Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Beyond The Door

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It was Thursday, and Kouichi had no idea whatsoever about how to ask Kako if she wanted to go to Hawaii in his place. Instead of doing the homework Rai assigned while he had time in school, he stayed up until midnight for the past few days, realizing he hadn't done any of it, and spent the first hour of the new day scribbling his homework.

Hideki's training became more focused on sparring and less on examining techniques of fictional characters. He recognized quite a few of the techniques Hideki used, and eventually found a pattern or two.

All his school studies and training hadn't given him much time to go back to the bookstore or worry about anything related to the digimon. In fact, Duskmon and Lowemon hadn't bothered him in days; he had completely forgotten their existence.

It was Thursday, and Kouichi could clearly remember he had nearly walked into Ogata's classroom again that week.

He was lucky that Kouji had reminded him. He didn't want a repeat of Monday, when he had made a narrow escape, only feet away from being caught by the teacher he despised.

But all that didn't matter. It was Thursday, and Kouichi was in the library, actually doing the homework Ms. Kawai had given him. There was silence, solitude and work. Just another normal day at school. Yep, Kouichi thought as he finished the last problem of his math homework, I could really get used to this.

He thought too soon. It was at that moment that Duskmon appeared. "D-Tector," was the first word he spoke to the startled Kouichi.

Kouichi nearly yelled. However, his senses kicked in and he realized getting thrown out of the library would do him no good. There were no other sanctuaries to hide him from Ogata. Drawing a breath instead, he hissed, "What's your problem Lowe-I mean-Duskmon?"

Duskmon didn't fail to notice his error. "Do I look like Lowemon?"

"N-no," Kouichi muttered, "that was a slip of the tongue and a complete accident considering you all haven't been around for a long time. I've lost track of things. Anyone else come in?"

The digimon considered Kouichi's excuse before answering the question, "Yes, just Kazemon. We have a D-Tector out, though. And-what are you working on?" Duskmon's eyes trailed to the piece of paper Kouichi placed aside that was covered with scribbles.

A tinge of red appeared on the boy's cheeks. He grabbed the paper and crumpled it in his hand. "Nothing," he snapped in a whisper. "D-Tector. Do you know whose?" Absentmindedly, he smoothed out the paper and placed it in his math book.

Duskmon shook his head. Kouichi sighed and placed his notebooks back in his backpack. He dashed out of the library and headed straight for his locker, where he stuffed in all his books and his backpack, just barely. However, he didn't forget to take out his D-Tector, first. Slamming the locker shut, Kouichi checked his D-Tector for a signal. His face fell immediately at first glance.

"It's out of school," he murmured in disappointment.

"So?"

"I can't just race out of school, Duskmon!" Kouichi exhaled sharply and pocketed his D-Tector. "I'll have to think this through. There has to be something else..."

The idea just passed him by. Literally.

"Ms. Kawai!" he called out, racing after his teacher down the hall. "Um..." He stopped awkwardly, wondering if his excuse was enough reason to get him out of school. "Th-there's a D-Tector," he stuttered, wondering why it felt so strange to explain to her of all people, "and..."

"Go ahead," she murmured, waving a hand dismissively. "The signal dies down quickly, and we need that D-Tector, so I suggest you hurry. If anyone asks, say you're getting a cappuccino for me. In fact, get one for me on the way." Rai turned around to face him and placed the money in his hand before turning back around to be absorbed in the papers she was holding.

Right. Whatever. D-Tector time! Kouichi pocketed the money and raced out as fast as humanly possible. He whipped out his D-Tector to check where the next D-Tector was.

It surprised him.

In Dad's house again? What is this? Confused, Kouichi jogged down to his father's house. "Duskmon," he muttered, "why is it here again?"

In response, Duskmon murmured, "Maybe it seems like a sufficient portal."

It took five minutes for Kouichi to get the key hidden in the branch once more. Deciding that it was pointless to come back three more times to do this, he just pocketed the key and ran in after opening the door.

"Is it just one D-Tector, Duskmon?" Kouichi asked as he climbed the stairs and entered Kouji's room. A mess. Sheesh, did he come back after last time? Curiously, Kouichi decided to look around.

"Yes, just one," Duskmon snapped. "Get it before the signal dies out."

