Alter Ego
* * *
Part II: Revalations
OR
Get DOWN, Daisuke!
* * *
\\"Daisuke, you need to trust me!" Daisuke stared at the figure before him. The Kaiser, demanding that Daisuke help him. "Dai-chan, I need your help! He's not me! I need you to trust me! Can't you do that for me? Think of your Faith in me, our Friendship, our Love! Remember...I need you." His eyes were pleading, plaintive. And then they shifted, and the Kaiser raised his whip.
"It's a shame I couldn't lure you...I'll just have to destroy you, Dai-chan!" The name was mocking now. "You could have joined me, but now I'll kill you!" Daisuke dodged to the side as the whip sliced past him.
"Ken-chan, why did you go back?"
'I didn't...'
"I want the power!" Daisuke shook his head. Why had he gotten two answers? There was a solution here, he just needed to find it-//
"Kaiser, Ken, which one?"
"Daisuke, your little freaky blue guy is in a panic. He keeps talking about the 'Digiworld.'"
"Huh!?" Daisuke instinctively slammed his alarm clock, and heard the double giggle of Chibimon and Jun.
"Daisuke! Ken called, and there's something wrong in the Digital World" Daisuke awoke completely, and snatched up the Digimon.
"Where's everyone meeting?" Jun smiled.
"Actually, I said they could meet in your room at five." She turned and waltzed to the door. "Ciao!" Daisuke glanced at the clock, and did a double-take.
"Four fifty-five?! Gotta clean, gotta clean!" Chibimon looked on and laughed.
* * *
"Name?"
"Julienne Maxis."
"Anything to declare?"
"No."
"Purpose of visit?" The woman's eyes glazed over before she responded to the customs officer's question.
"Find Izumi Koushiro."
"Um...Okay. Length of stay?"
"Indefinate." There was a pause.
"Miss, you can't just-" Several thousand dollars were shoved at him. "Bribes? Miss, you-" Another twelve thousand in large bills. "Ah. Have a nice stay in Japan!"
* * *
"Daisuke, your friend Kari is here!"
"Send her-gasp-in!" Hikari slipped into Daisuke's room and stared at it.
"Daisuke-your room?"
"It's never been this clean!" Chibimon piped up.
"Heh-heh-heh. He's just joking. So, Hikari, are you free on Friday?"
"Actually, no." The response was somewhat cold.
"Yeah, well, neither am I!"
"O-kay..." Daisuke was beaming, so Hikari ventured in. "So who's the luck-"
"Ken."
"Does he know about this, or were you going to surprise him?"
"Daisuke, honey, your-friend-Ken is here!" Daisuke's grin, if it was possible, got larger.
"Gotta go, Kari. Coming!" Hikari stared after him.
"Twelve of us, and six of us have paired off homosexually. Who'd have thought?" A moment later, Daisuke appeared in his room, dragging Ken by the arm.
"Ken-chan, I'm glad to see you-"
"Daisuke! There's some more of your friends here!"
"Send them in!" Daisuke dragged Ken across the room, and sat him down on his bed. "There." He then sat down next to Ken and snuggled up next to the other boy. Hikari tried to restrain herself from giggling. She failed.
* * *
Julienne walked into a Tokyo library, and approached the Japan phone books.
"Tokyo, Kyoto, Odaiba...There's way too many of these. I'll start with-Odaiba. As good as any. Let's see...Izumi. Not that many...Ah! Koushiro Izumi: Odaiba Community College." Ripping out the page from the book, she left the library.
* * *
"Listen, we're all here because of several items. First, Gatomon had terrible premonitions about the Digital World. Right, Gato?" The cat Digimon nodded.
"Right. I don't know what, but it feels like something terrible has happened there." Daisuke, latched tightly onto his boyfriend's arm, took the time to ask a question.
