Foreword: I was hoping to get this up a few days earlier but I wasn't happy with how the next arc was starting. I'm trying to make sure I'm always at least a full story arc ahead.

I was first under the idea that this would mostly be a collection of oneshots. First day has six parts. I don't oneshot very well.

I've seen several versions on Takeru's and Hikari's ages and I think I like her being about half a year older than him. So he's not quite eight yet.


Taichi let out a disappointed sigh. He went through all the trouble of bringing a soccer ball to summer camp and the closest to a clearing was around a fire pit surrounded by a few logs carved into benches. It wasn't like he wanted a soccer field or anything, just a spot he could practice a few kicks. And why isn't it warmer? he wondered, shivering slightly. No clouds in the sky, though it did seem a darker blue than normal. Probably just looks that way with all these trees around. Now that he noticed, this forest was pretty thick. In fact, the whole campsite, which from what he could tell was just the fire pit and two stone staircases on opposite sides leading to the boys' and girls' cabins, seemed like it was just shoved into the forest.

Well, at least it wasn't a total loss being here. Sora was sitting on one of the benches. She wore a yellow, sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and a blue bike helmet, saying she needed it whenever he was around (honestly, it wasn't that big a bruise). And next to her was Taichi's little buddy, Takaishi Takeru, or TK as he preferred to be called (actually, Hikari preferred it. He just went along). Not that Taichi would call him "little buddy" out loud; as the star of his school's soccer club, and Hikari's older brother, he was more than a little experienced when it came to little kids and knew how much they hated being called "little". TK wore a strange green hat over his blond hair with some kind of blue stone or something in front of it. His eyes were a bright blue and he wore a green vest over a lighter green t-shirt and brown shorts.

And of course Sora would be with him, she was Hikari's surrogate big sister after all. And for some reason the club's boys came to her more often than Taichi, though why he couldn't imagine. Heck, he won nine of the last sixteen games he played against her, but for some reason she was more popular. Maybe TK would know, but he wasn't about to embarrass himself asking. That reminds me. Guess I need to tell him Hikari couldn't make it. His sister, true to form, got sick recently. She seemed better today, but it was best to be careful. Her disappointed face flashed through his mind bringing with it a wave of sympathy for the two. TK didn't live nearby and he was going to be as crushed as she was.

He started towards Sora and TK when someone else joined in, sitting on TK's other side and completely soured Taichi's mood. Ishida Yamato, TK's older brother, separated by an ugly divorce. His hair and eyes were the same as TK's, though a bit darker. He wore a dark green sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. Despite being brothers, the two couldn't be more different. TK was kind, thoughtful, cheery, and exactly the kind of friend Hikari needed. Jerk-ass Ishida was everything else- Why are he and Sora being so friendly with each other?!

She barely knew him before today! How can they be talking and laughing like that?! In fact, since when did Ishida even know how to laugh?! "Umm, excuse, um, Taichi-san, is it?" a nervous voice snapped him out of his irritation. San? Since when am I a san? The voice came from a tall, lanky boy with dark hair and he wore large glasses over his dark eyes. He had a white button up shirt, a cream vest, and gray shorts. He also had large medical bag slung over his shoulder. Taichi thought back to the bus. It did roll call and there was only seven, including himself, so this guy's name shouldn't be hard to remember… Oh, that's right. Kido Jou. And there was another, much shorter boy next to him. A redheaded boy wearing an orange button up shirt and green shorts with a closed laptop in his arms. His name was Izumi Koushiro and, thankfully, he seemed much more relaxed.

"Yeah, that's me," Taichi answered as gently as he could. He really didn't like it when others were nervous around him, "You need something?"

"We're wondering if you've seen any of the camp councilors," Koushiro answered in Jou's place, "Jou-san and I haven't seen any since..." he looked a little surprised, "How odd. I don't recall his name." Taichi thought back. He didn't remember either. The councilor was a big cheerful guy who went off to set up some sort of "grand adventure" or something. At least Taichi thought he was big. His memory of the guy was a bit on the hazy side.

"Strange, I don't really remember either," he admitted, "and now that you mention it, I haven't seen any of the other councilors." A realization struck him. "I was looking for a good spot to kick my soccer ball and I never saw any other cabins." Jou looked crestfallen.

