Expedition into Nowhere

Chapter One: Arrival in Nowhere

By Apple from Mars

Pairings: Daisuke X Wallace X Ken, Takeru X Iori, Miyako X Hikari, Taichi X Yamato, Sora X Mimi, Koushiro X Jyou, Jun X Osamu

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"Omen Road, Omen Road." Yamato chanted from the front seat. "Third one down on Omen Road."

"Yamato, it's not going to be that hard to find, give it a rest already!" Taichi said, not once taking his from the dirt road. "You doing alright back there Hikari?"

The silent girl in the back nodded, watching the trees fade into open ground as they drew nearer and nearer to the village. It was mid morning, and the three had just flown into the nearest airport. They where meeting the rest of their team at the village, where they would also be meeting their three guides for the first time. All together, there where thirteen of them, and Yamato secretly felt that it was NOT a good sign.

"This must be it." Taichi announced as the came out of the forest and onto flat dirt. They drove slowly into the village; the various people watching the truck pull in with mixed emotion. Most people simply glanced at them before returning to their work, but some of the younger children watched with wide, innocent eyes.

"There. Omen Road." Yamato pointed to one of the tiny rows of small houses.

"One, two, three. That one."

"I can count too you know." Taichi said as he pulled to a stop in front of the third house. Yamato merle rolled his eyes as he shoved open the truck's door and got out.

The house was not very impressive, with its flaking paint and old roof. The beach chairs sitting around a folding table out on the porch have obviously seen a lot of use, and the door leading into the house was propped open, and even though the screen door was still shut, it let wafts of fresh air into the house. Hikari and Taichi had gotten out of the car as well when a second car, a small blue one, pulled up and the second it had stopped, two people got out of it.

"Hi Yamato."

Yamato smiled at the pink haired woman who had gotten out of the back seat, and at the red haired man just climbing out of the passenger side.

"You're Mimi, right?" Mimi smiled cheerfully and held out her hand.

"Yep! You must be Taichi, and you're Hikari?"

Taichi shook Mimi's hand, giving her a warm smile. "The two and only."

A second man had gotten out of the other side of the car. He had dark blue hair, and Taichi recognized him in a second.

"Hey Jyou! How's it going?"

"Fine Taichi. Hello Yamato, Hikari. This," Jyou waved at the red haired man, who was busy rummaging around for something inside of the car. "Is Koushiro."

Yamato nodded. "Yeah, I met Koushiro a few weeks ago. Koushiro!"

Koushiro jumped, causing him to bang his head on the roof of the car, before turning and scowling at Yamato, who grinned at the man's sour expression.

"Hi."

"Hello Yamato." Koushiro sighed, standing up and slamming the car door.

"So," Mimi said, looking up at the house. "This is where our guides live?"

Taichi nodded. "That's right. Takeru and Miyako might get here today, but Iori and Sora won't be arriving until tomorrow."

Hikari was still watching the house, ignoring the other people around her. Taichi glanced sideways at her before sighing.

"Shall we go in?"

Yamato nodded, already making his way up the three steps that led onto the porch. He hesitated at the screen door, his five companion's just behind him, when a voice made all six of them jump.

"Donata anata?" [1]

A little girl stood on the other side of the porch, peering through the railing. She appeared to be about ten, maybe eleven. She had bright red hair and wore lose jeans that where muddy and torn from the knees down, with a dark blue T-shirt that was too big for her. After a pause, she scrambled up onto the porch, over the railing, and tugged open the screen door, which screeched in protest.

"Okaa-san, sorera tochaku!" [2]

A woman appeared in the room beyond the doorway. She too had bright red hair and wore a light skirt and a brilliantly colored shirt.

"Ah! You must be Yamato." She said briskly to Yamato, opening the door and ushering them all inside. "Come on in, Daisuke's upstairs."

The kitchen was small and crowded. It was slightly messy, but there where no dirty dishes in the sink and the windows had been washed only a week or so ago. The table WAS messy, scattered with papers, pencils, and quite a few books. The little girl had vanished from sight.

