Title: Restart, Rebirth, Remembrance
Author: isumi'kivic'
Characters/Pairings: Kouji + Kouichi brotherly love, slight tiny bits of Takuya/Izumi. Hints of one-sided OC-Kouichi and OC/OC because it's necessary for the plot.
Rating: Gen, I swear I'm keeping it gen. –forces down the KouKou fangirl inside-
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, and I don't own The Last, either. I'm just writing a fic out of another brilliant fic. This fic is a continuation of The Last by Gemini Star01, which means that you're required to read it before delving into this fic. It's an awesomely sad one-shot that you could find in her author page. And while you're at it, read her other amazing works, too.
Warnings: Possible OOC-ness, grammar errors, and for this chapter: insane length, half of it is dealing with Takuma, which is an OC, and I'm so sorry.
A/N: Oh my God I feel so horrible. This chapter seriously killed me. Back in April and May this chapter underwent a hundred times scraping-and-starting-over, and by June I started my two-month internship and I just couldn't deal with it. I actually got scared of it, which was why I didn't touch it for months, but at last here it is! 12 thousand something words worth of chapter, and I hope it's enough compensation even though half of it doesn't even deal with the canon characters. ;A; I'm really, really sorry, I don't know if anyone's still reading this, but if you are, thank you so much for bearing with me ;A;
Please enjoy, and reviews are appreciated. :D
Restart, Rebirth, Remembrance
A Digimon Frontier Fanfiction
Chapter Two: Then They Slowly
If Wolfmon were here now, he could probably cut the tension with his swords, thick as it was.
Kouichi opted to stare straight into Takuma's eyes—they literally blazed with anger, and all Kouichi could think was how much alike the boy was to Takuya when he was furious. Absently he wondered if it was something that every wielder of Spirit of Fire had, but then dismissed the thought. Takuma was just at that age, when anger seemed to be the best option to make your deepest emotions known. After all, even Kouichi went through that stage, what with the whole Duskmon thing.
Even so, the anger was real. Just as real as his anger was the first time he came to the Digital World. Cherubimon might have controlled it, but his anger towards his Kouji back then—the bitterness of being left behind, of why Kouji seemed to be okay with his new family when his mother was suffering, the fury of not being acknowledged and the overall feeling of being left—his anger was real. Cherubimon only emphasized it. That was why Kouichi knew right now, Takuma's anger was real, and Kouichi wasn't going to look down on the boy just because he was getting angry over petty things.
"Could you stop doing that?" Takuma's tone was harsh. Kouichi knew exactly what he meant. Takuma was not someone meant to be led, but until he could really lead, Kouichi would have to take over the place. He knew this day would come; a time when Takuma was practically fed up at being told what to do. It didn't make it any easier, though.
"Do what?" To be fair, he was provoking Takuma himself. It would be a lie if he were to say he wasn't angry at the way Takuma had been acting these past few weeks. "Stopping you from killing yourself or anyone else?"
"I told you I knew what I was doing!" Takuma growled, his presence literally exuding fury, and Kouichi had to take a step back in precaution. "On the other hand, you're just—you're just spitting out orders! You can't expect us to obey whatever it is you say, Kouichi. You can't expect me to do what you want, not when I know what needs to be done! Weren't you the one who said our goal is to wipe off all the digimon that strayed into this world?!"
"I don't expect you to obey everything I say, Takuma-kun. I only expect you to be more careful."
"Hah! So did it get you anywhere? Nowhere!" Takuma bit out vehemently, his voice rising in both in pitch and volume. "Admit it, you just want to dominate us, and take all the good things for yourself, don't you?"
Kouichi's eyes widened. The words stung worse than he'd expected—obviously Takuma was even more capable in using hurting words than Takuya was. Takuya was terrifying when he was livid, but he'd never ever spout off hurtful accusations. But again, Takuma wasn't at all like Takuya—he just happened to look a bit like his old friend—and comparing him to the deceased wielder of Spirit of Fire wouldn't help in any way.
Kouichi took a deep breath, mentally counting to ten. He'd thought Takuma misunderstood his actions, this whole time, but to actually accuse him of trying to steal the spotlight originally wasn't meant to be his—Kouichi had never even thought about it. And perhaps, perhaps after all this time, Kouichi too was still just a kid deep inside, because the next thing that came out of his mouth was "Don't blame people for things you can't do or get yourself, Takuma-kun."
Takuma's mouth hung open, and Kouichi knew his words had hurt. He shouldn't have said that, really; he was just adding fuel to fire, and that wouldn't be good. Not ever. Takuma's face took an interesting shade of red—anger, Kouichi recognized—and he was about to open his mouth and apologize, because even though he'd meant it, he shouldn't have used such direct words.
But Takuma's fist was faster.
Kouichi recoiled, self-defense flaring, but he'd never been very good in things that needed physical agility, no matter how many times Kouji and Takuya used to teach him some fancy moves for self-defense. Not when he wasn't being Lowemon, at least. He raised his hands before his face in last attempt to block the punch, knowing it was too late but did it anyway, eyes snapping shut, and—
The fist stopped, mere millimeters from his face.
His breath caught in his throat, waiting for the pain that never came. He blinked, swallowing back the surprise and fear slowly crawling up his chest—Takuma hadn't hit him. The other boy's fist was still hanging before his face; Kouichi noticed the fist was shaking when he brought his hands back down hesitantly.
He couldn't see Takuma's face, from this angle. The fist was too close to his face—Takuma still hadn't retracted his fist, his head bowed down, looking at the floor. Kouichi took a sharp breath, then released it slowly, trying to calm his thudding heart.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to handle Takuma calmly, not provoking him.
"Could've gone better than that, buddy." The voice was familiar, but at the same time unfamiliar because, gods, it must have been centuries since he last heard that voice. Kouichi's head snapped up, eyes widening in disbelief, as Takuma's fist was finally brought down, and the other boy was slowly looking up—an easy grin etched on his face.
Kouichi was looking at Takuya.
It was Takuya, standing before him, grinning like he hadn't just been gone from Kouichi's life for a freaking century in which Kouichi was almost completely alone. It was Takuya—not Takuma—because even though it was still Takuma's face grinning at Kouichi, the dark-haired boy could see the silhouette of his old friend behind Takuma.
It was Takuya. The one looking at him half in amusement and half in sadness, with a familiar grin that Kouichi had missed so, so much—it was Takuya. Only Takuya had a grin like that.
"Don't pass out, buddy." The grin turned into a concerned half-smile. "This wasn't the first time you saw me, right? I thought you've seen me, and everyone else, too—you recognized Izumi when she called you back in that battle. Don't tell me you forgot about me."
Kouichi stared at the other boy blankly.
"Sorry to surprise you, there. I'm… really not supposed to do this, you know—taking over Takuma-kun's body without his consent. But he was going to hit you, and if I hadn't step up and take over, you'd have end up with this huge purple bruise, and Kouji would kill me if I ever met him again for that." Takuya paused in his ramblings, looking up only to see Kouichi still staring at him like he couldn't understand what Takuya was saying, and okay, maybe Takuya did speak too fast. He cleared his throat awkwardly, then peered up and tried to catch Kouichi's eyes. "Uhh, Kouichi, buddy—you with me?"
Kouichi blinked.
Then laughter was bubbling up his throat, shaky and loud, and he laughed out, hard. The hysterical kind of laugh; he barely noticed tears springing to his eyes, hot and salty as they rolled down his cheeks and ended up on the corner of his mouth. Takuya was taken aback for a second, but there was understanding in his eyes when Kouichi finally locked gaze with him. The other boy's eyes were sad; it made Kouichi want to laugh even harder because, gods, he looked so pathetic in front of Takuya now.
And he'd tried so hard, too. Deluding himself, thinking it was all his imagination whenever he caught flashes of his old friends when they were fighting, that Takuma and the others were lying about the presences of the previous wielders.
