Hey there everyone. I hope you all had a good christmas and new year. It's the start of the new year and I figured that it was time that I put up the start of the third stories of my 'Defenders of the Night' series. Some of you may have been surprise how I ended the previous story with the death of Takeru but I did explain my reasons for doing that at the end of that chapter.

I hope that those who like the previous two stories of the series will enjoy this one. Now, not to waste anymore of your time here is the first chapter to my newest story. As for the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.

The Reasons for Heroes

Even his grieves are a joy long after to one that remembers all that he wrought and endured.
Home (800 BC – 700 BC), The Odyssey

Chapter 1:
Date

"Well, how do I look?" asked a woman as she lifted up a dress in front of her.

"Great. I definitely prefer it over the last one." replied her friend.

"You know what, I think you're right." Standing in front of a mirror was Hikari who was choosing out dresses for her upcoming date.

"If you already thought so then why did you ask me to help you chose in the first place?" questioned a irritated Daisuke who spent the last two hours sitting around as his friend went to change into the picked out dress.

"The reason that I asked for your help is because I want this date to run smoothly and I value your opinion." Hikari responded behind the dress curtain while putting the dress on.

"Oh, I'm flattered." It was obvious by Daisuke's tone that he didn't know how to take his friend's answer. "By the way, who's this guy that you're going out with?" He didn't know why but he couldn't help to be more than a little curious about the situation.

"His name is Zack Hallowell. He's that well known photographer from the magazines. We met a while ago during one of my photo shoots and tonight we're going out for the first time." Stepping out from behind the dress curtain she got in view of her friend. "Well, how do I look?"

Looking out at her Daisuke was immediately entranced at what he saw. She was wearing a simple yet elegant strapless pink dress that helped to showoff the curves of her body. As for her hair, she had placed it in a bun with a few strands going down the sides of her face.

Quickly regaining his composure Daisuke stopped himself from saying the first thing that came across his mind and said the second best thing. "My word, you look absolutely gorgeous. You're breathtaking."

Being pleased by the comment, Hikari couldn't help but blush. "Thank you, I'm flattered. Now excuse me, I have to go meet Zack. I'll see you later." Like that she was gone leaving Daisuke on his own.

With him on his lonesome he couldn't help but think back to how beautiful Hikari looked just a few moments ago. Snapping back to his senses he smacked himself in the face to think straight. "Come on; get a hold of yourself Daisuke. She's your friend, nothing more."

-/-/-/-/-

Later that Night…

"Well, this is my place." For the past three hours Hikari was on her date with Zack. He looked like an average looking man with his black hair gel back, green eyes, tanned skin and fancying clothing. "I really enjoyed myself." She of course did but for some unknown reason she kept getting the feeling that something wasn't right about this.

"I'm glad to hear that. Maybe we can continue with our date." Without warning he leaned forward and planted a kiss directly on her lips. Not particularly enjoying the kiss, Hikari backed away.

"Uh, it's late so I'll call you later."

Hiding the feel of rejection, Zack put on a calm expression on his face. "Yeah, I understand. I'll catch you later."

Opening her door Hikari entered her apartment, locking it behind her.

"Man, what was that all about? For some reason when he kissed me I couldn't help but feel as though I was kissing the wrong person. Then if that was the case, then who was the person that I wanted to with?"

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

"What's taking her so long?" Ken asked as he was at Daisuke's place waiting for Hikari to show up. "I mean I know it's only been a week since Takeru died but she can't use that as an excuse to be late."

"Actually, she had a date last night." retorted Daisuke from his desk. "So she might arrive a little later than usual."

"A date you say? What a surprise. I thought you wouldn't be so cool about it seeing as how your feelings for her."

"Yeah, well it's…w-what? What feelings are you talking about?"

"Your apparent feeling for Hikari." replied Ken as if it was a simple thing. "I may not have known both of you for long but I've seen how you two act with one another and it's obvious that there's something going on between the two of you. Anyone with half a brain can see it as well. Am I right?"

"You're way off. Hikari and I are just friends, nothing more." Even though Daisuke was able to say that he couldn't help but feel a little sadness when he did.

