"You, who were just the little one crying,
Are now standing in the middle of the light.
Who is the focus of your heart?
That's the only thing
I want to know."
Takeru Takaishi—"Focus"
(Translated by KarenSedai)
With Broken Wings
Chapter Four: "Focus"
Kage walked out of the quarantine tent with Kouji's pills in hand. He had been searching around for a while, unable to locate the Chosen of Light. And then he saw him—sitting on a log with Izumi. And he wasn't sure if they noticed, but they were holding hands. According to Japanese custom, they were dating.
"You've really changed a lot," Izumi noticed. "You're still not much of a talker, but you're a lot less quiet than you used to be."
"It's something I learned after all those months in captivity," Kouji answered. "Being trapped for five months, speaking only to your family, and knowing that each day could be your last changes you. I missed the things I'd had before."
"Like what?"
Kouji fought the urge to say, "Like you," knowing that Izumi was with Kouichi. But he couldn't get her image out of his head—the same way her image had intruded on the kiss Sakiko gave him. He didn't know why that kept happening. Worst of all, his time as a slave had forced him to become somewhat of a lone wolf again. He was going to have to force himself to trust anyone, even his closest friends, again. It took a lot of persuasion from the other part of his mind—the part that did trust Izumi—for him to finally continue.
"Basically, I missed having friends who would do anything for each other," he answered. "I would continue helping everyone who stepped on a mine, or seemed to be the cause of an explosion or leak. Countless other slaves would betray me, even though they knew that I would be facing a round of torture. I even heard rumors that they bet on how injured I'd be the next day. Others would consider me to be a curse, like I was the one causing all the trouble. But then Sakiko, Kotemon, and Koemon rescued me—they were the first ones who really took a stand to help me. I know that if they didn't get us out of there, Kouichi might have killed Mom, Dad, Satomi, and Kouri."
"And not you?"
His tone was considerably lower as he spoke. "He just likes playing with me. The torture is just his way of showing that he's my older brother, so he's the stronger one."
"But you've survived all this. Doesn't that count for something?"
"Yes. And he knows that. That's why he says I never existed, why he let you think I died. As long as I'm alive in some form or another, he knows that I still have some kind of power over him. And when I revealed my identity, he was furious. He could have killed me if it wasn't for the others."
"I'm sorry for making you relive that," Izumi apologized.
"What's there to be sorry for? What's done is done. Let's just leave it in the past, all right?" Izumi laughed a little at this. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just I thought the exact same thing a few days ago. It was just weird."
"You've changed too," Kouji observed. "I mean, you used to be afraid of the Dark Continent, and now here you are, in the light, fighting in the darkness, against the one you love."
"Kouichi may not be the one I love anymore," Izumi admitted. "He's changed too much. I can't believe that he ever let that being possess him."
"He may not have let it."
"But he lets the Kaiser use his anger and hatred. Why? Why does he hate you so much?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you some other time."
"So, is there anyone in your life that you think is special?" Izumi questioned. "That Sakiko girl seemed to like you a lot."
"Yeah, but she's just not the kind of person that I'd want to be with. Friends, yes, but I think she sometimes takes things too far. She's a little arrogant at times, thinking that she's right and everyone else is wrong."
"She sounds like a female Takuya. Maybe we should set them up one of these days."
"No," Kouji answered, laughing. "That's the last thing on Earth we need."
"You're right. I've that scary thought before about two Takuyas. But really: Is there someone you consider to be special?"
"Maybe, but I'm just not ready to talk about it. What about you? You said that you don't love Kouichi like you used to. Anyone else in your life?"
"If you won't tell, then I won't."
"Guess we'll just have to be satisfied with that."
Kage regretted having to break up such a romantic moment, but he had important news. He cleared his throat, making his presence known. To his dismay, Izumi and Kouji let go of each other's hand, almost in embarrassment. Apparently, it had been the Western custom Izumi was used to, where it held no real meaning. She had probably been trying to comfort him after all he'd been through. And from what he'd heard, no one could ever take away Kouji's pain, but any type of comfort would help.
