AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I'm alive!

I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. The last few weeks have been intense, to say the least. But it's all good stuff that I've been waiting for, and I'm so happy and relieved that it's finally happened.

The dust is still settling, so I might still be hit-and-miss with updates for a little while longer, but I really wanted to get this chapter live. Thank you for your patience!

Shoutout to XaoOfTheMists for making me persevere with a scene that almost got cut, to Crestoflight3 for being my sounding-off board and general sense-checker, and to animefan9610 for your very kind message.

And a huge thank you to everyone who has favourited or left kudos or followed this story, and an especially huge Thank You Hug to everyone who has left a review. I try to reply to every review and comment, so if you've left me a message – no matter how short – make sure to check your inbox for my reply!

Without further ado, on with today's chapter!

AN UNEXPECTED FLASH

Dear Mimi

I'm sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to you. Things have been pretty busy here. Mum keeps asking me to cover extra shifts at the store and I'm starting to run out of excuses. So far she hasn't asked me any questions, but I think she knows something's changed.

Not much to report from our side. We're still going across when we can, but in the run up to the holidays the computer room is busier than ever. We're having to come back later, and then we get less time before we have to go home again.

We're still trying to catch up to Biyomon and Palmon, but they're still on the move. I know it's the right thing for them to do, because if they stay still too long then the Kaiser might find them, but I wish they'd stay still long enough for us to set up some kind of meeting point.

No sign of Agumon or Tailmon, not since our last run-ins. We would have thought the Kaiser would have been throwing them at us, but there's been no sign of him either. He's still around, unfortunately. He's still putting up his dark towers, but we're doing our best to knock them back down again. We've tried to track him down, but there's no trace of him. We went back to the cells where he kept Yamato prisoner, but everything was gone.

Koushiro thinks he might be able to open his own gate soon. I hope he can, otherwise we might not be able to get back until school starts after summer, and who knows what the Kaiser could do while we're away? Sometimes I hate that we can jump back and forth. It feels like it'd be easier if we could just stay there a while, but it's not like last time. An hour there seems to be an hour here, give or take a few minutes.

I hope you're doing okay. How is school? Your school term is ending soon, right? Any plans for the summer? Maybe we'll finally be able to set up that video call so you can meet the new kids.

Wishing you weren't half a world away. Missing you more than ever.

Sora.

She chewed her thumbnail and re-read the message, wishing she had more good news. Perhaps an absence of bad news was the best they could hope for right now. Eventually she sent the e-mail and logged out of her inbox.

"Thanks, Koushiro," she said, handing the laptop back to him. He accepted it with a nod and set it in his lap, bringing up streaming lines of code and setting to work, his lunch forgotten. Sora glanced across to the desk beside her where Taichi was gnawing absently on a rice ball, staring out of the window. A pink post-it note was clutched tightly between his fingers with 'Happy Friday onii-chan' written above a squiggle that was supposed to look like a cat.

It had been two weeks since the others had come home. Sometimes Sora forgot. It was easy to do, given that school was the same as usual. The only real change was that Koushiro came from his classroom to sit with them more often at lunch, though he was often so engrossed in his laptop that it was like he wasn't there at all.

Sometimes Sora didn't remember anything had changed at all until they rounded the corner down the street and saw Yamato, Takeru and Hikari waiting for them.

"Do you know if Jou is coming today?" she asked. Taichi took another bite.

"I don't think so," Koushiro answered without looking away from his screen. "His father already has three tutors lined up for him."

"Three?" Sora asked. Koushiro nodded.

"He never progressed past middle school, but his father wants him to take entrance exams at the same time as his classmates. He's got a lot of catching up to do."

"They all do," Taichi sighed. He swallowed the last of his rice ball and turned away from the window, leaning back heavily in his chair. "Hikari never left elementary. She can't even read the newspaper."

"Oh," Sora breathed. She hadn't even thought about that. "Takeru too, I'm guessing." Taichi nodded.

"Natsuko's been looking for a tutor, but how do you explain to a teacher that their teenage student only has a kid's reading level? They start asking questions, and then they want names, and it only takes one search online to see that the police still think they're missing." Taichi turned the post-it note over in his fingers with an exhausted frown. "I don't know how Jou's dad did it."

"What will you do?" Sora asked. Taichi shrugged.

