Windstar: Thank you very much to my return readers, I really appreciate it. Once again, I apologize for the delay in uploading this story. I hope the improvements and edits continue to meet your satisfaction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, its affiliates, or its parent. This is a non profit fan based entry only.

Chapter Three:

Date: Unimportant

Time: 1200

Author: Kouichi Kohaku

When we first met Kibo's wife, she reminded me of mom, and yet she didn't. Her name was Hikari, Light, and somehow that simple fact reminded me of Kouji too; or at least, the Kouji that I knew from years before. She was all light and bubbles and gentle and kind and I knew that she was a good person without someone needing to tell me it was so.

Kouji took to her like a fish to water. There were times when I would see her just hold his head to her chest as she gently rocked him and told him that everything would be better in time. He probably never will get better. He probably never will heal. As much as it pains me to say this, we're growing apart and it will never be fixed.

Like a shattered mirror, the pieces could be put back together but the flaws were still going to be there. Kouji and I? We will never be the friends we were in the past. We could never be. We're too different now. Kouji is too damaged, and I'm too broken. My jagged piece isn't fitting next to his smashed edges. Our mirror is the most imperfect image of ourselves that it could be.

His memory has deteriorated even worse then before. Hikari gave him a notebook to write things down in so he won't forget them.

Sometimes I wonder how he can't remember the simplest things, and I am filled with such rage and annoyance…annoyance…at something so foolish. Then I'm consumed with pity and find myself incapable of willing conversation between us.

Our parting is probably my fault. He attempts to speak with me, but he cannot even recall the simplest parts of our discussions to one another. My patience has grown so unbearably thin, and all I want is for everything to go back to the way that it was. Only his voice has changed so much, and his memory is so hole-y that Swiss cheese has more substance.

I suppose at this point in time I can't help but wonder, if I made the right choice. Did I choose right? Did I do the right thing?

I killed a man. I killed a man who was strangling Kouji. His hands were gripped around my brother's throat. My brother's eyes were rolling back in his head as his face turned beat red. He had stopped struggling, he was dying. The man was screaming and shouting and after four warning shots he still refused to stop strangling my brother, and so I killed him. I killed him and everything is different.

I've killed so many people over the past few years. I've killed so many many people…I can't even remember how many faces I've buried. The blood stains will never fade, not even with the strongest soap and the harshest brush. They will remain on my hands forever.

So why is it…that the only person I ever killed in the defense of another being…why is it that it is that person is the one that I feel guilty for killing?

Why is it that it is that person that has destroyed the relationship I had with my brother?

Why is it that Kouji can't even stand to look at me, because all he sees…is that bastard's murderer?

Entry Three:

Author: Kibo

Sources: Tomoko Kimura, Satomi Rito, Kouji Kohaku, Kouichi Kohaku

The hardest part about not knowing; was that they didn't know if the boys were dead. Tomoko Kimura returned home to an empty house every day. Her son wasn't there to greet her, or offer her a cup of tea. There was no dinner or smiling faces. There was no laughter or a house filled with excited children and happy chortles. As far as she knew, her son was gone forever.

After three weeks of nothing, she couldn't help but feel her heart breaking. She sat in her son's room. His books were all lined up on the shelf, and there was paperwork on his desk. Her fingers trailed through the essays and the graded reports that he'd done for school. There was a list of plans that he was going to do in the future.

Appointments with friends and figuring how much money it would be to take the train to visit them all. Tomoko trailed her fingers over these articles, her memories drifting to times when she could see him coming to her and telling her about the friends he'd made.

She remembered in those moments as she sat on his neatly made bed, when she had first met her youngest son after all the years they'd spent apart. She hadn't known what to expect. She hadn't known what it was that she was supposed to say.

They'd done it so beautifully. Kouichi took her for a walk in the park. He was so happy and secretive about the whole experience. They'd left the house and just made their way towards the grassy surroundings that had always been a source of comfort towards the woman.

They didn't talk about much, but it was a satisfying walk to say the least. They hadn't gone on one in so long…with her mother's death there just hadn't been enough time to do anything of the sort. They were far to busy with organizing and downsizing to a much smaller home. She couldn't afford their house any longer.

"Mother…stay here for a moment, I want to show you something…I just have to go get it." He had said so sweetly. He was smiling at her, and she nodded and let him lead her to a bench to wait. She sat down and looked at the trees around her.

The wind was blowing gently and the birds were singing so fondly. She truly enjoyed days like these. It was rare for her to even have a moment off, and now that she was free all day this was exactly how she wanted to spend it. Quality time with her son was the only thing that made her truly happy back then.

Ever since his father had left…things had just been so difficult. There was nothing that could be done about it now though. Kouichi was such a kind hearted child, and he truly helped out more then anyone could have ever expected him to.

"M-mother…" She looked up and stared at her son in confusion. He'd changed his clothes…a bandanna on his head, a yellow shirt under a blue jacket…and flowers? Where had he gotten the flowers from? Then she saw the other things…his hair was much longer…and he carried himself in such a different manner.

She flew to her feet. Her hands slapped to her mouth in shock. Someone gave the boy a bit of a push, and only then did she see the child that was wearing the same clothes from earlier. Two identical faces; two perfectly similar bodies in different clothes, together...

"K-Kouji?" She gasped as she reached out a shaking hand to touch him, and the boy glanced towards his brother for something. Kouichi was laughing. He shoved the boy forwards a bit more and the younger child handed her the flowers.

"Um…nice…to meet you?" He stuttered awkwardly, not sure what it was that he was supposed to say to her. She accepted the flowers without really considering them. Her eyes were locked on her youngest child.

She hadn't seen him in so many years, too many years…far too many years. She gently touched his face and their eyes met. It was startling to see just how similar he looked to his brother whom she had raised for so long. She couldn't believe it. Her son…her sons were all together again!

"May…may I hold you, please?" He nodded faintly, and she reached out and wrapped her arms around him while Kouichi took her flowers from her. Kouji felt just right in her arms. At first he didn't hug her back, but then he reached up and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kouichi was smiling and laughing so happily, and she looked at him and pulled him into a hug too. Her babies! Her babies were back together!

They had gone to a restaurant after that. She didn't have much money, but Kouji and Kouichi had already planned for that apparently, they'd been saving up their yen for weeks for this moment. She was so surprised when they both offered to treat her out together.

She could remember feeling so dumbfounded as she watched how easily the boys talked to each other. It was as if they were long time friends. They had known each other for quite some time if they were behaving in such a manner. It was such a blessing.

They liked different foods, she noticed that right away. Kouji steered clear of anything that was too sweet. He said he'd eat it if he had too, but he preferred spicy things. Her mind had gone instantly to all sorts of recipes that she could think of to make him. However, one thing that was most certainly similar was the fact that they both had an affinity towards strawberries. They both ordered like milkshakes and when they did they just rolled their eyes at the similarity.

She wanted to know everything though; she wanted to know exactly who this child was that she hadn't seen for seven years. He told her where he went to school, he told them about his friends. Their names were startlingly familiar.

"Takuya? Izumi? Aren't they your friends too Kouichi?" She asked, frowning as she looked at her son. After he'd fallen down a staircase in Shibuya, there were always children in his hospital room visiting. Takuya and Izumi were only two of the four though. Junpei and Tomoki were there as well. She had started to grow accustomed to hearing about them, and even a few times they'd come over.

Kouichi nodded along though. "Yeah…they're sort of how we met." The whole group had come up with the perfect cover story that she would never know was a lie. The Digital World was an online community that they had all been involved in a chat like format on. Their code names were the names of their digital partners, or spirits, first form. After a while they'd all decided to meet in Shibuya Station. They'd known each other for months before then, but never in person. So they met up, and well…obviously they noticed how similar Kouichi and Kouji looked to one another. Kouichi explained that his Grandmother had told him about his brother and he'd been looking for him, and he had known that 'Lobomon' was actually his brother.

They'd met at the station a few more times, and they started to really get to know one another. Then Kouichi remembered he'd left something behind and had rushed down the stairs to get it before it went missing. He'd fallen down those stairs.

Kouji and the others had hurried after him to the hospital and were there when he woke up. They knew (obviously) that Tomoko would be called, but Kouji was too big of a coward to meet her there. There were a few entertaining moments where she had come in unexpectedly, and Kouji had hid under the bed (that part actually was true). Finally they'd decided on introducing Kouji to her at a more appropriate setting…and so there they were.

"Your…father…does he know…?" She had been dreading that question the entire outing. So when they were just finishing up their meal, and getting ready to go – she threw it out with all the courage in her heart. She watched as Kouji and Kouichi met each others' eyes. He shifted awkwardly and when he finally shook his head, she felt her breath be stolen from her.

"He probably won't like this…" Kouji had told her. His fingers played with his sleeves as he glanced towards her. "I'm sorry."

"It's…it's alright." She knew it was true.