"Sorry to interrupt," Kage apologized, "but I found some information on the Kaiser. Turns out Kouichi wasn't the first." He tossed Kouji the medicine bottle. "Keep these with you at all times. You're not fully recovered yet."
They walked to a campfire further away from the quarantine tents. Around the warm flames were Takuya, Junpei, and Tomoki, who were glad to see their friend was doing better.
"Looking a lot better," Junpei noticed.
"We were all worried, especially after hearing that Miyagami died," Tomoki added.
"Here, take this," Takuya offered, throwing the blue D-scanner. "Kage ran a few tests on this and found you'd been evolving almost everyday for the past five months, which is why the bacterium affected you the way it did. The doctor says that the bacteria's still in you, so you can't fight for another few weeks until long after you're completely healed. We knew you'd never follow orders, so just don't evolve or anything."
"Well, now that this has been taken care of, back to business," Kage decided, removing his laptop. "You'll never believe what I found out about the Kaiser."
"What is it?" Takuya questioned.
"Give me a second. You guys know the procedure: print it, read it, burn it. I just need to print it here." He rapidly set everything up for printing. "Kouji, when you described your fight with the Kaiser to your parents, you said that his whip seemed to appear out of the sky, right?"
"Yeah."
"That—and the fact that you've mentioned to others that the Kaiser is completely separate from your brother—got me thinking that maybe the Kaiser isn't from this world at all. So I hacked into some radio and X-ray telescopes, modifying my computer's data into sonic waves and X-ray radiation, and I managed to pass the data through a black hole."
"Now you lost me," Takuya confessed.
"Every black hole is a type of vortex, pulling things across space and time, but no one knows what's on the other side because the immense gravity crushes everything that gets pulled into it. But everything has to go somewhere. That's how I managed to figure things out. On the day of Kouji and the Kaiser's fight, there was a disturbance with a black hole that was swirling in the sky over the beach where they fought. It was suddenly causing something to come out of it, not pulling it in. It was driving scientists nuts because they couldn't figure out what was going on with it. But now I do. The Kaiser's soul was coming through at the speed of a tachyon, faster than the speed of light, bringing along everything from his reign in the world on the other side. In that universe was a team of six Chosen Children, plus another six that had come before them, and an infinite number of others, but they were teamed with Digimon, helping them evolve. These six—the ones that came later, not their predecessors—had just defeated this Digimon called BelialVamdemon just moments before the fight on the beach. These children were named Daisuke Motomiya, Miyako Inoue, Iori Hida, Takeru Takaishi, Hikari Yagami, and Ken Ichijouji. There was a database kept on them in their Digital World, so I skimmed through it until I found information on the Digimon Kaiser." He took the printouts from his computer. "Better start reading." He left as the Chosen started reading the information.
"Ken was the original Kaiser," Junpei read. "It says here that he became the Kaiser partially because of this thing called a Dark Seed, which 'increased his athletic ability and his intelligence,' making him a complete genius and a star on his soccer team."
"This guy had a lot of problems though," Takuya observed. "His parents ignored him, paying attention only to his older brother, who was the original genius."
"Sounds like what Kouichi claimed," Kouji commented, searching through his printouts. "But he and his brother Osamu weren't on terms that bad. Ken said that some of his fondest memories are of him and Osamu blowing bubbles. He even based his appearance as the Kaiser on him." He showed the picture of Ken as the Kaiser.
"Wow!" Tomoki declared. "That's how Kouichi's dressed!"
"It's probably a safe bet that Osamu looked something like that," Junpei reasoned.
"Well, I've got the second part of that info," Tomoki volunteered. "Turns out that one day a digivice popped out of Osamu's computer. Osamu warned Ken not to touch it, and got really mad when Ken took it from his desk drawer. Ken was so angry about what happened that he wished his brother would die, which he did."
