Davis and Catherine had not been listening in on the events. They were cuddled close much like T.K. and Kari now were, and had been whispering softly to each other, every one else was asleep, excepting Matt, who was, of course, driving the van. The good thing was that there was not much traffic at this time. It was Saturday, and although it was rush hour, there was no work crowd, so they got through it without too much hassle. As they neared Odaiba Matt thought he should wake them all up, seeing as he'd be dropping a few people off soon,

"Hey guys," he said, raising his voice just above speaking level. A number of groans followed, Tai decided he wanted to know exactly what was going on that was important enough to wake him,

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked, with half-closed eyes.

"Well, sorry to wake you all, but we're pretty much here. Izzy, I'll be at your place in a few seconds.

"Really?" well, I guess I should get outta all this then," he said, referring of course to his precious internet connection. He un hooked the phone, and clicked the laptop shut, just as Matt pulled up to his apartment building.

"Hey, I'll get out here to make things easier for you," Joe said getting his stuff together. At that T.K. slid open the door, and Joe, Gomamon, Izzy and Tentomon got out of the door.

"Thanks, we'll see you tomorrow, I'll call you or something," Izzy said.

"Okay, bye," Tai replied, followed by the collective good byes of the group. T.K. shut the door and they drove off. Next up would be Sora, but she was staying with Tai, so they didn't stop. Davis was next, he, Catherine, Veemon and Ifrit got out, and more good byes were said. Mimi would be staying with Matt, so the cross town journey was not necessary, and so they made the drop off at the Kamiya apartment. Matt pulled up as close to the entrance as possible. Tai put his jacket on as best he could, but T.K. and Kari got out first, to go and scout the area. They closed the door as soon as they were out.

"You gonna be alright?" Matt asked, trying not to sound as concerned as he really was. Although he was supposed to be the 'cool' one in the group, 'Mr Indifference' himself, Matt worried for Tai. He was of course, his best friend next to Gabumon, and so he was concerned for his safety.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Tai replied. He was the same, Matt was his best friend since the events of first going to the digital world, and he was glad to know of Matt's concern. They had a thing, where they could say the smallest amounts to each other, but still know the underlying meaning. It was the extremity of the typical male friendship, and it was the way they liked it.

"Right, we'll drop by tomorrow afternoon or something."

"Sure thing."

"And what about you Miss Takenouchi?" Mimi said, looking over to her best friend, who ha been the quietest over the last hour. Of course, they too had not known each other till those first events. Sora had been the first person to actually try to get to know Mimi, look beyond her exterior. And in turn she knew that a lot of Sora's personality had rubbed off one her, in fact, they had both taught each other.

"I'm fine, I have my big strong man with me," she said quietly, yet playfully, grasping onto his arm.

"Good to hear it," Mimi replied. Tai meanwhile put his arm around her and held her in tight,

"You know it," he said cheerfully, yet he too was quiet. They were all very tired. A knock could be heard on the van's door, meaning that Kari and T.K. were back. Tai lent over and slid it open,

"Coast's clear," T.K. announced.

"Okay, that means we're outta here," Tai said.

"See ya later big bro," T.K. said sticking his head through the opening.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," Matt replied, addressing the entire group.

"Yeah, see ya later, guys," Sora said.

They all hopped out of the van, shut the door, and as for stealth sake, they just went inside, not seeing them off. They chose to take the stairs up, just in case some one was in the elevator. One by one they headed into the stairwell, Digimon in first, then Tai, then started the ascent Flight after flight of stairs were taking their toll, and breaths were getting heavier for all.

"Hey, what floor we live on again?" T.K. asked teasingly.

"Um, 19," Tai replied sarcastically.

"Funny, it's the ninth floor," Kari replied, she was not in the mood for jokes.

"And what floor are we on now?" T.K. continued.

"Um, I lost count, we've done at least ten flights," Sora answered.

"Thirteen," Agumon said in a depressing tone. T.K. groaned, but they continued the next few flights in silence. They were so tired, that they sloppily just walked out of the stairwell on reaching their destination. No one was around, luckily. They filed into the apartment, and closed the door securely behinds them. It was a strange feeling of normality, almost eerily so. The first thing to go was Tai's jacket, relieved to get it off, and let his wings loose for a change. He also brought out his tail, it spread elegantly behind him. He slumped down on his usual couch, albeit carefully, so his wings were not crushed, and let his tail dangle down. Sora sat on the floor beneath him, his arm around her. Kari entered the kitchen and started on the coffee, meanwhile T.K. grabbed the TV remote ad took the other couch. Agumon made a running jump for Tai's stomach, practically knocking the wind out of him. Biyomon took the subtle approach and merely sat by Sora. Patamon was at his usual roost, and Gatomon was waiting for Kari. While she finished with the coffees T.K. hit the on button, and the TV flicked into life. As it was 6pm, the only thing on was the news, but they were all interested to see just how the day had panned out for the rest of the world. The newscaster's voice was muted, so he flicked on the sound,

"Kyoto suffered a series of earth quakes today, the shell shocked city was taken by full surprise, but the quick actions of city rescue crews ensured that there were no casualties, and the injuries were well tended to, their numbers at a low thirty, we cross now to our reported on the scene, hello Terry," the voice was the typical plain newscaster voice.

