~It couldn't be possible, the beings thought, and they searched for an answer. No one heard the third boy's cries, no one was watching for the danger that slowly crept up behind the pair of heroes walking into the forest.
No one except one...
::I would just like to shamelessly plug thank the people who've reviewed my story so far: Kawaii Li'l Lia, chickcasso, Tekno Danish, Sana Jisushi, Doc, Enchantress, Silver Eagle, Katz, Sailor MysticMoon, ancarg012589, Climbing Rose, Me-Me, Catgirl_Jasp, ~Cute Lil Sora~, Jerry Springer (who was kind enough to leave me a very nice review), Callist426, and to SSJ2 Mimi N Gohan. Without your feedback, I probably would never have continued (well, maybe I would have, but I would have felt stupid about it)::
::Arigatou! ^_^::
::To Sailor MysticMoon-I will put up a miniature dictionary at the end of each chapter, starting on the third one! Unsure about a certain word you see/saw (see saw!)? Scroll to the bottom of the chapter (because I'm too darn lazy to do the whole 'navigation-within-a-document' thing)! ^_~::
::Yes, yes I know that Tailmon and Chibimon don't really talk that way, it's just that I'm being deprived of my Japanese eppys, and 'Gatomon' and 'DemiVeemon' inspired me. Forgive me! ^_^()::
::Oh, and to those who care-FF.net wouldn't let me login until now. I was logged in when I reviewed, but I couldn't log in login! 0_o Weirdness. And when I did login to post my second fic, it wouldn't let me access this one! *screams in frustration*::
::This next chapter will be rather long and rather pointless, I bet. I just wanted to set everybody up for chapter five, where we will finally get to the plot! If you want, you could just ignore this chapter. It sucks too.::
Ichijouji Ken gasped in fright at the nightmare. They had all been perfectly happy yesterday. How could this have happened?
Then the blue-haired boy remembered that it was only a dream. Pale hands came up to rub his fully awake face and to wipe away the cold sweat that glistened on his forehead. His warm covers were thrown aside as he got up to get a drink of water.
"Ken-chan?" came a welcome voice, "Ken-chan it's just 1:36 in the morning. Why are you up?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Wormmon, if I woke you," he said getting down a green and white plastic cup, "but if you must know, I had a nightmare." The Bearer of Kindness opened up the cool fridge next to the cupboard and carefully got out the chilled water, so he wouldn't make as much noise as from the sink.
"Another one Ken-chan? Was it about Osamu again, or someone else?"
He took a sip from the ice-cold beverage before answering his digimon partner. "Someone else. I realized with the help from my friends that Osamu-chan wouldn't want me to be tortured like this; he would want me to move on with my life and to stop mourning for him."
"Yes, Osamu would like that." Wormmon tugged on Ken's pajama leg and the boy bent down to allow his friend to climb on. Freezing, the green insect whispered, "Ken-chan, I think I hear something."
"Nani?"
"I hear something...like a beeping noise..."
The Ichijouji boy set down the water-filled crystal and cautiously tiptoed across his beige-colored carpet. The moon was full, allowing enough pale light to shine through the closed curtains so Ken could see; yet enough shadows still remained to make him suspicious. Concentrating hard, he could make out a beeping noise as well; Wormmon's hearing was exceptionally good, despite his appearance as just a caterpillar. His partner scurried quickly behind him, ready to kick some invading digimon's backside if it at all threatened Ken.
Ken seemed to be the star attraction for several evil digimon lately. The new group hadn't bothered to worry the original digidestined about the small attacks in the digital world, but each time, the attacker refused to fight anyone but Ken. Wormmon had been worried about the Ichijouji's safety recently and with the date of Osamu's tragic car accident growing nearer and nearer, the little caterpillar was also worried about his emotional stability.
"If anyone's or anything's in there," Ken whispered with a mask of ferocity in his voice, "I too have a weapon, human and digital. So, show yourself before I have to hurt you!"
If in fact anyone or anything was indeed there, they didn't show themselves. "Ken-chan, let me go in first, and then you can go," Wormmon said bravely.
"Be careful, my friend." Wormmon nodded at this and propelled himself through the oak door on his small violet legs, ready for action. What greeted him was not a digimon, evil or otherwise, it was a holographic image of Hikari holding a card, looking pretty sheepish, that came out of his now open D-terminal. The card read, translated from katakana, 'Open Me!'
"Ken-chan, it's safe. But since I don't have fingers, I think you should open this."
"Open what, Wormmon?" Then he saw the hologram. "Oh, I didn't know we could send digital images or holograms over our D-terminals." Ken sat down cross-legged on the bottom bunk of his bed and pressed the 'enter' button on the keypad.
