Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Seek and Destroy

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Koushirou sat in front of his laptop, brooding.

"Koushirou!" he heard his mother call out. "Could you come over here for a moment?"

He twitched visibly. The one thing he hated more than a bunch of numbskulls looking through his files was being interrupted during a virus scan. Head bowed, Koushirou rose to his feet with great reluctance and made his way to the kitchen.

Just as the door closed, the room erupted in a brilliant flash of light. Seconds later, all was normal.

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The next morning in the computer lab was stressful for Taichi. Out of frustration, he began yelling, "Izumi Koushirou, where the hell are you?"

Iori, Miyako and Hikari exchanged glances. "Something I missed?" Iori guessed.

Nodding, Hikari explained, "Just before we left, our computer broke down. Koushirou offered to print the paper and come here early. And we all know Tai's no early bird." At the comment, the three burst into muffled giggles.

Yamato just shook his head, quitting his game of solitaire on the computer. "Taichi, calm down. Koushirou won't forget it. If he does, you can always print it here in case," he reminded the boy with a motion to the computer in front of him.

There was silence. Finally, Taichi let out a laugh and slipped into a chair. "Oh, yeah!"

Rolling is eyes, Yamato muttered, "Next thing you'll know, he'll be screaming about how he didn't send it to himself."

The words were on cue.

"I DIDN'T SEND IT TO MYSELF!"

The younger Yagami sent a painful look at the frantic Taichi. The boy began to jump out of his seat and yanking on his hair. Where's Daisuke when you need him? He'd shut Taichi up...I think. "Taichi, how exactly is it that you're my brother? Check 'sent mail,'" Hikari sighed, massaging her temples.

Nervously, Taichi slumped back in his seat. He laughed nervously and mumbled, "Knew that."

The room fell into silence save for the humming of the computer and the noisy printer. Yamato glanced up at the clock. Iori, Miyako and Hikari followed his example. Under his breath, Iori began to count, "Three...two..." Before he could finish, the door burst open, revealing a panting Daisuke with a soccer ball in one arm, the other arm pushing the door aside.

"One," Miyako finished, rolling her eyes. "It's kind of strange. Takeru's late today. And so is Koushirou. If they're later than Daisuke-"

Daisuke suddenly jumped up and punched his fist in the air. "YES!" he screamed. "FINALLY! I beat Takeru at something!" He dropped the soccer ball on the ground and ran over to Hikari. "So, how about-" he started.

Hikari looked at Daisuke, a hard glare fixed on her face. Daisuke didn't seem to notice. "No, Daisuke. Besides, we've got our project to work on," she reminded him, her glare seeming to intensify at the mention of the project.

"Yeah, how could you forget?" Miyako added, suppressing a snicker. Especially considering it was at Hikari's house.

The young goggle boy opened his mouth several times. Finally, he pointed at Iori and yelled, "But he didn't come either!"

Shrugging, Iori pretended to be interested in the keyboard in front of him. Absentmindedly, he began running his fingers over the keys. He finally spoke with reluctance. "I had an excuse. You didn't," Iori told him pointedly.

"I...I-I had soccer!" insisted Daisuke, jumping back towards the door.

There was a sound of something falling. Hikari stood up to get a better look. Walking over, she helped the fallen blond onto his feet. "Morning to you, Takeru," she laughed. After helping Takeru up, Hikari turned to Daisuke, who had purposely fallen so Hikari would help him as well.

Daisuke's jaw dropped. Watching Hikari walk away, he scrambled to his feet. Throwing a glare in Takeru's direction, he muttered, "I'll get you yet."

"Hey Daisuke, you came earlier than me. Sorry for not helping out yesterday, guys. I must have overslept," Takeru laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, and I didn't bring the papers, either. I swear I left them at the printer," the boy added.

Miyako, Hikari and Yamato exchanged looks of disbelief. "Little bro, are you feeling okay...?" Yamato asked, twitching nervously.

The look on the older boy's face confused Takeru. "Um...well, I think I had a fever after coming back from school that Friday...I spent the entire day typing up my part. Then Mom called me to the kitchen for dinner because I was in my room till then. I remember being in bed the entire time after that...what? E-eh?"

