Author's Note: I don't know much about the Japanese language, but I like my stories to sound authentic. I'm trying out suffixes here, and if I totally mutilate them, just ignore it, okay? Thanks much. (:
December, 2003
I shut the door quietly behind me. It's late, though not past my curfew.
"Hikari-chan, who drove you home tonight?" my father asks. He's still awake, watching the news and puffing a cigarette.
"Yamato," I answer, fumbling to get my homework out of my backpack. Should have done it earlier, but oh well.
"Do I know his parents? What's his other name?"
Honestly, parents forget so easily. "Ishida, Dad," I sigh. "Takeru's big brother." Don't tell me you've forgotten Takeru. Have you forgotten Taichi too?
"Oh, I remember Takeru. He's…." My father trails off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
Yeah, that's him, I think as I retreat to my room. Try not to look at the empty bed. Try no to look at the dirty socks, now coated with a thin layer of dust. Try not to cry.
But I do, before I even reach my 3rd Algebra problem. The tears make the ink run, and I throw the paper away. Forget homework. I crawl into bed without getting changed, still wearing my makeup and shoes.
It's okay, Hikari. Just cry.
I never did that homework. It was the third time this week that'd happened, but I didn't care.
I pass Miyako in the hall, but we just nod hello. Neither of us talks much anymore. Not that it's been that long…only a month Thursday. Not that I'm counting.
Koushiro's a grade up, so I only see him after school and in the Digiworld. Sometimes, like on the days I visit the guidance counselor, or when I get in trouble for falling asleep in class, we all walk home together.
Daisuke is gone. Like Takeru. Like Taichi.
I count on Yamato a lot, I guess. We're going through the same thing.
Like I said, things haven't been like this that long. Before, I was doing well. A sophomore in high school, I had friends, I had family, decent grades, and something most kids don't have—the Digiworld. The Digiworld needed us to fight for it, keep it safe from those who wanted to rule it (the power-hungry obsessive ones). Most are happy under the rule of our kind leader. Our job (and our Digimon's) was playing bodyguard. It was classic superhero-series work: Bad guys attack, we struggle, good guys (us) win. Attack, struggle, win, repeat.
Then we got word of a plotted attempt on our protected's life and decided to take no chances. After lots of talking, Taichi, Takeru and Daisuke were to go. Iori wanted to go, but in the end he stayed. I'm glad. We need as many strong people we can get, and I'm sure not one of them. Somehow Iori's become one of the strongest we've got.
The point is, we haven't seen or heard from those three in almost a month.
"Seems like everyone wants to rule the Digiworld these days, doesn't it?" Takeru said before he left. My mouth smiles, but my eyes stay emotionless.
"Hikari!"
"What?!" I yelp, my voice cracking. I cough.
My teacher frowns at me. "Algebra homework," he says. "Do you have it?"
I look down at my desk. "No."
"This isn't like you, Hikari-san," he sighs. I know he's thinking about the parent-teacher conference I'll be going to next. I'm dreading it. I don't want to make it any harder on my already-stressed parents, but I can't help it.
"I'm so glad you could come," says my guidance counselor (would you believe I don't know her name, after all those hours I've spent in her office?) to my parents. I don't hear it as she introduces herself, because I'm worrying about the look on my parent's faces. Tuning people out has become my specialty.
"Hikari-san has been displaying unusual behavior recently," she says. "Falling asleep in class, not doing her homework, and when I meet with her she won't talk." Don't you just love the way they talk about you like you're not there? Miyako's peeking in the window, her headphones on so loud I can see them vibrating when she holds still.
An old blue jeep pulls up behind her. It beeps four times before she turns around.
"Any ideas as to what the cause of this is?" asks the guidance counselor. My parents hesitate before my mother speaks.
"Our son, Taichi, has been missing for some time," she says, and I know she's having a hard time getting the words out. "He left for the weekend with some friends and…"
"They were Hikari's friends too," my father adds, by way of finishing the sentence. "And she was very close to her brother."