"How?" Takuya asked.
"I don't know. That's all it says."
"I have the last part of that," Izumi added, her voice shaky. "Osamu was killed in a car accident. Someone just ran him over in the street, but Ken was in too much shock to remember what happened. He was summoned to this place called the Dark Ocean, where he transformed his digivice into something called a D-3." She produced the picture, which showed a digivice almost identical to Kouichi's D-scanner. "Kouji, I think you should be the first to see this," she decided, handing over a folded printout. "It's Ken's picture, when he wasn't the Kaiser." Kouji stared at it for a moment, stunned.
"What is it?" Takuya questioned.
"You're not going to believe this," he finally stated. He passed the printed photo to the others, who were just as amazed at the resemblance between Ken and Kouichi: the same hair, eyes—everything!
"The whole story's repeating itself," Takuya realized.
Kage ran out to them, panting.
"There's a fire near one of the settlements!" he informed.
"Where?" Takuya asked.
"Near the outskirts of the forest, two days away from the Imperial town at the base of the mountain. And the fire keeps spreading."
"Let's go!" Takuya ordered.
"I'm coming too," Kouji insisted, getting several unsure stares. "You'll need all the help you can get."
"I'll keep an eye on him," Izumi offered.
"Okay then," Takuya agreed. "Let's move out!"
Kage hadn't been kidding when he said the fire kept spreading. Rapidly, the flames had engulfed half a kilometer of woodland, narrowing the protection of the Chosen's camp and Kage's Underground Railroad. Buckets and even tubs of water were thrown on the raging inferno, but no matter how hard the Resistance tried, none of their efforts could make any significant difference.
"Tomoki, try evolving to put out the flames," Takuya suggested, throwing more water on the blaze.
"Spirit Evolution! Chakmon!" He held out his small freeze gun. "Snow Bomber!" He pelted all of the trees and tents with snow and ice, freezing most of the flames and soaking the fuel they needed to burn. Upon completion, he devolved, taking a sigh of relief as everyone around applauded. But Kouji noticed that much of the applause seemed to be too well in unison, like someone was keeping everything in check.
"Let's clean the rest of this up," Izumi decided. They all began sorting through the charred ruins, removing anything valuable or whatever remotely looked like it could serve a purpose.
"Something's not right," Kouji whispered, walking up to Izumi.
"What do you mean?" she questioned.
"A lot of these people have blank expressions, like they don't realize what just happened."
"They're just in shock, that's all. This kind of thing happens after a disaster."
"Maybe, but I don't think that explains this. There's something about their eyes: void and missing color. I've seen the same thing with Kouichi when he was under Cherubimon's power. And that applause was way too perfect—using military precision and timing. Kage, the militia, and the rest of us were applauding out of synch, sounding normal. But the settlers all clapped at the same time, sounding like they were more machine than human or Digimon." He stared off into the burnt forest for a moment. "I'm going to check something out."
"Not without me you're not," Izumi argued. "I have to keep an eye on you. Besides, if you get sick again, I can alert someone."
"Fine, but just keep up." Izumi scowled at how his determination to solve the mystery was just bringing back his old attitude.
They dashed into the forest, stamping out tiny glows of red-orange along their way, keeping the fire from re-igniting. The smell of burnt wood and smoke was enough to spur some coughing from both of them.
"You okay?" Kouji checked. Izumi nodded, but he handed her his bandana just in case. "Breathe through this. It should filter out some of the smoke."
"Thanks." She put it over her face and found it was a lot easier to breathe. "What about you?"
"I'm fine for now."
As they went a little further, a new odor blew through the contaminated air, making them both lightheaded and sick.
"Gasoline," Izumi recognized.
"The trees are soaked with it," Kouji realized, picking up an empty can reeking of the odor.
"What do you think is going on?" Izumi questioned.
