The bus for the camp had arrived and Koushiro and Jyou entered it. Mrs. Izumi had been waiting in the bus stop with the two boys, telling her son about what to do in case of emergencies, like fires, floods, accidents and any other disaster that could happen. Jyou could not help thinking that her worrying was somewhat extreme. Even he, who was a born pessimist, would not anticipate so many bad scenarios. It was especially strange because Mrs. Izumi seemed to be a tranquil person in general. However, when Koushiro's safety was on the line, she could forget all reason.
Jyou's parents were not like that. They were more objective and realistic, only giving the boy advice that he would certainly need. For instance, he was bringing along several books, in order to study in the camp. It was a suggestion of his father, who had reluctantly let Mrs. Kido and their elder children convince him that the younger child needed to have fun with other kids instead of spending the summer in a cram school. Jyou felt guilty for having to go to the camp instead of the cram school but could not object his family's orders.
"Jyou-kun!" Mrs. Izumi called him while the older boy was still on the steps of the bus; Koushiro, who was already close to one of the vehicle's benches, turned around, to pay attention to what his mother was going to say as well:
"Please, take care of Koushiro in the camp. Don't let him get in trouble."
She really does know her son, Jyou thought. During their first years of knowing each other, the younger kid, more than once, had let his excitement in discovering something new or talking about things he had learned get out of hand. For example, Koushiro had once insisted on them trying a new route to school, which made them get lost. They also got late to the first class a couple of times because the little boy would not stop debating something he was fascinated about until he had theorized ten different things about the subject. Jyou had even heard about times when Koushiro got in trouble with teachers because he disagreed with what they were saying in class.
It frustrated Jyou that Koushiro did not seem to have any self control when it came to those discussions. Even if he was right, why did he have to disagree with the teachers? Could he not simply nod to whatever the adult said and keep his opinions for himself, like a respectful student? Not that Koushiro was rude in purpose. In fact, he would not drop his polite speech no matter the circumstance. But sometimes, especially when he was younger, he seemed not to understand that other people were usually not interested in debating with him.
Luckily, Jyou helped the boy the best he could. He advised Koushiro to be more considerate of others and reflect on whether other people would want his inputs. It was for the little boy's own good to learn to be better to others. With time, Koushiro did become quieter and his politeness even increased. He still had occasional relapses but would not insist too long on the conversation if the other part was not as enthusiastic as he was. Jyou also advised him to spend more time studying school subjects and less time on the internet and to always do what his parents wanted because adults knew best. When Jyou spoke those things, Koushiro listened without interrupting. Then, he thanked the older child for his concern and apologized for what he was doing wrong.
Looking at the woman at the bus stop, Jyou gave her a large smile and said:
"I promise I will take good care of Koushiro-kun. Just like I've been doing since you became our neighbors."
Mrs. Izumi seemed to relax after that. Jyou continued to climb the steps and found Koushiro already on a seat opposite to the side of the bus where the door was, looking out of the window. Jyou sat next to him.
"You should have waited for me before sitting, Koushiro-kun." Jyou scolded him. "It was very rude of you, especially because I was talking to your mother."
"I apologize for that. It wasn't my intention to be rude." Koushiro replied in low voice, without taking his eyes out of the window.
"It's never your intention." Jyou commented. "But that's not an excuse, you know? I've told you so many times to be considerate."
"I'm sorry." Koushiro murmured.
"Why is it so hard for you to learn better manners? Everybody talks about how smart you are." Jyou wondered in loud voice, remembering that more than once his parents mentioned how clever the Izumi child was. It was especially annoying when they said that when Jyou was struggling with a difficult school subject.
Koushiro suddenly stood up, saying that he wanted to greet his sempais from the soccer club, who were on the back bench. Jyou had the impression that the younger kid looked pale.
"Are you feeling well?" The older boy asked. "Did you eat something bad?"
"I'm feeling great." Koushiro replied, putting a smile on his face. "There's no need for you to worry about me."
That was another thing that Koushiro said all the time. For some reason, Jyou felt something cold in his gut whenever that happened, but paid no attention to it. If the other kid said that he was feeling great, then everything should be fine. After all, people complained when there was something wrong.
