I'm telling you all right now that I've got just about no Japanese - so this will have essentially none of the correct names. I might switch randomly back and forth between the American (fscking Yank dubs... ;) first names - but the surnames will all be the English version. I will also be ignoring all the cheesy puns that predominate the English series - given that they *do* age, and all, I'm making an *attempt* to instill some graduating maturity here...
But I *am* putting in some titles and stuff - like "sensei" and stuff like that... so try not to be too confused by the inconsistency.
Er; I've taken liberties with plot points here - live with it. There's also an original char or two - but they're not terribly Mary Sue-esque, so you'll live. ;) This will be in installments. Sorry. o.O
Finally, because I'm too much of a lazy bum to bother tagging this in the proper html, the following should be noted:
::This:: is a thought, internal monologue, or telepathy.
*This* is done for emphasis - if I weren't so lazy, it'd be in bold or italics.
=This= is music - though I can't remember if there actually *was* music... o.O
Finally, THIS is an extremely loud sound. Duh.
Enjoy.
LEGACY: A DIGIMON EPIC
The first day of school came, as always, far too early. Hikari and Taichi Kamiya both buried themselves under blankets and pillows when their mother's first call woke them. Then minutes later, she called again, reminding them of the time and of the fact that if they didn't get up, they'd be late.
"I'll make your lunches for you, if you like. I've got some lovely mango lima bean casserole left over from last night," she called.
Tai groaned. "Was that a threat? It sounded like a threat." Their mother's cooking had a propensity for being at least unusual; it ranged from bizarre to horrifying, and though no one wanted to eat the stuff most of the time, no one wanted to say anything, so she just kept cooking it. Hence the mango lima bean casserole. In Tai's experience, only his friend Izzy Izumi had ever been able to stomach more than a token portion of her cooking, and even he had learned his lesson on that matter.
::Yeah. Ten minutes in the bathroom will teach anybody any lesson, I guess...::
On the top bunk, Kari stirred and sat up. "Worse; it was a promise. Come on."
She pushed aside the blankets, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and dropped lightly to the floor with an ease that would have made most responsible adults blanch. Then again, had most adults any idea what Kari, her brother, and their friends had spent the last several years doing, they may well have fainted.
Kari turned to Tai, who had pulled the blankets stubbornly over his head. She prodded his shoulder, then shook him. "Come on, big brother. Time to get up."
"I'm coming…" came Tai's muffled reply.
Kari got dressed, then gathered up Tai's school things and dumped them on his bed. The green blazer slid of the bed and landed in a heap on the floor with a soft *thump*. Kari picked it up and dusted it off before putting it back on the pile.
Since Kari was still only in seventh grade, she wasn't required to wear a uniform yet. Next year, she would have to. She scowled at the pile of uniform on Tai's bed. The boys at their school wore green blazers, black pants and blue ties. Girls wore green shirts and skirts, and blue ties.
Kari scowled again at the pile of clothing. She was not fond of green, nor was she fond of skirts. They were impractical, and got in the way of running, fighting, and generally being a Digidestined.
Which was, not so incidentally, what Kari, Tai, and several of their friends just so happened to be. In fact, years ago at summer camp, Tai and his friends had been pulled through an inter-dimensional gateway at the whim of an unknown force, for the purpose of rescuing a world they'd never even heard of before. Kari had joined them later, after witnessing a battle that nearly destroyed Tokyo, where they lived. She had only been eight or nine at the time, and it had been a strange, sometimes frightening experience. It was only fortunate that there had been another among the Digidestined around her own age, Takeru, (aka: TK) who was there to go through it with her from relatively the same point of view.
Kari blushed momentarily, thinking of TK, then ignored the flush as she had so many other times, currently more important matters taking precedence in her mind.
"Tai?"
Silence.
"Tai!"
More silence.
"TAI!"
A faint rustling of blankets, then silence.
*THUD*
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Your education. Now come on." Kari dusted off her hands as Tai sat up, pushing the well-aimed pillow off his head. Kari herself strode out the door into the kitchen to gather her things. Seventh grade might, after all, be exciting; the first day of anything was exciting.
=========================================================
[Several Years Ago]
A small boy stumbled into a desert from a flash of white light, falling immediately to his knees. He sat in the sand weeping, crying into his sleeve as if his heart were broken.
Presently, a worm-like creature appeared over the nearest rise and approached him. The boy took it into his arms, crying and talking to the creature, who just happened to be a Digimon. It listened until the tears ebbed, and he set the creature down.
"Feel better?" asked Wormmon.
Seven-year-old Ken Ichijoji nodded, his eyes red and swollen. "A little. But not much."
"Well..." Wormmon extended a stumpy forelimb toward his partner. "Come on. Meg's waiting for you."
The pair trudged slowly over the seemingly endless expanse of sand until they reached a place where the air seemed to be shimmering. Kenji and Wormmon walked straight through it, small boy and small Digimon barely creating a ripple in the field.
On the other side the land was considerably different. Green grass covered the ground until it dipped down to form a tiny cup-valley in the surrounding hills. Tall conifers towered over the place and all around it, making the valley seem deeper than it really was. Ken ran down the sloping side of the valley hill and straight to a small wooden building in its near centre. The only door was open, and he burst inside, fresh tears on his cheeks.
"Megumi?" his voice sounded small in the strangely large room. He stopped and looked around, sighting the Custodian sitting by the far window. She looked up when he called her name, and the older girl got to her feet as he approached.
He ran into her arms as her face acquired a bewildered look. "Oh Meg... it's all my fault..."
Megumi Kato exerted a presence that seemed far more mature than her nine years might indicate. She stroked the younger boy's back, looking confusedly from the top of Ken's head and glancing up at Wormmon, who gave her only a look of intense concern, directed at his partner, in response.