Absolutely, I think. A few hundred times I've been in trouble, and guess who always came to help.
Yamato's in the blue jeep, I know because the top is down. Miyako's talking to him. I wonder what she's saying. Wait for me, I think. I'll be out of here as soon as possible.
The adults have stopped talking. They're looking at me, I can tell. I keep looking out the window.
"Perhaps we should continue this alone," guidance counselor suggests. My parents nod.
"Be home for dinner," my father tells me as I grab my pack and dash out the door.
"How'd it go?" Miyako asks right away.
I shrug. "They said I could go, so I did. Hardly anything happened."
"Are you okay?" Yamato asks.
"As I'll ever be, under the circumstances," I say dryly. He doesn't push it, but I know I don't fool anyone.
Miyako gives me a "should I stay?" look. I shrug again, and she takes off with a falsely cheerful "see you later!"
"I wish you could relax," I say to Yamato as I hop in the passenger side of the car. He pulls it out of neutral and we drive down the street, not going anywhere in particular.
"They would want you to be able to be happy," he says, eyes fixed on the road.
"You're talking like they're dead," I say, before I start crying. Because I know that's what we fear.
We stop for a red light, and I just get out. "Bye!" Yamato calls as I jog to the sidewalk. I know where I am—we haven't gone more than a mile.
When I get home there are three messages for me on the machine. The first was Miyako, "just wanted to check on you. Call me if you need to."
The next was Koushiro. "Plan A has failed. Call me to discuss initiation of Plan B." In case you didn't know, Plan A was the Digimon trying to find tracks from our friends. Plan B means more of us goes the same way and hope for some signs. But if Plan A's failed, Plan B doesn't stand much of a chance.
The last message was from my parents. "Don't make any plans for tonight. We need to talk to you about the conference today."
"Just wonderful," I mutter, grabbing a box of crackers and go lie on the roof. I'll stare at the sky until my parents get back.
I fall asleep up there. When I wake up, it's too cold and much darker. I hurry down to my home.
"There you are, Hikari-chan!" my mother exclaims. "We were worried!"
"I'm sorry," I apologize, "I fell asleep on the roof."
They apparently decide not to question that. "We wish you would talk to us about what you're going through," she continues. "I know it must be hard on you." I sit down and am quiet.
"The guidance counselor says you don't talk to her either," my father says. "Who do you talk to? Miyako?"
"Sometimes," I say. "Sometimes I talk to Yamato-kun." I stop, and wonder what they think of this. I should be talking to them about Taichi and them being gone, but for one thing, I feel guilty about know more than they do. I mean, to them there are few reasons for him disappearing.
One might be he was kidnapped, but really, Taichi's 18 now. The odds are against that. He could have run away, but he was too happy. Or at least seemed so. Sadly, the likeliest of them all is he met up with a deranged person who…well, you can guess.
I'm hoping they're really just lost in the Digiworld, even though that's not probable. They knew where they were going, they had their Digimon with them, and they were the stronger ones.
I should have gone, I'm thinking now. It wasn't even that difficult a mission. When I think about it, it seems stupid of us. Two of us could have handled it.
No one even asked you if you wanted to go, I think. And they wouldn't let Iori go. Do the others know something I don't?
If I had gone, Taichi would have found me by now.
The phone rings. I jump and realize I've been quiet for a long time. My mother answers the phone. "Hikari-chan, it's Koushiro," she says, holding it out.
"Hello?" I say.
"Forget plan B," he says urgently. "Come to the computer room at the middle school."
"What? Why?"
"Taichi's come back!"
I nearly drop the phone. "Be right there!"
My father's looking at me. "I'd rather you didn't go out tonight, Hikari-chan," he says.
"Dad, it's really important," I say. "I'll be back before curfew, I promise."
