Hello, again, to my fellow Hugo Award-winning authors!
...okay, yes, so technically the award was given to AO3. But let's be honest, there are several of us who cross-post, aren't there? I know I've been doing so since October of last year. So, yeah, go us!
And now that that's out of my system, we return you to your irregularly scheduled update:
I honestly thought this chapter was going to be a tough one for me to write, to the point where I accidentally put it off a week longer than necessary because I was dreading it. But then, inspiration hit. And by that, I mean I re-watched Hurricane Touchdown and was reminded of how truly ridiculous this series can be when it's not so heavily focused on drama, world building, and character development. That movie is such an entertaining hot mess. Travel times make no sense, an American boy inexplicably keeps speaking Japanese to his mother and digimon, even when the other Chosen aren't around, and they truly went balls to the wall with Hikari's deus ex psychic powers. Also random mega evolutions JUST BECAUSE but only for like five seconds so we can have a couple of digimentals appear. Of course. And I loved every second of it.
Come to think of it...this probably explains why TRI's Movie 2 is still my favorite.
So, yeah...needless to say, I had a little extra fun with this chapter.
o
DIGIMON TRI: BALANCE
o
Daigo Nishijima sat back in his passenger-side seat, tilting his head slightly upward to get a better angle on the van's air conditioning. Behind dark sunglasses, he closed his eyes and willed his internal body temperature to lower. It didn't listen. Too many hours spend under a hot sun wearing too many layers. He reached up with one hand, loosening the tie around his neck.
As if on cue, his phone rang.
"It's like she knows," he murmured humorously to himself, though loud enough for the driver to ear. Flipping the mobile open, he straightened his posture habitually as he pressed the receiver to his ear. "Nishijima here."
To his right, the young man assigned as his driver seemed content to sit idly. They had been parked in their current location for over an hour. More than enough downtime to have picked up a small paperback which he currently seemed engrossed in. The only sounds came from an occasional turning of the page. He neither laughed nor once vocalized a single reaction, and his unwavering stoic expression betrayed very little.
"That's right. Just a few hours ago. We've already spoken to the conductor and most witnesses." Daigo tucked the mobile between his ear and shoulder, wedging it in place to free up both hands. There was a small tablet in the bag by his feet, and he turned it on to reveal a series of graphic documents. "I'm sending you...no, it was too public." Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, and the subsequent response caused him to flinch. "Look, despite what you seem to think, we don't actually have the authority to hold them until—"
This time, the response was loud enough for even the driver to hear.
"I didn't ask your level of authority. I asked you to do your damn job!"
For the first time in more in that last hour, the driver lowered his book just enough to glance warily to his left.
Daigo didn't seem nervous. Nor did he seem aggravated or even exasperated. In fact, the man looked to be holding back an amused chuckle.
"You'll be happy to hear I did just that. The report should be in front of you now." Without batting an eyelash, he returned to the tablet, swiping through a few of the pages before coming to a dual-comparison chart, using his two fingers to pinch the image and enlarge it. "Page six, in particular, is worth noting. The energy waves are nearly a perfect match once taken into account the varying degrees of energy output. That can't be a coincidence."
"No, one is a coincidence." The voice on the other end seemed to agree with him, however dully. "Two is an unlikelihood."
"And if it happens a third time?"
He tried to keep his tone casual. To most any other superior, it probably would have worked. But that voice belonged to someone who apparently knew him too well. Enough to be silenced for several seconds before daring to ask:
"Do I want to know where you are right now?"
Busted. "Probably not."
Much to the driver's surprise, there was no immediate yelling or even a reprimand. The voice simply sighed, though through the receiver, it came out as a low moan.
"Fine. Report back tonight."
"As you wish, Princess." Daigo looked incredibly pleased with himself.
"I told you not to call me—"
But any further protests were silenced as he slapped the mobile shut, abruptly ending the call. The sound of metal against metal seemed to echo throughout the cabin, and it wasn't until Daigo finally let out the chuckle he'd been holding in that the driver realized he'd been holding his breath since the moment the 'p' word had been uttered.