A shaky image of the girl started whispering. She set down the white card as she said, "Ohayo minna, eh, there's a problem. A big problem involving Yamato, Sora and ani. This is going to take a while, so get dressed and go to Digiworld as soon as you finish this message." Tailmon jumped into view and whispered something in Hikari's ear. "Oh, and Tailmon says to bring some snacks for yourself and your digimon partner; we might go into the morning, so leave a note for your parents. Eh, okay, I think that's-"
"No wait!" Tailmon yelled, jumping into view again. Her mouth was covered by Hikari's hand immediately and she sweatdropped.
"Could you be a little quieter?"
"Oh, sorry." Tailmon hung her head for a second and then bounded back with energy. "Listen, this could be a shock to some of you, especially Takeru and Hikari, because I haven't even told her yet. Close friends of the three should bring catnip or whatever you humans use for comfort."
"Miyako will be bringing some chocolate then," Ken said with a sad smile.
"Now, you each have personal messages to attend to. If you're Mimi, press one."
Hikari in turn whispered, "If you're Miyako, press two."
"Koushiro should press three." It seemed like Tailmon and Hikari were trading places, as if this were some sort of Hollywood-hyped American game show. The concept made Ken smile once more, even though it seemed as if the situation was dire.
"Takeru-kun, you're number's four."
"Ken, you're five, well not really but-"
"Iori's num-"
Ken pressed number five on the keyboard and prepared to be given his message. "Hello Ken," Tailmon started, "if you are not Ken, we'll figure it out sooner or later and you'll have my cat's eye hypnotism to answer to!" She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "All right, but your punishment will be severe if you're still here and not the Former Kaiser. Ken, this doesn't have anything to do with you, but since we're going to Digiworld, you might want to stay on guard for any evil digimon that come across our way. You've been the scratching post for a lot of henchmen, but you know we haven't found their top cat yet, so keep your ears open and your eyes dilated! Wormmon, because I know you're right there beside 'im, eat something before you come. We may need Paildramon. Hurry Ken, we need your help!"
With that, the hologram reset itself and it was back to Hikari holding her sign. Ken dug deep under his bed and pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies. "Here, eat these while I get dressed, Wormmon, it'll bring up your strength."
As Ken disappeared into his closet, throwing out pajama bottoms, Wormmon took a bite...and couldn't stop. "Mmm, who made these, Ken-chan?"
The Ichijouji boy emerged wearing khaki pants and his old favorite sweater over an olive-green collared shirt. "Sora-san made them, she gave us all a bag last Christmas."
Wormmon looked as if he was about to be sick. It was a funny sight, because although he was already a lovely shade of emerald, his cheeks, or where a human's cheeks would be, were a dark forest-green. "These are over three weeks old?"
"They're still good aren't they? Take the bag, my friend," and at that he pulled out another bag of food, containing a water bottle, pocketed his D-3, grabbed the caterpillar and held his dark digivice up to his computer screen, which, like magic, turned on. "Digiport, open!"
Miyako stifled a yawn and then a laugh as she saw Hikari's face at Tailmon's outburst. She then frowned at the seriousness in the cat's voice as she suggested that they should bring a comforting item. "Aii, I could never bring Mr. Snuffles," she thought aloud, eyeing the battered old stuffed animal on her bedside, "I'd never live it down."
"Why don't you bring some chocolate? That always cheers you up," suggested Poromon. He turned his little pink head when he saw Miyako start to take off her pink nightshirt however.
"Arigatou, Poromon. What does it say next?"
"It says for you to push number two, but I don't know which number is two."
"Here," she said, pulling a light blue shirt down. It was a little tight and short now that she had grown a few inches in height…and around her chest. She pushed the correct button and was greeted by Hikari, dressed in a light green tank top with a cardigan pullover the same color.
"If anyone besides Miyako's watching this," her voice said, "you'll have to answer to Tailmon, and she'll make you regret it." After pausing for about ten seconds, Hikari started again, "Miyako, I know you really never got to know Yamato, Sora or Taichi, but, you might want to bring some chocolate. Tailmon told me that it was serious. Oh, and feed Poromon before you come because, even though our problem really has nothing to do with Digiworld, we might need Silphymon to come and help out if any more digimon decide to attack Ken. Haiyaku, ja mata!"
The hologram went back to the Yagami girl holding the sign and Miyako pressed the exit button. Throwing an off-white sweater over her head and styling her purplish hair back in a light blue handkerchief, Miyako grabbed a chocolate bar out of her secret stash, and then, after thinking about it, she took the entire thing. Tossing one to Poromon while she headed into the kitchen to fill her picnic basket full of food she said, "Here, eat this. Chocolate always filled you up."
