Mystery In Odaiba: Chapter 2

A/N: Can't sleep… Must sleep… Ah well, I guess I'll write more of this fic. *draws another name from her unlucky hat*

Ooh… So sad… Really sorry… *sniff sniff* -_-

-------

It had been pitch-black… for how long? Thirty minutes to be exact. Ouch, my head…

Takeru was lying on the floor. He had actually been getting into that horror movie, until the blackout. He remembered getting up to go get a flashlight, but he slipped and fell back. Good thing it was carpet… He shook his head. What kind of fool slips on carpet? I'll have to keep this a secret from Hikari…

He had heard the phone ringing, but he was not able to get up. That could have been Hikari too… Takeru sighed and slowly got up.

"Mom!" he called out. "Mom, where are you?"

"In here," she called back from the other room. She ran into the living room, a flashlight in her hand. "Oh, Takeru, are you all right?"

"I kind of hit my head…" Takeru replied sheepishly.

His mother patted his head affectionately. "Well, let's just sit here and wait--"

The lights came back on at that moment. The TV came back on as well. Takeru watched a girl scream and fall onto the floor.

"Poor girl," Takeru spoke.

-------

"Hikari! HIKARI!!"

Hikari stood, frightened, as the lights flickered back on. Her mother ran to her and hugged her. Then she looked in shock at the window. "Hikari… What happened?!"

"I… I don't know," Hikari whispered, dangerously close to crying. Be strong Hikari… You've been through scarier stuff than this in the Digital World, remember? … But then, why do I feel so cold inside…? This feeling in my heart… It's worse than ever… She looked down and noticed a rock… It wasn't a big rock, but it was certainly thrown hard enough to break a window… She glanced at the shattered window…

Her mother hugged her again. Hikari hugged back, grateful to be alive.

-------

Meanwhile, Sora and Yamato had taken Taichi to a hospital.

"Can you save him, doctor?" Sora pleaded.

The doctor looked at Sora sadly. "Ma'am… I'm… I'm afraid it would take a miracle to bring him back… He's hanging on by a thread."

"But with a thread, there's still hope," Yamato firmly declared. "Do everything you can!"

With an uncertain nod, the doctor left the couple. Sora clung on to Yamato's arm.

"Why… Why did this have to happen, Yamato…?"

"I don't know, Sora…" Yamato sighed. "But someone is going to pay for it…"

"H-He loved me…" Sora spoke softly, her voice trembling. However, this caused Yamato to look at her rather bitterly.

"Of course he did… Wasn't it obvious?" he asked her, his voice growing more and more emotionless. Sora glanced at him in shock. His eyes softened at her hurt glance. "I mean… Who wouldn't love you, Sora? You're the sweetest girl I've ever met."

Sora smiled at him.

"I think that I'd better call the others…" Yamato looked worried. "They're going to want to know what's going on…"

Sora nodded as Yamato left in search of a pay phone. She looked down… Hikari can't know… It'll absolutely kill her…

-------

Miyako was lying on her bed, enjoying the rain. She secretly loved the sound of raindrops… When the phone rang, she picked it up, but she barely recognized the voice. She listened for a moment and spoke, "… Yamato? Something's wrong, isn't it?" She paused and looked out the window… She listened to the roar of the thunder. "Someone's hurt… right? Something happened while someone was going home… That's what happened, isn't it?" She could see the park from her room, and her eyes grazed over there.

"Good guess," the blonde replied. "Come to the hospital right away."

-------

"If the rain keeps up, the soccer game is going to be canceled," Daisuke complained as he walked through the door, just now getting home.

"You should be studying for finals anyway," his mother sighed. "Not practicing soccer…"

The phone rang then and Jun went to go answer it.

"I have to practice if I want to be as good as Taichi, Mom!" Daisuke declared. "And if I practice even more, I may even become like Ken!"

Jun poked her head in the room. "Speaking of Taichi, he's in the hospital! Yamato says to go there right away!"