"If that's the case then so be it. Maybe if things go well with this new guy she could possibly get married and perhaps get away from this constant routine of hunting and killing demons. Then hopefully she won't have to worry about meeting a fate similar to Takuer's."

None of them said anything as the two still felt mournful about the lost of their dear and close friend who gave his life for others. "Takeru'll be duly be miss. At lease we have the comfort that we went out fighting for the good. He'll surely be missed by all of us." Daisuke took a moment of silence to allow his words to sink in. "As for Hikari, that could be the case for her but let's not get ahead of ourselves. They just met each other so it'll be sometime before they get that close."

A moment later Hikari entered the place with a calm look on her face. Not a word was said as they watched her walk around the place until finally she couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, you're wondering what happen on my date last night right." Being somewhat embarrassed by their nosiness they simply nodded their heads. "Overall it was okay. We went to a show, had dinner than he took me back to my place. You know the usual."

"It sounds like you had a good time." stated Ken.

"Yeah I did. But it wasn't all that good. When we got to my place he kissed me hard and suggested that we go even further with our date. Obviously I said no however I had a weird feeling from it afterward.

"Does that mean that the two of you aren't planning to have a second date?" Daisuke ask in the hopes that his joke would get the desired response. It looked as though it did as Hikari had relax from the situation.

"At the moment it doesn't seem to be a second date in the future. I mean, Zack seems like a nice guy but I got the feeling that he isn't the man for me. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I don't know." replied Ken. "Maybe the guy that you're really supposed to be with could be right under your nose." Saying that he would give Daisuke a look as if saying 'you know what I'm referring to'.

Becoming uncomfortable, Hikari wanted to switch the conversation. "That's enough about my personal life. What's the reason for this meeting?"

"As we were doing some general research I discovered that for the past month a rash of several women have suddenly disappeared without a trace. Signs point that they're all been the result of kidnapping." informed Daisuke as he was trying all that he could to not think about Hikari's dating situation.

"I don't see why this would concern us." muttered Hikari. "This doesn't appear to be some abnormal events that would make us get involved. Why should this take precedent over everything else?"

"They seem to be normal kidnappings but there's something off about them. Maybe after looking into them a bit more closely I might find out if there is indeed any connection. Until we are certain we can only wait."

-/-/-/-/-

For the next week nothing happen as Daisuke continued to look into the kidnapping cases, still believing that there was more to them than meets the eye. However, what he and Ken didn't know was that some unusual things were going on with Hikari. In that entire week she had been receiving anonymous gifts and flowers as well as getting telephone calls that when answered would be no one at the other end.

She thought nothing of it at first but that was until she received another batch of flowers that had a card attached to it. Reading it, she immediately was freaked out as it said that the two of them were meant for one another and nothing would stand in their way from being together. It really spooked her but she didn't say anything because she didn't want Daisuke and Ken to get worried over her predicament. However, that wouldn't be the case as she got an even more startling surprise one morning.

It seemed like any other morning with her walking up and stretching. That would change when she spotted an envelope. Opening it she pulled out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding the paper she let out a gasp as on the paper was a drawing of her as she was sleeping last night. Turning the paper over there was something written on it. What was written was: 'We'll be together again, soon.' Regaining her composure she quickly got dressed and stuffed the drawing in her pocket as she headed towards Daisuke's.

Within a hour Hikari arrived as her destination and was trying her best to hide the fright that she had received earlier that day. Putting up a convincing front she entered the house with a smile on her face. "Hey guys, how's it going with those kidnappings?"

"It's gotten better actually." answered Ken. "We've discovered that the one thing that they shared was that shortly before they were kidnapped they had just started dating the same person. Couldn't find the name of the guy but what for what we could gather he has gel hair, green eyes and tanned skin. If we could at lease get a name we would have a better chance in finding the person."

As if seeing a ghost, Hikari started to act a little hysterical. "That's interesting. Hopefully you'll find that person that you're looking for." With her moving around so much the drawing that she had in her pocket came out and fell to the ground. Before she could get it back, Daisuke grabbed it and was shocked at what he saw.

"Do you care to explain this Hikari?"

"What is there to explain?" respond Hikari a little too quickly. "It's just a drawing. That's all." It was clear to see that things were more than nothing.

