"Hope is a terrifying thing. It can inspire some, but destroy others."
The room was cold. It had poured the night before and the cold hung in the air. It soaked into metal chairs and flesh just as easily. That's why he shivered. It had nothing to do with the conversation at hand. Or so he told himself.
"Take parents who have had a child abducted. Yes, in the beginning it is necessary and helpful if they have hope but there comes a certain point in which hope transforms into false hope and destructive behavior. Parents may become obsessive or psychotic as they hold onto something statistically unlikely. Hope ruins them."
He was shaking. His leg restlessly bouncing up and down with a whine of metal on wood. Too much coffee, he mouthed to the student next to him who kept glaring daggers in his direction. Definitely too much coffee this morning.
"In other instances, a person may hope for an immoral outcome. A child may hope to get away with lying or sneaking an extra cookie. A murderer may hope to successfully get away with their crime."
"In the end, what Demitris is trying to convey to his followers is that hope is neither good nor bad. Like a knife, any wielder can use it to justify their conduct and morals. Also like a knife, hope can cut — deeply."
As the balding man finished his lecture most of the students politely clapped their hands. He was a guest speaker and deserved the gesture. However, one young and childishly handsome man did not connect his hands. He was the first of the students to scurry towards the exit.
Takeru Takashi, or Tk as his friends called him, made the routine walk to his apartment and quickly grabbed a cardigan to stave off the cold. Once done, he flopped onto his bed and stared at the beige ceiling longingly.
"Hope?"
It had been a long while since he'd thought about that word. At one point hope had been a major part of his life as it guided him through his extraordinary adventures. It was so long ago that it felt like a dream. If not for his friends and the numerous pictures he had, he probably would have believed it was a dream.
Thinking of his old friends made him more melancholic than before. At one point, they were his lifeline, his family, his constant advisors and teachers. Now, he hardly spoke to them. Sure, it was natural and a part of growing up his mother had assured him once when he'd confessed a longing for his old friends. She'd also told him that there were friendships strong enough to erase time itself when two people reunited. Tk hoped desperately that was true.
The one saving grace for the former digidestineds was a private social networking platform Ken and Yolie had built back in high school, DigiPlace. Though less visited now than ever before, it was still a place for the digidestineds to post photos, chat, and reminisce about their digital partners without the rest of the world spying on their business. After the morning's lecture on the pitfalls of hope, Tk felt compelled to check the forum and escape into a safer world of black and white.
"No way," he said in disbelief after retrieving his laptop. On the screen he saw the oldest of their group, Joe, posing with a tall brunette. The caption under the photo said, 'I asked her to marry me, she said yes.'
A few others had already written their words of congratulations and Tk added his own. After hearing Joe's astonishing news most of the other posts seemed mundane. Tai had bragged about his soccer team winning some championship; Yolei and Ken were taking a vacation to a hot springs this weekend; and Mimi opened an Esty shop selling Lilymon themed jewelry to pay for a visit to Japan.
A short time later but certainly time well spent in lightening his mood, Tk closed his laptop and picked up his backpack. It was time for his next class: Religions of the Book.
Sighing, Tk opened his door. He had just remember the homework assignment they were meant to be discussing today in class and his mood soured once more.
The devil's representation in scripture.
Ah yes, he'd met a devil once —or at least something close to it —and it was not a memory he enjoyed recounting in any context.
Taichi Kamiya's University soccer team had just won the national championship and he was ready to take a relaxing and celebratory two-week break before practice started again. The first thing he decided to do was visit his little sister, Hikari. Plus, because he liked to keep things entertaining, he decided it was going to be a surprise!
"Tai?" Kari said sleepily as she opened the front door to reveal her tall and tanned brother. His hair was as messy as usual and his smile easy and bright. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting my darling little sister," he wrapped his arms around her and ruffled her hair as if she were still a small child.
"Ugh," Kari said while shoving him off lightly, "you could have called."
"And ruin the surprise?" Tai invited himself into the house and dropped his backpack on the floor. "Mmmm chips." He saw a half eating bag of potato chips on Kari's desk and began to munch on them without permission. Kari only sighed.
"So, you decided that seven am on a Saturday was a good time to visit?"