"Hikari-chan, did you call this meeting for a reason so insignificant that it's almost ludicrous?" Hikari prepared herself for a long arguement when Daisuke made a sharp noise of surprise which melted into one of pleasure. Miyako, seated next to Daisuke's bed, edged away from the redhead, who, after having been kissed by Ken, was now pinning the boy to the mattress.
"I vote we turn a hose on them," Iori stated flatly.
"*Down*, Daisuke!" Taichi snapped, and glanced smugly at the others as Ken and Daisuke sheepishly disengaged. "You know, we're not going to be able to leave those two alone if we go into the Digiworld."
"Ah, let them do whatever they want. When we were their age-"
"Mimi!" Sora nearly screeched, slamming a hand over the woman's mouth. Koushiro, sitting next to the window, appeared to have diverted all blood flow to his cheeks.
"I believe that qualifies as more infrmation than any of us need," he stated. "And besides, we're getting off track. The real reason we've called you here is that we've lost all possible contact with the Digital World."
"What do you mean?" Taichi had asked this, his face pale.
"It's what I said. I can't find the Digiport, and neither can Miyako. Since we can't find it, we can't go there." The group fell silent, worrying about this new development.
"So what are we going to *do* about it?" Daisuke asked boldly.
* * *
The man appeared to be writing a computer program, except...the symbols were unlike those anyone in the world used. His mouth was a thin line of concentration, and occasionally, he would mumble something to himself.
"Third vector...gravity constant-no, the other value..." Suddenly, he stopped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I like a challenge."
"But-you told me how powerful-"
"Enough! We're doing this. Remember, unless Perseverence joins the fight, they'll never know, and we will win. So there's nothing more to worry about. Besides, this-" There was a moment of typing, "Will take care of them all." The man began to chuckle, and his laughter grew until he was laughing maniacally.
* * *
"I'll demonstrate with a computer; Daisuke, where's yours?"
"Um, in my parents' room." Koushiro frowned.
"I've got my laptop," Ken offered, trying to extricate himself from the embrace Daisuke had subjected him to. "Dai-chan, listen, I like you quite a lot, but I have to get to my computer." Daisuke pouted, and separated from the blue-haired boy. Ken grabbed his laptop, which had ended up behind the bed, and turned it on. "In just a moment, it'll be booted up and I'll try to-ah!" He pulled his Digivice from his side, and pointed it at the computer. "Watch; Digipor-" He broke off, and pushed the computer off his lap. His eyes wide, he turned around and buried his head into Daisuke's chest.
"Ken-chan?" Daisuke asked quietly, wrapping his arms comfortingly around the panicked boy. "Are you all right?" Ken didn't respond, only started to sob softly. Hikari stood up cautiously and picked up the computer. A moment later, she carefully placed it on the ground. She walked calmly over to Miyako and entwined her own hand with her girlfriend's.
"The computer contains something like the Digiport, but it connects to the world of Darkness," she said simply, and then leaned her head against Miyako's shoulder.
"What?" Takeru asked incredulously. "But if none of us can get to the Digital World, why-"
"It's trying to call me back. It misses me. It needs me to sustain it." Ken's voice was muffled by Daisuke's shirt, but still audible. "It's been calling me, and now it wants me to return." Daisuke awkwardly continued to comfort Ken, holding him protectively.
* * *
"Hello, may I please see Izumi Koushiro?" Julienne stared blankly at the blond man before her. He shook his head.
"He's my roommate; he's out right now." Suddenly, he was held against the doorframe by superhuman strength.
"Where did he go?" The man shook his head desperately.
"I don't know!" She growled and threw him into the hallway.
"Useless!" She stormed over to the phone, and pressed the play button on the answering machine.
**Hi, Koushiro, we're calling a meeting. There's big trouble, and we need your help. Meet at the Motimoya's house; in case you don't have it, it's 4-2 Oak Street...** She smiled and hurried out the door, not caring that the man sprawled in the hallway had retreated to another room to call the police.
* * *
Ken amd Daisuke had retreated to the kitchen, where Jun was helping her brother comfort the broken boy. The others were anxiously trying to formulate a plan.