"Ken... Ken... What are you talking about? *What* is all your fault?"
"Isamu... he had an accident..." the words were forced out from between sobs, and it took Megumi a moment to decipher them. Suddenly, Wormmon's cryptic look made sense, and everything snapped into place.
Isamu was Ken's older brother. He was also the apple of his parents' eye. Sam's accomplishments were so breathtaking that they often caused Isamu and Ken's parents to ignore their younger son.
And now something had happened to Sam.
Oh, no...
She suddenly remembered seeing a news report that morning about a young boy being killed in a car accident...
"He... he pushed me out of the way, and Kaasan and Otusaan are so sad..."
Megumi did the only thing she could.
"It's okay, Ken... it's not your fault..."
=========================================================
[Present Day]
Kari and Tai split up at the main school entrance, Tai heading for the senior school and Kari for the junior. Tai himself hung back for a moment after Kari went, waiting until she disappeared up a flight of stairs before turning about and heading for his own classroom. On the way, he idly studied the faces of the students passing him, all in green and blue uniforms.
::Hmm... jerk, jerk, new kid... uninteresting new kid... jerk... Hey, who's *she*?::
Tai halted for a moment, causing the person walking behind to stumble into him. Said person maneuvered past him and hurried on their way as Tai watched the girl across the corridor.
He wasn't sure what drew his eyes to her. She was altogether unremarkable, if looks were any indicator. Wavy, shoulder-length brown hair pulled into a braid at one side of her head. Dark green eyes. Pale complexion. Freckles. Carrying more books than Tai had ever seen Izzy with...
::Whoa... that's a lot of courses... even for a smart kid...::
She was also picking at her pleated green skirt, tugging at her tie, wriggling uncomfortably every now and then but trying not to be obvious about it, as if she had never worn a uniform before.
::Well, if she's from around here, I don't know how she could have avoided uniforms... unless she's an eighth grader... and I really can't tell how old she is... There's something about her... but what?::
The bell chose that moment to ring, and Tai was pushed down the hallway by the surging crowd, away from the strange girl, and in the general direction of his class. He momentarily forgot about his curiosity, and by the time he looked back, she was gone.
=========================================================
The tenth grade class bustled into their seats just as the second bell sounded, and the teacher entered scant seconds later. He waited while the students settled, and then cleared his throat.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a new year. This is the tenth grade. This means work, everyone. A lot of it."
He looked over the class calculatingly, and then suddenly smiled. "But don't worry. The first day will be easy. Of course."
There was scattered and abortive laughter throughout the classroom. Again, the teacher waited for it to quiet, then spoke again. "We have, this year, the pleasure of a new student at our school. Megumi, please come up here?"
Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi rested his chin in his palm and stared uninterestedly at the wall. Easy? The first day would be easy? What was the point of coming to school if there was no challenge?
However, his boredom was quite abruptly cut off when he sighted the girl making her way up to the front of the room at the teacher's request.
I know her... Izzy told himself. I'm sure I do... but I'm just as sure we've never met...
"Megumi" reached the front of the room and turned to face the class.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Megumi Kato. She comes from..." He looked quizzically at Megumi. "Where do you come from?"
"Heighton View Terrace, sensei," she answered in a very quiet voice.
It didn't seem quiet to Izzy. The words "Heighton View Terrace" struck a deep discord in his mind, and set it working.
For Heighton View Terrace was the place where, years ago, all of the eight Digidestined had lived, and where they had all seen their first Digimon. Where their interconnection began, and where the long and confusing mystery started. And Megumi Kato came from there, too?
::Maybe that's how I know her... Izzy thought, ...though I could swear I don't remember ever seeing her there... but I'm *sure* that I know her, somehow...::
Izzy stared dubiously at Megumi as she looked around the room, her eyes finally settling on him. Was it Izzy's imagination, but did they widen a little when she saw him? Did she recognize him, too? And how?
She conveyed, at that moment, a very strange *look*. Izzy stiffened instinctively.
::I'm right. I do know her. I am right. I just wish I knew what about...::
Megumi glanced around the room, staring at students from underneath a fringe of hair. She was doing her best to study everyone in the room without making it evident that she was doing it. She was doing fairly well, too, being relatively unobtrusive about it, until she saw him...
::That's him. He's one of them.:: She was quite certain that, for a moment, her expression had changed, and she was almost certain that he had noticed it.
"Megumi, why don't you take that seat by Izzy?" The teacher pointed to a seat one behind and one to the left of the red-haired boy she had noticed.
She momentarily panicked, then ignored it and moved slowly towards the indicated desk, her eyes down. She was quite aware that Izzy's eyes were on her as she sat down.
The teacher went quite immediately into a lecture as Izzy stared unflinchingly at Megumi for a moment, then slowly turned around and faced the teacher. Megumi was glad; for now, she wouldn't have to deal with them finding out who she was.
Meg concentrated on finding paper and pen and arranging them on her desk. Izzy kept turning his head over his shoulder, trying to stare at her without looking like he was. He was just lucky the teacher was so excited about the first day, or it might very well have been noticed.
When the bell rang, the teacher called Izzy up to speak to him in private. Megumi stuffed all her things into her book bag and escaped the classroom as quickly as she could. The last thing she needed right now was an interrogation from Izzy.
"Now, Koushiro," said the teacher. "We need to arrange your advanced packages for this year. Could you tell your parents that our annual meeting will be tomorrow evening? Until then, just take this mathematics package home. Do as much of it as you can tonight, and tomorrow we'll discuss getting you into the enriched classes. All right?"
Izzy nodded distractedly and took the thick sheaf of paper from the teacher's hands, then bowed slightly and turned, hoping to catch Megumi and...
