And light is shining on this street corner."
Wallace—"Streets to the Summer"
(Translated by Riah-chan)
With Broken Wings
Chapter Seven: "Streets to the Summer"
Thanks to the stories from Izumi, the Kimura-Minamotos, and Kouji, the remainder of the legend of the Digimon Kaiser had been told. Izumi watched Kouji lie unconscious on the psychiatrist's couch and couldn't help but review that tale:
At some unknown point after Kouji's "death," the remaining four Chosen Children evolved with their H-Spirits. They knew they had evolved only because they could recall being in those forms as they headed to the Minamoto residence. Izumi had a vague memory of holding Kouji's body as she flew above the streets of Tokyo and then Yokohama, tracing the path of the Toyoko line. Through tear-blurred eyes, she could see people below, finishing their daily work until Agnimon, Chakmon, or Blitzmon pushed past them, or until someone looked up to see Fairymon carrying a lifeless body. Kouji wasn't dead, but it was impossible to believe he was alive.
The sun was setting, and a great darkness swept across the city, chasing the four Hybrids, as though it wanted to claim the fallen Child of Light once more. Not even the light was comforting, as the descending sun was a deep red—Stained crimson by Kouji's blood, Izumi thought. Drops of blood were still exiting the wound on his side, mingling with the others' tears and descending to the ground as a trail of their journey.
Eternity had seemed to pass by the time they arrived at the Minamotos' house. Whether the Chosen had knocked or simply let themselves in was uncertain, but somehow they entered the house and went upstairs. The adults were surprised and confused at the sight of the Digimon, not having been told this story, but seeing Kouji's body was enough to halt all questions. The dog could be heard whimpering, and Kouri crying, but for a while there seemed to be no sound, no light…just a feeling of despair, attempting to strangle them all.
Kouji's father, Kousei, opened the door to the Warrior of Light's bedroom. Solemnly, the quartet entered, laying their friend on the bed before finally devolving. All was silent. There was no crying, no mournful dirge, nothing that remotely spoke of a funeral. The Earth had been plunged into eternal silence.
"How did this happen?" Kousei asked. Somehow, Takuya was the first to recover his voice after his best friend's defeat.
"Get Ms. Kimura," he requested.
Satomi, still holding the baby (who was crying once again), rushed to the kitchen, calling for Tomoko Kimura. She was too stunned to explain the situation, but she managed to get the message across that it was urgent.
Tomoko wasted no time in arriving. She rang the doorbell to be greeted by her ex-husband's crestfallen face.
"Has anyone seen Kouichi?" she checked before walking in the door. "He hasn't come home yet."
"Tomoko," Kousei addressed, "there's something you should see."
The sight of her younger son lying on the bed was almost too much for her to bear. A sound escaped her lips—a combination of a cry and a gasp—and she ran to Kouji's side, pressing two fingers against his heated wrist, but she was unable to find a pulse. She made the loud cry-gasp again and turned to the Chosen Children.
"I never should have asked for his help," Izumi regretted.
"It's not your fault," Takuya reasoned. "I mean, we all could have done something different. I shouldn't have been so quick to agree with his plan… Maybe we could have been a little faster… But in the end, it was Kouji's choice, and Kouichi's actions." Kouichi's name appeared to leave a bad taste in his mouth.
"What do you mean?" Tomoko questioned.
"Kouichi lost it with me," Izumi began. "I went to Kouji for advice, and he decided we should all talk it out. But he and Kouichi got in a fight on the beach. We got there too late. By the time we finally did get there, Kouichi had strangled him with some kind of electrical whip." She broke into tears and left the room. Everybody else was also crying uncontrollably, but Takuya summoned forth all his courage and forced himself to finish the story:
"Kouichi didn't care about what he'd done. Izumi held Kouji, asking how Kouichi could do this, but Kouichi turned around and said, 'Take this as an example of what will happen if anyone dares to cross the Digimon Kaiser.'"
Izumi sat outside the front door, her knees pulled up as she continued crying. Though she only thought of him as her best friend, she was completely devastated by his apparent death, as it had been her boyfriend that had dealt the killing blow, and she had been the one that had asked for his help to begin with. She stayed there for two hours, as time no longer had any meaning, until Satomi sat next to her, holding a crying Kouri. Satomi's own eyes were bloodshot from the tears over her stepson.
"Your friends told us everything that happened: from April till now… It's a lot to take." She was silent for a while. "You loved him, didn't you? I could see it on your face. It wasn't romantic love or anything, but something else. You were very close friends after the Digital World fiasco. In one way or another, you came to love something about him."
"He shouldn't have died," Izumi stated. "He's survived everything the Digital World had to throw at him."