Glaring at the befuddled Takeru, Daisuke pointed and accused, "You didn't come! Shame on you!" He smirked to himself, placing his hands on his hips. Now she'll like me for sure! Daisuke almost cackled aloud at the thought.

"YES! I'M FIIIIINIIIIISHED!" Taichi screamed, running over to everyone with several papers in hand. He waved them in front of Yamato. "HAHA! VICTORY!"

Suppressing a laugh, Yamato pointed to the papers. "Taichi, that's the e-mail Koushirou received from Mimi," he told the boy.

Taichi's face fell. "Oh," he muttered, gazing at the papers with disappointment. "No wonder it took so long."

"What e-mail?" Takeru asked, taking the papers from Taichi and gazing through them.

At the question, Taichi laughed. Slapping Takeru on the back, he replied, "You know, the one you helped us embarrass Koushirou with yesterday!" He continued to laugh, but both hands reached for the nearest computer so he could try again.

Puzzled, Takeru turned to Taichi. What the...? "How could I have helped you if I was never at the computer yesterday? I had a fever," Takeru mumbled. The blond, flustered and confused, allowed a hand to rest on his forehead as he gazed at his shoes.

"Sorry I'm late," came a low, monotone voice from the door. Everyone turned their heads to the speaker. Koushirou walked into the room, face void of expression.

Just as he started to print his paper, Taichi looked up, a relieved and happy expression on his face. Before he said anything, though, he noticed the look on the computer genius's face. He looked at Yamato, utterly confused. "Uh..." Taichi stuttered, "d-do you have my...paper thing?" The boy twitched slightly, unsure of what to think of Koushirou's current attitude. It seemed dangerously calm. Like the silence before the storm, Taichi realized with a shiver.

"Paper?" Koushirou asked in a soft voice. For a while, he stared blankly at Taichi, eyes focused on the former goggle boy in a manner that caused great uneasiness for the boy. Finally, Koushirou shook his head. "No. I forgot," he told Taichi.

Taichi's jaw fell. "N-NOOOOO!" he screamed, letting out a cry of agony.

Rolling his eyes, Yamato walked over to the printer and came back seconds later with four papers. He handed them to Taichi. "Idiot," the musician muttered, folding his arms and shaking his head.

"Oh, thanks Yamato. I always knew I could count on you," Taichi babbled, shutting down the computer he had been working on.

Yamato's eyes became fixed on Koushirou as soon as he noticed he was being watched. A chill crept up his spine as he gazed into the empty eyes. First Takeru claims he had a fever all weekend long, Yamato thought, and now Koushirou's being weird. Either something's up, or this is a really weird day for me.

Not seeming to notice the change in the air of the room, Daisuke pointed to himself and asked, "Hey, Koushirou, who do you think is a better leader? Me or PJ over there?" The other hand waved carelessly towards Takeru.

Everyone in the room froze as Koushirou answered, "Fool. You could never be a leader. You lack a brain."

It didn't take long before Yamato and Taichi got the message. After a quick exchange of nods, the boys rushed forward, each grabbing one of Koushirou's arms and yanking him out the door. Daisuke watched them leave, jaw dropped to the floor.

As the bell rang, Takeru looked towards Hikari and the others. "So...uh, who wants to fill me in...?" he inquired, an apologetic smile on his face.

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All throughout class, Takeru found himself at a loss for words. He couldn't concentrate on anything; numbers and words were incomprehensible symbols. The words of others were unheard.

"Takeru," Iori whispered loudly. "Takeru!"

Startled, the blond turned to his friend, looking somewhat distracted. "Huh...?"

Iori pointed towards the board. "Notes," he informed the other boy.

Smiling gratefully, Takeru took out his notebook and began to copy the notes. His spacing out didn't go unnoticed by Iori. It makes no sense, Iori thought. How could he be there but at home? It's like someone made a copy of him...

It was improbable, but something in Iori's mind just couldn't let the idea go. And now Koushirou's weird, too. He found himself spacing out and quickly shook his head. No. Concentrate on this later, Iori. Think about what Grandpa says...whatever he says. Back on track, Iori began to quickly scribble down the notes.

The rest of the school day passed by quickly. Takeru finally discovered his long sought-out explanation, and Iori was more informed in the situation.