"You mean he abandoned us?!"

"Calm down, Jou-san", Koushiro said, "We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"That's right," Taichi agreed, "He might have just been eaten by a bear." The expression of horror on Jou's face almost made him burst out laughing. Yes, it was mean, but it was worth it.

"That wasn't very helpful, Taichi-san," Koushiro chided, "but I'm more concerned as to why he was the only councilor."

"A very hungry bear?" Taichi suggested with a smile.

"That's not funny!" Jou exploded, "Do you not realize the danger we're in?! We're unaccompanied minors! What'll we do if-"

"I see your point," Taichi interrupted, trying not to roll his eyes, "Look, let's just stay together for now." He pointed his thumb back at Sora, TK, and the other guy. "We stay together, we'll be fine."

"I concur," Koushiro said, "I'll use my laptop to see if I can't find out anything going on with the camp and Email my parents to let them know of the complication." He looked up at the sky. "I will also begin researching this unusual atmospheric phenomenon." Taichi nodded, only understanding about half of that last sentence. Not that he would ask Koushiro to explain; he'd talked to enough smart kids to know the explanation would just be a lot of big words and a bigger headache.

He started down the hill to where Sora and TK were when a streak of cold sliced through his arm. He jumped back and glared at the source. Nothing. There was a tree branch above but nothing else. "What happened?!" Jou blurted out, "Were you stung?! Bitten?!"

"I'm okay!" Taichi answered, and waited for the other boy to calm down before continuing, "Just thought I felt something cold." Jou blinked, looking confused.

"But there's nothing there."

Koushiro moved towards the shadow and stuck a hand in, pulling it back almost immediately. "It is cold," he said, his voice filled with surprise, "and I don't mean how shaded areas are usually cooler than lit areas." Shaded? Taichi stared at the shadow the branch was casting. It looked just like a normal shadow. No mini blizzard or portal to the north pole or whatever a shadow would need to be so cold. Though, now that he looked at it…

"It seems a bit darker than the other shadows," he observed, "Or deeper?" Koushiro looked around.

"A good observation. Your idea of us all staying together may have more merit than I first thought."

"We can get everyone to the cabin," Jou said, "In fact, I should go over there now and just make sure it's set up for everyone." Taichi nodded, tempted to point out the obvious escape plan. But then again, it wasn't like he'd been inside the cabins for more than a couple minutes, so maybe Jou had a good reason. Eh, I picked on him enough.

"Maybe you should go with him," he told Koushiro, "I'll work on getting everyone else." Koushiro nodded and the two boys headed for the boys' cabin. Taichi turned back to the others, suddenly grateful Hikari wasn't here. And worried that TK was. As he headed over to the fire pit, he made sure watch his surroundings. A couple more shadows that seemed darker. Creepy, but they weren't near him, so he decided not to worry too much about it. He was feeling a little colder than before too, but going near Ishida usually had that effect on him. Still, Ishida was TK's older brother, and Taichi was not going to let his little buddy get caught between them.

Upon reaching the fire pit, he picked out a bench that kept him opposite of Sora, keeping Ishida out of his view. She looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, Taichi! I was looking for you and I ran into TK-kun and Yamato-kun." Oh, that's right. Sora and TK hadn't met. For some reason, Hikari never wanted Sora around whenever TK was visiting and whenever he'd ask his sister why, her face would turn red and she'd say nothing. He tried asking their mother, but she just got a weird, yet happy, look. "I finally got to meet Hika's secret friend."

"She's also friends with Hika-chan," TK chirped. Taichi frowned slightly. Normally TK always called Hikari "Kari", but, no, wait, that was only when they thought they were alone. In fact, the one time Taichi called her "Kari", she got a bit mad. And now that he thought about it, she never told anyone she was friends with TK. And when he asked her why, for either of those things, once again, her face just turned red. And their mother just got that weird look. Was there some sort of secret meeting or something he missed?

"And I finally got meet the boy Hika was hiding from me," Sora said with a teasing smile. Taichi rolled his eyes, and then a thought struck him.

"How did you know it was a boy? Hikari didn't tell you anything about him." Sora's answer was just her "you dummy" look that made him want to smack her.

