Later on that day after breakfast, Koichi went with TK and Patamon to the hospital. Kari had work and MJ had school, while Kai stayed home due to his condition. But the blond man had promised him that they would come back to visit Koji today. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. It had only been two days since he and Koji had gotten out of the hospital the first time. But it felt more like a month with everything going on. The black-haired boy felt his back burn and he clenched his teeth and fists. The pain hadn't lessened at all since he'd got the injury late last night, but at times it seemed to get worse instead of better. He didn't know how he was going to explain this to Koji when he woke up. Not to mention that he had no clue how to explain to their Mother where he got the wounds from after they went home again. Takashi-San noticed his discomfort and frowned as they walked, "back hurting again Koichi-Kun?" he asked gently.

"About the same as before actually" he muttered. Takashi-San frowned, "has it been hurting this whole time?" he asked. Koichi looked down but nodded silently. "Why don't I pick up some pain medication from the pharmacy on the way back? You are under my care at the moment, and I'd hate to just let you suffer without doing anything about it" the blond suggested. The Dark twin grimaced, but shook his head, "I don't want to be a burden Takashi-San, you've already done so much for me and Koji both- it wouldn't feel right letting you do anymore" Koichi replied. Takashi-San stopped and levelled him with a firm stare. It wasn't an angry look, just firm, "you're not a burden on anyone Koichi. You are a kind and gentle boy. In fact you remind me a lot of Ken, and not just your similar looks but you personality and history as well. We are helping and looking after you because we want to, no one is making us do it, and besides, you're here to help my son, right?" he asked, smiling at the end.

Koichi looked down, he did have a point, but, "we can try some medications, but I'm not sure how well they'd work, I have a feeling that these wounds are less physical than they look" he replied eventually. Patamon frowned, "what does that mean?" he asked. Both Digidestined and Digimon were looking at him curiously now, so he figured that he may as well tell them, "do you remember how I told you about how I was once possessed by the corrupted forms of my Spirits?" he began. Both of them nodded, "I remember, you said that Koji was the one who purified you and freed you from their control" Takashi-San replied. "Well, back when I was in the Digital World, I wasn't exactly- all their" Koichi explained. "I had fallen down the stairs at the Shibuya Station, ending up in a coma. But my spirit was drawn to the Digital World where I ended up having the dark feelings in my heart taken advantage of by an evil Digimon. He twisted my thoughts and emotions towards my Papa, Mother and brother, then forcefully possessed me with the corrupted Spirits of Darkness.

I ended up there for a long time. Even after I was freed of evil, I was still nothing more than a spirit, my physical body was still back in the Real World. Because I was a spirit for so long, I can tell that the wounds on my back are less physical than Spiritual. Whoever our enemy is, didn't mark my real body, only my spirit, but since the two are so closely connected, it seems like a physical wound when it isn't" the three were silent a while, before Takashi-San sighed, "I see, your Digital World is a lot more complicated than ours, huh?"he asked. Koichi shrugged. "Alright, but I still think some pain medication might at least help" Takashi-San decided. The black-haired boy nodded, "alright then Takashi-San, you are the adult here after all" he replied. The blond raised an eyebrow, "okay, I understand being polite, but you're going to be living in my house for the next who-knows-how-long. You can call me TK you know" he said, amusement colouring his voice. The Kimura blushed and shook his head, "oh no, I couldn't do that, it wouldn't be polite after everything you've done!" he exclaimed quietly.

Takashi-San frowned, "please? You're the only wieldier of Darkness I've met that hasn't been evil. Except for my son of course. I want to get to know you better. You and your brother. I want to do this not only for you, but to show Kai that I really don't hate him because he has the Crest of Darkness. That even though I don't particularly like it, that there are some cases, like his and your own, where the powers of Darkness can be used for good. I want to be able to understand my son, but every time I try to talk to him it just gets awkward. I'm hoping by showing him that I accept you, it will let him see that I accept him as well" he explained. Koichi frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea. Instead of avoiding your son and using me as his substitute, you should be talking to him about all of this instead. I haven't had a chance to talk to Kai one-on-one yet, so I can't be sure, but I've seen enough to know that Kai is very sensitive and shy, just like I am around most people.

He also very insecure about his Crest and he hates himself for it. I know, because I felt exactly the same way after I was freed from Duskmon. I hated myself for what I'd done, and I couldn't believe that I could ever do good things after all the horrible ones I'd done. There was even a part of me that wanted everyone's hatred, distrust and anger because I felt like I deserved it. It was when I'd hit my lowest point. When I truly believed that Darkness couldn't be used for anything but evil and therefore I would always be evil, that I remembered the words of a Patamon that had once been Seraphimon. He'd told me that Darkness didn't have to be a bad thing unless you choose for it to be. That was when I fought back. I chose to be good because I wanted to be, I swore that I'd make up for what I'd done and that I'd rather die than betray my brother. That was when Koji's Light illuminated me and gave me my own D-Tector and purified Spirits. Darkness is a very heavy burden to bare, and it's very easy for it to become corrupted- but Darkness itself is not evil. As long as your son has his twin, or even his mother, Kai will never become evil- instead he can use this power he's been given to protect his loved ones and both worlds that he cares for".

TK thought over the boys words for some time as they entered the hospital and, after explaining why they were there, a nurse came to escort the two to Koji's room. Koichi wasn't as worried or nervous as he had been the day before, but he still needed a moment before he could enter the room. Again Koji was found unconscious, laying on the bed with tubes and wires sticking out of various parts of his body. Koichi wasted no time in reaching his twins side, sitting down and gripping his hand. TK followed silently behind him. The black-haired boy was now focused solely on Koji, not even flinching from the pain in his back. "I'm here Koji. I told I'd be back didn't I? I hope you're feeling at least a little better after the rest you've had so far. Unfortunately I couldn't get much sleep last night, but that was partly because of how much I missed you and partly because of something else. You know, they say that people in coma's can hear what you're saying to them, so I won't tell you until you're fully recovered. After all, I know you have a tendency to overly worry, especially about me. So I'll let you rest as much as you need, then when you're awake again we can talk about what's been going on, okay?" Koichi asked.

He knew he'd started rambling a bit, but he didn't care. It was true he wanted Koji to wake up as soon as possible, but he also couldn't help but be glad that he was unconscious here where he would be in less danger than fighting on the front lines. Truthfully the Dark Warrior was very split in deciding how to feel. It was true that he wanted his brother to get better. He wasn't safe like this, especially if their enemy could attack ones spirit. Koji was in a Coma. Whether Koji's spirit had ended up in the Digital World or not, it was still highly possible that whatever evil that was after them, wouldn't think twice about trying to kill the boy while he was unable to defend himself in any way. The spirit is a very fragile and vulnerable thing. While it hadn't seemed like it for him back when he'd been one, Koichi knew that he'd only been so seemingly 'invulnerable' due to his body being kept alive in the Human World. If the body that's elsewhere dies, the spirit fully detaches itself from the body and moves on to whatever higher plain there was.

However, as proven by his own experiences, if the body is kept alive, it's possible for the spirit to return to the body before it dies, rejoining the two together as one. But if the spirit itself is what dies, then there's no going back. The body dies and it's dead for good. That was what had nearly happened to him back during the final battle against Lucemon. But Koji's love for him and everyone's desperation had allowed their D-Tectors to revive him somehow. Drew his spirit back to his body and reconnected the two again. This literal near-death experience had given and taught him many things, including heightened senses regarding Evil and Darkness, as well as the state of a person's spirit, as he was using now. Koichi decided to check on his brother's, just to make sure everything was okay.

He closed his eyes, breathed slowly and deeply and focused on Koji. TK and Patamon could tell that he was doing something very important, so they let the boy do what he needed to. Koichi felt his own spirit sink into his brother's body. When he felt the shift from soothing Darkness to bright Light, he opened his eyes. Only to scream out loud. Koji's spirit! It wasn't their! It was missing from his body. The body of his brother was basically an empty shell, like his had been while he'd been in the Digital World. Horrified, Koichi checked every part of the body he could, but the Light Twin was not there. He paled. Had their enemy gotten to Koji's spirit already?! Suddenly he felt a familiar power brush against his mind. Koichi flinched, recognising this being, even without the corrupting taint of evil. Lord Cherubimon had taken his brother for some reason. It wouldn't be for anything bad, Koichi was sure. After being purified, the Beast type Angel had gone back to being the good Celestial Digimon that he was before.

But what he couldn't figure out was why Lord Cherubimon had taken Koji's spirit from his body in the first place? The Dark Twin sighed, relaxing. There was nothing more he could do here. The only thing he could do was continue his mission and hope that the Celestials provided some answers soon about all of this. Slowly retreating from his brother's body, Koichi slumped against the visitor's chair he was sitting in, gently releasing Koji's hand as he did. Patamon flew up to him, as TK knelt down next to the boy, "Koichi, what's wrong?" he asked softly. The boy sighed again, running his hand through his hair, "Koji's gone," he muttered. Patamon frowned and flew over to the comatose boy, "he seems fine to me" he replied. The Warrior of Darkness exhaled, trying to relax his body "I'm not talking about his body Patamon, Koji's spirit is completely gone, there's no trace of him left in that body" he explained, clutching his forehead. Along with the pain in his back, his head was now aching.

"It's not all bad news though- it turns out that the one who removed Koji's spirit is most likely Lord Cherubimon. If that's true, then it means the Celestials from my world have a plan in mind, but they need Koji. Since his body is currently unable to function normally, they may have found a way around this-" Koichi groaned and leaned forwards in his seat. TK stepped forwards, "Koichi?" he asked carefully. The Legendary Warrior grabbed his head with both hands. It was pounding. Slowly the pain in his back increased from a mildly strong burning sensation to the full out burning/melting feeling from his nightmare of the Dark Ocean. Koichi screamed, body shaking as he was engulfed in agony once more, he fell limply from his chair and landed on the ground, writhing and screaming non-stop. He could barely feel TK grab his shoulders and hold him close, could faintly hear the man screaming for help to the doctors. The pain encompassed every part of his body and mind, and his D-Tector fell from his pocket in all of his writhing and squirming.

He wanted it to stop, he couldn't take anymore. 'Koji please help me!' he begged in his mind, praying that wherever his twin was that he could hear him. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a blurry vision of a terrified TK through his tear filled eyes.

To Be Continued