Disclaimer: Takuya + Kouji = me no owning Digimon

Author's Notes: I am sooooooo sorry you guys! ;-; It's taken me forever to update this, and I really do apologize to all of you...and to make up for it, I've posted two chapters here, so read onto your hearts content! I DO have an excuse for not updating this...actually, three excuses...one of them being Eternity (my other Takouji fic, which I know that many of you who are reading this are reading that one as well) because I've been working hard on that one to finish that one up. The second one is that I've been madly trying to figure out exactly where I want this fic to go next (as it is different from the original season in many ways, with this being an AU filled with Takoujiness! ^-~) and my muses weren't helping me much at all :P The other excuse (is more pathetic then the first and the second... -_-;;) is that I went and saw the Return of the King (the third and last installation of the Lord of the Rings movie) the week it came out and I saw it again...and now I'm in a major Legolas/Aragorn kick...-_-;; I can't help it! This has happened every time that I have gone to see any of the Lord of the Rings movies, and it all started with the first one when I realized how drop dead gorgeous Orlando Bloom is as Legolas and...and...::watches as hearts dance around Angel Spirit's head:: Okay, I know that here is NOT the place to talk about as this is Digimon, and not Lord of the Rings, but that basically explains what this authoress has been up too...I've been scouring the Lord of the Rings section for Legolas and Aragorn fics (be it friendship or otherwise...and DO NOT tell me that Arwen and Aragorn get together...I know that, but not in my heart and mind they don't! so :P) so that explains my long absence, and once again I am sorry...but...let's end this rambling about how cute Legolas/Orldando Bloom is, and how awesome elves are, shall we? So you guys can read the long awaited chapter 14...?

Warning: If you don't like the thought of Takuya and Kouji being together then this isn't the fic for you...so shoo!

Story Rating: PG13

Chapter Summary: Kouji and Takuya travel on, learning more about the Beast Spirits from Bokomon as they do. They finally catch up with the others in a inn at the next Digimon village, and Takuya and Kouji get some alone time together...but trouble arises when Grumblemon comes into play, and Kouji's on the run...

Different Journeys

Author: Angel Spirit

Chapter 14: Information of the Spirits

"Wake up sleepy head." Kouji Minomoto groaned as he rolled over to see Takuya sitting next to him on the bed, shirts back on and looking like he was ready to get a move on with things. He groaned in protest and rolled over again, winning a smirk from Takuya.

"Oh, ho...so now you want to sleep, huh?" He teased, and Kouji pulled the bed sheet over his eyes so that way the sun light wouldn't bother him...and he hoped that Takuya would just leave him alone...he wasn't the one who had been up for four countless nights...last night had been the first night of sleep he'd had since leaving Takuya's side when he had left to lure Grumblemon away.

"You've gotten plenty of sleep...my turn." The dark haired teen grunted, and Takuya chuckled as he grabbed hold of the sheet and gave it a firm tug, causing it to be pulled out of Kouji's hands as he moaned and shielded his eyes from the sun, with his now free hands as he glared at Takuya, who smiled mischievously at him.

"I'm gonna have to hurt you now." Kouji grumbled as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and then went about fixing his hair, as Takuya had taken it out of it's ponytail the previous night before.

"Yeah, but the only harm you're gonna give me is a kiss...right?" Takuya asked, his eyes pleading as Kouji grunted and finished off his ponytail and then found his bandanna. Takuya pouted when he didn't get his kiss as Kouji ignored him and fixed his bandanna so that his hair was now one hundred percent of the way out of his face, and then turned toward his koi and gave him a quick kiss.

"Happy?" He asked, a small smile on his face as he noticed that Takuya still pouted as he followed Kouji out of the hut.

"No...that wasn't long enough." The brunette muttered, and Kouji chuckled.

"Too bad...that's what you get when you wake me up and keep me up." Takuya sniggered and shrugged.

"What? Can I help it if I'm feeling energetic?" Kouji sighed and shook his head as he turned around and placed his hands in his pockets, walking backwards so he could talk to Takuya instead of feeling like Takuya was talking to his back.

"Yeah, you're feeling energetic...I haven't slept in four nights..." Takuya bit his lower lip, suddenly looking sorry as he apologized. Kouji brushed it off however.

