I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!

Speech Key:

"The" – Oral/Normal Speech

'The' – Thoughts

PLEASE READ BEFORE BEGINNING!

AN: This isn't going to be very long since the way I'd originally planned it wouldn't have made much sense, so the only reason for this being short would be because of how the story is to be arranged. So please don't think too much of it!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!

Oh, and one more thing: As nice as it is to get the reviews, just telling me to update won't really do much good; I'd like it if there were some comments on what was liked or disliked about the chapter in particular. I'm not saying that I'll include details or certain things to cater to the reviewer/readers' preferences; no, I'll write as I have been so far as it is my story, though the categories in question don't belong to me. But it's nice to hear opinions on what was good about the chapter once in a while instead of just a vague 'please update' or something of the like, which really doesn't give any author much to work with; it can also get a little more that just redundant, making it seem as though the review was given just for the sake for sending in a review, giving no indication as to whether or not the reader even liked the chapter or the story.

-The Ninth Child-

xX-Unexpected Circumstances-Xx

"We landed on this road," Tai groaned, "But does this thing go anywhere?"

After the disappearance of the Forest region, the DigiDestined had landed on a lone road in the middle of a desert and were now walking on it, trying to find even a hint of civilization.

"Kari?" Kagome said quietly, lookig down at her sister, as sh walked by her side, "are you all right?"

"I'm," Kari coughed, "I'm fine. Don't worry."

Kagome stopped the young girl and knelt before her, putting a hand across Kari's forehead and comparing it to her own temperature only to find that her little sister was burning up. "Tai!" Kagome shouted worriedly. "It's Kari!"

"Kari?" Tai looked back to his sisters and found Kagome holding an exhausted Kari in her arms. "Kari!"

The group looked back tot eh small girl and suddenly found themselves worried when they saw the deep-red flush running across her cheeks.

"There's a rest stop just a little bit ahead," Biyomon pointed to a small shaded area a few kilometers from their position.

Kagome and Tai nodded as the sibling ran ahead, concern for their sister ruling over every other thing in their minds, with the rest of the group right behind them.

The~Ninth~Child

"She has a really high fever," Kagome said worriedly, placing a damp handkerchief on the young girl's forehead. Once they'd reached the rest stop, T.K offered his backpack as a pillow for Kari and laid the girl on the bench, using T.K's offered backpack. "We need to get her temperature down, and fast!"

"We need to get her out of the sun," Sora looked up into the sky, shielding her eyes from the bright heat.

"Don't worry," Gatomon said, ears wilting, "I won't leave you."

Kari opened her eyes and gave a weak nod to her Digimon. "Thanks…"

"Why didn't you say something?" Tai asked his sister gently. "If we knew sooner, we could've rested until you felt better!"

"You mad?" Kari asked hoarsely. "I-cough-didn't want to slow-cough-everyone down…"

"I'm not mad," Tai denied. "How could I be?" It was then as he watched his young sister that his eyes glazed over. 'It's like that time all over again…'

"Silly," Kagome stroked her sister's hair. "You wouldn't have slowed anyone down. Your health is more important…" she turned to Biyomon and Tentomon. "Biyomon, Tentomon, could I ask a favour of you?"

The two named Digimon looked to their partners who nodded to them before turning to the raven-haired girl and gave another nod.

"Can the two of your scout ahead and see if you can find some form of civilization?" Kagome asked. "Kari can't stay out in the sun or this desert any longer or her condition'll just get worse."

"You got it!" Biyomon nodded, taking flight.

"We'll be back in a jiffy!" Tentomon saluted before following the pink-bird Digimon. "Hey! Wait for me!"

That done, Tai and Izzy stepped away from the rest to speak with each other about their options.

"What do you think they're talkin' about?" T.K asked, looking to the auburn-haired genius.

"They're probably thinking of finding some way to help Kari," Sora answered.

"Or Tai's just blaming himself again," Kagome said softly.

The orange-haired girl the young blonde looked over to the raven-haired girl. "What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"This always happens," Kagome shook her head lightly. "Anytime Kari or I get sick or hurt, he'll beat himself up for not noticing sooner or for not being there for us. It's always been that way since—"

"We found something!" Biyomon shouted flying onto the scene.

"It's a huge city a few miles off from here!" Tentomon added. "We're saved!"

"Then let's go!" Tai nodded. He glanced at a feverish Kari. "We don't have any time to waste!"

