Hikari no Koge

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Part 3: Decline
OR
All Hell Breaks Loose

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Er...I can't think of what to say. Well, I don't own Digimon. If I did, I'd be rich, and Digimon would never end (Ken, Yama, and Tai forever!). Also, this story is dark and angsty, with death, soul-searching, and a sympathetic and somewhat rational Jun (oh the horror!). And one final note: anyone who decides to flame me, I will track down and beat senseless with a 2x4. Thank you, and god bless.

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~I'm what you face when you face in the mirror;
After you're gone, I will still be here!~
-Edward Hyde

"Ken, this is Kiiro-san, the school psychiatrist." Gurei-hakase, Ken's counselor, smiled warmly at the genius.

"We've met," he growled.

"Oh yes!" Gurei-hakase exclaimed. "We're all members of the Board, aren't we? You wanted to give a presentation on-"

"I know," Ken snapped. He folded his hands in front of him. "So, you've decided I need a shrink?"

"No, not a shrink," Kiiro explained nervously. "I'm here to help you talk about your problems, work out your-"

"Sure. Little smart kid stops paying attention in class, and you give him a shrink. I don't have to put up with this!" He stood up, and stormed from the room. "What do they know about my problems? How do they think they can help me? None of them know how I can deal with the Kaiser, Droes. I don't need a shrink; I have to make a new formula..." He stumbled, and ran into another student.

"Ow! Oh, Ken..." Takeru smiled at him, and bowed apologetically. "Sorry, Ken-kun; I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Of course you weren't; you were fantasizing about Daisuke," Droes hissed. "Well, keep your hands off of him." With that, Ken turned and fled, before his worser half could exact more damage. Takeru's mouth dropped open, and if one were to listen, one could hear the sound of the holder of hope's heart breaking.

* * *

"Tai-chan, you know I love you, but I can't feel my legs," Yamato complained. The brunette glanced back at his boyfriend, and pouted.

"Yama..."

"I got stabbed a week ago, Tai. Get off!" Grumbling, Taichi crawled out of Yamato's lap.

"You know, most people are expected to treat the people they love better than this. I should-"

"Shut up, Taichi," Yamato snapped, and grabbed his lover's mouth in a kiss. The door swung open, and slammed closed, and Takeru, tears in his eyes, stumbled into his older brother's apartment. The two broke apart, staring at the crying teenager. "Ototochan? Are you all-"

"No, I'm not!" Takeru sobbed angrily. "I-Ken basically told me that he and Daisuke are dating, and..." He broke off, collapsing into a heap. Yamato pushed himself off the couch, and pulled his brother up, depositing him onto the couch. Then, he fell into Taichi, and gripped the other man's hand.

"Now, why don't you sit down and explain this for us?"

* * *

Gurei-hakase closed the door to his office and turned down the hall to leave.

"Leaving so soon?" A shadow detatched itself from the many in the hallway, and a dark form glided towards him.

"Who are you?" Gurei raised a hand in defense, trying to hold off the attacker. The man chuckled.

"Honestly, Gurei-hakase, for a man whose earned a doctorate, you're not that bright. Who else would I be? Droes, the avenging angel. You really are an open man, aren't you? Tell your students everything, right?" Gurei nodded nervously. "Ha! You don't tell them about your little slush funds, about your 'information' business. As a school counselor, you hear a lot about people's families, and it doesn't all remain confidentail, does it? Or...it remains confidential-for a price."

"That's a lie! It's a terrible-" He couldn't speak anymore. The knife wound shocked him to silence, and the sight of his own blood being smeared on the wall kept him that way. Droes stepped away, wiping blood onto his pants.

"Honesty *is* the best policy, Gurei-hakase."

* * *

Takeru held his knees, rocking back and forth on the couch.

"So then he hissed that I should stay away from Dai-chan...I don't know what to think. I like Daisuke a lot, but...he and Ken are so close, and Ken needs his support right now." Yamato shook his head.

"Ken needs all of our support. He's in a difficult spot, and he needs to know people care about him."