Poromon greedily took the foil wrapping off of the chocolate and dug into the warm sweet goodness. Chocolate had something in it that gave all the digimon a tremendous boost of energy. Koushiro said that it could and very well be the sugar in it, which digimon store instead of burn off like humans. Daisuke often got into what Miyako called 'sugar-highs', which involved him having loads of energy for about a half hour before he drooped into a tremendous low.
Digimon obviously converted the fast-burning sugar high into a slow burning but all the powerful digital high. Any sugar, whether in fruit or in candy, the digimon could convert. Poromon, by now, had figured out that the best way to enjoy the energy-ridden morsel was to eat it slowly, or he could only taste the after taste of the chocolate, which to him was disgusting.
The Inoue returned with the basket bulging, and opened her laptop. "Okay Poromon, let's go! Digiport-"
Poromon blushed and said, "Aren't you forgetting something, Miyako?"
The Guardian of Sincerity and Love looked down to see that she was about to go only half-dressed, with her pink pajama bottoms still on. "Aii, I forgot..."
Already dressed and ready to go, Takaishi Takeru pressed the number four key on his D-terminal and waited for the message.
"Ohayo, Takeru-kun. Tailmon tells me that what happened to ani is pretty bad, which means the same happened to Yamato-san. I'm sure that whatever happened, he'll be fine. We shouldn't worry Take-kun, be strong and…well, and hope for the best!" At this the brunette blushed sheepishly and smiled saying, "O-daijini, Takeru-kun."
Takeru paused the hologram right there and looked at his best friend. Even though her face displayed a mask of cheerfulness and smiles, he could see in her eyes that she was incredibly worried about her brother, as he was too. Yamato and Takeru shared a bond that no normal siblings had, they rarely ever fought, insulted or hurt the other, yet, the boys could tease each other relentlessly. Taichi and his imouto were close, he knew, but they could never compare to the strange relationship that he and the rock star had.
Taichi and Takeru had a deep friendship too, although it was not that strange. When Takeru was much littler, he had been convinced that Yamato had abandoned him, a thing that he should have known Yamato would never do. The little Takaishi had begged Taichi to be his older brother, and until they found Yamato sometime later, he had been. Taichi wasn't a bad 'nii-chan as Takeru got around to calling him, and it wasn't really a big surprise when Takeru had found out he was such a good brother from experience. From then on, Takeru and Hikari were more like brother and sister than friend and friend.
And from spending a long time with Sora in the digital world, she was more like a mother to him. She was the mother to all of them, but especially to Takeru. Hikari was stronger than he was when she was younger, but they were more equally matched now. Even so, the Takenouchi comforted and spoiled the little boy like a true mother would. Once, when he had a bad dream about never seeing Yamato again during one of the times he had left, he had woken up crying. She took him in her arms and rocked him to sleep. Before he dozed off, he had called her okaa-san. A fitting name for the caring, tough young woman that she was now.
If any Dark Master or evil being hurt Yamato, Taichi or Sora in any way, shape or form, they would have to answer to him. Pressing the 'enter' button again, the image flickered back to its beginning form and he closed it up. "Patamon, you ready?"
The flying digimon (who resembled a fat pig) set down Takeru's backpack, now filled with food and responded, keeping his voice quiet, "Ready when you are, Takeru!"
"All right!" The pair made their way to his mother's computer in the dining room. They matched somewhat, what with Takeru wearing one of Yamato's old orange shirts underneath a dark blue sweater and khaki pants. His favorite white hat was on Patamon's head as he held up his greenish digivice saying, "Digiport, open!"
"So, I was like, 'That is soooooo grody, Ashley, I can't believe you actually kissed him!' I mean, why'd she give up that perfectly hot Sam for, ugh, him?!"
Normally, that was what someone would hear out of Tachikawa Mimi's mouth on any given day, give or take a few names and situations; but lately her friends have been worried about the usually gossiping pink-haired friend of theirs. It wasn't as if she had stopped gossiping, no, that was her life, but the way she said everything was so, different… Nowadays, her friends were hearing this:
"So, I said, 'How could you possibly think of doing something that atrocious Ashley? Engaging in romantics with that fiend?' In my opinion, it was a horrible mistake she made when she moved on to him instead of keeping a solid and happy relationship up with Samuel."
Fortunately for Mimi, for she was about to get another 'Are you feeling all right?' from her friends, a beeping noise came from somewhere inside of her one-strapped backpack. Digging in the sack, she found that her three-way, cell phone-day planner-internet connection had a hologram of Hikari sticking up with a word written in katakana.
"Whoa, Meems, where'd you get that tight tech?"
"From no place in particular," she said trying to hide it, "um, Michael, could you assist me with something?" Michael, her newfound friend and fellow digidestined, caught on quickly and followed Mimi to a table across the library where the group of friends had been studying.
"What's up?"