Chapter 15: Under the surface
After entering the book, Jyou and Gomamon found themselves falling into a dark space; below them, there was a light spot getting increasingly larger as they approached it. Once they crossed the spot, they hit a wooden floor, landing on their faces.
"Ouch!" Jyou let out, massaging his nose and turning his body so he could look up; above him, the open book was floating.
"Jyou, where are we?" Gomamon asked in his left. The boy rolled to his right side and stood up, to better examine his surroundings. Gomamon crawled to where his partner was.
"Is this a library?" Jyou asked, amazed. They seemed to be in a large saloon filled with dozens of bookshelves that were, each, at least ten meters tall. They were filled with not only thick books but also various objects, like colorful bottles, globes, knives and pens. In the specific spot they were in, Jyou and Gomamon were equidistant from ten bookshelves; the spaces between them formed five corridors.
The sound of something hitting the ground made the two of them glance at the narrow space between the book and the floor, where they found Koushiro and Tentomon. The human had hit his face on the floor, just like Jyou, and Tentomon had fallen on his own back and was not able to turn around and come to his feet.
"Are you alright?" Jyou asked, helping Tentomon to turn around while Koushiro rolled to the left, standing up next. The fourth grader's eyes became wide with excitement when he examined the place.
"I thought the book was a pocket dimension but it seems that it's a type of wormhole. How big is the place where we are now? How many books are there in here? How much knowledge about the Digital World is stored in this library?" Koushiro wondered in loud voice.
He's already all hyped, Jyou thought, sighing.
"Curious as ever, aren't you?" The high-pitched voice of Wisemon was heard getting close to them. The digimon came out from the space between two bookshelves and greeted the children and their partners. "It's always nice to see you in my carriage, Koushiro. It's so nostalgic."
"Carriage?" Jyou gasped.
"It's probably like Tamaki's base." Gomamon suggested.
"I've never been here before." Koushiro told Wisemon. "Why are you implying-?"
"This version of you has never been here before." Wisemon explained. "But other versions of you, in different universes, have been here."
"W-what?" Jyou stuttered. "Other versions? Other universes?!"
The cloaked digimon extended his arms to his sides and, from each palm, a hologram showing a bubble appeared. Then, other bubbles suddenly began to emerge from each bubble without breaking away from them.
"Do you know about the M Theory?" Wisemon asked.
"I-I've never heard of-" Jyou had begun to answer but Koushiro interrupted him:
"The M Theory, or Multiverse Theory, says that the universe can't be explained by Mathematics without admitting the existence of parallel universes to our own. According to this theory, our universe is like a bubble floating in a space near endless other bubbles. And each bubble is considered an entire universe, equal to or bigger than ours. The concept has its foundations in Cosmology and Quantum Theory, involving many ideas from the Relativity Theory, in a way that allows the existence of universes in which all possible quantum events can happen. There's enough space for these universes in a bigger dimensional structure: the Multiverse. It's said that some of these universes may be connected to black holes or wormholes. The M Theory proposes that the Multiverse is growing through a series of big bangs for a long time and will continue to grow. It also proposes that the laws of Physics can be different in each universe."
Koushiro felt the eyes of everybody in the room staring at him and felt uncomfortable.
"I, ehr…" The red-haired boy was looking for the right words, "I have a German friend I've met online; she knows a lot about Physics and we like to talk about these things. We find it interesting."
"Koushiro-han is really intelligent!" Tentomon had pride in his voice.
"Is he more intelligent than you, Jyou?" Gomamon teased his partner, who turned vividly red.
"It's not like that!" Koushiro hurried to say. "Jyou-san is two grades above me."
"T-That M Theory thing isn't even a school subject! I-I'm not required to know about it!" Jyou said. He crossed his arms and looked away. "And have I not told you before not to talk to strangers on the internet?"
"That theory is more of a College subject." Wisemon paid no attention to Jyou. "Koushiro's mind is too bright to conform to simple school subjects."
"I-It's not like that." Koushiro was becoming more nervous, glancing at Jyou and then at the tall digimon. "A-anyway, why were you talking about the Multiverse?"
"Oh, right!" Wisemon seemed to have forgotten what he wanted to talk about. "I've traveled through many universes and I've encountered you, the chosen children, many times."
"Do you mean that we become chosen children in multiple universes?" Jyou found that hard to believe. "Are we fated to come to the Digital World?"
