Disclaimer: I do not own any Digimon or any of the characters. They are just that memorable whether you're five or a grown adult.

On another note I just realized the page breaks so far did not carry over from the doc manager. We all make mistakes. Another mistake I did not make is making Taichi seem like a jerk. What you don't understand now you have to take into context throughout this story. I might be hard on him, but I always saw him as a stubborn hard headed leader. who always came through in the end. That only makes his redemption more noteworthy.

Chapter 6: Bond of Brothers

Hikari awoke sometime later, but it was at her home. She looked so surprised to see she was back so soon, but realized the stress must have gotten to her and she had passed out. She realized she was in bed, her digital friend beside her. She felt Salamon's fur, Salamon's chest inhaling and exhaling as she rested comfortably in her arms healing up from the battle before. Hikari felt relieved to have her with her still, but she felt her own forehead and it felt incredibly hot still.

She opened her eyes barely and in the hallway saw her Mom slap her brother.

Why...is Mom hitting Taichi?" she thought. He did not do anything wrong.

She could barely keep her eyes open as she passed out again.

Takeru glanced at the clock on his phone as he himself could not bring himself to open the door to the Yagami residence. Yamato had told him before about what happened to Hikari. Even though he was banned by her brother from seeing her their was no way he could just ignore her.

"Hikari," he said finding the strength to ring the doorbell.

A lady answered the door, similar to Hikari, with a sad smile. He always thought Hikari's mom looked pretty and wondered if one day Hikari would look like her,, but Takeru believed Hikari was even more beautiful.

"Oh, hi Takeru," Hikari's mom said.

"Hi," he said taking off his hat. "I heard about what happened to Hikari. No one has told me anything about her current condition. Is she ok?"

Her mom looked at Takeru in frustration, much to his surprise, then she smiled. "She has a terrible fever. But I don't ever want to see your face again or hear you stopped on by. Understood?"

Takeru literally stumbled when she said those words. She sounded like Taichi.

"But why?"

"Because you will be the death of my child," she said slapping him in the face.

Takeru stared stunned at his cheek vibrating in pain. "I did not do any-"

"-Why didn't you protect her?!" she yelled grabbing onto his shirt. "I know about you digidestined! Aren't you supposed to be the Crest of Hope? Why weren't you there?! You are always with her!"

Takeru felt the tears welling up in her eyes and tilted his head down. His side ached out of emotional pain, the physical pain slowly going away. How could he explain himself after everything Taichi told him? No matter what he did, he knew this was all his fault.

"Why is this so hard?" he said talking to himself, tears brimming down his face, smiling.

"What is the matter with you?!" he heard Hikari's mom exclaim retreating in the house slamming the door.

Takeru honestly felt he could not explain anymore. His heart. The pain. Hikari's trouble. In a way he felt entirely guilty and gladly accepted any punishment with a smile.

"Hikari," he swallowed thinking about her. "Even if everyone ends up hating me, I will not betray you," he said weighing heavily. "Even if you hate me for the rest of your life I will never stop...being their for you," he said closing his eyes enveloping himself in the cold, quiet air.

Takeru tried to pick himself up after the horrible encounter eventually retreating down into the city beneath the subway lights. There he found Yamato's band's bar area, Yamato's band practicing in the background more than likely for a concert. The air felt cool, the lights dim, but relaxing.

Takeru found himself having a nice fizzy soda, much to the chagrin of his fat stuffed animal flying preangel. He gladly shared the drink with Patamon to his delight.

"You know Takeru," he said, fizz dripping down to his belly, "You don't have to smile if you don't feel like it."

Those words made Takeru twitch slightly. "I don't know what I will do with myself if I don't," he said. "Tell me Patamon, do you think that makes me a dishonest person?"

"Well to be frank with you Takeru," his pudgy friend belched, "I'd say more or less incapable. You never risk anything putting your heart on your sleeve so you can feel safe."

Takeru chuckled slightly. "You know me Patamon. And what's wrong with that? I'm just trying to protect myself," he said drinking his fizzy drink. "I don't ever want to rely on anyone else to protect me anymore. I have to be the one to protect," he said slamming his drink down on the counter.

Just then a familiar face looked at him overhead.

"You're looking less than chipper today Bro," Yamato said.

"Nah," he replied with a curt smile. "I just like listening to your band when they get into arguments. Oh, and the drinks are not bad either."

He could feel the heat from his brother's smile press against him.

"That's good to hear. You're developing into quite a masochist aren't you?"

"Hikari tells me that all the time," Takeru said. "Frankly I don't know myself."

His brother grabbed a fizzy drink and sat down next to him. "Actually I am glad I caught you. I was about to text you but then I saw you sitting down here."