After all, he'd been with the organization long enough to know the rumors.
o
o
Candles were lit by restaurant servers as the last remnants of the day's sunlight faded.
Crowds thinned. The lull between a late lunch rush and prime nighttime dining left only a few tables scattered throughout the room still occupied.
The last of the batter had long since been used up. All five teapots were empty.
"And you're sure they're really missing-missing?" Mimi questioned, lightly swirling the last of her cup's contents around. A nervous habit she couldn't remember where and when she'd picked up. It helped her maintain an otherwise cool facade. "Maybe they're just out on a date."
"See, that's what I said!" Daisuke perked up, suddenly feeling vindicated in his earlier suggestion.
Iori was quick to frown, shaking his head. "It's been three days. No date lasts that long."
"Actually—" Mimi began.
She was cut off by Hikari's gentle soprano: "They're not dating."
The entirety of the group turned to look at her, and she could actually, physically sense the confusion radiating from each and every one of them. Iori and Daisuke, in particular, though her favorite reaction was the look of sudden contemplation on Takeru's face.
"Wait...they're not?" Daisuke questioned. He sounded doubtful.
"No. They're not." She shook her head, but then seemed to be holding back a smile. One that indicated she knew something the others didn't. "Well, not yet."
Now Takeru just looked intrigued.
At the head of the table, Koushiro's laptop chose that moment to cut in. It beeped in notification, signaling for the auburn-haired boy to finish executing the last of his diagnostic inputs; Mimi, in particular, couldn't help note (with no small degree of personal amusement) that he was still avoiding eye contact. He did, however, look up once to address the group as a whole, shaking his head.
"I've tried every backdoor I could think of. Any gate that hasn't already been destroyed is still closed and locked tight." He extended a hand towards Daisuke, passing back the blue and white digivice. "Not even the D3s can unlock them."
The news was not unexpected, but disappointing all the same.
Jou spared a glance downward, at the youngest of the group. He could tell Iori was taking things much harder than the others. He could also tell the boy was doing his best to suppress most of those feelings. Old habits were difficult to break, regardless of age...or, perhaps, because of them. Discreetly, he placed a hand on Iori's shoulder, and when Iori looked to him, he offered (what he hoped was) a nod of reassurance.
"But they didn't go through the gates," Daisuke chimed in, arms folded over his chest. He, too, bore a mask meant to hide how increasingly unsettled he was by all this. Jokes aside, when he'd first heard, he really had thought the fact that they'd gone missing together meant something. Now? For all they knew, this might not have anything to do with the Digital World at all. And if that option was out, he felt even more useless than he already did. "That's what you guys said, right? The sky basically burst open, and that's how Parrotmon got through. So what's to say that's what happened? Which means all we gotta do is figure out where they were at the time, and see if we can split the air back open again and go after them."
Yamato sat back in his seat. Out of context, very little of what Daisuke said made that much sense. And yet… "Could that actually work?"
"Highly unlikely." Koushiro shook his head. "Gates are controlled doorways designed to be accessed and unlocked by anyone with a digivice. But these portals...they're more like giant explosions against an otherwise impenetrable wall. It takes a huge amount of power to blast through. Like some sort of exponential burst of raw energy, most likely uncontrolled and unpredictable."
A chilling gust of air conditioning from above blew against the back of Takeru's neck. It was the most logical explanation for why he suddenly shuddered. Though, even as the sensation subsided, there was still an unease in his chest. Something he couldn't shake.
"What does Gennai say?" Taichi asked.
"Nothing." More keyboard clacks. Double-checking, just to be certain. "I've been messaging him every day. He hasn't replied to a single one."
"Typical." Yamato scoffed.
The hairs on Takeru's neck stood up. He was being watched.
On a whim, he glanced out of the corner of his eye.
Hikari was staring directly at him. While everyone else seemed more focused on the exchange between the older Chosen boys, her gaze was so intent that it actually unsettled him. That look on her face. He'd seen it before. So eerily calm, only someone who truly knew the young girl would be able to detect the hints of panic rising within.