Turning the paper around he saw the writing that was on the back. "I think it would be wise that you tell us what this is really about."

No longer seeing the point of hiding it anymore she told them everything that had been happening to her for the pass week. It felt as though a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders when she let it all out. All of the tension that she had gathered from everything seemed to go away but not entirely. Once Daisuke heard everything he went back to his research, looking for something and apparently he found it.

"This is interesting; we seem to have found a connection." Seeing the look of confusion on his friends' faces he explained. "From what was said in the police reports, it mentioned that they were told by those close to the girls that were kidnapped were being stalked by their new boyfriend. The police considered nothing of importance but it states that each of them got similar threats, such as the ones that you have been getting Hikari." He slid the copies of the police reports to her so that she would see that he was speaking the truth. "It appears to me Hikari that you're the next target for this guy."

"Why would he be coming after me? I mean, what's so special about me that he would go to such lengths?" Walking over, Daisuke knelt down to look at her face to face.

"I don't know the reasons for this person doing this but I'll do everything in my power to make sure that no harm befalls you." Getting back to his feet he headed to the door.

"Where are you going Daisuke?" Ken asked as he was about to leave.

"I'm going to have a little talk with Mr. Zack Hallowell and for his sake he better hope that I'm wrong with my suspicion."

-/-/-/-/-

In a large gym building there were an assorted amount of people who were doing a variety of exercises. Some were pumping weights as others were in the saunas but for one in particular person he was in one of the courts practicing racquetball until someone interrupted. "Zack Hallowell?"

"Yeah, that's me. May I ask who you are?"

"The name's Davis Moto. I'm someone who's thinking of joining this gym and I thought of asking those who are already members to see if it's really worth joining." For the next few minutes the two of them traded idle chitchat until one particular topic came up. "I hope you don't take this offensive but I heard that you're currently with someone."

"That's right. Her name is Hikari and she's a real looker."

"You're lucky man. It looks as though the two of you are quite happy together."

"Well, I am but she's not rally coming to her senses. However, that'll soon change."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Within a second, Davis grabbed Zack by the neck and pushed him right against the wall.

Try as he might, Zack was unable to free himself from Davis' grasp. "What the hell is the meaning of this?"

"My real name is Daisuke Motomiya. I'm a friend of Hikari Kamiya. I'm warning you, stay away from her."

"Why?" questioned a now surprisingly cocky Zack. "Afraid that you'll never have a chance with her once she realizes that she truly wants me?"

Not taking so kindly to that comment, Daisuke slammed him against the wall with such force that it nearly caused a imprint to the wall. "I mean it, stay away from Hikari. If you don't I'll kill you and if you're lucky enough you won't be conscious what that happens."

Having said all that he wanted to say Daisuke toss him across the room and started to head off the courts but stopped when he spotted something in Zack's bag. Reaching into the bag he took the item and stuffed it into his jacket so that he could find out what it was.

-/-/-/-/-

A Few Hours Later…

"Do you think he's okay?" Hikari asked Ken who were still at Daisuke's place. A while ago Daisuke phoned them, saying that he may have found something and informed them to stay where they were until he got back.

"I'm sure he is. Daisuke may do some risky things but he knows when to take it down. At the moment all we need to do is wait until he comes back."

Unbeknownst to them, as they continued to talk a whit e smoke was being pumped into the house which was causing Hikari and Ken to slowly fall asleep. "Man, why am I so sleepy all of a sudden?" Yawning Ken finally took notice of the smoke that was coming in. Grabbing Hikari by the arm he headed for the back. "We have to get out of here, now."

They wouldn't get far however as the affects of the smoke started to effect tem as they feel to the ground and were knocked out cold. Shortly after a group of men, wearing gas masks broke their way in and surrounded the two slumbering people. "Grab the girl and put her in the van. Hallowell will be please by our capture."

-/-/-/-/-

Sometime later, Daisuke returned and was going to tell the others about what he discovered until he noticed that his place was busted into. Being worried about his friends he charged in and saw that nothing was taken or destroyed but saw Ken unconscious on the ground. Going over he knelt beside him and lightly shook him awake. "Ken, get up. Come on, wake up."