Grudgingly, Kouichi opened the closet, staring at his D-Tector as he did. The signal faded. Which one, which one? he wondered, staring at the boxes. Shrugging, he pulled the very first one out of the stack and opened it.

Bandanas.

Kouichi sighed and pulled the next one off, wishing he could just tear off the flaps as he opened it.

Bandanas.

Groaning, Kouichi pulled the next one off of the stack and wished he hadn't gotten his brother so many bandanas. Half-heartedly, he gazed at it before poking at the flaps. "Open sesame," he muttered, slowly opening it.

A bright rush of yellow light flashed in front of him. Kouichi didn't have any time to react. Surprised, his eyes widened as the familiar blue and yellow D-Tector of Junpei's formed before him. Letting out a nervous laugh, Kouichi grabbed it out of the light and stared at it. The light immediately disappeared and he was left with the D-Tector, boxes of bandanas, and a mess in Kouji's room.

Time to clean up. I really hope Ms. Kawai doesn't mind, he thought, pocketing both D-Tectors and quickly putting the bandana boxes back up.

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"Kouichi, what are you doing?" Duskmon inquired as Kouichi sat down in the seat in front of his brother's desk.

The boy shrugged. "I just...want to see what Kouji's been doing here. It's kind of weird, but it's not at the same time. So, how'll a little peek hurt?" he muttered, mostly to himself. It won't, will it? Biting his lower lip, Kouichi examined the items on Kouji's desk.

A picture frame with pictures of both families, along with random other things. Papers were scattered across, crumpled in most cases. Kouichi took one of the crumpled papers and smoothed it out.

In an instant, he knew Takuya had been right. What Kouji needed most was to be trusted. Slowly, he smoothed the other papers out, reading them one by one. Slowly, Kouichi understood exactly what his brother was going through.

Slowly, Kouichi was becoming bored.

"What a drama king," he muttered, recrumpling the papers that had been crumpled to make it seem as if he wasn't prying. "And I thought I was bad."

Duskmon stared at the boy before him. Isn't he?

What was that? Kouichi turned to the digimon and glared accusingly. "I am not that bad!"

"I never said you were," replied Duskmon in his defense. "By 'he' I could have been talking about Kouji." What a stupid child.

"I'm not stupid!" Kouichi snapped, standing up. Letting out a sigh, he looked around his brother's room once more. Was that all he was doing? Kouichi's brain hurt thinking of the possibilities, All that writing so he'd get rid of all those feelings. I ought to do that more often so I don't confuse myself. "Well," the boy murmured, "Time to get the cappuccino."

He walked out of his brother's room and stopped. Turning his head slightly to look beyond his shoulder, Kouichi sighed. Sorry, Kouji.

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Kouichi had never felt so frightened in his entire life. There he was, in the coffee shop, a boy who should have been in school, but was buying coffee for his teacher. She did this on purpose, Kouichi thought, suddenly becoming annoyed by the lady behind him and her constant mutterings about him. It was as if she thought he couldn't hear. Nevertheless, Kouichi kept his composure and eventually reached the front of the line.

The only problem was the person who was helping him.

"No...you?" Kouichi snapped, digging out the money. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he grumbled, "Can't you not work here? Actually, this isn't so bad...um...Ms. Kawai wants a cappuccino." The boy placed the money on the counter.

Hideki's eyes slowly widened. He took the money and called for one of his co-workers to make the cappuccino. Turning back to Kouichi, he asked, "She let you out of school just to get her a cappuccino? Man, I wish my teachers did that for me." A dreamy look overcame him. "Ahhh...if only there was a love potion-"

The boy cleared his throat and interrupted, "Don't wanna hear it." He lowered his voice and asked, "Were you in the restaurant when I went out with Kako last week?"

Taking the cappuccino from the man behind him, Hideki shook his head. Before Kouichi could speak, he said, "However..."

"However?"

"Rai was there. She told me everything that happened. You do realize she was behind that whole light charade, right?" the young man asked. When Kouichi nodded, he continued, "So you realize what that means."

Looking away, Kouichi nodded. "Marise's diary," he murmured, "affirmed that for me." He took the cappuccino from Hideki and waited for his change.

Hideki slowly counted the change, his eyes glued to the impatient lady behind Kouichi. Finally, he handed the change to Kouichi and added, "Tell Rai I said 'hi,' will you? Oh, and tell Kako that if she doesn't come home right away without slacking, I'm going to make sure she doesn't go anywhere tomorrow. No training for you today, and...wait one second."