"Listen, there has to be something fundamentally wrong with the Digiworld, or Gatomon wouldn't have reacted so badly, and we would be able to at least see the Digiport," Koushiro concluded.
"But why could Ken reach the Dark World when none of us could get any?" Taichi asked.
"It could be a recent development. We need to evaluate it before-" Yamato began.
"I think we should travel there to see what's going on!" Taichi announced. Yamato groaned.
"Tai, we don't need to go rushing into danger!" he snapped back. Taichi stood up and half-yelled into Yamato's face.
"Listen, Mr. 'Let's Wait Around Until We Know Exactly *What* Is Trying to Kill Us,' I don't need to listen to your overly-cautious advice. If I need to listen to a whiny paranoid freak, I'll ask Jyou for his opinion!"
"Tai!" Jyou snapped, his eyes half-tearing. Yamato stood up to face him.
"Tai, just be quiet, all right?"
"What are you going to do if I don't?"
"This." Yamato leaned forward and kissed the brunette on the lips. It was only a second, but when he broke off, Taichi was panting. Yamto's eyes were hopeful, full of tension until Taichi spoke.
"I hope you don't think you can just kiss me and make up for everything," he said, smiling. Yamato looked at him, a goofy grin on his face.
"Does that mean you liked it?"
"Would I do this if I didn't?" Taichi responded, kissing the other man deeper than before, and they slowly sank to the floor.
"Right," Koushiro said briskly, looking at the rest of the group. "Let's move on. Now, it seemed like a good idea to check things out. We should only have one or people do it. Ken shouldn't go; the Dark Ocean et al makes him nervous. By association, Daisuke should stay here also. The same goes for Hikari and Miyako, and I think we should let Taichi and Yamato work things out right here. Sora, Mimi, could you try to remind them that there are eight other people here? Takeru, Iori, how about the two of you head into the Dark World. Please take your Digimon with you. If you have tom DNA Digivolve, but please don't rush into anything."
* * *
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"Hello?" The woman peered out at Julienne.
"Hello. I am here to see Izumi Koushiro," she responded blandly. The woman brightened.
"Oh, you're one of Daisuke's friends! It's down the hall there. Daisuke's not there, he and his friend are having a crisis, but the others won't mind you just going in. Do you have one of those stuffed animals, too? I think that they're-" Mrs. Motimoya slipped to the floor when Julienne applied a sleeper hold she didn't even know she knew. She walked forward and knocked on the door to what she gathered was where Koushiro was. It opened, and she stepeed through. All conversation ceased, and a redhead looked up at her.
"Can we help you?"
"Who is Izumi Koushiro?" The redhead stood up.
"That's me."
"I bring a message from my master. ' I have dealt with Gennai, and you can never return.'" She turned to leave, but Koushiro grabbed her arm.
"Who are you? Who sent you?" Julienne's glazed eyes flickered, and she stumbled.
"Can't-remember...No-HE remembers, and does not forgive, a Roman name...German? I-" She collapsed onto the ground soundlessly.
* * *
"Ken, it's going to be all right," Daisuke protested, holding his hands on either side of Ken's face. He leaned forward and kissed him on the nose. Ken's worried frown twitched into a smile.
"What was that?"
"I kissed your nose," Daisuke replied, and then kissed Ken on the lips. The kiss deepened, and the two of them pressed closer. Jun stood up from the other side of the table and discreetly slipped out of the kitchen. She ran into Jyou, who was hurrying into the kitchen.
"Oh, gomen, Jun. Are there and cold compresses in there?"
"Uh...yeah. In the free-" But Jyou was gone. Jun simply stood in one place, watching as Jyou hurried back to Daisuke's room, followed by two blushing teenagers. "Why doesn't anyone around here tell me what's going on?"
* * *
They had placed Julienne onto Daisuke's bed, where she was now laying. She tossed and turned, and every so often, her voice became audible.