Thankfully that was all it took for Ken to come to. "Oh man, why does it feel as though my head was hit by a sledgehammer?"

"Why don't you tell me? When I got here I found you by yourself passed out on the ground. Try telling me what happened."

Rubbing his still pounding head, Ken tried to recall what occurred earlier. "Sometime after you called, Hikari and I were discussing some stuff when we both started to fell sleepy. It was then that I realize that the place was being filled with some sort of knockout gas. I tried to get ourselves out but it was too late as we both fell to the affects of the gas." Finally it seemed as though the after affects of the gas were going away as Ken was able to get back to his feet by his own power. "I'm fine now. Is Hikari all right?"

Looking all around it was then that Daisuke realized that Hikari was nowhere to be found. "She isn't here. Whoever knocked you out must've knocked taken her. Damn it. I should have known that Zack would do something like this. Please Ken, you have to think back to see if they said something about where they might have taken her."

"I don't know if I can Daisuke. I mean, I was pretty out of it. But I think I heard something about a pier 13 at the docks. Of course I'm just guessing."

"Well, that's the best clue that we have. We might as well check it out." Getting a move on Daisuke went back to his car with Ken following close behind.

"Do you think it's wise that we're going after them when we have no idea what's awaiting us?" Not taking his eyes off the road Daisuke answered his friend's question.

"Probably not but I don't care. Hikari's in danger and I think that I speak for you when I say that we're not going to stand back and let it happen."

For an answer Ken just gave a quick nod. "You're right about that. But we still have no clue what will be up against."

"Actually, that's not true. I was able to find out why Zack has taken Hikari and the other kidnapped girls." Reaching for something in the backseat he pulled out a folder. "He's going to use them as offerings for a Locai demon. And before you ask, it's a demon related to something called a Haxil beast, which uses human women to carry its offspring. Both species use humans to bring the women to them and exchange them for wealth and power. I discovered that Zack must've summoned one when I spotted the summoning spell for a Locai demon in his bag."

"Than let's not waste another minute, step on it." Not saying another word, Daisuke simply put the pedal to the metal.

-/-/-/-/-

In a rundown warehouse we find Hikari who was now regaining consciousness. "Oh, where am I?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Turning to the source of the voice she spotted one of three women who like her were bond to a large table.

"Ah, at last you're awake. Now the fun can really begin." Recognizing the voice, Hikari her head to give Zack a glare of hatred as he slowly walked down the stairs towards the tied up women. "Isn't this a lovely sight? My absolute favorite of ladies, together in before me and tied up too. This'll definitely prove interesting."

"Cut the crap Hallowell." yelled one of the unnamed girls. "Why don't you spare us from the sarcasm and tell us why you are doing this?"

"If that's what you wish then so be it my dear Amy. All of you already know that I'm a well known person. What you don't know is that I had a little help getting there. Thanks to some friends that I knew in Los Angeles I was able to get the help that I needed." Suddenly, the sound of large footsteps could be heard coming towards their direction. "Speak of the devil, here he comes now."

As the footsteps got closer the women could see something coming towards them. When it came into view the ladies couldn't believe what they were seeing. It stood what had to be nine feet tall with a muscular body that was covered in slimy gray skin. For hands it had three long fingers that had a sharp claw at the end. Lastly was its huge mouth that was filled with razor sharp teeth with the exception of two that were poking out on either side of the mouth.

The first reaction that the girls had was pure fright at what they were seeing as they screamed and begged to be let go. Hikari, on the other hand was trying her best to put up a brave front but it was proving futile.

"You see, my friend wants to start a family. That's brings me to your role in all this." taunted Zack. "He's going to impregnate with you and you're going to bare him some children. Of course, you'll most certainly not survive the births. But it's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make."

Getting tired of waiting, the Locai demon came over to the captive women ready to 'mate' with them. Deciding on which girl to be with first, he finally chose Hikari. Leaning over he stood over her and was about to start the mating until someone intervened. "Get the hell away from her!" Looking up everyone saw Daisuke standing on the high beams with a rope in hand. Grabbing the rope in both hands he leapt off the high beam and swung towards the Locai demon.