"Don't worry about it...you can...apologize later..." He whispered with a smirk as Takuya pulled him close and grabbed his hand.

"Where are Bokomon and Neemon?" Kouji murmured, knowing that they couldn't leave without those two...Bokomon had said the other night that he was going to do some research on the whole 'Beast Spirit' ordeal, and Kouji was actually hoping to hear more about it, as he hoped that Bokomon had found something worth hearing.

"I don't know, I haven't seen them this morning...or any of the other Gatsomon around here at all...the one that had found me and led you to me seems to have disappeared as well." Takuya said, and Kouji shrugged as he heard the sound of someone snoring in their sleep nearby, and glanced up to see Neemon curled up on a fairly good sized tree branch, one of his ears twitching as he turned over a little to far...

Both teens winced as they watched the scene unfold before them, and Takuya chuckled while Kouji hid a smile.

"Ouch...that one had to hurt..." Takuya murmured, and that got Kouji laughing as they headed to where Neemon was now rubbing his butt, as it had broken his fall. He looked confused for a moment, and then saw Takuya and Kouji and smiled ruefully.

"Remind me not to sleep in a tree tonight..." He muttered, and Takuya laughed as he asked where Bokomon was. Neemon shrugged.

"I dunno...he told me I was cranky the other night, and crabby too, and then said that I should go and get some sleep...so I did so. I haven't seen him since."

"Was he going to look up information on those Beast Spirits?" Kouji asked, and Neemon nodded.

"Yeah...I think that's what he said he was going to do, but..."

Another light snore interrupted their conversation as the trio looked up to another tree to find Bokomon fast asleep, a blanket over him. Takuya and Kouji smirked at one another as Neemon let out a groan.

"And he was complaining last night about me wanting to sleep!" Neemon grumbled as he leapt up the tree to wake the other sleeping Digimon.

He poked Bokomon once...then twice...and a third time...the fourth time, awarded him a smack in the arm that sent Neemon tumbling back down to the ground again as Bokomon sat up and stretched, then looked around him with an embarrassing look on his face.

"Sorry...I...must've dozed off I suppose." He grinned sheepishly and shrugged as he made his way down the tree without falling and landing squarely with both feet on the ground. By this time, Kouji was leaning against the tree that they'd found Bokomon asleep in, eyes half shut as though he were ready to fall asleep any second, with a small amused smile that could barely be detected. Takuya had leaned up against him, his left arm still in it's sling, but Kouji avoided it and had his right arm snaked around Takuya's waist, holding him close. Neemon took one look at the two and grinned, as Bokomon just shook his head.

"Alright you two lovebirds, let's get a move on!" Bokomon insisted as he brushed himself off, and now it was Kouji's turn to pout, as Takuya grumbled while he moved away from the dark haired teens embrace. But they did have to get going.

As the sun rose a little higher in the sky, causing the three moons of the Digital World to vanish, the four were soon on their way through the valley and back to the mountains where they had last met up with the others...and then left them again. Every once in awhile, Bokomon would go 'hmmm...' or 'interesting,' as he flipped through the pages of 'the book' while looking for the information on Beast Spirits that Kouji had asked him to do the previous night.

It got so that soon, he was driving Kouji crazy, and he couldn't stand it any longer as he halted their hike and crossed his arms over his chest. Takuya hated it when Kouji got that way...that usually meant that he'd be that way for the rest of the day. So in turn he turned around and glared at Bokomon, who paid no heed as he didn't think that he was doing anything wrong. But for Takuya, whenever Kouji was in a bad mood like he was...it meant that he'd get to sleep by himself tonight...and it hadn't even been his fault in the first place! Takuya scowled at the thought of sleeping under the stars without Kouji next to him to keep him warm, and when no one said anything, he sighed.

"Look, Bokomon, you've been driving us all crazy over the past few miles with that stupid book of yours! So either tell us what you've found...or shut up already!"

"You can keep your temper Takuya, I was just ready to call us to a halt to tell you what I've found so we can take a rest at the same time!" Bokomon declared crossly, and Takuya rolled his eyes.

"Fine...we're halted...so tell us already." Kouji muttered, as he found the nearest rock that was capable of being sat on, and sat on it as he went to adjust his ponytail underneath his bandanna, moving it up a little higher so that it stayed off his neck, and yet protected it from getting sunburned at the same time. Bokomon took a deep breath (which sounded like there was some grumbling along with it about ill-tempered teenagers) and then settled himself on the ground with his book open in his lap.

