Author: And here's chapter 5! Enjoy!

Warning: From this chapter on, there will be shounen-ai (Boys kissing and such). But, there will be no Yaoi (Boy/boy sex) in this story.

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Don't get me wrong; I don't dislike the fact that I met that kid. I just regret the fact that all that bad stuff happened because I knew Ken. It was never his fault, though I think he blames himself. If you ever see him, please tell him that it isn't his fault. It was my fault.

Now, back to my story. That day seemed to be like any other. The sun was shining, there was a good wind coming from the west, and there wasn't an evil digimon in sight. On that day, V-mon and I decided to go fishing. We decided that we'd go to the beach and fish, rather than fish in the river like we usually did. That was mainly for a change of atmosphere.

As we walked down the beach, I saw something partially buried in the sand. My curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to dig it up. When I did, I was surprised to find that it was a small boy and a digimon. The digimon was a Wormmon, and it looked to be unconscious. The small boy was barely conscious. He said, "Please…help Wormmon…" then passed out. I dragged the boy and the Wormmon to the shade of some nearby trees and had V-mon go get some fresh water. I knelt down beside the boy and dumped the water down the throats of the boy and the Wormmon, hoping that they would wake up after drinking some water. It turned out that they were just suffering from dehydration.

After dumping the water down the boy's throat, he groaned and opened his eyes. He said, "Wh..Where am I?"

"The Digital world," I responded, "I found you and that Wormmon partially buried in the sand. Are you two alright?"

The boy instantly sat up. He said, "Wormmon! Where's Wormmon?!"

"Woah woah," I said, "Calm down! He's right next to you."

The boy instantly looked to both of his sides, searching frantically for the digimon. When he found it, he sighed and picked it up. He held it close as he said, "Wormmon's alright…"

I said, "Yup, he's alright. But, are you alright?"

The boy nodded and said, "I think so, yeah. Wormmon and I were walking around, when an evil digimon attacked us. It threw sand at us and buried us! I tried to dig us out, but I wasn't strong enough…."

The boy then looked like he was about to cry. He said, "I don't like this world anymore! I wannah go home!"

I sighed and said, "Aw, don't fret. The Digital world isn't all scary."

The boy stopped crying for a moment and said, "..it isn't?"

"Nope," I said, "There are lots of good things about it. There are a lot of cool digimon, and what few people that are here are usually nice. So, are you a tag tamer too?"

"A tag tamer," The boy said, "What's that?"

I said, "That's what I am. Tag tamers take care of the digital world. They make sure that the evil digimon don't get too powerful."

The boy thought about that for a minute, then said, "I dunno if I am or not."

I said, "Well, did you meet Gennai?"

"Who's Gennai?"

I assumed that, seeing as how he didn't know who Gennai was, that he hadn't met him. "Strange," I said, "If you are a tag tamer, you should have met him. Is Wormmon your partner?"

The boy nodded happily and said, "Yeah! Wormmon is my partner! I know that for sure! I found him shortly after I got this."

The boy held up a digivice that looked like mine. Well, his was gray and black, but the design was the same. "Hmm. Odd," I said thoughtfully, "You have a partner, yet you haven't met Gennai. You don't know what a tamer is, yet you have a digivice. Maybe I'm supposed to train you to be a tag tamer."

"But that wouldn't make sense," V-mon said, "You weren't trained by another tag tamer. Why would he?"

"Maybe it's something new," I said, "I've been a tag tamer for some time. It might be a new way of teaching young tag tamers. Apprenticeship works well."

I stood up and offered the boy a hand. I said, "Well, I'd be glad to teach you to be a tag tamer. My name is Akiyama Ryo, and I am 11 years old."

The boy smiled and let me help him onto his feet. He said, "It is nice to meet you, Ryo. My name is Ichijouji Ken, and I am 8."

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Ken and I got along real well. Ken was eager to learn everything there was to know about being a tag tamer. It did take him quite some time to learn even the simplest of spells, though. Wormmon was glad to be with us as well. He was happy, because he and Ken were safe from any real danger while I trained Ken.

We traveled around the digital world for a few months together. It was a pretty carefree time. It was kinda cute to watch Ken discover everything there is to know about the Digital world. He seemed to marvel at every little thing in the Digital world. Curiosity was always a trait of his.

By now Ken and I had grown pretty close. He was almost like a little brother to me. So, I treated him like a little brother. I always kept an eye out for him and made sure he was never hungry. I tried to make sure he had a nice place to sleep, but that's kind of hard when you are a tag tamer.