"I'm Daisuke's older sister, Jun." Jun gave the group a small smile as she set down the tray of muffins she had been holding and moved into a tiny hallway where a small rickety old staircase could be seen.

"Daisuke, your guests are here! Ken, Wallace, if you want any muffins you'd better come quick!" Jun strolled back into the kitchen while above her could be heard scattered voices. Then the voices dimmed and someone shouted through the ceiling.

"Jun, if those muffins are gone by the time I get down there you are going to DIE."

A smile spread across Jun's face and taking the tray of steaming muffins, she placed it on the countertop. Opening a cupboard door, she pulled out a second muffin tray and set it on the table just as what appeared to be a large herd of elephants came trampling down the stairs.

A teenage boy came skidding into the kitchen. He had Jun's spiked red hair, although his was more maroon than red, and he glared at the empty muffin tray as if it had personally offended him. His cloths where baggy and gave off the image that they where to large, although it might have been that he was too small, though he was by no means short.

"Baka."

Two more boys, both the same age as Daisuke, had also come down stairs unnoticed. The blue haired boy was attempting to hide his amusement as he snatched one of the muffins from the tray on the counter, but the blond haired boy was making no attempt to hide his snickers as he munched happily on his muffin.

"Daisuke, you're guests are here." Jun said patiently as Daisuke grabbed one of the muffins, glaring at the blond haired boy menacingly. Daisuke blinked the looked around the crowded kitchen in surprise, while his "guests" tried not to laugh.

"Oh! You're here!" Daisuke smiled cheerfully at them all, holding out the tray. "Muffin? They're Jun's specialty, applesauce."

Everyone accepted gracefully, except Hikari who simply took one without saying anything.

"I'm Daisuke, this is Ken, and that thing is Wallace." Wallace gave them a sweeping bow, while Ken smiled and nodded to each of them.

Yamato quickly introduced his companions, and as Koushiro smiled at them from over a muffin, two young girls came skidding into the room. One of them was the same red haired girl as before, but with her was a blue haired girl, same age and the same wild look about her.

"Okaa-san, Osamu's ie!" [3]

Jun looked up as the two girls vanished from sight almost before they had even entered the room. Signing, Jun turned to face the group.

"Show them where they'll be sleeping you three. Dinner will be ready in about a half an hour, and I don't want you thundering around like a bunch of elephants while I'm cooking. Understand?"

Daisuke nodded solemnly as the red-haired woman left the room.

Wallace finished his muffin and moved over towards the stairs.

"Come on, I'll show you where you're sleeping for tonight. It'll be a bit crowded I'm afraid, but it's only for one night. And no Ken, I am NOT giving up my bed! If you remember, this is the last time I'm going to be able to sleep on a bed for quite a while, so don't get me started."

Ken laughed. "I didn't say anything." He too started up the stairs. "You're just being paranoid. I wasn't even going to bring it up; I know what you're like just before an expedition."

Daisuke followed his friends up the rickety stairs, the rest of the group following behind. At the landing, which was really not much more than a tiny rectangle, Hikari noticed a small duty window. Peering though as she walked past, she could see the backyard. It was little more than a patch of dirt really; the only grass was at the edges of the yard. A small chicken coop took up one corner, and she could see Jun talking to a blue haired man by the backdoor. Two young girls where playing with a set of marbles a few feet away. As Hikari looked, the light orange marble when ramming into the blue and green one.

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Footnotes:

[1] - Who are you?

[2] - Mama, they arrived!

[3] - Mama, Osamu's home!

A/N: As you've noticed, I have the town people speaking in Japanese. I wanted to distinguish the way they speak and act from the way the rest of the people speak and act. I'm sorry if it's annoying.

I also have to say I'm REALLY sorry I took so long with this chapter! Its three pages long, which is a page longer than my normal chapters, but I still should have had it up sooner. I'll try to get chapter two out as soon as my muse cooperates.