Okay guys. I just want to start off with a major apology for the lack of length in this chapter. My cowriter and I were having trouble getting in contact with each other. Just a lot of things made it hard to get a chapter up. We were lucky to get this bit up even. So I hope you'll be willing to forgive us and wait patiently for a quick update or extra long chapter next week (Not sure which but something to make it up to you guys).

"the-ice-cold-alchemist"- Yeah, what a way to find out. It really sucks to be Takuya right now. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I'll have to warn you, there will be a lot of angst... heh heh.

"eltigre221"- That's a pretty good way of going at it. I'm usually too impatient and read as soon as I see a chapter update. Now I don't want to give away much with answering your questions but I can tell you this much... there's a reason this was labeled as part "Friendship".

"The Keeper of Worlds"- Yeah, that little bugger deserves to get its ass kicked doesn't it? I guess time will tell when that happens.

"Crimson Dragon Devil"- Well, let's just leave the payback to the kids, shall we?

"Lucas H. Garrett"- I guess you could say that, not that you can really blame him with all the stuff that's been messing with his head. It's a lot for a 12-13 year old kid to deal with, isn't it? Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope to hear from you once we do a proper update for the story.

"Abrie1234"- Well we'll find out where Takuya ran away too in this little segment and as for the Digital World... sorry, that's a secret.

"Digidestinedkid2"- Wow, you did a lot of reviewing at once. It's good to see that torturing Takuya has been a lot of fun on your end. And to answer your question... well, just read on ahead. Hopefully it'll satisfy you for the time being.

Again guys, sorry about the super short chapter but don't worry. We'll work our asses off to make it up to you all. In the meantime enjoy this little bit we have for you.

Chapter 19: Broken.

Freak...

The word stung. It hurt, but to be said by his father... It cut the boy to the core. He ran blindly down the streets, the cold wind clawing at his skin. He slipped on a patch of ice, falling roughly to the ground. He yelped in pain, finding it difficult to get up. He needed somewhere to go, somewhere safe. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. Takuya recognized the street. He was maybe a block or so from Kouji's.

Kouji wasn't expecting Takuya to show up at his doorstep. He certainly wasn't expecting Takuya to be in such terrible shape either.

"Takuya?"

Takuya looked up at the boy, a beaten and heartbroken look on his face. He just stood there at the doorway, cradling his injured arm. He looked like he had been beaten up and crying for hours.

"Oh my god, Takuya what happened to you?" Kouji asked and looked Takuya over to see the degree of his injuries. There was a large bruise on Takuya's arm, his skin was cold and clammy, there were deep circles around his eyes, and a slash wound of what looked like claw marks across his face. He looked horrible.

The poor boy didn't speak. He couldn't find the strength to speak. He lost so much in just one day. His family found out the truth about his abilities and cast him out of his home beaten and heartbroken. He snapped at Zoe, hurting her. No doubt she didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

"Takuya… what's going on?" Kouji was caught off guard when his friend suddenly collapsed against him and sobbed.

"T-they k-know" Takuya choked out, sobs wracking his body. Kouji understood immediately. His family knew about his Digimon half and it didn't go over well.

Kouji half pulled Takuya inside, pushing the front door closed. He gently eased Takuya to the ground, and allowed him to cry as he held him protectively. "Gods... Takuya... " The brunette's sobs were painful to listen to.

"shhh, It's okay Takuya... Just... It'll be okay..." Kouji whispered soothingly, trying to calm the distraught boy.

After what felt like forever, Takuya's sobs softened and subsided altogether. Takuya had passed out from emotional and physical exhaustion- His body just couldn't cope any more. Kouji sighed, putting his 'find out the details' plan on hold until the morning.

He stood carefully, before pulling Takuya onto his back- much like Takuya had done for him after their fight with Cherubimon. Kouji stopped in passing the living room to address his parents.

"Uh... Takuya's... Kinda... Um... " He faltered not sure how to put things, "Is it okay if he stays here tonight?"

Kousei raised an eyebrow, "Did something happen?" Kouji nodded. "Alright. But I would appreciate an explanation in the morning."

"I know." Kouji answered, having fully expected that an explanation would be needed. He honestly needed to figure out what happened from his friend himself. Zoe was supposed to help the boy but something must have gone horribly wrong.

After setting a place for Takuya to stay, Kouji contemplated calling Zoe to see what happened but decided against it for the moment. He'd have Takuya explain everything before trying to call her. He sighed and instead called Kouichi.

"Hey there Kouji, what's up?"

"Something happened to Takuya." Kouji answered, getting straight to the point.

"Seriously? What happened?"

The younger twin looked Takuya over again before answering. "I'm not sure but his parents know. I think they kicked him out but… he looks really beat up. Something else must have happened."

Kouichi gasped, "What?! I thought they would accept him..."

"Look- I'm not sure that's the case- well I'm pretty sure, But Takuya didn't say that exactly."