We hardly aged over those few months. Well, physically, anyways. And we learned a lot of stuff, too. We learned that the chosen children had arrived in the digital world at the same time Ken did. Currently, they were on the continent of Server. Since they were attacked by Vamdemon, they had been making their movements discreet. But, word had it that they were headed towards Vamdemon's castle. We, of course, were someplace else at the time. We couldn't help them. Not that we could, though. Tag tamers aren't supposed to be known to the chosen children. So, we were heading off to another continent. There were rumors of another evil rising there, so we were going to go stop it before it had time to grow.

It was then that Gennai decided to make a live appearance. You could say that I was a little angry at him. After all, he dumped me off to survive on my own nearly four years ago, and, save a few emails, he hadn't been in contact with me since.

Gennai looked distressed. I said, "Well, look at what we have here. The omnipotent Gennai decided to make an appearance."

"This is no time for jokes," Gennai said, "And I'm far from omnipotent. A grave error has occurred."

He glanced down at Ken. "Ken here isn't a tag tamer. The powers that be are still trying to figure out how he arrived anywhere near where he did, when he was supposed to land on File Island."

"Woah woah woah," I said, "Back up. What do you mean, 'Ken isn't a tag tamer?'"

"precisely what I said," Gennai said, "He is not a tag tamer. He is a chosen child. The child of Kindness, to be exact. And, he was supposed to come here with Taichi and the others."

"Taichi," Ken said, "Who's that?"

"The leader of the chosen children," Gennai said, "You'll be meeting him soon. But first, you must go back to the Real world."

I was confused then. If the chosen children were in the Digital world, why did Ken need to go to the real world? I voiced my question, and Gennai said, "Because the chosen children will be there soon. And, Vamdemon will be there as well. Ken needs to be there."

"Alright," I said, "We'll go then."

Gennai shook his head and said, "No, only Ken and Wormmon are going. You and Veemon have to stay here."

I glared at Gennai and stepped in front of Ken protectively. "Ken doesn't go anywhere without me. If he goes to the Real world, then so do I."

"Not this time," Gennai said, "It is best that you cooperate with me, Ryo. Ken could make or break our future, and he needs to be there. I'll fight you if necessary, but I hope it doesn't come to that."

As much as I hated it, I let Ken go with Gennai. Gennai was stronger than me. I could sense it. Ken seemed worried, but I assured him that everything would be alright. And I silently added to myself that I'd go there and find him.

A couple days passed, and I was feeling lonely without Ken. But, I was working as hard as I could to find a way to the real world. Then, I realized my opportunity. If I found the chosen children, then I could go with them back to the Real world! I knew that Gennai had told me to stay in the Digital world, but I couldn't help myself.

I searched for weeks, and I finally found out where they were. They had found a gate in Vamdemon's castle, and they were already in the real world. The gate had also been destroyed after they had used it. So, that was out of the question. I began to ask around, and I discovered another way out of the Digital world.

At random places all over the Digital world, there were television sets. If one knew how to work them, then one could go to the Real world. I quickly set out to find one of these television sets, even though I had no idea how to use them. I found one quickly. But, I didn't know how to use it. I knelt down beside it and thought. Then, I got the idea to use my digivice somehow, but nothing happened when I pushed the buttons. In frustration, I slammed my fist down on the ground and said, "Come on! Work, damnit!"

Then, the digivice began to glow. I looked at it closely, and saw that it was changing shape. When the glowing stopped, I inspected it further. It had become slightly bigger, and it was now white with two small parts that were orange. I said, "Wow, my digivice changed."

"be careful Ryo," V-mon warned, "That could be dangerous."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," I said as I began to press buttons. But, nothing happened. So, I yelled out, "What do I have to do to get this thing to work?! Hold it up to the screen and tell it to open a portal?!"

Luckily, I had been holding it close to the screen at the moment I said that. The screen began to glow, and V-mon and I were sucked into it. We went spiraling down the tunnel of light, heading to who knows where. The next thing I knew, V-mon and I stumbled out of a computer and into a room. It took me a second to get my bearings straight, but when I did, I saw Ken and Wormmon. Ken looked upset, and Wormmon looked worried. I said, "Ken? Wormmon?"

They both turned to me and smiled. Ken said, "Ryo! You followed me!"

Ken hugged me, and I grinned and said, "Yup. It took me a while, but I managed to get back here!"

"A while," Ken said as he let go of me and backed up a pace, "But it's only been about ten minutes since I got here."

"Time is different in both worlds, remember," I said, "It's been over a month in the digital world. I've missed you, my friend."

Suddenly, a voice from the other side of the bedroom door said, "Ken, who are you talking to?"

"Nobody Nii-chan," Ken quickly replied, "I'm just playing!"

Ken has an older brother, I thought, that's cool. I wonder what he's like.

Then, Ken's brother said, "I'm coming in there."

The door opened…

…and I was staring into the face of the most attractive guy I had ever seen in my life.

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Author: Sorry, I know this is a short chapter. But, I wanted to leave off at that point. ^^