Daisuke was in mid-ramble. "… And when I get my first medal………. What? *blink* Taichi is in the hospital?"

-------

Chop. Chop. Chop.

He raised the knife and continued to chop.

"Honey, don't you think you've cut those onions enough?" his mother asked, coming into the room with a worried expression on her face.

Ken grinned. "Sorry, Mom… I'm just trying to be a better cook."

His mother glanced about. "Say, why don't you take a break… You should go to the hospital and see your friend Taichi… He was attacked a few hours ago."

Ken dropped the knife.

-------

Hikari sat alone in her room, drying her hair. The phone rang at that moment. Hikari wandered over to the hallway and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she asked cautiously.

"Hello, Hikari." There came that muffled voice again.

"Taichi is not home yet, I'm sorry," Hikari apologized. Someone must be really impatient to speak to Taichi.

"Well, I'm here to speak to you," the voice told her. "After all, Taichi is not coming home."

Hikari's heart began to pound. "… What…?"

"Why don't you go to the hospital? He's in there… holding on to his dear life… And that's when I'll strike."

Click.

Hikari clutched the phone. "No…" She sank down on her knees. I've got to help my brother!

-------

"Sora…"

Sora looked up to see Mimi's tear-stained face. "Mimi, I'm so glad you're here," Sora told her.

"Yamato told me what happened," Mimi sniffled slightly. "I… I can't believe… Why would someone…"

"It's pretty hard to believe… Taichi was such a nice guy…" It was Koushirou. Jyou was with him. "I wonder who would have a grudge against him."

"I'm just going to pray that the doctors can save him," Sora said, rather hopelessly.

-------

The others arrived one by one, nearly 45 minutes later.

"Hey…" Yamato greeted them. "Has anyone heard from Hikari? No one is answering at their house."

"I haven't heard from her," Takeru told his brother slowly.

"Hmmm…" Yamato sighed. "Well, I'll just try again later."

A doctor approached them. "Are you here to see Yagami Taichi?"

"Yes, yes we are!" Sora stood up. "May we see him?"

The doctor nodded. "He won't have much to say, though…"

-------

Jyou was the last to visit with Taichi. Those eyes… They were wide open, yet it was almost like he couldn't hear me… Jyou shook his head at the unfortunate situation. "Hey, Yamato," he said. "Do you want to try Hikari again now?"

Yamato gave 50 cents to Takeru. "Hey, can you call her?" He gestured at the sleeping Sora, leaning against his shoulder. "I don't want to wake her."

"Sure," Takeru replied. He took the money and searched for the pay phone. Poor Sora… He glanced back at her, then silently regretted to be the one to break the horrible news to Hikari. After all… I don't think he has a chance at all…

And that's when he ran smack into Hikari.

"H-Hikari!" Takeru stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see my brother," Hikari said firmly.

"How did you know?" Takeru asked.

"It was so strange," Hikari spoke. "Somebody called me… This person told me that Taichi was going to die tonight." She shoved past Takeru. "He's going to try to kill him tonight!" She ran towards Taichi's room. Yamato watched her go in shock.

"Hikari…!" he called after her, but she didn't look back.

-------

Hikari went into Taichi's room. She saw that his eyes were wide-open. "Oh, Brother… You're okay." Hikari sighed gratefully. She walked over to him. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

There was no reply. Her eyes traveled towards the monitor. Why, someone turned it off?

She looked down at her older brother. He hasn't even blinked once. Then she saw the cord… Someone had cut it… The ventilation mask on his face…

"He's not breathing," Hikari gasped. Then she ran out of the room, calling desperately for a doctor.

-------

"If only I had gotten here sooner," Hikari wailed.

"What did the person who was on the phone with you say?" Ken asked.

"That person said… That Taichi would be killed tonight… So I rushed over here."

Yamato sighed. "If only we had known."

Jyou looked sad. "Hmm… That must be… must be why I felt something was wrong when I visited."

"Yes, you were the last one to visit with him, correct?" Mimi said. "You know, he looked fine when I visited him."

"Yeah," Yamato agreed. "When I visited him, I could still see him slightly breathing."

"Wow, that is creepy," Iori said.

"Good thing Sora is still sleeping," Miyako said, looking at the girl. "I feel so sorry for her…"

"What about me, Miyako…?" Hikari asked softly. "He was my brother…" Then she looked at Sora. She sighed. Then someone touched her shoulder. Hikari turned around quickly.

"Takeru…"

Takeru led her away from the others. "I'm so sorry about Taichi… He… He was a great friend to all of us…"

Hikari hugged him. "I just don't know what to do… What will Mom and Dad say?"

"I don't know," Takeru replied honestly. "Hey, Hikari." Hikari looked at him. "Hikari… Why don't you meet me at the beach tomorrow? There… There are some things I need to tell you."

Intrigued, Hikari could only nod.

-------

It had been difficult for any of them to sleep. Daisuke yawned and looked at his fellow Digi-Destined. Only Takeru, Yamato, and Sora were not there.

"Now that Taichi's gone," Daisuke spoke loudly. "I've got to become a better soccer player for the team!"

The others stared at him in shock.

"How could you say such an insensitive thing?!" Miyako shouted. She looked at Hikari, but her face was surprisingly calm-looking.

"He's just trying to cheer me up," Hikari said.

Daisuke looked at the pretty brown-haired girl. I can't believe this happened to her…

"Do you want to go to the movies with me later?" Mimi asked. "Girls night out… My treat. I'll invite Sora." She looked at Miyako. "Miyako can come too!"

Hikari shook her head. "Not today, Mimi. I'm meeting Takeru at the beach later."

"Ooh," Mimi squealed. "Well then, you kids have fun!"

-------

Later that day…

-------

Takeru ran as fast as he could to the beach. He checked his watch. "I'm late… I'm going to be in so much trouble!" He picked up the pace. "I hope Hikari is still there!"

That's when he noticed the figure in black watching him.

"You'd better hurry," came the muffled voice.

Takeru stopped a moment and looked back. But the figure was gone.

"Maybe I just imagined it," Takeru said to himself. Then he began running again.

-------

Hikari sat alone and watched the setting sun. Where is Takeru? It's getting dark… No, something must have happened to him! He wouldn't make me wait… He knows I hate the darkness…

She felt the tears come to her eyes for the fourth time that day. Something about how her father sadly announced that Taichi's funeral would be in a couple of days… It hit her at that moment that Taichi was truly gone. He was not going to be coming back.

As she sat waiting, all she could remember were their experiences with digimon. All those times together in the Digital World… When she was just a baby and the two of them met Koromon.

"So many memories…" She sighed and laid back. Then she saw the figure in black watching her. Hikari screamed.

"Yes," the figure agreed with her. "So many memories. Why don't you go join your brother?"

"No, wait," Hikari pleaded.

-------

Takeru was out of breath when he reached the beach. The figure in black was there, waiting for him.

"It's you again," Takeru cried.

"I told you to hurry," the voice told him coldly. Takeru could feel the blood draining out of his face as he saw the fallen girl lying on the beach. He ran to her.

She's been stabbed…

"I thought that I'd throat-slash her, but that's too much for such an innocent little angel, don't you think?"

Takeru turned around furiously. "Why?!"

"To put her out of her misery," the voice said simply.

"Who are you?!" Takeru demanded. "You were the one who killed Taichi, weren't you?!"

"You're smart," the figure laughed. "Now… Since you're so smart, can you figure out who's next?"

-------

A/N- Ugh, this chapter was just so crappily written… Oh well… Sorry, Hikari fans… I wonder whose name I'll draw next from my "unlucky hat of doom." Well, it was good to put her out of her misery, don't you think? L

Well, see you next time, next chapter!