Weeeeeeeee……chapter 2 is up! After days of resting (I do dat a lot :P) I finally got myself to start on the second chapter. Actually I was doing some research on the HE manga, cuz I noticed that when I set the story I had overlooked some very important factors. So I did some rearranging and correcting, and now, hopefully, I'll be able to continue with this fic.

The cast of Digimon will be appearing in this chapter (YAY!). In their world, this story happened two years after the downfall of Digimon Kaizer, meaning that the Digidestinied from the first season are 16 years old (with the exception of Koshiro, Mimi and Jou; I group Takeru and Hikari as Digidestinied from the second season), and Daisuke and company will be mainly around the age of 13 (starting junior high! Yippee!)

I use the original names of the characters because I think that that way the names wouldn't sound too out of place when the cast of Houshin Engi appear. Just imagine; Chinese names from ancient China/English names of current century… weird…… It's not that I don't like their dub names, but Chinese and Japanese do mix better XD

Disclaimers: Houshin Engi, Digimon, all NOT mine. Bleh.

Warnings: OOC. AU. Shonen-ai: Hints of Daisuke and Ken pairing… for this chapter :D Takari and Taito implied.

Chapter 2

When they came

Takeru stared blankly at the monitor before him. Streams of different colors ran over the screen, forming various shapes and sizes.

He leaned forward and tapped on the keyboard. Digital numbers appeared, mixing with the colors, and suddenly the whole screen went black.

Takeru slammed a fist on the table and leaned back into his chair with a sigh, letting his head rest against the soft fabric. He lifted a hand and laid it on his forehead, trying to calm the heavy pounding in his head. "This isn't good…"

--Yesterday--

Takeru ran towards the telephone as it ringed loudly, a towel draped around his waist, his footsteps leaving small puddles of water on the floor. "Great. The phone just had to ring when I'm in the shower. Alone at home." Mumbling under his breath, he picked up the receiver and pressed it against his ear.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Takeru-san? Koshiro desu."

"Koshiro senpai? Hi! What's up?" Takeru smiled and pushed all unpleasant thoughts to the back of his head. "Miyako-san tried to contact you with the Digivice but noone answered, so I'm using the phone now…Anyway, can you come over? We're having a meeting in ten minutes at my place." Koshiro's reply was rushed and desperate.

Takeru blinked at the sudden invitation. "Why? What's wrong?" He didn't like the worried tone in Koshiro's voice. "I'll explain later when everyone gets here…Ah, Iori-san and Daisuke-san are here already." Takeru noted the slight relief as Koshiro spoke the last sentence. Things seemed pretty serious.

"Ah. I'll be there ASAP."

"Yokatta. Please hurry."

Takeru put down the receiver and rushed towards his bedroom. As he dressed, he started to wonder what had happened to make Koshiro so concerned. The last time the Digidestinied had to call a meeting to discuss such issues was almost two years ago, when Diaboromon returned to take revenge on his brother and Taichi. Yes, he was starting to worry.

Before heading out the door, Takeru stopped by the kitchen. He grabbed a pencil from the drawers and scribbled on a piece of paper. Leaving it on the kitchen counter, he stopped for a while to glance at the paper, before turning and running out.

'Kaasan, I have to go out for a while. Koshiro senpai just called and I think something has happened. I don't know when I'll be back, but don't worry. I'll call you when I can.'

--10 minutes later--

Takeru panted heavily as he fumbled with the doorbell. When the door opened, Hikari smiled and greeted him. "Takeru, I'm glad you came. Hurry, everyone's in Koshiro senpai's room." He smiled back at her and followed Hikari along the corridors.

Taichi and Yamato waved to him as he stepped inside Koshiro's room. Flashing a smile at the others and stopping to give Mimi a hug (1), he took a seat beside his brother on the floor and tried to catch his breath. "So, what happened?"

Yamato shrugged. "Koshiro didn't tell us. He wanted to wait for everyone to be here first. So happens that you're the last one to reach here." He grinned and elbowed Takeru in the ribs gently. "Since when did you beat Daisuke in being late?" Takeru glared at him. "I was in the shower, okay?"

His glare disappeared when Yamato reached out a hand to ruffle his blonde locks (2). "Sorry. I was just kidding. I know your habit of taking a shower in the late morning. That's when the phone likes to ring the most."

Takeru sighed but returned the smile. "Mm. Guess I really have to change my schedule."

The sound of the door closing softly was heard. Silence settled over the room as Koshiro plopped onto his chair at the computer, his childlike face suddenly hard and serious. "Now that everyone's here, I have something to inform you all of."