By the time his laughter died down, leaving small sobs wrecking his figure, he noticed that he was sitting on the bed. Takuya was sitting by his side, wringing his hands like he didn't know what to do. Then Kouichi realized with a pang in his chest: this was Takuya, but not whole.
Takuya hated the gesture of wringing hands when he grew up into an adult. He said it made him look absolutely nervous, and he stopped doing it altogether. Which meant, if this Takuya was wringing his hands—
"Who are you?" Kouichi asked, voice strained with effort to arrange himself into some semblance of calm. Takuya tilted his head, peering sideways towards him, and grinned with a hint of tease that made Kouichi want to laugh earnestly. He corrected then, "I mean, I don't forget you, Takuya. Never. But you're—"
"Not quite Takuya either?" Takuya interrupted, smiling. "Yeah, true enough. I'm just a fragment of his soul residing in the spirit. A part of his power the Spirit kept. But in a way, I am Takuya. Your friend."
"My friend," Kouichi repeated, breath rushed in a wave of nostalgia. This was Takuya, even if it wasn't Takuya's whole soul being by his side. Takuya gave a hearty grin, and Kouichi couldn't not smile back. How long had it been since he sat side by side with Takuya, like this, talking about Kouji and the others and the weather and everything and basically nothing at all?
Then the grin disappeared, though not the smile, but Takuya's face turned serious. "I don't have much time. Takuma-kun isn't working with me in doing this; it exhausts both of us if I come out too long without him being cooperative."
"No," Kouichi began, a tone of desperation coloring his voice—no, don't go yet, stay please, tell me that I'm not standing alone and that you guys are still here, with me—but Takuya shook his head, and he wasn't smiling anymore. There was seriousness in his eyes that reminded Kouichi of the time when they faced the Royal Knights for the last time, and it was enough to shut him up.
"This isn't my body; it's not going to be good for Takuma if I keep coming out. So you need to calm down and listen, okay?"
Kouichi nodded, feeling numb.
"You've been doing well, leading the kids by yourself like that. We knew you could do it." A hint of pride sneaked into Takuya's voice. "Takuma's just—he was a lot like me back then, before I met you. Reckless and selfish, not knowing what it meant to actually lead people. It took some time before I realized that I wasn't doing anyone good—Kouji told me how, Izumi told me how, hell, even Junpei and Tomoki. But you see, Kouichi, Takuma needs to get it on his own. And he will, really. You've got to believe in him."
"I do." Kouichi's voice was small, and he sounded lost. "I do, but he keeps throwing himself into trouble, endangering the others, and he's always so angry at me and I can't—"
"He's been a pain in the ass hasn't he?" Takuya laughed, obvious mirth ringing in Kouichi's ears. "But trust me on this, buddy, he'll get round to it. He needs people to guide him, though, like I needed everybody else, but he'll learn what it means to be a leader. Until then, you've got to keep the team together."
The silence that fell after those words were deafening, and Kouichi's mind was whirling a mile a minute. He needed to answer, didn't he, what did Takuya expect to hear from him, did he want Kouichi to promise to guide Takuma or—
Then the other boy's body was falling forward, and Kouichi yelped as Takuma's figure slumped onto him, deadweight. It took him five seconds to realize that the younger boy had passed out—right, exhaustion, Takuya said. He wasn't kidding when he said his time was limited.
Kouichi took a deep breath, feeling his brain slowly came to a halt. He needed to think about what was in front of him to clear his head, and right now he had to put Takuma down. With a groan, Kouichi twisted his body so Takuma body rolled onto the bed, boneless on his back. The younger boy made a noise that suspiciously sounded like a tired snore.
Kouichi sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and scrubbed his still wet eyes with the back of his hand.
He wondered if Kazuma would let him buy some sake for tonight. He needed the drink he hadn't had for a century.
-o0o-
For two days, the two of them ignored each other. Suzumi gave him exasperated, but fond looks, Kanpei rose an eyebrow, and Tokiya looked anxious. Kouji was still avoiding him, but Kouichi wondered if the younger boy noticed—he saw Kouji scrutinizing Takuma from a safe distance with a scowl once. He didn't comment on it, though. He still didn't want to think too much about Minashiro Kouji, or about their whole complicated situation, or how much alike he was with his Kouji because it made his chest tightened like nothing else could. He couldn't let it get to him—there were just so many things needed to be done, things to be thought, to figure out.
He didn't have time to stop just to entertain stupid thoughts that maybe, just maybe, Minashiro Kouji and his Kouji were—no, that was simply ridiculous. It was crazy, and Kouichi was supposed to be an adult, mature enough not to think stupid thoughts anymore.
Takuma liked to pretend he didn't exist when Kouichi was in their room, and Kouichi was seriously considering to ask Kazuma if he could move out of their apartment. Or at least crash in Kazuma's room, until Takuma'd blown off all his steam.
Fortunately, he didn't have to do that. By the end of the second day, Ophanimon was contacting him, and he strode into Takuma's room purposefully, put a hand on Takuma's shoulder and forcefully turned him when Takuma didn't respond.
"What." Takuma's eyes narrowed. Kouichi took a breath, and reminded himself to not say anything stupid.
"I need to leave." Kouichi said, deciding that there was no need for dilly-dallying. "It'd take some time, because the link between the Digital World and the real world is very unstable right now, and I'm not sure about the time difference when it's like this. But I have to see the Three Angels and give them the data and information we've collected so far, and I'm going to leave you in charge of the team."
Takuma rolled his eyes, but his voice was tight. "Nothing's different then."
"Takuma-kun," Kouichi said, and there was a note of concern sneaking into his voice. "Please take care of the others. Don't act too recklessly."
Takuma shrugged him off, and turned his back to him. Kouichi stared, half in disappointment and half in worry, but he didn't have much time. So he took his backpack and hat, and left.
-o0o-
"You're going now?" Kazuma spoke up from where he lounged on the couch in the living room, and Kouichi paused on his way out. He peered towards the mop of brown hair peeking out from the couch arm—the only part of Kazuma he could see from where he stood. The television set was on, though it was muted, so Kazuma must be working on something. "Come over here for a second, Kouichi. I just found something interesting."
Eyebrows raising, Kouichi turned and entered the living room instead of continuing towards the front door. "What is it?" he asked, stopping right next to the couch and bending down a little to see Kazuma working with his tablet. It still took Kouichi aback to see that a tablet could project holographs of its screen—Kazuma was pulling it out for him to see clearly.
"You said the creation of Digital World has something to do with our cyber world, right? The fact that they're data and all." Kazuma didn't even divert his attention from what he was doing. "If something was wrong in our cyber connection, would that affect the Digital World, too?"
Kouichi considered this, tentatively reached out to touch the holograph. His fingers went through it, so he retracted them back and answered hesitantly, "I… suppose, yeah. To some extent." The Digital World had its own system and operations, and he had never quite understood how it worked or how it linked to the humans' cyber world. "It's not—the two worlds are separated, though. Unless there's something wrong with the barrier like it is right now, I don't think what's happening in the Digital World should affect something in the real world or vice-versa."
Kazuma made a thoughtful noise. "It's messed up right now, though, right? The barrier?"
"Yes. Normal digimon shouldn't have enough power to make a portal breaking through the barrier, so there's definitely something wrong."
"I had a stupid theory last night about the whole cyber connections…" Kazuma said absently, clicking on a folder. "So I tried researching it this morning, and I find out that… you know, every single place where a Digimon suddenly popped out and you guys went to fight it? There's always some…. oddities, in the place's network."
Kouichi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You know how, nowadays, almost everything is run by computers, right?" Kazuma watched Kouichi nodded slowly. "We have a huge network, and every single time a Digimon broke through, the place where it appeared experienced odd errors in electronical devices. Especially devices that were hooked up to the internet, or using satellite signals, or—well, basically electronics. It's like glitches, but with no reason."