"Where'm I? Japan...but...Said something about Julius-? Ides..." Jyou entered and placed the cold compress on her forehead.
"She's not up yet, is she?" There was a general negative, and then Daisuke and Ken came in, their hands firmly linked. "I'm fairly confident that this isn't anything serious, although most of it is due to exhaustion. She's an American, I think, and someone compelled her to make this trip." There was a faint moan, and Julienne moved her hand to her forehead.
"Where am I?" Her voice was weak and nervous, and Jyou hurried to her side.
"Odaiba, Japan. Someone told you to come here; do you remember who?"
"Ceesar; he remembers..." she began, and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't remember...since when do I speak Japanese?" Koushiro stepped forward.
"You were hypnotized, I believe, and the person who persuaded you to come here must have implanted subconscious knowledge of the language in your mind."
"Koushiro, those aren't even words!" Daisuke cried, but was cut off by a kiss from Ken, which intensified as usual. The two slid to the ground, still kissing.
"Guys, can you ignore your hormones for just ten minutes?" Hikari proposed. When he didn't respond, she just sighed and sat back against Miyako. "Please don't mind them, Miss..."
"Call me Julie."
"Yeah, Julie, they tend to forget there's other people in the room."
"Right," she responded, smiling faintly. "I only wish I could help you more..." She trailed off, and her eyes became thoughtful. Suddenly, she said, "Cæsar!"
"What?" She began to pace the room.
"He said that Cæsar remembers, and does not forgive. I know it's important, there's something I'm missing...something about Japan, or Japanese..."
"The Japanese equivalent of Cæsar is Kaiser," Ken said softly.
* * *
"See? They are stronger than before!"
...Are they?...
"Of course! There are emotional connections-"
...They only weaken them...
"What?"
...If one dies, his partner is stricken, and will be that much easier to destroy...
"That's not true!"
...You know it is...
...It's a shame...I almost like this batch...
"Then why destroy them?"
...Because it is my-our-destiny...
* * *
* * *
Part II: Revalations
OR
Get DOWN, Daisuke!
* * *
\\"Daisuke, you need to trust me!" Daisuke stared at the figure before him. The Kaiser, demanding that Daisuke help him. "Dai-chan, I need your help! He's not me! I need you to trust me! Can't you do that for me? Think of your Faith in me, our Friendship, our Love! Remember...I need you." His eyes were pleading, plaintive. And then they shifted, and the Kaiser raised his whip.
"It's a shame I couldn't lure you...I'll just have to destroy you, Dai-chan!" The name was mocking now. "You could have joined me, but now I'll kill you!" Daisuke dodged to the side as the whip sliced past him.
"Ken-chan, why did you go back?"
'I didn't...'
"I want the power!" Daisuke shook his head. Why had he gotten two answers? There was a solution here, he just needed to find it-//
"Kaiser, Ken, which one?"
"Daisuke, your little freaky blue guy is in a panic. He keeps talking about the 'Digiworld.'"
"Huh!?" Daisuke instinctively slammed his alarm clock, and heard the double giggle of Chibimon and Jun.
"Daisuke! Ken called, and there's something wrong in the Digital World" Daisuke awoke completely, and snatched up the Digimon.
"Where's everyone meeting?" Jun smiled.
"Actually, I said they could meet in your room at five." She turned and waltzed to the door. "Ciao!" Daisuke glanced at the clock, and did a double-take.
"Four fifty-five?! Gotta clean, gotta clean!" Chibimon looked on and laughed.
* * *
"Name?"
"Julienne Maxis."
"Anything to declare?"
"No."
"Purpose of visit?" The woman's eyes glazed over before she responded to the customs officer's question.
"Find Izumi Koushiro."
"Um...Okay. Length of stay?"
"Indefinate." There was a pause.
"Miss, you can't just-" Several thousand dollars were shoved at him. "Bribes? Miss, you-" Another twelve thousand in large bills. "Ah. Have a nice stay in Japan!"