A flicker of candlelight reflected off her eyes then, and with that slightest shift, Takeru realized his error: she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at something behind him. Something that was troubling her.
He turned his head, following her gaze all the way to the large mirror hanging on the back wall. And the reflection of two men sitting in a corner near the front, sharing a pot of tea but nothing else. Both wore dark suits and even darker sunglasses.
"You see them too." Koushiro spoke again, this time directed at the two of them.
Hikari's trance was broken, blinking twice as she was pulled back into the present moment. Her eyes really did meet with Takeru's for a split second before they turned to Koushiro, nodding with such shadowed expressions that it immediately put the rest of the group on alert.
"What?" Mimi alternated her gaze between the three. "What's going on?"
It was Koushiro who answered: "We're being followed."
"WHAT?!"
"Shh!" Half the group shushed her in unison.
"Are you sure?" Yamato discreetly glanced around the room, trying to see what they saw. "Who?"
"By the door." Taichi had picked up his cup even though it was empty, using it to conceal his lips movement as he spoke. "Two of them. Is that who you're talking about?"
Koushiro nodded. "They were watching us at the airport. I saw them not long after we met up with Mimi-san."
"And they've been watching us for the last half hour at least," Hikari added in that soft, even tone that few of them ever second-guessed.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Mimi asked again.
"I wasn't sure." Sitting back, Koushiro closed his eyes in thought. A hand rose to his chin. Brows furrowed. "It was strange, yes, but there could have been any number of explanations at the time. Maybe they were a couple of businessmen from out of region. Or a branch of private security waiting to meet someone. Except businessmen don't typically have one-on-one meetings in a restaurant like this, which tends to cater more to our demographic. And security guards typically guard more than each other. Not to mention, the way they're currently seated. From that angle, they'd have a clear view of our table while still remaining far back enough that we wouldn't be able to hear anything they're saying." It was for that reason alone he was confident enough to continue speaking, ending the explanation with a convincing nod. "No, it's the only logical explanation."
"You call being followed logical? Daisuke hissed, trying (and failing) to keep his own voice down.
"I don't like where this is going," Jou muttered.
"It's because of what happened with the digimon, isn't it." Iori stated.
Opening his eyes, Koushiro sat up and reached for the laptop again. It only took a few clicks of his mouse before he glanced up and over to where the men were still sitting, calculating the angle before he spun the laptop around. Taking care that they wouldn't be able to see what was on the screen, but the rest of the table would.
It was a newspaper article. Front page, with a sensational headline and appropriately amateurish photograph of two distorted blurs hovering above a rooftop-cluttered skyline. The very first line made a reference to the Vamdemon invasion six years prior, and subsequent appearance of a "mysterious illusion" that hovered in the sky for several hours before vanishing into the night.
"The world hasn't forgotten," Koushiro told them grimly. "I'll bet you they're from the government, keeping an eye on us in case we're hiding Digimon again."
Mimi groaned. "Please don't tell me you've turned into a conspiracy nut while I was away."
"Do you have an alternate explanation?"
She opened her mouth. Then closed it.
"What should we do, Taichi?" Sora turned to her childhood friend in question.
The rest of the table followed suit. One by one, Taichi found himself meeting the gaze of each of his friends and fellow Chosen, falling right back into his old position as Leader. Even Daisuke was looking to him. Even Yamato.
His shoulders tensed with a renewed weight of responsibility bearing down on them. He straightened in his seat, and his already impressive aura grew that much stronger. Except his eyes looked far too worn for someone his age. Battle-weary and tired. Nervous and uncertain. They gradually unfocused as his mind tried to process the situation as best as it could in so short a time.
Hikari recognized the look on her brother's face all too well. It was the same one he wore whenever his team was low on points and morale in the last quarter of a heated soccer game.
