A sort of update on my Digital Switch story from long, long ago. Enjoy.

The d'Arcmon heaved as the blast of fire struck her back. She tumbled headfirst, crashing into one of the numerous trees littering the area. She jumped back to her feet, twirling around as she whipped her sword from its holster. "That was a cheap shot!"

Taichi sneered as he rode Greymon through the trees. "You started it when you ambushed that group of Koromons."

d'Arcmon met his eyes but tightened her grip on her sword. "They refused to give me what I wanted."

"And what was that," Greymon growled.

d'Arcmon only smirked.

Taichi was ready to order his partner to attack again but stopped as loud thumps sounded behind him. Togemon pushed her way through the forest with Mimi seated on her fist. "There you are!" the cactus digimon huffed, "You caught up to her. Good."

"We talked to the other Koromons," Mimi said, eying d'Arcmon, "They said she took a vase or something."

Taichi narrowed his eyes. "A vase? You slaughtered a village of Koromons just to take a vase from their museum?"

d'Arcmon chuckled. "Do you really think I would go through all that trouble just for some porcelain?"

"Then why?" Mimi demanded.

d'Arcmon laughed and charged. "You'll have to beat the answer out of me!"

Taichi and Mimi slid off their partners and the two digimon raced to meet her. d'Arcmon easily wove through Togemon's jabs before shielding herself from Greymon's fire blast with her sword. She swung her weapon in an arc, sending out a wave of yellowish energy. "Baptism of Love!"

The dinosaur grunted as he took the attack head-on, but d'Arcmon left herself open for a blast of Togemon's Prickly Bang Bang. The angel digimon hissed as the needles embedded themselves into her back. She leaped at Togemon, ready to jab her sword into the cactus's head. Greymon spewed another Nova Blast, once again, hitting her from behind. She used the blast to propel herself over Togemon in a gymnastic twist and landed on a tree branch.

"Stop doing that!" she screamed, "Or else I'll…" Her eyes focused on the two humans. "Two against one's too tough with you two," she muttered, "And since you like to fight dirty, I'll do the same!"

She launched off the tree branch, twisting to avoid both Togemon and Greymon's attempts to grab her before landing on the ground. She charged at the two humans, blades ready. Taichi yanked Mimi behind him but d'Arcmon smirked. She jabbed the ground, sending out a tsunami of dirt that sent the humans flying into the air, both of their digivices out of their hands.

"Got you!" d'Arcmon laughed, "Baptism of Love!"

The arc of energy from her sword struck the digivices with a small explosion. Taichi's heart seized as both his and Mimi's devices hit the ground like stones. Greymon had run past d'Arcmon and caught both Taichi and Mimi on his back, but now he cried out as he regressed to Agumon, dropping the humans onto the ground with a thud. Mimi called out for her partner, only to watch as Togemon devolved into Palmon.

d'Arcmon watched, a sneer forming over her face. She gave a bow, moving like a dancer before vanishing into the forest.

Mimi was in tears and Taichi was just holding his back, by the time Daisuke and Takeru reached them. Agumon and Palmon had recovered from their energy drain but Takeru tried to put on a brave face when they showed him their digivices. "Um, t-they don't look too bad," he said, with an obviously forced smile.

"Really?" Mimi sniffed, "You think so?"

He nodded. "Yeah, um, I mean, think about it. They wouldn't be much use to us if they could be damaged so easily, right?"

Daisuke stared at him. "Are you drunk or something? They look like they're about to fall apart at any second."

Takeru growled at him. Taichi frowned as he examined the digivice in his hand. It was dinged and dented, with the screen cracked and multicolored wires sticking out from a hole in the back. Mimi's did not look any better. He pushed down the growing fear in his stomach. "Koshiro's gonna have to take a look."

Palmon lay a hand on Mimi's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure things'll be fine. I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere."

Mimi grinned and hugged her partner. Taichi felt his stomach twist. He had not even thought about their partners vanishing somehow."

"I'm not leaving either," Agumon said, "Other digimon live without a digivice, so we can too."

Taichi gave a weak smile and rubbed the top of his head. "Yeah, thanks." He turned to Daisuke. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah," the other boy nodded, "There's a Digital Gate nearby."

They said goodbye to their partners, Taichi secretly hoping it would not be for the last time, and entered the gate along with Mimi. As he felt the familiar tingling of his body changing from digital to biological, he felt a strange burst from the damaged digivice in his pocket, sort of like a shiver that passed from his waist over his entire body.