Just as I think he's going to order me to stay, he says, "is this about Taichi?"
"Yes."
He's quiet for a moment. "Go ahead."
Giving him a look of great thanks, I rush out the door. Yamato is conveniently waiting for me, Sora with him. I sit in the back and am quiet, feeling uncomfortable in the silence. The ride seems much longer than the approximate 2 minutes it takes to drive to the school.
I have yet to see my brother in a sadder state. His clothes are torn, his lip is bleeding. He's crying and cradling his wrist as Jyou bandages it. Miyako's using a tissue to wipe the blood from his cracked and dry lips.
"Taichi!" I whisper, running over. Closer up, I can see one of his eyes won't open quite right. I rest my hand on his head and hug him as gently as I can, in case he's hurt somehow else.
A rapping breaks the tense almost-quiet, and I look up. Koushiro is hunched over the keyboard of our old Digiport computer, typing furiously. Why we're at this old place, I don't know.
An hour later, and we're still there, trying to be patient as Taichi comes to his senses. Koushiro finally stops typing and comes to sit with us. Us—all except Mimi, Daisuke and Takeru.
"Taichi-kun," Sora says softly. "Can you hear me?"
His eyes shift over to her, and he reaches out with his good arm. She squeezes his fingertips and smiles. "Don't worry. You're okay."
"Daisuke," he says hoarsely. "Takeru—" and looks apologetically at Yamato "I left—" He's caught in a fit of coughing, and drinks some water.
"Whatever happened, it's okay," Yamato says.
"Maybe we should take you home," says Iori, observing us all.
"What'll I tell my parents?" I say. "What happened?
Miyako sighs. "Iori and I were at the fortress, and they just snuck up on us, coming from the desert. All of a sudden Biyomon came flying in, and we all ran out…. Agumon was with him. We left him with the other Digimon."
"Tell your parents the truth, just leave things out," Iori suggests.
"Simple enough," I say.
"Okay, Taichi-kun," Sora says to him, "think you can make it home?"
It takes Yamato, Jyou and Sora all together to carry him out to Yamato's car. He takes up the whole back seat, lying down like a ripped-up rag doll, so Jyou will drive Sora home as well as Miyako and Iori. Koushiro is on the computer again.
Yamato notices how nervous I am as he drives. "I would think you would be really happy," he says.
I am, I think. I am jumping for joy inside. But don't you see?—he's back, but he's alone and hurt. What's happened to Takeru and Daisuke? He said "I left—" does that mean he abandoned them? Were they too wounded to make it back? Or did they think they could handle it themselves? What if they couldn't?
All I say is, "I told my father I'd be back by curfew and it's past midnight."
"Won't they be glad Taichi's back, though?"
"Yeah," I say, and a smile falls over my lips. "If I'm ever late, this is the one time I think they'll let it go."
From the back, Taichi groans. "We're almost there," I say, speaking as you would to a sick child.
When we get to the complex, Taichi insists he can walk. We help him all the way up to our apartment. I ring the bell.
My parents gasp when they open the door. "Taichi-kun!" they exclaim. My mother hugs him, and I think she's crying.
We take him right into our room, and throw back the dusty blankets. He lies down with his clothes still on. It begins to rain as he falls asleep, all within 5 minutes.
Yamato curses under his breath. "I left the top down on my jeep," he says. "Excuse me, but I've got to go." My parents acknowledge this with a slight nod.
"I'll help you," I offer, none to eager to explain how I suddenly brought home my missing-for-four-weeks brother. On our way out I grab a towel, with the feeling we'll need it.
Outside it's more than raining—it's pouring. Yamato's car is becoming a bathtub as we hurry to roll the top over the bars and tie it down. We're both soaked.
"Thanks," Yamato says. I hand him the towel, as if it'll do any good. From the shelter of the inside, I watch him drive away. Now that Tai's asleep, I know I'll have to face my parents when I go back upstairs.