"We don't have our partners with us now." He chose his words carefully. Emphasizing what everyone already knew, but for good reason. "Without them...so far as anyone else knows, we're no different than any other group of kids."
"Oniichan." Hikari called to him softly, eyes brimming with concern. "What are you saying?"
The Chosen Leader took a single, deep breath before meeting his sister's gaze. It was easier to look at her. She would be the most understanding. "What I'm saying is that we don't have any real reason to start anything. Give them time. Play it cool. Act like nothing's wrong. They're realize it's a waste, and give up."
Yamato did an actual double-take. "Are you serious?!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He stared over at his long-time rival with an even gaze, though Yamato noted the way he briefly flicked back towards Hikari. "We do just what we tried to do when we were kids. Lay low and stay under the radar."
So no one gets hurt. Again.
To a degree, Yamato really did understand. He and Taichi had far more in common than either liked to admit, especially when it came to family. His love for and desire to protect his little brother was rivaled only by Taichi's same feelings towards his little sister. Heck, Yamato wanted to protect her too. It wasn't a stretch to claim that he often saw her as a sister as well. They all did. (Well, most of them.) She was the second youngest of the original eight, and the youngest of all the girls. And she was recently injured.
Still… "That has to be the dumbest excuse for a plan you've ever had. Wait around just in case they decide to leave us alone? On the chance they don't already know exactly who we are? Since when were you okay with being a sitting duck?"
"Aniki..." Takeru gently chastised.
Taichi's grip around the cup had tightened so much, his knuckles were white. "Then what do you suggest? Wildly swinging in hopes of scaring them off?"
"Oniichan..." Hikari echoed her best friend's sentiment and tone.
"Of course not. I say we make a break for it, here and now."
"That's your idea of a better plan? Run away?" Taichi scoffed. "To where? And how do you know they won't just follow after us?"
A pair of unexpectedly strong hands slammed down on the table, startling them both.
Everyone turned to stare at Mimi, who had shot up from her seat. Her head was bowed just enough to hide her eyes from view. Completely still, save for the subtle movement of her shoulders with every controlled breath.
When she finally lifted her head, however, she smiled a little too brightly for any of their liking: "You two just leave that part to me."
Nervous glances were exchanged around the table as she lightly hummed to herself, grabbed the purse hanging off the back of her seat, and started for the front door.
On a whim, Sora got up and followed after her. "Mimi-chan..."
"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Iori wondered.
Jou was already moving to collect his things. "We paid already, didn't we?"
A bond-chilling scream erupted from the opposite end of the room. They all recognized it instantly.
"Mimi-kun!" Jou was the first to call out to her, spinning on his heels.
"Help! Help, someone!" The young girl was standing just a few meters from the exit, Sora close at her heels. She pointed a shaky, accusing finger at the sunglasses-wearing pair, who in turn were staring back with twin looks of shock. "Stalkers! Both of you! I recognize you from before! You followed me here like a couple of...of...PERVERTS!"
Her voice projected to every corner of the room so its occupants could hear the (melodramatic) "fear" in her tone. Almost immediately, whispers and low murmurs erupted throughout the crowd. There wasn't a single pair of eyes that wasn't blatantly staring.
Utilizing the moment to her advantage, Mimi grabbed Sora's hand and bolted, calling back over her shoulder:
"RUN!"
In the proceeding chaos that followed, the rest of the group did just that.
But not all in the same direction.
o
o
Four blocks.
That was how far Taichi's feet carried him before he thought to slow down. From top speed; the sidewalks were only moderately crowded, making it all too easy for someone of his skill level to weave in an out. He continued on for another half block, not stopping until he rounded a corner onto one of the off-roads. There, he waited.
A second set of footsteps were close behind. Daisuke appeared.
Just a few seconds behind them both was Iori, breathing steady even after keeping up with their sprint.
Daisuke stared at him in surprise. "Just how much Kendo have you been doing lately?"
"Enough."
Thirty seconds would pass before Koushiro managed to catch up. His face matched the color of his hair, and he struggled to maintain the weight of his electronics-filled backpack as he doubled over. Hands pressing into his knees with every heaving gasp.