"Go, Tentomon!" Izzy told to his partner.

"You, too, Biyomon!" Sora nodded to her partner, an idea popping into her head.

"Tentomon Digivolve to: Kabuterimon!"

"Biyomon Digivolve to: Birdramon!"

One by one they all piled onto the large insectoid Digimon with Birdramon above them, shielding them from the glaring sun.

"There it is!" Kabuterimon announced when they found themselves flying over a long bridge connecting to a huge urban city. "You wanted civilization; well, it doesn't get any more civilized than this!"

The humans of the group looked down at the large city and blinked in confusion as they gasped in awe.

"But his makes no sense!" Sora exclaimed, blinking. "That's New York City!" she pointed to the Empire State Building. "But that isn't," she added, seeing a different building she didn't recognize.

"That's Rome," Izzy clarified, "I recognize it from one o our geography lessons."

"And that's the Arc de Triomphe in Paris!" Kagome pointed out.

"They're all smooshed together like that theme park in Florida," Tai said.

"Except that place isn't deserted like it is here," Sora indicated the empty roads and quiet environment. "Look, there's not a single sign of life anywhere!"

Kari whimpered, slumping into her siblings. "Izzy, Kari's getting worse, we need to land!"

"Oh right!" Izzy snapped out of his astonishment at practically the entire world being jumbled into one place. He began looking around for a quiet place that would help Kari get better.

"Look!" Sora pointed to a lone chateau in the midst of a quiet garden a little bit away from the urban portion of the city. "That looks like a good place to land."

Kabuterimon landed and De-Digivolved back to Tentomon as the children slid off his back, Tai carrying Kari this time.

"There," the brown-haired preteen said, as he placed Kari into a bed and tucked her in. He turned to Kagome and Sora, the two of you stay here and look after her while the rest of us'll go an dsearch the house for some medicince to help."

The girls nodded as Sora pulled up a chair to Kari's bedside and Kagome sat beside her sister, stoking her hair. They watched as Tai, Izzy, and T.K ran out of the room with their partner to start scaouring the house for something that could help with the young girl's fever.

"Sora!" Biyomon said, carrying in a bowl. "I found this, can we use it?"

"Yeah," the orange-haired girl nodded. "Go and fill it up with cold water, at least with that we can try and bring down Kari's fever as much as we can manually."

"You, too," Kagome told Kudamon, "Go on and help Biyomon."

The fox-like Digimon nodded and zipped away after the pink-bird Digimon.

"Kari's gonna be okay, right?" Gatomon asked morosely.

"With enough rest," Sora nodded.

Just then, Biyomon and Kudamon came back into the room with the bowl the pink-bird have found now full with cool water.

"Okay, just put it over there and Kagome and I can take over from there," the orange-haired girl nodded to the nightstand beside Kagome.

The raven-haired girl took a handkerchief from her pouch and dipped it in the water, making sure to squeeze it out just enough before placing it over Kari's forehead; hoping that it would ease the young girl's condition even if a bit.

"Hey, how is she?" Tai asked, running back into the room, T.K, Izzy and their partners behind him.

"Not much better than before," Kagome shook her head. "But with enough rest, she should be fine and hopefully the fever will break."

"Did you find anything?" Sora asked. "There's water here, but so far, we haven't really found much to work with."

Tai shook his head. "The house is practically empty. There're boxes and jars, but they're all empty with nothing, not even a speck inside as if there never was anything to begin with." He placed ahand on Kari's head. "Listen, Kari needs the medicine and we can't find anything in here, so Izzy and I'll be going out into the city with Agumon and Tentomon to look for some medicine to help Kari; even if she's getting rest, the medcine'll help a lot."

"Then can I go with ya, Tai?" T.K asked. "I wanna help and I promise I won't get in the way!"

The brown-haired preteen shook his head. "No, I need you to stay here, T.K. You're may last line of defense here. The girls'll be busy trying to help Kari get better so you need to stay and protect them. What if another Dark Master barges in? They'll need all the help they can get."

T.K mulled the older boy's words around in his head for a moment before nodding determinedly. "You can count on me!"

"Thanks, buddy," Tai grinned lightly, patting the young boy on his head. He turned to his sister and placed a hand on her head as well. "Stay safe, the both you, 'kay?"

"We will," Sora nodded, "And don't worry, Kari's safe with us."