"And besides, Takeru, isn't it your duty to hope? Ken is a very insecure boy, and Daisuke is the first real friend he's had. He could very well be thinking that anybody else would take Daisuke's time." Taichi put a hand on Takeru's shoulder. "You can't give up on this, but just be supportive to your friends." Takeru glanced at him, the sparkle of hope rekindling.

"Thanks, you guys," he murmured. He stood up, walking towards the door. "Now, I'm sure you have homework or something to do." The door closed behind him, and Taichi grinned.

"Or *something*, eh?" he purred, kissing Yamato's ear, allowing his tongue to trail over the lobe as he pulled away.

"Still injured, koi. I'm supposed to take it easy for a few weeks, and that means-"

"No sex," Taichi grumbled. "Yeah...well, we could at least cuddle?" he asked hopefully. Yamato responded by leaning up against his boyfriend, and sighing contentedly.

"That all right?" he asked. Taichi smiled, and wrapped his arms around the blond.

"Perfect."

* * *

Kiiro Watabe sat in the dark room, smiling. Another day had passed, another day as the support for a dozen or so lost souls. Another day molding them slowly into perfect citizens. After all, why bother fixing what can more easily be disguised? He arranged a few papers on his desk in perfect alignment, and sat back.

"Kiiro-san, it's nice to see me again." The green-eyes psychiatrist glanced up, startled, to meet the violet eyes of Ichijouji Ken.

"Ken! Oh, you shouldn't be here this late-" he began, stumbling over his words.

"Ken was collecting a few chemicals from the lab when I decided to pay you a visit," the cold-eyes student hissed. He pulled a small vial from his pocket, smiling. "Do you have any experience with chemistry, Kiiro-san?"

"Some," he responded nervously. The man before him slunk closer, like a jungle cat playing with its prey.

"I'm sure you're aware of the properties of nitroglycerin, so I won't bother reiterating them. Kiiro-san, I actually came to talk to you about your job. I realized that the school has no need for your services, so all of your duties will be relieved." He leaned conspiratorially over the desk, and added, "You are a symbol of light to many, yet you simply gloss over one's darkness. Goodbye, hypocrite!" He turned on his heel, stalked to the door, and hurled the vial behind him as the door shut and locked behind him. Watabe dove aside, expecting an explosion. Instead, the vial hissed slowly, as two compartments mixed together. Chlorine gas is poisonous, like many other common gaseous substances. Solid copper mixed with hydrogen chloride causes an oxidation-reduction reaction in which copper ions and chlorine gas is produced. Kiiro's office had no windows, and both the door and ventilation were locked. Suffocation is a far worse death than being blown up. And outside the office, Droes spray-painted a message.

'Do not curse the darkness, but light a candle.'

* * *

Ken glanced across the cafeteria, and spotted Daisuke. Before he could move towards the redhead, he saw a nervous Takeru approach the genius' best friend. With great effort, Ken pulled himself away from the table, knowing well what a confrontation would do to him.

'And I can't put them through something like that,' he thought remorsfully. 'Dai-chan's my friend, ad he deserves happiness, and someone to catch him if...'

*Still hoping to save your friends? Ha! They're just as bad as I am, worse, because they won't accept it!*

'Shut *up*!' he snapped at the inward voice. The Kaiser, Droes, whatever you called him, always seemed to touch the most painful nerves.

*You know, it might be amusing to have my way with the redhead before I kill him...*

'I'll kill myself before letting you do that!'

*Honestly, don't you realize it? I'll live on after you're dead. 'The good men do dies with them, the evil lives on forever.' You -can't- kill me.*

'I've got new formulae, one of them can do it.'

*You're cute when you think you've got a chance,* the Kaiser said, before fading our momentarily. Ken shook his head, and looked up. His walk had taken him to the doorway to the office of Shiro-sama, the headmaster, and head of the school board. Ken turned and fled. The temptation to let Kaiser have his way, to take revenge on those who had scorned him, was great. But now...now he had to fight it. The pattern was clear, and with only two board members left alive...

*They'll be watched, and you'll be caught, and no one will believe -I- did all this,* the Kaiser said smugly. *You'll not be tried as a minor, and with 5 murders on your hands...*

'Shut *UP*!'

