Darkness.
Pure, black, horrible, terrifying darkness!
My eyes snapped open.
I did not even remotely know this place. What was it? Where was it?
"Glad to see you're up." a man's voice greeted me. He looked oddly familiar. His hair was a dirty blonde, turning gray. He wore a navy business suit and a pair of sunglasses. Why did he seem so familiar?
"Kiiroshi Lee -- the sinful hybrid, as we've nicknamed you at HQ."
"Sinful..." I murmured, remembering someone saying that to me.
The man looked at me. "So you're gaining some memory back, Kiiroishi." he said calm and evenly.
I looked up at him in surprise.
"Is that my name? Kiiroishi?" I asked him. He nodded.
"Kiiroishi Lee, to be exact." he confirmed.
"What is this place?" I asked him.
He grinned. More to himself, it seemed, than to me.
"Hospital Wing here at Hypnos." he reported
I looked around. I was in a small bed -- not quite comfortable, but it provided its services. They were blue shades drawn around me, and I was wearing some sort of paper-like clothing. It seemed oddly familiar, reminding me of something else as well.
An image of a blue-haired man came to me. He looked very concerned and worried.
"Hey...don't cry. Your arm will be all right, these doctors are going to take care of it for you."
The memory then faded from my mind.
I looked at my arm. Whoever the man had been was right. My arm seemed fine.
The main in the business suit looked at me, frowning. Something seemed to be bothering him.
"My name is Yamaki." he told me.
An image of ice. Freezing, cold, dangerous ice. I was running away from it with a girl. I felt an odd sort of embarrassment when I thought about her. Then, I heard someone yelling.
"Yamaki!"
Then I was saved from the ice...by someone. Two people, I think.
Once again, the image faded away.
"Yamaki?" I asked. He nodded.
"Have I met you before?" I asked tentatively. He grinned a cruel, private, sort of grin.
"Perhaps." he said softly.
Renamon watched distractedly as Ruki made another cup of coffee. She never did much like drink, it was too harsh, or gave her too much energy. She had noticed over the years that lots of humans did like the drink, among many others, because it would soothe their nerves.
Must be why she was drinking so much, thought Renamon. Takato walked wearily back into the kitchen and sat down on a chair near Renamon.
"I finally got her to sleep." he said, his voice revealing his general exhaustion. He gratefully took the cup of coffee Ruki leant to him.
Was Kiiroishi even sleeping tonight? Renamon mused. Takato and Ruki had decided that for the time being, they should stay here in case anything did happen. Reiko had, of course, insisted that she stay as well.
She was as stubborn as her mother was.
Though Ruki had changed somewhat over the years, she was still as stubborn as she had ever been back from when they first met. She was still tough, of course, though she had eventually learned the art of friendship. At first, she seemed like almost all that mattered to her was fighting. Yet...be it chance or fate, becoming a Digimon Tamer had made her change. Made her realize that life was not just one long battle, and that she didn't have to face it alone. She had changed.
Renamon fought back a sob, definitely not for the first time, as her mind replayed Kiiroishi's sudden, violent change. What had happened to her son?
She took a deep breath. There was no need to cry yet. She did feel certain that, at the very least, he was still alive. After all, Yamaki did need him.
What exactly had triggered Ruki's change, Renamon wondered? Of course, the answer was pretty obvious now. Not from the beginning of course, she did hate him then. Renamon found herself almost smiling from the memory. They had eventually calmed towards each other, but it had taken time. Then it just seemed like it went on from there until it had reached this point. Part of what had made Ruki change, and not go back to how she was before, was Takato. As for herself...well...
"YES!" yelled Jenrya triumphantly. He heaved a long sigh and sat back in his chair.
Almost immediately after Kiiroishi's change and disappearance, Jenrya had raced to his computer and began searching wildly for any information on Hypnos he could find, convinced they were behind it. He been doing this for the last two hours since it had happened non-stop.
"You found something?" Ruki and Takato asked.
Jenrya chuckled. "More than just something." he said softly.
"I believe I've found a way to sneak into their headquarters."