"That's interesting, Kyoto hasn't had quakes in awhile," Tai announced to the room.

"Hey Sora, isn't that where your dad lives?" Biyomon inquired, concern in her voice.

"Yeah, he does, I have to call him!" Sora said, her voice turning to one of concern. "Can I use your phone?"

"Of course, I'll come with you," Tai replied. Agumon hopped down without being prompted to do so, and the quartet headed toward the phone. Tai took Sora's shaking hand as she dialled the number. It rang several times before an answer was heard.

"Hello, Mr Takenouchi speaking," a male voice said formally.

"Daddy?" Sora said, relief in her heart.

"Sora honey, is that you?"

"It's me dad, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, a little shaken, but fine. My office on the other hand, is a mess."

"I'm so glad to here you're voice, I've been, uh, out all day and I didn't know about the earthquakes, I would have called right away, but I was. . .b- busy." Sora said practically in tears, she felt very guilty about the fact she had failed to call sooner.

"Don't worry, I know you have stuff to do sometimes too. It's okay, I'm fine."

"How is he?" Tai asked, he couldn't quite gauge Sora's face.

"Is that Tai speaking?" Sora's father asked, hearing the male voice on the other end.

"Yeah, it's him, I'll be a second," she said, looking up to Tai now, "He's fine, he said his office was messed up, but he's fine."

"That sure is a relief," Tai replied, Sora now put the phone back to her ear. But it was at this point that something hit Tai, something about Sora's dad, and about what he does for a living. Way back when they were dealing with Oikawa and the crew they had met him, and he had mentioned that he was into the area of myths and mysteries. Tai was getting a good idea.

"Can I speak to him quickly?" he blurted out.

"Um, sure," Sora replied, just finishing a sentence to her father, "Hang on dad, Tai wants to talk to you."

"Put him on, by all means." Sora handed Tai the phone, but he kept his hold on her other hand, she was still a little shaken.

"Hey, Mr Takenouchi?"

"Yeah, go ahead Tai, Sora said you wanted to talk,"

"Well, yeah. It's good to hear you're okay too. But I really wanted to just ask about what you do. Like, I know this sounds kinda weird, but you're into mythical phenomena right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess you could call it that. What's the problem?" His voice sounded surprisingly relaxed for someone who had just been in an earthquake.

"Um, I wish I could tell you now. could we take a trip out there to talk to you tomorrow or something?"

"Yeah, sure, Sora knows where my office is, just take a train into Kyoto and you'll be right near it."

"Okay, we should be there around lunch, I'll give you back to Sora now."

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Tai handed the phone to Sora. She and her dad said their goodbyes, and she hung up the phone. She looked right at Tai a little anger in her eyes.

"Taichi Kamiya, are you insane!?" she said dramatically.

"Um, what?" he said innocently, putting on a cute face. It wasn't working.

"'We'll be there tomorrow?' You can't go there like that!"

"Hey, your dad's open minded right?" he said, now pulling for straws.

"Not that open minded," the said shaking her head.

"Come on, I'm sure he's seen worse. Besides, he can surely help us with something, he has to be able to."

"Maybe, but how are you gonna explain this all to him?"

"Well, um, the truth. Besides, there's not going to be any denying it, I'm living breathing proof of other dimension," he said proudly, putting on the cheesiest smile he could manage.

"That's true, but if you smile like that again, I'm going to have to slap you." Tai did it again. Sora lifted her hand, but he took a hold of it, then quickly moved in and kissed her gently.

"No you wont, hehe" he said playfully, then turned and started walking away. She quickly followed and walked beside him, then slapped his bottom.

"Hey, no fair!" Tai protested.

"Hey, I didn't say where I'd slap you," she responded, shining a grin of her own.

"Fine, you win," Tai knew he would not win, so it was best for him to just admit defeat. They returned to their former positions, Agumon was even careful when he got up on Tai's stomach this time round.

"So was he okay?" Kari asked concernedly.