"Do you believe in fate?" Wisemon inquired, lowering his hands and looking at Jyou.
"Well..." The older boy pondered about what he thought about the subject. His grandmother used to say that everything in the world happened for a reason but the child did not like to think that he could not control his life. However, during the time the woman was alive, the grandson never objected her in that regard. She was an elder, after all.
"What about you, Koushiro?" Wisemon gave the younger boy a piercing glance.
"I don't believe in fate." The fourth grader replied, crossing his arms.
"That's great!" Wisemon sounded proud. "That's the attitude the bearer of the crest of knowledge should have."
Crest of knowledge? Jyou was not sure about what he was feeling. It's true that Koushiro-kun is smart… although he's always researching pointless stuff online. He doesn't put nearly as much effort in his studies as I do… and yet he gets the crest of knowledge…
Jyou remembered their first day in the Digital World, when he found out that Koushiro had the best grades in his class despite only studying the day before the tests. The little boy was gifted, just like Jyou's brothers. People like the fourth grader could take life easy while people like Jyou had to work harder than everybody else, without achieving the same results. In the end, it was the red-haired kid who had the easiest time comprehending new concepts. It was the younger child who could calculate large numbers in his head and remember the dates of historic events without difficulty. It was him who was praised for his intelligence. Yet, Koushiro acted as if all that did not matter to him.
"Listen, Koushiro." Wisemon kneeled, so his eyes could be on the same level of the younger boy's. "No matter the universe, I always look for you to help me with this problem."
"What problem?" Tentomon asked, seriously.
"In the first universe I met Koushiro, he assisted me in my greatest creation: a security system for the Digital World equipped with artificial intelligence and capable of storing infinite amounts of information." Wisemon explained.
He can't be serious. Jyou felt as if his heart had dropped to his stomach. Koushiro-kun is ten! Sure, he knows about computers but… he can't possibly be knowledgeable enough to assist anyone in a project like that!
"Sadly, that program developed a huge flaw." The tall digimon continued. "It keeps jumping from universe to universe, defying my orders. And it becomes more powerful and unstable the older it gets."
"Is it a defective program because of me?" Koushiro asked in a whisper. Jyou believed that the younger boy looked guilty and felt bad for him.
"For what I understood, it was another Koushiro who broke the thing. You're not responsible for that." The sixth grader tried to cheer the other kid up. "But it serves as a lesson for you: don't meddle with things beyond your capacity."
"Anyway," Wisemon began to talk again. "What I need you to do is to position some scanners in the canyon. You can do that while you look for the crest."
"I thought you wanted us to be your bodyguards. Why does it sound like you have no intention of leaving this place?" Gomamon inquired.
"The faulty program is at its strongest down the canyon. If I get too close, that thing might try to destroy me." Wisemon explained. "By doing the chore in my place, you'll be protecting me. Isn't this nice?"
"What guarantee do we have that the faulty program isn't going to try to hurt us?" Tentomon questioned, worried.
"None." The tall digimon admitted. "But since you're chosen children, it might leave you alone."
"I have a really bad feeling about this." Jyou sighed. He glanced at the other child and saw that the smaller boy had a scared expression. What is Koushiro-kun thinking about? The older kid then realized that the prospect of facing another dangerous computer program certainly awoke bad memories in the younger one. Koushiro-kun suffered a lot in the hands of Homeostasis… and I nearly left him… if he knows, he must utterly despise me for what I did. I can't keep avoiding this subject. I need to take responsibility and face him.
"I'm going to prepare what you'll need for the task. You can look around the place but don't touch anything." Wisemon said, leaving them.
Gomamon noticed that Jyou was staring at Koushiro and assumed that his partner wanted to talk to the other boy alone.
"Hey, Tentomon." The aquatic monster called. "Come with me; I bet we can find something cool."
"But…" The insect digimon sounded indecisive.
"It's alright, you can go." Koushiro told his partner in a tranquil tone.
"Okay, then." Tentomon gave in and followed Gomamon. The two monsters vanished from the kids' sights behind one of the bookshelves.
Alone with Koushiro, Jyou knew that it was time to have that conversation with the fourth grader.
"Listen, Koushiro-kun…" The older boy hesitated. "I don't know if you know about it but… back in that factory…"
Koushiro turned around, showing his back to Jyou and apparently examining a shelf in his front. That action irritated the sixth grader but he chose to let it pass.