"But he was a Digimon then," Satomi reminded her. "It doesn't matter how strong he is—was; Kouji was still human, and human life is fragile." Izumi noted the pain in Satomi's voice as she said "was." Kouri's crying seemed far off. All Izumi could hear at that moment were the waves crashing on the beach, and all she could see were the last three breaths Kouji had taken. She could still feel his body in her arms. She drifted across a sea of memories, seeing many scenes from their time in the Digital World, back when the Earth hadn't been shattered. She wished everything could stay the way it had been. But slowly, Kouri's crying grew louder as Izumi was painstakingly pulled back to the present.
"Izumi, could you take her please?" Satomi requested.
"Sure," she agreed, taking the small baby. Just the feel of the tiny life in her arms was enough to comfort her grief. It was amazing how it was the simple things that could cause such sorrow and joy. She stood up and took Kouri inside, to Kouji's room. He still lay motionless on the bed, and Izumi fought her way across tears to see him. There was no visible reason for his death: The burns on his hands and neck didn't look too bad—more like a bad sunburn. The skin was peeling off, and his flesh was bright red. The slash and bruise on his side were clearly painful, but certainly not life threatening.
She sat down next to him on the bed, using one arm to hold Kouri and support her neck, and the other to lift one of Kouji's hands. His fingertips were beginning to automatically blister from the hot electricity. In a burst of sudden inspiration, Izumi got up and went over to his dresser, grabbing several pictures of the Chosen Children together.
"The better times," she commented sadly, placing them in his hand.
It suddenly dawned on her that Kouri hadn't cried once upon entering the room.
"She needed to say goodbye," Izumi realized, placing the squirming child on Kouji's chest. She looked as though she was trying to pull herself up to look at him. Izumi held her up in a sitting position so the baby could see her brother. Next, Izumi took Kouji's burned hand and placed Kouri's tiny hand in it. Kouri gripped one of her brother's fingers tightly, refusing to let him go, just as Izumi had refused to on the beach. Kouri yawned and Izumi laid her back down on Kouji's body. There the child slept, seemingly unaware of the tragic tale of her older brothers: one had been slain, and the other was the murderer. Izumi sat there on the bed, watching Kouri breathe. An hour passed, and she was still in there, frozen in time like Kouji. Her parents were outside, calling for her. She stood up, not ready to leave; not prepared to stay. Afraid to live; unwilling to die. Nothing made sense anymore.
She meant to reach down to pick up Kouri, but Izumi soon found herself kissing Kouji's lips. Tears streamed down her face as she picked up Kouri and whispered, "I'm so sorry." It was the only farewell she could give him. He had always been there for her. She loved that part about him. But she hated how his devotion to their friendship had ended. Finally, she left, handing the sleeping baby over to Satomi, and returning to her old life. No, it would never be her old life. It was her harsh future, a new life without the same shining light in the distance. Outside, a light snow began to fall, coating everything in whiteness, covering the blood. But to Izumi, it was as though the sky was falling.
Half an hour later, Tomoko was still there. She sat in the living room with her ex and Satomi, all three of them overwhelmed by it all.
"I can't believe Kouichi would do something like this," Tomoko denied. "What could possess him to murder Kouji?"
Kouri interrupted their thoughts with a loud cry. Something had clearly startled her out of her sleep. Satomi got off the couch and headed into her room, taking her daughter out of the basinet.
There is more than one way to take advantage of a person. A very common example is to assume that a person will always be there, that there will be a tomorrow. That is what we all do, everyday of our lives. Just listen to what we say and do. How many times have we parted with a person by saying, "See you later" or any other departure phrase similar to that? We only pretend that there will be a "later" because we don't want to admit to ourselves that "later" may never come, and we may never see each other again. That was also the assumption of all those close to Kouji, including his family. It had only been a few hours ago when Satomi asked him to calm Kouri. And now the task of easing the baby's cries was up to the survivors.
"Shh," Satomi soothed, gently rocking the baby. "Shh." By chance, she glanced out the window to see Kouichi, dressed in his new attire, heading toward the house. Seconds later, taking Kouri, Satomi joined her husband and Akiko outside the front door.
"Nice to see you've all come to greet me," Kouichi commented sarcastically.
"Don't you think you've caused this family enough heartache?" his father demanded. "I cannot believe you are my son."
"Believe it or don't. It makes no difference."
As the argument downstairs became more and more heated, Kouji opened his eyes. Surprised to see that he was in his bed at home and not facedown in the beach sand, he sat up quickly. Every part of his body screamed in resistance. His heart jumped, skipping several beats. He felt his breathing weaken even more, and he forced himself to breathe at an even rate. When he finally felt he could breath involuntarily, he looked at the photos in his right hand, wondering who had put them there. He placed them in the pocket of his jacket, finding that his hands were very sore. For a moment, he stared at his burned, blistered hands, spurring forth memories of the fight. He touched his neck with the back of his right index finger, tracing the burn there as well. Finally, he carefully and painfully forced himself out of bed. He found his digivice lying on his desk in place of his cell phone. Knowing this had something to do with Kouichi's attack on him, he pocketed it and walked to the door.
