Some Things Are Best Kept A Secret…

By Kawaii Kitty

                                                Chapter Nine

                                                    Hida Iori

"Takeru, I can't even believe you're saying this!" Iori screamed angrily at the blonde with the fisherman's hat. "So you just want to leave Miyako here in the digital world while she's in the Kaiser's hands?!"

"Urusei, Iori!" Takeru yelled back, frustration now apparent on his face. The Chosen Child of Faith and Knowledge had been arguing for quite some time, and Takeru had had more than enough. The others looked at him in shock from his sudden outburst. "I've had enough of your whining, Iori! We need to regroup, and doing so in the digital world, especially at night, is NEVER a good idea!"

Iori struggled to find a valid reason to stay longer. "D-datte…"

Takeru shook his head. "No, Iori! We need to go home! V-mon is hurt badly; we all know that! The Digimon are tired! We NEED to rest!"

Hikari stepped forward, a sleepy Tailmon in her arms. "And besides, tomorrow is a Sunday. I'll call her parents and tell her that she's staying at my house. We'll come back and look for her first thing tomorrow morning, alright, Iori?" She bent down to him and kissed the top of his head softly, which turned Iori's cheeks a light shade of pink.

Iori smiled at Hikari for a moment, and then looked at his brown shoes, which had begun absently scuffing the dirt. He found a sudden interest in a bug, which was crawling along, carrying a leaf at least twice the size of its body. "Alright… I suppose." He said quietly. He felt Hikari's hand muss his hair a bit as she said something that Iori did not hear. As the group began to march back, he continued to stare at the ground, drowning in thought and worry for Miyako.

"Iori…" Armadimon said quietly as he walked beside his partner. Iori did not lift his head; he did not even blink. The shelled Digimon watched with growing concern for his friend. He wished he could say something to comfort him, but found nothing in his mind that could possibly comfort Iori. He had lost the one person he had looked up to, his "Miyako-neesan" as he often called her when he was alone with her. As far as Armadimon had known, Iori had always felt something for Miyako. Iori had called it "Love", or something like that. Armadimon was usually paying more attention to the rice balls in front of him.

The sky of the digital world had grown dark when the nine of them had reached a small television set sitting on the ground. On the screen was the image of the Computer lab at Odaiba Elementary School. Clutching V-mon tightly in his arm, Daisuke took a white and blue device, known to them as a D-3, out of his large pocket and held it toward the television. Takeru and Hikari followed suit, their Digimon close at their sides.

Daisuke looked behind him at Iori, who was still staring at the ground, his arms by his side. Daisuke cocked his head a bit in confusion and called out to Iori. "Oi, Iori!" Iori did not move. He sighed a bit and looked to Armadimon, who nodded and nudged Iori's leg. 

Iori immediately looked up and around, as if he were confused as to where they had been for the past minute or so. He noticed what the others had done and took out his own D-3, holding it bashfully at the television. Daisuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "S-sorry, everyone…" he said quietly.

Daisuke grinned back at him. "Ah, it's alright, Iori. No harm done." He turned back toward the TV. "Dejitaru Geeto, Open!" there was a small beep from the D-3s and the television as a bright light enveloped the eight of them and sent them from the Digital World to the Carbon-based world they had grown up in. Landing gracefully in the computer lab, Daisuke looked down at the freshly de-evolved Chibimon in his arms.

"Jyou should be here soon," he said as he stroked Chibimon's head. " I e-mailed him earlier, but he was a bit busy."

As Daisuke finished his last sentence, the Computer lab door opened quickly, startling the inhabitants of the room. Their attention flooded to the door where a tall blue-haired high school student stood, panting heavily. "I… am… so… so… sorry… family…traffic… people…" He stumbled into the room, carrying a white cloth bag over his shoulder. He panted heavily and sat on his knees, looking up at them.

Daisuke smiled and sat with him. "It's okay, Jyou. You got here as fast as you could." He sat Chibimon down in front of him and undid the knot on his makeshift bandage.