...but she had evaded him. She was already gone.
=========================================================
Tai skidded into the computer lab, ten minutes late.
"I'm sorry," he panted in apology. "The gym teacher made me stay late to put the equipment away."
To his surprise, no one turned to berate him - because there was no one there. Except Izzy, of course. Tai walked over to him, and looked over Izzy's shoulder.
"Hey, buddy, what're you - hey! That's her!" Tai jabbed his finger at the picture on Izzy's screen.
"What's her, Tai? You mean you saw her, too?" Izzy turned his head.
"Yeah! In the hallway, before class! I dunno why I remember her so much... there was just something... weird about her. Is she a new student?"
"Yes," Izzy told him, turning back to the screen. "As for there being something weird about her, you're not going to believe this..." He pointed to a line on the screen.
"She's from Heighton View Terrace. And she was there when... well, you know."
"She is?" Tai's eyes were wide. "But how... why... wouldn't we remember her? It wasn't that big a place. And... I thought every kid who saw the battle is a Digidestined, now?"
"That's just it," Izzy said, sounding perplexed. "She *must* have seen the battle. She lived in the same building *I* did. But the weirdest thing is that I don't remember her ever being there. I'm almost certain I never met her."
"I know *I* didn't," Tai said. "Hey, by the way, where *is* everybody?"
"Oh," Izzy said. "They've already gone through. You were late, you know."
====================================================
"Hey, mom," Tai asked his mother over dinner that night, "When we lived in Heighton View Terrace, did we ever meet a family named Kato?"
Mrs. Kamiya paused halfway through dishing out her brand-new baked apple and cabbage soufflé, and bit her lip, thinking.
"I don't think... actually, yes. I think there *was* someone named Kato. A doctor, I think. But I think he lived alone. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing," Tai said, digging into his soufflé with uncharacteristic (also, feigned) vigor. "Just a new kid at school whose last name is Kato, and says she's from Heighton View Terrace."
Kari gave him a strange look, but kept silent.
====================================================
"What was all that about?" she asked after dinner.
Tai looked up from his homework with feigned innocence. "What are you talking about?"
"All that stuff about the Katos. Who were you talking about?"
Tai sighed. "Someone in the high school that Izzy and I saw today. Megumi Kato. She told us she came from Heighton View Terrace."
Kari's forehead puckered in thought. "Megumi Kato? I don't remember anyone by that name."
"Neither could we. And there was something just... weird about her. So we looked her up... well, Izzy did. She was telling the truth. But we still can't figure out how any of us could have avoided knowing her, or even meeting her."
"Huh," Kari said. "It *is* pretty weird. Didn't all the other kids who lived in Heighton View Terrace..."
"Yeah." Tai nodded. "That was the other weird thing."
Kari shrugged. "I don't see what the big problem is. Why don't we just ask her?"
Kari scowled as her older brother collapsed over his books, laughing. "Oh,yeah. Great idea. Just walk up to her and ask. "Hey, Megumi, when you were a little kid, do you remember seeing any giant monster battles...?" She'd think we were crazy."
"Maybe," Kari agreed. "I still think it's kind of dangerous, when she might be Digidestined... what if Ken found out?"
Tai now shrugged. "Then we'll deal with it when it comes. I already talked about it with the others. We don't tell her - or ask her - until we absolutely have to. Until then, she's just another normal kid."
====================================================
Had Tai or any of the other Digidestined any idea what Megumi was currently occupied doing, they might have re-considered their resolutions. Meg Kato was, just at the moment, sitting in front of her computer screen, which itself was glowing in a decidedly unearthly manner.
As Megumi watched, the glow reduced, and resolved itself into the familiar Gate-program that the Digidestined themselves used to travel to the Digiworld. Megumi held her hand up, and the glow increased again. Suddenly, she was gone.
She emerged from a flash of brilliant white light on a scene of carnage. Dark Digimon roamed over a desert landscape, with magma glowing through great rents in the earth. In the distance, a dark tower was shadowed against the setting sun; a Control Spire. From where she was standing, Megumi could see dozens of Digimon clustered around its base, ostensibly paying homage to their new "Master".
A sharp pang of sadness and anger struck her in the stomach, and she shook her head. "Ken, what have you done?"
::He could have done... he had the potential and the spirit to do... so many wonderful things. Instead, he does this...::
She dabbed at the single tear that ran down her cheek. ::If he isn't stopped... the things he could do with all that power, he...:: she sighed. Her choices were diminishing, vanishing as Ken's power grew, as were the choices of the Digidestined. He was growing too powerful to control, even too powerful for her to stop by less conventional means. If the Digidestined didn't make some progress soon...
::No... I won't think about it going that far yet... I can't. I don't know if I *could*...::
Turning away from the nightmarish landscape, she returned to the real world.
=========================================================
From a dark, cavernous room in the depths of his floating fortress, the Digimon Emperor watched Megumi appear and disappear again. He saw the look on her face, the pain and the determination. He laughed uproariously, and then his face became suddenly a snarling mask.
"Come to try and stop me, Meg? We'll just see about that."
==================================================================
Morning at Odaiba Middle School tended to bring with it a certain degree of lethargy on the part of the students. Early-morning classes meant that many more people wandering half-awake throughout the hallways. Izzy himself found a semi-conscious student in his path at least twice, and a third time before he reached the computer room.
::I suppose I could have done this from home; but I didn't want to wake Mum and Dad...::
The room was deserted, and Izzy was glad for that. What he was going to attempt was going to be difficult to conceal, even for early morning. He locked the computer room door behind him as a precaution, and started over toward the computer he usually used…
... there was a knock on the door.
Izzy froze. The knock repeated itself.