Kouichi stood there, blinking and feeling utterly stupid as Hideki ran around, grabbing a pen and a napkin, quickly writing down a note. Finally, he handed it to Kouichi and instructed, "Give that to Kouj-er...twerp two, will you? And for the record, twerp..." A mischievous grin played on his lips.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing."

A sour look appeared on Kouichi's face. Hideki smirked and continued, "Just wanted to say 'twerp.' Beat it, twerp."

"One of these days, I'll succeed in defeating you," Kouichi grumbled, sulking out of the shop and back to school.

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Unfortunately, Kouichi had to make sure he hurried before Rai thought he ran away with her money. Minutes later, he was back in school (although he wished he wasn't). A quick glance at his watch told him it was fairly around the time that she would be in Ogata's classroom. He made a quick stop at his locker to get his backpack and books, then headed straight to the classroom.

Kouichi, however, found that Ms. Kawai had just started class. He wondered just how stupid he must have looked, walking in there with her cappuccino in hand. Nevertheless, he handed it to her along with her change, told her what Hideki had asked him to, then sulked slowly to his seat. As he sat down, Kouichi pulled out the napkin and handed it to his brother, wishing he had read what it said first. "From Hideki," was all he said before digging out his notebook.

The younger twin glanced at it quickly before removing it from sight. He glanced at his brother, who was being pestered by Kako. Today, straight after school, he reminded himself.

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Kouichi sighed as he stopped by his house. "Uh-hey, Kouji, you're busy?" he asked as Kouji continued walking past.

"Yes, I'm busy," the boy muttered, ignoring his older brother.

Suddenly feeling lonely, Kouichi looked at the front door, then Kouji. Mom won't miss me, will she? He felt guilty, but Kouichi nevertheless ran off.

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Kako wasn't sure whether to feel safe or unnerved by the fact that Kouji was just a few feet behind her. "Um...Kouji?" she suddenly murmured, turning around.

He looked up at her, face unreadable. Calmly, he stopped in his tracks and nodded.

Nervously, Kako allowed her eyes to wander around. Finally, she met his eyes and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Hideki asked me to come over."

Damn Hideki. Sighing, Kako asked, "Well, could you stop acting like you're stalking me? And you're really quiet. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kouji murmured, walking ahead of Kako, ignoring her as she began some story about how usually when someone was quiet, they were sick or something or another. He didn't bother listening. Instead, Kouji picked up his pace to leave her behind.

Confused, Kako stopped in her tracks and watched him walk off. What is his problem? I swear, boys, she thought, slowing down. I'd wander off, but Kouichi did tell me Hideki threatened to not let me get out tomorrow. She let out a sigh. Boys...

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Surprisingly, finding another book to read that Kouichi was interested in was hard. After about half an hour of searching, he found exactly what he wanted and was on his way back home. He sighed as he reached the door, wondering what he should do to ask Kako about the ticket.

"Mom," he called out, "I'm home."

Laughter met his ears. A frown appeared on Kouichi's face. What's this about? We have guests? Confused, Kouichi walked in to the kitchen, immediately dropping the book in his hand and his backpack.

Kanaye sat in the kitchen, talking to his mother.

Kouichi could feel his blood boiling. What is he-that...what's he...doing here? Swallowing, Kouichi pondered the possibilities, but couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't alarm his mother. He nearly screamed when his mother turned to him, smiling. "Kouichi, your friend came over. Oh-are you okay?" she asked, suddenly concerned as her son allowed the anger to show on his face. "Kouichi?"

Doing his best to control himself, Kouichi allowed himself to say in a collected voice, "He's not...my friend."

"It was nice meeting you, Ms. Kimura," Kanaye told her in a pleasant voice before standing up and walking up to Kouichi. "You know," the boy murmured, "I do believe naivety runs in the family. This job should be easy."

"Stay away from my family!" Kouichi snapped, throwing a punch at Kanaye. He heard his mother let out a faint scream, but it didn't seem to matter at all.