* * *
"Daisuke, your friend Kari is here!"
"Send her-gasp-in!" Hikari slipped into Daisuke's room and stared at it.
"Daisuke-your room?"
"It's never been this clean!" Chibimon piped up.
"Heh-heh-heh. He's just joking. So, Hikari, are you free on Friday?"
"Actually, no." The response was somewhat cold.
"Yeah, well, neither am I!"
"O-kay..." Daisuke was beaming, so Hikari ventured in. "So who's the luck-"
"Ken."
"Does he know about this, or were you going to surprise him?"
"Daisuke, honey, your-friend-Ken is here!" Daisuke's grin, if it was possible, got larger.
"Gotta go, Kari. Coming!" Hikari stared after him.
"Twelve of us, and six of us have paired off homosexually. Who'd have thought?" A moment later, Daisuke appeared in his room, dragging Ken by the arm.
"Ken-chan, I'm glad to see you-"
"Daisuke! There's some more of your friends here!"
"Send them in!" Daisuke dragged Ken across the room, and sat him down on his bed. "There." He then sat down next to Ken and snuggled up next to the other boy. Hikari tried to restrain herself from giggling. She failed.
* * *
Julienne walked into a Tokyo library, and approached the Japan phone books.
"Tokyo, Kyoto, Odaiba...There's way too many of these. I'll start with-Odaiba. As good as any. Let's see...Izumi. Not that many...Ah! Koushiro Izumi: Odaiba Community College." Ripping out the page from the book, she left the library.
* * *
"Listen, we're all here because of several items. First, Gatomon had terrible premonitions about the Digital World. Right, Gato?" The cat Digimon nodded.
"Right. I don't know what, but it feels like something terrible has happened there." Daisuke, latched tightly onto his boyfriend's arm, took the time to ask a question.
"Hikari-chan, did you call this meeting for a reason so insignificant that it's almost ludicrous?" Hikari prepared herself for a long arguement when Daisuke made a sharp noise of surprise which melted into one of pleasure. Miyako, seated next to Daisuke's bed, edged away from the redhead, who, after having been kissed by Ken, was now pinning the boy to the mattress.
"I vote we turn a hose on them," Iori stated flatly.
"*Down*, Daisuke!" Taichi snapped, and glanced smugly at the others as Ken and Daisuke sheepishly disengaged. "You know, we're not going to be able to leave those two alone if we go into the Digiworld."
"Ah, let them do whatever they want. When we were their age-"
"Mimi!" Sora nearly screeched, slamming a hand over the woman's mouth. Koushiro, sitting next to the window, appeared to have diverted all blood flow to his cheeks.
"I believe that qualifies as more infrmation than any of us need," he stated. "And besides, we're getting off track. The real reason we've called you here is that we've lost all possible contact with the Digital World."
"What do you mean?" Taichi had asked this, his face pale.
"It's what I said. I can't find the Digiport, and neither can Miyako. Since we can't find it, we can't go there." The group fell silent, worrying about this new development.
"So what are we going to *do* about it?" Daisuke asked boldly.
* * *
The man appeared to be writing a computer program, except...the symbols were unlike those anyone in the world used. His mouth was a thin line of concentration, and occasionally, he would mumble something to himself.
"Third vector...gravity constant-no, the other value..." Suddenly, he stopped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I like a challenge."
"But-you told me how powerful-"
"Enough! We're doing this. Remember, unless Perseverence joins the fight, they'll never know, and we will win. So there's nothing more to worry about. Besides, this-" There was a moment of typing, "Will take care of them all." The man began to chuckle, and his laughter grew until he was laughing maniacally.
* * *
"I'll demonstrate with a computer; Daisuke, where's yours?"
"Um, in my parents' room." Koushiro frowned.