"Why does...everyone have to run...so fast..."
Taichi risked a peek back down the way they came. Five seconds passed. Ten.
No one else was coming.
He leaned against the building wall, closing his eyes and tilting his head back. His hand clenched into a tight ball at his side, and without warning, he slammed it into the bricked surface. Hard. A shooting pain ran up his arm. He could feel the sting of broken skin. He ignored both for the time being, instead shoving his now heavily scraped hand into his pocket.
"I'm going to kill her," he muttered darkly as he pulled out his mobile. His hand shook as he flipped it open and accessed the group chat feature. "What was she thinking, pulling a stunt like that? Now—"
"Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke exclaimed, and Taichi looked up from his phone to see the younger boy peering out into the main street. His eyes were wide. "Look!"
Three more individuals, all wearing identical shades and suits to the men in the restaurant, were walking down the street. One of them had a hand pressed to his ear, speaking at a volume too soft to hear. One was shaking his head as he listened in. The third was murmuring something to the second, and though most of her words were incoherent, a few stood out: "took off" … "find them" … and, more ominously, "report."
Following Taichi's nonverbal cue, the four boys proceeded to couch low, pressing their backs as far into the wall as physics would allow. Silent and still. Hoping the shadows would be enough to conceal their presence from the oncoming threat.
Iori hadn't even realized he'd started holding his breath until they walked right by, the light of one of the street lamps reflecting off their sunglasses. There and gone in a flash.
"Koushiro-senpai was right after all," he whispered. "Someone really is after us."
"Believe me, you have no idea how much I wanted to be wrong," the boy in question whispered back.
Daisuke looked to Taichi again. "What now?"
Taichi's eyes were narrowed as he watched the three figures disappear into the oncoming night. It was easy enough to tell where they were heading. Which meant that things had changed. Laying low was no longer their best option.
He turned back with renewed determination.
"There's only one way to find out exactly what's going on. We follow them."
o
o
Sora wriggled uncomfortably against the cushion-less metal chair. Twice, she resisted the urge to fidget even more before conceding a hand to check the pale yellow sun hat resting atop her head. Then the white-rimmed sunglasses hiding the upper half of her face.
"I feel ridiculous."
"I think it looks cute." Mimi grinned at her over the rim of her rose-tinted aviators. The brim of her dark blue cloche hat shielded her eyes from the bright overhead street lights. "I mean, personally, I would've gone with the gold rims for you, but white works almost as well with your current tan."
"That's not what I mean." Suppressing a groan, she lifted her head and risked taking the sunglasses off, folding them neatly before placing them down on the small table between them. "First of all, even if they were somehow still able to follow us after all that, what makes you think these disguises would fool anybody? And second...sunset was more than a half hour ago."
"The harbor lights are still pretty bright! If I didn't know it was already nighttime, I could easily still think it was day."
Sora's expression went flat. Closing her eyes, she took the time for a very long, very deep breath before turning to the remaining member of their party: "A little help, senpai?"
Jou finally put down the newspaper he'd been reading (and conveniently concealing his face with), revealing a dark grey flat cap atop his navy blue hair. He took the time to adjust his (regular prescription) glasses before speaking.
"There is a slight chance you may have overreacted, Mimi-kun."
"Slight?" Sora echoed.
"We weren't in any immediate danger." He continued on, voice oddly calm. Even soothing. A direct contrast to his usual panicky nature, something which didn't go unnoticed by either girl. "The odds they would come after us in a public place like that were pretty low. We could've had more time to come up with a plan as a group."
Nodding her agreement at everything he'd just said, Sora turned to Mimi and braced herself for the inevitable oncoming argument—
"Yeah. I know."
-which was why she was so surprised when the younger girl instead sat back in her seat and heaved an inaudible sigh. She reached up, removing her own sunglasses with a sheepish expression. She didn't put them down like Sora, instead lightly toying with one of the earpieces, twirling the thin metal between her thumb and middle finger.