"Seriously, Taichi? You've known me and Hika for most of your life and you're still that clueless?"

"Um, Taichi-san," TK started. Taichi mentally sighed. He'd told the kid a hundred times to drop the "san". TK was practically family, heck, the son his parents wished they had. "Is it true Hika-chan's sick again?" He nodded, smiling at the boy.

"It's nothing big, but Mom didn't want to take any chances." TK looked as disappointed as Hikari. "She's disappointed too. Think your mother would let you visit after camp?" Which would hopefully be very, very soon. A quick glance at Sora showed she was thinking the same thing. Those darker shadows didn't really scare him but they did make him think of a terrifying experience TK went through right after the divorce. He did not want the kid having reminders of that time. And it looked like were a few more darker shadows than before.

"Yes! Mommy really likes Hika-chan! But is Hika-chan going to be okay?" Taichi smiled at the younger boy's concern. He was such a good friend to Hikari. And whatever was going on here, it wasn't drudging up those memories either.

"You know I wouldn't be here if she wasn't."

"Pity," Ishida said, his cold tone instantly souring Taichi's mood, "I was really hoping I could meet TK's girlfriend."

What?! What?! "What?!" He glared at Ishida. "Gir-Gir-Gir… what do you mean?! She's too young! Ten years too young to have a bo- a bo- a bo-"

"That's enough, you two," Sora's voice took on tone implying physical violence would follow as she stood up and stomped over to Taichi. He met her glare, knowing she wouldn't try anything. She was pretty hotheaded at times, but not violent. Her voice dropped to an angry whisper, "You are not fighting in front of TK-kun! He will not be caught between you two!" He gave an annoyed sigh. He wasn't going drag TK into anything, he just wanted to defend Hikari's honor and reputation. But there was no arguing with Sora when little kids were involved.

"Anyways," Ishida's voice sounded a little irritated, "it's getting dark." That was true. It was noticeably darker than it was when Taichi was talking to Koushiro. In fact, it was starting to look like evening, but there was no way that much time had passed.

"Aw, TK-kun's not afraid of the dark, is he?" Sora asked, smiling at the younger boy. Uh oh. Time for a distraction.

"Um, no, not since-" TK started.

"Not since ever," Taichi interrupted, "After all, he's not like you when-" He was rewarded with a flash of anger in her eyes. She was so easy bait; he didn't even bother thinking of how he was going to finish that sentence. And good thing too. The conversation was getting dangerously close to those memories he was trying to protect TK from. Within a split second, Sora had yanked his soccer ball from his hands and gave it one of her better kicks, sending it flying into a cluster of trees. Come to think of it, he was pretty darn lucky Sora was so nonviolent.

A loud smack and high pitched scream sounded. Sora's cocky grin swiftly changed into horror and she took off. Taichi followed, doing his absolute best not to laugh. Moments like this are what made pushing her buttons so worth it. From the corner of his eye, he could see even Ishida was holding back a laugh. TK just looked worried, and suddenly Taichi felt a spark of guilt given that he should've been taking the others to the cabin. But then again, even though he was seeing more of the darker shadows, they were just sitting there, being shadows. And he wasn't even certain he was seeing them; shadows didn't exactly come in one shade.

Sora's "victim" was a girl with long brown hair, lying face down in the ground. She had a long red dress with a poncho and brown gloves. A bit in front of her was a pink cowgirl hat, and past that was the ball. Taichi recalled her name was Tachikawa Mimi. She started to climb back to her feet and Taichi took a step back, earning a brief glare from Sora. You did the kick, Sora. You deal with her. With her hat back on, Mimi spun around, facing the group with a glare. "Who did that?!" Taichi nearly burst out laughing at her growl, or rather, squeak, "Which one of you brutes did that to me?!" Even Hikari's angry voice is more intimidating! This was going to be good.

"Um, sorry," Sora apologized, "I just kicked the ball. I-I didn't think there was anyone out here. I'm really sorry." Mimi glared at her and stomped over to the soccer ball.