"I know," Tai nodded. He turned to Izzy, Tentomon, and Agumon. "Let's go!"

"Right!" the other three nodded, running after the brown-haired preteen.

"There they go," T.K said, watching their silhouettes until they disappeared in the distance.

"Hey, Kagome?" Sora asked, replacing the cloth on Kari's forehead after dampening it once more.

"Hm?" Kagome hummed.

"What were you going to say before?" the orange-haired girl asked. "About why Tai was so overprotective?"

T.K turned around at this, still staying by window to watch out for anyone coming their way, but looked to the girls to listen to what Kagome was saying.

Kagome's face grew somber. "I don't know the whole story because I was away at my Grandmama's house; she'd gotten sick and since Mama and Papa couldn't go to help Gandpapa out, I asked if I could go and they pulled me out of school so I could. But I know that Kari had gotten sick, she was about four, maybe five back then; but she's always had a weak body since she was little. Tai came home from school, and like any kid, all he wanted was to play outside."

"But?" Sora prompted gently.

"But he didn't want to leave Kari home alone," Kagome gave a sad smile, "So he took her with him. I don't know what happened next; only that Kari was taken to the hospital because she'd gotten worse. Tai blamed himself for what happened then and always made sure to be there for Kari and I no matter what it took."

"Did something happen to you, too?" Biyomon asked.

"What do mean?" Kagome looked at the pink-bird Digimon.

"I think she's asking if something similar happened to you for Tai to grow so protective," Kudamon clarified.

"You know," Kagome said, replacing the cloth on Kari's forehead, "I don't think I remember. But anyway, apparently Kari apologized to Tai for something that wasn't her fault, she apologized because she thought she disappointed him. But that's the way Kari's always been; she's always thinking of other before herself."

"Just like you," Sora smiled at the raven-haired girl.

"Huh?" Kagome tilted her head curirously.

"She's right," T.K nodded, "You're always taking care of everyone and making sure they're okay."

"And not once have you ever complained," Kudamon added.

"I think you rubbed off onto Kari," Biyomon observed.

"Uh-oh!" T.K exclaimed when he saw a large reddish-dragon Digimon fly overhead. "Guys we need to get out of here!"

"What?" Sora asked worriedly. "Why?"

"I don't know who they are, but those Digimon don't look so nice!" Patamon added, seeingan exact coy of the Digimon T.K had seen, only in grey.

"We'd better go, then," Kagome nodded. She picked Kari up into her arms and ran out after T.K, Sora, Patamon and Biyomon, Kudamon wrapped around her arm.

"I think you'd better digivolve," T.K looked to his partner as they ran out of the chateau.

"You got it!" Patamon nodded determinedly. "Patamon Digivolve to: Angemon!"

"Let's get inside," Sora ushered them into a nearby building, Angemon included.

"Hey!" Biyomon exlciamed. "Look, it's Tai and Izzy! They're headed straight for the house!"

"And they're about to get hit by one of those rocket things!" T.K added. "Angemon!"

"Hand of Fate!" the angel Digimon launched his attack, destroying the rocket that had nearly hit Tai, Izzy, and their partners.

"Hi there!" T.K popped his head through the bushes.

"Miss us?" Biyomon popped her head through next with Gatomon following soon after..

"You're okay!" tai said in relief.

"Actually, you look better than okay," Izzy grinned.

"T.K saw the Digimon headed our way so we thought we'd get out," Sora explained.

"And I lead and the way and took care of everyone, just like you told me to!" T.K piped up.

"Great job, buddy," Tai nodded proudly. "I never doubted you for one second."

Suddenly, a large gold-hued laser struck the ground before them, uprooting the concrete and asphalt.

"It's Machinedramon!" Izzy exclaimed.

"You can't rely on scrap metal if you want the job done right," the metal-mutant Digimon said in a maleovent, but hoarse voice.

"Take cover!" Tai ordered. Doing as they were told, they all ran into the building the latter half was hiding in before.

"That's right," they heard Machinedramon say, "scurry away, after all, the chase is only part of the fun! Giga Cannon!"

The next thing they knew, the entire building came crashing down and the children along with their Digimon were plunged into a dark void.

"Tai!" Kagome and a now conscious but weak Kari reached out of their brother.

"Kari! Kagome!" Tai shouted.

"What happened?" Kagome groaned, sitting up.

