Kurai Kibo: Dark Hope Part Three: The Meeting by: Yuki Tenshi

A blonde boy walked around the moonlit pond in Odaiba Park. He sat, chin in his hands, thinking about earlier that day. A small orange Digimon landed on the boy's hat. The two were silent for a few minutes.

Then, "What's wrong, Takeru-chan?" The little monster asked quietly.

"I wish you could armor digivolve, like the others. I wanted to be in that fight today. To help the others." The blonde boy sighed. "And I was thinking about an old friend." He finished, almost as if it was an after thought.

"Oh. I'm sure I'll be able to armor digivolve, when the time comes. Until then..." The Digimon trailed off, looking down at his best friend. "Who were you thinking about? Hikari-san, Iori-san, Miyako-san, maybe Daisuke- san." The Digimon watched his friend's face as it broke into a smile.

"You don't know him. He doesn't go to school around here. We became friends after the first time in the Digital World."

"Oh. There's someone hiding in the bushes behind us."

"Hai. I know. Thanks for being here, but I think I can take care of myself."

"Okay." The Digimon said before it flew off, not the least bit worried or upset. He had come to expect things like that from Takeru.

A tall, thin shadow emerged from the bushes. "Konnichi wa, Takeru-san." The shadow whispered.

The blonde boy knew who it was right away. "Konnichi wa, Ken-san. How have you been?"

The indigo boy sat beside his old friend on the grass. "Fair. You?"

"Same. Why are you all the way out here?"

"I felt like it. I thought I was allowed to come out here," The indigo boy looked over at the blonde. "Right?" He cocked an eyebrow, making the other grin.

"I'm not stopping you." The blonde put a hand around the other's shoulders. The indigo boy stiffened at the touch. The blonde watched his face, worry for his old friend creasing it. "What's wrong, Ken-san?"

In answer, the taller of the two got up and walked into the trees, the blonde following him slowly. The blonde felt himself be pulled into a kiss, and agreed to it. The two boys kissed each other, fiercly.

A rustle in some nearby bushes made both jump and hastly pull apart. The indigo turned to the blonde. "We'll get caught here."

"Where do you want to go then?"

"The DigiWorld, maybe." At the blonde's nod, the indigo pulled out his laptop and the two disappeared into the night.

:~*~:

The two found themselves in a dark room with no windows and an iron door. When the blonde boy found himself being held by the Kaiser he fell to the ground, shaking weakly. The Kaiser watched the boy, quiet. *I should be happy. I should be jumping for joy. I just got one of those Digidestined off the field, and the others will be too busy looking for him to worry about me.* The Kaiser told himself, trying to convince that other part of him to think of this as a good thing.

It wasn't working, so the Kaiser left the room, Takeru's digivice in one hand, and locked the door. He walked down the hall, mentally yelling at himself for loving Takeru.

Wormmon watched the Kaiser stomp down the hall, then he went to listen at the door. The soft crying on the other side made him scurry after the tall boy. "Master..." He ventured.

The Kaiser, not one to be interupted while thinking, flipped around, anger shining on his usually calm face. *I picked a bad time.* Wormmon thought as the Kaiser fought to regain his composure. "What?" He demanded sharply.

"The person in the cell..."

"Hai! I'll take care of him in a moment! Go away!" The Kaiser stalked off, leaving Wormmon behind. Wormmon moved to follow the boy he was supposed to protect.

:~*~:

The blonde boy lay on the floor of the room, scrunched into a ball. His hat was near his head. The boy still cried softly. *When did Ken-chan turn into this monster?* He asked himself, not noticeing as the door opened. A hand on his back made him push away, still scrunched up in his ball form.

The Kaiser, for it was he who had come in, sighed, sitting back on his heels. He watched the boy, alert for any tries at excape . "Look, Takeru- chan..."

"Don't call me that." Came the painful reply.

The Kaiser flinched. "Takaishi Takeru, then. We've known each other for years. Don't you trust me?"

The blonde looked up, his blue eyes red and full of hurt. "I trust Ichijouji Ken, not the Digimon Kaiser." He retorted, glaring at the boy before him.

The Kaiser sighed and discarded his glasses, his ice-like purple eyes looking deep into the other's soft blue. "Maybe... Maybe, someday, we'll both be on the same side. Until then..." The Kaiser tossed the blonde his digivice.

"We must fight. That may not change our feeling for each other, but it's helps if you're only on one side." The blonde boy finished, getting up off the floor. He had his digivivce in one hand, the Kaiser's discarded glasses in the other. His hat lay upon the floor.

"A truce, then. Friends in the real world, enemies in the DigiWorld." The Kaiser also stood, picking up the discarded hat.

"Hai. A truce." The blonde said as the Kaiser led him to the way home. They embraced, breaking apart to find themselves in the park again, as Ken and Takeru.

"Another time then, my love." The indigo boy said softly before walking away.

The blonde watched him leave, unconciously squeezing the pair of glasses he still held. *I still hope, dark as it may be. I don't care, I still hope. Dark hope.* The young boy walked home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

Hence the title, Kurai Kibo: Dark Hope. This one trails away from the 02 storyline, like I said it would. The next chapter will be at about the time of the soccer game between Ken and Daisuke, so be prepared for some changes in how they find out who the Kaiser is! Lets just say, Takeru is having a hard time hiding the glasses. What happens when the glasses fall out of his bag at the soccer game, and the others see?! I'll tourture you more later! ^_~