There was no doubt that both Daiki and Taomon were in a less than stellar mood, even compared to Shizuka. Taomon had not shown any mercy to the Digimon they were currently fighting; none of them had been granted a swift death, which was her usual method. She was going out of her way to avoid utilizing her other attacks and was instead using her brush to deliver blunt attacks that made all of them cringe. The combination of Mikami's disappearance, their lack of progress, and the multiple interruptions of their search had the normally calm fox uncharacteristically angry.

They were nearing the end of their current battle, with only a few Digimon remaining.

Taomon had focused her attention on the only remaining Deramon. Her brush slammed into the bird's side and sent him crashing into one of the trees. While she was busy taking her frustration out on Deramon, everyone else finished up with the other enemies. None of them would step in to stop the fox, even though it was a struggle to watch her.

"Wait!" Daiki shouted.

Stopping, she looked at her partner. Daiki walked up to her and glared at the down Digimon at her feet.

"You better give me the information I want," he warned, "or I'll let my partner continue beating you."

"W-what do you want to know?" Deramon asked.

"Where is Mikami? If you know, you'd better tell me."

The bird was taken aback by the question, but quickly recovered, steeling his gaze. "I don't know who that is."

"Your initial reaction would suggest otherwise," Taomon said, her voice surprisingly calm. "Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"Is that your final answer?"

Deramon fixed a steady gaze on the fox. "I already gave you my answer."

"So be it."

Daiki took a step back to allow Taomon she swing her brush. Fortunately, she opted to end it quicker than she had the others, but it still made everyone else uncomfortable.

"We should take a rest," Tadashi suggested. "We're all tired. We won't be able to keep searching if we don't."

Though he clearly wanted them to keep going, Daiki grunted and relented. "Fine."

Ten minutes later, the group of friends were gathered around a campfire. The Digimon had reverted to their Rookie stages by then; most of them were sleeping expect for Renamon. She and Daiki were sitting farther away than the others, whispering to each other. Yoko wasn't sure she wanted to know what they were saying. She fidgeted and rubbed her hand down Salamon's back.

"You okay?" Shizuka asked.

"It's—" Yoko looked down at her sleeping partner. "I'm worried."

Reaching over, Shizuka placed a hand on the younger girl's back. "We're gonna find her."

"Not just that. I'm worried about those two. I never thought that Renamon could…" She fell silent, focusing her attention on the fire.

"I know. Right now we just need to be there to kept them straight. Not gonna easy, but we'll manage."

"Still…you don't think that Renamon's acting this way because of that, do you?"

Shizuka looked towards the fox for a moment before turning back to Yoko. "That's probably the reason. We all know how close they were. And since he was Mikami's partner…"

"Yeah, I know. It's just…she was always so level-headed until now. She's pretty much been the voice of reason."

"This is the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak," Tadashi said, popping up beside his sister. "She has demonstrated anger in the past. It's quite understandable for her to feel this way considering the situation. After all, we have no idea if Mikami is alright or not."

The redhead sighed. "But she shouldn't be treating all the Digimon she fights the way she has been. It's wrong."

"Yes, it is. Shizuka's right; the only thing we can do is do our best to remind her of that."

~0~

"You didn't have to destroy those two Digimon."

Two days had passed and he had yet to stop thinking about what Mikami had said. As he rubbed his aching neck, Beelzemon stared at the wall. For all his talk about his code of honor and his supposed morals, the fact was that he was nothing but a hypocrite. There was no denying that. Laylamon instilled such a strong sense of terror in him that he would break his promise to himself to keep himself safe. He thought that he had come to terms with the fact that he would not be able to avoid killing his enemies…until he had spoken to Mikami.

How could a single human make him feel such self-contempt?

Irritated with himself, he closed his eyes and huffed.

He wasn't aware that he had begun dozing off until someone spoke.

"How was your mission, Beelzemon?"

Startled awake, he sat straight and was face-to-face with Laylamon. A spark of annoyance appeared in Laylamon's eyes at his reaction, but it disappearance when he calmed himself down.

Having only heard a portion of her question, he blinked. "Come again?"

Though she was aggravated by his inattentiveness, Laylamon waved her hand. "I asked you how your mission went."

"It went well enough."

"You seem rather tired."

"Ah—" It was true; he was tired. "I am afraid I have not been getting proper rest," he confessed.

"I imagine not, sleeping in that chair the way you have been," she said with a snort. "I cannot understand why you would concern yourself with the safety of a human, especially one such as Mikami. Your performance has been suffering because of it. It would be best if you simply forego caring for her. However, I know will you not listen to me, as ridiculous as that is."

