The only light in the underground corridor was coming from Koushiro's laptop. The boy walked in front, with Sora and Piyomon right behind him. Tentomon was, for some reason, keeping the greatest distance from the boy.
"Look!" Sora said, pointing ahead. In the middle of the darkness, about twenty meters onwards, there seemed to be a point illuminated. The children and the digimon rushed there and found the end of the corridor. One step forward and they would fall into a large pool of ten meters of diameter, thirty centimeters below the level of the hall. Around the mass of water, there was a circular brick wall approximately twelve meters tall. Above them, the night sky was visible.
"Piyomon, could you evolve and fly with us out of here?" Sora asked her friend.
The bird digimon's reaction was a bit delayed. Regardless, she jumped forward and let the light of the machine in Sora's belt wrap around her, becoming Birdramon. Sora quickly climbed on one of Birdramon's feet.
Koushiro had shut down the computer and was placing it inside his backpack. He was close to the edge and quickly glanced at the water below.
His reflection was so distorted that the boy had the feeling that it belonged to someone else. Someone with curly black hair and light brown eyes.
Then, Koushiro listened to a pair of voices singing softly: one male and one female.
"It's time to sleep, my child."
"You are back in your home."
"Fear nothing, my child."
"We are here with you."
"Worry not, my child."
"You are where you belong."
"Koushiro-han?" Tentomon called the boy, who seemed to be completely lost in thoughts. Startled, Koushiro looked around, as if trying to locate someone.
"Is there something wrong?" Sora asked.
"… No…" The boy was evasive. "I thought I had heard something."
"It was the wind." Tentomon assured him.
"Yes…" Koushiro agreed, reluctantly, climbing on Birdramon's other foot. I was just imagining things. It couldn't be… they couldn't… After leaving the well, the boy had believed he would never have to return there.
He was proven wrong the next morning.
Chapter 11: Well
"Why did you bring me here?" Koushiro asked Elecmon, trying to conceal his fear.
"You know why." Elecmon replied, piercing the human with his eyes. "You have heard the Call."
"Call?" Koushiro asked, confused. Then, he remembered the talk Elecmon had with him, Sora, Piyomon and Tentomon the night before. "Do you mean the Call of Fate?"
"The Spirit of the World has revealed itself to you, like it did to me a long time ago. And it did that when I was praying for a way to save the babies."
"You're mistaken." Koushiro said, nervously. "I didn't have any revelation! Nobody talked to me!"
"You don't really believe in that." Elecmon stated, which made the boy gulp.
"It was just the wind…" The human wanted to believe in that.
"Stop lying to yourself!" Elecmon commanded.
"I'm not lying to myself!" Koushiro raised his voice. "Besides, what I thought I heard… it certainly wasn't a godlike entity trying to talk to me!"
"How can you be so sure?" Elecmon inquired. "Fate takes on different forms and uses different words depending on the person."
"I suppose that 'Fate' you talk about is good, right?" The human asked, bitterly.
"Of course." The other confirmed.
"If what I heard was not a product of my imagination… if it was someone…" The boy trembled, recalling the lullaby. "Someone good wouldn't do that to me or anyone else."
"You can't escape Fate." Elecmon told him. "If I'm right, the message the Great Spirit of the World has for you will save this Village. You must accept it or everything will be lost."
Koushiro raised an eyebrow.
"Did you bring me here in the hopes of a miracle?" He asked, incredulous.
"Only a miracle can help us now. And I trust you not to condemn us with your lack of faith." Elecmon spoke with reverence and the human knew that it was not directed at him.
"That's not a good plan." Koushiro remarked. The digimon walked away without saying anything else.
The boy sat down, took off his backpack, opened it and took out the computer. Elecmon's proposition was absurd, but the child did want to help the babies and his friends. Koushiro concluded that he had to find an answer on his own.
"Sweet child, child of light, please come with us."
The male voice sang and Koushiro got chills. He let the computer on the grass and turned around.
"Come back to us, we miss you every day."
Now it was the female voice Koushiro had known first as belonging to Homeostasis. The boy covered his ears, with no effect.
"Don't fight, you belong with us."
"It's not real!" Koushiro told himself. "They're not here! They're not alive!"
"We miss you, son."
"We love you."
"Come back to us."
"Be with us forever."