It was the realization that someone was walking down the stairs that silenced everyone. There was no arguing, no crying, no barking—silence once more. The injured Warrior of Light stepped out to an audience of shocked faces. He was barely able to walk and had no coordination to speak of. But he was alive.
The dog came over to Kouji immediately, allowing the boy to use him for support in order to walk over to the rest of the family.
"How did you survive?" Kouichi growled. Kouji provided no answer. "How did you survive?" Kouichi took his weighted whip and lashed at his brother. Kouji lifted his left arm in defense and felt the painful consequence. He winced a little bit and immediately grabbed his forearm, as though to immobilize it. But even though he had to be in extreme pain, he stared back at his brother in sheer defiance.
Furious, Kouichi snapped his fingers, summoning forth from the Digital World eight Digimon, all under his power: a Valkyrimon who held her sword against Kousei's throat, a Renamon who took Kouri from Satomi, a Rosemon who detained Satomi, a AeroV-dramon who kept Tomoko still, and a Palmon, Guilmon, and Agumon that restrained Kouji. The Palmon used her vine-like claws to keep Kouji's nearly useless legs from moving, and the Guilmon and Agumon held his arms, occasionally scratching him through his jacket with their long, sharp claws. Kouji had his D-scanner out and ready, but it fell to the floor just before he was grabbed. Somehow through all of this, they'd managed to forget the dog, who was now barking loudly for the release of his masters.
"Run, quick!" Kouji ordered in a voice weak from his near-death experience. "Find the others!" The dog obeyed reluctantly and headed off in the direction the other Chosen had left in.
"Renamon, restrain Kouji!" Kouichi shouted, handing her the dropped digivice. The tall Child returned Kouri to Satomi and grabbed Kouji's head in a lock: one arm around his neck, the other (holding his D-scanner) around his head. Kouichi began beating Kouji there—in front of everyone. The younger twin coughed up blood from the forceful beatings, and went limp after facing a full ten minutes of abuse. When his head fell forward, Renamon yanked him back by his hair.
"Four Child levels," Kouichi replied as if disappointed. "I thought you'd be able to fend off a Perfect at least, but it appears you're even weaker than I imagined. Agumon, Guilmon, torch the place!"
"Baby Flame!"
"Fire Ball!"
The house went up in flames, illuminating Kouji's face once more. He was straining to breathe and probably dying, but he was still resisting Kouichi. Angered beyond reasoning, the older twin lifted his whip and struck Kouji across the face, knocking him to the brink of unconsciousness.
"Tomorrow morning you can all search for whatever survives this fire," Kouichi declared.
At first, Kouji was positive he was hallucinating because it was too strange to be true: Kouichi created a gigantic hovering fortress from black DigiCode. This base was the same as the one used by Ken, but with a few modifications. This one had more cellblocks than its predecessor, as well as guard barracks, and a study for Kouichi to replace the control room Ken hid in. Few cells were for single prisoners; an entire family could fit in several of them. But Kouji knew the stronghold was real when the four Digimon pushed and pulled him inside until he reached Cell 24 on Cellblock 18. They literally threw him in, where the right side of his face was pressed against the cold stone floor. The interior was damp, and colder than any winter he'd ever faced. His entire body ached, making his shallow breaths even more painful. Unable to fight, he closed his eyes, wondering if he'd ever wake up…
The pounding in the back of his head was the first thing that brought Kouji out of his memories. The second was Izumi's voice:
"Kouji, are you okay?"
He opened his eyes, but at first he wasn't sure if he had. Temporary blindness had taken him, making it impossible for him to distinguish the room from the inside of his eyelids. Eventually his vision cleared, allowing him to focus on Izumi's face. She bent down and hugged him. He just managed to place his left arm around her. He had no sense of coordination. His only clue to his position was his sight—he was lying on something raised about a foot or two above the floor. He tried shifting his position, but he'd entirely lost the ability to move.
"Keep that ice pack on the back of your head," Dr. Matsumoto instructed. "Don't try to move too much."
"It's not like I can anyway," Kouji replied, his voice tired and cracked.
"I'd like to run a diagnostic on you one of these nights to see just how far the Kaiser's reach is," Dr. Matsumoto informed.
Kouji's eyes widened in terror as the color drained from his face. "He was in me. What did he make me do?" He forced himself to break the embrace with Izumi. She sat up and helped him move his left hand to a square-shaped piece of cotton that had been taped to his neck.
"He held you hostage," she explained.
"The switchblade," he remembered. "I didn't try anything else with it, did I?"
"No."
"He had me attack you. That's how we ended up against the wall…"
"Kouji, you're fine now," Izumi assured.
"How can you know? How can anyone know? If he got in that easily, what's going to stop him from getting in again?"