"I'll tell him eventually…just not right now." He wouldn't tell his father for another two and a half years. Somehow it 'never had come up.'

"How often does mentioning you met your twin brother come up in average conversation?" She had asked him after the fifth sleep over. "Where have you been telling him you are?"

"Takuya's." Kouji told her innocently enough. Tomoko enjoyed seeing Kouji too much to really feel like ordering Kouji to go tell his father about their time together, but after the boys turned fourteen years old, she knew that this couldn't last. She knew that eventually somehow the man would find out and it was best if they just told him now instead of prancing around the bush. The twins had hated the idea at first, Kouji had told Kouichi how absurdly against any talk of Tomoko had been.

Tomoko herself had been more then a little affronted when she'd discovered that Kousei had lied to Kouji about her even being alive. Apparently the running story had been that she'd died in a car crash years ago. "What bout Kouichi?" She'd asked. "You didn't remember him?" It wasn't much of a question because Kouichi himself couldn't remember anything about his younger brother back before he'd seen him at age eleven.

"Nah…I don't remember much about those years." He'd told her calmly enough. "I guess he never figured it was important to tell me. You didn't tell Kouichi either though." He pointed out and she nodded. Both Kousei and her had thought it best to keep the boys from thinking on their brother.

She could remember a time when her four year old son kept screaming and crying for his brother. Soon days and weeks passed and after several years…Kouichi honestly couldn't remember the boy that they'd continually told him never existed. It had been a brutal manipulation of a child's life, but they'd thought it best at the time (her and her mother). She wondered faintly what had ever possessed her mother to tell Kouichi the truth though…

But as she looked at her sons together, laughing and enjoying each others company…she honestly couldn't care less. She was just so grateful that they were all together again. She was just so thankful that she had a chance to meet Kouji once more.

So they eventually told Kousei the truth. She waited outside as Kouji introduced Kouichi. She waited for quite a long time, until her boys opened the door and welcomed her into the house. Kousei looked like he was going to have a fit when he saw her, but he swallowed whatever biting comment he was sucking on, and he made himself another drink.

Satomi looked between them all, feeling a bit out of place. "Hello…my name is Satomi Minamoto…you must be Ms. Kimura?" Tomoko had nodded, feeling just as awkward as Satomi looked.

"Yes…I apologize for barging into your home like this." She looked towards the boys. They looked uncomfortable as well. Apparently things weren't going very well.

"It's quite alright. I never knew that Kouji had a brother! They do look so similar." It was an attempt to be polite and Tomoko was maddeningly grateful for it.

"Yes, imagine my surprise when I saw him!" Satomi was fixing them tea to drink and she offered one to Tomoko.

"Oh I can! I was rather stunned when I walked in the room myself! And such a well mannered boy, you must be very proud."

"I am." Kousei watched the two women talk and didn't say a word. He just continued nursing his liquor in silence.

"I for one, am glad that kids these days don't watch those old movies. Do you remember that one with the little girls at that camp?"

"Oh! When they switched places!" Tomoko sent a horrified look towards the twins who looked equally as conspiratorial as those girls in the movie.

"There's an idea." They said in unison, and light laughter filled the room.

That had only been five months ago. Now the boys were both missing. Tomoko stared around her, taking in the photographs that had the twins smiling and laughing in groups of their friends. She had been keeping up with Satomi and Kousei if only to hear if they'd learned anything else. Takuya and her sons' friends called her up frequently to check up and see if she was alright.

For some reason she felt like it was something that the twins had put them up to doing. If anything happens to us, you better take care of her. She could hear Kouichi ordering them. She felt tears forming in her eyes. Her hands picked up a stuffed animal of a black lion that had never made sense to her.

It was something Izumi had given Kouichi for his twelfth birthday. Around its neck was a yin-yang. She had never seen Kouichi with any other stuffed animals before, and he never seemed the type to like them (Kouji even less so), but both had received one from her. Kouji's had been a white wolf with a similar charm around its neck. They both seemed surprisingly touched by the gesture though, and she watched how over the years every one of their group had these odd stuffed animals.

A red dinosaur for Takuya, a polar bear for Tomoki, a purple and pink butterfly for Izumi, and some form of blue pincer beetle for Junpei all made their way into their possessions. She supposed it was some form of inside joke, but she never understood the importance of those items to them.

She simply held onto Kouichi's black lion and held it close to her heart as she cried and cried for the loss of her sons. She just wanted them to come home.

Kouichi woke up feeling hungry and cold. He glanced around him, yawning slightly as he tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. He shifted, lifting his head to see his brother barely conscious leaning against the wall beside them. He frowned and reached up. His fingers touched his brother's face, and hazy eyes blinked over towards him.