"I've got my laptop," Ken offered, trying to extricate himself from the embrace Daisuke had subjected him to. "Dai-chan, listen, I like you quite a lot, but I have to get to my computer." Daisuke pouted, and separated from the blue-haired boy. Ken grabbed his laptop, which had ended up behind the bed, and turned it on. "In just a moment, it'll be booted up and I'll try to-ah!" He pulled his Digivice from his side, and pointed it at the computer. "Watch; Digipor-" He broke off, and pushed the computer off his lap. His eyes wide, he turned around and buried his head into Daisuke's chest.
"Ken-chan?" Daisuke asked quietly, wrapping his arms comfortingly around the panicked boy. "Are you all right?" Ken didn't respond, only started to sob softly. Hikari stood up cautiously and picked up the computer. A moment later, she carefully placed it on the ground. She walked calmly over to Miyako and entwined her own hand with her girlfriend's.
"The computer contains something like the Digiport, but it connects to the world of Darkness," she said simply, and then leaned her head against Miyako's shoulder.
"What?" Takeru asked incredulously. "But if none of us can get to the Digital World, why-"
"It's trying to call me back. It misses me. It needs me to sustain it." Ken's voice was muffled by Daisuke's shirt, but still audible. "It's been calling me, and now it wants me to return." Daisuke awkwardly continued to comfort Ken, holding him protectively.
* * *
"Hello, may I please see Izumi Koushiro?" Julienne stared blankly at the blond man before her. He shook his head.
"He's my roommate; he's out right now." Suddenly, he was held against the doorframe by superhuman strength.
"Where did he go?" The man shook his head desperately.
"I don't know!" She growled and threw him into the hallway.
"Useless!" She stormed over to the phone, and pressed the play button on the answering machine.
**Hi, Koushiro, we're calling a meeting. There's big trouble, and we need your help. Meet at the Motimoya's house; in case you don't have it, it's 4-2 Oak Street...** She smiled and hurried out the door, not caring that the man sprawled in the hallway had retreated to another room to call the police.
* * *
Ken amd Daisuke had retreated to the kitchen, where Jun was helping her brother comfort the broken boy. The others were anxiously trying to formulate a plan.
"Listen, there has to be something fundamentally wrong with the Digiworld, or Gatomon wouldn't have reacted so badly, and we would be able to at least see the Digiport," Koushiro concluded.
"But why could Ken reach the Dark World when none of us could get any?" Taichi asked.
"It could be a recent development. We need to evaluate it before-" Yamato began.
"I think we should travel there to see what's going on!" Taichi announced. Yamato groaned.
"Tai, we don't need to go rushing into danger!" he snapped back. Taichi stood up and half-yelled into Yamato's face.
"Listen, Mr. 'Let's Wait Around Until We Know Exactly *What* Is Trying to Kill Us,' I don't need to listen to your overly-cautious advice. If I need to listen to a whiny paranoid freak, I'll ask Jyou for his opinion!"
"Tai!" Jyou snapped, his eyes half-tearing. Yamato stood up to face him.
"Tai, just be quiet, all right?"
"What are you going to do if I don't?"
"This." Yamato leaned forward and kissed the brunette on the lips. It was only a second, but when he broke off, Taichi was panting. Yamto's eyes were hopeful, full of tension until Taichi spoke.
"I hope you don't think you can just kiss me and make up for everything," he said, smiling. Yamato looked at him, a goofy grin on his face.
"Does that mean you liked it?"
"Would I do this if I didn't?" Taichi responded, kissing the other man deeper than before, and they slowly sank to the floor.
"Right," Koushiro said briskly, looking at the rest of the group. "Let's move on. Now, it seemed like a good idea to check things out. We should only have one or people do it. Ken shouldn't go; the Dark Ocean et al makes him nervous. By association, Daisuke should stay here also. The same goes for Hikari and Miyako, and I think we should let Taichi and Yamato work things out right here. Sora, Mimi, could you try to remind them that there are eight other people here? Takeru, Iori, how about the two of you head into the Dark World. Please take your Digimon with you. If you have tom DNA Digivolve, but please don't rush into anything."