"The best thing for you to do right now is to go home and get some rest," Dr. Matsumoto advised.
He and Izumi helped Kouji to his feet, but the Legendary Warrior of Light was determined to walk on his own all the way back to the SUV. Stubborn as he was, Kouji wasn't foolish—he kept his head covered with the ice pack. His face still held the terror of the knowledge that even for a brief time, he'd been the monster. Izumi wished never to see that fear in him again.
Izumi's sleep that night was far from peaceful. Fortunately for her and Kouji, no one else was awake when they arrived home, so no questions had to be answered. Kouji had escorted her to her room, unable to hide the fear and shock of what had happened. In the end, it had taken Izumi an hour to finally close her eyes and fall asleep.
Small hands shook her awake.
"Kouri, let her sleep," Satomi could be heard saying.
"'Zumi?" Kouri asked, carefully shaking until the older girl opened her eyes.
"I'm sorry she woke you, Izumi," Satomi whispered.
"What happened?"
"Kouri had an accident. I've just gotten her cleaned and changed. Can you take her downstairs while I wash her futon, sheets, and everything?"
"Sure. What time is it anyway?"
"Just after three. Too early to wake up."
"Come on, Kouri. Let's go downstairs." She took the three-year-old's hand and guided her downstairs.
"'Zumi, I'm thirsty," Kouri informed.
"Okay, we'll go into the kitchen. But after you have a glass of water, you'll have to go to the bathroom. I don't want you having any more accidents."
Kouji was sitting at the table when they entered, and a glass of water had been set in front of one of the chairs. He'd removed the cotton bandage from his neck, revealing two long but non-threatening cuts.
"I just kind of knew you were up," he explained. "I think my thoughts and Kouri's are overlapping."
"You don't think Kouichi or the Kaiser can contact her?" Izumi questioned.
"No. Kouri's sense comes more from knowing me," Kouji explained.
"I don't know Kouichi at all," Kouri added, finishing almost word-for-word exactly what Kouji was about to say. She sounded incredibly grown-up at that point, so much that Izumi and Kouji stared at her in surprise. "Kouji, why does Kouichi want to hurt you? Is it something I did?"
"No," Izumi replied.
"Why would you think that?" Kouji asked.
"All the bad stuff happened when I was a baby."
"Kouri, listen," Izumi reasoned. "Nothing that happened is your fault."
"And it isn't Kouichi that's doing it," Kouji added. "It's the Kaiser. He's a different person, but at the same time he's Kouichi. It's kind of like when Izumi and I evolve. We're Digimon then, but we're still the same people you know." Kouri sniffed a little bit and nodded.
"Are your bad dreams going to stop?" She still sounded kind of like an adult, but it was more obvious that she was still a little girl, a baby, who needed protection from this harsh world.
"I don't know yet. But I won't let the Kaiser get me. There's a doctor who's going to try and help stop the Kaiser from giving me these bad dreams. If you want, you can come with me to see this doctor, and make sure I'll be okay." He looked at Izumi. "How about we visit the settlement on the mountain tomorrow?"
"Yeah," she agreed. "There are little boys and girls your age there, Kouri. Would you like to see them?"
She nodded. "Are they nice?"
"They should be," Kouji answered. "They all came from the Kaiser's base, like we did. I think that's also where Sakiko, Koemon, and Kotemon live."
"Yeah," Izumi remembered. "And they only come when something big happens like tonight, so it would be nice to see them again."
"They've known you since you were a baby," Kouji explained. "They got us out of the base."
Kouri nodded in understanding. She'd never known exactly why these people were so important to her brother and Izumi. "Kouji, 'Zumi, could you tell me a story from the Digital World. From before Kouji's hands got burned?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Izumi decided. "But back to bed after this."
"Any requests?" Kouji checked.
"When Kouichi got his Spirits," she decided after a thought. "I like that one."
"Kouichi was very sorry for what he did as Duskmon, and he didn't know if we could forgive him," Izumi began.
"But Patamon told him he was important to the team, and that helped him change his mind," Kouji continued.
They continued that story for about an hour, until Kouri finally fell asleep. Kouji carried her back to the girls' dorm. He placed her on the floor (as her futon wasn't dry yet) and kissed Izumi goodnight.
"Sweet dreams," Izumi wished as he walked out the door. "And I mean it." He smiled a bit and left.
-------
Kouri sang a sweet little child's songas she, Izumi, and Kouji made their way up the mountain path leading to the Mt. Fuji settlement.
"Who taught you that?" Kouji questioned.
"'Zumi."
"I learned it years ago," Izumi explained once Kouji looked at her. "I can't remember it all, but I know that's how part of the chorus goes: 'Let's open the doors to the summer because someone is definitely waiting there.'"
Kouji nodded in comprehension before walking past a mound of dirt encircled with white rocks and unlit blue candles.