Takuya-still pouting because Bokomon had gotten Kouji irritated (and that Kouji was still irritated, so that meant that he couldn't be all cuddly with him while they were resting for the time being) sat back against the rock wall and tried to pay as much attention to Bokomon as he could without staring at Kouji and getting lost in his own thoughts.

"Along with the information you've requested about the Beast Spirits Kouji, I've also been doing a little bit of digging on that Grumblemon fellow that seems to always appear whenever we don't want him around...he's one of the Dark Hybrid Spirits, who are determined to keep the other spirits for themselves and reunite them with evil instead of the light...so in other words, he's going to try to keep on getting your human spirits until they are his to use as he will." Kouji just raised an eyebrow at this, trying to decipher it all, and even Takuya had to admit that Bokomon had his full attention now (well, most of it anyway! ^-~).

"His main weapon is the club that you both saw him with earlier, as I'm sure that's what managed to get Takuya in the shape he's in now..."

"HEY!" Takuya protested, interrupting Bokomon at this point and receiving a glare from the Digimon.

"It wasn't all my fault you know...he took us by surprise." Takuya complained, and Bokomon nodded his head.

"That's one of his specialties-catching people off guard and attacking them...draining them of their 'energy' and adding it to his own...it's how he survives." Kouji groaned at this and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"So after he gets our spirit, then what? He'll suck the life out of us like a vampire?" Bokomon thought about Kouji's question, before shrugging.

"Never thought about it that way before...he's no vampire...but...you could say something like that. Anyway, the deal on the Beast Spirits is this-you all have one." This got Takuya's and Kouji's abrupt attention as they looked at Bokomon with questioning looks in their eyes and curious expressions on their faces.

"We all have one...? All...hey, Bokomon, by all do you also mean Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki?" Bokomon nodded at Takuya's question, as Kouji groaned softly.

"Great...so we are a team then...or we have to be anyway." The dark haired teen murmured, and again, Bokomon nodded.

"Yes...you're right Kouji...you all are a team-the Digi Destined- sworn to protect both our world, and yours." Takuya shook his head as he stood.

"You're crazy...both worlds? Since when did we sign up for that trip?" He demanded, and Bokomon sighed as he gestured toward Takuya's red and black Detector that hung on his belt.

"You signed up for the trip when you got that, and then got your human spirit...that signed the deal." Bokomon added smugly, and Takuya sighed.

"Great...so what else about this beast spirit?" He asked, to get the topic back on track and to also avoid any confrontation with Bokomon about what he'd just said. The Digimon bristled in annoyance, but continued.

"Like I was saying, you all have a beast spirit...and you might not necessarily get them in the order that you received your human spirits in. But the beast spirits are slightly harder to control then the human ones...and they're not easy to find either."

"We've got to find them?" Kouji questioned, and Bokomon nodded at him, as he sighed and stood as well, massaging his neck a bit as he looked down at the two digimon.

"How will we know if we've even gotten close to finding our beast spirits?" Bokomon shrugged at Kouji.

"I'm not sure...it doesn't say in the book at all...but I've got the feeling that your Detectors might tell you if you're close to the beast spirit's...they did when you all got your human one's." Both teens nodded and stretched out their sore aching muscles from all the hiking they'd done so far.

"Then let's get going...unless if we want to camp underneath the stars, I say we find that next Digimon city by nightfall...I found out from the Gatsomon while Takuya was out of it earlier, that the next city is just about a day and a half away...I think if we hike it quickly the rest of the day we might be able to get there." Takuya nodded and then followed Kouji out, feeling slightly miserable as he continued to glare at Bokomon's backside.

~***~

It was near midnight or so by the time they finally reached the next village, and Takuya's shoulder was starting to ache-not to mention his feet, and he had to admit that he was practically starving as well. One look at Kouji told him that his koi was probably feeling the same way-save the shoulder part as all Kouji had been rewarded with his fight with Grumblemon had been a few scrapes and bruises.