"You're awake!" T.K tackled the raven-haired girl back to the ground. "We were really worried!"

"I'm okay," Kagome assured the young boy, "But what happened? Where's Kari? And the others?"

"We got separated," Gatomon answered from where she sat by Kari, who lay fast asleep, "Again…"

"Kari hasn't woken up yet, though," T.K said glumly. "But Patamon's looking for any of the others…"

Kagome smiled at the young boy for his concern and rubbed his cheek comfortingly. "Don't worry; if she's sleeping, then that's a good thing."

"But I don't think sleeping this much is normal for humans, is it?" Gatomon asked when Kagome and T.K came to sit next to the dozing girl.

Kagome nodded. "It's true that humans don't sleep as much as Kari has, but you need to remember that she's sick. Human bodies need rest in order to get better and so we sleep a lot to get that rest so we can get better. We're just lucky that her fever didn't escalate, or we'd be dealing with a very sick Kari that wouldn't wake up for a while."

"But she'll wake up soon?" T.K asked.

"As long as we don't disturb her," Kudamon said from his position around Kagome's neck.

Just then a drop of water fell upon the young girl's cheek.

"I think that woke her," Gatomon's ears twitched when she heard a small moan come from her partner.

"Or she could just wake up now," Kudamon shook his head, watching as the young girl sat up.

"Hit the snooze button," Kari smiled lightly, "just one more time, please?"

"You've slept enough," T.K grinned. "How do you feel?"

"Here, let me take a look," Kagome placed a hand on Kari's forehead and found that her temperature had decreased dramatically, though she was still a tad warm. "You seem better, but we'd still better be careful."

"How long was I asleep?" the young girl asked.

"Let's just say that when you went to sleep I had nine lives," the feline Digimon drawled, "and now I have three."

Suddenly, just like before an image of Matt and a cave flashed before her eyes. 'Okay, so I'm getting used to this, but why that particular vision? Is something going to happen to the three of them? Oh I hope not…'

"Hey!" T.K looked up excitedly. "I hear Patamon!"

"That's good," Gatomon commented, "I wonder who he found."

"It's Biyomon and Sora," Kudamon announced.

"You're awake, Kari!" Sora said relieved. "And you're okay, too, Kagome! Thank goodness…"

"Did you find Tai and the others?" Kari asked.

Sora's smile dimmed and she shook her head. "I've tried, but I couldn't find anyone. My guess is that when he fell, Tai and Izzy must have landed somewhere else." Biyomon suddenly nudged her partner. "Oh, that's right. Look at what we found; it's the medicine Tai was going to bring you."

Sora placed the bottle in Kari's hands. "Keep it with you just in case we really do need it again. Or if you want, keep it as a reminder of just how much Tai loves you."

"This place has a lot of twists and turns!" Biyomon exclaimed. "It's like amaze down here, but I'm sure that if stick together, we'll find the others with no problem."

"Okay," Kari nodded. "I'll do my best to stay strong and keep up. After all, Tai would do the same for us, right?" she looked up at her sister.

Kagome smiled and ruffled the young girl's hair. "Right."

That said, the group began walking, keeping extra care to make sure they were all still together.

"This place is like a museum of the famous sewer systems of the world," Sora commented.

"I think I'll pass on the odor exhibit," Gatomon waved her paw in front of her nose.

"Too late for that!" Patamon said as he pinched his nose shut.

Kagome giggled. "But if you look at it, it looks like an entire city down here. Think about it, we could call it something like…Stink City?"

The group had a good laugh at that as the continued walking until Sora and Kagome stopped. The two preteens looked at each other and nodded. They both seemed to have heard the very same noise.

"What's wrong?" T.K asked.

"Hush," Kagome told the two young children. "Listen, do you hear that?"

"It sounds like it's coming from over there," Sora lead the group through an archway leading to a high platform above a large room full of Numemon hooked onto machines while a large black teddy bear Digimon stood in the centre of the room, cracking his whip to 'encourage' the small green Digimon to work harder.

"Isn't that Monzaemon?" T.K asked softly. "What happened to him? He used to be so cute and cuddly!"

"That's not Monzaemon, T.K," Patamon warned. "That's WaruMonzaemon and he's about as cuddly as a porcupine! His Bear Claw attack would give as much heartburn as his Heartbreak Attack!"

"He's torturing those poor Numemon down there," Biyomon said worriedly.