"I've been wondering what that thing is forever," he commented. "No one's changed it for the past three years. What is it? Some kind of flowerbed or something?"
Izumi looked at him for a second, and then turned her attention to the dirt mound. In reality, it had been a mock grave from when they'd thought Kouji was dead.
The funeral had been more symbolic than anything as they'd thought Kouji's body had been incinerated in the fire that had consumed his home. Three strangers also stood there, remaining silent, almost as though they too had known the person they had been remembering that day. It had been a somber ceremony, prompting tears from every one of the Chosen. Seeing that everyone else was too choked up to speak, Kage stepped forward:
"I know that I've never met the person we are here to mourn today. I don't even know his name. But I do know that he left a deep impression on everyone who did know him, and even on those who didn't. Wherever you are, whoever you are, I hope you know that there are those here who loved you. They miss you, and they won't forget anything about you."
"Well?" Kouji prompted. Izumi averted her gaze from the grave to her boyfriend once more.
"I don't have a clue," she finally said. "Your guess is as good as mine." She took a glance down the mountain, seeing the town below. "I can't believe that we were here three years ago, and that town was Imperial territory. So much has changed. It's like a light has replaced the darkness." It was true: In her heart, Kouji had replaced Kouichi. She closed her eyes for a moment, forgetting the past and future, and losing herself in the beauty of the present. "Come on. We still have a little more to go."
The remainder of the hike was uneventful, well that is until they finally did reach the settlement, where Himi and Gabumon dashed past them at full speed.
"What's going on?" Kouji asked.
"Nothing," Himi explained. "Takamoto needed to talk to us."
"If you're looking for Sakiko, she's in the daycare center," Gabumon informed.
"Thanks!" Izumi called back.
The daycare center was teaming with kids five years old and younger. Everyone older than that was catching up on homework in the school zones of the settlement. Sakiko, Kotemon, and Koemon were in charge of babysitting this time around.
"Kouji, Izumi, Kouri," Koemon greeted. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Kouri needed a change in environment," Kouji explained simply.
Unlike her two older half-brothers, Kouri was far from antisocial. In fact, she didn't even seem to know the meaning of the word "shy." She walked directly up to a group of three-to-five-year-olds who appeared to be acting out episodes of Sentai and asked, "What are you playing?"
"Chosen Children," answered a five-year-old boy with dark greenish hair and amber eyes.
"Can I play?"
"Sure," he replied. "You be Hikari. I'm Hiroshi, and I'm playing Ken." He then pointed to a pink-haired three-year-old girl with scarlet eyes. "That's Yukiko. She's playing Iori." He then pointed to a redheaded five-year-old with bright green eyes. "Riku is that girl, and she's playing Miyako." Suddenly he called over to a four-year-old girl with purplish black hair and violet eyes. "Good news! You don't have to play Hikari! You can be Daisuke like you wanted!"
"Hai!" the girl cried in happiness.
"She's Achika," Hiroshi introduced. "She's playing Daisuke now." Next was a four-year-old boy with turquoise hair and mossy jade eyes. "That's Jeimi and he's playing Takeru." Finally there was a five-year-old boy with platinum blond hair and silver eyes. "And Kyo over there is playing the Kaiser. Who are you?"
"I'm Kouri Minamoto," she introduced. Izumi, Kouji, Kotemon, Sakiko, and Koemon watched intently, waiting for the negative or positive reactions that usually came with the surnames "Minamoto" or "Kimura." But there was none. Hiroshi just shrugged the name off and brought her over to the other children.
"Guys, this is Kouri and she's our Hikari!"
Kouji let out the breath he'd unconsciously been holding.
"That was too close," Kotemon decided.
"You said it," Koemon agreed.
"It's too bad that your name draws so much attention," Izumi commented.
"I'd turn it all around if I could," Kouji replied. "I'm just fighting the same war everyone else is. I'm sick of getting special treatment, be it good or bad. I'm just the same as everyone else."
"Maybe not 'just the same,'" Sakiko corrected. "There aren't that many people in the world with Spirits, not even mentioning the supposedly stolen Spirits of Light. Add that to the common knowledge that the Kaiser has the Spirits of Darkness, and everyone expects you to win."
"I hope it's only with the Resistance in Japan," Kouji hoped, watching the kids play. "I hate how my family is always threatened to have me fight."
"At least the kids don't seem to know," Izumi observed. "Even though they're in the middle of a war, they're playing like a bunch of normal kids."
"Not really," Sakiko explained. "Remember when Kage called you all together before that fire in the forest? He later told the rest of us what was on those papers in case we needed to know. We know the names of the other Chosen. And we told these kids when they wanted heroes to look up to. I mean, we've known Superman, God only knows how many heroes from Gundam, the many Rangers of Sentai, and whatever action film stars we ever saw. But these kids had no heroes, and you were all trying to keep from being known. We had to give them someone to look up to, without compromising your mission. Ever since then, they've been re-enacting the final battle with the original Kaiser." They all turned their attention to the kids, who were already beginning the battle.