"You're up." The words were surprisingly even. Despite the heavy bags under those eyes and their bloodshot appearance.

"Yeah…you should get some sleep. You've barely gotten any in days."

"Nah…nah I'm good. Don't worry about me Kouichi." He smiled, even as his head started to loll. The older twin glowered at the sight, reaching out and pulling him to his chest.

"Go to sleep. Just sleep Kouji…I'll be here." The younger boy stared at his brother for a while, before nodding ever so slightly, his eyes falling closed in an instant as his body finally overpowered his mind and sentenced him to sleep.

Kouichi sighed as he looked over his brother. His long hair was tangled and knotted and it was a mess. For the past few weeks they'd been mostly left by themselves. Occasionally their kidnapper would show up and he would give them food. Other times it was the quiet girl who never said anything and just deposited their plates on the ground. She would stare at them for the longest time, her eyes boring into them and making them feel awkward and exposed in a way they'd never felt before. Then she would leave, mumbling under her breath and making their worry only increase. Other random 'strangers' came and went without ever being seen, the only signs of their presences were new clothing or food that was offered to them. It was startlingly scary and they didn't like it.

Their kidnapper was the most vocal, and perhaps because of that they'd come to long for those meetings with the man because at least then they would be able to talk to someone. He never stayed for long but he did always leave behind a pearl of some sort for them to chew over.

Right now though, Kouichi would have much preferred a hair brush, tooth brush…a shower would be nice. They'd been stuck in this shit hole for weeks and their hygiene apparently wasn't their captor's concern. Time and time again, the older twin ran over the list of reasons for why they were there in the first place. So far he'd come up with so many things, but the more time that passed without anything happening to them, the more things he ticked off his list.

Drugs and prostitution had been his first thoughts, but they'd neither been doped up or sexually assaulted in any way. Well…if you ignored the creepy behavior of the supposed Leader of this organization. That man had honestly been one step away from sexual harassment.

Kouichi remembered easily in school when they were going over various levels of behavior that were acceptable. Green light was when everyone was perfectly okay with the amount of physical contact. In other words – there was no physical contact of any sort, yellow light was hugging of somewhat uncomfortable physical contact, and a red light was arrestable offense.

He was heavily banking on the amount of complete asshole-ish-ness that radiated off the bastard, that he was in the red light section. Not to mention the fact that he'd resorted to kidnapping fourteen year old boys from their beds.

Kouji coughed slightly, mewling in his sleep, and Kouichi looked down at him. It had been one of his more pressing concern over their stay at Cells-R-Us. As time passed, his brother's face was starting to get a bit paler; his motions a bit more sluggish, and his mannerisms a bit more clipped.

From past experience, Kouichi knew that these were all the signs of him coming down with some illness or other. He could remember nearly a year ago when Kouji had contracted pneumonia after a rather idiotic game of soccer that hadn't ended when it had started raining enough to flood the field. For some reason, Takuya and his brother had been insistent on playing until someone broke their score.

Both of them had come down with a cold, but somehow Kouji had been the lucky one to get pneumonia out of it. He was crabbier then a crustacean and he had the temperament of a crocodile. Obviously, Kouichi hadn't seen him much since he hadn't left the house. There were a few times though, when the older twin had decided to visit and had dared sneaking in the house long enough to make sure his brother was alright.

After that experience, he never wanted to see Kouji sick again. He was certain if he did, that he'd kill him before the sickness got any worse – if only to save himself the aggravation of dealing with it later. Kouji was absolutely rotten when he felt ill.

The door opened down the hall, and he scooted up, eyes peering around the corner as he tried to see what was going on. It was their kidnapper, tall dark and handsome himself was coming down. Finally someone to talk to…and he wasn't bringing food either.

For a moment, Kouichi was loath to wake up his brother. He'd only been out for a few minutes, and the slightly younger boy desperately needed sleep. He'd been maintaining his vigil from night one, and no matter what he'd said to him…Kouji had adamantly refused to give up for more then half an hour. The boy was nothing if not stubborn. Getting sick though like this wasn't helping anything, the sleep would help…but there were more important things to worry about at this moment.

Their kidnapper stood before them, his eyes dark as he surveyed them on the bed. He didn't say anything, but he had his arms crossed over his chest and he looked like he was sucking on a lemon drop. Something was up.