"This," a voice answered, stepping closer to them.
"Kouichi," Kouji recognized, his voice in an even tone. Suddenly, a heavy weight connected with his right temple, using a force so powerful that he hit the ground.
"You should know by now that crossing me will lead to your death, Kouji," Kouichi stated. He snapped his fingers and two of the "settlers" lifted Kouji from the ground, holding him in a vise-like grip. Two more appeared and seized Izumi. Kouichi walked up to her, admiring her softly curved figure. He curled his index finger and placed it under her chin, kissing her on the lips.
Almost immediately, Izumi could feel that something was wrong. Kouichi's kiss had changed. Instead of making her feel warm and happy inside, she only felt cold and confused. Her conflicting emotions for Kouichi encountered her newfound feelings for Kouji, causing a war of romantic unrest in her heart. She pulled away from Kouichi quickly, not liking his kiss of power and want.
"What's wrong, Izumi?" Kouichi questioned, his voice cruel and full of malice. He was not the same boy she'd fallen in love with. "Don't you have something to say to your boyfriend?" A tear slid down Izumi's face as her heart's torment continued. "Nothing to say freely?" Kouichi lifted his whip. "Then I'll force you to speak!"
"Don't hurt her!"
The shout shattered the stillness of the night. Kouichi turned to Kouji, shocked.
"What did you say?"
"Place even one hand on her, Kouichi, and I'll…"
Kouichi stared at him angrily for a moment, and burst into laughter. "What will you do? How do you expect to threaten me when you couldn't even match my power in the Digital World?" He turned his whip on Kouji, hitting him hard enough to nearly knock him unconscious.
"Stop!" Izumi pleaded, but Kouichi didn't listen.
"Listen, ototo-chan," Kouichi growled, using the informal phrase for "little brother," something he hadn't done in months. He walked closer, ready to complete his threat, but he stopped suddenly, getting a fairly good look at him. "Osamu?" he whispered.
It was not Kouichi's younger twin the Kaiser saw, but Ken Ichijouji's older brother. Kouichi backed away in fear, unable to understand why Kouji wore the same hooded green shirt over the same long-sleeved navy blue T-shirt that Osamu had worn the day of his death.
No, he thought as Kouji fell unconscious, I've killed him again! Only this time, a car didn't hit him, but my whip did!
He let go of his control over the captors' minds and they collapsed to the ground as if dead. Izumi was about to escape, but in one act of partial sanity, Kouichi snapped his whip around her waist, preventing her from leaving. Taking one last glance at Kouji's unconscious form, he whistled sharply, catching the attention of one of his Airdramon slaves. They left the forest without Kouichi so much as thinking of finding the Resistance settlements. Suddenly, it didn't seem important anymore.
-------
"Kouji, you okay?" Takuya checked as the other boy slowly opened his eyes.
"Good news," Kage informed Takuya. "The rest of these guys are okay. But we have to get them out of the gas fumes."
Suddenly, the entire encounter with Kouichi flashed through Kouji's mind. He sat up quickly, feeling a wave of dizziness and nausea wash over him from the gasoline fumes. The color was drained from his face, and his whole body felt weak and useless.
"We need to get him out of here," Takuya said.
"Where's Izumi?" Kouji asked.
"Wasn't she with you?" Kage questioned, waking up one of the assailants.
Kouji's face held an expression of shock and regret as he remembered the events that had just occurred. He found the abandoned bandana and placed it in the pocket of his green shirt.
"Well?" Takuya pressed.
"Kouichi ambushed us. He was about to attack Izumi, but I stopped him. He hit me with the whip again, but as he came closer he just stopped, like he saw a ghost. He then whispered, 'Osamu.'"
"His brother?" Takuya recognized.
"Yeah. I think I've already figured out what Osamu Ichijouji used to look like." He stood up, forcing down a gush of bile.
"The best I can guess is Kouichi took her captive," Kage commented.