"You saved me." The younger boy murmured. "I was only able to fight Homeostasis because you were willing to sacrifice yourself for me. Thank you for that."
Jyou had the familiar sensation of something cold in his gut.
"I was going to abandon you." The older child confessed. "I thought that there was no way to save you… I thought all I could do was to save the others but nobody was willing to leave you. Koushiro-kun, I'm so sorry! I was going to do a horrible thing! I'm so ashamed of myself!"
A couple of tears escaped from the older child's eyes. He lifted his glasses and wiped them. Koushiro's silence was making him anxious. Just say something! Yell at me! Call me a coward! Please, say something!
"Jyou-san…" Koushiro muttered. "Don't worry about that. That decision wasn't wrong."
"What are you talking about?!" Jyou shouted. "I was going to abandon you in that state! Even though I had promised your mother to look after you! Even though I want to become a doctor and save people! It was disgraceful of me to give up so easily on you!"
"You saved me." Koushiro reiterated, without turning around to face the other. "And you didn't even have to do that."
"Of course I had to do that! You were my responsibility!"
Koushiro did not say anything for a couple of seconds. He took a deep breath and only then continued:
"Jyou-san, when my mother asked you to look after me and when the adults in the camp nominated you the group leader, none of them expected that we would come to this dangerous world. Nobody would blame you if something had happened to me or the others."
"I would blame me, damn it! Isn't that enough?!" Jyou raised his voice. "And you should blame me too! Why are you being so reasonable about this? You should be angry at me!"
"I'm not angry at you. Nor do I blame you for anything." Koushiro elevated his tone of voice as well. "Could we please drop this subject already?"
Jyou was not satisfied with that response. Even if Koushiro was the kind of person who did not hold grudges, it was not normal for anyone to be that forgiving about the situation. Jyou certainly would not behave like that in his place. The younger kid could not possibly be that mature!
"Look at me!" The sixth grader demanded. "Repeat that while looking into my eyes!"
"What do you want from me exactly, Jyou-san?" Koushiro inquired.
"I want you to tell me how you're really feeling!"
"I've told you-"
"I want you to tell me the truth!" Jyou shouted. What was Koushiro trying to do? He had to be angry at him! That was the natural response! He had to be upset! Why was he not letting his true feelings out? What was he trying to prove?
"Why are you doing this?" Koushiro finally turned around to face Jyou. His angry expression made the other boy gulp. "Why do you care about that?"
"Because I can't stand it when people are dishonest!" Jyou told him.
The fourth grader raised his eyebrows.
"Then, how about you start being honest?" Koushiro's voice was uncharacteristically cold.
"I'm always honest! That's even my crest, if you haven't heard!" The sixth grader became defensive.
"We are alone now, Jyou-san." Koushiro's voice became lower. "You can just say what you really want to say. I promise I won't tell anyone."
"I don't understand where you're trying to get at." Jyou was confused by the other's words. Koushiro looked away from him.
"Do as you wish, then." The red-haired kid murmured, walking away.
That guy! Jyou was shaking with anger. What's up with him? Why doesn't he just spit it out? He's so frustrating!
Koushiro had been a mystery to Jyou since the first time they met each other, when the Izumis moved to his building. Their mothers had arranged for them to go to school together and Jyou tried very hard to be friendly to the little boy.
"My name is Kido Jyou. I'm a third grader and I come from a family of doctors. I'm going to become a great doctor when I grow up. What about you, Koushiro-kun?" The older kid had introduced himself before they left the building to go to school together for the first time.
"I don't know." The smaller boy had answered. "I don't think a lot about the future."
"That's no good! You have to plan your future, don't you know that? You need to prepare yourself and study a lot so you can go to a good high school and a good college and then get a good job."
"I'm still in first grade." Koushiro had commented. "There are many things that could happen in my life and change-"
"That's a very irresponsible attitude, Koushiro-kun!" Jyou had informed the other. "You need to become more mature! Otherwise you'll become one of those carefree guys who contribute nothing to society."