He thought he saw Mimi shiver when he exited the gate into Koshiro's private office but did not have the chance to ask before Hikari rushed over to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

His sister glanced at Takeru. "He said you had bad news."

Taichi blinked. "Y-yeah." He glanced around at the room, "Where's Koshiro?"

"He had to leave," Hikari explained, "So he asked us to lock up." She fidgeted, "Do you have bad news?"

With a sigh, he pulled his damaged digivice from his pocket.

"Do you want to see Agumon tomorrow?" Hikari asked.

Taichi finished brushing his teeth and exited the bathroom with a shrug. "Yeah. I mean, he said he'd be fine…"

She gave him a warm smile before embracing him. "We just need Koshiro to look at him and I'm sure there'll be good news."

He prayed that his sister was right as he fell asleep that night.

He dreamed of d'Arcmon deleting Agumon and then himself jumping through the Digital Gate. His damaged digivice exploded on the other side.

Taichi woke when he heard his mother calling him."Taichi, are you awake?"

Damn it, it was morning already? He was tangled in the sheets of his bed with his head pressed into the pillow. "Yeah!" he shouted in a muffled voice.

"I'm leaving for my doctor's appointment. I'll be back in a few hours, so don't think about skipping."

"Yeah, yeah."

Once the door shut, Taichi threw off the sheets examined his digivice, which was resting on his nightstand. It was still damaged; shattered screen, dented plastic-metal, with black wires poking out through the cracks on the back. No change. He frowned and walked out of his room.

Hikari's shoes were missing. She was already gone? Taichi turned to the large clock on the wall. No, he still had plenty of time before he needed to leave for school. Why did Hikari leave so early? Oh, right, she had a photography club meeting before school.

He continued to the toilet and undid the front of his sweat pants. Wait, where…? Cold panic seized him and he threw down his pants and boxer shorts. No…no way! He had a…

He was sure his scream could be heard across the city.

He stumbled backward, tripping in his boxer shorts pooled around his ankles, and knocked into the wall. As he did, he felt an unfamiliar weight shifting on his chest. His t-shirt was loose but he could see the outline of something pushing through from underneath. He threw off the shirt and two breasts bounced free.

He took a deep breath and stared into the mirror.

A teenage girl stared back.

Distorted Reflection

Chapter I

Taichi's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he had to grab the sink to keep from passing out.

He…she rubbed her forehead and nearly cut herself on her nails protruding from her long, delicate fingers. "How the hell did this happen?"

She gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. She sounded like Hikari except a little deeper…more mature.

Her fingers twisted into a fist. d'Arcmon! It had to be d'Arcmon; her last attack, the one that almost fried Taichi and Mimi's digivices! But how? They were normal when they returned back to Earth, normal when they went to sleep, so the change had to happen overnight.

Which meant…

Taichi raced into her room and grabbed her phone. She texted Mimi's number and then plopped down on the bed to wait for a response. She stared at her breasts again, her naked breasts; her shirt was still in the bathroom.

She shivered, which only made the need to urinate come crashing back. She returned to the bathroom and dropped onto the toilet. How was she supposed to do this? Just relax the same muscles as…? She shivered as her bladder emptied. It was the same feeling as a guy, just…different.

She caught another look at herself in the mirror. What would her mother say to the naked girl walking around the apartment? She now needed clothes.

She gritted her teeth and walked into Hikari's room. Her sister's spare uniform hung on the back of her closet door. Damn, school!

She ran back to her room to grab her phone; still no response from Mimi. She texted Koshiro: "I need to skip school because of a Digital World problem."

The response came back immediately. "Don't worry. I'll find a way to get you an excused absence."

How? Since it was probably going to involve hacking into the school's computer system, it was probably safer to not know.

With that done, she returned to Hikari's dresser. Taichi felt like a sick pervert looking through her sister's underwear, but there was no chance any of her real clothes would fit. She also told herself that sisters shared clothes all the time.

She grabbed the plainest, least girlish bra and panty set she could find, but, as if things were not weird enough, the bra was too small. A strange sense of pride filled her that she was bigger than her little sister, but also a growing disgust as it meant there was only one other female in the apartment.

She walked into her parents' bedroom and found a pile of clothes on the bed. Her mother must have finished the wash but left before putting it away. She fished out a bra and held it against her chest. It looked like it would fit.

The doorknob on the front door turned with a familiar click! Her mother was back already! Taichi grabbed clothes at random and a pair of shoes from the floor before diving back into her room. She pointed her digivice at the computer and escaped into the Digital World.

She landed in the middle of a forest with Agumon appearing a moment later. The small dinosaur stared. "Who are you?"

She should have realized this would be awkward. "It's me, Taichi.

He sniffed the air and cocked his head to the side. "You smell like Taichi and kind of look familiar."

"It's me!"

Agumon held up his hands. "Okay, okay. How did you change into a girl?"

"I think when d'Arcmon hit me and Mimi with that weird energy yesterday."

"Really?" Agumon asked, "I don't remember hearing that d'Arcmons had that kind of ability." He shrugged, "But what's the big deal?"

Of course, he would not think it was strange, digimon could changed from male to female when they evolved. "I know it's not a big deal for digimon, but humans don't normally change like this!"

Agumon continued to stare and she realized that she was still naked. She hugged herself, trying to cover as much as possible. "Don't look!"

Agumon just rolled his eyes and looked away. The teenage girl ran behind a tree and dropped the clothes. She paused. This was the first time she got a chance to get a good look at her new body, the first chance to look at a naked female body. The sooner it was covered the better. She yanked on the underwear and jeans, which, to her continued embarrassment, hugged tightly against her new curves.

It took some time before she got the bra on, but it fit better than Hikari's. The black tank top hugged against her breasts even more. She had taken a gray sweater for some reason, but since there was a slight breeze, she put that on as well. The sneakers were a little tight, but she could walk in them.

She emerged from behind the tree. "How do I look?"

Agumon shrugged. "Like a human girl, I guess."

Was that really what she wanted to hear? She did not want to look like a girl, but she did not want to stand out either. She ran a hand through her hair, which was now spilling down to her shoulders. She had not had the chance to use her hair gel.

"So, now what?" Agumon asked.

She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I have no idea. I guess we need to start looking for d'Arcmon."

"There's a town nearby, let's start there." Agumon cocked his head to the side. "So, do I still call you Taichi?"

She blinked. "What? Of course!"

"Sorry! Just with digimon our names change with our forms."

"Yeah, I know," she sneered, "I've been around digimon for almost six years now!"

"But humans still have different names; you're not all called 'human,' right?"

"Yeah, so what's your point?"

"Isn't Taichi a boy's name?"

She hesitated. There were a decent number of Chosen in the Digital World, and many of them knew Taichi. Did she want everyone to know about her change?

"Yeah, okay, maybe you're right. Um…I guess you can call me…um…Taiko."

"Very original," Agumon said, rolling his eyes.

Taiko sneered and crossed her arms. "Yeah, whatever, let's just get to that village."

"What about your digivice?" he asked.

She frowned, her annoyance melting away into anxiety. "Oh, yeah. Um, it's still broken."

"How'd you get there, then?"

She shrugged. "I knew it could open gates since it's how me and Mimi got home yesterday."

They continued into town, which resembled a prospecting town from the American west. The Starmon working at the cafe even spoke with a Texas drawl. "What can I get for ya' little lady?"

Taiko shivered at being called a 'lady." The smell of chocolate filled her nose and her mouth started to water. She followed it to a display case of chocolate cakes and fruity desserts. Her mouth started to water. She was really a guy, she was really a…

Oh, who the hell was she kidding? As a guy it would be too embarrassing to devour a chocolate dessert; she had looked on more than once with jealousy at Hikari's choice of dessert whenever Taichi had taken her to the local café.

Taiko ordered a double strawberry chocolate parfait. After placing the order, Taiko asked the Starmon behind the counter, "Um, I'm looking for someone, a digimon named d'Arcmon."

He shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't seen a d'Arcmon around here in ages."

Taiko sat down at Agumon's table. "Now what?" the digimon asked.

While she was thought of their next move, Koshiro texted her back. "I was right," she said to Agumon, "Mimi's been changed into a boy. She..um, he is still at his apartment."

"Is he gonna meet us here?"

The thought of seeing any of her friends caused goosebumps to erupt over her skin. It was going to be awkward as hell, but at least she would not be alone. "Yeah, good idea."

She texted Mimi and the response came back, "I can't open a gate! My digivice won't work!"

Taiko bit her lip and studied her own damaged device. What if her's failed too? Would she be stuck in the Digital World?

Mimi texted again. "Miyako said she'll come over here after school. Everyone else is at their after school clubs."

Taiko hissed and texted Koshiro. "You're coming right? You don't have computer club?"