Jyou sighed softly and wiped his brow, inspecting the wound on the small Digimon's neck. "You say he got this when he was Raidramon?" Daisuke nodded. Jyou smiled and began going through his bag, pulling out a bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls. "Well, you got lucky. Seems to me that this wound shrunk with him." He turned Chibimon over a bit and looked at the full extent of the gash on his neck. "He should be fine. Just let me clean him up and close it up…"

Iori stood and watched the scene, his partner, now de-evolved to a soft white ball by the name of Upamon, in his arms. He sighed a bit and started out of the room. "I think I'll be going home…" He said. The others looked up in mild shock. "It's not that I don't care about Chibimon… it's just that I feel like I have to clear my head." He looked back at the group and noticed Miyako's own partner, de-evolved to a flying pink puffball, flapping beside Hikari. He winced a bit as thoughts of Miyako flooded his mind. "Hikari… do you think you can watch Poromon tonight…?"

Hikari blinked and looked at Poromon, who had a saddened look on his face. Hikari also looked a bit sad. "Of course, Iori… I'll take good care of him."

Iori smiled and walked from the classroom and down the dark halls of the elementary school, silently.

His mind wandered as his feet stayed on the memorized course to home. The only thing he could continue thinking on the way to his apartment building was, "What has he done to her? Why hasn't she replied yet? Is she all right? That bastard better not have laid a finger on her." He growled a bit and tightened his grip on Upamon a bit.

Upamon winced and looked up at Iori. "I-Iori…"

He looked down at Upamon. "Yes?"

"Please stop that," the Digimon said softly, "It kind of hurts."

Iori smiled a bit and loosened his grip. "I'm sorry… I'm just thinking about Miyako… I just hope she's alright."

Upamon smiled. "I'm sure she's perfectly okay, Iori! No need to worry! She can hold her own, we've seen her!"

Iori nodded and smiled. "I know… It's just that… I can't help but worry about her… I care for her so much… it just hurts me to know she might be in danger."

Upamon blinked. "Does that mean you have to hurt me, too?"

Iori laughed a small bit and shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Upamon. I didn't mean to." He sighed and looked up at the building he had walked up to and identified it as his apartment building. He smiled to himself proudly and entered the building, walking across the lobby in silence, thankful that Upamon, too, had seen the reason to be quiet. He walked into the Elevator as soon as it had hit the first floor and the woman and child inside had cleared out.

As the elevator door closed, Upamon began to squirm in Iori's grasp. "Yay! Elevator time! This is SO much fun! Lift me up, Iori!"

The child blinked at Upamon and smiled gently at his request. "Anything for you, Upamon…" The elevator began to rise, and Iori lifted Upamon as high as he could, watching the lights above the door.  Upamon was insane with laughter. At each floor, the two of them jumped, laughing happily at this simple, yet great form of entertainment. The elevator then slowed down as it chimed for the seventh floor. Iori grinned and jumped as high as he could just as the elevator stopped.

As he landed, Upamon laughed, and then realized what had happened, his ears lowering. "Aw, ride over…?"

Iori nodded and hugged him. "Yes, for now. But there's always tomorrow." The gate opened and he stepped out, a small sense of pleasure rising in his turmoil.

(A/N: I know it has nothing to do with the story, but ain't it precious?)

The gates to the elevator slid open and Iori stepped out, a now silent Upamon in his hands. He turned to his right and walked down the hall, panting a small bit from his activities. He opened the door to his apartment door, upon reaching it, and stepped in, removing his shoes.

"Iori? Is that you?" He heard his mother's voice ring through the apartment.

He nodded and replied. "Yes, Mother. It's me." He walked out of the entryway and through the living room, stopping at the small shrine against the wall where a small offering of rice had been prepared. He set Upamon down and bowed respectfully to the shrine where his father's ashes had been kept. He smiled softly and picked his partner up, continuing to walk to his room.

After Iori had closed the door behind him, he sat Upamon on his bed. He immediately began bouncing energetically. "Hey, Iori! I was wondering why do you always bow to that jar thing with the things and the smoke sticks? Huh? Is it something special?"