Who could it be? No one ever used the computer this early except for him. He hadn't even turned the lights on yet. Maybe they'd just go away...
*knock knock knock knock*
::Rats...::
Abandoning all pretenses, Izzy dove behind the door just as a scrabbling sound came from the lock. There was a metallic click and it swung slowly open, trapping Izzy against the wall.
He might have expected a teacher, or maybe Yolei or another of the Digidestined; even the janitor. But the last thing he expected was to see a girl in school uniform silhouetted in the light from the hallway.
::Who...::
She stepped forward and snapped on the flashlight in her hand. That threw the shadows in the room into sharp relief, and she closed the door behind her. Not looking back (and fortunately, not seeing Izzy), she walked over to Izzy's computer, and sat down. She moved the mouse, and when the light from the screen blinked on, she turned off the flashlight. It was still dark now, but the light from the screen lit her face enough for Izzy to-
::Megumi?!::
Izzy barely stopped himself from exclaiming aloud. Megumi was staring at the screen, at the Gate program that must have activated itself when Izzy came into the room, reacting to his Digivice. But that had never happened before...
"Well, well, Izzy, what have you been up to?"
For a moment he was sure she had noticed him. But after a flickering instant in which his heart pounded in his chest, he realized that she was talking to the computer screen. She was scrolling through the archived records of the Gate program, her brow furrowed in thought.
::How does she know about the Gate? And how does she know about me? And...::
His train of thought was cut off as someone opened the door. He stumbled out from behind it right before he was crushed against the wall, regained his footing and regarded with trepidation the person who had opened the door.
Megumi turned her head. "Oh, hello," she said, a vaguely tremulous note in her voice. "Hello sensei. Hello, Koushiro." She bowed slightly.
Izzy felt the cold sweat on his forehead fade. She hadn't seen him. She thought he had come in with Mr. Kinomoto. Now if only the teacher didn't give him away --!
"I'm sorry - if I'm in your way, I'll go," she apologized to the teacher, nonchalantly closing the Gate program without even turning her head. The teacher didn't seem to notice.
"You're not downloading mp3's off the Internet, I hope, Megumi," the sensei said, inclining his head.
"Oh, no, sensei, not me," she said, laughing nervously. Her gaze flickered back and forth between the teacher and Izzy. There was some little suspicion in her eyes. Had she seen him after all?
"Well, good, then," said the teacher. "But next time you want to use the computer room this early, sign in at the main office, all right?"
"Yes, Kinomoto-sensei. I will." She bowed again, and then edged out past Izzy and the teacher. Izzy would have followed, but Mr. Kinomoto caught him by the arm.
"Izzy -"
"Yes, sensei?" Izzy felt that cold sweat break out again. The sensei was looking suspiciously at him.
"Did you help Megumi get in here?" asked Mr. Kinomoto. Izzy paled slightly.
"Uhm... well, yes, sensei," he lied. The teacher raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised at you, Izzy. You should know better."
Izzy nodded quickly. "You're right, sensei, we should have asked."
"Yes; you should have. Remember next time, all right?"
Izzy nodded so hard he thought his head might come off his neck, and bowed to the teacher. "Yes, sensei." He turned toward the door, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Izzy; wait."
Izzy froze again. ::Almost home free...:: he groaned inwardly. He turned around slowly.
"Yes, sensei?"
"You left this," said the teacher, holding out Megumi's flashlight. Surprised, Izzy reached out and took it.
"Thank you, sensei. I'll be going now, sensei." Bowing again, Izzy beat a hasty retreat into the hallway, closing the door behind him. He quickly looked around for Megumi, but as before, she had evaded him.
==================================================================
Megumi had been concentrating so hard on the problem before her that she hardly noticed anyone else enter the room. The complicated algebra problem seemed to taunt her, dancing back and forth on the page, the numbers blurring together. She realized, rubbing the haze out of her eyes, that this effect probably had something to do with her recent lack of sleep. She passed a hand across her eyes, picked up her pencil, and readied herself to try working it out again with renewed effort when -
*BLAM*
An arm appeared centimeters away from her nose, driving down, colliding with the table. She instinctively threw up her arms in front of her face, and jerked backward, knocking the chair over in her haste. For a moment, everything was still. The hand was still on the table, clutching an object; her flashlight? Disentangling herself from the chair, she got to her feet and blinked at the person who stood there.
"Koushiro? What was that for?"
"You left this in the computer room," said Izzy, raising one eyebrow significantly.
Megumi's stomach dropped. "Oh; yes. Thanks for holding on to it for me," she said quickly, reaching out one hand to take the flashlight, but Izzy held it just out of her reach.
"Koushiro? What's the matter?" She was having trouble keeping the tremor out of her voice. He knew. He had to know...
"Call me Izzy," said Izzy. "You did this morning."
That clinched it. As Megumi's mind scrolled back in time, trying to think of any instance where she had used Koushiro's nickname aloud, she could only come up with one.
"You *were* there, weren't you? Behind the door?"
Izzy nodded. "Something about you didn't seem right. Now I know what it is."
"Do you?"
"How much do you know? And how did you find out?"
Megumi spread her hands wide, shrugging. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just went to use the computer-"
"Hah! You're lying!" Izzy said triumphantly, shaking the flashlight. "You knew about the Gate program! How?"
Megumi widened her eyes convincingly and shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about - you mean that thing that came up when I turned on the computer? Is it some kind of game? I thought it was yours."
Izzy was shocked, and it showed. He studied her face further, eyes flickering, and then shook his head. "But you must... it must have reacted to... Huh." His shoulders slackened, and he handed her the flashlight. "Sorry. I must have been mistaken."