"They'll want to know where Hikari and the others have been," Koushiro murmured, more to himself than anyone else but Taichi's shoulders stiffened nonetheless. "Even if they claim they don't remember, it could be weeks of police investigations-"

"Koushiro," Sora murmured. Koushiro stopped typing and looked up, his eyes wide.

"Ah, sorry," he murmured with a nod to Taichi.

"It's not just the police," Taichi murmured. "They might have been okay with leaving me where I was, but that was before dad's work moved him across town and before mum… She wasn't as bad back then. What if they start poking around again? They'll say I'm not old enough to look after Hikari and then-" He stopped, carefully unfolding his fingers. The post-it note was crumpled in his palm and his shoulders sagged. Sora's heart ached and she reached out to place a hand on his elbow.

"You can't keep her hidden forever."

"Can't I? It might keep her safe."

"Taichi," she murmured sternly. He sighed, smoothing the creases of the post-it note.

"Mum's getting better. She's not… I mean she's not great, but having Hikari home is helping. If we can just keep her hidden until she's well again then maybe…" He closed his eyes with a sigh. "We ran in to Mrs Yamada the other night. Had to tell her Hikari was a cousin from out of town."

"What did she say?"

"Just said it was weird that she was visiting before the holidays and then left." Taichi scowled and shook his head. "Old hag can't even remember her own name some days, but she always remembered Hikari." Sora bit her tongue; Mrs Yamada had been the one to raise the alarm when Hikari had disappeared, setting off a seemingly endless chain of police enquiries and investigations.

"She means well," Sora said softly, if only to break the silence. Taichi grunted. Mrs Yamada had loved Hikari and had doted on her like a granddaughter. Hikari had returned the affection by running errands and dropping boxes of homemade cookies whenever she and her mother had spent a Sunday afternoon baking. "How is she?"

"Same as ever, crazy old b-"

"I meant Hikari." Taichi pressed his lips together. He ran his thumb over the squiggly cat and the childish handwriting.

"She's frustrated, he answered. "She used to spend all day running around the Digital World and now she's trapped in our tiny apartment."

"Has she said anything?"

"Of course not," he said with a dry snort. "She was hanging out with Takeru and Yamato during the day, but she said they were getting funny looks because they weren't in school."

"They could have been visiting," Sora offered weakly. Taichi shrugged.

"Just takes the wrong person to ask the wrong question. I don't think she minds being at home all that much. I think being around mum… it helps take her mind off everything else." Sora chewed the inside of her cheek. It didn't sound like a good thing, but it wasn't like there was anything else she could suggest that Hikari could do instead. And perhaps Taichi was right; maybe things would be easier once their mother had recovered a little more.

The bell echoed through the hall, signalling the end of lunch, and Koushiro slid his laptop back in to his bag.

"Shall we meet by the gates after school?" he asked. Sora shook her head.

"We're both on classroom duties today," she said. Koushiro nodded and stood.

"Then I'll go on ahead and meet up with the others." Their classmates were pouring back in to the room, and Koushiro bid them a hasty goodbye before returning to his own room. Sora quickly tidied away the last of her lunch things and dug out her afternoon books before prompting Taichi to do the same. He'd gone back to staring out of the window again, lost in thought, and it took several seconds of nudging for him to acknowledge her.

"You don't have to come with us," she said softly as their teacher, Mr Tanaka, began scribbling across the board. The room was filled with rustling papers as the students around them began flipping open their books. "If it's too painful-"

"Hikari would never forgive me," he whispered back, bowing his head over his book and scribbling something in the corner. "I want to be there. If Agumon shows up again… I want to be there." Sora chewed her lip, but then Taichi was flashing her his signature smile and she stifled a sigh, turning her attention to the board and trying to focus on Tanaka's latest lecture.

The dark tower gave an ominous crack before tilting sideways, belching clouds of black dust as it hit the ground with a bone-shuddering THUD. Iori's teeth rattled.

It was the second tower they'd taken down so far that evening. Their record was five, but they had been packed closely together. Iori thought the Kaiser was perhaps being a little smarter with how he placed his newer towers, and there was a fair amount of distance between them now. Iori wondered if the Kaiser knew that they were limited on how long they could spend in the Digital World, and how much they could get done in a single visit.

Despite the Kaiser's increased activity in the Digital World, Ichijouji Ken's presence back home remained unchanged. He would still pop up every now and then, his face flashing across the television as the news recounted his latest achievements. After winning the National Computer Programming Contest, he had led his school's debate team to victory before taking on some of Odaiba's top chess champions to become the youngest tournament winner since its inception. Iori couldn't help but feel it was deliberate, as though Ichijouji was making a conscious effort to be seen. Iori's grandfather, however, seemed to consider it all an amusing coincidence.

"Yesterday I heard a phrase my father used to say to me," he'd said one night. It had been over dinner; Iori had gone to turn off the television so they could sit down to eat, and Ichijouji's face had made him so angry his fists had turned white. "A frog in a well does not know the great sea. And ever since then, I have been seeing frogs everywhere! Perhaps this is why you have been seeing so much of this Ichijouji boy; you met him at your friend's soccer match, and now you can't help but notice him."

Iori wished he could tell his grandfather the real reason. He wished he could explain why every time the boy's face appeared on the television or beneath the fold of the newspaper, Iori felt an angry pebble of rage burning through his stomach. His grandfather would not think of Ichijouji so kindly, Iori thought, if he knew of the cruelties the boy was capable of.

They set out in search of their next dark tower. Koushiro's map could give them a general heading, but Takeru and Pegasmon would fly on ahead to track down the tower's exact location. Daisuke was delighted whenever the pair took to the sky, and he stuck close to Hikari as she followed Takeru's signal. He kept up an excitable stream of chatter that was occasionally broken by Miyako curtly reminding him that he was supposed to be the one following Takeru's signal and telling them where to go.

Hikari said she didn't mind. She seemed to prefer walking with her attention focused on her D-3, and Iori couldn't help but wonder if it helped her ignore Daisuke's endless attentions or her brother's concerned hovering. Taichi often walked several paces behind her, with Sora, Yamato and Koushiro nearby. He was better now than when they'd first returned to the world after Tailmon's capture, Iori noted. He wasn't stuck quite as tightly to his sister's side as he had been then, and he spent less time keeping her in his sights and more time talking with the other elder Chosen (though it didn't stop him glancing at Hikari every few seconds as though to make sure she was still there).

Takeru and Pegasmon met them at the edge of the woods where the trees suddenly gave way to sand-dusted plains. Iori still hadn't quite adjusted to the jarring randomness of the Digital World's terrain. One minute they could be walking through thick, humid forests, and the next they could be gazing over an endless tundra dusted with vibrant flowers and tufts of spiked grass that were soft as silk. Landscapes were often littered with an assortment of oddities that Koushiro referred to as 'analogue debris'; road signs that led to nowhere, empty vending machines, and telephone poles with wires that disappeared in to the clouds. Armadimon would often ask him what they were all for, and the walk from one tower to the next was often filled with Iori trying to figure out how to explain concepts like electricity and bottled water in ways his partner would understand.

Armadimon, Hawkmon and Veemon wrapped themselves in their armoured evolutions and surged forwards, beginning their assault on the tower. Much like the others they'd encountered recently, this one was unguarded, as though the Kaiser didn't really care about keeping them standing once he'd planted them. With the speed that he erected new towers, Iori supposed it mustn't really matter all that much, and not for the first time he found himself wondering if perhaps the Kaiser was putting up the towers because he knew that they would come along to knock them down.

This time it was Digmon who landed the final blow on the tower, and Iori felt his heart swell as he saw his partner's drills plunge in to a gaping fissure and tear it wide open. The tower creaked and groaned, tilting away and then towards them as it began to fall.

"Everyone back!" Taichi called. They were a fair distance from the tower already, but they'd learned from experience not to be too careful, and Iori dutifully shuffled back with the others. The tower was twisting as it fell, making its trajectory unpredictable, and as it turned Iori saw the deep crack racing up the side.

The tower exploded. Gleaming black shards shot out in all directions and Iori felt a hand grab the back of his shirt, pulling him back. A shard was sailing towards Hikari who spied it too late, and she threw her hands up with a startled scream.

A flash of light and the shard exploded in to sparkling squares of data. Hikari peered through her fingers, her eyes wide with confusion. Taichi's mouth was hanging limp, his hand hanging in the air between them where he had been reached out towards her. Takeru and Pegasmon landed nearby, and Takeru raced towards her.