Kanaye brought out his sword. Kouichi didn't exactly catch how he did. It just seemed to have appeared. Kouichi brought out his D-Tector, allowing his sword to appear a second later. Snatching it out of the air and pocketing his D-Tector, Kouichi lunged at Kanaye, locking blades with the other boy and sending him crashing out the open door. I'm really glad I didn't close that, Kouichi thought, dashing outside.

To his chagrin, Kanaye had landed on his feet, not hurt at all. "Oh, very well. Shall we make this quick?" he asked in a condescending voice.

Angrily, Kouichi ran outside. Think, Kouichi. What did all those matches against Hideki teach you? He managed to parry an attack, just barely, however. Pushing Kanaye back, he yelled, "Yeah, we'll make it quick! I have homework to finish!" I never did get to finishing all that other homework she gave me...

"Yes, well at least you don't have to take Ai out on a date to some stupidly expensive restaurant!"

Kouichi stepped forward, on the offensive now. He slashed his sword out, managing to graze Kanaye's shoulder.

"That's because you're stupid and don't know how to pick girls!"

Growling, Kanaye pushed Kouichi back on the defensive, making sure he couldn't get back to attacking. He brought his sword down, hoping to catch Kouichi's arm, but Kouichi stepped back and instead pinned the blade down with his foot.

"And Kako is so much better than Ai?"

Kanaye lifted the sword up, catching Kouichi's foot and tripping him. He was about to bring his sword down, but Kouichi managed to jump in his feet just in time. Instead, Kanaye was on the defensive again, Kouichi's attacks growing in hostility.

"YES, SHE IS!" the boy yelled, making his first mistake as he thrust his sword forward.

Kanaye chuckled, managing to get behind the boy. Mercilessly, he brought the hilt of his sword down on Kouichi's back. "True," he murmured and stepped back as Kouichi fell to the floor, sword dropped out of his hand. "She is cuter. However, I doubt that she'll live very long."

Kouichi did his best to keep awake. He rolled over onto his back, grabbing Kanaye's hand and yanking it down to get a look at the sword. 'Did you notice any fancy ornaments on it?' Hideki had asked. Before his vision blacked out on him, Kouichi saw a black stone embedded in the hilt of the sword. Letting go of Kanaye's hand, he allowed himself to fall into darkness.

Disgusted, Kanaye kicked Kouichi away and turned to the doorway, a smug smile on his face. "Ms. Kimura, I suggest you get someone to bring him in. He'll be unconscious for a very long time," he told the horrified lady before walking off.

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Kouichi found himself floating through a dark, bottomless space. No light shone, there were no meaningless items lying around. It wasn't a room, it wasn't a planet, and it wasn't a house. It was simply empty space, utterly dark.

Yet, Kouichi found he could see easily. That was, considering that all that was to be seen was more empty darkness.

Might as well try, he thought, feeling stupidity overcome him. Drawing a breath, he yelled in a voice as loud as possible, "HELLO?"

No answer.

Not even an echo.

Hesitantly, Kouichi lifted a foot and planted it down in front of the other. If it's all empty space, he reasoned, there's no place I can really walk to. But there's a possibility of some place up ahead, right? He decided to risk that chance. And if there's nothing there, I'll just walk around some more, the boy concluded.

He kept walking. Then again, Kouichi wasn't sure if it could be considered walking. He felt more like he was floating. Can I fly? Impishly, he grinned and jumped up, feeling as light as a feather.

The feeling lasted for a mere second. Unfortunately, he fell back down, landing lightly on his feet. It's like on the Digimoon, he realized with a smile. Well, what's the crime in jumping around? He continued to jump forward, breathless from the enjoyment.

Eventually, he stopped in front of a large black door. Kouichi stared up at it, wondering how anyone could make a door so large.

"Oh for goodness sakes, it's called imagination. Get in already, stupid!" a voice snapped.

That's...familiar. Should I be happy? Kouichi shivered as he realized exactly whom that voice belonged to. He looked around, trying to locate the speaker, to no avail.

"Open the goddamn door, idiot!"

"Mind your language first," Kouichi snapped in return, wondering how to open the door. Strangely enough, there was a smaller door hidden in the giant door. Confused, Kouichi walked up to it and opened it, continuing, "There are children present." He became even more confused. Is this something I would normally say?

The person snorted, "Yeah, you mean you? Sheesh, you won't even ask the girl out."

Kouichi frowned. "Where are you?" he asked, looking around. Who are you? he wondered to himself. The room was dark.