"I have to go save her," Kouji realized.
"You can't go anywhere," Takuya informed him. "You spent at least four days sick in quarantine, only just managing to survive. You have a few more days to go before you've completely recovered from that. And on top of that, you have enough injuries on your body to have killed you. Not to mention you've spent some time breathing in smoke and gas fumes. Isn't that right, Kage?"
The older boy removed a small silver pistol from his pocket and demonstrated how to shoot it. "The trigger is just a decoy in case some Imperial soldier decides to use it. The real trigger is a small indent on the handle, here." He handed it over. "Feel it?" Kouji nodded. "Now to shoot, just press that indent with your fingernail. A red laser will come out. By cocking the gun, you can change the setting of the laser: once for low, twice for medium, and three times for high. The medium power is only enough to cause first and second degree burns while high power is for any kills needed to be made. It'll also cut through anything you need it to. Low power is just basically a stun gun." Kouji nodded in understanding and pocketed the gun before taking off. "We'll be moving the settlers to the Mt. Fuji settlement. Meet us there."
"Kage!" Takuya shouted. "Why'd you encourage him? He'll only get himself killed!"
"Even if I tried, I wouldn't have been able to stop him," Kage explained. "He's going to save the woman he loves, and it's something he has to do on his own." Takuya didn't look like he understood, but he nodded nonetheless.
-------
Kouichi retched and vomited once more before turning on the water, rinsing out the sink. Without the bile forcing its way up his throat, he began splashing the cool water on his face. Continually, he'd glance at the mirror, splashing more of the cold liquid on his face until his panic attack finally ended and he saw his reflection to be Kouichi Kimura, and not Ken Ichijouji. He breathed heavily for a while and turned the faucet off, convincing himself that he hadn't seen what he thought he did.
It's just a side effect from using the Kaiser's power, he thought. It's only natural that Ken's memories would meld with mine.
"Kouji had decided to torture us by choosing Osamu's attire," the Kaiser's voice explained. "He is trying to kill us. You know what we must do, Kouichi."
Yes, Kouichi thought, regaining his composure. He suddenly broke into insane laughter, just as Ken had when his nerves were shot. Along with the laughter came the remainder of the threat he hadn't been able to finish back in the forest. "Kouji, there will be no rest for you! You will pay for this, I promise!" He continued his uncontrollable laughter, allowing it to echo in the darkness.
-------
Izumi continued walking behind the jeep, trying not to show how tired she was. She kept an even pace so the chains wrapped around her neck and wrists wouldn't have the chance to tighten, signaling the two cruelest of the Imperial Guard to drive faster in an attempt to strangle her. She'd been following that jeep for two days now, nearly reaching the town outside the forest and mountain. The area where the fire had been was two days away, just as Kage had said. The Chosen's camp and Kage's tunnels were much closer due to the fact that the quarantine tents had been made to be far away from the settlers. Throughout the two days, Izumi had slowly come to understand the physical and mental tasks that had been imposed on Kouji during the past five months.
Suddenly, the jeep stopped.
"Girl, the car stalled," a mercenary lied, laughing.
"We can't start it, so can you pull it?" another asked, nearly busting a gut with laughter.
She was chained to the front of the jeep this time. As she strained to pull it, another jeep came speeding toward her, giving her no chance to get away. And then it suddenly flipped over.
"What was that?" the first soldier questioned.
The second began cursing and pointing. "Look!" he shouted. Standing before them was Garmmon.
"Slide Evolution! Wolfmon!"
The soldiers in the overturned jeep began cursing loudly as they tried to escape, yelling at their comrades to shoot Wolfmon before he could attack. But he calmly stood there, unmoving. The soldiers in the overturned jeep escaped and began running as the other two stooges started shooting at Wolfmon.
"Licht Sieger!" he shouted, taking out his weapon and slamming it onto Izumi's chains. They broke instantly and Wolfmon devolved into Kouji, trying to take a shocked Izumi to safety.