"I see…" Kouichi stared at the matrix Kazuma had pulled up onto the holographic sreen: a list of place and pointers of what was happening before a digimon appeared. There were several pictures, too, and some links to websites that probably gave Kazuma information. His eyes followed the words: Ura-Harajuku, five minutes before Leomon appeared, there was a blackout on the fourth to seventh floor of the department store, for unknown reasons. South Tokyo experienced an odd mixed cell phone signals that disabled people to contact anyone through phones mere minutes before Greymon appeared. A branch factory of a well-known brand just outside Tokyo lost control over its network, causing malfunctions to their machines and consequently a halt on their production, an estimated ten minutes before the appearance of a Floramon—that was weeks and weeks ago.
His thought was flung back then, months before, when he first met Takuma and the others. They were on the sky monorail—he remembered Birdramon, yes. Just seconds before it appeared, the monorail had halted suddenly, and the lights inside had totally been killed. He'd always assumed Birdramon had appeared by that time, thinking it was probably caused by a collision with the digimon that halted the monorail. But this—this new information Kazuma gave him….
"Kazuma-kun, could you research this further and give me some kind of, I don't know, timeline? Of the Digimon appearances, I mean. And the oddities in the network you mentioned before. See if you could find a pattern?"
"Absolutely," Kazuma said, and then finally glanced up from his tablet for the first time since he called Kouichi in, taking in the sight of Kouichi and his backpack. "Uh. So how long are you going to be gone?"
"Just.. a while." Kouichi smiled. "I'm not sure about the time difference now that the barrier's probably a mess, so I can't tell you when exactly I'll be back. The team would be okay; hopefully nothing too dangerous would be happening."
Kazuma nodded, giving Kouichi a smile of his own. "Sorry my brother's such a pain sometimes."
"He's growing, though." Kouichi said, amused. Kazuma shrugged in a come-on-you-don't-need-to-put-up-that-much-with-him gesture, and he chuckled.
"Take care then, Kazuma-kun."
"Yeah, you too."
-o0o-
"My God," Blitzmon said, half in awe and half in disbelief. "The digimon appeared in fucking NHK."
"Language, Kanpei-kun." Fairymon frowned, wings fluttering as she hovered closer toward the window, and Tokiya's small form tensed up in her arms whenever she moved. The little guy was probably scared being lifted so high in the air when he wasn't being Chakkmon, Blitzmon figured, and listened to Junpei's chuckle in his head. He shrugged Fairymon's admonition off, nearly forgetting that he was carrying both Takuma and Kouji on his shoulders until his two friends yelped.
"Goddammit, Mashiba!" Kouji growled, clinging to Blitzmon's armor, while Takuma shrieked like a baby (okay, maybe he didn't but he was being so annoying lately whenever they went out to fight, and Blitzmon thought as a teammate he totally had the right to call Takuma a baby) and hollered a "You drop us and I'm going to kill you thrice, Kanpei!"
Inside his head, Junpei's chuckle turned into a full-blown laughter.
"I said language, Kouji-kun!" Fairymon turned her frown again towards them. "And why can't we enter the building normally, like, through the doors?"
"Because they have automatic doors, and the whole computer system in the building's currently down. That's why they haven't called in for help yet, and that's why we're here earlier than the police, because our digivice is magnificent like that." Takuma sounded like he was reading off a bad script he'd memorized—and he probably did have it memorized, considering Kazuma-san was the one explaining the situation to him before the five of them met up. "So the only way we could get in is to bust through the windows."
"Well, then. Hang on tight, Tokiya-kun." Fairymon shifted Tokiya into one arm, the youngest of them having grabbed on her shoulder tight, and launched a small ball of air onto the window. It hit with a resounding crack, and the glass shattered—if 'elegantly' could be used to describe the windows breaking, Blitzmon was sure this would be called so. Everything, absolutely everything that Fairymon ever did always had this elegance in them.
'My God, you are so far gone, Kanpei-kun,' was Junpei's comment, and Blitzmon didn't even care.
They landed in a grand hallway—huge enough for even Fairymon to stand without bending her body. Blitzmon stepped back once Kouji and Takuma hopped off his arms, and watched them and Tokiya evolved into Agunimon, Wolfmon and Chakkmon, feeling the usual wave of fascination washed over his being. It never failed to mesmerize him; watching the others evolve, that was, for some reason he didn't understand himself. Of course, Suzumi's evolving into Fairymon was the most dazzling, if he had to compare them all.
"We need to find other people first, and get them to a safe room. It's better if they stay in one place while we fight the digimon." Agunimon said thoughtfully. "Does anybody know which studio is the biggest? We could put them there."
"Yeah, because we wander into NHK every day." Blitzmon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I've never even set foot here, Takuma, how should I know which is the biggest?"
"We don't have to keep them in the building. It'd be better if we can get them out of here as soon as possible." Wolfmon commented, and Chakkmon chimed up, agreeing. "I can make an ice path out of this window down to the road. They could just, uhh, slide down on it."
"That's a good idea, but we're going to have to leave someone to watch over the path and make sure the fight doesn't reach here." Agunimon frowned. "I'm not sure pulling one of us out is a good idea—"
"We have two enemies, according to the digivice," Fairymon said. She was holding her digivice as she spoke; it made a small beeping noise that sounded like danger in Blitzmon's ears. "That's… unusual. We've never had to face two digimon in one encounter."
"It's still going to be two versus five, we can handle this," Agunimon said, sounding less confident than his words actually were. "First, we've got to set a parameter, right? We'll split up and lure those Digimon into one place. I'm thinking the central lobby should be big enough—we're going to trash this place, it's inevitable anyway."
"I don't know, Agunimon," Fairymon murmured warily, her gestures screaming uncertainty to all eyes in their little circle. "I'm not sure if splitting up is a good idea. Remember what Kouichi-kun said? We work best when we work together."
Agunimon crossed his arms, directing an annoyed look at her. "He isn't here. And this is called a strategy, Fairymon."
'Here we go again,' Blitzmon heard Junpei groan, and glanced sideways at the way Fairymon's lips slowly twisted in distaste. Their team dynamic had been exceptionally awful lately. It seemed like Tokiya was the only one everyone could actually get along with.
He took a look at the digivice, noting the two blinking dots. One was in the west wing of the building, another down in the central lobby. They didn't seem to be moving. Looking back up, he spoke out, "They don't seem to be moving at all, so we have the element of surprise at our advantage. We should use that. If we take them down one by one—"
"It'll take too long." The look Agunimon gave him was best described as back off, man, and that made Blitzmon's eyes narrow. One of the worst thing that happened if Agunimon was in full obnoxious mode was his inability to take any suggestion or advice. If they weren't about to engage the enemy, Blitzmon would have given him one for it. "Wolfmon, go with Chakkmon and cover the east wing. The rest, come with me to the west wing."
Blitzmon thought he should be rewarded a medal for not yelling at his friend. "You know, the element of surprise worked best if coupled with team wo—"
"We'll meet up in the central lobby." Agunimon cut him dismissively, voice taking an ordering tone. For a moment, hesitance hung in the air, but nobody spoke up, until Wolfmon made an exasperated noise, turned around and stalked off. Chakkmon scrambled to follow him, leaving the three of them behind.
The tension was thick—Fairymon was glaring at Agunimon not-so-discreetly, and Blitzmon couldn't say that he wasn't doing the same. Despite that, the Fire Warrior turned and motioned them to follow him down the other hall.
'We'll give him this. We can always hit him in the face when he screw up,' he heard Junpei piped up, and almost smiled at the exasperated tone underlining his words.
-o0o-
Okay, so the five of them would be engaging two enemies. Not a good situation, but not unmanageable either. It wasn't like the five of them are good with plans anyway—so far, most of the plans in battle were done with Kouichi supervising and throwing in his two cents, which probably what kept them alive in battles.
'Hah, so you do think he's doing a good job leading you all.' Takuya's voice sounded smug. Agunimon frowned to himself at that. Alright, so maybe he actually thought Kouichi did a good job in leading them, but he can do a much better job, surely. "Shut up, Takuya."