The door shut behind him, startling him. Kouichi whirled around in circles countless times before he stopped, feeling nauseated. All of the sudden, a light flickered, and the entire room glowed.

Not to mention it was warm, but Kouichi decided to have his mind stop wandering off track. It didn't work so well. He suddenly became fascinated when he realized there was no light switch in the room. "How's it glow? Is there some hidden light switch? Oh, hey-"

"Shut the hell up."

Kouichi looked up to come face to face with himself. "Hello," he replied pleasantly.

"Yo. Now let's make this quick. You know why you're here, right?"

"Right, um...because I was knocked unconscious by that guy."

His other self seemed to be annoyed. Angrily, the second Kouichi, dressed in complete black, whacked the first Kouichi.

Everything unraveled from there.

"Okay, I'm the smart one! I knew what I was doing!" the first Kouichi, now dressed in white, yelled. "So what was that for?"

"Ya stupid idiot, if you're so smart, it ought to be obvious that you didn't know a single thing you were doing." Sitting down, he muttered, "Let's get down to business."

The two locked glares and nodded.

The one dressed in black cleared his throat and murmured, "We need a form of convenience. I can't just keep calling you Kouichi when I'm Kouichi, too."

"I'll be Kouichi one!"

The second one frowned, but shrugged and nodded. "Sure. Down to business. You've been neglecting me!" Kouichi two snapped in an accusing voice.

Kouichi one just smiled. Leaning back in the armchair, he replied, "Maybe I have. What of it?"

"I want you to uphold your freaking deal!"

"Language, language," the first one sighed. "And I have upheld my part of the deal, Kouichi two. I must have let you out at least three times now. Let's see..." He looked down and began to count of his fingers.

While Kouichi one began to list off all the moments he had let the second one out, Kouichi two nearly broke the table in front of him in half. He clutched a hurt hand and hissed, "Would you shut the hell up?"

"Language!" Kouichi one reprimanded sharply.

Angrily, Kouichi two growled, "No! Why should I put up with this crap? We had a deal. Duskmon's proof enough that you broke your side!"

The first one frowned. Standing up, he murmured, "Now isn't the best of times. We're in the middle of a delicate situation. I can't let you ruin-"

"Too bad." Kouichi two stood up.

Kouichi one's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to have the fun I was promised." Smirking, Kouichi two headed for the door. "I'll let you take over once I'm done."

"Kouichi two, get back here!" the first one snapped. "KOUICHI!"

But the boy in black paid no heed. Instead, he slammed the door and proceeded to his destination. "Time to patch things up," he muttered, ready to take complete and total control of Kouichi.

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Kouichi's eyes shot open. His body ached, but he didn't care. He sat up in his bed and looked around, taking in the sight. Perfect, he thought. Quietly, he stood up and snuck out of his room and into the living room, where Kouji sat, trying to console their confused and worried mother.

"Mom?" Kouichi murmured. Remember, play nice for this, the boy thought, wishing it were Friday.

Ms. Kimura looked up and wiped her tears away. "K-Kouichi. Would you like anything to eat?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine. What time is it?"

"Around nine," Kouji replied, a frown fixed upon his face.

Nodding, Kouichi managed a small smile. "Oh," he murmured. Skip the damn homework, who cares about that? "Okay, I'm going to sleep, if that's okay..."

Kouji shrugged. "Yeah, go ahead," he muttered.

A smile appeared on Kouichi's face as he slipped back into his room. Tomorrow would definitely be an interesting day.

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A/N-

O.O Kouichi turned evil on us. Okay, maybe not evil. Meh, PM, review or e-mail with questions if you have any, because I bet I confused you all (If not, good). And next chapter, for those of you who strangely fear to PM, review or e-mail (Believe me, I was, too. You might just be lazy.) me, there will be a lengthy explanation on this from questions others asked, or...or if no one asks questions, I assume you all get it, and you can stay confused, because I'll never know! But seeing as how I want to know and help nullify the confusion, you really ought to PM, review or e-mail! Or, if you just don't want to show how much you like the story, or you really hate it, flame your questions away.

Thank You for the reviews-

Winter's Light, PrincessYami, GemmaniGirl, Catwarrior, Snowy Leopardess, Ruki Minamoto, WithBrokenWings

PM or Review or Flame.