His response, "I'll cancel. Don't worry, I'll be there later."

Taiko stared at Agumon. "What's up?" he asked.

"Um, Mimi's going to wait for Miyako and Koshiro'll be here later."

The Starmon placed the desert onto the table. "Here you are. Enjoy."

The human licked her lips. "But, um, we'll talk after this."

After devouring the parfait, Taiko treated herself to a chocolate espresso covered in whipped cream. She had just finished the drink when Agumon said, "They're here."

Koshiro, Iori, and their partners stepped through the door. Her cheeks burned and she pulled her head down. "I can't do this, Agumon," she whispered.

"What?" he gasped.

"I…I can't…"

"Well, they're coming over."

"Taichi?"

She slowly pulled up her head and saw Koshiro and Iori staring at her. "Y-yeah, it's me," she said with a slight smile, "But I guess you'd better call me Taiko right now."

"How are you feeling?" Koshiro asked.

"How do you think?" she snapped.

Iori cleared his throat, "Are you a girl…um…everywhere?"

"Yes," she sneered, "Everywhere."

Armadimon said, "Humans don't normally change like this, do they?"

Tentomon replied, "As weird as they are, they still don't change like digimon do."

Taiko glared, "Now that we've got the interrogation out of the way, what are we going to do about this?"

"First, let me see your digivice, " Koshiro said.

Taiko handed hers over. Koshiro examined the screen and the cracks on the back. "But you were still able to open a Gate?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Do you think we can fix it?"

"I don't know," he said, "Have you tried evolving Agumon yet?"

Human and digimon turned to each other. "No," Agumon said with a shake of his head.

"We might have a chance to try later," Koshiro said, "A digimon with d'Arcmon general appearance was spotted near a DinoHumon village."

"What? Really?" Then she blinked, "Why do you mean 'general appearance."

"It could be another angel type digimon."

Iori said, "It's the best lead we have right now."

She sighed. "How far away is it?"

Tentomon buzzed overhead. "Far enough that you'll need to take the Kabuterimon express."

Taiko nodded. "All right, let's go."

Mimi, or rather, Michio, as he had started to think of himself, had tried to keep himself occupied with television. He was not about to go outside, in fact, he was ready to crawl into his closet and stay there for the rest of his life.

He was surprised at how muscular he had gotten, and that even though he guessed his hair was the same length as before, it seemed shorter now, only just brushing the top of his shoulders. Maybe because he was taller? He even felt traces of a beard on his chin. It was weird for him to stare down at a flat chest but even weirder for the new sight between his legs. He had never seen a real male member outside of the internet or health class. He shivered, best not to think about it.

Just when he had gotten to the point when he was about to leave the apartment, embarrassment be damned, there was a knock on the door. "Mimi?"

It was Miyako. Michio took a deep breath and opened the door. "Mimi?!" Miyako gasped.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, it's me." Then he chuckled, "But maybe you should call me Michio for now. Thanks for coming over."

"Yeah, no problem," she said, trying not to stare. "Oh! Um, I brought someone over." She stepped aside to reveal Hawkmon and a green plant digimon.

"Palmon!"

The plant digimon studied him. "They told me you had turned into a boy…" She shrugged, "Well, whatever, you're still Mimi on the inside, right?"

Michio smiled and hugged her. "Oh, Palmon!"

"I must say," said Hawkmon, "You humans can be most strange."

"So, um," Miyako said, "Koshiro doesn't think it's a good idea to try and see if you can get into the Digital World right now, so I figured I'd get her for you."

"Well, I'm bored out of my mind. I need to get out of this apartment."

Miyako grinned. "Well, you wanna go to a restaurant or something?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. He chuckled, "I guess since I'm the guy now, it's my treat, ha!"

Taiko hugged herself as another blast of wind ripped across the open field. "Are you cold?" Agumon asked.

She glanced at Koshiro and Iori, both of whom were in short sleeves. She was not about to admit that she felt the growing chill from the setting sun, even with her sweater. "No, I'm fine."

She brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Wish I grabbed a hair band before I left, though." She ran a hand through her brown hair, or at least tried to, as her fingers caught and tugged on her scalp. She did not even have time to comb it.

She turned to Koshiro and Iori. "Do either of you have a hairbrush?"

Both glanced at each other.

Taiko rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't, you're boys." She gasped. Did she really just say that?

She slouched. "I'm already starting to think like a girl, aren't I?"