"You think you can beat me?" Kyo questioned. "I'm the Kaiser! I rule you all!" His performance was so convincing that Kouji felt a chill in the room accompanying memories of his five months as a slave.
"You can't win!" Achika denied, holding what appeared to be a cell phone.
"Achika, does your mom know you have her cell?" Sakiko checked.
"Hai!" she answered. "The battery's dead."
"Okay."
"You can't win!" Achika recovered, triumphantly holding her mother's cell phone. "Spirit Evolution!" She paused, unsure of what to say.
"Takuya becomes Agnimon," Kouji informed from the sidelines. "He probably wouldn't mind if Daisuke borrowed that evolution."
"Arigatou!" Achika thanked. "Spirit Evolution! Agnimon!"
"Combining two legends into one," Izumi noticed.
"Just imagine what would happen if those other Chosen came here," Kouji commented. "It would be even more chaotic."
"I'm glad you did that," Sakiko commented. "They really can't understand that the Chosen in the other world had Digimon partners. To them, having a Digimon as a partner is nothing special: Koemon, Kotemon, and I are a team; Himi and Gabumon are partners… And then there's Hiroshi over there. He and the others don't understand that Ken and the Kaiser were…"
"The same person, only two different people at the same time," Kouji finished. "We were just explaining that to Kouri last night."
"We have to evolve too!" Yukiko realized.
"Nothing you can do can beat me!" Kyo declared.
"You're right, Iori," Hiroshi decided. "Daisuke can't do this on his own."
"Hikari, Takeru, are you ready?" Riku checked.
"Yeah, Miyako," Jeimi replied. "Let's do it!"
"Spirit Evolution!" the other five kids yelled.
"Fairymon!" Kouri cried, but the others stood there. "What's wrong?"
"We don't know the other Digimon," Yukiko admitted.
"Tomoki becomes Chakmon, so Yukiko can do that," Kouri decided. "Junpei goes to Blitzmon—I guess it's okay if Riku did that. Um…"
"What's the matter?" Riku asked. Kouri stole a quick glance at Kouji, who nodded with the message "It's okay."
"Kouji becomes Wolfmon, so Jeimi can use that, and Hiroshi can use Kouichi's—Löwemon," she finished. "'Zumi, what are the attacks?" While Izumi went over the attacks, Kotemon turned to Kouji.
"What was wrong with Kouri last night?" he checked.
"Her weird sixth sense again. She knew that Kouichi was contacting me last night…"
"Hold it!" Sakiko interrupted. "Kouichi was contacting you?"
"That's not what I'm talking about," Kouji rebounded. "Kouri thought that Kouichi's actions were her fault. Izumi and I had to explain that Kouichi and the Kaiser were different people, yet one and the same." He shoved his fist into a table. "I hate how torn apart everyone is."
"We hear about war all the time," Izumi reasoned. "But it's always the events that took place, never the people who were in it. This is what we all felt when we thought you were gone, Kouji. The worst casualties of war are always the survivors. There were days when we were jealous of you, thinking you were dead and able to escape the horrors we lived through. I hate saying it, but some people hated you to the extreme: cursing at you, blaming you for every little thing that went wrong, wishing you had died sooner… The four of us stood up for you every time, causing fights and total discord among the Fuji Resistance. But even we sometimes lost ourselves in it. We would either start letting ourselves be consumed by anger and sorrow, or we would just give into their words in an attempt to forget the terrible things that happened. There were days when it seemed like we were the only ones who cared about you—just us, Kage, Takamoto, and Miyagami. But it wasn't true. There were others, especially when…"
"When what?" Kouji questioned.
"Never mind," Izumi replied, trying her hardest not to reveal the funeral. "Let's just say that if Kage hadn't drawn a line in the sand and if Takamoto hadn't shot you, someone else would have. And the bullet wouldn't have hit your knee." Silence suddenly befell the five, alerting them to the game.
"Burning Salamander!" Achika cried.
"Endlich Meteor!" Hiroshi added.
"Lightning Blitz!" Riku attacked.
"Kachikachi Kochin!" Yukiko yelled.
"Licht Kugel!" Jeimi shouted.
"Brezza…" Kouri started, holding her hands out, but she paused. She soon found herself staring at Kyo. The boy, although acting, looked badly hurt from the play attacks.
"Kouri, what's wrong?" Riku asked, or was it Achika? Kouri wasn't sure. Her attention was solely on Kyo.
Somewhere in the depths of her memories lay impressions of events in her infancy. Images created from the stories Kouji had told her erupted in her mind, showering her with vivid details of the five months: Kouji's exhaustion as he came back to the cell every night, the despair he tried desperately to hide from them, the torture that always happened behind that cloak of shadows, and a song… A song that Kouji hadn't performed in a long time. Returning to her role of Hikari Yagami, Kouri walked up to Kyo, the Kaiser, her small hand outstretched.
