7

Hikari stifled a yawn as she stretched out along the back seat of the cab.  She could never sleep on trains, and it had been a long ride from Okuchi.  Her emotions were too conflicted to get much real rest, anyway.  On the one hand, she was angry at Tai for leaving without telling anyone where he was going.  On the other, she was worried, and wanted to know he was okay.  So she had come to Tokyo, to Matt and Takeru's home.  She would never admit it, but she missed T.K. more than any of her other friends from the digiworld.  Mostly, though, Kari was there because if anyone knew where Tai was, it would be Matt.

Then T.K. answered the door, he didn't say anything for a moment, and there was an evaluating silence.  Kari saw how T.K. had come into his own, and was no longer Matt's little brother.  It was something no one else would have seen, a very small change in his eyes, which flashed with a new light.  It was a hungry glimmer, possessive – and then it was gone, so quickly she wondered if she had seen it at all.

"Tai left," Kari stated simply.

"Matt too, and Sora.  They must be together."  T.K. paused, then finally, "Do you want to come in?"

In the front room, Kari sat in a padded armchair.  T.K. stood by the window, and looked out.  He didn't want to look into Kari's eyes.  She had changed, too.  She had always been able to see what the others couldn't, sometimes.  Now, it was like she was looking into your soul every single second.  He did not want to trust her, he wanted to tell someone else.  But she was the only one left, and it was important.

"You know Izzy is gone?" he asked.

"Tai told me," She replied.  "He was afraid, but I know Izzy isn't dead."

"Not exactly," T.K. replied.

"And I didn't exactly jump off that cliff," Kari said, rolling her eyes at T.K.

T.K. smiled, and his anxiety at being around Kari start to fade.  "I know Tai's password, for his email.  I don't ever use it."

"You respect his privacy."

"His email has things I don't want to see."

"Ah."  Kari paused.  "But when he was gone, you checked it."

T.K. nodded, and handed her a printout.

TO: "Tai" (banchou@okuchi.com)

FROM: "Izzy" (otaku@tokyo.com)

SUBJECT:  musen`inshoku

Taichi-chan,

I want you to have this, for all the good it might do.  Joe and Mimi have vanished – or, more accurately, they seem to have been converted into digital data.  It was similar to our final battle in the digiworld.  I believe that I will soon disappear as well, though I do not know where to or why.

I have reason to believe that the map attached may be an alternate way for you to find us.  Actually, it's more of a hunch, but Joe and Mimi were scanned the instant I opened this file.  Good luck.

Gyoukou, and seikou

--Izumi Koushiro

T.K. and Kari looked at each other, then back at the computer.  They opened the file, which turned out to be a floor plan.  A series of corridors connected a few small rooms.  In the back, a series of rooms resembling an altar were highlighted in red.  The map was labeled "Taisekiji Complex."

T.K. played that name around the inside of his head, "Isn't Taisekiji a temple in Shizuoki?"

"Yeah, I think it is," replied Kari.  "I'll call a cab."