Okay, I hope everyone likes this chapter because the next one will be even better!

To: Azure Roze, Yum! I like cookies!

To: tabycat, Thanks for the compliment and here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

One World Away From Darkness

Chapter 11: The Devil And The Angel

Ken sat huddled against the wall, in the cool shade of the alley's overhang, with his knees drawn up to his chest and his forehead resting against them. He had never felt so miserable in his life. No matter how hard he tried, he could not forget the lack of emotion in T.K.'s expression. How could he face his friend ever again knowing that T.K. had figured everything out? It was plainly obvious that T.K. did not want to be his biology partner.

"So you ran like the coward you are," he muttered to himself. Tears filled his midnight blue eyes and the pavement swam before him. It wasn't fair. After everything he had been through, he was still being denied the friendship he wanted so badly. It just seemed so wrong. He slowly got to his feet, wiping at his long, dark eyelashes, and glanced at the building behind him. School has been out for at least twenty minutes by now. It should be safe to go to my locker. Ever since biology he had spent the rest of the day avoiding T.K., and he had not once seen his blond friend. Unfortunately his locker happened to be right between Davis's and T.K.'s. That was why he had been waiting to go there until he was sure T.K. had left. The thought of meeting up with his friend again made him feel sick to his stomache. He made his way to the school entrance, sighing loudly, when a dark shape caught his attention.

"Who's there?" He snapped, pressing his back against the school wall and gazing frantically around himself. No one answered. A dark cloud suddenly passed over the sun plunging the alley into darkness. His heart rate sped up. There, at the corner furthest from him, stood a dark black shape with angry red glowing eyes.

"You don't need him," a soft voice whispered. "We'll be your friends." The dark shape began to advance towards him, and Ken's mind exploded with panic.

"Stay away!" He shrieked, cold sweat trickling down his back between his shoulder blades.

A soft laugh escaped the creature's throat. "Join us, Ken. You know you want to," the thing whispered, reaching out an arm towards him. "Our master is waiting for you. Feel the darkness...sweet lovely darkness..."

"No!" Ken screamed, covering his ears and gasping for breath as a sob escaped his throat. His heart felt ready to burst out of his rib cage and the waves of darkness surging from the creature seemed to be reaching towards him.

"Don't be sad," the dark shape whispered, stopping about a foot from his trembling form. "You don't need him anyway."

Ken let out a whimper and shrank back against the wall. "How do you know what I'm thinking?" His voice came out as a hoarse croak filled with fear. How can they possibly know about T.K.?

The creature laughed, and though Ken could not distinguish any facial features, he was sure the thing was smiling.

"We know everything about you, Ken," it whispered, lurching forward. "We are your darkness. We are your life. Embrace us."

"No," Ken moaned, feeling horrified. The darkness was going to get him and this time there would be no escape. The thing reached out and touched him, stroking his arm. It's blazing red eyes were filled with hunger, and it's other hand reached out touching the back of his neck. Immediately a searing pain shot up his spine, and he screamed in agony. All of the strength seemed to leave his body, and he did not even have enough energy left to pull his arm away. He closed his eyes against the blinding pain, tears of defeat running in rivulets down his face. It was over. The darkness would claim him, and he was going to be lost forever. I'm never going to get the chance to tell my family and friends how much I love them. I'll never get to tell Davis what a great best friend he is. I'll never get a chance to fix things with T.K. and let him know how much his friendship means to me...

"No!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Finding a strength he did not know he had, he ripped his arm away from the dark entity. He glared at the creature with hatred and his face twisted in anger. "Not again! Not this time! I won't let you control me so leave me alone!"

Ken thought he was dead for sure, but to his surprise, the thing gave him a murderous look that promised revenge and disappeared. He blinked at the sudden sunshine emerging from behind a cloud and collapsed against the pavement in a trembling heap. He could not lie to himself anymore. It was getting worse. The darkness was returning and there was nothing he could do to stop it. This time he been lucky. Next time he might not be. "What am I going to do?" He whispered, letting the tears fall freely down his face. He sat there for a long time and his fear swirled within him like a tornado until he was sure he would go mad with terror. Who is their master?

Finally, when he felt sure he had gotten sufficient control of his emotions, he wiped his eyes and slowly stood up. He headed towards the school and managed to reach his locker without further incident. Once there, he collapsed against it in relief and held onto it's cold metal surface as if it were a lifeline. I won't become the Emperor again. They'll have to kill me first.

He sucked in a load of air, taking deep calming breaths, and a warm hand gentle touched his shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" He snapped, whirling around to deck the next black shape that caught his eye. The words died in his throat as he came face to face with T.K.'s shocked expressive blue eyes. What have I done?

