A

A/N = Yaiii!!! You people asked for more and more you're getting!!!! ^^V This chapter is relatively short, though. It was supposed to be longer… but I was eager to share… and since both Kendra-sama *bows* and Ria-chan *glomps to death, since she beated this chapter* liked it… I'm posting it as it is =P

Disclaimer = THAT'S TORTURE!!! They won't be mine till Toei people will let me work on season 04, 'k?!! Or 05… 06… oh, hell, one day I'll work for those people! (-- actually believing it)

Warnings = The same as last times - This fanfic is the culmination of too many rainy evenings spent playing the Digimon RPG game and various Squaresoft RPG, reading manga whose plots remind the Pink Panther's and watching Neon Genesis Evangelion. As a result it is very long and very twisted, not to mention that it sports a lot of religious stuff and an enormous amount of heterosexual, yaoi and maybe yuri couples. Main couples? Kensuke, Wallsuke, a scene Takari lovers will like a lot, and hints of Hiyako *waves her Hiyako flag* and… err… you could see Patakeru in this… *I* for one, actually do… *grins* Oh, and Ken's a tad bit strange in this… Kaiser mode is on, I suppose ^^;;

Dedication time!! = To my cousin Kyle, who's been pestering me to death. To k-chan, *huggles* plus, Lord Van's feelings for Tai are a gift to Kendra =)

The Game that Gods play

Chapter 03 – Uncertain feelings rushing

* Takeru's POV *

"This is boring." I sigh, leaning back against the wall, hands entwined behind my head and pressed between my blonde hair and the cold metal.

"I know."

"Why do we have to be the support Squad?! This way all the fun will end even before we leave the hangar! If we leave it *at all*!!"

"We're going out in a *mission*, Takeru. This isn't supposed to be fun."

"I know." I sigh, my shoulders dropping down. "So." I ask, straightening my shoulders back up. "Which digimon will you use tonight?"

Hikari tilts her head, puckering her lips in thought. "Well… Gatomon will be with me, of course…"

"You can't disembark with only *one* digimon with you, 'Kari." I remind her with an eyebrow raised. She nods, tapping her index finger on her still puckered lips.

"Uhm…"

"You haven't decided your team members, yet?!" I ask, mouth wide open in disbelief, and I can only blink when she closes her eyes and nods happily. "My…" I slap a hand against my forehead, sliding down against the wall. "Hikari-chan…" I whine.

"Don't worry!" She reassures me as she quickly brings out her D-Terminal. Cherry eyes follow carefully the data moving over the little screen, and she is once again serious and thoughtful. "Let' see… uhm… digimon… digimon… digimon…"

I smile at her, even though she can't see me. I can't explain it very well, but she has… this… aura. A soft halo that makes me feel at peace whenever I sense it. She's always happy, always ready to help, always cheerful and carefree. I envy her for this. Sometimes… I'd like to have her light.

Unconsciously, my fingers reach out for the pendant hidden under my uniform and my eyes search for the silver necklace I *know* to be around Hikari's ivory neck. And of course it is here, shimmering quietly under the strangely bright artificial light. That's our secret. Hers, mine and Yamato's. He's the one who gave us these necklaces and strange crests. He said they represent our inner virtues. Hers is light. Mine's Hope. He said we shan't let anyone see them, or talk about them either. Yamato told us we're not the only ones who possess such important charms, but he said ours are the most powerful crests existing. He said that one day we'll have to use this superior power of ours to gather all the other crest-keepers and become -with them- the light that will put the sky on fire, shattering the falseness of deceiving promises and creating the 'real' Utopia.

Even if we were relatively young when we received this crests of ours, Hikari accepted hers and every consequence -good and bad- it carried with it gladly and proudly. But I'm… not sure. Even now I don't fully understand the meaning of Yamato's sibylline words and in addition, I've the feeling Yamato's Utopia's different from Lord Van's. And I know Hikari does too. Lord Van's our benefactor, the only hero in a world of corruption and darkness. We've been raised to know it. To *think* about that as the only truth. But Yamato's my brother… so… if there will be a direct confrontation… where will I be?

At Lord Van's side?

Or at Yamato's side?

I don't know---everything's so confusing… but I Hope everything will be alright. I Hope we'll do the right choice. I Hope the Utopia we're searching for will really make everyone happy. I Hope Yamato's right. And I Hope I'll be strong enough to be at his side.

I let loose a soft, distraught sigh and Hikari's red-hued orbs flick up and fix on me through dark eyelashes. "What?"

I shake my head, eyes closed and lips tugged up in a smile I can only hope doesn't seem fake. "Nothing, go on."

"You'll tell me." She vows, eyes focusing back down on her terminal. She carefully works it for eternal moments and then looks up at me, beaming. "Piddomon, Andromon and Gatomon sound good?"