Takeru bit his bottom lip as a heaviness formed in his heart. A veil of dread and worry hung over the small bedroom. Everyone had their own ideas about what Koshiro was about to tell them. 'Hopefully he's just freaking out about his computer,' thought Takeru wryly. Heck, if it meant that peace on both worlds would stay unaffected, he'd rather have Koshiro become a freak.

Suddenly a small smile formed on Koshiro's lips. "But first, I'd like to thank everyone for coming. Mimi, I'm sorry that you had to fly here all the way from America…" Mimi flashed him the victory sign. "Daijoubu, this isn't the first time anyway." She gave them the brightest smile she could do. "Besides, if I get to see you guys, I'd come anytime!"

The uneasiness vanished momentarily. Everyone was feeling considerably better after Mimi tried to cheer them up with her unquenchable genkiness.

"Okay, now that everyone has stopped feeling like tomorrow's the end of the world," Koshiro's eyes softened and he was once again the dear baby face everyone loved (3). "Let's get down to business."

Satisfied that everyone in the room was listening, he turned to his computer. As he started clicking on his mouse, a graph appeared on the screen. Wavy lines streamed across the graph, and streams of numbers consisting of '0' and '1' dotted the sides. "Yesterday I was on the internet when my Digivice started to glow. As we all know, our Digivices react to things related to the Digital World. So I figured that maybe something was wrong and did some researching with the computer. So after some scanning, I discovered this."

After a few clicks of the mouse another graph appeared, this one larger than the last, but the lines were more disordered and ranged at different lengths, often crossing each other's paths. "These lines represent digital waves, streams of data that exist in the link portal between our world and the Digital world." He brought out the smaller graph and dragged it beside the larger one. "As you can see, the lines on this graph seem to be disturbed. Usually the digital waves should be organized, as each of them has their own paths."

"It looked quite unusual, so I did more research. After a few hours I didn't get anything. But one thing's for sure; someone, or something in the Digital World is upsetting the balance between our world and the Digital world. According to our past experiences, usually it has something to do with a dark force trying to take over the world and the like," Koshiro stated a-matter-of-factly. Ken lowered his head and looked to the side. From the corner of his eye, Koshino saw Daisuke lay a hand on Ken's, and the two hands clasped tightly together.

Koshiro kicked himself mentally. He shouldn't have brought up the subject. "But this might not be the case," he announced, unconsciously trying to help the person whom he had upset. The group exchanged surprised glances at his last remark. "How so?" Taichi asked, echoing the thoughts of others in the room.

Koshiro grinned slightly. He could understand why all of them were surprised at the fact that a being supposedly powerful enough to effect the delicate balance between the two worlds would not be interested in taking control over the world(s). They had battled so many evil Digimon, all with one goal, and that was, well, to bring both worlds into darkness and be ruler of all. Afterall, most evil Digimon are powerful, he thought wryly.

"If someone, or something really wants to take over the world, the balance would be totally destroyed, and what we would see in the graph would be something resembling a bird's nest. In this case however, the waves still look relatively stable. It's just a guess, but I think that for once, we found a 'thing' that isn't bent on becoming king."

The others nodded silently. "Well," a relieved sigh escaped Daisuke's lips and a sloppy grin appeared on his face. " I guess we have nothing to worry about, ne?" Koshiro kept his smile. Daisuke had not let go of Ken all this while.

"Unfortunately, no." The group chuckled as Daisuke fell flat on his face. "What..d'ya mean, Koshiro-senpai?" The redhead asked, lifting a hand to rub his bruised nose. Koshiro suppressed a grin as Ken encircled his arms around Daisuke's free arm, an overly concerned expression on his face as he glanced worriedly at the boy beside him.

You should be thinking of what to answer him, not spying on the lovebirds, Koshiro told himself, shaking his head. "What I mean is, even though said 'thing' does not want to take over worlds, it's still upsetting the balance between the two worlds. That could mean trouble, and we should be checking on it, should it prove to be dangerous."

Daisuke sighed again, but his grin widened. "Can't say I'm happy about this…" He stood up, resting a hand on his waist. "But I was hoping for something interesting to happen. This may sound ironic, but after a few years of peace life does start to get boring. Finally we get to kick some ass again!" He punched a fist into the air enthusiastically, always the cheerful one.

"Matte, Daisuke-san. I never said that we had to battle, yet." The redhead blinked. "Eh?"

"We don't know a thing about that someone or something. Who knows, there might not be anything at all!"

"But…how would you explain those funny waves then?" The boy pointed at the computer.

"Extreme weather conditions might also affect the Digital waves (although that hasn't happened before)."

"Surely if the weather was bad the Digimon would have told us about it!"