* * *
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"Hello?" The woman peered out at Julienne.
"Hello. I am here to see Izumi Koushiro," she responded blandly. The woman brightened.
"Oh, you're one of Daisuke's friends! It's down the hall there. Daisuke's not there, he and his friend are having a crisis, but the others won't mind you just going in. Do you have one of those stuffed animals, too? I think that they're-" Mrs. Motimoya slipped to the floor when Julienne applied a sleeper hold she didn't even know she knew. She walked forward and knocked on the door to what she gathered was where Koushiro was. It opened, and she stepeed through. All conversation ceased, and a redhead looked up at her.
"Can we help you?"
"Who is Izumi Koushiro?" The redhead stood up.
"That's me."
"I bring a message from my master. ' I have dealt with Gennai, and you can never return.'" She turned to leave, but Koushiro grabbed her arm.
"Who are you? Who sent you?" Julienne's glazed eyes flickered, and she stumbled.
"Can't-remember...No-HE remembers, and does not forgive, a Roman name...German? I-" She collapsed onto the ground soundlessly.
* * *
"Ken, it's going to be all right," Daisuke protested, holding his hands on either side of Ken's face. He leaned forward and kissed him on the nose. Ken's worried frown twitched into a smile.
"What was that?"
"I kissed your nose," Daisuke replied, and then kissed Ken on the lips. The kiss deepened, and the two of them pressed closer. Jun stood up from the other side of the table and discreetly slipped out of the kitchen. She ran into Jyou, who was hurrying into the kitchen.
"Oh, gomen, Jun. Are there and cold compresses in there?"
"Uh...yeah. In the free-" But Jyou was gone. Jun simply stood in one place, watching as Jyou hurried back to Daisuke's room, followed by two blushing teenagers. "Why doesn't anyone around here tell me what's going on?"
* * *
They had placed Julienne onto Daisuke's bed, where she was now laying. She tossed and turned, and every so often, her voice became audible.
"Where'm I? Japan...but...Said something about Julius-? Ides..." Jyou entered and placed the cold compress on her forehead.
"She's not up yet, is she?" There was a general negative, and then Daisuke and Ken came in, their hands firmly linked. "I'm fairly confident that this isn't anything serious, although most of it is due to exhaustion. She's an American, I think, and someone compelled her to make this trip." There was a faint moan, and Julienne moved her hand to her forehead.
"Where am I?" Her voice was weak and nervous, and Jyou hurried to her side.
"Odaiba, Japan. Someone told you to come here; do you remember who?"
"Ceesar; he remembers..." she began, and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't remember...since when do I speak Japanese?" Koushiro stepped forward.
"You were hypnotized, I believe, and the person who persuaded you to come here must have implanted subconscious knowledge of the language in your mind."
"Koushiro, those aren't even words!" Daisuke cried, but was cut off by a kiss from Ken, which intensified as usual. The two slid to the ground, still kissing.
"Guys, can you ignore your hormones for just ten minutes?" Hikari proposed. When he didn't respond, she just sighed and sat back against Miyako. "Please don't mind them, Miss..."
"Call me Julie."
"Yeah, Julie, they tend to forget there's other people in the room."
"Right," she responded, smiling faintly. "I only wish I could help you more..." She trailed off, and her eyes became thoughtful. Suddenly, she said, "Cæsar!"
"What?" She began to pace the room.
"He said that Cæsar remembers, and does not forgive. I know it's important, there's something I'm missing...something about Japan, or Japanese..."
"The Japanese equivalent of Cæsar is Kaiser," Ken said softly.
* * *
"See? They are stronger than before!"
...Are they?...
"Of course! There are emotional connections-"
...They only weaken them...
"What?"
...If one dies, his partner is stricken, and will be that much easier to destroy...
"That's not true!"
...You know it is...
...It's a shame...I almost like this batch...
"Then why destroy them?"
...Because it is my-our-destiny...
* * *