I nod at her, before reply. "Tyrannomon, Centarumon, Drimogemon and Unimon."

She nods back, turning off her D-Terminal and carefully placing it in her pocket. When she looks up at me again, moving a lock of golden brown from her forehead, she fixes her eyes on me with a force that nearly makes me reel backward. "So?"

"So, what?" I swallow, playing it cool. I'm not =that= at ease when she looks at me like that.

"Spill out."

"Spill out =what=?"

"What made you sigh."

I give her a strange look. That was it? "I sighed because…" I pause, shacking my head in defeat. "I, uh, just realized, I really need to change my digiline. I always use the same digimon."

She frowns, reddish eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You're worried, aren't you?"

"Why?" I shrug. "This is just a routine mission."

"No… I mean…" There she takes a pause to smile, reaching out to hook one finger under my necklace and bring it up, so that my crest is swaying in front of my eyes. I blink, first at it and then at her still smiling face.

"Hikari…"

"Takeru…" she replies, moving closer. "…everything will be alright. Human beings need faith to go on. But our faith must be given to the right people…" once again she pauses, placing a finger on my chest, just over my heart. "You must have faith in yourself, Takeru. It's not Lord Van's words what you've to follow. Nor are Yamato's. You must have faith in this." She presses her finger a bit harder against my chest, and looks up, intense cinnamon-hued eyes drifting into disbelieving blue ones. "There are no such things as bad and good, Takeru… nothing can be completely black or completely white. Everything around us is grey… or better… rainbow-hued. All one really needs to get through life is their heart…feelings… and hope. That's what makes everyone move on. Hope. Light is only there to make the colours easier to see and classify."

The shadow of a smile blossoms over my lips, and I can see the delight ripple her eyes, her white teeth flashing in the semi-darkness the light above her head casts over her face. She's amazing. How can she always know what's going on in my head is past me, but I don't care to question such a gift. Yet…

* * * * *

* Hikari's POV *

He slowly slides down against the wall and once on the floor, lifts his knees up to rest his chin on them. I stare at him for a second. Looking so sad and vulnerable, not like his usual, bright and hopeful self, he reminds me of the insecure little child he was when we first met. I kneel down next to him and then shift until I've made myself comfortable on the cold metal floor.

"Hikari…" I hear his soft voice, choked with raw emotion, and his words shock me to my core. "That's what you'd like to think."

I look at him now, and I find he's lifted his face to stare at his feet. "What do you mean, Take-chan?"

"That your heart often fools you, guiding you through a path that's hardly the right one."

"No." I shake my head firmly, eyes never leaving his. "The way your heart follows is *always* the right one. Society can think differently. Religion can too. Common sense? Prejudices? Rules and laws? Leave them all behind. Your heart guides you toward something? Then follow its lead."

"But sometimes it leads you to shadowed traps no Hope can lead you out of."

He pauses, uncertain. "You're not talking about our crests anymore…"

He looks away and I reach out to run a hand through his golden hair.

"…Tomorrow… you have to lab-digivolve Patamon, haven't you?"

He tenses up, sucking a sharp breath and holding it in.

"I knew it."

"Hikari…" he concedes reluctantly "Patamon's my best friend… I don't want to lose him…"

"You're not going to lose him!!" I smile cheerfully, tilting my head to a side, in an cute little pose designed only to cheer him up. "He'll just… change… a bit."

The smile which has been blossoming over his lips fades away, and his eyes meet with the metallic floor. "I don't want him to."

"Takeru…" I place the comforting weight of my hand on his tense shoulder, and lean over and down to smile at him. "You know better than judge someone from the outside, don't you? So you know very well that even if Patamon changes his aspect, he'll always be your sweet, caring friend, right?" Much to my own delight his lips curve up in a smile and he nods. "Good!" I say cheerfully and he rubs his now teary face along his sleeve and smiles.

My eyebrows flinched, as I consider the idea swirling in my mind, and then I bite my bottom lip, before touching my lips to his. It has happened only once before and just like the last time he doesn't move away. Our first kiss set off a feeling that was indescribable. And this time the feelings are just the same. We're safe. It's like being welcomed home after centuries of endless travelling. It's like being again inside my mother. It's like being lulled to sleep by the sweetest voice ever. It's a spell. Our crests' spell.

Neither of us pulls away or deepens the kiss for a long moment, until I retreat slowly, smiling at the radiance surrounding us, our crests quickly biping and flashing in unison as if talking.

"Everything will be all right, TK…" I assure softly. My blonde friend smirks at me, frowning playfully.

"…Miyako's so going to kill you if she ever knows…"

"TK!!!" I smack him playfully on his arm. "You won't dare!"