"Can we stop...please?" Takuya whispered a few minutes later, feeling as though he really couldn't go much further. In fact, he was falling behind, and at Takuya's request, Kouji turned around-the deep, thoughtful look he had worn on his face all day softening as he headed back to where the brunette stood crouching to get his breath back. They'd kept up a steady pace all day-and now Takuya was tired-he assumed that Kouji was probably more tired then he was-he'd had less sleep then he had that past week. So how in the world did his koi manage to keep on going all day?

"Here...let me help." Kouji whispered as Takuya nodded and leaned into him, giving a small relaxed sigh at the warmth that radiated off of Kouji-for some reason Takuya felt cold...maybe it was the chill in the night, or the fact that the city seemed way to quiet for him...obviously Kouji was thinking the same thing, his head tilted for a moment as though he was trying to figure out the meaning behind all the silence.

"This is a city?" He asked Bokomon, who looked around with a small look of apprehension on his face.

"It's supposed to be a city...why don't we go knock on all the doors and wake everyone up so it can be a city for you guys?" Bokomon replied crankily, still feeling irritated from the argument earlier that day. Takuya sighed, feeling his knees give in as Kouji helped keep him from falling.

"Damn it..." Takuya cursed, as Kouji helped him sit, and the brunette brought his knees up to his chest, feeling shaky and drained. Kouji looked around, biting his lower lip.

"No offense Bokomon, but this place is like a ghost town...any chance we can find a place to stay and rest? I don't think that Takuya can go on any further-and neither can I for that matter." Takuya's head shot up in surprise as Kouji admitted that, and found Kouji smiling lightly down at him.

"I'm tired too...and I think we're all hungry...Bokomon?" Bokomon sighed and agreed as he and Neemon headed off in search of a place for them to stay. Kouji followed with Takuya, after allowing him to rest for a bit longer. The brunette leaned against Kouji, making their way slowly through the city until they came to what looked like an inn-and Neemon was standing outside of it, waiting for them, a big grin on his face.

"They've got a vacancy! And Bokomon's checking on the price of the-" before he could finish his sentence though, he was cut off by a squeal, and Takuya and Kouji looked up to see Izumi standing before them, a relieved look on her face.

"You two are alright! Gods Takuya, we were worried about you when we couldn't find you! How did you guys find each other?!?" Kouji groaned- that was the last thing he wanted. He really didn't want to talk to Izumi, and he was just about to suggest them going elsewhere when suddenly Junpei appeared next to Izumi, a small grin on his face.

"Hey..." Kouji nodded at the other brunettes soft greeting, who seemed to have figured out within the first two seconds of meeting them there, that from the way he and Takuya were looking that they'd both just been through hell-which, was somewhat of an accurate statement.

"We grabbed the last two rooms here...if you two want to join us, you're more then welcome too." Izumi said softly, and Takuya looked pleadingly at Kouji, who sighed softly and nodded.

"Yeah...we'd like that actually. I think I'm just as tired as Takuya..."

"And just as dirty too...they've got a bathing area here, and you two are more then welcome to use it...free of charge according to the inn manager here, though we don't know why-for some reason our board for the night was even free too. It's kind of strange." Izumi commented as she moved to help Kouji with Takuya, who only shot her a sharp look and she backed off, looking a little dismayed. It wasn't that Kouji didn't like Izumi...it was just that he was hoping he'd be able to spend some alone time with Takuya tonight. And if they were sharing a room with Tomoki, and Junpei he doubted that they'd get that alone time-since obviously they'd gotten two rooms so Izumi could have her own-being the only girl in the group.

"Thanks Izumi." Kouji growled, more at the comment she'd made about their cleanliness then anything else...but she had a point, he and Takuya hadn't managed to have a decent bath or anything else since coming to the Digital World...and suddenly he wanted his hair clean as he was aware of just how dirty it had gotten over the past several days.

"Why don't you two go and get cleaned up and we'll see to getting some food?" Junpei suggested, and Takuya nodded, looking around for a moment.

"Hey, where's Tomoki?" He asked tiredly, and Izumi smiled gently at him.

"He fell asleep, so we decided to just leave him be for now...we've been traveling for quite some time now, I'm surprised that I'm not asleep yet!" She said with a chuckle, and Takuya found himself grinning a little at this as Kouji motioned for them to go and they headed off in the direction that Izumi had indicated the bathing area to be...