Takeru knew where this was going. He knew that Yamato was going to tell him Hikari was worried about him or that she had gotten better or-

"-I don't want you to spend any time with Hikari Yagami anymore," he said, Takeru's hand freezing on the table where his drink was.

This was the last thing he expected. He started to laugh. It felt like a cosmic joke as if the whole world was conspiring against him.

"First Taichi tells me I don't need to protect Hikari anymore and now you are doing the same thing. Have I ever treated Hikari badly?" he asked. "I've risked my life for her. Just because you are my older brother does not give you the right to tell me what I can and can't do," he said coldly with a smile.

The next thing he knew he was laid out on the ground, his drink dancing across the floor like a skipping stone. He felt his cheek throb in incredible pain. He had been getting hit a lot their lately it seems. He was surprised that his brother actually hit him; his own brother!

"So what you're turning against me to?" he asked getting up.

"Dang it Takeru!" His brother said pounding his fist on the table, "Forget that dam oath! At the rate you were going you were going to collapse! You've been trying to care for her so much you have been neglecting yourself!"

His words rang hot, Takeru not flinching. "That's a lot coming from you," he said grabbing a chair and with rising intonation smashing it against his brother swinging it against his side. "You don't even know what I go through!" he exclaimed, Yamato wincing holding his side.

"I know enough to know you can't protect anyone responsibly if you're hurting. And if you're hurting Takeru why do you insist on protecting her?!" He yelled throwing another punch, Takeru landing on all fours on his back.

He slammed the ground with his fist and got up, wiping some blood from his mouth.

"What's wrong Bro? Are you going to be honest for once in your life or are you going to continue this charade until the day you die?" Yamato challenged.

Takeru breathed heavily, hell bent on sending Yamato flying. But he stopped trying to catch himself. It was not like him to lash out in anger very often.

"Fine Yamato," he said taking his hat and setting it on the table. "The truth is your music is terrible. Your losing fans, and we are all sick of the drama," he said seriously. "But as for me," he said terrified of the own words coming from his mouth, "Hikari has become the single most important person in my life. Even more than you, more than Mom, more than Patamon. I fail so many times at being the man I want to be, but I am torn apart by my past unable to move forward," he swallowed. "But being with her gives me hope that the future will be better."

"Bro..." Yamato said with a cold face, as if really trying to listen to him.

Takeru felt cornered as if he had no choice, but to reveal to him the details of his life; The details he had been keeping quiet for years. Not even Hikari knew. He hesitated as he told him.

"Do you know Mom drinks? As each day passes she sees me less and less. Sometimes she will not come home for days and I don't know if she's even alive. She never texts me back. Not since the second separation."

Takeru held himself back and took a slight breath. "The people I care about are all falling apart around me," he said. "The only future I have to look forward to is emptiness. I only hope that all of you can rebuild yourselves up without me ruining your lives."

With that Takeru walked by his brother done talking with him.

His brother grabbed his arm stopping him. "Takeru," he said his voice calm, but serious, "You can't take responsibility for other people's choices. If you do, you will never be fully able to take care of your own. You will always be half in and half out never fully committed. That is no way to live your life," he said.

Takeru felt Yamato let go of his arm. "Taichi would probably kill me for telling you this, but Hikari fell to the darkness again because Taichi drove her away from you. Ophanimon returned and nearly died to protect Hikari like you. She is just like her brother. They are both unstable. Taichi is too headstrong, but Hikari is just the opposite. And you're like Hikari to that way. Two unstable people like you and her are only killing yourselves," he said.

Takeru closed his eyes. Lowering his head he felt Yamato come back to him and put a hand over him lightly. "Hey, let's get out of here and get some fresh air. You may be my knuckle-headed brother, but I want to get you up to speed on what's been going on."

Takeru felt a bit lighter, picking up Patamon and heading out together with his brother...whom he now had rekindled some kind of respect for even if he did disagree with him.

Fiermon sat enthroned on his castle at the very top of the digital world his chin resting on his hand. He had refashioned it into an image he found pleasing, but still Myotismon's castle had it's own unique charm and he just had to put it as his centerpiece.

A digimon approached his throne, an ogremon pledging loyalty with a bow.

"Oh your grace," he said. "I have come by to offer you all the support in the war against Homeostasis," it said. "Let me fight to bring terror to your enemies."

With a waive of his hand, ogremon fell apart into data bits in front him. Fiermon took what pieces he needed from it and absorbed it into his own.

No aides or anyone else were of any help to him. He did not need help from any other digimon for he was all sufficient. He winced, His body suffering greatly due to impurities in his system. Only killing digimon with bits and pieces of his DNA brought him any solace. One day he would complete his form and free himself from the nightmare of existence.

"How long?" he sighed taking a breath. "When will I find my original form? When can I end this madness?"