That comment made him freeze. She knew very well how he felt about the situation. Not only had she demanded that he go against his own wishes, her recent treatment of him was beginning to make him lose faith in everything he did. He did not care if he was praised, but he would not stand for her belittling his actions and choices. Simply wanting him to be an emotionless soldier would not make him into one.

Annoyance slipped into his voice when he said, "My apologies, ma'am."

She scowled. "I would advise that you not take that tone of voice with me again."

He stared at her with a calm expression. "Tone? I was not aware that I had any specific tone of voice, ma'am. I apologize if that is how it sounded."

She did not respond. "There was something else that I wanted to speak with you about."

"Yes?"

"It is about Mikami."

He dug his claws into the bottom of the chair.

"I was discussing the situation with Datamon while you were on your mission. It seems that he and I have come to an agreement that it may be beneficial to keep the girl here." The corner of her mouth curled upwards. "Though I am not pleased with her presence here. My intentions were to deal with her."

He knew full well that what she truly meant was that she wanted to dispose of the human. Though he wondered what had led to the decision to spare Mikami, he did not question her. She turned her back to him in favor of opening the door to Mikami's room. Unwilling to leave her alone with the human, he stood and followed her in. Mikami, who had been asleep, stirred at the sound of the two entering. Beelzemon stood back, keeping his gaze focused on Laylamon's movements.

"What is it this time?"

"Quite the attitude you have towards me," Laylamon commented. If it hadn't been for Beelzemon's insolence just a few minutes before, she might have found the girl amusing. At that moment, however, she did not. "I am here to tell you that you free to go anywhere on the island so long as Beelzemon accompanies you. I warn you now not to cause trouble, because I will personally deal with you."

Mikami was unconcerned. "How generous of you, your majesty. Does the queen have anything other news to deliver, or will you leave the rest to your jester?"

"Putting on a brave face is admirable, Mikami, but there is no need for it."

"I wouldn't call it that, but if you need to stroke your ego, go ahead and think that's what I'm doing."

Unimpressed, Laylamon tapped her fingers against one of the bedposts. "Your antics are juvenile at best. Humans truly are lacking in intelligence if this is what you do when confronted by an enemy."

"Usually we aren't as subtle as I'm being. Not that I'm being all that subtle."

"It is rather tempting to end your miserable life here and now," Laylamon muttered.

"But you won't."

"As if you know what I will or will not do."

"You won't do it," Mikami repeated, nodding her head towards Beelzemon, "because of him. Or am I wrong?"

Laylamon grabbed hold of the bedpost and snapped it without a second thought, her cold eyes trained on the girl. "You are beyond infuriating," she snarled. Taking in a deep breath, she stared at the broken piece of wood in her hand. "Congratulations. I believe you are the first to wear on my patience this way."

She tossed the wood to the side, causing it to hit the wall and fall onto the floor. She turned on her heel and marched towards the door. There was a brief pause in her gait as she glared at Beelzemon before she left the room. From where she sat on the bed, Mikami had seen a hint of fear in Beelzemon's eyes the moment Laylamon looked at him. Noticing that Beelzemon was still staring out into the hallway as if he expected the irritable Digimon to return, Mikami cleared her throat. Reluctantly, he turned his head to look at her.

"Does she treat everyone like dirt?"

"No."

Mikami leaned against the headboard, putting her hands behind her head. "Just anyone who doesn't bow down to her."

Beelzemon stared at the floor.

"You're afraid of her, aren't you?"

Even though he refused to respond to the question, she knew the answer.

"Why do you antagonize her?" He asked wearily.

"Sometimes I talk before I think," she said, standing. She stretched her arms. "Have you even slept the past couple of days?"

Glancing over at him, she had to stop herself from laughing when she saw his head lower and rise again suddenly. He blinked a few times.

"I'll…take that as a no. You know, falling asleep standing up isn't a good idea."

A grunt came from him as he half-heartedly glared at her. Pursing her lips together, she stared at him and motioned for him to come over to her.

"What?"

"Just come here."

Sighing, he walked up to her and then found himself on the bed with his face buried in the blanket. Confused, he propped himself up on his elbows. Mikami had brought the chair back into the room.

"What are you doing?"

She looked at him and put the chair by the window. "What does it look like I'm doing?" She replied as she sat down. "I'm gonna enjoy the view for a bit."

"That is not what I meant."

"Seeing as how you haven't killed me in my sleep yet, and you've been sitting outside my room like a dunderhead, I thought the least I could do was try to be nice to you even if I don't like you. Besides, if I was able to shove you down without you even noticing it, you must be pretty tired."

"I find it hard to understand you," he grumbled, rolling over to lay on his back.

"Oh, shut up and go to sleep."

She wasn't sure why, but she counted the number of seconds it took for him to pass out. It only took a little over a minute, which wasn't a surprise. A grin spread across her face at the thought that she had gotten the better of the snoring Digimon.