"Yup," Tai said while exploring her room. He'd only been there once before when he helped her move in to the dorm thus the decorations were new. He noticed a collage of pictures of their childhood friends and many of her newer ones he didn't recognize. "My train got in at five, I got some coffee but nothing else was open."
"Oh," Kari said apologetically. She still didn't like the early morning intrusion but at least her brother had tried to give her a few more hours of sleep. "Are you hungry then?"
"Yeah, I'm starving," Tai crumpled up the finished bag of chips and threw it into the trash. He glanced around looking for a mini fridge or other vesicle to hold food.
"Alright, alright. There's a banana in the top drawer of the desk if you can't hold on any longer. Otherwise," Kari saw her bed head in the mirror and rolled her eyes, "give me ten minutes for a shower and then we can hit the cafeteria."
Tai retrieved the banana and relaxed onto her bed while teasing, "Yeah, that's a good idea. You stink."
"Oh, shushh." Kari hit his shoulder playfully and then grabbed her bathroom caddy. "You're one to talk. I'll be back soon."
"Fine, fine. I'll just snoop around."
Kari sighed tiredly, "Why don't you just surf the internet and try not to wake my neighbors." Tai nodded in compliance and wasted no time logging onto Kari's laptop. His first stop was his e-mail where he responded to a message from his soccer couch and then he went over to DigiPlace. "Hmmm," he said reading the newest post from Joe.
Hello everyone (especially Matt), I've been trying to reach Tk's cell for about a week to get an address to send the wedding invitation to. Did he change his number? Or maybe he's on vacation? At the very least, does anyone have his address?
No one else had posted a reply yet so Tai wrote, I'm with Kari, she aught to know.
It was only a few more minutes until Kari returned from the shower with her wet hair wrapped in a towel and smelling faintly of flowers.
"Hey, Kar?"
"Yeah," Kari said as she freed her hair and began brushing it. If asked, she'd say she was in the process of growing her hair out. But in truth she was often too consumed with school to bother leaving campus and getting it cut. The usual morning treatment include a quick brush before it was doomed to a ponytail for the rest of the day.
"Have you talked to Tk lately?"
Kari paused to think. She still considered her and Tk to be close thus it surprised her when she couldn't pinpoint the last time they'd actually spoken. "Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"The last time we talked I told him I was worried about my photography final. That was last semester," Kari looked at a calendar, "so eight or nine weeks ago. Why? What's up?"
"Joe's trying to get his address for the wedding invite but can't get ahold of him," Tai said simply showing Kari the screen. She read it over.
"I don't have his address on hand. Nor do I think his cell changed — it's Tk, he's not the biggest fan of any type of change if you recall. But, I think his school breaks early for summer. He's probably out having fun." Kari said reasonably. Yet, while her voice was calm her heart performed an extra beat.
"You're probably right," Tai agreed, "We'll hear from him in a few days no doubt. I'll pass the info along to the others."
"Yeah, thanks," Kari murmured as her eyes found an eighteen year old Tk on her wall of pictures. He was wearing a forest green bowler hat and a T-shirt with the Teenage Wolves logo though they'd broken up years before the picture was taken. He radiated happiness and the memory shadowed her anxiety.
"So, breakfast?"
"Uh huh," Kari grabbed her phone. She sent a single message before gathering her purse and following Tai out the door.
Call me when you're free? I miss you.
Matt was a little alarmed when he checked DigiPlace later that same night. Everyone except for Davis and himself had responded to Joe's message. They all said they hadn't talked to Tk for at least a few weeks nor did they have Tk's address. Matt was a bit angry and frustrated that everyone seemed to forget about his little brother; then again, so had he. He'd visited his little bro during freshman year but was pretty sure he was living somewhere else off campus now. Maybe he was sub-leasing for the summer? Matt wasn't quite sure.
Matt tried Tk's phone but was sent straight to voicemail as Joe had indicated and thus followed up with a text.
Plz, call me when you can.
Then, despite it being late, Matt called his mother.
"Matt? I was just about to go to bed," Nancy said tiredly as she answered the phone.
"Sorry mom, I was just wondering if you had heard from Tk recently," Matt said as calmly as he could. Honestly, there was no reason to worry her yet.