"Did Kouichi-kun say how long he's going to be gone?"
His frown deepened. Seriously, Fairymon had been with him from the very start of this mission, and she couldn't ever shut up about Kouichi. Agunimon loved hearing her talk, but if it was only going to be about Kouichi, he'd preferred not to hear a word. "He didn't."
Takuya made a quiet snicker that echoed inside his head, but remained silent otherwise.
"Are you sure? Kouichi-kun worries about us, it's weird that he didn't say anything before he left."
"Well, obviously he's not too worried anymore, since he didn't tell me anything else I haven't told you guys." Okay, that was a lie. He didn't tell them about Kouichi's last warning for him not to be reckless. Come on, he knew his limit. Besides, he had Takuya. Takuya would tell him if he was crossing a line.
'Damn right I will. No one's going to die just because you made a mistake.'
"No, Takuya, seriously, shut it." He mumbled, and got an exasperated sigh from the previous wielder's spirit, but at least Takuya wasn't saying anything anymore.
There was a blessed silence for a grand total of three seconds, then Fairymon said again, "Don't you guys think Kouichi-kun had been acting a bit strange lately?"
Agunimon fought the urge to roll his eyes, because no, Kouichi had been his usual mother hen. Nothing was weird with that. "You mean he actually acts like we're five-year-olds going into the battlefield with nothing but toy knives?"
Fairymon gave him a sharp look, but Blitzmon helpfully contributed; "He probably had a fight with Kouji. They've been avoiding each other lately."
Fairymon regarded the Warrior of Thunder with interested look. "You think so? I've just been thinking the two of them have been kind of off. They don't work as well as they usually do, and Kouichi-kun often spaced out when he sees Kouji-kun—"
"He's just fine." He didn't mean to snap, really, so he was honestly rather surprised when his voice came out in a harsh snap. Fairymon stopped dead on her speech, and Blitzmon was glaring at him, and he could even physically felt Takuya frowning, and a part of him reflexively wanted to apologize, but he swallowed it and continued in a grumble. "He's been just fine at home, has been hogging all Kazu-nii's attention, and does the grocery shopping like he usually does. Nothing different. No need to worry about him."
One, two, three, four seconds—"He does grocery shopping for your family?" line was apparently the only thing Fairymon caught from Agunimon's annoyed grumble previously. Agunimon sighed, exasperated, and turned around to look at the butterfly-like Digimon hovering two inches from the ground. Honestly, must this beauty before him talk about Kouichi all the time? Couldn't she just look right at him instead?
'Jealousy is also blind, Takuma-kun.'
Shut up, he thought as loud as he could, but managed to respond to Fairymon's inquiry. "Yeah. He lives with us, he helps with things around."
"That sounds like him, to help around. Nice to know some boys know how to help with house chores and actually willing to do it," she sounded so awed at such notion. Agunimon couldn't really blame how Blitzmon piped in with a small voice: "I wash the dishes at home after dinner."
"He just helps with the groceries. Guy still doesn't know how to operate most of the machines and gadgets at home." He continued his steps, keeping his gaze on his digivice this time. They should be close to their target now.
"Isn't it good, that he helps with whatever he can? It's how he is." The flutter of Fairymon's wings sounded closer—she was trying to keep up with his pace. Sure enough, when he glanced to his left, Fairymon was looking at him intently, like she could extract every single information he had about Kouichi just by staring at him.
He clicked his tongue, irritated at both the jealousy welling up in his chest and the way Fairymon just seemed not to notice how irritating everything was right now. "Why are you so all over him, anyway?"
The butterfly-like Digimon literally backpedaled. "I—! I—don't—I mean, no, I'm just—" her face flushed bright red as she stuttered. Agunimon's lips thinned; fine, maybe she was adorable when she blushes like that, but if the blush happened over talks of Kouichi, he didn't like it one bit.
"Kouichi's not at all that fascinating, you know." He halted on his step when they reached the end of the hallway, considering turning left before dismissing the idea and turned right instead, eyes still fixed on the digivice. The digimon was close.
"Oi, Agunimon." Blitzmon spoke up. "If we turn left here, we can get to the digimon from behind."
Agunimon made a face. "What, you're scared?" Seriously, attacking from behind was not cool. Not at all. Even if their enemy was a Digimon gone berserk.
There was literally a spark of electricity above Blitzmon's head as the Thunder Warrior bristled. "Scared? It's strategy, Agunimon, I told you about the element of surprise, right? God, you're being seriously insufferable."
"If you're scared, you can just admit it." Agunimon snickered, watched the sparks of electricity above Blitzmon grew more vibrant, and was about to take a step back when suddenly the lights flickered.
Fairymon looked up. "What—"
A deafening growl echoed off from the corridor before them, and as the three of them tensed, the whole building shook. Agunimon fell into a fighting stance seamlessly, feeling rather than seeing his two companions doing the same. Another snarl echoed, this time sounding closer as a dark shadow moved from the corner of the corridor—
Agunimon's lips twitch, feeling Takuya's presence stirring and getting stronger like it always did when they were about to go into battle. "Huh. Seems like it found us first."
'Yeah, couldn't be helped, then.'
The outline of the Digimon was rather familiar—a humanoid Digimon the height of Agunimon's hip, easiest described as a mini-golem. They had fought Gotsumon before; the Digimon was kind of a power-hitter, but its small size shouldn't make for big trouble. This shouldn't be too bad.
Blitzmon was scowling at him, though. "Told you we should've taken left."
"It's just Gotsumon." Agunimon couldn't help but grin, the familiar rush of battle-adrenaline already racing through his veins. His fingers closed to a fist, and his stance got firmer. "Just stay back and watch, even I can take care of this alone."
Fairymon started visibly at his exclamation, but before anyone could say anything, Agunimon charged forward.
"Fire Darts!"
Gotsumon's reaction was immediate—pulling up a wall of rocks to counter Agunimon's attack, but Agunimon was expecting that. He slid down a bit to the side and leapt past the defense of rocks, landing a well-aimed kick right on Gotsumon's torso. A furious growl emanated from the enemy, and Agunimon only had time to fall back into a defense stance before a huge boulder was thrown straight towards him. He managed to dodge it by sliding downside, letting the boulder flew past him, through the window and down to the street. He heard Fairymon scramble to chase the boulder, making sure it wouldn't injure anyone happened to be loitering outside the building. Gotsumon was already back on his feet, and this time, when he leapt into attack, Agunimon met him halfway.
'Don't look down on him!' was the only warning he heard from Takuya before his fist connected to Gotsumon's face.
Punches and kicks were exchanged; there was a fleeting panicked moment when a thought flitted through Agunimon's mind: he didn't remember Gotsumon packed such a mean swing, and was the Digimon even this fast when they fought another Gotsumon back then? A punch straight to his gut staggered him, and he shook his head for a second before retaliating with a kick well-aimed at Gotsumon's head.
'Shoot him, Takuma-kun!'
"Burning Salamander!"
The Digimon flew off and into a studio through a broken wall before crashing on a stage and some prop with a loud bang. Agunimon caught his breath, and had a moment to smirk in satisfaction, just as he heard Blitzmon shrieked, "What the hell is that?!"
His head snapped sideways, towards where Blitzmon was staring, and for the first time after all the battles they went through, Agunimon witnessed how a portal was opened.
It was like a pond of electricity, he would later remember; almost like a hole, one or two meters in diameter, crackling with electrical currents. Then out of nowhere, blocks of data was building fast—too fast—in the midst of it, shaping a vague figure that turned solid in a matter of seconds. Blitzmon gave a shout, blasting more electrical current into the portal, but it was too late.
Agunimon blinked to another Gotsumon.
Who promptly digivolve into Insekimon.
'Oh shit,' was Takuya's immediate reaction in his head, and Agunimon couldn't help but agree. Blitzmon and Fairymon both sent out their attacks, electricity and mighty gust of wind blasting on the newest enemy's face. Agunimon straightened up, firing off his Fire Darts around Insekimon, and had to leap back when Gotsumon launched another attack of hugs boulders toward him.