"Who says so? You're not the boss of me!"

I stick out my tongue at him, playfully, beaming inwardly at his current cheerfulness. "Actually, my brother is!" His eyes dance as he finally smiles genuinely at me. I let loose a sigh and move my head to lay on his shoulder. "…but I still have to tell her, so I doubt she'd care." I pause, frowning slightly. "I doubt she'd care even If she knew my feelings, actually."

I hear him chuckle at my side. "…Oh, don't be so sure."

I look up ay him with an eyes brow raised. "What?"

His only reply is a smirk, before he reaches down to tangle a hand in my hair and guide my head back to his shoulder. "Let's just say you're not the only one who can read people's mind." And with this confusing statement he chuckles again, resting his head on top of mine.

* * * * *

* Ken's POV *

The city looms below me, little lights wavering over the blue oblivion of the night's depths as ethereal fireflies waltzing across the dark surface of a bottomless, hostile lake. Billionths of human creatures move in the streets intersecting under my keen gaze, worthless insects hurrying around with bemusing excitement. It captivates me they way they move, completely oblivious to everything around but themselves. Completely deaf to everything but their own selfish requests of pleasure and happiness. Blind to anything but their own aspect. If there's something I've always found fascinating, it would be the unpredictability of living beings and their movements. Even before I became the Digimon Kaiser, I would sit for hours wondering about life. And now it pains me that the deepest and truest meaning of my mission is connected to creatures so astonishingly selfish, even if so enchanting.

I look away, lifting my head to blink in the soft brightness of the moonlit sky. When I look down again, I raise my left hand in front of my face and clench it into a fist, eyes narrowing at the steel armband shimmering under the silvery brilliance of the moon. "There." I reach a single gloved finger out and point at the museum's roof.

"Don't we stop and play with the Tamers, tonight?" Stingmon replies, his usually strong and deep voice trembled by an tiny hint of bemusement. Behind my glasses, my eyes narrows and –despite myself- my lips crease in a frown. "No."

My green digimon laughs quietly, speeding up toward the roof. "Still enraged that yesterday night Daisuke wasn't there?"

Caught, I bite my bottom lip, balling my fists. "Not at all." Stingmon lets loose a quiet chuckle and I glare at him, a low growl responding to his laughter. "And I wasn't angry at all, in the first place."

"Sure." With that, he bends backward, and I promptly jump on the roof with a rather surprisingly agility. Osamu used to tell me this agility of mine isn't related to the outfit I'm wearing right now, like I always believed, but that's a innate gift of mine. I doubt it very much, considering I can't access this abilities of mine when I'm plain, old lil' Ken-chan. Shacking my head almost forcefully, I look around for any sign of Daisuke—err—I mean, the Tamers.

"Good. No one's around."

"Disappointed?"

Turning slightly to cast him a venomous glare, I advance toward the window in the middle of the dark roof, placing my steel armband on the alarm with a rough jerk. I glare at my digimon as he quietly advances toward me and then I focus my attention back to the alarm.

"Can you deactivate it?"

~I'm already working on it.~ The metallic voice replies from inside the now biping armband.

"Good."

~…I sense you're troubled, Ken. Care to share the reason with me?~

I growl, resisting the urge to slam the steel band against the wall to silence it. "I am *not* troubled. Go back to work. NOW."

~I'm working. It will take me some minutes to deactivate the alarm, though. But allow me to disagree on your being troubled. Your data clearly hints to a some sort of inner turmoil.~

I reach a gloved hand out and rub the bridge of my nose exasperatedly, letting out a discouraged moan. "Oh, please…"

~It's Daisuke, isn't it?~

I lick my lips nervously and go to answer, but words different from the ones I intended to say escape my lips. "He lied to me…" I wince, realizing only afterwards what I said.

~What did he say?~

I groan quietly, showing out an annoyance that –inwardly- is quickly fading away.

"He…said…" I sigh, the sheer insanity of being at the mercy of a band of cold metal nearly making me laugh. "…that…we… -he and Ken, I mean- couldn't meet yesterday for he had been assigned on a nightly mission. But when I showed up as the Kaiser that night…"

"He wasn't there." Stingmon finishes for me, and once again I find myself biting my lip.

~…Why, I'm forced to point out that you lied to him for years…~

"That's not the same!" I cry out loud, completely forgetting I'm supposed to be quiet. Realization hitting me, I lower my voice to a hiss, bringing my face closer to the armband so that I can drop my tone even more and still be sure to be heard. "…he… never lied to me before… I lie to him… because I have to. I don't want to lie to him! It pains me! But there's no other way to accomplish my mission than being the Kaiser, and no one must know it. I'm *forced* to tell him lies! But he…" I lick my suddenly dry lips, a loss for words. "…*lied* to me."