"Kouji…" The older twin knew that survival came first, and considering the beating that they'd had when they'd first arrived, he'd rather prefer not to play with fire towards this man. His brother was awake physically. His eyes were open and shifting around, but from the blank and confused look on his face, it didn't seem like he was really aware of what was happening.

His eyes landed on the dark haired assailant, and he straightened, an arm going before his brother who rolled his eyes. Like hell Kouji could defend anyone with more body mass then a fly. Apparently the bastard was under the same impression because he snorted.

"Now that we're all bright eyed and bushy tailed…come with me. Both of you." The cell door was slid open. Kouichi glanced towards his brother who sighed slightly but nodded and moved to slide off the bed. The second his feet touched the ground and a little bit of weight was applied though, he crashed onto his knees in a dead faint.

"Kouji!" The elder twin flew to his side, only to be roughly shoved out of the way by their assailant. The man's hands went to the younger's throat, feeling for a pulse for a moment before touching his forehead.

"How long's the fever been there?" He looked towards where Kouichi was staring, eyes wide in terror.

"I don't know…not too long. He was getting sick for a few days now, but it wasn't bad-" The boy on the floor was roughly rolled over, his long hair thrown to the side as the kidnapper tugged the teenager's shirt up. The welts and cuts on his back were heavily inflamed. Red and spewing pus, they looked like someone had whipped him yesterday and not weeks ago. "That…that wasn't like that earlier. I checked, God, I checked!" Kouichi made a move to get closer, but the man pulled his gun out instantly, aiming it at him.

"Get on the bed and sit your ass down. Don't you make a move, put your hands behind your head and leave them there." Kouichi stared at the man, not quite sure what the hell he was supposed to do, all he could see was his brother's mutilated back and he froze. "Do it kid, or your brother's not going to live to see the doctor."

"Doctor?" Kouichi's voice cracked slightly.

"Yeah, we didn't waste time getting you brats just to have you die on us now did we?" The man touched something on the choker that hung around his neck. "Code 0092, we have a man down in need of medical assistance immediately. Location is A-78." Kouichi backed up slightly, his knees hit the bed and his hands touched his hair.

"Who are you…what the hell do you want from us?" Tears started to form in his eyes. The man's face was passive.

"I can't tell you my name kid." He offered. "As for what we want with you…that's boss's deal. He'll tell you when he's good and ready."

Footsteps sounded. They were running quickly, several people rushed into the cell block, and upon seeing the situation, they paused. One was a tall woman. Long dark hair was pulled back in a pony tail. She was wearing the standard uniform of the Shrine that the twins had seen (and worn) so far, but added to it was a lab coat and a stethoscope. The other was a broad shouldered crew-cut military looking man who rolled his eyes at the scene even as he knelt.

"Kids these days; don't know how to properly take care of anything. What, you think we gave you that anti-bacterial shit just because we thought it smelt nice?" He asked as he glowered towards Kouichi.

"It didn't look like that before! It wasn't that bad! We checked, we checked every day! Both of us!"

"No one likes a critic Ryu, just get him to the med bay so I can get that crap out of him. He'll be fine in a couple of days." The woman muttered as she took a good look at the wounds. The muscle man seemed to get the point though because he reached down and picked up the boy without too much complaint. "And here I was thinking I'd have a day off from babysitting the sick bay."

"Yeah, have fun with that Shikou." The kidnapper muttered even as he kept his gun trained on Kouichi.

"Your rotation's coming up, you skip again, I'll stab you with an infected needle."

"Bite me." Kouichi looked like he was going to stand up and head after his brother, but the safety was clicked off and a warning shot fired clear passed his forehead. He froze. The bullet had passed through the gap his arms made with his hands behind his head. He wasn't moving an inch after that display. "I told you to sit there." The woman and her muscle were gone now, Kouji going with them. "We're gonna talk for a moment."

"Who are you?" He asked, looking after his brother and feeling far more alone now than he had in weeks. "Where did they take him?"

"The brat's going to be fine…Shikou may not look it but she is a doctor, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Calm down."

"Sort of! Where the hell are we? Where's my brother?" His breaths were coming in short gasps, his eyes were filling with new tears even as his chest heaved.

"Kid, calm down."

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down. Who the hell are you? What-what-what's going on!" His head was spinning even as he started to hyperventilate.

"Don't make me carry you down to the med bay too." It was an empty warning, because the lack of oxygen through his panicked and shallow breaths sent Kouichi rocketing to his knees. His head was spinning dizzily- too dizzily. He couldn't think straight. "No one fucking listens to me anymore." Was the last thing that Kouichi Kimura heard before everything went dark.