"Kaiser, it's over," she stated, helping him get to his feet.
"Hikari, I don't get it," Hiroshi confessed.
"He and the Kaiser are two different people, but one person at the same time, like when the Chosen evolve. All we're doing is hurting him, not the Kaiser."
"Then how do we stop the Kaiser?" Jeimi questioned. Kouri looked at Kouji, who tossed her his D-scanner.
"Like this," Kouri demonstrated, pressing a button on the side that ignited a tiny flame from the top, ready to scan. She waved the scanning flame across Kyo's body. "DigiCode Scan!" She stood there for a moment before releasing the button. "The Kaiser is gone." The entire daycare burst into applause, causing her to beam with pride. She'd done it—she'd won the war.
But is it really that simple? Kouji wondered. His half-sister fought with kindness and friendship, using her love, knowledge, and hope to give herself courage. Her purity and sincerity allowed her to see that there was no need for fighting anymore. And she'd won be combining all those traits with the Light. Was that the way to win?
-------
Kouri sang her songhappily as they made their way down the mountain paths. Izumi sang along with her while Kouji distractedly whistled the tune. His mind was still focused on the game.
Is that the way to save Kouichi? he wondered.
"Kouji?" Kouri asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Can we come back again?" she questioned.
"Of course," he assured.
"Maybe we could try tomorrow," Izumi suggested, but she was soon shushed by the sound of two people arguing:
"What do you mean you'll get that much? I'm the one that found this place!"
"Yeah, but who lugged all this around? It doesn't matter how much he's paying us—he needs to do his fair share."
"Eh, quit complaining."
"Who is it?" Kouri asked, joining her brother and Izumi, who were leaning over the edge of the mountain to see who their intruders were.
"You know them?" Izumi checked.
"Yeah," Kouji replied. "The first one to complain was Shiro Arakawa. The other is Katsuhito Suzuki."
"I take it they're not friends of yours?" Izumi guessed.
"Idiots."
"You think they're trouble?"
"I know they are. Spirit Evolution! Wolfmon!" He jumped off the ledge, catching the two students by surprise.
"Stay here, Kouri," Izumi warned. "Spirit Evolution! Fairymon!" She flew down, cutting off the escape route.
Meanwhile, a large hand clamped over Kouri's mouth and pulled the small girl away from sight.
"Both Wolfmon and Fairymon!" Katsuhito recognized.
"The Kaiser doesn't want Fairymon," Shiro reminded. "The reward is for Wolfmon—dead or alive."
"So, you're working for the Kaiser," Fairymon observed.
"Not really," Katsuhito answered.
"We're just collecting the bounty," Shiro answered. He suddenly sprung a net on Wolfmon, releasing an electromagnetic impulse that temporarily revealed his human form. "Well what do you know? Look who that Kouji guy turned out to be."
"Look who turned his back on a battle," Wolfmon replied. Shiro turned to see Katsuhito knocked unconscious by a low-strength Tornado Gamba. But he in turn made the same fatal error by leaving his back turned to Wolfmon, who quickly cut through the net and used a martial arts maneuver to subdue the overly cocky Shiro.
"They're all yours," Wolfmon informed, breathing heavily from the net experience.
"Thank you," Fairymon replied. "DigiCode Scan!"
Two bands of the dark data entered her D-scanner and neutralized. She then approached Wolfmon, who was still in pain.
"Are you okay?" she checked.
"Yeah," he answered. "The magnetism in that net messed with my data a little bit." He took a deep breath and seemed to recover more quickly. "Let's get back to Kouri."
They made their way back up to Kouri, only to find a terrifying sight. A young Imperial soldier held her tightly with a gun pressed against her left temple. And the soldier was the track runner Kouji had replaced the day before!
"Kouji Minamoto, I presume," the soldier observed with a mock politeness that made Wolfmon's blood run cold. "And she must be Izumi Orimoto."
"What do you want?" Wolfmon demanded, any strength in his voice overshadowed by fear.
"For you to end your crusade against our empire," the soldier answered. "Now devolve! Both of you!"
Without a second thought, the two returned to their human forms, arousing an evil smirk from the soldier.
"So that's who you are," he realized. "How ironic: Masaki Nishigawa takes my run, and I take his sister." Kouji stared in shock. "How did I know? The Kaiser always informs his Guard of his family—and that includes you."
"Then kill me," Kouji said. Izumi and Kouri stared at him in horror. "You know as well as I do that I'm the one he really wants. He has my corpse lying on the floor of his base, you get a promotion or something."
"You have a point," the soldier agreed. "Come over here, and I'll let her go."
"No," Kouji argued.
"You're in no position to disagree."