"Yeah, he was fine, shaken up but fine," Sora replied, her nerves had finally settled.

"That's good," both Kari and T.K. said in unison.

"Yeah, we're going to see him tomorrow," Tai announced. Taken by surprise, and thinking they had heard wrong, T.K. decided to enquire,

"Um, We're going there?" T.K. asked.

"Oh not this again. We're going to see him, he's open minded, I'll explain, just trust me," Tai replied, thinking now that maybe his master plan was not so masterful.

"But you're." T.K. started, interrupted by Sora,

"Uh uh, don't bother, he's too stubborn for reason. Besides, he has a point, we might learn something useful."

"Ya know what, I'm just gonna go along with it."

"Excellent, heh heh, now we're getting somewhere," Tai said evilly.

"Um, I think our great leader has gone insane genius on us," Kari said doubtfully.

"Yes, unquestionable leadership." Tai rambled, he was having fun with this.

"Keep dreaming," Sora said, nudging him with her elbow. It was at this point Tai noticed the mugs on the coffee table he leaned over and grabbed one, Agumon almost went toppling over onto Sora's lap.

"Um, careful?" Agumon subtly reminded Tai of the seating arrangement.

"Oops, sorry."

"Hm, the only way I could ever forgive you would be for you to hand that coffee over to me," Agumon requested, now having his turn at the cheesy grin.

"Um, how about no, do you remember the last time?"

"What? It wasn't that bad."

"No, you just almost took out the place. You and Veemon, what a pair you were," Kari said, thinking back to the mess they made.

"Ah yes, my protégé," Agumon chuckled.

"I really don't know what I'm going to do with you sometimes," Tai replied, taking on a more mature tone.

"You, what about me, I have to live with the BOTH of you," Kari protested.

"Heh, I'm dating the guy!" Sora competed.

"Look, I think I can better you both, I'm living in the same room."

"Oh that is bad," Sora responded.

"Yeah, poor boy," Kari added.

"Um Takeru, I might remind you that can change," Tai said, his evil tone returning to his voice.

"Help me." T.K. mumbled. Silence engulfed the room, but it was a playful silence, waiting to see who would make the next move. Unfortunately the mood was broken by a knock at the door.

"Damn!" Tai cursed, looking to his sister.

"Hide?" she said, giving him the 'isn't that obvious?' look that siblings like to do to each other. He dived behind the sofa, Agumon going over with him. Patamon dashed under a cushion, Gatomon took to a position behind a pot plant atop a bookshelf, whilst Biyomon dashed behind another couch. Kari then answered the door, after the impending chaos had quietened down of course. She slid the door open a tiny notch, and peeked out the small gap,

"Uh, who is it?" she said, lost for words.

"Mailman," Davis replied cheesily.

"Ugh, Davis you can call before you come you know," Kari replied frustratedly.

"Yes. but this is so much more fun." Kari sighed. "So are you gonna let us in or not?"

"You mean you, Ifrit and Cat, right?"

"Well, yeah, Cat's here too, so is Ifrit, but."

"But what Daisuke Motomiya?"

"Well, I'm sure everyone else would like to come in too," he replied, shinning his winning smile.

"Everyone?"

"Well, Matt, Mimi, Joe, you know, everyone."

"Oh, you know what, just come in already."

"Heh heh, thankyou," he replied. She opened the door and everyone filed into the apartment. All of a sudden it was rather crowded in the Kamiya living room, but the question on everyone's mind was where Tai was. He picked the most appropriate time to pop his head up from behind the couch.

"Hoozat?" he said quickly. He took them all by surprise, and he loved it.

"Jeez man, what the hell are you doing?" Matt asked surprisedly.

"Well, I'm searching for a tuna sandwich, what do you think I'm doing?" he replied, Matt took his time,

"Um, I don't know?"

"I'm hiding, I don't usually have these things you know!" he said stretching his wings to make the visible.

"Oh, well of course, everyone knows that when you really have to not be seen you choose behind the couch."

"I think you just used up your sarcasm quota for the night."

"Oh, we'll see, depends how many more brilliant ideas you get."

"Look, what did I just say?"

"Okay, enough menial arguing for now, lets all just calm down here," Davis suggested calmly. He released Catherine's hand, and looked down to Veemon, letting out a subtle wink. He grinned, "And pile on Tai," he said dashing over the couch right onto the older teen. Veemon of course followed, and Agumon added in for good measure, but no one else shared his enthusiasm.

"Uh, people, it's not much of a pile on, without the pile."

"Okay, so no caffeine or sugar for him," Kari announced

"Agreed," the group replied.

"Well, now that that is settled, how about you get off of me?" Tai protested.