"I was kinda rash, wasn't I?" Because she was so focused on the sunglasses, she missed Sora's jaw drop at the open admission. "It's just...I was watching Taichi-san and Yamato-san start to argue and Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun getting nervous. I guess I was worried that if things kept going the way they were, they'd end up fighting again. Like before. So I...I don't know...reacted."
Sora and Jou's eyebrows practically disappeared beneath their respective hats as they turned to one another, stunned into silence. Whatever they had been expecting Mimi to say, or whatever argument they might have guessed she'd use in self-dense...that was not it.
"So you made a scene...to keep them from making one?" Sora questioned.
Mimi shrugged. "Don't misunderstand. I still believe we're really being followed. Why else would that one really creepy, black van have passed us, like, four times in the last ten minutes?"
The span of a single heartbeat passed.
"WHAT?!"
The two of them turned to the adjacent street...where, sure enough, a now-familiar van was just turning right a block up from where they'd been sitting.
Sora went pale.
Jou slammed the newspaper down on the table.
In near perfect sync, they shot up from their seats, nearly knocking over the chairs in the process. Several pairs of eyes turned towards them, but they had already taken off in a sprint. Running in the direction opposite from where the van had turned.
"...see, I knew I made the right choice." Mimi allowed herself a second's preening before replacing her sunglasses and taking off after them: "Hey, wait for me!"
o
o
Hikari stood at the edge of the pier, arms resting against the wooden railing as she stared out into the horizon. Lights shining from the nearby boardwalk reflected off the water's surface, twinkling brighter than the stars just beginning to pepper the night sky. In the distance, she saw the lights of another plane take off from the airport tarmac, rising higher and higher until they disappeared behind a cloud.
It was quiet. Peaceful. Only the distant sound of nightlight could be heard over the gentle waves crashing against the wooden posts below.
She closed her eyes and breathed deep. Salty air filled her lungs.
Footsteps approached. Stopping to her immediate right. She didn't have to look to know it was Takeru. His presence was as known to her as anyone's. Warm and bright and reassuring, with that faintest glimmer of something she could never full put into words, but had long just attributed to his Crest.
"You look like you could fall asleep."
She grinned. It was impossible not to. "Almost." A breeze blew off the water, cutting into some of the humidity. It felt utterly refreshing. "It reminds me of my first time in the Digital World. When we all camped out on top of Whamon."
By then, Takeru was mirroring her expression. He also leaned over the side of the railing, looking up as nostalgia washed over him. "Sitting around the campfire. Jou-senpai trying to fish. Tailmon succeeding." He chuckled softly at the memory, and heard her doing the same. "All we need is the sounds of Niisan's harmonica, and—oh, that reminds me."
The abrupt change in topic was enough to get Hikari to open her eyes and look over at him.
"I heard you were coming to the concert next Saturday after all."
He kept his voice even and his tone casual, as if only making conversation between them. But out of the corner of his eye, Takeru watched her reaction carefully. The way she seemed confused at first. Genuinely so, as if the thought had yet to cross her mind. When realization finally did hit her, her eyes widened just long enough to let out a sheepish giggle.
"Oh! That's right. I hadn't gotten around to telling you yet." Takeru found himself relaxing internally the more she spoke, convinced it wasn't meant to be any major surprise or secret. It really was just one more topic of conversation for her. "There was a last-minute schedule change. They moved up Oniichan's soccer game to earlier that afternoon. Although...it's kind of funny…."
She trailed off for a moment, and as Takeru continued to watch her, she turned her gaze upward. Contemplative.
"He only found out Monday during school, and didn't tell me about it until after dinner. But Yamato-san had already stopped by to drop off a ticket for me. It's like he knew what I was going to decide even before I knew the choice was there."
Takeru was left both surprised and not. Of course, Taichi would no doubt have caught up with Yamato sometime during the school day. They were in the same homeroom, after all. He was pretty sure they ate lunch together. So the idea that he would have known before Hikari wasn't so far-fetched. But that his dear brother had deliberately made it sound like Hikari had been the one to ask for her ticket when they spoke on Tuesday? No doubt, knowing it would be one of the few things to earn an honest reaction out of him?