"It seems that my chums in Japan have a distinct problem," the Tachikawa whispered as she turned the volume low on her little black piece of machinery, "or they wouldn't have messaged me so early over there."
Mimi pressed the 'enter' button on the small keypad and the 3-D picture of Hikari started talking in Japanese. "I didn't know you could send holograms now over the Internet!"
"Neither did I."
"I'm glad that when you're in Digiworld, all languages are neutralized into digi-code so I don't have to learn Japanese to understand everyone. Unfortunately, I only know the few cuss words and titles you've taught me, and your computer doesn't translate for me. What's she saying?" The blonde boy eyed his pink-loving friend suspiciously as her face paled. Paling even more, she pressed the number one button and was greeted by a fat white cat wearing gloves. Fortunately for Michael, the cat spoke in digi-code, allowing him to understand it because just like in Digiworld, digi-code is heard in the listener's native tongue. Michael assumed Mimi was hearing Japanese.
"If you're not Tachikawa Mimi and you're reading this, you've just become my new play toy," Tailmon said extending her claws. "Mimi, listen, something horrible has happened to Yamato, Taichi and Sora. You have to come to Digiworld right away, and no exceptions! You and only you, or I'll do something drastic. I know that Michael is a digidestined like you and Hikari, and I know he's right there next to you too, but he can't come. Sorry blondie. When you come, alone, seal the gate behind you using Koushirou's program. We can't take any risks. Arrive here soon."
The hologram froze for a second and then changed back into the image that had surprised her friends. "I'm coming with-"
"No, Michael, and I've put my foot down! You are not going with me, sorry. I'd be betraying more than my friends, I'd be endangering you and I couldn't stand if anyone else got hurt that didn't have to. Besides, this is between my friends and me, and…I can't figure out another reason! Don't try opening the portal, there might be something horrible happening." Mimi walked out of the small room and to the nearest computer, Michael following her.
"Here, I'll cover you, Mimi, and be careful all right?" He gave the girl the most sincere smile he could.
Ever since she became the ambassador between the digidestined of America and the digidestined of Japan, life for Mimi got rough. Michael had discovered she was a digidestined when his digivice reacted as he sat next to her in trigonometry. Something else had reacted too, his heart. She was so pretty and caring, and beautiful, and especially sincere. Tachikawa Mimi was the one he stood up for when others didn't realize she was Japanese and made fun of what they thought was her first name, but really was her surname. He embraced her pink hair when her new friends teased the girl and he adored her newfound intelligence, even though others were still getting used to it.
"Arigatou. Digiport, open!" A white light came from the computer. "Digiport seal in two nano…one nano," and at that she jumped in.
"Good luck…Mimi…" Michael whispered.
"Iori's number six!"
"Daisuke's number seven," said a chubby white kitty.
"Lucky number seven," Daisuke said punching the corresponding key with fervor. 'Perhaps Hikari will be the one to deliver my message to me!'
Daisuke's wish unfortunately did not come true, for the same fat cat popped up on the screen and winked at the boy. "Now, I know no one would want to read your mail, Daisuke!"
"Aii, Tailmon! Don't be so mean to Daisuke-kun! Gomen, Dai-kun!" came Hikari's voice from out of view.
Tailmon rolled her blue eyes and turned back towards 'him'. "Anyways, I have a special favor to ask of you…well, actually it's Hikari's favor, but she's always thinking of these things. Daisuke, you seem to be closer to the former Kaiser than any of us, and she was wondering if you could be there for him, now. We all know he never got to know our missing friends and all, but she says that he'll be sad and she doesn't want you to be sad either, because you knew Taichi, and-"
"Tailmon," came Hikari's voice again. Her hands wrapped around the white digimon and picked her up while the girl sat down. Tailmon ended up in Hikari's lap while she continued, "Daisuke-kun, I know that you're very good friends with Ken-kun, and I think that you'll be able to get through to him better than I or anyone else ever could. Please be there for him, Dai-kun. Arigatou. Bring some of your sister's yummy rice cakes when you come! Ja!"
Daisuke closed the window ::as in computer window:: and turned onto his back to think about what Hikari had said. Sure, he knew that he was really Ichijouji Ken's first friend, but…did she mean that he was something more?
"Daishuke? Daishuke?" came Chibimon's lisped voice, "Daishuke, shouldn't we shtart packing for going to Digiworld?"
Coming out of his brief thought pattern, Daisuke responded, "Hai, Chibimon, we better start. But, before we do, I have something to do myself." The Guardian of both Friendship and Courage opened a desk drawer, drawing out an envelope, addressed to his sister Jun. Inside the sallow packet was a three page letter, which would inform the girl about the one thing he wished to keep secret, Digiworld. Yet, drastic times called for equally drastic measures, and it seemed as if he would be gone for quite some time. At least, if Jun knew about Digiworld, she could cover for him.