Koshiro cleared his throat. "W-well, maybe you're just subconsciously reverting to how you've seen girls act. Sort of like a defense mechanism." She shrugged, "I bet Jyou could explain better."

"For what it's worth," Tentomon said, "You look a lot like the other human girls I've seen."

"Tentomon!" Koshiro snapped.

Taiko blinked; she had not seen herself aside from a panic look into the bathroom mirror at her apartment. How did she really look?

Guessing her question, Iori pointed to a body of water. "There's a stream over there."

Taiko dropped to her knees and, taking a deep breath, pulled her head over the shoreline. An eerie shiver crept up her spine at the unfamiliar reflection. She saw traces of her male self, but it was a little softer. Her hair was just as wild as it had been before, but his softer face and smaller body frame made it look longer, more feminine.

"Are you okay?" Koshiro asked, running over.

Taiko climbed to her feet and tugged at her hair. "Y-yeah, yeah, I guess." She took a breath, "Guys, tell me the truth, do I look like my Mom?"

Koshiro waved his hands while Iori shook his head. "No! No, of course not."

Taiko sighed. If she continued to think about it, she would lose her mind. Focus on d'Arcmon. "Let's just keep going."

The others wisely kept quiet as they continued across the grassy field. A group of Kotemons poked their heads through the tall grass. "Humans?" one asked.

"Chosen!" another cried, "Help us, please!"

"We're here to help," Taiko said, kneeling beside them, "What's wrong?"

"Did you come from the DinoHuman village?" asked Koshiro.

The first Kotemon nodded. "Yeah, what's left of it."

"What do ya mean?" asked Armadimon.

The second Kotemon pointed to the distance, "A d'Arcmon showed up and demanded we give her one of our relics. It's sacred to us, so we refused. She then easily killed our DinoHuman guards and took our elder prisoner. Please, you have to help us."

Taiko grinned. "Don't worry, your village will be fine. We're on it."

She stood and waved at the others. "Come on, boys, let's go."

Koshiro and Iori looked at each other again and Taiko blushed. "Um, I mean, come on, guys, let's do this."

They found the village without any difficulty, but there was little left when they arrived. Huts were smashed, craters lined the street, and the smell of destruction was in the air. The Chosen continued in silence to the only building still standing, a tall tower in the village's center. An open door rested at the top of a set of brick stairs.

"Looks inviting, doesn't it?" Tentomon said.

They continued up the stairs and peeked inside. The room was empty except for a smashed glass case at the far end of the room. Taiko's heart sang. "I guess d'Arcmon's got whatever she came here for."

Agumon gasped, sniffing the air. "What is it?" Taiko asked.

"We're not alone!" he gasped.

The Chosen twisted around and saw an angel digimon emerge from the shadows. "d'Arcmon!"

She smirked. "Good afternoon, Chosen." She nodded at Taiko, "To answer your question, yes, the villagers here finally decided to be reasonable and give me their Key."

Taiko glared. "Then, where are they?"

She smirked. "Well, I needed to set an example. I shouldn't have to wait three hours for what I want."

Taiko clenched her fist. "What Key?" Koshiro asked, "What are you here for?"

"Ultimate power, what else?" she laughed.

Taiko continued to stare. "How did you turn me into a girl?"

D'Arcmon blinked. "What?"

Taiko pointed at her breasts. "I woke up with these because of your last attack yesterday!"

The angel digimon stared at her. "I have no such attack that would change someone's appearance, but why even ask? You had those yesterday when…" She narrowed her eyes, "No, you are not the human girl I fought yesterday, are you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you that boy?"

Taiko bit her lip and d'Arcmon gasped. "You are! What happened to you?"

"You did this!" Taiko screamed.

D'Arcmon shook her head. "I already told you, I can't do anything like that, but why are you complaining? Digimon change genders at times…"

"I'm aware!" she screamed.

D'Arcmon continued. "…like this!" She threw open her arms and exploded with light. "d'Arcmon evolve to HippoGriffomon!"

Koshiro and Iori ordered their partners to evolve, while Taiko stared at her damaged device. Would it even work?

HippoGriffomon unleashed a blast of red energy that struck both Kabuterimon and Ankylomon. She held her breath and shouted, "Agumon!"

Her partner ran forward and leaped into the air. Taiko exhaled when the familiar light enveloped her partner, but her smile dropped when the light faded, revealing a digimon that was not Greymon.

"Agumon evolve to Sunflomon!"