"You must have," Megumi said, shrugging. "Sorry, Izzy." She gathered her books and left the room. Izzy watched her go, left with a feeling that something, out of all of this, was amiss. And one way or another, he was going to find out what it was.
But I *am* putting in some titles and stuff - like "sensei" and stuff like that... so try not to be too confused by the inconsistency.
Er; I've taken liberties with plot points here - live with it. There's also an original char or two - but they're not terribly Mary Sue-esque, so you'll live. ;) This will be in installments. Sorry. o.O
Finally, because I'm too much of a lazy bum to bother tagging this in the proper html, the following should be noted:
::This:: is a thought, internal monologue, or telepathy.
*This* is done for emphasis - if I weren't so lazy, it'd be in bold or italics.
=This= is music - though I can't remember if there actually *was* music... o.O
Finally, THIS is an extremely loud sound. Duh.
Enjoy.
LEGACY: A DIGIMON EPIC
The first day of school came, as always, far too early. Hikari and Taichi Kamiya both buried themselves under blankets and pillows when their mother's first call woke them. Then minutes later, she called again, reminding them of the time and of the fact that if they didn't get up, they'd be late.
"I'll make your lunches for you, if you like. I've got some lovely mango lima bean casserole left over from last night," she called.
Tai groaned. "Was that a threat? It sounded like a threat." Their mother's cooking had a propensity for being at least unusual; it ranged from bizarre to horrifying, and though no one wanted to eat the stuff most of the time, no one wanted to say anything, so she just kept cooking it. Hence the mango lima bean casserole. In Tai's experience, only his friend Izzy Izumi had ever been able to stomach more than a token portion of her cooking, and even he had learned his lesson on that matter.
::Yeah. Ten minutes in the bathroom will teach anybody any lesson, I guess...::
On the top bunk, Kari stirred and sat up. "Worse; it was a promise. Come on."
She pushed aside the blankets, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and dropped lightly to the floor with an ease that would have made most responsible adults blanch. Then again, had most adults any idea what Kari, her brother, and their friends had spent the last several years doing, they may well have fainted.
Kari turned to Tai, who had pulled the blankets stubbornly over his head. She prodded his shoulder, then shook him. "Come on, big brother. Time to get up."
"I'm coming…" came Tai's muffled reply.
Kari got dressed, then gathered up Tai's school things and dumped them on his bed. The green blazer slid of the bed and landed in a heap on the floor with a soft *thump*. Kari picked it up and dusted it off before putting it back on the pile.
Since Kari was still only in seventh grade, she wasn't required to wear a uniform yet. Next year, she would have to. She scowled at the pile of uniform on Tai's bed. The boys at their school wore green blazers, black pants and blue ties. Girls wore green shirts and skirts, and blue ties.
Kari scowled again at the pile of clothing. She was not fond of green, nor was she fond of skirts. They were impractical, and got in the way of running, fighting, and generally being a Digidestined.
Which was, not so incidentally, what Kari, Tai, and several of their friends just so happened to be. In fact, years ago at summer camp, Tai and his friends had been pulled through an inter-dimensional gateway at the whim of an unknown force, for the purpose of rescuing a world they'd never even heard of before. Kari had joined them later, after witnessing a battle that nearly destroyed Tokyo, where they lived. She had only been eight or nine at the time, and it had been a strange, sometimes frightening experience. It was only fortunate that there had been another among the Digidestined around her own age, Takeru, (aka: TK) who was there to go through it with her from relatively the same point of view.
Kari blushed momentarily, thinking of TK, then ignored the flush as she had so many other times, currently more important matters taking precedence in her mind.
"Tai?"
Silence.
"Tai!"
More silence.
"TAI!"
A faint rustling of blankets, then silence.
*THUD*
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Your education. Now come on." Kari dusted off her hands as Tai sat up, pushing the well-aimed pillow off his head. Kari herself strode out the door into the kitchen to gather her things. Seventh grade might, after all, be exciting; the first day of anything was exciting.
=========================================================
[Several Years Ago]
A small boy stumbled into a desert from a flash of white light, falling immediately to his knees. He sat in the sand weeping, crying into his sleeve as if his heart were broken.
Presently, a worm-like creature appeared over the nearest rise and approached him. The boy took it into his arms, crying and talking to the creature, who just happened to be a Digimon. It listened until the tears ebbed, and he set the creature down.
"Feel better?" asked Wormmon.
Seven-year-old Ken Ichijoji nodded, his eyes red and swollen. "A little. But not much."
"Well..." Wormmon extended a stumpy forelimb toward his partner. "Come on. Meg's waiting for you."
The pair trudged slowly over the seemingly endless expanse of sand until they reached a place where the air seemed to be shimmering. Kenji and Wormmon walked straight through it, small boy and small Digimon barely creating a ripple in the field.
On the other side the land was considerably different. Green grass covered the ground until it dipped down to form a tiny cup-valley in the surrounding hills. Tall conifers towered over the place and all around it, making the valley seem deeper than it really was. Ken ran down the sloping side of the valley hill and straight to a small wooden building in its near centre. The only door was open, and he burst inside, fresh tears on his cheeks.
"Megumi?" his voice sounded small in the strangely large room. He stopped and looked around, sighting the Custodian sitting by the far window. She looked up when he called her name, and the older girl got to her feet as he approached.
He ran into her arms as her face acquired a bewildered look. "Oh Meg... it's all my fault..."
Megumi Kato exerted a presence that seemed far more mature than her nine years might indicate. She stroked the younger boy's back, looking confusedly from the top of Ken's head and glancing up at Wormmon, who gave her only a look of intense concern, directed at his partner, in response.
"Ken... Ken... What are you talking about? *What* is all your fault?"