"But you're so comfortable," Davis replied. Tai decided to use force and just started standing up. Davis, somewhat taken by surprise, fell backwards, Veemon along with him. Davis just took it, knowing that it was his own fault.

"So if I may ask, why exactly are you all here?" Kari asked to the room, she wanted any answer.

"Well, we were sitting around at home, bored outta our minds, and kinda worried about Tai and stuff, so we just came over here," Catherine replied.

"Okay, so that's you four, what about you guys?" She said looking to Mimi and Matt.

"Well, we got home, and well, we have no food. We saw these two on the way to your place and thought we'd change our destination from the grocery store to here," Matt answered.

"Right, and you?" she asked looking at Joe and Izzy.

"I thought I'd get some more first hand research on Tai if I could?" he asked, looking away from Kari and to Tai.

"Yeah, I'll play guinea pig for a while," Tai replied openly.

"Before you ask, Jim had some friends over at our place, and they're being just a little more intrusive than usual, so we went out for a walk. Matt drove by, with all on board, and I thought 'who am I not to join the bandwagon?'," Joe pre-empted Kari's next question.

"'We' you say?" T.K. asked confusedly, thinking perhaps Joe had finally lost the plot.

"That's a good question actually, where is Gomamon?" Kari asked, Joe merely dropped a bag he had in his hand in response. A groan soon followed, Gomamon's head protruded from the bag's opening.

"Was that absolutely necessary?" he asked angrily.

"Maybe, maybe not. You're heavy anyway."

"Okay, if the interrogation is over, what say we just sit and relax?" Tai suggested.

"Alright, but what are we gonna do?" T.K. asked.

"What else would we do at a time like this, cheesy movie," Davis announced.

"Well, I'm not apposed to it, but why would this suit the situation?" Izzy asked. Davis shrugged,

"Don't know, but we've decided now," he said, then vaulted over the couch, grabbed the remote off T.K., and lounged himself on their couch.

"Hey!" T.K. protested.

"Fine, sheesh, some people," Davis muttered. He moved his legs so that there was minimal space for them to sit, "There, have some room." T.K. merely looked at Kari

"We shouldn't," she started.

"But we're going to," T.K. finished. He grabbed Davis arms, Kari took his legs, and they dumped him one the floor.

"There, much better," he stated.

"Okay, so maybe I deserved that," Davis replied from his newfound position on the floor.

"Are you quite finished?" Catherine asked from the far side of the room.

"Yes yes, I'll be calm." She walked over and joined him on the floor. She ruffled his hair,

"My poor little Davis, so abused."

"I know," he said faking tears.

"Enough already, just turn on the movie," Tai protested form across the room. Davis now took the chance to notice that everyone was seated comfortably and was waiting for his cheesy movie. He flicked through till he got to the vintage movie channel. The movie just so happened to be the romantic classic, Casablanca.

"Man, this is cheesy," Tai groaned. Sora backhanded him,

"No it's not, it's sweet," she replies romantically.

They all decided to just keep quiet after that. Slowly but surely everyone got more and more horizontal, and within half an hour only Davis, Tai, and T.K. were awake.

"Hey, Tai, should we get blankets or something?" Davis whispered.

"Nah, we should be fine. I say we all just try and get some sleep," he replied at much the same volume.

"Hey Tai, you gonna be alright?" T.K. asked.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, are you feeling alright, not feeling weird or anything?" T.K. continued.

"Um, I don't think so, I should be fine."

"Good, well, see you tomorrow I guess," Davis replied

"Yeah, night," T.K. added.

"Night," Tai responded. They all leant back, and got comfortable. This was not easy for Tai, his wings and tail made it a little difficult to feel right, he was not used to having them there when he leant back. He got as comfortable as he could, then drifted off to sleep.

Sora was the first to wake the next morning. She wasn't sure why, she felt tired, then looked around. Then took in the site of the huge mound of people around her. She turned to look behind her, knowing that the one she loved was there. She looked to see him tossing slightly. It was oddly gentle, and elegant, but this was not the most disturbing part, he seemed to have a smile on his face, he looked content. She lifted her arm, and put it on his shoulder comfortingly,

"Tai," she said softly. His stirring slowed, and he seemed to be waking. His skin felt cold, but she put it down to the lack of the blanket the night before. He slowly roused, and opened his eyes,

"Mmm?" he murmured. Sora bolted back, fear shot down her back. Tai saw this and was less than comforted,

"What is it?" he said softly. This time she not only moved back, she shrieked too. This roused everyone in the room, and slowly but surely they all woke up to the sight that Sora saw. This was one they had all feared, one they had dreaded, but one that they would now have to deal with.