"T.K.!" He gasped, clapping a hand to his mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean that! I was..." He trailed off, horrified by what he had said, and stared at the floor unable to continue.

A loud suffocating silence fell, and Ken felt his heart sink. You've really done it this time, haven't you, Ken, his thoughts shouted at him.

"It's alright," T.K. said quietly, his face growing expressionless.

Ken winced and then frowned in confusion. That's funny. He could have sworn for a moment there that T.K. had looked hurt. Yeah right. T.K. could care less what I think of him. I really am going crazy.

"What are you still doing here?" He blurted and winced again at his own words. Why can't I learn to think before saying something!

T.K. stared at him for a moment. "Basketball practice," his friend said calmly.

Of course! How could I have been so stupid? T.K. did not have a meeting at lunch today because he had practice. How could I have forgotten something like that? "Right, of course," he managed to stammer, mentally kicking himself.

An awkward silence fell. Abruptly T.K. turned to his locker and spun the dial on his lock. Ken watched him feeling uncomfortable. He wished he could disappear on the spot. At the moment, he wished that he could be anywhere but where he was right now, especially after what had happened earlier. His throat closed up and, once again, he found himself unable to look at T.K.

"Ken?"

He froze at the sound of T.K.'s muffled voice coming from inside the locker and swallowed a lump of fear.

There was a brief pause, and then T.K. said quietly, "Why is your face all puffy?"

Ken literally felt his heart stop. Stupid! He had completely forgotten that he had been crying earlier and that the effects must still show on his face.

"The heat," he said quickly, his voice coming out as a squeak.

T.K. leaned around the door of the locker and regarded him with cool blue eyes. The blond's gaze felt as if it was boring into his soul. A deep blush started to rise against his pale cheeks, and he quickly looked away. He doesn't believe me. But to his complete surprise, instead of demanding a truthful answer, T.K.'s face softened into a warm smile. "Actually," his friend said gently. "I've been looking for you."

"What?" He said stupidly. I must have heard wrong. T.K. has no reason to be looking for me.

"I was hoping to catch you before basketball practice. I figured you'd be gone if I waited until after. Luckily you're still here so it works out."

Ken felt his face heat up again. What would T.K. say if he knew that I had been avoiding him? "Really?" He asked tentatively, his voice sounding small.

"Yeah," T.K. said softly, moving closer to him. "I wanted to talk to you."

The panic inside of him started to well up again, and he took a step back. "About what?" He asked sharply.

T.K's blue gaze traveled over his face taking note of the distance Ken had put between them. Again silence fell.

"So...um...what is it?" He asked, trying to conceal his surprise and uneasiness. He was careful to soften his tone this time. The last thing I need is to give T.K. a reason to hate me!

T.K. closed his locker and leaned against it with his eyes on the floor. Is it just me or is he avoiding my eyes?

"I wanted to ask you about our biology project," T.K. said, his tone filled with hesitation.

For a moment Ken just stared at him, completely clueless as to what he was talking about, and then it hit him. T.K. was talking about the project Mr. Ono had assigned them. He had forgotten about it due to the events that had happened in the alley earlier. All of his fear and pain came rushing back in an instant. How could I have been so stupid as to forget something like our project!

"Oh that," he whispered. He could not look T.K. in the eye. Not after everything that had happened. He's probably going to say I'm not good enough to be his partner or his friend. Sudden tears stung his eyes, and he quickly turned away. "I have to go," he mumbled. "My mom's probably-"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over so we could work on our project tonight," T.K. said in a rush before he could finish his sentence.

Ken jerked his head around so fast that he was positive he heard his own neck crack. "What?" He blurted in utter disbelief. Of all the things he had been expecting T.K. to say, this definitely was not one of them. T.K. had never asked him something like this before. The words left him speechless.

He stared so long at the other boy with his mouth hanging open that T.K. started to smile.

"Since tomorrow's the weekend, I figured now would be a good time to start. You can stay at my place tonight," the blond said softly, his eyes sparkling under the lights. "That way we can get our other homework done, too."

Ken's entire body felt like it had been paralyzed. T.K. stared expectantly at him waiting for an answer.

"Sure," he said faintly. "I better go home first though. I have to get my stuff and let my parents know where I am."

"Okay, so I'll see you in about an hour then?" T.K. asked.

Ken nodded feeling dazed.

T.K. stared at him for a moment and studied his face. "Good," his friend said with a small smile. "That's what I was going to ask you earlier in biology."

Ken gave him a startled look, and T.K. raised an eyebrow. "What did you think I was going to say?" The blond murmured, watching him closely.

Ken blushed and quickly turned away with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I thought you'd like to know," T.K. said softly and put a hand on his shoulder. "See you tonight."

With a smile, T.K. turned and headed off down the hallway leaving Ken to stare after him in astonishment.