"I know that. And I'm not disagreeing. But she and I should walk over at the same time. That way, neither of us has a chance to double cross the other."
"Kouji, you do have your gun or some kind of weapon?" Izumi checked pleadingly.
"No," he replied. "I'm afraid this time I don't have an idea to get out of this." He kissed her goodbye and began walking over. On the other side, the soldier roughly shoved Kouri, causing her to fall. She got up and silently began walking.
Halfway through, they passed, but Kouri turned around and grabbed her brother by the leg. The soldier pulled out his gun, but one glare from Kouji got him to put it away.
"Don't, Kouji!" Kouri begged. "I don't want you to die!"
"I don't want to die, but I don't want you to either, okay?" he reasoned. He hugged her and resumed walking.
Finally, they each reached the other side. Kouji turned, the gun placed against his left temple. The gun barrel was cold against his head, but it was no match to the cold fear that had gripped him upon seeing his sister's capture.
"You can both go now," the soldier informed. "I have what I want." Kouri tried to break free, but Izumi tightly held her shoulders.
"Go," Kouji instructed. Izumi had watched him die once; he didn't want her to suffer that same pain again. Once they were far out of sight, he turned his head to the right as much as possible. "No one's controlling you, are they? You're just wearing gray contacts like I did."
"Shut up," the soldier—or rather, mercenary—ordered. "Be thankful that you won't have to face your brother alive. I'm giving you the privilege of dying before he gets a hold of you."
"And I'm sure the money is no reason for your kindness," Kouji commented sarcastically.
"So those two idiots told you," the soldier surmised.
"You hired them to track me down," Kouji observed, "promising them a share of the profit. Am I right?"
"Right on target," the soldier answered. "But it won't matter much longer." Kouji closed his eyes and waited calmly for the inevitable.
Izumi and Kouri began making their way down the mountain when they heard the loud explosion of a gunshot. Kouri tore away from Izumi and began running back toward the origin of the shot. Izumi tearfully followed her, both girls afraid of what they would find.
Kouji fell forward, trapped by the soldier's dead body. He pulled himself free and stood up to see Sakiko holding a smoking gun.
"That's two you owe me now," she declared. "I can't keep shooting all the people who want to kill you."
"There are two people down there," he informed, his voice shaky from the shock of what had just happened. "Their DigiCode's been scanned."
"All right," Sakiko replied. "I'll call for someone to help pick them up." Kouji nodded and began walking down the path, where Izumi and Kouri ran up to him and hugged him tightly.
"The gunshot…" Izumi began.
"Sakiko. She managed to shoot the guy before he could do the same to me."
Kouri couldn't say anything. All she could do was cry.
That night, Kouji reviewed the entire fiasco in his mind. His subconscious was tainted with nightmares of what could have gone wrong. But the most disturbing possibility was the soldier shooting Kouri when she'd grabbed Kouji's leg. Upon seeing that vision, he quickly opened his eyes and sharply took in a breath. The dog was standing over him, whimpering softly.
Can everyone in this house sense when something's wrong with me? Kouji wondered, getting up carefully. He walked across the hall to the girls' dorm, following a silent call. Inside, Kouri was crying after suffering from a similar dream. Izumi was sitting next to her, trying to comfort her.
"Get ready," he whispered to Izumi. "I'm going to take that test. And I think I need both of you there."
Izumi kissed him quickly. "See you downstairs."
"Come on," he coaxed, taking Kouri's hand. They sat down at the foot of the stairs, Kouri still sniffing from her tears.
"Kouji, you think we can save Kouichi like in the game?"
"Huh?"
"The way I saved Kyo. Can we save Kouichi the same way?"
"I wish I knew. But we're going to try all we can to get him back."
Hai: yes
Arigatou: thank you
I know that Valkyrimon is the next evolution of Sylphimon (whose gender is probably male), but in Norse mythology, Valkyries are women. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Sentai is the Japanese show that evolved into Power Rangers in America. The line about the sky falling came from Andromeda, where Tyr got dumped, and began walking away from his old girlfriend while meteors continued to hit the planet's surface. They'd been falling the whole time, but it was only when he was crushed that he noticed it, so he said, "The sky is falling." Kouri's sixth sense is out of A Wrinkle in Time. But also, you could compare her to Charles in Arm of the Starfish, who only cries when something terrible is about to happen. But for the most part, she is based on Charles Wallace in a way. Shiro and Katsuhito are based off of Kazu and Kenta from Tamers, or Toji and Kensuke from Evangelion if you think about it. And the soldier was based on P.K.'s old nemesis in The Power of One. The idea of the net came from this simple equation: magnets mess with data. So I figured electromagnetic pulses could cause a "D-Reaper" effect on Digimon in the Real World. Also, Riku is not from Kingdom Hearts, just to let you know. She's actually named for a character in D.N. Angel.