A bullet found its way into his left shoulder. Rapidly, he removed Kage's gun from his pocket and cocked it tree times before firing. The deadly laser struck the overturned jeep, setting it ablaze. The soldiers that had been trapped in it were long gone, and the other two were easily able to run. Kouji gave them a chance to live that they'd never given him.
Sometime later, when they had reached a safe ledge on Mt. Fuji, they sat down to rest. Kouji removed his green shirt and placed it over Izumi's torn pink top. The new shirt was slightly long over her small frame, but it was better than what she had. He instructed her to remove the torn shirt once she had the green one on.
"You didn't kill them," Izumi noticed.
"It wouldn't have solved anything," he answered, taking deep breaths. "Come on," he urged. "The others are at the Mt. Fuji Settlement. We're near there."
"How did you find me?" Izumi questioned.
"It took a lot of tracking, but I managed to find the jeep you were chained to. Luckily, Kouichi's soldiers don't think that we'd hide in an abandoned ski lodge. Guess he thinks we prefer hiding in conspicuous forests." His face suddenly twisted in pain.
"What is it?" Izumi checked, being careful not to touch his left arm for fear of agitating the new injury.
"My DNA's trying to recode," he answered.
"Your evolutions," she realized. "You went into relapse."
"It was worth it," he replied. He carefully pulled out his pills, but he was in too much pain to open the bottle. Izumi took it and placed a pill in his mouth. He swallowed carefully.
"There's another hospital Dr. Yamamoto works in," she informed. "It's not as close as the one at the settlement, but he should be there now and you wouldn't have to climb the mountain. But it's in the town below. We'd have to go into Imperial territory."
"Kouichi put an APB out on me," Kouji protested. "You and Dr. Yamamoto will only be in more danger." Izumi's face was tense, but an idea struck her.
"How about if I go out and say that we were attacked and our ID papers were stolen? You were too injured to make it through the mountain pass, so I had to go alone. Dr. Yamamoto would help us. The Imperials think he's on their side, but he's really with us. We'll figure out a way to slip you inside."
"Hold on," Kouji interrupted, using his right hand to remove his hair tie. Somewhat sloppily, he braided Izumi's hair, keeping it together with the elastic band. "I don't want you to be recognized."
"I'll be back soon," she promised, kissing his cheek. And she began running down the mountain paths to the town and hospital. Kouji leaned up against the rock side and closed his eyes, allowing himself to sleep in order to conserve the energy he needed to fight the mutations.
-------
Kouji snapped awake as though he'd been asleep for no more than a few seconds. Izumi was sitting next to him, still wearing his green shirt, and she carefully placed her hand over his mouth.
"The room could be bugged," she whispered in his ear. "In a few minutes, we have to begin an argument. Dr. Yamamoto is going to come in and say either 'Good to see you're awake' or 'Could you lower your voices? Other patients need their rest.' If he says the first, we're safe to talk. But if he says the second, Kage's instruments have picked up a bug." She removed her hand from his mouth.
"Kage's here?" he whispered quietly.
"Yeah, and so is everyone else. We needed to save this hospital. Too many patients are dying."
"Abuse?"
"Looks that way."
He shifted his position in the bed, trying not to injure himself anymore than he already was. Finally, he found the switch that raised the bed and he got himself into a sitting position.
"How long was I out?" he whispered.
"Four days," she replied. "Just enough time for the others to arrive and for the bacteria to completely die in your system."
"That's good," he decided. He stretched himself, surprised to see that he was in his normal clothes, minus his shirt. He was even more surprised to feel that his hair was a lot shorter than before.
"Oh, I forgot to mention," Izumi added. "We had to cut your hair. It was the only way you could get in unrecognized. Hope you don't mind, but it's a cut like Kage's."
"Somehow I have the feeling that it doesn't matter whether or not I mind."