"Isamu... he had an accident..." the words were forced out from between sobs, and it took Megumi a moment to decipher them. Suddenly, Wormmon's cryptic look made sense, and everything snapped into place.
Isamu was Ken's older brother. He was also the apple of his parents' eye. Sam's accomplishments were so breathtaking that they often caused Isamu and Ken's parents to ignore their younger son.
And now something had happened to Sam.
Oh, no...
She suddenly remembered seeing a news report that morning about a young boy being killed in a car accident...
"He... he pushed me out of the way, and Kaasan and Otusaan are so sad..."
Megumi did the only thing she could.
"It's okay, Ken... it's not your fault..."
=========================================================
[Present Day]
Kari and Tai split up at the main school entrance, Tai heading for the senior school and Kari for the junior. Tai himself hung back for a moment after Kari went, waiting until she disappeared up a flight of stairs before turning about and heading for his own classroom. On the way, he idly studied the faces of the students passing him, all in green and blue uniforms.
::Hmm... jerk, jerk, new kid... uninteresting new kid... jerk... Hey, who's *she*?::
Tai halted for a moment, causing the person walking behind to stumble into him. Said person maneuvered past him and hurried on their way as Tai watched the girl across the corridor.
He wasn't sure what drew his eyes to her. She was altogether unremarkable, if looks were any indicator. Wavy, shoulder-length brown hair pulled into a braid at one side of her head. Dark green eyes. Pale complexion. Freckles. Carrying more books than Tai had ever seen Izzy with...
::Whoa... that's a lot of courses... even for a smart kid...::
She was also picking at her pleated green skirt, tugging at her tie, wriggling uncomfortably every now and then but trying not to be obvious about it, as if she had never worn a uniform before.
::Well, if she's from around here, I don't know how she could have avoided uniforms... unless she's an eighth grader... and I really can't tell how old she is... There's something about her... but what?::
The bell chose that moment to ring, and Tai was pushed down the hallway by the surging crowd, away from the strange girl, and in the general direction of his class. He momentarily forgot about his curiosity, and by the time he looked back, she was gone.
=========================================================
The tenth grade class bustled into their seats just as the second bell sounded, and the teacher entered scant seconds later. He waited while the students settled, and then cleared his throat.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a new year. This is the tenth grade. This means work, everyone. A lot of it."
He looked over the class calculatingly, and then suddenly smiled. "But don't worry. The first day will be easy. Of course."
There was scattered and abortive laughter throughout the classroom. Again, the teacher waited for it to quiet, then spoke again. "We have, this year, the pleasure of a new student at our school. Megumi, please come up here?"
Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi rested his chin in his palm and stared uninterestedly at the wall. Easy? The first day would be easy? What was the point of coming to school if there was no challenge?
However, his boredom was quite abruptly cut off when he sighted the girl making her way up to the front of the room at the teacher's request.
I know her... Izzy told himself. I'm sure I do... but I'm just as sure we've never met...
"Megumi" reached the front of the room and turned to face the class.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Megumi Kato. She comes from..." He looked quizzically at Megumi. "Where do you come from?"
"Heighton View Terrace, sensei," she answered in a very quiet voice.
It didn't seem quiet to Izzy. The words "Heighton View Terrace" struck a deep discord in his mind, and set it working.
For Heighton View Terrace was the place where, years ago, all of the eight Digidestined had lived, and where they had all seen their first Digimon. Where their interconnection began, and where the long and confusing mystery started. And Megumi Kato came from there, too?
::Maybe that's how I know her... Izzy thought, ...though I could swear I don't remember ever seeing her there... but I'm *sure* that I know her, somehow...::
Izzy stared dubiously at Megumi as she looked around the room, her eyes finally settling on him. Was it Izzy's imagination, but did they widen a little when she saw him? Did she recognize him, too? And how?
She conveyed, at that moment, a very strange *look*. Izzy stiffened instinctively.
::I'm right. I do know her. I am right. I just wish I knew what about...::
Megumi glanced around the room, staring at students from underneath a fringe of hair. She was doing her best to study everyone in the room without making it evident that she was doing it. She was doing fairly well, too, being relatively unobtrusive about it, until she saw him...
::That's him. He's one of them.:: She was quite certain that, for a moment, her expression had changed, and she was almost certain that he had noticed it.
"Megumi, why don't you take that seat by Izzy?" The teacher pointed to a seat one behind and one to the left of the red-haired boy she had noticed.
She momentarily panicked, then ignored it and moved slowly towards the indicated desk, her eyes down. She was quite aware that Izzy's eyes were on her as she sat down.
The teacher went quite immediately into a lecture as Izzy stared unflinchingly at Megumi for a moment, then slowly turned around and faced the teacher. Megumi was glad; for now, she wouldn't have to deal with them finding out who she was.
Meg concentrated on finding paper and pen and arranging them on her desk. Izzy kept turning his head over his shoulder, trying to stare at her without looking like he was. He was just lucky the teacher was so excited about the first day, or it might very well have been noticed.
When the bell rang, the teacher called Izzy up to speak to him in private. Megumi stuffed all her things into her book bag and escaped the classroom as quickly as she could. The last thing she needed right now was an interrogation from Izzy.
"Now, Koushiro," said the teacher. "We need to arrange your advanced packages for this year. Could you tell your parents that our annual meeting will be tomorrow evening? Until then, just take this mathematics package home. Do as much of it as you can tonight, and tomorrow we'll discuss getting you into the enriched classes. All right?"
Izzy nodded distractedly and took the thick sheaf of paper from the teacher's hands, then bowed slightly and turned, hoping to catch Megumi and...
...but she had evaded him. She was already gone.
=========================================================
Tai skidded into the computer lab, ten minutes late.