Maybe he was a bad influence on Yamato after all.
"How about I come with you, then?"
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Only when it was too late did he come to the conclusion he wouldn't have tried, anyway. Not if it meant missing out Hikari's subsequent expression. A subtle blend of disbelief, surprise, excitement, and no small amount of happiness. Maybe it was just the reflection of the boardwalk lights, but he could swear her eyes were shining.
"Really?"
It was absurdly pathetic how a single word could spark joy in him.How he could hear the purehopefulness in those two syllables, and it was enough. It wasn't as if they were short on opportunities to hang out. During lunch, with friends. After school, walking home together—well, except this week. Given they were both busy aiding their respective homerooms with last-minute Cultural Festival preparations.
"Sure. If it's possible to do both, then why not?" He turned to fully face her, tilting his head down just enough to meet her gaze directly. When he smiled again, it wasn't the usual charming grin he bore for most other members of the opposite gender. It was something much...gentler. "This way, Taichi-san gets an extra person to cheer him on...and I still get to make the person most precious to me happy."
He would forever cherish the way Hikari's expression changed before his eyes in the next few seconds. Staring back with that unreadable look of hers as his words properly sunk in. Lips parted. Eyes focused. Not a single hint of color to her cheeks, although...over the ambiance of the evening, he thought he heard her gasp softly.
That was his cue.
Smiling brighter, he threw a glance back over his shoulder: "...right, Aniki?"
Several meters from where they stood, Yamato was lounging on one of the pier's wooden benches. His eyes were closed, but at the sound of his brother's voice calling him, he peeked one eye open. And promptly grimaced.
"Don't you drag me into this. The only reason I'm even here right now is because I have no idea."
Takeru let out a good-natured chuckle, sending Hikari one last grin before moving to join his brother. She seemed to catch on quickly enough. Whatever tension that may or may not have existed melted away as she followed close behind, any continued talks of concerts and soccer games left to another time.
"Have you heard back from the others yet?" Takeru asked.
Yamato nodded, holding up his phone for the two of them to see.
"Taichi's with Koushiro, Daisuke, and Iori. Mimi-chan and Sora are with Jou-senpai. The former are still tailing another group of suits they came across, and the latter are apparently running away from some 'creepy' van...according to Mimi-chan."
That was...a lot of information for Takeru to take in. "It sounds like we were the only ones who weren't followed."
"Maybe."
Yamato rose to his feet, then stared down at the young pair in concern. He really hadn't planned to be the one to look after them both. In the heat of the moment, he'd simply gone with his instincts. Takeru's blonde hair was easy enough to spot in a crowd. Either Hikari had the same train or thought, or Takeru had chosen to stick close to her as he often did. Yamato had no way of knowing which was the case, though neither would have surprised him.
Hikari let out a sudden, sharp gasp, the sound cutting through the air like a knife. Her body went rigid.
Takeru knew at once something was wrong. "Hikari-chan?"
Her eyes had fogged over. She wasn't looking at or beyond anything this time. Which meant, it was either something she'd heard, or else…
"It's happening again."
Before the brothers had a chance to ask further, she spun on her heels and headed straight back to the edge of the pier. The winds had already begun shifting, and thought it was difficult to tell in the dark, the clouds above had shifted as well. The water began to swirl. And bubble. A light appeared from deep below. Dim, at first, gradually brightening until—
Megadramon broke through the waters of Tokyo bay.
In the distance, closer to the boardwalk, there were screams of horror. Frantic shouts. People began to scatter.
Hikari's breath caught in her throat as she stared up at the magnificent beast. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her skin tingled. She wasn't afraid of it. She was afraid for it; even before the first visible signs appeared, she knew Megadramon was in pain. Whatever had attacked Parrotmon's heart was going after its heart as well.
One of its claws flickered pink.