Izumi smiled at his dry humor. "Look on the bright side: It'll grow back by the time Kouri reaches the worst of her hair-pulling stage."
"Great," he commented sarcastically. "Do we have any false names or anything I have to remember?"
"Yes. I'm Amiko Toyowa and you're Masaki Nishigawa."
"You ready to start?" he checked.
"I guess we'd better right now." Aloud, she announced. "You're awake. I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse."
"What is that supposed to mean, Amiko?" Kouji asked.
"You know, we nearly didn't get in because of you. How could you lose your papers, Masaki Nishigawa?"
"It's not my fault they were stolen after that guy shot me! Plus you lost yours too!"
"And whose fault is that?"
"You're blaming this on me? I wasn't the one that decided to take a nice little stroll through the mountains even though there were gangs hiding there."
"Oh, so it's my fault now?" Izumi questioned defensively. "My family was right about you. You're nothing but a…"
"Great! It's the wisdom of the Toyowa family!" Kouji mocked. "It's not like they were ever right about anything before."
"Excuse me," Dr. Yamamoto interrupted, walking in. He unplugged Kouji from the IV and placed a bandage on the small needle hole it left behind. "It's good to see you're awake." It was safe to talk freely, but they all kept their voices low. "The others have just ambushed the Imperial Guard in here. The hospital is free and the patients are safe."
"What about the town?" Kouji questioned.
"Emancipated last night," Kage replied, stepping in. "All the people are free from the Kaiser's control. We're finally saving enough people to outnumber those that are under the Kaiser's thumb."
"Great!" Izumi declared.
"Come on, Dr. Yamamoto," Kage urged. "We'd better see to everyone else." He closed the door as they walked out.
"Were you treated for anything?" Kouji checked.
"Exhaustion and acute dehydration," Izumi replied. "Pretty much the same as you, but your dehydration was more severe and that IV kept adding vitamins into your system because of your malnourishment."
"That describes pretty much everyone that lived as one of Kouichi's slaves," Kouji answered.
"Yeah, everyone's getting treatment for that, along with some vaccinations. Kouri's getting hers soon."
"I've already gotten mine."
"Your family said that."
"How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess. But this war has done more than anyone thought it would. I guess this is why so many soldiers always suffered those psychological problems. The doctors said something about getting us psychiatric help when this is all over."
"No doctor can help us deal with what we've seen," Kouji explained. "We've faced wars left and right, and we were recruited to save a distant world from a power hungry monster. And now we have to do it again, but in this world, and with a monster we knew as our friend."
"Will you ever be able to forgive Kouichi for what he's done?" Izumi questioned.
"Yes. He's my brother. It's a bond we have to come to understand, something the Kaiser doesn't seem to. He can make Kouichi believe whatever he wants, but Kouichi can't kill me because he'll literally be killing a part of himself." They were both silent for a moment. "Will you be able to forgive him?"
"I will, but it's the same thing I told you on the log. I just can't love him anymore. I was feeling it then, and when he kissed me… It wasn't right. I felt Kouichi in there, but I didn't feel his love—the love he'd shown me long before the Kaiser took over him." The sudden silence took them again. Izumi knew she had to break it now, or lose her chance to speak her heart forever. "Besides, I think I might be falling in love with you. And it's not because you wouldn't let Kouichi hurt me. I've had this feeling since we got to know each other in the Digital World, but it was hard enough for you to even make friends. I didn't want to pressure you, so I just pushed away my feelings and concentrating on forming a friendship with you. But Kouichi ended up making friends so much more quickly… I guess I mistook friendship with him for what I wanted with you. Maybe I was the one that didn't want to be pressured." She took a breath. "But if all you want is friendship, it's fine with me."