"So...what happened?" Takeru asked as they all walked over to Hikari's house, accompanied by Yamato and Taichi, who were bickering over the reason behind Koushirou's attitude.

Hikari was the one who spoke first. "Well we were all in my room-" she started.

It wasn't long until there was an interruption. "WHAT?" Daisuke screamed. After a rude glare from Miyako, Daisuke shut up for good until Hikari was done speaking.

"Anyway," Hikari continued, "We were in my room. Miyako and I were working on the poster for the most part, and you were reading off the information. If you ask me, you seemed completely normal." She paused to let Takeru absorb the first parts. "Then Tai and Yamato were being noisy and wrestling, so we went to check on them. It turns out that after that, all we really did was play around with Koushirou's computer. You, Miyako and Yamato left shortly after Koushirou found out, and an hour later, Koushirou left," the girl finished.

Under her breath, Miyako added, "And you were brilliant in helping us dig up some dirt on Koushirou."

Yamato snapped his fingers and pushed Taichi aside. "Speaking of dirt, how'd you do that, Takeru?" he suddenly asked his younger brother, completely ignoring the furious Taichi.

The younger boy gazed up at his brother. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Finally, not trusting himself to speak, Takeru just shrugged. Instead, he murmured to himself, "I was in bed...wasn't I?" and nothing more was said after that.

Part of Iori wished he had been there yesterday to experience what had happened. The facts didn't add up. It didn't seem possible that Takeru could have been sick in bed and helping Hikari and Miyako. To top it all off, Takeru didn't seem like the type to 'dig up some dirt' on anyone.

Then it's settled! Iori's decision was firm. He must have been possessed by something! Oh, great. Now I sound like Daisuke. Maybe he just doesn't want us to know there's another side to him. We'll see.

"Hey, are you guys leaving me behind?"

Taichi and Yamato froze in the middle of pushing each other off the road. In a stiff manner, they turned back to face the owner of the voice. Koushirou stood there, same blank expression on his face as before. The older boys were dead silent as they stared at Koushirou, and it was Iori who broke the silence. "Hey, Koushirou. Are you coming over, too?" the younger boy politely inquired.

Wordlessly, Koushirou nodded and fell into step beside Iori.

It was five more minutes before they reached the Yagami household. Iori entered last, keeping a wary eye on Takeru and Koushirou. At the moment, Takeru was engaged in a perfectly normal 'fight' with Daisuke, only termed 'fight' by Daisuke. To Iori, it was more of Daisuke's relentless bugging focused on Takeru.

Koushirou, on the other hand, was being carefully watched by Taichi and Yamato. Both boys were muttering behind the third boy's back, sending looks back to observe their strange friend. Normally, a paranoid Koushirou would have yelled at them by now. This Koushirou...

This Koushirou blankly stared back at the Yagami and Ishida boys, not saying a word. His eyes were observing them, watching their every movement.

"I'm telling you, Tai," Yamato insisted, "he's still mad for yesterday."

Shiftily, Taichi sent Koushirou a look over his shoulder. There was no reaction. He shook his head and muttered, "No, this is something different." When Yamato snorted in objection, Taichi held out his fist. "What? You don't believe me?" Taichi asked, voice rising.

Again, Yamato snorted. "Well, there's only one word for that."

"I agree!"

"NO."

Swearing loudly, Taichi took a step towards Yamato screaming, "DAMN YOU!"

Before anything could happen, Iori shut his eyes. Much to his own surprise, he yelled aloud, "COULD EVERYONE PLEASE BE QUIET?" A startled silence awaited him when he opened his eyes. All eyes were on him, including Koushirou's. I think...Koushirou's the one to worry about here, Iori thought, gulping slightly at the blank eyes he saw.

"S-Sorry, but...I think we should work on the project now," he reminded them.

Hikari was the only one who addressed his comfort in an inconspicuous manner. Smiling at Iori, she muttered in an annoyed voice to everyone else, "Iori's right. Gee, at this point, he's the only one we can count on, right Miyako?" With a furious nod, Miyako confirmed her agreement.

Silently mouthing Hikari a thank you, Iori followed the others into Hikari's room where the poster was laid out with Takeru's papers to the side. "That's how much we finished!" Miyako announced with a hint of pride.