The pair, with Chibimon resting on Daisuke's left shoulder and a small cloth bag around the other, carefully tiptoed towards the kitchen, where the Motomiya knew a fresh batch of Jun's chocolate-covered rice cakes would be sitting. He was especially silent when passing his teenage sister's room, but was surprised to hear faint sobbing coming from behind the door instead of snoring. Normally, Daisuke would just shake his head and continue on, but lately, he had been worried about her. Jun hadn't been the same since the night of Yamato's concert and even after the brunette had explained to his sister that Yamato and Sora were only good friends, she had been unusually sad, yet, not entirely moody.
"Jun," Daisuke whispered. Along with the letter, his digivice, and an outfit he would change into in the bathroom, the boy was now holding Chibimon like a stuffed animal. "Daijoubu ka?"
His only response was a light gasp, followed by a sniffle.
Changing his voice to sound as concerned as he possibly could, Daisuke repeated, "Daijoubu?"
"It's nothing you should worry yourself with, chibi otooto." Daisuke was almost shocked; he had never heard such hurt and despair in someone's voice before. Even her little insulting nickname didn't sound menacing or even slightly mean. No, he had only heard that tone once before…when Ken had uttered, "What have I done?" that day. Ken had done something atrociously horrible and evil, what could Jun have possibly done to equal such a feeling…or who could have done such a thing to Jun? "And, besides, otooto, by kami-sama what are you doing up so late?"
An idea suddenly popped into Daisuke's mind. "I'll tell you if you tell me what happened. You've all ready given me a mouthful about your temporary job as my mannequin…. By any chance, does it have to do with Yamato?"
"Iie. I realize something you don't, chibi otooto, even if Sora is only Yamato-kun's friend, he doesn't feel the same way about her; he feels something much, much deeper than friendship. Kami-sama! I was the fool at the time, besides, he's younger than me. It's nothing to do with Yamato-kun."
"Then, who?"
Jun sighed. "Remember the night I told okaa-san and otou-san that I was going out?"
"Hai," the dark-eyed boy responded gravely. She and his parents had gotten into a huge, uncomfortably tense fight, which ended in Jun leaving the apartment with a slam, his okaa-san grounding his onee-chan and Daisuke as well as the dinner being ruined, both physically and spiritually.
"I was going out on a date," she continued quietly, "with Kido Shuu."
"Nani?" Daisuke hissed.
"I was out on a date with Kido-"
"Aii, I know that! A friend of mine has an older brother named Shuu, and his last name is Kido as well."
"Ne?" Jun questioned him, sitting up in the darkness. Daisuke still hadn't seen her face, and with the aura of the room getting more depressing every second, he began to hope she wouldn't step into the faint ray of moonlight he was occupying anytime soon.
"Hai. His name is Kido Jyou, and he's training to be a-"
"A doctor," she whispered, finishing Daisuke's sentence, "Hai, Shuu is Jyou's brother. And just today, Shuu broke up with me."
"Daijoubu. Would you like me to beat him up for you, onee-chan?"
This brought a little giggle from Jun. "You couldn't beat him up if you tried. He's a surgeon who works with the militia, during battle. He's quite strong, and could probably beat you to a pulp with one punch."
'Ah, but could he stand up to XV-mon?' Daisuke thought.
He heard her blankets rustle a bit. "You know, I really felt something different from him, yet I'm not quite sure what it was…. For me, minutes flew when I was with Shuu, and, every time he would look at me, I could have just melted right there into his arms. The rush whenever he kissed me was just so…indescribable. Aii, but why am I telling my chibi otooto? It's not like you've ever felt anything like that."
"Ne, Jun, you'd never know."
'I wonder what that could mean,' Jun thought before saying, "Hmm? Why are you up so late?"
Daisuke shifted Chibimon in his grasp. "I couldn't sleep, and I was hungry, so I was going to have some of your chocolate rice balls, do you mind if I take three or four?" It wasn't entirely a lie, yet not entirely the truth either.
"As long as you leave one for me, I don't care."
"Arigatou." Daisuke turned to leave, but then thought better of it. "Oh, and onee-chan?"
"Hai?"
He sighed before walking over to Jun and giving her a hug, still holding the many items in his hands. "I once fell in love with a girl who didn't return my sentiments. When I found out that she truly cared about another friend of mine, and he had just told me that he didn't feel the way that she did back, it was hard to tell her so. She came to me, hurt and devastated; and me, being the idiot I was, didn't tell her how I felt then, although she knew all along, but I comforted her and told her that one day she'd find the man she loved. I sincerely did not mean myself. Now, I feel that she has moved on without the two of us romantically, yet I will always consider her my first love. So, yes, I have felt the way you have before. Konbanwa."