*I'll humor you. But I'm still here, Ken-chan.*

* * *

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Takeru asked nervously, sliding into a seat across from Daisuke. The cinnamon-haired boy glanced up in surprise, and nodded.

"Sure. But why are you over here? Hikari and you have a spat?" Takeru blushed nervously.

"We're not going out, Dai-c-kun. She's my best friend, and if you must know, I want to sit over here." He ignored the fact that Daisuke nearly choked on his sandwhich.

"Nani?"

"I-well, with Ken acting so weird, I'm worried about you. It's not easy to see your best friend falling and you being able to do nothing about it." Daisuke glanced almost suspiciously at Takeru, then shrugged.

"Well, I appreciate it." There was a moment of silence, and then he spoke up. "Ne, Takere-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"It's good to know someone cares."

* * *

"Hika-kun, I just realized something about all these murders." Miyako looked up from her notebook to glance at the brunette. "The first one, Yamato, was attacked because he apparently lacked Friendship. Ao died because she instilled fear rather than Love in her students. There's been warnings at each of the murders, Friendship, Love, Light, Sincerity, Knowledge, and Faith. It's as if he's taking revenge against the Digidestined." Hikari glanced up, startled.

"But why is he killing members of the Board? Who would want to kill them?"

"Ken." The two girls glanced to Hikari's bedroom door, where Jun stood sadly.

"Who let you in?" Miyako demanded.

"Yagami-san," Jun replied. "But...it's Ken. He tried to destroy his darker half, someone called 'Kaiser', and something went wrong. Like Dr. Jekkyl; there was a chemistry formula, and the Board rejected it as a student project...I think the Kaiser's using that as an excuse." She sighed. "I fear he is weakening. He has to fight, but...Ken won't last much longer." Hikari frowned.

"Well, we'll just have to be on our guard. So, what has he got left? Hope and Courage?"

"And Kindness," Jun added. "The Kaiser will not rest until he's killed all of them, which means that he's going to destroy Ken."

* * *

"Listen, Erika, please don't tell anyone, but I'm leaving town," Shiro Sakai muttered to Daisuke's mother. "These murders are unnerving me."

"Sakai, I think that if you think this is the correct course, you should do it. Good luck, Sakai." The old man hung up the pay phone, and picked up his carry-on bag. He hurried for the airline terminal, but froze when a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"You have the courage to lead these schoolchildren, yet not the courage to face your fate." The mocking voice made Shiro tremble. He glanced, panicked for anyone to help him, but suddenly, this part of the airport was empty. "No help is for you, Shiro-sama. Sayonara." A fist wrapped around his neck, and with inhuman strength, the man's windpipe was crushed. Kaiser laughed, and melted into the shadows. The floor was smeared with orange paint, in a final message.

'Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.'

* * *

*Do you know what's left, Ken-chan?* Ken shook his head angrily, but found his gaze drawn across the cafeteria, where a certain blond and a cinnamon-haired boy were talking and laughing. *Hope...hope must die.*

'You can't make me kill him! He's a friend!' The Kaiser chuckled.

*How cute...loyalty. Yamato was a 'friend'. I can make you do anything, Ken-chan.* The chuckle in his head threatened to drive him mad.

'You can't do this to me!'

*Just watch me...*

* * *

Miyako stared at the two laughing boys, and sighed.

"Hika-chan, aren't they just perfect together?" Hikari, absently munching on her sandwhich glared.

"Miyako, we're supposed to be making sure Ken doesn't go crazy and kill someone else. We know he's already attacked Shiro-sama, so we need to keep an eye on him."

"But Hika-chan," Miyako whined, "He's so good at avoiding us. What are we supposed to do?"

"Try our best," Hikari muttered firmly.

* * *

"It was nice of you to walk with me," Daisuke chatted. Takeru shrugged.

"Well, it's not like it was out of my way," he murmured nervously.

"You live across town," Daisuke pointed out. Takeru blushed.

"Do I? I do, don't I? Oh, well, then I better get going, Okaasan will be worried. Bye!" Daisuke stared after the boy, frowning.