~***~

A few hours later, Takuya and Kouji somehow managed to have the second room all to themselves. Kouji was amazed...Izumi had actually said that she'd be willing to share a room with Junpei and Tomoki, after Junpei figured out that Kouji and Takuya obviously wanted more alone time then what they had while bathing. Kouji was somewhat happier too-his hair was still a bit damp as he had braided it to keep it out of his face, and even Takuya looked cleaner then he had in days. Kouji found himself grinning at the brunette, who was having difficulty taking off his shirt, and so Kouji went over to help him.

Takuya froze at first when he felt Kouji's warm arms help guide his shirt off, and then he relaxed as he leaned against the dark haired teen.

"I can't believe that Izumi was that nice..." he murmured, and Kouji just chuckled.

"She probably thinks that I still hate her from what she tried to do the last time we all caught up with each other." Takuya just smirked and groaned.

"Don't use that to your advantage Kouji." He muttered and Kouji just raised an eyebrow as he pulled Takuya closer to him.

"I'm not...I just haven't told her that I don't really hate her guts completely-that's all." He whispered into Takuya's ear, who sighed in happiness. He turned so that he was now staring into Kouji's eyes, and though they held a tired look in them, Takuya also found a hint of mischief within those dark blue gray orbs as well.

"Mmmm...you know, I'm tired? I think instead of joining the others for the conversation we were going to have with Bokomon and Neemon about the Beast Spirits can wait, and that we should...turn in early..." Kouji allowed his voice to trail off, and Takuya grinned as he kissed Kouji gently on the forehead, allowing his hand to trail down his face.

"Yeah...? Maybe...besides, you and I already know about the Beast Spirits...and I really don't want to have another argument with Bokomon." Kouji grinned back as he and Takuya found themselves falling onto the bed- Takuya taking off Kouji's shirt the best to his abilities with his aching shoulder as he had decided to leave his sling off after bathing (much to Kouji's protests about him needing it to help heal his shoulder faster, to Takuya the damned thing was nothing but a big nuisance), as Kouji already had his windbreaker off. The first kiss was slow, and soon the two boys knew nothing of their surroundings, focusing only on themselves and what they wanted at that moment. Eventually, both boys fell asleep in the silence of the night, Kouji having his head leaning onto Takuya's uninjured shoulder, watching as the brunette slept peacefully. He felt his own eyes start to droop...and never heard the scream that aroused from the next room over a couple of hours later...

~***~

When Kouji woke, he instantly knew that something was wrong. It was warm...too warm. He and Takuya were still in the same position they'd been in since he'd fallen asleep, but he knew he wouldn't be able too go back to sleep unless he found out what was so wrong.

Heading toward the window Kouji withdrew the curtain, and let out a startled gasp. The whole village was on fire-part of it already burned to the ground.

He dropped the curtain and turned to get Takuya, hearing footsteps approaching their doorway. He lunged onto the bed, grabbing Takuya's arm and shaking him awake. He shook a little harder when he didn't get any response and finally Takuya opened an eye, grumbling something about this being far to early for a wake up call.

"Takuya, we've got trouble!" Kouji hissed, and Takuya sat up, a little too quickly as Kouji threw him his pants, which he gratefully accepted as Kouji scrambled to pull his on as well. He was just putting on his yellow shirt he found discarded onto the floor when the door was thrown open and before them, were a few angry looking Digimon.

"You're the ones who're causing all these problems! You're the ones he's looking for!" One of them hollered, and Kouji scrambled off the bed, going to stand in front of Takuya, glaring at the Digimon.

"Yeah, so what if we are? And who's looking for us?" Kouji growled darkly, but the other Digimon didn't back down.

"We've already got your pathetic friends...and the one that's looking for you, is Grumblemon. He's set the village on fire! He's on the rampage and won't stop unless we give him what he wants!" A Veggiemon hollered, using his vines to strike out and grab a hold of Takuya, who had just stood up next to Kouji, looking angry...and then in shock as the vines wrapped around his arms, and legs tightly, causing him to fall to the floor with a groan. He had taken his sling off earlier...what a mistake that had been.

"Kouji! RUN!" Takuya managed to holler, and for a moment, Kouji looked like he wasn't going too as the Veggiemon got ready to use his attack on Kouji as well, with the spare vines that he had.