"Hikari! Are you okay?" he asked. Hikari nodded slowly, staring silently down at her hands as though she'd never seen them before. She slowly curled and uncurled her fingers, turning her hands over to examine them front and back as the others quickly closed in around her.

"How did you do that?" Koushiro asked.

"I… I don't know," Hikari answered, slowly lifting her gaze towards him.

"What was it that you did?" Koushiro pressed, twisting his schoolbag around so he could retrieve his laptop. "It all happened so quickly – I couldn't get a good look at it. Could you do it again?"

"Give her some air, Koushiro," Taichi said firmly. He placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder and she glanced up at him, her expression dazed and confused. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," she breathed. "I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I didn't mean to do anything, it just… happened." Her hands were trembling and her skin had turned pale beneath a sickly sort of flush in her cheeks. Taichi stepped closer, placing his hands on her shoulders as Koushiro glanced back to Hikari again.

"Hikari-" Taichi shot him a glare and Koushiro threw his hands up. After a moment Taichi tilted his head towards his sister and Koushiro cleared his throat. "Hikari, has anything like this happened over the last few years, while you were living here with Tailmon?" She turned towards him with a thoughtful frown, thinking for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't know. I don't think so. But…"

"But?" Koushiro prompted. Taichi gave him a warning glower that Hikari didn't see as she shifted her weight and bit her lip.

"I still don't really remember what happened in Mugendramon's factory." Sora and Takeru shared a silent exchange, their expressions unreadable. Iori's stomach tightened at the tense silence that settled between them.

"What happened?" Daisuke asked. Hikari chewed her lip and glanced to Sora.

"We had all been separated," Sora began. She linked her fingers together and lowered her gaze, staring at the grass as she recounted the tale. "We were in an area that was controlled by a digimon called Mugendramon, and when we were trying to find the others we found a factory full of Numemon. They were prisoners, enslaved and beaten, and… It was horrible to see. Hikari glowed then, too. She freed the Numemon and then she led us back to the others."

"So this happened when you were younger, too?" Miyako asked. Hikari nodded and Miyako's eyes gleamed, nervous curiosity bubbling over in a flood of excitable questions. Iori grimaced. "How does it happen? What causes it? Is it because you're Chosen? Did it happen to anyone else?"

"Whoa, back off, Inoue," Daisuke grunted. He took a defensive step in front of Hikari and folded his arms across his chest, jutting out his chin. To Miyako, it was like a red flag in front of a bull.

"Back off?" she huffed.

"Can't you see you're makin' her uncomfortable? Enough with the interrogation already."

"I wasn't interrogating, I was just-"

"It's none of your business."

"It is my business if it could happen to me too!" Miyako spat, drawing herself up to her full height. She was slightly taller than Daisuke, who didn't seem to appreciate having to look up at her. He craned his neck and arched his back, standing as tall as he could without rising on to his toes.

"It won't happen to you," Sora said calmly as she gently pulled Miyako away from Daisuke. "When it comes to the Digital World, Hikari's always had a special connection." Hikari flinched, though she quickly hid it behind a smile. Iori wondered if anyone else had seen it. Sora was preoccupied with Miyako who was glaring at Daisuke who was glowering right back. Koushiro was focused on his laptop whilst Taichi was watching Daisuke and Yamato was watching Taichi. Iori thought perhaps Takeru might have seen it; he seemed to be the only one looking at Hikari who was smiling kindly at Miyako.

"Please don't worry, Miyako," she said softly. "Nothing like this has ever happened to anyone else."

"We never got the chance to figure out why it happened to you, though," Koushiro murmured.

"There wasn't exactly time to investigate," Takeru said lightly with a smile. Koushiro frowned.

"Still… Perhaps if we could figure out what triggered it when you were younger, it might give us some insight in to what's causing it now." He looked up, glancing at Taichi and giving him a deferential nod before turning his attention to Hikari. "How do you feel? Does it hurt at all?" Taichi turned sharply to Hikari who was looking down at her hands again.

"It doesn't hurt," she said, though her brow was furrowed as though she was trying to find the right words. "It feels… It's warm. I feel fine, though, I promise. Maybe a little tired." Something flashed across Taichi's expression and he straightened, turning his attention to the others.

"I think that's enough for today." Hikari's head snapped up.

"Really, I'm fine, we don't have to stop-"

"It is getting late," Sora said gently, placing a hand on Hikari's elbow. "If we don't get home soon, people might start to worry."

"There isn't another dark tower around for miles," Takeru added. "It could be hours until we find the next one." Hikari pressed her lips together and glanced at him over her shoulder, and something unreadable passed between the two before she finally conceded and allowed Taichi to lead them all back towards the gate with Hikari by his side. Yamato and Takeru flanked them on either side, with Sora and Koushiro close behind.

Daisuke followed a step behind Hikari and Takeru, never more than a half-step away. It had become somewhat of a habit, Iori had noticed. Usually Hikari would laugh and smile, but it seemed now she barely had the energy to look at him, and Daisuke soon fell back back to sullenly skulk along behind them.

His mood was almost as sour as Miyako's who trudged at the rear with Hawkmon at her side. Her partner was glancing up at her, his feathers ruffling anxiously as he studied the troubled look on her face. She was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth; something she often did when faced with a troubling problem, like the time she couldn't figure out exactly what Iori's grandfather had accidentally downloaded on to the family computer.

"Miyako, are you all right?" Iori asked quietly. Hawkmon shot him a grateful glance, and as Iori stepped closer to Miyako, Hawkmon and Armadimon picked up the pace a little to give them some space. Miyako picked at the hem of her vest, her eyes fixed on the ground.

"I just feel like there's so much I don't know," she said. Her voice cut through the silence and Iori saw Yamato glance back over his shoulder. "Every time I think I'm starting to figure this place out, it throws another curveball at me. I can't keep up." Her voice was rising – in volume and in pitch – and Yamato threw a scowl over his shoulder.

"Welcome to the Digital World," he retorted dryly. "There's no handbook. You gotta learn on the job, like we did."

"Maybe they don't," Sora suggested. Yamato glanced at her and she shrugged. "We were in the dark because there was nobody to really guide us, but they have us. If we'd known more about the Digital World, maybe we could have avoided some of our mistakes."

"We don't have time to sit around trading war stories," Taichi grunted.

"But this is important," Sora countered, her voice firm. Taichi stopped, bringing their procession to a halt as he turned towards her.

"More important than the Kaiser? More important than getting our partners back?" he asked sharply. Hikari placed a hand on his elbow and murmured his name, and when Taichi glanced towards her his anger simmered just a little. Sora knitted her fingers together and fixed Taichi with a pointed stare.

"The anniversary is on a Saturday this year," she said. Yamato frowned.

"The anniversary?" he asked. Sora's cheeks flushed and she nodded.

"August first. We used to always spend the day thinking about you guys and hoping you would come home," she answered with a flustered sort of smile. "I guess now that you're back, we don't have to keep wishing anymore."

"So we should spend it here instead," Taichi argued. Koushiro shook his head slightly.

"It's the first weekend of the summer holidays and the computer room is occupied that weekend," said Koushiro. "The only way we're getting to the Digital World that weekend is if I have my gate up and running, which – I'm sorry to say – isn't looking likely." Taichi opened his mouth but Sora shot him a warning glare and he closed it again.

"They don't have to stumble in the dark like we did," she pressed, gesturing to Daisuke and Miyako and Iori. "Maybe if we tell them more about what we went through, it might help them understand."

Taichi grimaced, a war raging across his face as he glanced around the group. His eyes lingered on his sister who gave him a reassuring smile. His frown only deepened. He glanced to Sora who fixed him with a determined look, and to Yamato who tilted his head a little, and then he rocked back and folded his arms across his chest.

"If Koushiro's gate isn't working by next weekend," he conceded, "then we'll see." Daisuke punched the air with an excitable yell.

"All right! I get to hear all about Taichi-sempai's adventures!" he crowed. Miyako flinched and covered her ears.

"Do you have to be so loud all the time?" she huffed. Daisuke only grinned.

"We should get home," Sora quickly interjected before another fight could break out between the pair. She seemed to have a sort of sixth sense for disputes, Iori thought. "If we don't have a gate by next weekend, then I'll arrange for us to meet up somewhere."