"I don't remember doing any of this," Takeru mumbled so no one would hear.

Iori heard, however, and became slightly worried. He mentally made a note to himself and became absorbed in helping the others with the poster rather than in his worries.

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That night, Iori scanned his computer for viruses, as was scheduled for the month. It went by quickly; there were no viruses, much to his relief.

It was around midnight, and everyone in the house was asleep. Noticing this, Iori smiled a little. Maybe...I can ask Koushirou to take a look at my computer. I've been thinking about upgrading it, anyway, he decided, shutting down the computer and flipping the light switch off in the room. He quietly snuck to his own room and slipped under the warm, reassuring covers of his bed.

He yawned a little, murmuring to himself, "Perhaps tomorrow will be more informative." Even if it wasn't, he was sure things hadn't changed for Takeru or Koushirou. Maybe I could invite Takeru over, too...

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"Hello...Mom? Hey, uh...y-yes, I'm fine," Yamato mumbled into the phone, turning slightly pink as his mother went on to mention grades. "Um...y-yeah, yes, Mom. Yes! Please, spare me with the grades talk! NO! I'm not talk-...Mom," he groaned.

Taichi chuckled, leaning back on the wall and shutting his eyes. "So even the great Yamato is deterred by his mother," he muttered in an amused tone.

The second boy shot the Yagami a rude look. Eyes ablaze, Yamato snapped, "Taichi, shut up. No, Mom, I was talking to Taichi. Now would you please listen?" He waited a while, and Taichi could hear the faint noise of Ms. Takaishi speaking. "Yesterday...did Takeru come over to Taichi's house?" Yamato waited again for an answer. Slowly, he repeated for clarification and Tai's benefit, "So he was sick, but he asked if he could come and said he was feeling better? And when he came back, he was sick still?"

It was a long process to add up the facts as Yamato continued talking. Koushirou, completely blanking out. Takeru, apparently having come over yesterday and been sick in bed. Takeru knowing just how to 'dig up some dirt' on Koushirou. Takeru on Koushirou's computer.

...Takeru on Koushirou's computer...? He knew how to work Koushirou's computer. That couldn't have been Takeru. Come to think of it, he did a whole bunch of things I never knew Takeru could do! It...it's like-no, it couldn't have been a digimon, Taichi thought, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He dismissed the fact and just decided the two were lacking sleep. It had happened to him before, and he had thought he could play guitar (that unfortunate incident was another story that involved one of the strings on Yamato's guitar snapping).

Yamato finally hung up and turned to Taichi. "You heard," he said.

The former goggle boy's eyes opened. Flippantly, Taichi replied, "I have ears." He waved a lazy hand towards Yamato. "It's like a digimon's possessing them, but hey, what are the chances?" he told the other boy, shrugging. Stretching his hands in the air, Taichi yawned.

"You're welcome for allowing me to let you stay over," Yamato returned, voice heavy with sarcasm.

Raising an eyebrow. "Gee, thanks," he said, grinning. "I was waiting for that."

"Taichi."

"It was a joke!"

"Not funny."

Taichi rose to his feet and tilted his neck to the side as he looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, yeah...I have to go home, anyway. What time is it? Ten? Or is it nine and am I an hour ahead for once?" he asked, suppressing a yawn.

There was an amused smile on Yamato's face. "Try twelve."

"Twelve?" Taichi choked. "Uh...yeah, I'll take the offer to stay over." Eyes wide, Taichi wandered to the kitchen to see the clock and check if Yamato was lying.

Unable to look at Tai without laughing, Yamato occupied himself with the strange attitude of his brother and Koushirou. Yet no matter how hard he concentrated, Yamato couldn't seem to stop yawning. Falling back on the couch, he shut his eyes and thought, I'll save this for tomorrow.

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A/N-

Short chapter. Yes, like most, I've decided to turn into one of those disappointing new people who seem to start off with a great idea and update rarely. I'm sorry. Give me a month or two, and everything will be well under way (I hope). In terms of updating, I'll be faster. But other stories get first priority, so sorry. Opinions are nice.

Thank you for the reviews. They were very interesting. Thank You:

JyouraKoumi, Birdboy, Appaku, aubreysvampiregirl, Kayhera

Review or Flame.