already have a plan."
"And we can talk it over when Koichi wakes up. I'm sure he'll be willing to do anything it takes to save Shinya."
"We can't tell him." Izumi glared at Koji, frowning as she failed to comprehend why. Sighing heavily, Koji came off the wall and worked his way over to Dorian's side.
"It hurts saying it, but Dorian is right. If we tell Koichi, if we even hint to him that Shinya's in danger, then he will do something impulsive. We could loose him... So long as it's just Tache, well, he can keep a fairly level head and stay relatively objective. But for you Takuya, for any of us, he would do anything."
"I am not seeing how that's a bad thing," snarled Takuya, throwing a stormy look at Koji and Dorian. The two stood solid, unyielding. There was compassion in Koji's eyes, sympathy in the most literal sense of the word, even as his own fraternal instincts held him in opposition to his best friend. Dorian, as always, was more dispassionate.
"The Warrior of Darkness has made it clear that he does not favor the idea of trying my instrument," he said evenly. "Confronted with this revelation about your brother's possible situation, what, exactly, do you think he'll do?"
"Help me," Takuya shot, his lips curling back. "If my friend is still in there then he would help me!"
"That thing is dangerous," Koji cut in, stepping forward and holding up his hands in a peace offering. "It is way more dangerous than any of us realize. It's also possibly our only option for finding out about Shinya without violating Tache's terms. If Koichi chooses to use it, and that's a big if, it can't be because of that. He has to feel comfortable with it, no pressure, no strings. We don't know what it'll do to him, what sorts of side affects it could have, but if he learns Shinya's in trouble, then he'll stop caring about that sort of thing and I don't need to remind you about who he becomes when Tache's influence takes over."
"If Tache's influence takes over, and we plug it into their network, then it'll know where they're keeping Shinya," Takuya growled, stiffening under Izumi's fingers. "And what it'll take to get him home. It'll know what that cult wants from me!"
"We all know what they want," Koji answered tersely, his patience fraying. "I know what you're going through, Takuya, I really do. But if you got your head back on then you'd see they can't have him. Sure, maybe you'd get Shinya back, but for how long? How long until Tache figures out how best to upscale Its little project and the problem becomes bigger than one cult? We have to keep him safe-"
"He's not safe! Nothing is safe!" Takuya's voice cracked like a whip, made all the more forceful by his downcast gaze and marble form. Forceful enough, at least, to stun the rest of them into silence. He let a tight sigh out through his nose, trying and failing to unclench his muscles. "I'm going to bed."
It was understood that he would not sleep.