The human endured that for hours, doing everything in his power to distract himself from the voices and find a solution to protect the Village. But the voices continued to sing and became louder. Covering his ears, humming, reciting scientific facts aloud… nothing stopped them. They were as loud as screams and came from the well.
"SHUT UP!" Koushiro shouted, mentally exhausted, getting up and going to the well. Next to the short brick wall, he glanced down, finding nothing beyond water.
There's nobody there! I was right! I was just imagining things. It couldn't be them… and it couldn't be any Spirit of the World or other nonsense. Homeostasis is gone, it couldn't… it's alright… all is well. It was the wind. My mind was playing tricks with me.
"Listen!" A male voice ordered. Koushiro could not move or emit any sound. He felt as if he was trapped in his own body.
"You wish to join your parents." The voice continued, coldly.
I do not! The boy cried in his mind.
"Your parents are calling. You must obey."
I don't want to die! Koushiro protested mentally. However, he walked forward and stepped on the little wall.
"You want to be with them."
I don't want to die!
"Stop lying to yourself."
Elecmon is close! He's going to help me, right? Someone is going to save me, right?
"You are acting on your own will."
I'm not! Whatever you are, stop controlling me!
"You were the one to call me a 'product of your imagination.' If there's no outside force moving you, then all of your actions are caused by you."
No, it can't… I'm not doing this! I don't want to do this! I-I'm not… it can't be Fate… it can't be Homeostasis… it… is it me? Am I…?
"Come, my child." The woman sang. "We wait for you in home."
I don't…
"Don't fight, love, it will be over soon."
I…
"Come to where you belong."
I… want…
"Sleep now, we'll watch you."
Koushiro felt his body falling. Did he move his legs? Was that his doing? Soon, he hit the cold water and sank, quickly, being surrounded by deep and heavy darkness. The boy attempted to swim but he felt two pairs of hands grabbing his own hands and pulling him down. Were there really hands in that place? Or was he simply letting himself sink? Koushiro no longer knew what was real. Was he really trying to end himself?
But it could not be true. Not after everything Tentomon and the others had done for his sake! Not when the parents who had raised and loved him were waiting for his return! Koushiro could not die! He was not entitled to it!
"This is what your heart truly desires." An unknown voice spoke. Koushiro saw, in his front, a distorted reflection of a boy with light brown eyes and curly black hair; the same one from the night before. Now that Koushiro thought about it, those features were similar to his adoptive mother's. And that voice reminded him of his adoptive father's, although it sounded younger.
The lack of oxygen was making it hard to think and the boy knew that his body would soon let the water rush into his lungs. Those were most likely his last seconds of life and maybe everything he saw were hallucinations. He could feel the two pairs of hands holding him tightly. The soft voices of his birth parents told him not to worry because his pain would end soon. Meanwhile, in his front, the boy was confronted by a reflection of someone who resembled his current parents.
"No matter how much you tried, you could never fit in. You never saw yourself belonging with them." The other spoke. "You're such a pathetic and cowardly creature, so unlike the child of light who is to come. But for now, you are of use. I'll borrow this body you despise and do what I was asked."
Koushiro could no longer see anything. He remembered his mouth being forcibly opened and swallowing the water. And the excruciating pain taking him over. After that, he remembered waking up on the grass. The computer had been turned on and Tentomon had told the boy he had worked on it. But Koushiro did not remember any of that. Did he do that and forget? Was that his doing at all? His biological parents' voices, him being held down, the perverse reflection that was similar to them, the step forward… or was it a jump? To think about those things drove him to despair. Luckily, he did not have to dwell on those things yet. Devimon's threat had pushed everything to the back of his mind.
However, now all that pain had resurfaced, brought back by Tentomon's questioning. Koushiro had believed that things would be better now that he had begun to open his heart. After all, talking to his partner had helped him immensely before. After looking into the darkness in his soul and pronouncing that confession, the child waited for Tentomon to say something. He expected that his friend would once again bring him peace.
That did not happen.
Those words sank slowly and felt like they were physically bringing the digimon down. Koushiro's crying face crushed Tentomon's heart. But that pain was nothing compared to the one caused by his partner's words.
I think I jumped into the well.
Flashes of the nightmare haunted him. Space itself being devoured by nothingness, pieces of glass floating, and Koushiro was there, smiling. Not running, not fighting. And the unknown voice announced what he was about to do.
"You are mistaken!" Tentomon stated, more to convince himself than the other.
"Tentomon, I…"
"You're confused and you're misremembering things!" Tentomon assured, holding the boy by the shoulders as he leaned back. "You said it yourself that you were not sure about what happened!"
"Tentomon, please, listen to me!" Koushiro pleaded. Now that he had gotten to that point, he could not hold back anymore. "I remember walking to the well… I remember stepping on the little wall around it…"
"No!" The digimon shook his head furiously; his grip on Koushiro was getting tighter, hurting the boy.
"Please, listen!" The boy cried. "You're the only one I can talk about this… and I need to… I'm s-so scared…"
"There's nothing to be scared about, Koushiro-han! You just thought that you had heard something and then fell-"
"Why are you doing this?!" Koushiro almost shouted, desperate. With his trembling hands, he forced Tentomon to let go of him. "Why are you not listening to what I'm telling you? Didn't you want me to open up to you before, back in the factory? I thought-"
"Koushiro-han!" Tentomon cut him off, crudely. "You would never jump! You would never do that to yourself! So let's stop with this nonsensical conversation!"
Koushiro's eyes were completely opened, expressing the boy's shock. Why was Tentomon acting like that? After he had made Koushiro trust him, after he had made the boy vulnerable, after he had promised to be by his side in those terrible moments, how could Tentomon go back on his words now? The boy felt betrayed and angry. But then, an explanation rose in his mind. Maybe, what he had revealed had been too much for Tentomon. Koushiro had become greedy. He was led to believe that he was entitled to share his darkness with someone and expect comfort in return. Now he realized that was not the case. He had gone too far and his selfishness had cost him his friend's willingness to listen to his problems.
"We should eat." Tentomon suggested, heading to the door. "After you put something warm in the stomach and have a good night of sleep, I'm sure you'll feel better."
The human did not reply nor did the digimon turn around to wait for an answer. While Koushiro stayed sat on the bench, Tentomon grabbed the knob, opened the door and crossed to the other side, closing it behind him. The ladybug creature did not move for the first couple of seconds. All the determination he had forged now crumbled, making the insect slide against the door and sit on the floor. His heart was beating so loudly that Tentomon could hear it. The image of his friend in the nightmare came back. From the other side of the door, he could listen to the human's muffled sobs, which made his own eyes be flooded with tears. But Tentomon resisted the urge to cry. He forced himself to believe that there was no reason for that. It had been a meaningless nightmare followed by a meaningless accident.
Koushiro-han is going to be alright. Everything is well.
"Did you two have a fight?" A voice he knew spoke at his right. Tentomon turned his head in that direction and saw Piyomon giving him a severe look.
"Were you listening?" The insect inquired coldly.
"The walls and doors are very thick; I didn't come close enough to be able to hear anything. But I can tell that something bad happened just by looking at you."
"There's nothing for you to worry about." Tentomon made an affirmation, ready to fly away from her, but Piyomon grabbed his left leg and forced him to stay on the floor.
"I'm getting tired of your lies, Tentomon!" Piyomon's voice was harsh. "What is making you so scared?"
"I'M NOT SCARED!" Tentomon roared. Piyomon took a step back, in surprise. Two meters down the corridor, Sora was leaving her bathroom; the shout made her go check what was happening. She found the pair of digimon staring at each other angrily.
"What's happening here?" The girl inquired, worried.
Tentomon set flight and left without answering. Sora gazed at Piyomon, but the bird looked down, annoyed.
"Piyomon, why were you arguing with Tentomon?" The girl questioned, softly.
"Because liars get on my nerves." The digimon replied in low voice, walking down the corridor.
Sora felt pierced by those words, and wondered if Piyomon was talking about her. Could the digimon tell that Sora was hiding her desperation with all her energy? She shook the thoughts out of her mind; her friend was not someone who made passive aggressive comments.
A door was half opened at her right and Koushiro peeked through the opening. His eyes were red and his skin was pale and wet.
"Didn't you hear Tentomon and Piyomon arguing?" The girl asked.
"I heard Tentomon saying that there was nothing to worry about." Koushiro replied in low voice.
"Are you okay, Koushiro-kun?" It was evident to Sora that the boy had been crying. Not unlike her.
"I'm as okay as the next person." Koushiro tried to smile but his lips simply trembled. He stared at the swollenness under Sora's eyes.