Iori nodded. "Yes. It is very special." He looked out the window of his room and at the few stars the city lights would allow him to see. "It's a shrine to my father. He was a great man. At least, that's what Mother always says." He sighed softly and smiled sadly at Upamon. "I'm sure he's alright, smiling down on me whenever I look up at the sky."

"Ohhh…" Upamon said, reaching an understanding. "Kind of like how Miyako watches over you?"

Iori's eyes widened. He had almost completely forgot about Miyako. He growled to himself. "Or like how I should have been watching out for her…"

Upamon looked sad and a bit scared. "Iori… Iori, did I say something wrong…?" Iori ignored him.

The small nine year old sat on his bed, staring at the wooden floor of his room angrily, wanting to break something, but not having the heart, or strength to do such a thing. His short legs, instead, kicked as forcefully as he could manage, his heels coming in contact with his sheets and mattress with a dull "thfpt". He was angry at his friends for not even considering trying to help one of their teammates, an old friend of his. A very bright girl with long lavender hair and eyes the color of amber.

Just thinking about her made Hida Iori fall back onto his bed with a daydream-like sigh. He had both admired and loved this girl who was just three years older than he, and he hadn't denied it. He had always been taught that it was wrong to lie, especially to the one person it mattered most; you.

He lifted his head and looked at the computer on his desk, grinning to himself as a small idea sparked in his mind. "Don't worry, Miyako-chan… I'll come get you myself."

Upamon's eyes widened. "Iori! You don't mean that!"

Iori nodded. "I most certainly do." He sat up and slid off his bed, walking to the computer sitting on his desk. "I'm going to get Miyako." He pushed a button on the tower and waited for it to boot up. "And you are going to help me."

Upamon yelped and jumped back. "Wh-wha?! Me?! Why, Iori!?"

Iori looked at his partner in a stern manner, quite unusual for him. "Because we may have to break her out of the Kaiser's base. And we both know that I cannot do that alone."

"Iori, how are we going to get to the Digital World in the first place!?" Upamon said frantically, trying to find an excuse not to go.

Iori smiled and looked at his computer. "I went to talk to Koushiro not too long ago. He told me about a theory he had. He told me that the key to the Digital Gate was not in the computer we used, but rather in our D-3." Iori smiled at Upamon and dug his D-3 out of his pocket, looking at it. "However, we won't tell Koushiro that we tried this experiment without him, will we, Upamon?"

"B-but, Iori!" the yellow ball stammered, "What about your mother and your grandfather? Won't they notice that you're gone?"

Iori thought for a moment, then smiled, walking out of his room. Upamon watched him carefully and sighed. "What am I going to do with him…? He won't listen to me…  What do I need to do?" He looked at the computer screen, a Digital Gate with an image of a darkened forest in it displayed on the screen.

Iori sighed softly and looked at Upamon under his arm. "Alright. Let's get going, Upamon. Dejitaru Geeto, OPEN!" the two of them were sucked into the image of the screen, their bodies becoming data as they passed into the Digital World. The area was dark, even darker than the outskirts of Tokyo. He looked up and smiled a bit at the stars that were overhead.

"Iori…" Said the now evolved Armadimon. "Since we're here… shouldn't we try and find Miyako instead of stargazing?"

Iori looked down at Armadimon and chuckled nervously. "I guess you're right… we should get going…"

Iori and Armadimon walked for hours until the both of them were dead tired. Iori whimpered from pain in his feet. He wrapped his arms around himself and sat against a tree.

"A…Armadimon… Let's… take a break here…" he said to his partner, his golden shell glinting in the starlight. His hands were turning a light shade of violet, still bordering on red from his blood rushing to the surface of his skin. He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them tightly, shivering.

Armadimon began watching him with great concern, "Iori… you should have brought a blanket… The Digital World can get very cold at night…"

Iori shook his head. "I'm fine, Armadimon…" he smiled at Armadimon. "this… this break will last… only for… a few minutes… M-Miyako-chan needs t-to be found..."