Jyou remembered how much energy he had spent trying to be a good influence to Koushiro and how the other boy never seemed to truly appreciate that. The smaller kid always avoided talking about his personal life or about what he wanted to do, preferring to talk about something he had learned on the internet, even if it was super random and useless in real life. Jyou thought that the other child's behavior was no good at all. It's as if he's hiding something. But what? Suddenly, Jyou remembered what the other boy had yelled during his discussion with Takeru:
"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS TO LOSE SOMEONE!"
That had been the most shocking thing the fourth grader had ever said. Could it be that Koushiro had lost someone? Maybe an uncle or a grandparent he was close to? But Koushiro's mother, as far as the older boy knew, never mentioned upsetting things like a loss. The younger kid's father was another one who seemed to be completely happy. People who had lost a close relative wouldn't be like that, right?
Jyou began to feel bad for his attempt of apology not going the way he wanted it. He decided to look for Koushiro and try, once more, to have a proper conversation with him.
He entered the passage between bookshelves that the other had taken. A couple of minutes later, Jyou reached the end of the passage and found the fourth grader staring at a marble pillar about his height. Above it, there was a white metallic mask with no holes in it. The older child was ten steps away from Koushiro, coming from his right, but did not make any sound. The red-haired kid seemed to be terrified and was murmuring something.
"Let me go!" Koushiro had a pleading voice. "You're not real! You can't be here!"
Who is he talking to? Jyou wondered, concerned.
The younger human's right arm was lifted, apparently against the boy's will, and was about to touch the mask. The child with red hair attempted to take a step back but was unable to do it, as if he was being held in that spot by someone invisible.
"Let go of me! Don't make me touch that!" Koushiro's voice was panicked. "You're not real! You're not real!"
"Koushiro-kun!" Jyou called him. Koushiro turned his face to the older child. The look of despair and horror of the fourth grader disturbed Jyou and made him move in his direction.
"What is going on, Koushiro-kun?" He asked, grabbing the other kid's arm before it reached the mask. "Wisemon told us not to touch anything! It could be dangerous!"
It happened in the split of a second. Jyou felt a large, cold and invisible hand grab his neck and lift him from the floor. Then, he was thrown against a bookshelf nearby, knocking down a few books.
"JYOU-SAN!" Koushiro yelled. Suddenly, he seemed to be able to move freely and hurried to the other child, sitting next to him, on the floor. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Jyou was trembling, unable to understand what had happened. He looked to the other's face and noticed how shocked the fourth grader seemed to be.
"You were talking to someone…" Jyou recollected his thoughts in loud voice, "… the same thing that pushed me?"
"You didn't see nor hear anyone, right?" Koushiro asked in a whisper. "And yet… if he could touch you, then…"
Jyou noticed the other's eyes widening as fear filled them.
"You said he?" The sixth grader asked. "Could you see what attacked me?"
"N-no!" Koushiro quickly denied, diverting his eyes from Jyou. "I saw nothing. There was nob-nothing here… there couldn't be."
"There was something here! I felt it!" Jyou stated, touching his neck. "Whatever it was, it could've killed me… and it was trying to make you touch the weird-looking mask…"
"What is this commotion about?" Wisemon asked. He was coming from a different passage among bookshelves, behind the pillar, carrying a brown bag. The digimon glanced at the mask and, with a wave of his right hand, put it inside a bubble and made the object disappear.
"What was that mask?" Jyou inquired.
"Just a thing I'm going to sell in a future world I visit." The digimon replied, gazing at Koushiro. "If you had touched that, your heart wouldn't be beating now."
What truly horrified Jyou was that Koushiro did not express any surprise upon hearing that.
"Well, I've brought the scanners!" Wisemon said, cheerfully, picking a metallic ball of the size of an orange from the bag. "How about I look for your partners? You could put those books back in their place, if it isn't too much trouble. I hate messes."
"There was something here!" Jyou informed. "Something invisible attacked me! And it was trying to hurt Koushiro-kun!"
"Jyou-san!" The fourth grader sounded as if he wanted to stop Jyou from revealing that.
Wisemon stayed silent for a minute, before saying:
"There are stories about spirits wandering in the canyon. The carriage is descending into it right now."
"Spirits?!" Jyou gasped. He had learned about spirits from his grandmother. She had even taught him a few sutras to deal with them if he ever needed. "Spirits attacked us?"
"I can't make any confirmation." Wisemon said. "I'd better go after your partners now."
After the digimon left, