A/N: Changed things around. :D Kouichi's chapter first and then Tomoki's overlapping. Also additional notes at the end.

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Wish Journeys 1.1
Three Brothers

Chapter 16/Kouichi

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Things were suddenly moving so fast. Someone calling. Someone reaching for him. Someone screaming. Someone crying. All those artificial sounds and, inside of them, some calling. Still calling. Then someone carrying him and pulling him all at once.

And then it was like flashes from a video that's been turned a little blurry, a projector that wasn't properly tuned. But he could still see. Still make out things. That little chocolate and pink-studded bunny that looked and sounded like he understood…but how could they have, when they'd never talked about things? All the things he'd missed back then he saw now, saw as the images rolled, repeating until he was crying and he wanted to scream as well, except there was something in his throat that stopped him. Like a muzzle, or like he'd swallowed a stone and it'd blocked up his throat. Or too dramatic – he could breathe find. The scream just came out soundless.

How had that all happened? Was it even real? Or a dream?

No. Definitely real.

He didn't know why he knew that, but he did.

But he didn't know how or why he'd missed all those signs that he was simply being strung along.

And how he'd, in the end, managed to do something he regretted. Something he…

He wondered if "hated" was too strong a term there.

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Where was he? His body hurt, and his head and chest hurt most of all. Around him was a dull echo – that, as he focused and listened, grew into other muffled things. Voices, and beeps and whooshes. Machines of some sort. He tried to move. Something screamed. There was a sharp pain. And then there was only darkness too heavy for him to struggle against.

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It was grey when he next became aware. Grey and dull and every bit of him, including his mind, was heavy. But his soul was restless. Feeling a different kind of pain. Slightly numbed – but that was fading now and it was like a breath of fresh air –

How could he have wanted that numbness. His soul shook at the horror of being subjected to that again. Powerless. Frozen. Just his mind wondering, wanting, regretting –

There were things he wanted to do! What he'd meant to do originally. And apologise. Who were all those people crying? His mother? That boy who'd gotten tangled up in that mess through no fault of his own –

What had happened then? He remembered Lopmon growing really big –

And Lopmon…

He still couldn't think of Lopmon as not a friend. And, maybe, it wasn't Lopmon's fault at all. Though it was obvious Takuya at least had thought it was.

Even though some things had become so clear, other things he was still confused about.

Because he still believed Lopmon was genuine. Nothing in those rolling images convinced him otherwise. Even if, throughout that entire period, his head had been similarly stuffed with fog.

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The fog lifted, slowly. He struggled, he swam towards what he hoped was the light. This time he managed to get his eyelids open and he struggled through the pain as well.

It made him feel alive, and free.

And to think he'd been so…afraid? Reluctant?

He didn't really have a reason to be afraid of pain, he thought. Physical pain, anyway. The pain of the heart and soul…maybe. But he wasn't the only one to lose loved ones. And it had hurt his mother more.

Why? Why him?

Had he been weak? Thinking the wrong things?

Were his instincts wrong?

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No prick came this time, and he managed to get his eyes open. His vision was blurred. He could still make out white. Lots of white. And someone walking in – and he only thought it was a someone and not a something because it was moving. And too small to be an adult, unless his depth perception was skewered as well.

He tried to speak. What, he didn't know, and it was a non-issue anyway. Nothing came out. Not even a croak.

'There's a tube in your throat helping you breathe.' A young voice. Unfamiliar. 'Hold on; I'll get a doctor.'

He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

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Later, when he forced his eyes open again, he received an exasperated sigh. 'You should be resting, you know. I'd rather not have to up the dosage of sedatives again.'

No, he didn't like the sound of that either.

'I'm afraid we can't take the breathing tube out now either, but it looks like…'

The…doctors, he assumed, voice grew muddled. But he struggled to keep himself awake. At least until he was alone again.

His fingers itched. He stretched them out as far as he could. His staff appeared, four spheres glittering on its head.

He could barely hold on to it. It'd fall from his fingers soon enough.

But he'd left things unfinished. Things messed up.

He – he had to go back.

Teleport. Teleportation magic. He didn't know if it would work in this world, but he could try. If he got through the Gate it would be okay. He remembered it being okay last time. He just needed to –

A part of him recalled he hadn't felt like this the first time. So full of fog. So weak. He'd walked, hadn't he?

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Teleportation magic. Somehow, it'd felt…heavy. Different.

He woke up on the other side of the gate and realised why. He'd unintentionally brought a passenger along. And the Gate was gone.

He crawled over and gently shook the other awake. He was wearing the mage outfit again, and his head didn't feel like it was stuffed in fog anymore. It really was like he'd stepped into another world. A dream world. But, somewhere in his gut, he knew it wasn't a dream world at all but real.

The boy sat up and blinked. 'This is…' His voice trailed off. Then he stared at him. 'Your clothes…'

Kouichi looked at himself. He hadn't been surprised initially by the new outfit…but there were a lot of things he should have been surprised by but wasn't. As if…the entire experience had been dulled. Sedated. His head filled with fog. They were probably the same thing in the end.

'I think it's because I'm mage class.' He picked up his staff. It felt the same as it always did, but with a little extra weight. He noticed the other was still wearing clothes from – normal clothes. 'I'm sorry, but do I…' His voice trailed off. He didn't think he knew the other, but he may have forgotten.

'Umm…I don't think so.' The boy looked both captivated and uncomfortable. 'I'm Himi Tomoki. Takuya-nii's little brother's…friend.' He hesitated on the last word, then again after that. Like he didn't quite know what to say next.

Kouichi didn't know either.

'Umm…could you explain what's…going on?'

Kouichi looked at the other. Not glowing with innocence but worried, and scared.

'I'm sure Takuya-nii also…' He explained, wringing his cap in his hands. A nice fluffy orange one. It suited him nicely.

'That's a nice cap,' he said absentmindedly. He was thinking about Takuya, about the warrior with those two tagalongs, a bit like those detective groups. The fighter, the smart guy and the side-kick.

'Is it?' Tomoki put it on, then looked at him. 'People think it's silly. Even my brother.'

Kouichi caught the slight dip in the tone when he spoke about his brother. 'It suits you,' he said, after a pause. 'And I don't think it looks silly. Just…not the sort that would suit everybody.'

How did they get on to talking about hats anyway?

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In the end, he realised he didn't know much about this world. Or about his own condition. That he'd been in the ICU. That he'd had intra-cranial bleeding, the reason he was in the ICU in the first place. And the reason the doctors had tried to keep him sedated…but his body hadn't liked that idea very much.

His mind hadn't either, but a doctor wasn't going to stop trying to do their job because of that. Considering he wasn't in a position to give consent and he was underage even if he could. Not even at the age where laws got confusing.

Still, it was too late to turn back, and…

Even if he'd known, he probably still would have come. Because…he didn't think he could leave things as they were.

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Post A/N: I only know the Australian Healthcare System, but in Australia, if you're under 14 years of age, a parent or guardian can override our decisions about your health. Between 14 and 18, it depends on how competent you are believed to be. Once you're 18, you're considered an adult in the healthcare system. Kouichi's age is a non-issue here anyway, because considering he's under mild sedation (some people don't react well to strong sedation and they don't want him going into a coma) and he already "escaped" the ICU once, he probably won't be considered competent (ie. whether he wants to be sedated or not, he'll be sedated if the doctors think he needs it and his mother agrees).

And, of course, if he was heavily sedated he'd have a time getting back to the Digital World modified by Brave Story without Cherubimon semi-kidnapping him, so… Loophole with the sedative reactions!