"If you don't get out of here, there will be no way for the rest of us to escape! Go Kouji, I'll be fine! Find that Beast Spirit!" Takuya shouted as he struggled, and Kouji knew that that was what he had to do.

When the Veggiemon aimed his vines at Kouji, Kouji dodged...but not quick enough as the vines managed to snake their way around his waist and lift him up to the ground. Kouji struggled, his eyes opening wide as he realized two things-one, that the Veggimon didn't have any other vines to help control Kouji's struggling figure...the rest were all being used to hold down Takuya...and the second thing was, was that the Veggiemon was starting to tighten the vines around his waist...and soon Kouji felt like he couldn't breathe.

When Takuya saw Kouji slump unconsciously in the tight hold that the Veggiemon had held him in, he let out a cry of dismay. Kouji wasn't breathing...at least Takuya couldn't see him breathing...he cried out and struggled violently, the Veggiemon's grip on him having loosened as it was too busy trying too take Kouji down. As Takuya managed to get his left arm out of the vines around his body, he made a grab for his Detector, hoping that as Agunimon, he'd be able too at least get himself and Kouji away from the Veggiemon and the other evil Digimon who stood their grinning wickedly at Kouji's sudden defeat.

Just as Takuya had his hand tightly gripped around his Detector, the Veggiemon's grip tightened around him, and Takuya groaned as he looked to see that the grip on Kouji had lessened, his eyes turning thoughtful. Could it be that maybe, just maybe the Veggiemon couldn't control all of his vines at the same time? Was there a way that Takuya could cause enough ruckus to have the Veggiemon focus all of his attention on him, instead of Kouji? Watching Kouji's limp body in Veggiemon's other vines, Takuya knew that there was only one thing to do-to test out his theory.

"You think that you can defeat us that easily? Well, try this on for size!" Takuya hollered defiantly, feeling the evolution take place as he started to become Agunimon...and then gasping as the vines tightened around him much, much tighter then before, causing him to drop out of the evolution...and to also drop his Detector.

"NO!" He cried out in panic, struggling against the twist of the vines that held him so tightly and looked in dismay at his fallen detector, which the Veggiemon was loosening one of the vines around Kouji to pick up, obviously thinking that since Kouji was unconscious, he was less of a threat then Takuya, and could afford to let loose one of the vines that held him. But the Veggiemon was gravely mistaken.

Takuya watched, his eyes wide as the Veggiemon grabbed for his Detector...and then let out a piercing wail as it flashed a bright light, and when the light dimmed, Takuya gasped as he saw that his Detector had actually severed off the vine, and the Veggiemon was writhing in pain. As Takuya's Detector fell, it flashed again, much brighter this time. Again, the Veggiemon wailed in pain, and when Takuya blinked the brightness away from his eyes, he saw that the Detector had set Kouji free, and that now the Veggiemon was missing several vines, and glowering at Takuya as though it was his fault-which, he assumed that some of it probably was his fault. He gulped as the Veggiemon's red eyes narrowed into a painful glare, Kouji's limp, unconscious form forgotten on the floor.

"You've just made it a lot harder on yourself brat...let's take him to the others...Grumblemon will be most pleased with us." Takuya continued to struggle as he knew that Kouji had been forgotten...and in that split second before he was taken out of the room, he glanced at his koi-who had not moved at all since being dropped, and Takuya wasn't even sure if he was breathing...it was the last sight of Kouji before he was taken out of the room, and placed in a cage several minutes later that held the others.

~***~

It was Takuya's cry of outrage that brought Kouji around as he groaned and his eyes opened slowly. He blinked several times to clear the red haze that surrounded his vision, before remembering what had happened, and gasped for breath as he drew the cool night air into his burning lungs...the Veggiemon had tried to strangle him to death just about! The thought horrified him for a moment, and the he came to his senses as he realized that lying on his back wasn't going to help him any further in rescuing Takuya, and rolled over...gasping in pain as he did so. By the gods...it hurt to breathe...

Stars of pain flooded his vision and for a moment Kouji couldn't move as he finally managed to roll back into his backside and bite back a scream of pain that threatened to come forth. His ribs...they hurt...

Squeezing his eyes, Kouji let out a choked sob as he figured out rather quickly that the Veggiemon must've done something to them while squeezing the life out of him only a short while ago.