"I'm sorry," he panted in apology. "The gym teacher made me stay late to put the equipment away."
To his surprise, no one turned to berate him - because there was no one there. Except Izzy, of course. Tai walked over to him, and looked over Izzy's shoulder.
"Hey, buddy, what're you - hey! That's her!" Tai jabbed his finger at the picture on Izzy's screen.
"What's her, Tai? You mean you saw her, too?" Izzy turned his head.
"Yeah! In the hallway, before class! I dunno why I remember her so much... there was just something... weird about her. Is she a new student?"
"Yes," Izzy told him, turning back to the screen. "As for there being something weird about her, you're not going to believe this..." He pointed to a line on the screen.
"She's from Heighton View Terrace. And she was there when... well, you know."
"She is?" Tai's eyes were wide. "But how... why... wouldn't we remember her? It wasn't that big a place. And... I thought every kid who saw the battle is a Digidestined, now?"
"That's just it," Izzy said, sounding perplexed. "She *must* have seen the battle. She lived in the same building *I* did. But the weirdest thing is that I don't remember her ever being there. I'm almost certain I never met her."
"I know *I* didn't," Tai said. "Hey, by the way, where *is* everybody?"
"Oh," Izzy said. "They've already gone through. You were late, you know."
====================================================
"Hey, mom," Tai asked his mother over dinner that night, "When we lived in Heighton View Terrace, did we ever meet a family named Kato?"
Mrs. Kamiya paused halfway through dishing out her brand-new baked apple and cabbage soufflé, and bit her lip, thinking.
"I don't think... actually, yes. I think there *was* someone named Kato. A doctor, I think. But I think he lived alone. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing," Tai said, digging into his soufflé with uncharacteristic (also, feigned) vigor. "Just a new kid at school whose last name is Kato, and says she's from Heighton View Terrace."
Kari gave him a strange look, but kept silent.
====================================================
"What was all that about?" she asked after dinner.
Tai looked up from his homework with feigned innocence. "What are you talking about?"
"All that stuff about the Katos. Who were you talking about?"
Tai sighed. "Someone in the high school that Izzy and I saw today. Megumi Kato. She told us she came from Heighton View Terrace."
Kari's forehead puckered in thought. "Megumi Kato? I don't remember anyone by that name."
"Neither could we. And there was something just... weird about her. So we looked her up... well, Izzy did. She was telling the truth. But we still can't figure out how any of us could have avoided knowing her, or even meeting her."
"Huh," Kari said. "It *is* pretty weird. Didn't all the other kids who lived in Heighton View Terrace..."
"Yeah." Tai nodded. "That was the other weird thing."
Kari shrugged. "I don't see what the big problem is. Why don't we just ask her?"
Kari scowled as her older brother collapsed over his books, laughing. "Oh,yeah. Great idea. Just walk up to her and ask. "Hey, Megumi, when you were a little kid, do you remember seeing any giant monster battles...?" She'd think we were crazy."
"Maybe," Kari agreed. "I still think it's kind of dangerous, when she might be Digidestined... what if Ken found out?"
Tai now shrugged. "Then we'll deal with it when it comes. I already talked about it with the others. We don't tell her - or ask her - until we absolutely have to. Until then, she's just another normal kid."
====================================================
Had Tai or any of the other Digidestined any idea what Megumi was currently occupied doing, they might have re-considered their resolutions. Meg Kato was, just at the moment, sitting in front of her computer screen, which itself was glowing in a decidedly unearthly manner.
As Megumi watched, the glow reduced, and resolved itself into the familiar Gate-program that the Digidestined themselves used to travel to the Digiworld. Megumi held her hand up, and the glow increased again. Suddenly, she was gone.
She emerged from a flash of brilliant white light on a scene of carnage. Dark Digimon roamed over a desert landscape, with magma glowing through great rents in the earth. In the distance, a dark tower was shadowed against the setting sun; a Control Spire. From where she was standing, Megumi could see dozens of Digimon clustered around its base, ostensibly paying homage to their new "Master".
A sharp pang of sadness and anger struck her in the stomach, and she shook her head. "Ken, what have you done?"
::He could have done... he had the potential and the spirit to do... so many wonderful things. Instead, he does this...::
She dabbed at the single tear that ran down her cheek. ::If he isn't stopped... the things he could do with all that power, he...:: she sighed. Her choices were diminishing, vanishing as Ken's power grew, as were the choices of the Digidestined. He was growing too powerful to control, even too powerful for her to stop by less conventional means. If the Digidestined didn't make some progress soon...
::No... I won't think about it going that far yet... I can't. I don't know if I *could*...::
Turning away from the nightmarish landscape, she returned to the real world.
=========================================================
From a dark, cavernous room in the depths of his floating fortress, the Digimon Emperor watched Megumi appear and disappear again. He saw the look on her face, the pain and the determination. He laughed uproariously, and then his face became suddenly a snarling mask.
"Come to try and stop me, Meg? We'll just see about that."
==================================================================
Morning at Odaiba Middle School tended to bring with it a certain degree of lethargy on the part of the students. Early-morning classes meant that many more people wandering half-awake throughout the hallways. Izzy himself found a semi-conscious student in his path at least twice, and a third time before he reached the computer room.
::I suppose I could have done this from home; but I didn't want to wake Mum and Dad...::
The room was deserted, and Izzy was glad for that. What he was going to attempt was going to be difficult to conceal, even for early morning. He locked the computer room door behind him as a precaution, and started over toward the computer he usually used…
... there was a knock on the door.
Izzy froze. The knock repeated itself.
Who could it be? No one ever used the computer this early except for him. He hadn't even turned the lights on yet. Maybe they'd just go away...