"What's up with him?" He turned and walked up to his apartment. When he opened the door, he found his mother huddled in the kitchen.

Okay, Mr! I'm armed, so don't even think about it! I'll kill you, I will! You lay one hand on me, and I tell your mother!" Daisuke stared at her.

"'Kaasan? It's just me." She caught sight of him, and sighed in relief.

"I thought you were Ichijouji Ken."

"Ken-chan? Why are you scared of him?" Erika sighed.

"He...made a proposal to the Board. He wanted to develop a formula to destroy his 'id'. Like Dr. Jekyll. The Board rejected his suggestion, and I believe he tried to create the formula by himself, and test it on himself. And now he's getting revenge on the Board. I'm scared, Daisuke." Daisuke, seeing his mother crying in their kitchen, reached out his hand comfortingly.

"'Kaasan, it'll be all right. I don't think Ken will hurt you. And, besides, if you're so worried, why don't you talk to some authorities?"

"Because they won't understand. They'll lock him up or something. We need to reach out to him, help him fight the darkness he's facing." She bowed her head. "And I didn't reject his proposal. I abstained. I want so much to help your friend...but he's falling so fast. I think only he can help himself."

* * *

"Ken." He whirled to face the serious red-headed woman.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. She crossed her arms, and looked meaningfully at the Takaishi apartment.

"I might ask the same of you. I'm pretty sure you're not in love with TK, because if you were, I'd have to break your teeth. So, what is it?"

"None of your business," he snapped. Jun grabbed his collar, and hissed angrily at him.

"Ken, I know what's happening to you, and know that I'm watching you. If you hurt TK, you'll hurt more than just his family. You'll hurt Daisuke, you know. You'll hurt his friends, his classmates, and you'll hurt yourself. I know I'm treating you roughly, but...you have to see that it's your own resposibility to control the Kaiser, no formula or trick can save you, just you." She dropped him, and walked away. "Ken, you have to fight. Fight until you have no more breath to fight with, and then continue to fight. My little brother said, long ago, that if you think you're going to fail, you're doomed from the start. Just think, Ken." She turned and walked away, and the tired boy sobbed in the alley, wishing sorely that he could fight, that he could win, that he could destroy the darkness within.

*But you know, Ken, that we are inseperable. You need me to survive, but I can live without you. Soon...*

'Damn you, Kaiser! Droes, Kaiser, Ichijouji Ken, whatever name you use, just leave! Just keep away! Let me live in peace!'

* * *

* * *

The Odaiba High School sponsored a science seminar every year to show their support to independant study. Ken had entered this year with an extensive research project on the psychological effect of color schemes on people's moods. His last-minute preparations were watched with amusement by his best friend.

"I'm glad to have Ken back, you know. You're a great person, and it's nice to see the old Ken-chan back." Ken nodded vaguely, but suddenly turned.

"I have to go to the bathroom; I'll be right back." He ran, and he heard Daisuke shout and follow him. But he didn't care. Forces moved within him, and he had to destroy. Hope had shown its face again, and now must be shown that it could be crushed. He pulled a tiny knife, a scalpel, actually, from his pocket, readying it.

"Ken-chan! What's wrong?" Ken whirled, growling, to face Daisuke.

"Nothing's wrong; everything's right. I have power, freedom, and soon, everyone around me will suffer in my own hell!" He jumped backward, and snagged Takeru's collar. The three boys were in a dark hallway, facing off. The scalpel raised to Takeru's neck, and Ken snarled. "What are you going to do, Dai-chan?"

"You don't have the right to call me that," Daisuke said quietly. "If you were my friend, if you could call me Dai-chan, you would have let me help you with your problems, rather than trying to take it into your hands. And besides, Ken, I know that you won't let the Kaiser do this to him. You can't kill him, because you know what it would do to me." Daisuke continued speaking, tears leaking from his eyes. "You know that I love him...more than I've loved anyone...and that if you hurt him, I won't have a reason to live, and you can't hurt me." Ken choked, and he wrenched control of his body for just one more time. Ichijouji Ken had the knowledge of a doctor, and he knew exactly how long it would take for Daisuke and Takeru to react, to run and get help, and he knew that if he stabbed in just the right place, they would be much too late.