"This'll teach you! You'll never see this ball again!" Mimi pulled her leg back and swung with a shout. Her foot struck and the ball… rolled about three inches. Taichi had to summon all of his willpower not to laugh at the sight. Mimi gave an angry squeak and stomped up, kicking the ball again. Somehow, that kick was even sadder. She clenched her fists and came at the ball with a running kick, but her foot ended up on top of the ball and she fell on to her rear. "First I get lost and now this! How could Mommy and Daddy do this to me?!" she cried out, "Build character?! Is that what they call it when a bunch of thugs beat up an innocent girl?!"

"But we didn't…" Sora started, "and I said I was sorry, and…" She looked at Taichi, obviously aware of how hard he was trying not to laugh. "This is your fault!" she hissed.

"You kicked the ball," he reminded.

"You always do this to me!"

"You let me."

"We're really, really sorry," TK's voice sounded. The little guy was right to her, trying to help her up. Or at least, that's what Taichi thought he was doing; a little hard to tell given how short TK was. "We couldn't even see you over here, I mean it's kinda dark here and-" He was cut off as Mimi suddenly yanked him into a hug.

"You're such a little gentleman," she said, "I bet you know how to treat a delicate lady like myself!" Taichi rolled his eyes. Once released, TK ran back to Taichi and Ishida, looking like he just met one of those annoying aunts who pinch cheeks. Mimi stood up and gave Sora a hard stare.

"There are better ways to get a girl's attention than throwing stuff at her!" Taichi's jaw dropped. Did he really just hear that? The look on Sora's face confirmed he did.

"I am a girl," she said, her voice dangerously quiet.

Mimi better think very carefully what she says next. Mimi's head tilted down, and then she looked back up with a smug expression.Wait… did she just look at Sora's chest?Taichi found himself making certain TK was close to him and Ishida. He'd seen enough television to know where this was going.

"Uh huh," Mimi's voice was filled with doubt. Sora's eyes widened and then narrowed.

"You're no better than me, there, princess!" she growled. Mimi looked looked like she was slapped.

"How dare you?!"

"Catfight time," Taichi found himself muttering. Sora wasn't a violent person, but girls like Mimi really set her off. He heard some small footsteps. TK was walking around a little, like he was looking for something. "You lose something?"

"The kitties you said were fighting," he answered, "They're not hurting each other, are they?" Uh, oh. Note to self: Watch what you say in front of the kid.

"Knock it off, already!" an impatient sounding Ishida shouted. Sora and Mimi both jumped and looked at him. Way to ruin the show, blondie! Taichi thought angrily, And to think I'd almost managed to forget he was here! "In case you haven't noticed," Ishida continued on, "it's starting to look like night!" Taichi's blood froze. Ishida was right. It almost looked like the sun was setting, despite the fact that it was still up in the sky. And looking around, he was seeing a lot of the darker shadows now. And it looked like they were all angling towards him. "Something is wrong here!"

"Hate to admit it, but Ishida's right," Taichi said, angry with himself, "Koushiro and Jou are in the boys' cabin waiting for the rest of us." He thought for a moment. "And I think we're all accounted for now."

"What do you mean, boys' cabin?!" Mimi interrupted in a suspicious tone, "Are you seriously suggesting that a pair of innocent girls like us lock ourselves in with you?!" Oh, for-

"Think about it, Mimi-san!" Sora countered, "We're the only girls here! It's either with them or alone! We'll be safer if we all stay together."

"Look at the shadows," he said, "Some are darker and they're really cold if you step in one."

"They're really creepy," TK said. Taichi caught his breath.

Dammit! TK! No! He looked at the small boy. Didn't look like he was remembering anything. That was a relief, though he still mentally kicked himself for his carelessness.

"Why's everything so dark?" Mimi whined, "I hate the dark."

"All the more reason for us to get to the cabin," Sora said. Another freezing wind blasted through. "What was that?!"

"A sign we need to move!" Ishida ordered.

"He's right," Taichi said, starting towards the cabin, "I felt one earlier, though it wasn't as bad! Let's go!" As he started running, he looked back to make sure everyone was following. Ishida was carrying TK and Sora was practically dragging Mimi. And the shadows from the trees were growing darker and darker. And starting to stretch towards him.

"I hate this place!" Mimi cried out.


Afterword: Catty Mimi is fun. This was actually the hardest part for me to write but the bit with Mimi made it all worth it.