Blitzmon grunted as he blew off another boulder thrown his way, turning it into exploding little stones. "I told you we could have had that surprise attack advantage!"
"Yeah, well!" Agunimon shouted back, darting down to avoid more boulders and retaliating with fire. "Like we could have known there's another portal opening up!"
"Stop arguing, you two!" Fairymon's voice was close to a shriek, not that Agunimon could blame her. This situation was kind of dire, though he was pretty sure they could still handle it. He leapt up, aiming a powerful kick at Gotsumon and watched in satisfaction as it was thrown back a good feet. A blast of wind knocked it further back—Fairymon was backing him, that was good. He grinned, feeling his confidence grew. See, they didn't really need Kouichi to—
'Takuma-kun, behind you!'
He grinned, turning around swiftly to face another boulder. He leapt back, and swung his leg to change the trajectory of the boulder by hitting it on the side.
He honestly didn't see Blitzmon on the other side. He didn't even notice—only Fairymon's surprised shout and Blitzmon's painful scream that later froze him in place.
'Takuma-kun!' Takuya's voice was harsh in his head, and he winced. The boulder had hit Blitzmon dead, and he was turning into swirls of data, revealing Kanpei's prone figure sprawled on the floor, groaning in pain. Fairymon was by his side in a matter of seconds, using her small tornadoes to ward off both Gotsumon and Insekimon.
His eyes couldn't leave his friend's body, though. For the first time since he became a Digimon, Kawabara Takuma felt inexplicable fear and rage coursing through his very being.
"Agunimon!" Fairymon was really shrieking now—obviously panicking. They'd been hurt through the battles before, but none of them had been hurt that bad to turn back into their human forms in the middle of the battle. Agunimon flinched visibly, arms shaking. "Don't just stand there—come on!"
'Tell her to take him away, Takuma-kun!' Takuya snapped at him. 'The most important thing right now is to get Kanpei-kun to safety. Just retreat for now!'
Apparently Fairymon didn't have to be told—she swiftly seized Kanpei's groaning figure and blasted off a window before flying out. Agunimon swallowed, and followed suit, jumping off the window and using the handrail there to swing down into the window a floor under them. The shattering glass scratched him, but the pain was simply overthrown by the panic and worry overwhelming his whole existence. He rolled back onto his feet just in time to see Fairymon flew back inside.
"Is he—" Agunimon began, eyes fixed on Kanpei's unmoving figure inside Fairymon's hold, but the butterfly-like Digimon snapped, "Where to?"
"Whe—"
"We need to get him to safety!"
That was right. He had to calm down now, had to take care of his friends first, had to find Kouji and Tokiya and changed their plans. He licked his lips, feeling hyper aware of how dry they were, and when he looked down, his hands were shaking as they hovered over Kanpei's form, unsure to touch his friend for fear of injuring him further, but needing the reassurance that Kanpei was alright and alive.
The boulder had hit Kanpei dead on because he hadn't seen where he deflected it.
He should have known where his teammates were standing. That was one of the things Kouichi ceaselessly reminded all of them: make sure you know where everyone is standing. He'd been too playful, too reckless in attacking and deflecting, and he didn't mean to hit Kanpei with the boulder, of course, but it didn't change the fact that it was his fault. Kanpei was injured because he messed around too much. If he had taken that Gotsumon down before the portal opened, it would have been easy to gang up on Insekimon. If he had considered Kanpei's surprise attack idea, this might not even happen. But no, he'd gotten cocky and so full of himself, and what did it get him, now?
So much for a leader, a voice inside his head mocked, and it wasn't Takuya's voice. It's your fault, you're really one hell of a leader, what a failure, you should've just quit, you're just pretending that you know what you're doing, you're no leader, you don't deserve these friends.
He could have killed Kanpei. He injured Kanpei, now, and if he kept doing this, would he end up killing the others? Takuya said he would intervene when it came to that, but what if there was no time, like earlier? The boulder had hit Kanpei, and all he could do was hopelessly watch Blitzmon evolving back into Kanpei and Fairymon's tensed posture trying to defend Kanpei from the Gotsumon. He hadn't even moved.
If Fairymon hadn't made in in time, if he'd deflected the boulder harder than it was necessary—would Kanpei be—?
"Agunimon!"
"We'll—I'll—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the two windows down the hall shattered with a loud noise, and two Insekimon swung inside, landing not-quite-gracefully. Fairymon let out a strangled noise. "The other one evolved?!"
'This is bad,' was Takuya's warning in his head, and Agunimon felt his head swam. Their enemies was slowly moving, shaking themselves from shards of glass that did nothing to scratch their hard-rock body. Did another portal open? No, he needed to get Kanpei to safety, he needed to find Kouji and Tokiya and make better plans, and his whole body was trembling.
"Agunimon—" Fairymon's voice held a note of warning, snapping him back to attention. His mind raced; plowing through the best possibilities, the best way to both find their other two friends and escape, before it hit him. They had a designated meeting point. He'd told them they'd meet up on the Central Lobby. Kouji was smart enough, if there was something wrong he would back off and wait around the Central Lobby for Takuma and the others to come.
Unlike you, who never knew when to stop, the voice in his head taunted.
"Central Lobby," he breathed, and motioned for Fairymon to move. "We promised to meet the others in Central Lobby." He stepped up, focusing his attention back on the two enemies. "Go ahead, I'll do something to slow them down."
Fairymon hesitated. "But Agunimon—"
"I'll be right behind you, promise."
Fairymon's wings fluttered, sending a small breeze around, a sign that she already started moving. Agunimon looked up at the ceiling—a well-placed attack should be able to bring the ceiling down and hinder the enemies. He needed to focus and stop screwing up this time.
'You'll do fine,' it was Takuya this time, and it calmed him a little. He wasn't alone. 'Everything will be fine.'
"Burning Salamander!"
As the ceiling broke down with a heavy groan, Agunimon leapt back and dashed away after Fairymon's trail.
-o0o-
The Central Lobby was already thrashed, but Kouji and Tokiya found them before they reached the lobby, waving them over to a smaller hall. Both of them had already de-evolved back into their human forms and were hiding behind large stage props. Fairymon shuffled carefully, laying Kanpei down like he was made of glass, before turning back to her human form. She turned to see Agunimon did the same. For a while, the five of them shifted around, trying to make sure that they were hidden from view before settling down back to look over Kanpei.
"Ow-ow-ow—" Kanpei whimpered, eyes wet with painful tears, obviously trying to catch his breath. "Oh my God, I do not want to crush anything with rocks anymore. I won't even kill an ant—now that I know how it feels."
"What happened?" Tokiya asked, voice thick with worry.
Suzumi made a shushing noise, fussing with Kanpei's sleeve to check his injury. From the corner of her eyes, she caught Takuma's pale face, noting how his eyes nervously watched Kanpei and how his hands were trembling. He was kneeling next to her, his hands hovering like he was going to touch Kanpei but scared to injure him further. "O-oi… are you okay?"
Kanpei made a face, then winced as he took a breath and his chest inflated. "I'll throw rocks at you once this is over." He grunted when Suzumi lifted his left arm. "Ow-ow. Okay, I think I sprained it. Dammit, it hurts to just breathe."
Suzumi hissed when she finally rolled up Kanpei's sleeve to reveal his injury. "Oh my God, Kanpei-kun. Look at that bruise."
"Here, Kanpei-san," Tokiya was moving, and next to him, Kouji actually had a small pocketknife in his hand. Suzumi allowed herself a moment to admire Kouji's hand moved to deftly cut Kanpei's sleeve while Tokiya slowly lifted Kanpei's shirt off, revealing an ugly deep purple bruise plastering itself on Kanpei's chest. Next to her, Takuma sucked a sharp breath.