"Digimon don't know everything, Daisuke-san. Besides, they haven't said anything about the unusual patters of the Digital waves. They might not even know about it yet."

"Then…what are we supposed to do?" The boy's voice was getting fainter.

"Research, of course. It's always important to know the enemy before dealing with them." Koshiro turned towards the others, ignoring the fact that Daisuke looked like he was ready to kill. "Taichi-san, Yamato-san, Takeru-san and Kyoko-san, you guys will be in charge of doing more research with the computers about this case with me. We will use the school's computers since one of them is the portal and we'd be able to collect more information. The others will go to the Digital World to see if anything looks unusual there. Please take care when you guys enter the Digital World. Avoid any unnecessary battles if possible." He stood up and headed to the door, smiling cheerfully as he went. "Saa, lets go!"

Koshiro's smile did not falter as Daisuke fell to the floor once again.

--End of flashback—

The hands of the clock pointed to two in the morning. Takeru sat up and stared at his computer. The screen was still blank but he didn't care. That was the fifteenth time his computer crashed, and he didn't bother to restart it. Leaving the computer, he stood up and glanced around him. Sitting at another computer near his was the one who was responsible for his coming to the school's computer room. The person had his head resting on the table, and soft breathing sounds were heard. He smiled idly at the redhead. 'Dammit, Koshiro-senpai. Way to get people worried with that voice of yours on the phone. Didn't look that concerned at the meeting. Now you leave all the work to me.' Despite the sarcastic thoughts, he switched off the monitor and decided not to wake him up. After all, they had been here since morning.

He sighed softly and looked to another table. Hikari and Miyako were also asleep, both in similar positions like Koshiro. Quietly he walked towards them. His eyes softened as they laid on Hikari. The girl was sound asleep, and looked comfortable despite sleeping on a computer desk. He smiled like he always did whenever he saw her. He didn't know why, but it warmed him to see her gentle face, her smile, and to hear her soft voice through the air.

He pulled off his jacket. Gently he reached out and covered her with it. He stopped as she stirred softly, but settled down again. After switching off her computer's monitor, he turned off some off the lights in the room as well.

Sitting back down in his chair, his let his thoughts drift aimlessly. 'Where are oniisan and Taichi? They should be back by now… It shouldn't take so long to get to the shops…'

Just then the door slid open softly, and Taichi and Yamato carried some bags into the room. "Sorry we took so long… the only shop we could find open was Seven Eleven. All the other shops are closed at this hour." Taichi grinned apologetically at him as he handed Takeru a Coke. Yamato pulled a chair to join them. "Dad just called me on the phone again… asked for the sixth time if we needed any help. Told me mom was worried about us." Takeru chuckled. "Yeah, she almost freaked out when I told her that I wouldn't be home tonight. She wasn't very happy when I noted that it had something to do with the Digital World." Yamato laughed lightly.

"Anyway," Taichi stifled a yawn. "We oughta get some sleep soon. I don't really feel like staying up all night, especially when we've had our faces stuck to the monitor for hours." Yamato smiled at him. "We're lucky it's the school holidays now, or else we couldn't stay here for the night. You can sleep if you like. I can still stay up for a couple of hours. Don't want to leave you by yourself," he turned to his brother. Takeru shook his head. "Ie. You should get some rest too. I really don't mind being be myself." He pasted a smile on his lips.

"Demo…daijoubu desu ka?" Yamato didn't look like he liked the idea of leaving his brother alone.

"Hai, hai, daijoubu yo." Takeru stood up and cheerfully pushed the two older boys towards a small couch by the wall. "Oyasuminasai!" After nudging the two boys to sit down, he scuttled back to his computer across the room. Yamato shook his head but smiled after him. He leaned onto Taichi's welcoming embrace and they settled down for the night.

Takeru smiled to himself when he heard the two snoring gently. Taking another sip of his Coke, he stretched his arms and with a sigh, dug into the Digital matrix of data.

Hikari opened her eyes and blinked. She sat up and the jacket dropped from her shoulders. Picking it up, she realized that it was Takeru's. Smiling, she clasped it to her heart lovingly in gratitude as her eyes set on the sleeping boy at the desk beside hers.

Koshiro was awake and about, walking around the room to check on the computers. "Ohayou, Koshiro-senpai," Hikari greeted him. He returned a smile to her and continued with his tour around the room, lifting the curtains and opening the windows as he went. Golden sunlight followed his silent footsteps, bringing a cheerful glow to the room. Hikari joined Miyako who was at the other end of the room, preparing breakfast with the products Taichi and Yamato had bought last night.