Coming in quickly Daisuke was able to knock the demon away from Hikari. "How dare you interfere in my mating." hissed the demon. "What right do you have by intruding?"

Not showing the lease bit of dread, Daisuke looked at the demon straight in the eye. "I think that I have the right since you're trying to have your way with my friend. Now we can either do this the easy way or the hard way." Instead of responding with words, the Locai demon simply swung at Daisuke only for him to miss.

As that continued to go on Ken had snuck in and hurried to untie the ladies from their bonds. "Just hang on for bit longer ladies and I'll have you free in a moment." Unfortunately, before he could do so he was knocked away by Zack.

"There's no way in hell that I'm going to allow you and your friend to stop this from happening. I've got too much on the line to let that to happen." Seeing a two-by-four on the floor he picked it up and swung it at Ken but continued to miss. "Stop moving and stand still."

Dodging two more times Ken went on the offense by tackling Zack to the ground which caused him to drop the two-by-four. Not wasting the chance Ken punched Zack in the face, knocking him senseless. With him out of the way he went back to untying the ladies as Daisuke continued with his scuffle.

"Come on, is that all you have?" taunted Daisuke as he continued to avoid the Locai demon's attempted assault. However, he got a little cocky as he was tossed against the wall by one of its clawed hands.

"You insolent fool. I'll make you suffer for putting your nose in my business." bellowed the demon as it started to laugh insanely.

"You know what? You've got a big mouth." Getting back to his feet he reached into his jacket and pulled out some kind of device. "And you know what they say about having a big mouth." Tossing the device it went right into the Locai's mouth. Seconds later his head exploded and his body crumbled to the ground. There was no doubt that the demon was dead. "If you don't shut it, it may cause you."

Turning his attention away from the fallen demon he saw that Ken was successful in freeing the ladies. "Thank you, you guys. I think that I speak for all of us girls when I say we're grateful for you saving us." said Hikari in a heartfelt manner.

"That's it? After me and Ken went through all this all you can say is 'thank you'? I feel so unappreciated." It was obvious that Daisuke was just joking around as a small trace of a smile was showing on his face.

"Seeing the joke Hikari decided to play along. "Oh how terrible of me. Let me make it up to you both." Going over she gave him a hug then went to give one to Ken. It looked as though things were over when a person spoke up.

"Damn you all!" yelled Zack as he came back to his senses. "You don't know what you've done. I'll make you pay." Daisuke was going to take care of him when suddenly Hikari and the other ladies charged at him and started to pound him senseless.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" asked Ken as he stood beside Daisuke as Zack was getting the stuffing beaten out of him.

"We will, just not this second." The last thing that was heard was the sound of Zack's high pitch scream as he was just hit where no man wants to be hit.

-/-/-/-/-

Two Days Later…

"Have you seen the paper today?" Tossing the paper across the desk they saw the top headline that said, 'Photographer Zack Hallowell Convicted of Kidnapping and Attempted Murder'. "It's fortunate that we were able to convince those girls into not mentioning anything about the Locai demon. It would cause some questions that didn't needed to be asked." Coming over Hikari sat at the edge of Daisuke's desk.

"I agree with you on that. Even now I still get shivers when I think back to that sick and disgusting thing." True to her word, Hikari shivered slightly at the thought.

"It's understandable. That probably means you won't be thinking about dating men, am I right?" Confused by that question she gave Daisuke a perplexed look.

"I was talking about the demon. What were you referring to?"

"Uh, I was talking about the same thing." Daisuke quickly muttered out. Let's drop the subject okay?" Taking that answer as is, Hikari dropped it.

"You know this experience showed me? It showed me that finding the right person can be just as tough as fighting evil."

"Well, sometimes the right person for you can be right under your nose."

At that moment the two of them looked at one another with a questionable stare. It was as though they were questioning if there could be something more between them. They both came up with the same conclusion. "Nah!"

There goes the first chapter to this story readers. Hopefully it was a disappointment from how I ended the previously story. As you probably notice there were signs of a dakari happening. Well, I won't say that the two of them will get together or not. You'll just have to wait and read to find out.

With that out of the way I hope that you think about leaving a review and judging by what's in the reviews I may reply to them. Anyways, until I update again, which'll be in the very near future, up soon, see ya