*knock knock knock knock*
::Rats...::
Abandoning all pretenses, Izzy dove behind the door just as a scrabbling sound came from the lock. There was a metallic click and it swung slowly open, trapping Izzy against the wall.
He might have expected a teacher, or maybe Yolei or another of the Digidestined; even the janitor. But the last thing he expected was to see a girl in school uniform silhouetted in the light from the hallway.
::Who...::
She stepped forward and snapped on the flashlight in her hand. That threw the shadows in the room into sharp relief, and she closed the door behind her. Not looking back (and fortunately, not seeing Izzy), she walked over to Izzy's computer, and sat down. She moved the mouse, and when the light from the screen blinked on, she turned off the flashlight. It was still dark now, but the light from the screen lit her face enough for Izzy to-
::Megumi?!::
Izzy barely stopped himself from exclaiming aloud. Megumi was staring at the screen, at the Gate program that must have activated itself when Izzy came into the room, reacting to his Digivice. But that had never happened before...
"Well, well, Izzy, what have you been up to?"
For a moment he was sure she had noticed him. But after a flickering instant in which his heart pounded in his chest, he realized that she was talking to the computer screen. She was scrolling through the archived records of the Gate program, her brow furrowed in thought.
::How does she know about the Gate? And how does she know about me? And...::
His train of thought was cut off as someone opened the door. He stumbled out from behind it right before he was crushed against the wall, regained his footing and regarded with trepidation the person who had opened the door.
Megumi turned her head. "Oh, hello," she said, a vaguely tremulous note in her voice. "Hello sensei. Hello, Koushiro." She bowed slightly.
Izzy felt the cold sweat on his forehead fade. She hadn't seen him. She thought he had come in with Mr. Kinomoto. Now if only the teacher didn't give him away --!
"I'm sorry - if I'm in your way, I'll go," she apologized to the teacher, nonchalantly closing the Gate program without even turning her head. The teacher didn't seem to notice.
"You're not downloading mp3's off the Internet, I hope, Megumi," the sensei said, inclining his head.
"Oh, no, sensei, not me," she said, laughing nervously. Her gaze flickered back and forth between the teacher and Izzy. There was some little suspicion in her eyes. Had she seen him after all?
"Well, good, then," said the teacher. "But next time you want to use the computer room this early, sign in at the main office, all right?"
"Yes, Kinomoto-sensei. I will." She bowed again, and then edged out past Izzy and the teacher. Izzy would have followed, but Mr. Kinomoto caught him by the arm.
"Izzy -"
"Yes, sensei?" Izzy felt that cold sweat break out again. The sensei was looking suspiciously at him.
"Did you help Megumi get in here?" asked Mr. Kinomoto. Izzy paled slightly.
"Uhm... well, yes, sensei," he lied. The teacher raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised at you, Izzy. You should know better."
Izzy nodded quickly. "You're right, sensei, we should have asked."
"Yes; you should have. Remember next time, all right?"
Izzy nodded so hard he thought his head might come off his neck, and bowed to the teacher. "Yes, sensei." He turned toward the door, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Izzy; wait."
Izzy froze again. ::Almost home free...:: he groaned inwardly. He turned around slowly.
"Yes, sensei?"
"You left this," said the teacher, holding out Megumi's flashlight. Surprised, Izzy reached out and took it.
"Thank you, sensei. I'll be going now, sensei." Bowing again, Izzy beat a hasty retreat into the hallway, closing the door behind him. He quickly looked around for Megumi, but as before, she had evaded him.
==================================================================
Megumi had been concentrating so hard on the problem before her that she hardly noticed anyone else enter the room. The complicated algebra problem seemed to taunt her, dancing back and forth on the page, the numbers blurring together. She realized, rubbing the haze out of her eyes, that this effect probably had something to do with her recent lack of sleep. She passed a hand across her eyes, picked up her pencil, and readied herself to try working it out again with renewed effort when -
*BLAM*
An arm appeared centimeters away from her nose, driving down, colliding with the table. She instinctively threw up her arms in front of her face, and jerked backward, knocking the chair over in her haste. For a moment, everything was still. The hand was still on the table, clutching an object; her flashlight? Disentangling herself from the chair, she got to her feet and blinked at the person who stood there.
"Koushiro? What was that for?"
"You left this in the computer room," said Izzy, raising one eyebrow significantly.
Megumi's stomach dropped. "Oh; yes. Thanks for holding on to it for me," she said quickly, reaching out one hand to take the flashlight, but Izzy held it just out of her reach.
"Koushiro? What's the matter?" She was having trouble keeping the tremor out of her voice. He knew. He had to know...
"Call me Izzy," said Izzy. "You did this morning."
That clinched it. As Megumi's mind scrolled back in time, trying to think of any instance where she had used Koushiro's nickname aloud, she could only come up with one.
"You *were* there, weren't you? Behind the door?"
Izzy nodded. "Something about you didn't seem right. Now I know what it is."
"Do you?"
"How much do you know? And how did you find out?"
Megumi spread her hands wide, shrugging. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just went to use the computer-"
"Hah! You're lying!" Izzy said triumphantly, shaking the flashlight. "You knew about the Gate program! How?"
Megumi widened her eyes convincingly and shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about - you mean that thing that came up when I turned on the computer? Is it some kind of game? I thought it was yours."
Izzy was shocked, and it showed. He studied her face further, eyes flickering, and then shook his head. "But you must... it must have reacted to... Huh." His shoulders slackened, and he handed her the flashlight. "Sorry. I must have been mistaken."
"You must have," Megumi said, shrugging. "Sorry, Izzy." She gathered her books and left the room. Izzy watched her go, left with a feeling that something, out of all of this, was amiss. And one way or another, he was going to find out what it was.