Suzumi winced at the sight. "We need to get you to the hospital."
Kanpei tried a manly shrug, but ended up grimacing with pain. "Ugh, I don't know. It's just a bruise, it'll heal overnight if I treat it right. I'm pretty sure my Mom still has those creams for bruises and sprained limbs."
"As I said," Kouji's voice was clipped but calm, something Takuma couldn't even begin to fathom. How did you stay calm when one of your friends was injured pretty bad like this? "You're having trouble breathing. We don't know if your ribs were bruised, or worse, cracked. Or worst, broken."
Kanpei glared. "Well, don't jinx it."
Kouji crossed his arms. "I'm just saying, you should back off this one battle." His sharp midnight eyes swiped back, taking both Suzumi and Takuma's figures critically. "What exactly happened?"
Suzumi wrung her hands. "There was another portal—"
"It was my fault."
She normally hated being cut off, but this time she was actually surprised. Even more so when she turned to find Takuma staring at the floor, face red and looking like he was about to cry. "It's—it's my fault. I was—deflecting an attack and it hit Kanpei instead—I didn't see him there, I swear."
Tokiya frowned. "But we're supposed to always know where each other are in a battle."
Those words only served to make Takuma looked even guiltier. Suzumi thought she recognized the self-deprecating look Takuma directed at the floor, one she had often worn herself when she looked in the mirror. Both his hands were still trembling; Suzumi noticed when Takuma slowly drew them into fists in a vain attempt to stop it.
"It's not just that," Kanpei huffed, shifting a little so he could rest his injured hand over his stomach. "Another portal opened, and another Gotsumon came out of it. It evolved—actually I think both of them evolved by the time we escaped." He flashed a questioning look at Suzumi, and she hastily nodded in confirmation.
Kouji's eyes narrowed. "Our target evolved, too. So we—" he took out his digivice, frowning at the three blinking dots on the screen. "We now have three Insekimon, and they're getting closer. We need a plan, fast."
Almost like Kouji's words were a cue, a deafening roar echoed down from the hallway, answered by another growl, and then another. Tokiya visibly paled, almost subconsciously burrowing himself closer to Kouji's side, and Suzumi bit her lower lip. If only Kouichi was there, he would know what to do. "What—what should we do?"
Almost inevitably, her gaze landed on Takuma, questioning. And she could literally feel the rest of them directing their gazes at Takuma, too. Takuma was their leader, after all, always had been. He'd been the one who convinced them to reach out and take the power their digivices brought, he'd been the one standing up first whenever a battle approach. It was hard not to look up at him, not to have expectations on him.
Takuma normally would have jumped at the slightest chance of leading them into battle, but this time, he recoiled.
"What?" he snapped back at them, and Suzumi could see how his whole body trembled. "I can't—I don't know, I have no plan whatsoever right now, okay, don't look at me like that!" A frustrated look flashed on his face, and he shoved a hand through his hair. "I'm thinking!"
"There must be a reason why those digimon evolve at the same time," Kouji said thoughtfully. "The portal—did it close properly? If not, there's always a possibility of another digimon coming out of it."
"It seemed like it closed," Suzumi answered, and started when another growl came bellowing. It sounded even closer, and she turned to Takuma. "Takuma-kun, what do you think?"
"I don't know!" Takuma was raising his hands now, burying his face onto them, trembling like a frightened child. "Don't ask me, I'm going to screw it up, I can't—even Kanpei got hurt! I'm no good, I can't do this—I can't lead, not like Kouichi does, I'm going to get everyone killed, Suzumi, I can't!"
"Takuma-oniisan," Tokiya spoke up, reaching out to touch Takuma's hand, but the older boy flinched and recoiled like he'd been burnt. The youngest of them started at that, hurt flashing clear on his face as he backpedaled, but he didn't stop his words. "It's okay. We know you can be reckless sometimes, but this is half an accident—right, Kanpei-san?"
"Yeah, buddy, it's not like you purposefully kicked that boulder to hit me," Kanpei muttered. "Don't be dumb."
Takuma shook his head, and Suzumi noticed the tensed set of his shoulder, the edge of hysteric in his movement, and the thick nervousness in his voice when he talked. Takuma was freaking out. "I should have known where you are—should have noticed. I wasn't leading, don't you get it? I was doing everything on my own, trying to get all the credits, doing stupid things, dragging you all into unnecessary danger—I can't. You can't let me. I'll get us killed this way, I know I will, and I can't—if any of you got injured or… or worse, because of me, I can't—" his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. "I can't do this. I can't—I'm not good enough, Kouichi was right. I'm an idiot. I'm being obnoxious, I don't want everything to go well when I'm not there, because that means I'm not needed, and I hate that—I hate that. I hate that I hate it even more, but I can't—I can't do anything right, and even now any plan that I make would just get us killed, and there's—"
Her hand itched, that was the only possible explanation Suzumi could justify herself with, when her hand swung to slap Takuma, hard.
The sound echoed in the empty hall, and stunned silence followed that.
Takuma's jaw fell open, one hand raised to touch his right cheek where Suzumi had slapped him, turning a wide-eyed stare at her. She wrung her hands, uncertainty and fury warring on the expression on her face, but her eyes were unyielding, staring back straight into Takuma's brown eyes.
"Would you calm down," she said slowly, stressing each syllable. "Because we are not trying to tell you to make plans on your own. Calm. Down."
Takuma, dumbfounded and still wide-eyed, nodded.
"Wow," Kanpei breathed out in awe. "Remind me to never piss you off, Suzumi-chan."
Suzumi ignored the remark, keeping her eyes on Takuma. "You're our leader, Takuma-kun. Nothing changes that." Her hand found Takuma's trembling one, and rested on it in a reassuring manner, squeezing a little. "But you're going to calm down, and slow down, and we will figure this out together. No one is getting injured anymore, and Kanpei-kun will be fine. We're all going to be fine."
"That's right, Takuma-oniisan," Tokiya piped up, smiling softly. "We're all here, we'll figure out a plan. Together. That's what we do best together, right? Figuring out things?"
"Not everything is about you." Kanpei grumbled, using his foot to knock Takuma's knee. "You're our leader, your job is to lead. You've never been a good strategist anyway. Just—stop being reckless and doing unnecessary stuff that makes people worry if you're going to come out of this alive or not."
Takuma swallowed. "But I—if I screwed up again, I—"
"Then that's what happens. Everyone screws up, Takuma-kun. But that's why we're here." Suzumi smiled, squeezing Takuma's hand once again. "It's going to be fine. We'll cover for your mistakes, as we've always done, and you'll cover for ours. That's how it works, right?"
She drew her hand, and was quite surprised to see Koujis reaching out to tap Takuma's shoulder firmly.
"Get it together, Takuma." His gaze was solid, and by the way Takuma winced, Suzumi knew Kouji's fingers were digging into Takuma's shoulder. Kouji paused, eyes narrowing, like he was about to entrust something very important to Takuma, like this was a life-changing point.
Takuma opened his mouth, but closed it again at the look in Kouji's eyes.
"You're our leader." Kouji's voice was hard. "So get it together. You don't have to have the brains to make plans, but you need to keep us standing. You're the pillar. You have to keep it together when everything is falling apart. Got that?"
The silence then seemed to stretch out for so long, and Suzumi anxiously drew her arms around her own body, worried if this would really be Takuma's end of rope. She knew how it felt to be scared of screwing things up, the unbearable weight of being useless, the lump in your throat when you knew you'd be taking all these people down with you. Those feelings were distant when she had her digivice in hand, when she had Izumi lurking somewhere in her mind and she could talk to her, or when she had Fairymon's solid wings fluttering on her back. But without them, she knew best how it felt to be scared.
She watched Takuma swallow hard, watched his trembling hand rested itself on Kouji's, watched it curling around Kouji's wrist, gripping as if Kouji was his only lifeline, and watched him nodded shakily to himself. Once. Twice. Then thrice. She watched him slowly look up to swipe his gaze to all of them, and felt her smile grew at the newfound courage in those eyes.