"How am I supposed to interpret that?" The girl questioned. She was, after all, the next person in that sentence. And, albeit she did not let her true feelings out, she knew that she was not okay. Could Koushiro know about her state of mind and that comment was a veiled cry for help? He did see into her mind once; maybe that enabled him to know when Sora was lying. The girl did not know what to do.
"I don't know." Koushiro muttered, looking away. "Tentomon told me to put something warm in my stomach."
"That's a good idea. Do you mind if I accompany you?" Sora was glad for the change of subject.
"Of course not." Koushiro attempted to sound friendly. The pain in his chest was still too intense, though.
They both walked side by side, without sharing other words or looking at each other. When they got to the kitchen, everybody else was there, eating. Takeru was sitting across from Tamaki, staring at the man with ferocity; Piyomon was at the blond boy's left. Mimi and Jyou were side by side on Tamaki's left, while Gomamon and Palmon were at the man's right. Tentomon was at the head of the table, opposite to the entrance of the kitchen. Sora sat at Takeru's right and Koushiro sat next to the fifth grader. After they were reunited at the table, Takeru spoke:
"Everybody is here now. Please, start talking." Takeru demanded, which surprised the other kids and digimon. It was strange for the boy to speak in such a rude tone. "You said you'd only do it with everybody reunited."
"I know what I said." Tamaki's voice sounded bitter. He briefly glanced at the other children before beginning his narration:
"We were five children who lived in an orphanage: Kanda-kun, Otae-chan, Homura-chan, Shin-chan and me. None of us had any family who would look for us. One day, we were brought to the Digital World, where five digimon were waiting for us. A group called the Academy was also waiting for us. A Piximon from that group told us that we had been chosen to save the World from a tyrannical Queen, head of another group called the Sanctuary. The thing is: the messengers of the Sanctuary attempted to talk to us many times before engaging in combat. But the pressure of the Academy was too strong… they made us feel that, if we didn't fight the Sanctuary, we would be their accomplices and, therefore, villains…"
Cold sweat was covering Tamaki's forehead. His hands were shaking over the table and he looked down with a pained expression.
"We were just children cast aside by society…" He continued. "… and suddenly, we were heroes… suddenly, we were the most important people in the world and there were lives depending on us. The polarization in the Digital World back then was unbearable. Yet, the so called 'evil Queen' kept trying to talk to us. If only we had given her a chance… if only we had listened… maybe Angemon wouldn't have killed Shin-chan."
"Angemon?!" Mimi asked, disturbed.
"Devimon used to be an Angemon before." Takeru explained, briefly.
Astonished, Mimi looked at the faces of the other children and digimon in search of signs of surprise, but only found it on Jyou's face.
"Shin-chan's big sister, Otae-chan…" Tamaki continued, "… she used to be such a happy person. She was so intelligent, impulsive, straightforward… brave… it was like something had taken hold of her heart. When I looked in her eyes, instead of infinite wonder… all I could see was endless darkness. And that darkness contaminated the others, Kanda-kun most of all. My group became convinced that the Sanctuary and its supporters had to be eliminated. We did so many horrible things… I can still see the digimon we killed… I can still hear them begging for mercy…"
Tamaki covered his face with his shaking hands and broke down in tears. Mimi, who was next to him, tried to comfort the man somehow but she was lost of words. All the girl could do was to put one of her hands on Tamaki's arm.
"Why do you refer to those events as if they had happened to you?" Takeru inquired. "You told me that you were a clone of the real Tamaki."
"A clone?!" Sora was perplexed.
"It's true, I am a clone. The other three also have clones here in the Digital World." Tamaki uncovered his face, looking into Takeru's eyes. "After we defeated the Queen and banished her to a dark dimension along with…" Tamaki gulped, "… corrupted data, our partners had become the strongest digimon in the world, known as the four holy beasts. Shin-chan's partner, Dorumon, died in combat not long after his friend. With the goal of keeping the digimon in that elevated state, the Academy decided to clone the chosen children… and make the clones immortal adults with no biological needs who retained all their memories."
A dark expression appeared on the man's face. Takeru did not seem to be bothered by it.
"The fact remains that it wasn't you who lived those things." The younger boy pointed it out. "How can you be sure that what you remember really did happen? I find it hard to believe that this 'Queen' Devimon loved so much could've had something good in her."
"You're such a kid." Tamaki said with melancholy. "This might be a shock for you but nobody is completely good or evil. There's darkness in you just like there was light in Devimon."
"Devimon killed my friend!" Takeru stated as he punched the table, feeling tears flooding his eyes. "There was nothing good in him or anyone related to him! They were all villains!"
Sora, Mimi, Jyou and the digimon stared at Takeru, perplexed. The little boy's emotional unbalance was becoming more evident.
The sound of glass cracking was heard. A cup of juice had escaped Koushiro's hands and fell on the table, spreading the orange liquid and a few shards. The boy's face was deadly pale and his pupils contracted.
"Koushiro-kun?" Sora called him, concerned.
"Sorry." Koushiro replied, blinking. He was about to stand up but Tamaki stopped him, saying that the cup could be easily fixed and the boy should not worry about it. Suddenly, the black cone on the table began to whistle, which disturbed the man.
"Excuse me," Jyou said, pointing to the cone, "why is that object doing that?"
"It's a communicator, I saw Tamaki-san talking to a lady before." Takeru explained, calmer.
"Ignore that." Tamaki did not want to deal with one of his former friends at that moment. Takeru disobeyed, stretching his right arm to touch the cone. A hologram of a person with the upper part of the face covered by a hood appeared.
"Greetings!" The stranger said, with a smile. "It's good to see that you are all safe and well, Takenouchi Sora, Tachikawa Mimi, Kido Jyou, Takaishi Takeru and Izumi Koushiro. I have been eager to talk to you."
"Kanda-kun!" Tamaki hissed. "Do you admit that you've brought these children here against their will? How could you?"
"It was a desperate measure for a desperate situation." Kanda had a tranquil voice. "And call me Gennai."
Tamaki rolled his eyes, angry.
"So you really brought us here?" Sora asked. "For what reason?"
"To put it simply, you were chosen because you are compatible with the crests." Kanda explained. "They don't work with us anymore and our partners, who once were the strongest digimon, nowadays are being cornered by the Sanctuary's major offensive force: the Dark Masters. Hundreds of digimon have died during this conflict. As if that's not bad enough, Vamdemon, another soldier of the Sanctuary, has been recruiting an army for an invasion."
"Invasion?" Jyou asked, fearful.
"I have reasons to believe that his plan is to conquer the human world." Kanda confirmed the boy's suspicion.
The atmosphere became filled with terror.
"Digimon want to invade our world?!" Sora had a desperate tone.
"W-what do they want to do there?" Mimi was anxious.
"The Sanctuary has never showed interest in the human world before!" Tamaki was skeptical.
"Many things have changed." Kanda's voice was cold. "They want to destroy the Digital World and invade the human world. What they'll do once they get there is up to the imagination. Genocide? Slavery? Prisoner camps?"
"Stop it!" Mimi pleaded, covering her ears. "I don't want to imagine that! Papa and Mama…"
"Mimi-chan, please calm down." Sora left her seat and went to the younger girl's side.
"You were talking about crests." Takeru questioned, seemingly unaffected. "What are those?"
"Think of them as mystical stones, assigned to each one of you to grant the digimon the power to evolve to higher levels." Kanda told him. "We were their first owners and thanks to them the holy beasts were born. However, they no longer work with us. That's why you were brought here. The digivices you were given, those little machines you have, were built in a way to allow them to absorb the crests and make your partners reach even the ultimate level."
"Ultimate?" Gomamon asked, amazed. "C-can we really evolve to ultimate level?"
"That's the strongest a digimon can be!" Palmon was astonished.
"Stronger than perfect level?" Sora inquired.
"A lot stronger!" Piyomon stated. "If I can evolve to ultimate, I won't let anything bad ever happen to Sora! We would be invincible!"
"Then, with that power, we can stop the evil digimon from hurting innocents and putting our world in danger!" Takeru affirmed, rising from his seat with a look of determination. "Patamon would never get hurt again."
"There are two crests in Aurora Town." Kanda continued. "One of them is in the giant cactus's flower and the other one is down in Raven's Canyon. The other three are currently missing but I'm putting all my effort into finding them."
"Three?" Tamaki was intrigued. "Otae-chan only has two of them, don't tell me…"
"Someone has stolen the crest of Love from inside my base." Kanda said with controlled fury. "We only know about the location of the crests of Honesty and Purity for now."
"We can go tomorrow to that town and get those two crests already!" Takeru was excited.
"You children are not going anywhere!" Tamaki forbade them. "There's no way I'll materialize my base there to let you run to your doom!"
"I can easily hack your base and take it to Aurora Town." Kanda defied the other.
"Don't you dare, Kanda-kun!" Tamaki had a menacing tone.
"The children should decide whether they want to save both worlds or not." Kanda said. "If in the next twelve hours you don't let them go, I'll open a door for them."
The hologram disappeared. Enraged, Tamaki picked the cone up and threw it against the floor, which did not cause the object any harm.
"What do we do?" Sora inquired nobody in particular; her voice was full of anguish.
"We'll have to fight more digimon as bad as Devimon?" Mimi wanted to cry. "Isn't there any other way?"
"I wish there was another way." Jyou spoke. "It's not fair but… if we don't fight, not only more digimon will suffer but even our world would be in danger. We can't just run from this."
"We have the moral duty to fight!" Takeru had an imperative voice. "We can't let the bad guys do as they please!"
"You just lost your digimon, Takeru-kun." Mimi was horrified. "How can you be so eager to put him in danger again? Don't you care about him?"
"Mimi-chan!" Sora believed the other girl had crossed the line.
"The only reason we are alive now is because Angemon fought for us!" Takeru disliked the fourth grader's words. "If nobody is willing to take risks like that, the digital world and our world will become graveyards! Do you want everybody to die, Mimi-san?"
"Takeru-kun, that's enough!" Sora scolded the younger boy. "I understand that you've suffered a great loss and that we are all over the edge here, but we can't start attacking each other like that!"
"Loss?" Koushiro smirked in a bitter way, attracting the attention of the other children.
"Is something funny?" Takeru questioned, seriously, getting closer to Koushiro.
"What did you lose, exactly?" The fourth grader boy asked, looking down on Takeru. "Didn't Angemon become an egg? He's going to be born again very soon."
Takeru got angry at Koushiro's dismissal of his pain.
"Patamon might never r-remember me again!" The youngest child's voice broke. "He might forget everything we lived together!"
"Wouldn't it be worse if he remembered dying?" Koushiro's tone became darker. "Don't you think about how that traumatic memory would affect him?"
"Koushiro-kun, there's no point in discussing this now." Sora wanted to make her kouhai stop.
"Of course there's a point." Koushiro affirmed, coldly. "He's in grief over someone who's alive. And he values his personal wishes over Patamon's mental well-being. What kind of person does that?"
That question made Takeru snap and push Koushiro off of his seat. Luckily, the fourth grader did not fall on the floor, managing to stay on his feet. Takeru put the chair out of the way and advanced against Koushiro, who easily held the little boy's menacing fists. Sora, Mimi and Jyou rushed to where the younger boys were.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!" Takeru inquired, furiously. "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE ALREADY LOST IN MY LIFE! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THAT SOLITUDE FEELS!"
"Oh, you've lost a lot, Takeru-kun?!" Koushiro was not able to take the little boy seriously; he could not control his anger anymore. "Tell me about it! Tell me how lonely you are because your father and your brother, WHO ARE ALIVE, don't live with you anymore! Tell me about how in sorrow you are over your digimon's death THAT DID NOT LAST FIVE MINUTES!"
"KOUSHIRO-KUN, STOP IT!" Sora yelled, separating the two boys. Jyou and Mimi were too shocked to do anything but watch them.
"I can't take this anymore!" Koushiro let the tears stream down his face. "What do you think you know about loss, Takeru-kun? Have you ever actually lost someone? Is there anyone you can never see again unless you die? If not, then stop talking about things you don't understand! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS TO LOSE SOMEONE!"
Koushiro's words disturbed Takeru, who let his arms down. Sora was also shocked, staring at the fourth grader in disbelief.
"Koushiro-kun…" Jyou took a step forward. "Have you lost someone?"
"Leave him alone!" Tentomon ordered, flying from his seat. Koushiro took advantage of that moment and ran from the kitchen. Mimi ran after him, followed by Palmon.
"I'm going back to the bedroom where I left Patamon's digitama." Takeru murmured.
"Takeru-kun…" Sora was about to accompany the little boy but Takeru did not allow it.
"Please, Sora-san, I just need some time alone." He said, before leaving.
Tentomon sat down again, which annoyed Piyomon.
"Go after your partner!" The bird digimon commanded.