Koshiro stopped before Taichi and Yamato, still tangled in each other's arms. He shook his head with a smile.

"Taichi-san, Yamato-san…" he whispered, gently shaking the couple awake. A pair of eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes of deep blue. Yamato blinked slowly, trying to adjust his eyes to the morning sunlight streaming through the windows. "Ohayou, Yamato-san."

The blonde boy rubbed his eyes softly, but returned the greeting. "What time is it…?" he drawled, his voice still raspy from sleep.

"It's seven in the morning. I hope you had a good night's sleep."

"I think I did… although only for a few hours…" Yamato untangled himself from Taichi's arms and attempted to wake his lover up. Taichi mumbled something incoherently and tightened his arms around Yamato, bringing a blush to the blonde's cheeks.

Koshino chuckled and decided to leave the couple to themselves, and padded over to a sleeping Takeru amidst Yamato's soft words of protest.

Everyone was awake by the time Miyako announced that breakfast was ready. Takeru staggered drowsily to the large table which was laid with sandwiches and biscuits. "Ara, Takeru! What happened to you?" Yamato asked his brother. Takeru slumped heavily onto a chair, letting his face fall smack onto the table. Yamato grinned cheerfully. "'Knew you couldn't wake up the next morning. You were never good at staying up late."

All he got as a reply was a muffled groan. Yamato didn't bother to hide his smile.

"Hmm?" Hikari sat up straight and stared curiously at the computer monitor. Something was wrong with the Digital portal; its image was warped, as ripples spread over it, blurring, combining…

"Ko…Koshiro-senpai!" The redhead snapped his head sharply at the mention of his name. "The…The Digital portal…it's…" Koshiro rushed over to Hikari and stared at the screen, his eyes widening in surprise and fear.

"What is it?" The others had crowded over Hikari's desk in curiosity, each trying to have a peek at the monitor. Koshiro's hand trembled nervously as it rested on Hikari's shoulder. "Everyone…" he spoke, worry lacing his voice. "Stay back! Something's coming out of the portal!"

Taichi grabbed Hikari's arm and dragged her out of the chair. As everyone scrambled away from the computer, a bright light emerged from the computer; the Digidestinied covered their eyes as a blinding white light flashed before them. Hikari shut her eyes tightly, curling up against Taichi as he pulled her close. 'Please…please, let noone be hurt……'

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!!!"

A terrified scream forced her to open her eyes despite the painfully blinding brightness. 'IYAAAA…!'

She buried her face deeper into her brother's shoulder, muffling her sobs as she cried. 'No…no……'

Suddenly the white light faded away, and the room seemed so dark despite the continuous sunlight beaming through the windows. "Hikari…are you hurt?" Hikari lifted her head at Taichi's gentle voice. His dark almond eyes were filled with worry, but they softened as he realized that his sister was okay. Gently he wiped her tears away with his thumb, soothing her with soft words of comfort. It never occurred to him that his sister, Hikari, the child of Light, could be so afraid of the symbol she was chosen as.

"Aaaa! Koshiro-senpai!" Taichi followed the direction Miyako was pointing at; the girl's jaw was wide open in shock. He too mirrored Miyako when he saw what lay in front of him.

A pile of bodies lay in a heap on the floor; three, no, four bodies, Taichi counted, as his eyes strayed downwards…and at the bottom of the pile, was Koshiro (4).

A/N:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa finally it's doneeeeeeeeeeee…..

Took me long enough -_-;

Anyway, the Digimon characters have already appeared in this chapter! Aren't you happy? Ne? Ne?

*Ahem* Anyway…in the things will be explained, like what happened to the HE characters ect ect… Unfortunately, school will be starting next week, so I doubt that there'll be another chapter anytime soon… but please tell me if you like this fic! All reviews will be greatly appreciated! Oh, I've got some hastily-done drawings of the characters of how they're supposed to look like in my fic…and I can tell you, Yamato looks HOT with long hair…and earrings WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gets struck by lightning* If anyone wants to see the drawings, just send me an e-mail and I'll be glad to send it to you ^o^ *struck by lightning again*

PS: Anyone like the pairings in this chappie?

Footnotes:

(1) Mimi just came back from America…don't you think she deserves one?

(2) MWAhwahwa brotherly l.o.v.e!!!!! XDXDXD

(3) Doesn't he just make you wanna hug him?! *squeezes Koshiro to death* *gets hit with a chair*

(4) Ever noticed…that Koshiro's always the one who ends up at the bottom whenever the character fall in a heap? One of those times was in the episode (forgot the name) when Wormmon dies. Yes, I wanna torture our dear sweet Koshi XD