Her knees felt weak.
The digimon threw his head back and let out a fearsome roar. It echoed into the night. A cry of pain. There was nothing about its movements that didn't scream desperation. Wriggling this way and that. Turning and twisting and doing everything to shake the mysterious distortion. Its massive tail swing wildly, hitting the water at full force.
The result was a massive wave heading straight for the pier...and the three teens still standing on it.
"Hikari-chan!"
Reacting on pure instinct, Takeru pulled the girl close to him, crouching them both as low as possible while using his body to shield her.
"Takeru!" Yamato, in turn, threw his body over them both.
The water hit less than a second later, crashing down with an unforgivable weight.
Yamato held his breath until he thought his lungs would burst, clinging tightly to his brother until longer after he was convinced the danger was over. Exhaling sharply, he collapsed into a slumped seated position, swallowing a lump in his throat as he took the time to catch his breath. His vision was too blurry to make out much of anything, even after he wiped his face with his hand.
"Takeru? Hikari?"
There was a bit of coughing from Takeru, but not much. "I'm okay, Aniki."
Hikari didn't answer.
Takeru felt his heart speed up, utilizing all his willpower not to crush the fragile girl in his hold as his body tensed. He looked down. Her shoulders were moving. She was breathing. Somewhat. Faint gasps emitted from beneath a curtain of wet, brown locks. Her hair clip was lost to the waters.
His fingers moved of their own accord, reaching up to brush back her bangs, tucking them behind her ear with the gentlest of motions. She glanced up at him, and their eyes met.
"You okay?" He asked her softly.
She swallowed once, still slightly gasping, but nodded.
Only once he was certain of that did Yamato push himself to a stand, eyes narrowed with a renewed sense of resolve. And annoyance. He glared a bit unsteadily at the dragon digimon, seeing only the creature who had attacked them and nothing more. Reflexively, he reached for the digivice in his back pocket.
"Gabum..." Realizing his error almost immediately, he gritted his teeth. "Shit."
The wind picked up again. A sudden, forceful blast that blew right by him. Heading towards the water. Carrying an oddly greenish tint.
"Blazing Fire!"
Amid the backdrop of a moonless night, green flames burst forth, striking Megadramon square in the chest. The digimon recoiled back, letting out a screech as its tail slid along the water's surface. It had little time to recover before a second attack saw smaller, rapid-fire blasts driving it further and further from the shore.
"...what the?" Yamato's fists unclenched in bewilderment.
"Right behind you, Aniki!" A second gust of wind. High above their heads. This time, lavender. "Treasure Axe!"
A glimmer of something sharp reflected off the dim light, spinning faster and faster until it was no more than a blur. Megadramon was once again struck over and over until it could no longer sustain flight, crashing straight into the water, though by that point, it was far enough out that the resultant waves didn't reach the top of the pier.
Takeru felt Hikari tense, pulling back just enough so they could both rise to a stand. From there, she pulled away from him and took a step forward. The sudden lack of warmth was far more palpable than he thought it would be.
"Takeru-kun..." she whispered. "Look."
He looked.
Two shadowed figures, each only partially illuminated by the boardwalk. One green and husky in stature, wielding twin rotary canons on each arm. The other, long and lean and a pale greyish-purple color. Both vaguely resembling rabbits in their own, distinct way.
A memory flashed in his mind's eye. A pair of digimon partners. Twins.
Realization hit him. "Those digimon..."
"They're Wallace-san's," she finished for him.
"I'm flattered, Hikari-chan. You remembered me after all." A voice from their shared past called out just then. Fluent, but carrying a distinctly American accent.
Along with Yamato, Takeru and Hikari both turned to see a boy their age standing at the start of the pier. His blonde hair only a few shades darker than Takeru's, bright blue eyes shone with a surprising ease to them, considering his twin digimon partners were currently engaged in battle.
"It's good to see you again." He approached with a friendly smile that brightened a little more when he focused on the young girl in particular: "You're even cuter than the last time I saw you."