"Are you guys fighting again? I really don't want to be in the middle. You're adults now, you can work this out yourselves."
"No mom, it's not that," Matt said guiltily. It was true he and Tk had started fighting more. Two years ago the local college had offered Tk a full ride basketball scholarship but Tk had turned it down to go to a liberal university on the other side of the country. After freshman year, Tk gave up basketball completely and started to study literature. Matt didn't agree with the decision. "Mom, do you know where Tk is now?"
"He's still in school."
'It's the summer?"
"Yes, it is summer, Yamato," she answered impatiently, "Tk got a summer internship with one of his professors. You really need to catch up with him."
"I will, mom, but first, when was the last time you spoke to him?"
"Matt, what's this about?" Nancy asked suspiciously.
"Mom, I just need to know," Matt pleaded.
"Two Wednesdays ago."
"Did he say if he was going on any trips?"
"No, we talked about his internship. That's all," Nancy paused. "Really Matt, you should just call him yourself."
"Yeah mom, I'll call him. Um, but do you have his address. I want to mail him something as a surprise."
"Of course, dear, I will text you the information as soon as we're done."
Matt thanked his mother and they exchanged pleasant goodbyes. True to her word, he received an address within minutes. One click and Matt had it saved. In one more click he had directions up in Maps.
"No, be cool, Matt," he told himself. Tk was an adult now. He was smart and responsible, and had made it perfectly clear he wanted Matt to treat him as such. He was probably just really busy. Or his phone broke. Matt shouldn't worry. After all, the guilt was causing his heartburn and nothing else.
Matt was soundly sleeping in bed despite the bright sunshine streaking through the window when his phone rang. He saw the caller ID was his mother and decided to answer it despite his grogginess.
"Hey mom."
"Matt!" Matt was alert instantly at hearing his mother's panic.
"What happened?"
"Do you know something about Tk? Why did you call yesterday?"
"Mom, what's going on?"
Matt was already standing and looking for some jeans. Tk might be a hundred miles away but his mother was just across the city. He could be there in a few minutes if necessary.
"The police just called. Tk's internship Professor just reported him missing. He hasn't shown up to work for five days."
"Seriously?"
"Matt, do you know something? I told the police you were asking about your brother yesterday and they want to talk to you."
Matt clenched his head as dizziness threatened to overcome him from the news, "Tk's phone didn't work and I was worried, but I swear I didn't know he was gone, mom. It's not like Tk is someone who gets in trouble."
"Oh Goodness, I hope he's alright." Nancy's tears were muffling her voice. "I need to call your dad."
"Mom, it'll be alright. Tk is a good person. Nothing bad can happen to him. Have hope."
Unlike what many people thought, he didn't goof-off all the time. In fact, Davis had been extremely focused for the last week creating a pitch for his noodle cart business. He'd asked a friend to design a logo, the sample bowls were ready to go, and he was near finished with the presentation. However, before putting in some of the more tedious work, he decided to allow himself a break and log in to DigiPlace. What he saw surprised him.
The first post of the site was from Matt. It said, A Professor filed a missing person report on Tk.
"What!" Davis said out loud and then scrolled down to read the previous posts. He barely made it halfway through before he frantically called Matt. As soon as he heard Matt pick up the phone he shouted, "I just talked to him on Sunday!"
"What?" Matt answered a bit startled. "That's when the police think he disappeared."
Davis deadpanned.
"Davis, are you there?" Matt asked frantically, "What do you know?"
"A few weeks ago I needed some capital for my noodle cart and Tk offered to become an investor since he'd recently gotten a cash reward for some writing contest. He called me to ask for some info so he could transfer the money."
"Davis, this is really important: —did Tk seem stressed or uneasy?" Matt asked seriously.
"No, not at all. We chatted for almost an hour. Aside from being overly excited about reading a four hundred year old book, he was completely normal." Davis paused, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Matt said unsurely; he honestly didn't have any answers at all. "I'm going to tell the police what you told me; they'll probably call you for an official statement."
"Oh ok, I'll be waiting."
Matt hung up and Davis could do nothing but pace around the room. While he had been selfishly spending his friend's money, that same friend had gone missing. He felt unreasonably guilty.