~…~

"…"

"…"

I can feel Stingmon's worried gaze on me, and I'd like to look up and smile at him, but I can't and won't do it. At the same time, I'm half-tempted to whip him and that's something that scares me a little. When I wear this outfit, it's like my personality is overwhelmed and drowned in a more powerful one. Like if a twisted mind takes control over mine. The mind of someone who likes to hurt and scorn. To destroy. To laugh at what should be respected and cherished. To damage what's precious and sacred.

~…I… see.~

I raise an eyebrow, not sure with how he can comprehend something I myself fail to understand completely.

~My ototo's jealous that his little Daisuke went somewhere without telling him. How sweet. ~

"Oniisan!"

~Process complete, Master. You can access the museum, now.~

"Thanks." I hiss through gritted teeth.

Opening the window and letting myself fall into the corridor below is a matter of seconds, noiseless and accurate. The window closes behind Stingmon as he too jumps down, using his huge dragonfly wings to come to an halt a few centimetres above the floor. He floats noiselessly around me, as I scan our surroundings. I nod at him and there's not even the need to explain my plan to him, as in a second he's rushing down the hallway toward the garden, while I'm rushing in the opposite direction, toward the elevator waiting mutely in the distance. Turning a corridor, I come to a sharp halt and whip back around, pressing my back against the wall. There's a someone in front of the elevator. Luckily for me, it's a simple guard and not a tamer. I lick my lips, my hand reaching my belt, unnoticed even by me, where it closes over the cold handle of my whip. For a second I toy with the notion of unsheathing it and let it evolve to its sword form, to run that man through so that he'd be put out of his misery. But then I release the handle, waiting for the man to turn around. When he finally does, I leap from the wall, and in a second I'm in the elevator.

Even if I couldn't actually see it, I guess the man had stopped his recognition and turned back to the elevator to check why the door opened, since he's now peering inside the metal cage. With an eyebrow raised and a puzzled groan escaping his lips, he turns away, the elevators' door closing noiselessly behind him. I suppose this man's really loved by Lady luck, 'cause it would have cost him is life if he had looked up and spotted me, lurking in a shadowed corner, completely at ease in a position of precarious equilibrium, balanced perfectly on the tiny band of metal running above the door; my insect wings-like mantle wrapped around my body, my shaded eyes reduced to thin slits. See? My agility's barely human. I told you, hadn't I?

With a quiet buzzing noise and a nearly nonexistent trembling, the elevator descends to the proper floor, a strangely sweet twinkling sound echoing in the air once it reaches its final destination. Leaping out the elevator, I'm welcomed in the shadows ruling this lone corridor as if I'm one of them. And I've to admit it's nice. At my side, there's a huge window, that runs along the whole wall, showing to me the great hall concealed behind it, seductively. Advancing a step to press my palms over the glass, I smirk to myself, spotting Daisuke and Chibimon running across the floor, shouting orders to the poor cops guarding my… or better yet, soon-to-be- Mimi's "Mermaid's Tear". A long, slim blade, a metallic claw, leaps out from my armband, brushing against the back of my hand as it does. With a wicked smile tugging proudly my lips, I move it closer to the glass, when I suddenly stop, frozen.

A unfamiliar blonde enters in, walking up to Daisuke and patting him on his back with odd familiarity. Hardly stifling a growl at the sight, I let the steel claw retreat in the armband, moving it close to my mouth.

"Who is =he=?!"

Mere seconds after, I've my question answered and I don't like it.

~…That's a Tamer, Master. Or better yet a Lance. Consulting the MAGI's archives, it seems he's Daisuke's new partner, not to mention the faculty supervisor of this mission.~

"Name?"

~Wallace.~

"Level and license?"

~Level A. Chief.~

"Oooh…" I feel my mouth curl up into an involuntary smile. "Interesting… they sent one of the best Tamers of the whole Sephiroth to catch me?" I chuckle bitterly, moving my hand toward the glass once again, the steel claw dashing out my heavy manacle to scratch it. "I'm flattered. Really."

But my good mood fades away as dreams do in the morning light, when this 'Wallace' guy embraces *my* Daisuke. Whispers something in his ear. Licks his earlobe. And *KISSES* his cheek. Close to brushing the corner of his lips. *TOO* close, actually.

I don't know what you'd do, but this time, when my fingers clasp around the handle of my whip, I do *not* pull away.

* End of chapter 03 *

* * * * *

Hope ya liked it! *smirks* Do you think Ken's about to hurt Wallace for this little scene with Dai? *smirks evilly* Who knows… ;) *runs away chased by dozens of Wallace fans, searching desperately her pockets for her 'we love Wallace' flag*