"I'm sorry, Dai-chan...I'm not strong enough, so all I can do...is to make sure he can't hurt any of us." The scalpel plunged into Ken's neck, and he slipped to the tile floor.

"Goodbye, Ken-chan," Daisuke whispered, and turned, pulling Takeru after him. "We have to go." Takeru glanced back at the fading genius.

"What are you going to do about-"

"Someone will find him. I can't deal with trying to get help. He's going to die. That's all the strength he has left to do, and I don't need false hope." Daisuke's voice cracked as he continued. "Ken's my best friend, and I know he did that so that we could survive. The Kaiser, Droes, was strong and vicious, and only by sacrificing himself, could Ken save us. And now, I have to make a presentation."

* * *

"And now, our next presenter, Ichijouji Ken!" The curtain pulled aside to the applause, and a cinnamon-haired boy stepped out.

"Hi," he said quietly. "I guess you realize I'm not Ken." He took a deep breath. "Ken is unable to make the presentation. You see, he never intended to make a presentation on color schemes and psychology. It was always his dream to present his own project, a chemical formula to erase his darker half. However, the Board rejected his proposal, and he worked on the project in his own time, and tested it on himself." He heard the gasp ripple through the audience. "Ken...found that the formula did the opposite. It awakened his darker self and gave it power. The string of murders-Ken's alternate self was responsible for them. But-he showed his true colors in the last ten minutes, when he fought his dark half, and killed him." Daisuke glanced up at the audience before continuing. "But the only way to destroy Kaiser was to destroy Ken, and so they both are dead. I now see that there is no formula, no special thing anyone can do to eliminate their darker self." He continued speaking even as several teacher hurried from the auditorium to find Ken. "Every person is faced with the choice to fight their darker self, and lose, or to accept the fact that they are imperfect, and to live with their darkness. I have accepted my impulses and less desirable qualities as part of me, and hopefully, all of you can, as well. If not for yourself, but in memory of Ken, stop fighting the darkness, but see it in its own merit." He turned, and returned behind the curtain, throwing himself into the waiting arms of Takeru.

* * *

Daisuke stared at the open grave, his head bowed. He had not spoken at the funeral, because he had already said everything he needed to. Between his presentation and the funeral, about a week, Gennai had again entered the real world, and approached Jun. With Ken having died, the crest of Kindness had to move on, and Jun's efforts to help Ken showed her true light. She was the new bearer of Kindness, and had spoken here to respect her predecessor.

"Sayonara, Ken. Maybe someday, we'll meet again." Daisuke turned, and walked to the entrance of the graveyard, where the blond shocks of hair were waiting.

"Hi, Dai-chan," Takeru mumbled, wrapping an arm around Daisuke's shoulder. Daisuke simply leaned his head against Takeru's shoulder, closing his eyes. The tableau held for several minutes, but then, a breath of air drifted past them, carrying the sound of a young man laughing. Daisuke's head shot up, and he smiled.

"I hope you're happy where you are, Ken-chan. I'll never forget you!" Daisuke turned, and, holding Takeru's hand tightly, dragged him down the street. "Come on, Take-chan! Ken wouldn't want us to be unhappy just for him." Takeru wasn't able to help himself, and laughed, stumbling after his boyfriend. And a blue-haired spirit stood next to his grave, smiling after the two.

"So, are you ready, ototo?" Ken glanced up at the taller man, and nodded.

"Sure, 'niichan. Let's go. I've seen enough." And together, the two brothers walked away, slowly fading into the background.

* * *

Yes, I know, when I want to write angst, I write angst. And I know a few of you are confused, as I said that Ken wouldn't kill himself. He didn't. He killed the Kaiser, and his death was merely a side-effect. I'm sorry for the mincing words, but it becomes difficult to speak clearly when you're dealing with multiple personalities. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this, despite the sadness, and please review. Like all authors, I live on feedback, so please give me something to work with.