"…I'll try my best." His voice was still trembling, and she could still hear a terrified note hiding there. "I just—if I screw this up—"
"You aren't going to, geez." Kanpei made an impatient gesture with his uninjured hand, rolling his eyes. "Now, are you still going to hate yourself in your emo corner? Because I think I've got an idea how to handle those three golems out there."
Suzumi was surprised to find small laughter escaping her throat, but it was fine. It was fine because Tokiya was grinning, and Kouji was rolling his eyes in the fond way of his she rarely saw, and Kanpei seemed to be a bit better, and Takuma—Takuma still looked scared, but the determined light that she'd come to associate with his gaze was back.
They were going to be fine.
-o0o-
When they moved out, leaving Kanpei to stay safe and hidden behind those huge props in the studio hall, Agunimon was absolutely terrified.
Takuya was silent in his head, and Agunimon didn't dare to even call out to him for fear that the mocking voice in his head would be the one answering, not Takuya's voice. So he kept silent, watched from a good distance as Chakkmon managed to divert the attention of one of Insekimon, and Wolfmon blasted of part of a wall to keep the other Insekimon from chasing Chakkmon. When Fairymon's cyclones hit it on the face almost immediately, throwing it back a good nine feet towards him, and Agunimon was ready. He rushed forward from his hiding place, eyes narrowed and focused, trying to ignore the clawing fear in his chest—
I'm going to screw this up. No, I'm not—but—I can't—!
He skittered around that Insekimon, arms shaking like it was his first battle all over again, and he let out a terrified scream as he dashed forward, locking his hands on Insekimon's shoulder and threw it on the floor, pinning it with his whole weight.
"Here we go, Agunimon!"
Chakkmon's voise was the cue, and Agunimon quickly leapt off the way before Insekimon could propel him aside. Almost instantly, the other Insekimon was thrown by a huge fist of ice, knocking into the Insekimon he was pinning down, and those two Digimon tumbled in a heavy heap of rocks. Wolfmon's Licht Seiger rained down upon both of them, and Chakkmon skated lightly towards them and froze the two Insekimon's feet to the floor.
"This isn't going to last," Chakkmon warned, face tight. "They're strong—they're even stronger—I can't—"
A loud explosion blasted off from somewhere behind him, and Agunimon felt his whole being froze in fear when Fairymon let out a painful shriek. He turned around just in time to see the butterfly-like Digimon crashed onto the wall, thrown effortlessly by the third Insekimon. Panic welled up in his chest; it found us first, we can't take them one by one now, what am I going to do, I'm going to get everyone killed—
'Takuma-kun.'
I can't I can't I can't I can't—
'Takuma-kun, you can!'
Chakkmon shouted in dismay as the two Insekimon they managed to pin down before broke free, and Wolfmon snatched him away just in time to avoid one Insekimon's hand swiping down at him. They skittered around towards the other side, and Agunimon gritted his teeth because those two now placed themselves between three Insekimon. Wolfmon looked up defiantly, sending out Licht Seiger almost before he skidded into a halt, and Chakkmon backed him up with his ice; but they were surrounded and the three ridiculously powerful Insekimon were rushing forward, forward, forward—
'Protect them!'
The battle cry that erupted from his throat surprised even himself, and before he knew it, Agunimon had already thrown himself towards the closest Insekimon, ducking under a punch before tackling it down. It went down with an outraged groan, and Wolfmon managed to push Chakkmon to skate into safety towards where Fairymon was sprawled on the floor. The other Insekimon were focusing on Agunimon now, furious at the Warrior of Fire as they charged with their rocks—but something inside Takuma hardened.
Something inside him burned.
Something inside him—
-o0o-
He could feel Takuya. Close—closer than he usually felt him, and Takuya was grinning unabashedly. There was no trace of the fear he previously felt, only the inexplicable desire to stand up and protect, to fight and win and make sure everyone was okay, to protect and to prove.
The fire inside him burned even brighter, warm and inviting and yet so powerful it was terrifying, and he felt his limbs tremble even as his arms slowly reached out, fingers tensed with anticipation. He could feel Takuya's pride, Takuya's courage, Takuya's own desire to protect people he knew nothing about and a history much older than himself it was staggering.
'It's okay.' The other boy said simply. 'It's meant to be yours.'
His fingers wrapped around the fire and the warmth, and power exploded inside him.
He screamed.
-o0o-
"Slide Evolution! Vritramon!"
The power he held was even more raw, threatening to slip out of his control if he so much lost his focus. He snarled viciously, grabbing a hold of the Insekimon under him to throw it back at the other two Insekimon, the strength of his throw sending them barreling backwards past where his friends stood, gaping at his transformation. He gritted his teeth—this was hard, harder to control, this insane power and animal instinct that threatened to take over his mind.
'You're okay.'
Takuya. Takuya was there—his presence a steady anchor.
'You're okay, Takuma-kun. You can do this.'
He could. Yes, he could.
Fire followed his movement like he was born into them, and he dashed forward, knocking aside a boulder thrown towards him and blasting back a powerful ball of fire. One of those Insekimon made a painful screech when he brought his leg to collide with its face, and for a second, a feral grin made its way to his face—that's what you got for messing with my friends.
Blow after blow after blow; at some point, several Licht Seiger and Brezza Petalo rushed past him, aimed well at an attack that was about to hit him. He snarled, and the power inside him was coming out in waves, hitting his enemies in the form of flames and scorching heat. Turning around, he placed a destructive blow at Insekimon's feet and watched it tumbled down in satisfaction.
This was good. This power. He could do this. There was still fear—of losing his control, of turning into something that wasn't himself, turning into something that wasn't even human—but his friends were there. Takuya was there. He needed to protect. As long as he held steady to them, he would be fine.
He would protect.
"Agunimon, watch out!"
He was fast, but Insekimon was already swinging down at him, and he tensed, preparing himself for collision, but then—
"Endlich Meteor!"
One sphere of darkness spiraling into Insekimon, throwing him onto the floor, and Vritramon's head snapped up, eyes wide, to see Lowemon standing on the edge of a broken window.
'Scan them, Takuma-kun.'
Scan. Yes. The data were floating, shimmering around each Insekimon's body. He swallowed.
"Slide Evolution, Agunimon!"
Being Agunimon was a relief. It felt like home, like fully grasping the control he's always had over himself. The digivice was solid in his hand, pulsing with power, and he clutched at it hard.
It was over. He swiftly scanned the three Insekimon, leaving rubbles and scorching boulders behind.
-o0o-
Wolfmon couldn't take his eyes off the battle, just now. Even as Agunimon scanned those Insekimon, as the battle ended, and as Fairymon went back to fetch Kanpei, his mind reeled with shock.
What the fuck was that? That wasn't Agunimon. Did he evolve?
He let himself return into his human form when Agunimon de-evolve into Takuya, watching his friend fell ungracefully onto his bum, wheezing like he'd just run a marathon. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Lowemon walking slowly closer, data swirling around his figure until it revealed Kouichi's much smaller, more slender form. The boy was smiling slightly, eyes bright and proud, and Kouji couldn't understand what it was about.
"Takuma-oniisan!" Tokiya—having de-evolved from Chakkmon—was the first to run towards Takuma's sprawled form. "That—that was great! That was awesome! What was that?!" He dropped onto his knees right next to Takuma, his grin falling for a worried frown. "Are—are you okay?"
Takuma's groan was the only answer. Kouji hesitantly stepped forward, letting his steps fall to join Tokiya and Takuma. He stopped when he could see Takuma clearly—no apparent injury, it seemed. He just looked exhausted.
"It's okay, Tokiya-kun," Kouichi's voice came, and he turned to see the other boy stepped up behind him. His lips thinned—Kouichi still kept his distance. It irritated him irrationally, but it wasn't like he had any reason to ask Kouichi to stop. He glanced aside, watching Fairymon came out of the hall with Kanpei in her arms, noticing the brightening expression Fairymon wore when Lowemon appeared just now.