Daisuke left a very confused, yet strangely comforted, Jun sitting alone on her bed, wondering when her 'chibi otooto' had suddenly grown up.
"Jii-san, could you excuse me for a moment?"
Little Hida Iori bowed to his elder respectively after the old man's positive response, and once he thought he was out of earshot he let out a rather long yawn. It was part of his meditative training to learn how to stay alert and ready without much sleep, but Iori thought it a trifle much for him. The poor boy had not slept in two days, and was much in need of a good rest.
Padding over to the source of the distraction, his beeping D-Terminal, Iori found the image of Hikari holding a little sign and pressed the 'enter' button. Iori hardly heard a word the girl said, yet when his name was called, he snapped back to attention and, thinking quickly, held down the 'backspace' key for a few seconds.
"…number six."
"I wonder why she would have to leave me a personal message," Iori yawned, complying.
"Iori-kun, I know you're in training right now, but an urgent matter has come up involving the people I mentioned earlier, Yamato-san, Sora-san and ani. Perhaps, you could get your Jii-san to let you come with us to Digiworld, and be sure to bring Upamon with you. I'm sure that even if you have to tell him all about Digiworld and our adventures that he would let you go. This is of the utmost importance, Iori-kun." She held up the victory sign before departing with, "Ja ne!"
Still half-asleep, the Hida child made his way back to his grandfather. Collapsing down upon his mat, Iori opened his mouth to ask the old man the question, but was stopped by his raised hand. "Go," Iori's elder said.
"But…how…?"
"Iori-kun, I have trained far longer and harder than you have, and my hearing has not diminished in my old age. I know for a fact that your older friends need you desperately, and strange as it might seem to you, I happen to know what Digiworld is; the explanation is long and complicated, and it also involves your father." At his remark, Iori's ears perked up considerably, but he was not rewarded with the explanation. Instead, the gray-haired Hida continued, "And when we both have the time to do so, we will each explain our stories involving this. But, now, you must go, and hurry, Iori-kun. Time is wasting with each idle moment."
"Hai, Jii-san," Iori said, dragging himself to his feet and giving the most respectful bow he could in such weariness.
The old man also added, after taking a sip from the ever-present prune juice container, "Get some sleep, Iori-kun, as well. I'm sure your friends will understand."
"Arigatou, Jii-san." Iori scooped up the sleeping Upamon nearby along with his D-3 and headed off to his computer, nearly stumbling over a strewn kendo stick in his sleepy stupor.
"…In our earlier discussion of proteins, we indicated that the way a molecule folded upon itself in three dimensions was an important factor in determining the function of the protein. Nucleic acid molecules, which we will soon discuss, are also quite large and have a great deal of information in their size and shape. Biochemists have used various methods to determine the structure of these macromolecules…"
In the background of the tape, Jyou could hear the professor writing the word out in kanji symbols on the blackboard. He had his friend Matsumoto Takuya record his Biochemistry class because he had been sick that morning. By the afternoon, however, the Kido was much better and returned to his later classes, picking up the tape in the process.
Tomorrow, they had a huge Biochemistry exam. It wasn't the mid-term, but only a test the professor had whipped up to make sure the students had been paying attention in class. Takuya insisted that Jyou could ace the test, even if it was written in English, but Jyou still refused to take chances and was up late at night, reviewing the lesson.
"One of the most important ways that biochemists can learn about the size and shape of macromolecules is based on one very simple principle. If you put some particles of sand in a glass of water, the particles will sink to the bottom. They are pulled to the bottom of the glass by the force of gravity. If the glass were taken to the moon, the particles would sink much more slowly. If we could increase the force of gravity on the sand particles, they would sink more quickly.
"Biochemists use this principle to learn about macromolecules. They add some macromolecules to water that has been made syrupy by the addition of sugar. At normal gravity, the macromolecules sink very slowly-if they sink at all-in this syrupy water. But, if the force of gravity is increased, the macromolecules will sink more quickly.
"A force equivalent to gravity can be produced by spinning the glass very, very fast. And spinning the glass even faster will increase the equivalent force. A machine that can spin such a solution at high velocities is called a centrifuge. As the force is increased in the centrifuge, the macromolecules are pulled to the bottom of the tube. Not all of the macromolecules sink at the same rate, however. A pebble sinks more quickly in a glass of water than a small grain of sand, ne? The rate at which each moves to the bottom of the glass can determine what kind of macromolecule it is.
"Even more exciting about this, is that through a very difficult process using X rays, which I will explain, biochemists can determine where each and every atom of the macromolecule is located! Calculations are based on the manner in which a crystal of the macromolecule reflects a beam of several X rays. This has now been done for several proteins, most recently for two different proteins that have similar enzyme activities. The results indicate that these two proteins-the enzymes elastase and chymotrypsin- have similar shapes, which scientists had expected because of the substances' similar functions."