They made their way back through to the computer lab before splitting off in to their usual groups. Daisuke lived near the Yagami apartment, so the three of them went in one direction while Sora and Koushiro went in another. Takeru and Yamato were going to meet their father at his office after work, so they walked a while in silence with Iori and Miyako before saying goodbye a couple of blocks from the school. By then, the digimon were asleep. Upamon was snoring lightly in to Iori's shirt while Poromon had made himself a nest in Miyako's school bag.

It was strange to think how much had changed in such a short space of time. There was a furrow in Miyako's brow that hadn't been there several weeks ago, and there was a tiredness that manifested itself in the deep bags under her eyes and a stoop to her shoulders. Miyako had never been one to stick to an avid sleep schedule, sacrificing sleep for another hour or two of tinkering on some device or project, but Iori found himself wondering if she too had found her sleep troubled recently. His dreams had been more vivid than usual – his mind having been opened to previously impossible possibilities – and whilst none were so bad as to be considered nightmares, Iori woke most mornings feeling sluggish and unrested.

"I don't get why he has to be such a jerk," she exploded. Iori jumped, and it took his brain a moment to catch up to her.

"Ah… I'm sure he didn't mean it-"

"'Back off, Inoue'," she mocked, scrunching up her face and balling her hands in to fists. "Like I was attacking her or something."

"You were quite intense-"

"And 'Inoue'! I thought by now we were on a first name basis, but apparently not! Apparently I'm still Inoue to him! How long has it been now? Six weeks? Seven? Even Yamato calls me Miyako and I hardly speak to him!" She folded her arms with a huff, her pace quickening with rage, and Iori had to jog to keep up with her long strides.

"I think Daisuke is just trying to make a good impression," he offered. "He looks up to Taichi and the others-"

"Well he's trying too hard," she spat. "'Back off'… He's the one that needs to back off. I'm surprised Hikari hasn't told him to back off. He buzzes around her like a fly around sh-"

"Miyako," Iori interjected. She stopped and sighed, closing her eyes and letting her shoulders slump. She took a deep breath before looking at Iori.

"I'm sorry," she groaned. "I don't mean to blow up at you, it's not your fault."

"No, it isn't," he agreed. He adjusted his grip on Upamon, waiting until she had taken a few more calming breaths before speaking again. "You should try and control your temper more." Miyako let her head loll back with a groan.

"I'm trying," she sighed. "But Dais- Motomiya makes it so damn hard."

"You need to find a way to stop him getting under your skin so easily." Miyako rolled her eyes.

"Easier said than done. Not all of us have your elevated sense of tranquil serenity. And why is it my responsibility to keep calm? Why aren't we telling Motomiya to be less of a jerk?"

"Maybe somebody will, but I don't think it's appropriate for us to do that." Miyako scowled and muttered something under her breath as they took off towards home again. She stayed in a funk until they passed her family's store, where she remembered that she didn't have a shift for the next two nights and her mood quickly improved.

Before long Iori was home, and Miyako hollered a goodbye down the hall at him as the lift doors closed to take her up to the next floor. Iori flinched at the lingering echo of her voice as he quietly closed the door and slipped out of his shoes.

"Was that Miyako?" his mother asked from the kitchen. She rounded the corner, drying her hands on a tea towel to greet him with a tired smile. "I was hoping she would take a look at the computer. Your grandfather was working on it earlier and it said something about needing to install updates. After what happened last time I was hoping Miyako might take a look at it first."

"I can ask her to come over tomorrow night," he suggested. His mother smiled.

"Would you? Thank you, Iori. You can both come round after school. I'll make ohagi." Iori grimaced.

"It might not be until later, I have a… meeting after school." His mother tilted her head slightly.

"Oh really? What for?"

Iori's mind went blank. Any possible excuse disappeared beyond reach. Panic quickly took hold. He hated lying. He stood there for several agonising seconds, trying to think of something – anything – he could say until his mother folded her hands and gave him a kindly smile. "Is this about your history test?"

"M-my history test?" he asked, squeezing the words past the lump in his throat. His mother nodded.

"I didn't mean to pry, but I went in to your room to see if you had any laundry and I saw it on your desk." She stepped closer, reaching out to smooth his hair, and Iori's stomach twisted painfully. "Eighty-seven is still a good mark, Iori. You should be very proud, I know you studied hard for that test." His ears flushed. He'd gotten distracted halfway through the exam on European history when the word 'Kaiser' had sent his thoughts in to a tailspin that he found it difficult to recover from. He swallowed thickly.