"What exactly happened?" Kanpei demanded, looking pointedly at Kouichi. "Why are you back? Couldn't you have been back earlier—this was a huge trouble, Kouichi, huge!"
Kouichi offered him a smile—one Kouji hated because it seemed so distant. "Sorry, it took a bit longer than I thought. But you guys handled it very well; you were great just now, Takuma-kun."
Takuma grinned. "Aren't I?" He struggled to sit up, Tokiya pulling his hand to help as he did so. "Shit, it feels like I'm just run over by three trucks."
"Language, Takuma-kun," Fairymon chided, settling Kanpei down before turning back into her human form. Kouji could see amusement in her face though, and apparently so could Takuma, because he was grinning up. But the wielder of Spirit of Fire then sobered up, seriousness coming back to his gaze as he turned to Kouichi.
"Sorry for being reckless all the time."
Kouichi seemed astonished for a moment, but then his expression smoothed. "No, it's fine. It's just like Takuma-kun to be reckless. You're the type to confront everything head-on, anyway."
Takuma shook his head. "Yeah, but I was being an idiot. Obnoxious. Whatever word you prefer to use. I could've killed someone—and myself," he added when Suzumi opened her mouth to chide him. "And that's not a good thing. I—I understand now. What it means to be a leader. To stand up and protect everyone." He looked up again, this time meeting Kouji's stare. "It's just like you said, Kouji. I—really still have a long way to go."
Kouji cleared his throat, crossed his arm in a nonchalant manner. "I was just trying to snap you out of it. Though Suzumi did a better job slapping you."
Takuma laughed, voice raw with both exhaustion and emotion. "Yeah. Thanks for not punching me in the face." He leaned back on one of the boulder, putting a hand on Tokiya's head to ruffle his head. "I'm good, I'm good. I'm fine. That was—me. Vritramon. It was awesome."
Kouji narrowed his eyes. "It didn't seem like you." He said plainly. "It was… wilder. Like you almost have no control over yourself."
Takuma sighed. "The scary thing is that's actually true. I think." He raised a hand, and let out a laugh when he noticed them still trembling. "It was hard to control. Way harder than being Agunimon."
"Because it's your Beast Spirit," Kouichi explained, slowly sitting down on the floor. "It manifests the basest emotions and instinct of us. Like animals. It takes much more control over yourself, demands you to understand yourself better. But you managed to reach it, Takuma-kun," the smile on Kouichi's face was obviously proud. "That's great. You're one step forward."
The two of them exchanged smiles—and Kouji recognized the smiles with an odd sensation of envy. Kouichi's was both proud and glad, like Takuma had just lived up to his expectation, like he was putting his faith on Takuma reaching this point where he became stronger. Takuma's was both apologetic and thankful, like he was just glad he was able to meet Kouichi, and an unspoken promise to do his best from now on.
Kouji's lips thinned. He was irrationally envious—or jealous?—of them.
It wasn't fair that Takuma got to know his brother better than he did, right?
He shook his head. No, Kouichi wasn't anyone. He didn't have a brother, Kouichi was still a stranger. Takuma was a friend—just a friend. None of them understand. They were strangers, still, just strangers who happened to fight together. Survival forged bonds, but he couldn't let them in too close.
He didn't want to.
-o0o-
"I bring ice cream!"
He stared at the brown-haired boy standing in front of his door—his mother's door, to be exact, but he'd come to acknowledged it as his home, too, anyway, so it didn't matter. The plastic bag jiggled before his face, its owner giving him the widest grin he'd ever seen. He sighed, leaning sideways onto the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Kouji, who's that?" the soft steps of his brother came from his back, and soon enough, another tuft of midnight hair poked from behind his shoulder. Their guest grin grew impossibly wider as surprise colored his brother's face. "Huh. Why are you here, Ta—"
"Because it's Sunday, so I come over to hang out with you?" their guest offered hastily, waving the plastic bag of ice cream on his hand. "Seriously, I even brought ice cream. It's your favorite, too."
He could feel rather than heard his brother's soft, exasperated, but fond sigh. "Not that. I mean—why aren't you at her place?"
The brunette's face turned indignant. "I don't want to be the guy who leaves his best friend to hook up with said best friend's ex-girlfriend two days after they break up, geez." He lowered the plastic bag, looking bothered. "I just, I really am sorry, you know. I didn't mean to say it—"
His eyebrows rose elegantly, subconsciously letting his right hand moved back to find his brother's and held it firmly. "If you're about to say that you never meant it when you asked Niisan to break up because you're in love with her, I'm going to punch you so hard."
"But I am sorry!" Oh, there was that infamous puppy face his best friend was known to often make, but had no effect on anyone. Except on his twin, maybe, because his twin was just too kind for this world. "Yeah, I admit I was thinking how nice it'd be if you guys break up because then I'd have a chance with her—to try and not screw it up, but. But I really didn't mean to blurt it out. I didn't mean to really make you break up with her, really sorry—"
His brother chuckled. "It's fine. Really. You don't have to apologize so much."
"But I do. I'm just so, so sorry, and you'll—God. Just—breaking up is never easy, I know that, so I'm really sorry about this. Just—tell me if there's anything I can do?"
He rolled his eyes. "There's nothing, you're just being ridiculous. Everything's fine, Taku—"
"Shut up, Kouji, I was just apologizing, why are you terrorizing me." His best friend gave him a deadpan look, and he would've laughed, really, except that tonight should be his night with his brother, and his best friend was delaying it. "I'm just, really, really sorry."
His brother shifted, and he could tell he was getting a bit uncomfortable with the ceaseless apology. "It's really fine. She's always been in love with you, so the break up is inevitable." He smiled softly. "It was nice, but I wasn't being fair to her, either. I'm not sure if what I feel for her could match how much she likes you."
The brunette's face twisted, regret and uncertainty strewn all over his expression. "Sorry. I don't know about her feelings at all, really.I'm dumb like that. Sorry. I really didn't—just sorry."
"It's really okay."
"Yeah well, I'm still sor—ouch!"
His fist collided with the brunette's cheek hard—enough to leave a bruise, but not enough to crack his jaw. Kouji sniggered, reigning in his laugh as his brother sputtered behind him, and his best friend staggered back on his feet.
"Kou—dammit what was that for?!" the brunette shrieked, glaring viciously. "Ow-ow-ow, it hurts—I'm going to get back at you for this, Kouji, dammit!"
"You're being an idiot. I'm your best friend so I have the right to sock you one when you're being an idiot." He replied nonchalantly, ignoring the incredulous stare of both his brother and his best friend. He bent down to snatch the plastic bag of ice cream that the brunette had dropped on the floor when he punched him. "Niisan told you to stop apologizing, so stop already."
His brother cleared his throat. "Kouji's right." Another smile, really, his twin was too good for this world. "I actually prefer you to go to her place right now, stop being a wimp and ask her out."
His best friend made a face like a wounded puppy. "But—"
"No buts. Thank you for the ice cream, now go away, we have movies to watch. Go get your girl." He made a shooing motion, feeling his lips twitch up when he heard his brother laughed and said goodbye to his best friend. The door swung shut on his back, and that was when he noticed that he was still holding his brother's hand. Amused, he looked down at their entwined hand, shaking his head.
"What?" His brother blinked.
"Nothing," He tightened his hold, before pulling his brother forward to drag him back towards to living room. "Let's go. I have six months of you ignoring me and indulging her instead to make up for—that's going to take some time."
There were laughter and warm, playful accusations afterward, and he'd never felt more content.
-o0oendofchapterseveno0o-
A/N: Alright, I'm hoping to post the next chapter in two weeks, if rl doesn't explode to a crazy thing. Also, yes, the last scene of this chapter is Kouji's memory over Kouichi and Izumi's break up that was mentioned in chapter four. Feel free to drop me aline if you have anything to ask!