Kabuterimon and Ankylomon stared in shock, leaving themselves open for a sneak attack from HippoGriffomon's Heat Wave.

Taiko stared; had she traded more than just genders with Mimi? She gritted her teeth. "All right, Sunflomon, I've got no idea what's going on, but let's do it."

"You got it!" the giant sunflower cried, "Let's try this. Sunshine Beam!"

The blast of sunlight fired from her petals smashed into HippoGriffomon's face. He grunted and licked the small welt on his chin. "This is getting a little dangerous. Time for a hasty retreat."

"You're not getting away that easily," Taiko declared.

HippoGriffomon smirked. "Try and stop me."

Kabuterimon shot forward, fists swinging. HippoGriffomon dropped below the tangle of limbs to grab the insect's leg with his jaw before throwing him onto Ankylomon. Both digimon moaned before regressing to their Child forms.

Iori groaned and Koshiro sighed. "Oh, how embarrassing."

HippoGriffomon smirked at Sunflowmon. "You're next. Heat Wave!"

Taiko held her breath. Her new partner tried to dodge the attack but she was too bulky to move in time. The t-rex Greymon could have withstood the blast of red energy, the massive cactus Togemon could have withstood it, but Sunflowmon was like a sunflower, complete with a flimsy stem. The force of the attack threw her backward into the wall. Taiko ran to her side just as she devolved into Agumon.

HippoGriffomon growled. "I'm going to tell you this only once. Stay out of my way!" He flew through the open door and into the sky.

Taiko, Koshiro, and Iori returned to Earth and met up with the rest of the Chosen at a noodle restaurant with Miyako and Michio. Everyone's eyes were on the two swapped teens. Taiko felt like a circus freak. "Are you done staring yet?" she snapped.

"S-sorry," Sora said, "This is just so strange."

"We know," Michio snapped.

"I still don't see what the big deal is," Agumon said.

"Yeah, I know," Palmon replied.

"Humans don't change like this!" Taiko and Michio snapped at their partners.

Taiko sighed and turned to see Hikari studying her. Taiko blushed. "I look like Mom, I know."

Hikari's hands fidgeted in front of her. "It's okay, we'll fix this, Oniichan." She stared for another second, and then looked away.

Taiko felt like her heart had been torn in half. "Hikari…"

The younger girl looked back. "No! Don't be sad!" she spurted, "It's just strange to call you that." Then she wrapped her arms around Taiko. "And no matter what, you're still my big…my big sibling.

"At least you learned what d'Arcmon's after," Miyako offered.

Taiko and Michio glared at her and she turned away. "No, she's right," Takeru said, "We at least have an idea of how to stop her."

"Yeah," Taiko admitted, gesturing to Michio, "But it doesn't help us."

Hikari placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "But, it wasn't really realistic to think that we'd find d'Arcmon and everything would be back to normal, right?"

Taiko slouched. "No, no I guess not."

Koshiro nodded. "And at least we know that your digivices still work."

The teens both pulled out their devices. "Wait a second," Michio said, "Taichi, does yours look better?"

Taiko examined her own; the screen was still shattered, but the crack on the back was, indeed, smaller. She turned to Koshiro. "They're repairing themselves?"

He blinked. "They are?" He frowned.

"What?" Taiko asked.

"Nothing," he said, "Just, um, I don't think you two should use them again until we really get a good look at them."

Taiko and Michio turned to each other. "A-all right," Michio said, "If you really think so."

"We've got another problem, right?" Hikari asked, turning to her sister.

"Mom and Dad?" he asked.

Michio shivered. "I've got to tell mine, too. At least Hikari will be with you."

"I'll come!" Miyako volunteered, "It won't be so bad with someone else, right?"

"Yeah, thanks," he chuckled. He took a breath and stared at the table. "Well, might as well get this over with."

Mrs. Yagami looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps behind her in the kitchen. "Hi, Hikari, dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

She turned around from the oven and blinked at the other girl standing beside her daughter. "Oh, hello," she bowed, "Hikari, if you are going to invite a friend, I would appreciate it if you let me know beforehand. There's plenty to eat, but…"

Wait; that girl looked very familiar. Mrs. Yagami turned to Hikari, and a cold feeling grew in her stomach. She looked back at the other girl. "No…Taichi?"

The girl nodded and Mrs. Yagami felt her legs give way beneath her.

To be continued…

Did you enjoy it? Any criticisms? Thanks for the read and please remember to review.