"I think I just need to focus more." That wasn't technically a lie. His mother stroked his cheek.

"If you've asked Miyako to help tutor you, then I think that's a great idea. I was wondering why you two were hanging out more often all of a sudden, but I guess it all makes sense now."

Iori swallowed. The lie was squeezing his heart and he hadn't even said anything. He swallowed and nodded stiffly.

"I… Yes. Miyako's helping me." Another truth, of a sort at least. He wondered how far he could stretch it before it broke.

"Well if you two ever want to study here for a change, you're more than welcome. You know that Miyako is welcome over any time." She was staring at him expectantly and her gaze felt heavy. Iori could feel it weighing down on him. No doubt his mother was already thinking that if Miyako was already there, it would be easier to ask her to look at the computer (and the microwave, given that the clock had reset to zeros again). Upamon squirmed in Iori's arms and Iori gave him a gentle squeeze.

"We prefer to study at school because of the library," he answered. It was only a small lie, after all, and he wasn't so much telling a lie as he was not correcting his mother's assumptions. The others were counting on him – Upamon was counting on him – and they had made it abundantly clear that they were all lying to their parents for the greater good of their partners and the Digital World. A white lie here or there… Iori could manage it, he decided, even if it did make his stomach hurt. "The computers are faster there, so we can get more work done. I think Miyako wanted to use the internet to study tomorrow, but I'll still ask if she wants to come over once we're done to look at the computer."

His mother gave him a curious look – one Iori couldn't figure out – and for a moment he wondered if she had seen right through him. But then she was leaning in to kiss his forehead and smooth his hair again.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes if you could set the table."

"Of course, I'll just put my books away and wash up," he answered. She smiled and made her way back in to the kitchen, and it took all of Iori's self-control not to bolt to his room and lock the door behind him. He kept his pace measured (perhaps too measured) as he slowly made his way to his room, closed the door quietly and sagged heavily against it. Upamon wriggled from his arms and bounced lightly to the floor to blink his large eyes up at Iori.

"Are you okay, partner? Your heart was racing!" Iori swallowed thickly and wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers.

"I'm fine," he answered, although now that Upamon had mentioned it he could feel his heart fluttering in his chest like a hummingbird. He perched on the edge of his bed and clasped his hands together, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

He'd never really had a reason to lie before. He'd never had to hide his class reports or lie about his whereabouts or sneak out in the dead of night to partake in forbidden activities like some of his classmates did. His grandfather had always taught him to be honest and to tell the truth.

"Because once you lie, no matter how big or small, all your truths become questionable," his grandfather had often said when Iori was younger. He would fix Iori with a perceptive stare and would tilt his head before adding: "The truth costs you nothing, but a lie could cost you everything."

Lying had always been very black and white when Iori was growing up. You either told the truth, or you didn't. Now that he was a Chosen Child, there was a smear of grey where the two sides were beginning to merge and it was growing bigger by the day. There was no way he could explain the Digital World to his mother and grandfather – at best he would cause them inconsolable worry, and at worst there was no knowing who else they might try to tell about it.

He was left, then, to put his faith in the elder Chosen – and in the grown-ups who did know about the Digital World. Takeru and Yamato's parents had kept the world a secret even after losing both of their children to it, and even Mr Yagami hadn't broken his silence despite the despair that seemed to have swallowed his wife whole. Jou's father, too, had kept the secret, and given his position among the senior medical staff at his hospital Iori had no reason to believe that Mr Kido wasn't as reasonable and rational as his son.

A gentle knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts, and when he pulled it open he found his grandfather waiting on the other side.

"Oh dear," he said, his kindly smile giving way to a serious frown. "Did I interrupt a deep thought?" Iori felt his cheeks flush and he shook his head.

"No, I… I was just thinking about how much work I have to do." His grandfather gave a slow nod.

"Ah yes, your history test. You should have asked me help you study – I'm old enough to have lived through most of it!" He gave a hearty chuckle that made Iori smile, and he offered a weak laugh in return. "Come on, you must be hungry, and your mother made omurice!" Iori heard the sound of Upamon's stomach rumbling from his hiding place under the bed, and he quickly clamped his hands over his stomach.

"Y-yes! I'm very hungry!" he said in an unconvincing tone. His grandfather clapped a hand against his shoulder.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's eat!"