"You want to know why Kouichi hates me?" Kouji asked, seeming to change the subject. "As twins, part of our curse is that he and I sometimes know what the other is feeling, like the time he fell at the Shibuya station. I was in the elevator when I suddenly felt something shut down, a void of thinking. I glanced up, feeling as though I'd just gone through part of what Kouichi had been through. But with him… He tends to know what I'm thinking before I even know what it is. A lot of times, he's in my head, like he's searching for me. He did that once, and began searching through my memories. But I doubt he knows that I can feel his thoughts too. That's one reason why he hates me, but the Kaiser just increases the conflict."
"How?"
"He keeps letting Kouichi know what I'm feeling. If I'm hopeful, he'll torture me. If I'm miserable, he'll torture me even more. Lately, I've figured out how to keep him out of my mind, but he only got angrier. During those last three months, he tortured me worse than before. Before, he'd almost never used the crucifix torture, but he ended up giving me that everyday. I could have died, but like I said, he wouldn't let me. But there's more. The day I got sick, just before Sakiko shot Akagami, I felt Kouichi's anger making me weaker, like our bond was being tested again. I watched him murder one of his colonels, a man named Reiyama." Izumi gasped. "Don't pity him; he's killed enough people to deserve it. I think Kouichi, or at least the Kaiser, knows I've been sick, and that's why he had Akagami give me cyanide."
"But it was for Miyagami too," Izumi protested. Kouji shook his head.
"It was meant for me. You can even ask Sakiko—Akagami was right next to me with a spilled bottle of cyanide pills. If Miyagami had been given any, he'd have died sooner, and a lot less painfully. And… Kouichi knows something else. I gave it away back in the forest."
"What is it?"
"Friendship with you isn't all I want. I'm falling in love with you too." She stared at him in complete shock. He'd never shown any seeds of jealousy when she was dating Kouichi; he had been the one to tell her to go for it and not be afraid of the budding relationship. How was it possible for two best friends to end up this way?
Kage opened the door, tossing Kouji his mended blue shirt.
"Hate to break this up, but we have to move out soon. We're heading for the Digital World." He stepped out and closed the door behind him.
Kouji pulled his shirt on over his short hair. Izumi helped him to his feet and returned his bandana.
"Keep it," he offered. "I really don't need it anymore." Carefully, he tied it around her head. "Besides, it looks better on you." She smiled.
"If you're going to kiss her, do it already!" Kage urged from outside. Izumi and Kouji both turned red.
"Come on!" Sakiko continued. "It's not like anyone's watching you or anything! This is the first good thing that's happened to both of you in a while! Enjoy it!"
"Nice audience," Kouji commented, feeling very nervous.
"I guess we'd better give them what they want or else they won't get away from that door," Izumi realized.
"And I think it's too far down to jump out the window," Kouji added.
"Just do it!" Sakiko and Kage insisted.
Slowly, Izumi and Kouji kissed, taking their time as neither of them had expected to be forced to kiss under circumstances like these. Izumi found that Kouji's kiss was unpracticed, yet flawless. Unlike Kouichi, he didn't give her the giddiness or confusion, but a sweet tenderness that couldn't be matched. She felt completely aware, like they were the only ones who could know the other. Kouji felt the same kind love that he'd felt only one time before: on the beach when he nearly died in her arms. Neither had an afterimage of anyone else intruding on them. They felt as though they were one with each other, like there was nothing either didn't know about the other. They both now knew with whom they belonged: the focus of their hearts.
Tachyon: theoretical particle that travels faster than the speed of light
Um, the Kaiser's one speaking part was stolen from Spider-Man. It was a good movie. Plus there was a reference to Star Wars with the line "more machine than human or Digimon." It came from Obi-Wan's "more machine now than man" in Return of the Jedi. Also, the dragging of the jeep was inspired by something in this movie on Harriet Tubman that we had to watch in eighth grade. Gennai's database is something sort of used in Lord Archive's Diaries Universe, where one member of each team keeps stats on the Chosen/Digi-destined/whatever they call themselves in that area.