"What did he do?" The elder twin asked softly.

Kouji sighed, "Cried in my arms for maybe fifteen minutes before passing out."

"Damn...Is Zoe there? I thought she was with him today."

"No. I have a feeling that it's linked though." Kouji explained somberly, "He's a real mess Kouichi. Any chance you can get over here tomorrow?"

"Of course I can, I'd come right now if Mom was home and I could let her know without bugging her at work. And get a ride- it's raining something fierce outside." Kouichi stated apologetically.

"I know. I saw and felt it." the younger twin replied, "Poor Takuya..."

"Well, I'll be there tomorrow. I'll bring some stuff from home just in case." Kouichi told him after a while. "How bad does he look?"

Kouji did another survey of Takuya's injuries. "He has a large bruise on his left arm, his skin's really cold and clammy, and it looks like he has a few nasty scratches on his face."

"Yikes."

"Yeah, it's not pretty." Kouji muttered.

"Okay, for now just try to warm him up alright? Blankets, hot towels, the usual stuff. Try to clean up the scratches too."

Kouji nodded, jotting it down in his mind. "Got it. I'll try to do what I can."

"Alright, give me a call if things take a change for the worse, okay?" Kouichi asked, not knowing what else he could tell him.

"Of course." Kouji replied, "Thanks Kouichi."

Kouichi smiled a bit, "Keep me posted." The call ended. Kouji sighed tiredly, this was going to be a long night.

First task, warm Takuya up. Kouji looked at the boy, lying sound asleep on his bed. The younger twin couldn't help but feel bad for him. Takuya had suffered so much in these few short weeks. Things kept going from bad to worse.

Deciding that a blanket wouldn't do much to help warm the boy, or help him clean the wounds, Kouji settled on waking Takuya up and forcing him to take a hot shower. Kill two birds with one stone. The problem then became how to wake Takuya without upsetting him any further.

Not really coming up with any other way to wake his friend up Kouji shook Takuya gently, careful not to cause any more pain to the injured boy. "Takuya? Come on, I need you to wake up for a moment. We got to get you cleaned up."

The sick boy moaned weakly as his friend tried to wake him up. He didn't want to get up. His body was pushed past its limit and he just couldn't take anymore grief so soon. He had enough.

"Come on Takuya. You just need to do this and then you can get some rest. It'll help you." Kouji offered, trying to encourage his friend to wake up.

Takuya cracked his eyes open and looked up at the younger twin. "Kouji…"

"Hey…" Kouji was relieved to at least have the boy conscious. "Come on, I'm going to help you."

The brunette tried to protest but was already being pulled to his feet against his will. Kouji dragged the boy to the bathroom. "Get a hot shower. You're freezing and you need to get those cuts cleaned. Plus it'll make you feel a bit better," Kouji instructed firmly, not taking no for an answer.

Kouji left giving Takuya privacy while he went to retrieve a change of clothes and a fresh towel for him. He waited until the water had been running for a bit before reentering to place the clothes by the sink and hang the towel on the rack.

He left, and returned to his bedroom to set up a place for Takuya to sleep. He wracked his brain for a plausible excuse to feed to his parents.

"Kouji?"

He looked up. Satomi was standing in the doorway, holding two steaming mugs of what appeared to be hot chocolate. "Yes?"

She entered, setting the mugs down on the bedside table and took a seat on the bed. "Don't worry about explaining this to your father Kouji. I took care of that."

"huh?" Kouji was confused now.

She just smiled, "I think I know what's going on- and it's okay. I understand."

Kouji tilted his head, totally lost, but just accepted it. "Uh, thanks. Mom."

Satomi smiled again and left the room and one extremely confused Kouji. The younger twin shook it off, deciding not to worry about whatever she was talking about and focus on helping Takuya.

Takuya shuffled back into the bedroom, having finished with his shower and drying off. He had to admit he felt better but only physically. He couldn't feel the cold touch from IceDevimon's attacks or the pain in the scratches across his face but that was it. It didn't mend his broken heart and it showed in his demeanor.

"How're you feeling?" Kouji ventured to ask once the boy was comfortable.

Takuya just shrugged in response. "Better I guess…"

"Just try to get some rest okay. You look like you've been through a lot." Kouji told him and took a seat on his bed. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The sick boy curled up tight in the blanket given to him. He shook his head, not wanting to talk about what happened to him today. He wasn't ready for that.

Kouji sighed and placed one of the cups of hot chocolate next to Takuya. "Here, Mom made this for you. I think it'll help you out a bit."

Takuya looked at it, swallowing slowly and realizing he'd hardly eaten all day. He took the cup carefully, sipping on the warm drink slowly.

It was obvious Takuya was still broken up about something but given his silence and unwillingness to talk, Kouji let the issue drop for the night. He placed both of the mugs now drained of their contents on the table before switching off the light. "Goodnight Takuya."

See you guys soon-ish, I hope.