"Stay out of this! It has nothing to do with you!" Tentomon adopted a threatening tone.
"What's the matter with you, Tentomon?" Gomamon wondered aloud. The insect digimon flew away, leaving the kitchen, but going in the opposite direction of his partner.
Koushiro ran through the long corridor, taking five turns, until he felt too exhausted to continue. The boy leaned against the wall, panting. His face was still being washed by tears.
"Koushiro-kun!" Mimi called him, getting close to the boy along with Palmon. "What happened there? Why did you talk to Takeru-kun like that?"
During their time as classmates, Mimi had seen Koushiro being blunt to people before. The difference was that it never seemed that the boy had malicious intent; he was simply telling what he thought without thinking too much in how to phrase things. But what she had just witnessed was not like that.
"You were mean to Takeru-kun!" She said. "And you said those things with the purpose of hurting his feelings!"
"I know what I did." Koushiro spoke with shame.
Mimi knew that Koushiro was not a bad person and that sometimes people said things in moments of emotional turmoil that they would regret later. She had done that many times herself. But it was hard to believe that the polite and self-controlled Koushiro would break down like that, to the point of shouting at someone and revealing something personal. The girl studied her classmate's crying face and trembling limbs and could only feel sorry for him.
"Talk to me." She spoke in an amicable tone, getting closer to him. "You've been bottling things up for a long time, haven't you? If you don't let them out, sooner or later you'll explode at someone again."
"Please, refrain from making assumptions about me." Koushiro asked, turning his face to the direction opposite to Mimi. "I'm not bottling things up."
"I'm not stupid, you know?" Mimi got offended. "And I can't stand people who lie to me! Or worse, who lie to themselves!"
Koushiro was still avoiding looking at her and Mimi was not going to tolerate that. She grabbed the boy by his left hand and pulled him. However, that action triggered a horrible memory in the red-haired child.
"Sweet child, child of light, please come with us."
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Koushiro screamed in agony, forcibly getting away from Mimi's grip. He lost his balance and fell on the floor, where he crawled away from the girl with an expression of panic and horror.
"W-what's wrong?" Mimi questioned, scared. "D-did I do something?"
But Koushiro forgot where he was. He saw himself back in the heavy darkness, where two pairs of hands attempted to drown him. No air entered his lungs.
"Koushiro-kun?" Mimi's fear increased when she noticed that the boy seemed to be suffocating. He looked at her with terror.
"I… I d-don't want… to d-die…" He gasped, collapsing to the ground, where his entire body started to shake violently and he fiercely closed his eyes. Mimi could no longer bear to look at that and kneeled next to him. Then, she embraced the boy with all her force and pulled him, making the red-haired kid sit up. Koushiro screamed and tried to break free but Mimi did not let him.
"You're safe now!" She shouted, among tears. "Nobody is going to hurt you here! I won't let anyone cause you harm, do you understand?"
"Breathe, Koushiro!" Palmon said. "You need to let the air in!"
"I-I'll d-drown… t-they'll take me away…" Koushiro sobbed.
"You're not in the water anymore! Nobody is trying to take you away!" Mimi reassured him, putting more strength into the hug. "You can trust me, Koushiro-kun! You are not in danger anymore!"
Slowly, Koushiro began to take air in. He was once again seeing his surroundings and noticed Mimi's proximity. His body started to relax but the girl would not let go of him.
"Mimi-san?" He murmured after a couple of minutes. Mimi gently loosened her grip and leaned back, so she could see the boy's face while keeping her hands on his shoulders.
"Are you feeling better?" She asked, worried. The tears were visible in her eyes.
Koushiro nodded, muttering "I'm sorry."
Mimi was not sure what he was apologizing for, specifically. She stood up and offered a hand to help him to stay on his feet again. Koushiro paled when he looked at the hand being offered to him; he stood up on his own.
"I'm going to wait until you're ready to talk." Mimi said, apologetically, wondering how her behavior had provoked that reaction.
"Thank you." Koushiro said, wiping his tears away. Mimi had rescued him from the darkness and the boy could not put in words all of his gratitude. His only way to pay her back would be to never reveal what was kept in his heart. That information had already burdened Tentomon; he could not do that to anyone else.
Without sharing other words, they walked back through the corridor. Koushiro's momentary peace would not last long.
"Come back to us, we miss you every day."
"Don't fight, you belong with us."
The lullaby had returned to haunt him.