'There's got to be something we can do,' Kagome looked down at the small Digimon slaving away under the orders of the large black teddy bear Digimon.

Kari looked down at the scene with sad eyes. "We can't just leave them down there! We need to get them out! If we had more power…"

Suddenly, Kari collapsed, her body glowing with a bright white hue. "Kari!" Kagome gathered the young girl into her lap.

"What the—The DigiDestined!" WaruMonzaemon dropped his whip.

"Uh-oh! He knows we're here!" Sora exclaimed.

"Run!" Biyomon shouted, the group turning back to where they'd entered from.

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed!" WaruMonzaemon cackled as he followed after the children and their Digimon, never noticing that two of the group he was pursuing weren't there.

The~Ninth~Child

Kagome, Sora, and T.K all made faces at the bear Digimon that was after them. "Catch us if you can, you overgrown throw rug!"

A tick mark appeared on WaruMonzaemon's forehead. "I'll get you if it's the last thing I do!"

"Biyomon Digivolve to—Hey! What just happened?" Biyomon looked down at herself, surprised that she didn't digivolve as she'd hoped she would've.

"Patamon Digivolve to—Me? Uh-oh…" Patamon flew faster behind the group when he, too, realized that he wouldn't be able to digivolve.

"You must be low on energy!" Sora exclaimed.

"Then what do we do now?" T.K asked.

"Running would be a good idea!" Kagome answered.

'I hope Kari's doing a lot better than we are now!' Kagome thought frantically.

The group ran until they hit a dead end and turned around only to find WaruMonzaemon advancing upon them, his arm raised. "Bear Claw!" He shot his hand at the DigiDestined and their partners, but to his dismay, they only dodged under him, leaving his arm embedded in the wall.

"Come on!" Sora shouted. "Let's go while we have a chance!"

Kudamon readied himself to attempt to digivolve when Kagome stopped running, a pulse running through her. "Kagome?" he looked at his partner worriedly.

"What's going on?" Kagome whispered, feeling the pulse run through her body over and over again as the image of Matt and the cave flashed before her eyes. "Matt? There's something wrong with him?"

"Kagome?" T.K asked, when he noticed the raven-haired girl just standing there, eyes glazed over. "Kagome what's goin' on? Sora, there's somethin' wrong with Kagome!"

"What?" the orange-haired girl made her way to the raven-haired girl. "Kagome, what's the matter? We don't have time to just stand around like this!" She tried pulling on her arm, but to no avail, it seemed that Kagome was rooted to that spot.

"Look at her eyes!" Patamon pointed out suddenly.

At this, the group turned to look at the raven-haired girl's icy-blue orbs, only to find them blank and glowing brightly. "Kagome?" Kudamon asked gently.

"Digivolve, Kudamon," Kagome said in a voice that sounded layered and mature. "We must go…"

"But where—" Kudamon tried asking, but was cut off by the raven-haired girl.

"To where the place where he resides and despair rules over his mind," Kagome spoke as though in a trance, "That is our destination."

Helpless, Kudamon looked at T.K, Sora, and their partners for help. "What do I do?" he asked softly.

Sora quickly glanced at WaruMonzaemon and saw him still attempting to get his arm out from the wall, which gave them a little more time to spare. She turned back to their raven-haired companion and her Digimon. "I think whatever is happening to Kagome has to do with that gift that dragon gave her," Sora mused.

"We know she can feel auras," Biyomon added. "But what's going on with her now?"

"I don't know," Sora shook her head, "But it's probably important." She looked at the fox-like Digimon and nodded. "Digivolve and take her to where she wants to go; it's probably the only way to get our Kagome back."

Kudamon nodded determinedly. "Kudamon Digivolve to: Reppamon!"

Reppamon knelt down and watched as his partner climbed up into his back, grasping his rope-collar tightly. "Go," the raven-haired girl said softly.

And with that said, Reppamon zipped off, heading straight for another spot on the wall WaruMonzaemon had his arm stuck in. "Sky Fissure!" the blow of his tail to the bricks, blasted the wall apart, leaving behind a large enough gap for Reppamon to sprint through.

'I hope you know what you're doing, Kagome…' Sora thought, looking back towards the hole in the wall as she, T.K, Patamon, and Biyomon resumed their feeling from the giant black bear Digimon.

Ciao,

TsukiyoTenshi