Jyou paused the tape there to finish scribbling down some notes and to massage his tired eyes. Glancing at the clock on his wall, he noticed its time, 1:47 A.M. "Why do I have to have this headache?" he asked no one in particular.
To his surprise, however, something answered him. He turned to the talking voice, and noticed that he hadn't stopped the tape; the side had finished by itself and was rewinding. Accidentally, he had pressed a key on the computer, which was right next to the tape player.
"…Could you be a little quieter?"
"Hmm? What's this?" Jyou thought aloud, turning to the two-dimensional picture on his computer screen. Hikari was there, holding a slender hand over her digimon's mouth, clad in a pink nightgown. In the background, a brown tabby cat paced the side of the bunk bed in her bedroom.
"Oh, sorry." Tailmon hung her head for a second and then bounded back with energy. "Listen, this could be a shock to some of you, especially Takeru and Hikari, because I haven't even told her yet. Close friends of the three should bring catnip or whatever you humans use for comfort."
'Comfort?' A pang of worry sprouted in Jyou's chest. 'What happened?'
"Now, you each have personal messages to attend to. If you're Mimi, press one."
Hikari in turn whispered, "If you're Miyako, press two."
"Koushiro should press three." Tailmon held up three claws for the viewer to see.
"Takeru, you're number's four."
"Ken, you're five, well not really but-"
Hikari held up the victory sign, saying, "Iori's number six."
"Daisuke's number seven."
"And Jyou, you should press number eight."
The blue-haired teenager did as he was told; extremely worried that something horrible had happened to whoever 'the three' were. "Ohayo, Jyou-san. I know you were very good friends with Taichi and Yamato and Sora and I wouldn't want you to fret too much. Tailmon refuses to tell me what has happened, and has only disclosed to me that it involves this cat here," she remarked picking up the same brown tabby he had seen in the background. Hikari began to stroke the cat-which Jyou thought more to be a kitten-and continued saying, "who happens to be part of Miko's litter. I don't know what it could know, or what it has to do with Onii-chan and the others, but, whatever it is, I know you'll be there for all of us. We rely on you Jyou, for more than one thing. O-daijini."
"What could Hikari-kun possibly mean by that?" Jyou thought aloud once more as he grabbed his coat, the notepad and a writing utensil. Fumbling around in the large left pocket of the knee-length covering he took out his digivice and held it up to the screen. Looking around once more to see if Shin or his father were up, the youngest Kido then said, "Digiport, open!" and disappeared in a flash of brilliant white light.
"Koushirou," Tailmon began in a tone that frightened Koushirou. "While Hikari is off getting dressed, I can tell you a two-step procedure to do that will officially block any and every entrance to Digiworld, and also ensure yours and the others' safety while you take care of the problem at hand, but first get ready."
The Izumi adolescent had all ready done that, right when Hikari and Tailmon had informed him of the dire-ness of the situation. Having an insight to that sort of tone of voice, he got dressed and was just slipping an arm into his green sweater when Tailmon continued. "First, place your hand on whatever device you are using to receive this message and say, 'Friendship's lair.'"
Koushirou was puzzled, but did so. The feeling of a great gust of ice-cold wind surrounded his body, but before he could tear his hand away from the computer screen, he felt the all-too familiar sensation as his molecules were downloaded into gigabytes and transferred from mass into technology. It itched.
When his jet-black eyes opened again, he was surprised to find himself, still human, inside Yamato's bedroom. He glanced around nervously, expecting to see a temperamental Yamato pop up out of no where, or his father opening the door to check on his blonde son, but Koushirou was only greeted by Yamato's old computer turning on. Walking over to the almost ancient electronic, the redhead almost giggled at the primitive start up applications. 'The only thing this is good for,' Koushirou thought as the primitive desktop opened up. 'is-'
"-writing," he breathed. There in front of his face, all on the screen, were about fifty different documents, all of which Koushirou automatically assumed were some of his famous, written-out stories. Opening one of the documents, he started to read, and the first few sentences confirmed his theory.
'Kurai's breathing was hard and fast, his leg muscles were aching as he ran through the dark, evil forest. Many times as a child, Kurai was teased by his elders for his unusual name; they would say that his home would be in the forest one day, so he could be undisturbed by the people of the town. Kurai hated the dark, and now, he had no choice but to run deep into it. It was either dark, or death'
As the Izumi adolescent closed the window that the story's opening had created, he saw a small icon in the corner of the screen start to blink…it was his symbol of Knowledge! Curiosity overcame the boy, and he opened that too. Immediately a window popped up, taking the entirety of the monitor's space up, and in the center of it all, a familiar old face appeared.