Armadimon shook his head. "Iori! You're not okay… let's go back… or at least contact Daisuke or someone to let them know you're here!"

Iori shook his head angrily. "Iie! I can't let them know I'm here! They d-don't think I'm responsible enough! Th-They just think tha-that I'm a child! I can be as s-strong as them!"

Armadimon looked at the ground, then up at Iori, whose eyelids were beginning to droop. "Iori! Wake up!"

Iori looked over at Armadimon and gave a small smile, then reached one of his small hands out and pat his head. "Good Digimon… it'll only be a… little while…" he gave a loud yawn and placed his hand back on the ground.

Iori's smile dropped and his body fell limp as sleep overtook his tiny form, not waking for anything, not even Armadimon's words of protest and nudging. Despite all of Armadimon's attempts, the child did not rouse, but occasionally gave a small smile as his dreams interacted with him.

All through the night, he dreamt of the one woman that he could say he really loved, the whole reason he was in the Digital World in the first place.

Miyako…

Dear Diary,

            I really think that I might not last too much longer. Being alone like this is driving me crazy… Oh... Where's Hawkmon? Is he all right…? Am I doing the right thing by staying here? I know I could get out, it would be simple enough, but… I feel like something's keeping me here. I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I just can't put the pieces together.

Dammit.

Why did I want to meet him so bad? I guess I should be happy, but I'm not. He's frustrating to me. I just don't understand him… I don't understand him and his motives. He claims to hate me, yet he made love to me earlier. After that, I'm not sure what to think about him. I think I might be falling for him. Falling for the enemy, but why? I think it might be his eyes. If I could get a clearer shot of them, I could see what I'm getting myself into. Oops! He's coming, I should stop writing now…

-Inoue Miyako

A/N: ahh! Did you miss me? Sorry this chapter isn't really a Miyako/Kaiser one, but that's okay, isn't it? We all need a little change of pace every now and then. You guys are gonna kill me to know that the story is no where close to being completed. Muahahaha… I am Evil!! Okay, so I'm not, but I can pretend, right?

Hey, hey! Check it out! 54 reviews! Woo! Keep em coming people! Thank you so much! I love you ALL!

Japanese Vocab time!

Urusei: Shut up. Seen used in most episodes of Inuyasha.

Datte: but. Seen used several places.

Miyako-neesan: Elder Sister Miyako.

That about covers it for now. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or complaints, send them over e-mail! My Brand spanking new e-mail is Dejimon_kaizers_slave@hotmail.com. Thanks, everyone!=^-^=v

Chapter Preview

Miyako lay on the cold tile-like floor of this strange lab she had been dragged into. She groaned a bit as she tried to get up but was kicked back down by the Kaiser.

"Stay down there, you unworthy wench." He spat, giving her a cold, uncaring look. Miyako held her stomach and groaned as the Kaiser gave a small grin.

His grin widened as he looked ahead of them. A small creature had fallen onto the floor from one of the tubes on the wall. A thick green liquid was pouring from the direction of the creature. Miyako propped herself up to look at it and gave a small yelp as it came in contact with her bare hands. It was strangely cold, not at all unlike sticking a hand into a bowl of pure evil. Miyako shuddered and sat up, scooting closer to the Kaiser to separate herself from the translucent goo.

The Kaiser noted her presence and sighed a bit. Keeping cool, he gave a confident smile and raised his head. "Awaken, BlackTailmon!"

There was a flash of bright red from the creature before them. The creature stood and made its way toward them. Its eyes were a cool blue color and its body more black than a thousand nights. It had a long tail, which had a dark violet spiral stripe wrapping around it. It had a small body not unlike that of Hikari's Tailmon, complete with gloves and all. Around the tail, instead of a golden Holy Ring sat one of the Kaiser's own Dark Rings.

BlackTailmon lifted its eyes to the Kaiser, speaking in a smooth, rather masculine voice. "What is your wish, Master?"