Managing to regain his breath, Kouji rolled over as fast as he could and got to his knees, breathing hard as his body voices it's complaints about the sudden abuse. But there was nothing he could do...he had to find Takuya. Standing up was no easy task, as he soon found out, and when he finally was standing, beads of sweat rolled down his face and his knees trembled feeling like they were ready to give in at any minute. Somehow, he managed to push aside his pain just as footsteps could be heard...coming right for the room he was in. Steeling himself, Kouji managed to make his way to the low window and fling himself over it as he gasped in the sudden jolting pain to his ribs at the landing. He stayed by the window as he heard the intruders coming in, finding it to be two of the Digimon from before...who had been accompanying Veggiemon...Kouji's eyes narrowed and he tried to still his harsh breathing.

"I knew we were forgetting something! I swear, that Veggiemon never listens! And damnit...that little Destined brat got away!"

"We'll have to tell Veggiemon...it'll sure make his day to find out that he forgot one of the chosen brats. Come on, we can maybe look and see if we can't find the pesky child on our way to where Veggiemon is with the other mongrel children he has."

There were two voices, and from the sound of the footsteps, it sounded like they were leaving.

Taking a small breath, Kouji forced himself to stand, the pain in his ribs slowly turning numb as he ignored it the best to his abilities. He knew he had to save Takuya...and even the others...but he also knew in his condition at the moment, that there would be no way he'd be able to save them now. He'd only get himself captured...and then what?

That part was true. But what good would he be if he couldn't fight? Kouji bit lightly down on his lower lip and forced back the tears that threatened to flow. A big part of him wanted comfort then and there...at least if Takuya were there, he'd provide that comfort, and maybe help ease the pain in his ribs, which Kouji was now suspecting that some were broken from the strength that Veggiemon had applied earlier.

No...he had to do what Takuya had told him to in the first place and run. But he wouldn't run too far. Not if he had a chance in tracking the Veggiemon and the other evil Digimon with him, at least he'd be able to follow his friends.

Upon making that decision, he knew that if he stayed there much longer he'd be caught within seconds. He had to hide, at least until he was able to find his friends whereabouts...and then he'd go from there as he stayed low key, trying to hide in the shadows so not to get caught.

He thought he heard at one point that he heard Takuya scream and he managed to hide quickly in the nearest alleyway that was still smoldering from the flames burning the village, and he mentally cursed himself as he slowly slid down the remaining parts of the stone wall, accessing his hurt ribs and burying his face in his arms. He had been stupid to not make one of the others stay up for night duty...stupid for not arranging the shifts so that they wouldn't be caught like this. Now those Digimon had Takuya-and from what he said, he also had Junpei, Tomoki, and Izumi...he didn't know about Bokomon and Neemon. Kouji found his hands balling into angry fists as he glared hatefully toward the direction of the inn that he had left, and he let his left hand drift off to where his Detector was in the pocket of his windbreaker.

Kouji knew he was tired...he hadn't slept very much, and the previous night was the only night that he'd actually had a full night's sleep since the whole ordeal started with Grumblemon. Though he didn't really want to admit it-and now of all times-he was tired, his body protesting as he forced his eyes to stay awake, though he knew he needed the rest. But he couldn't risk closing his eyes...if he did, he's sleep...and he knew he couldn't do that for if he slept one of two things could happen-he could get caught. Kouji knew that the evil Digimon who had caught the others were probably now out looking for him, and if he wasn't careful to stay hidden well enough, he'd be trapped like the others. The other thing that could happen if he fell asleep is that he'd loose track of the others if he didn't find them now.

He was trying to keep his eyes open, but the more he fought it, the more he succumbed to the much needed sleep his mind and body wanted so very much...

His mind jolted awake some time later, and he cursed himself for falling asleep. Kouji wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but one look around the city told him that he'd fallen asleep long enough for some of the fire to die down or to be controlled and the village wasn't as in much ciaos as it had been when the fire had started and been at it's maximum.

Kouji wondered what exactly had woken him, and then he knew what it was...he sensed someone watching him, and turned to see a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him, causing him to freeze in his movement and close his eyes as he was sure that it was one of the Digimon from the inn who had found him and was going to turn him in...

TBC

AN 2- if I misspelled Gatsomon, I'm sorry.I couldn't remember if it was Gatsumon or Gatsomon.heh.-_-;;