"Gennai?" Koushirou whispered. The face of the normally old man was young and vibrant once again, as the eight original Digidestined had seen that one day when the strange, all-knowing beings had possessed Hikari.
The somber face greeted Koushirou with a nod and spoke, "Izumi Koushirou, Bearer of Knowledge, successor to the fourth of the original five, there are two important things you must do now. First, turn around, and search for eight pages of with writing on them. Once you find the eight pages, place your hand on the screen once more and say, 'Den of Knowledge.'" The image of Gennai froze, and a confused Izumi, to say the least, turned around and was greeted with the sight of five pages of writing, all scattered on the dark green comforter.
This time it was Koushirou's turn to freeze. "Just seven? Where's the eighth?" Frantically, Koushirou collected the pages he did have and began tearing up Yamato's room, as quietly as possible, searching for the sixth page.
Unnoticed by the redhead, however, Gennai's image started up again saying, "The eighth page has been taken along with your three friends to the other world. Its disappearance must remain confidential between the two of us, Koushirou. Now, you must go to complete your task."
"This is getting worse by the second," Koushirou sighed as he placed his hand back onto Yamato's monitor's screen. "Den of Knowledge!"
Immediately, our genius friend found himself back in his room; this time there was no strange feeling of hurricane winds around him. As bad as the situation was seeming to become, Koushirou told himself to just react now and analyze later, he would have to be Taichi for the group while the real boy was missing. Gennai's face appeared in hologram form in the D-3 he had recently fixed himself up with, the object with which he had received Tailmon's dire message. "Open your laptop computer, and do a file search for a program called, 'digitimeseal-all one word-dot exe'. You will be surprised to say the least, when you find you've never seen it before."
"You've got that right…" Koushirou muttered, quite surprised indeed at finding that the file hadn't even been hidden, yet he had never seen it before. The redhead knew his computer forwards and back, and by heart. Every single file, folder or application was accounted for and even every virus installed or downloaded was found immediately taken care of. How could he have missed it?
Gennai's voice dropped lower and took on a grave quality. "This program will return Digital Time back to its original passing-much, much slower than Earth time. Just like it was when you first entered it. A year could pass in Digiworld once you've opened the program and ran it, and you would be returned to the same day you left, only a few hours later. This program can be removed after we've solved the problem, but; there is another program you must run first. Open your 'Program' or 'Utility' folder and open the program called, 'digifreeze dot exe.'"
Once again, a flabbergasted Koushirou found the second file quickly and opened it. Immediately, all sound and movement, down to small breeze flowing through his room, stopped, except for the image of Gennai on his monitor. "This has just frozen everything within a three kilometer radius of your apartment, except for any Digidestined or Digimon, for approximately seventeen minutes and twenty-six seconds. Now, you can open 'digitimeseal dot exe' and run it. It will take exactly seventeen minutes to load, and the extra seconds added on for you is to get into Digiworld as fast as you possibly can. The program will not seal the host computer until ten seconds have passed after the download is complete. This, theoretically, will give you six seconds to leave. Hurry Koushirou, and start the program. Good luck." The image disappeared.
Urgently, Koushirou double-clicked on digitimeseal.exe and began the program. Wiping his brow, the boy opened his map of the world and watched, intrigued as each Digiport closed one by one. He would be ready as soon as the program would suspend the Digiport he was opening right then. The seventeen minutes, however brief, would give him time to gather a few things together before he left for what promised to be quite a long time...
::Japanese Terms You Might Not Know::
::-chan=suffix of endearment or closeness::
::Nani?=what?::
::ani=informal way of referring to an older brother::
::Ohayo= Good morning::
::-san=suffix used after someone that's older than you or someone you don't know very well::
::Arigatou=thank you::
::Haiyaku=hurry::
::ja mata=until later::
::katakana=a Japanese writing system::
::Gomen=sorry::
::Konbanwa=Good night::
::Jii-san =Grandfather::
::Kurai=Dark::
__________________________________________________
::I promise you that there WILL be the start of the plot in the next chapter. Sorry for the longness and boringness of this one. I didn't mean for it to be so bad...gees...GOMEN!!::
::I'm leaving for vacation on the 24th of July and I won't be back until August 14th. Where I'm going, most people haven't heard of a computer (which sucks) and I probably won't have access to one, but if I do, you probably still won't hear from me. I'll try to get the next chapter out before I leave but don't be surprised if you don't see it. I hate vacations...::
::Well, that said, I wanted to just remind all of you money-sucking lawyers out there that I still don't and never will own Digimon. If you're that desperate to get some poor teenager's money, then try pock picking, eh? Get off my back!::
::Have a great summer! School comes back faster than you think it does::
::dragonfire::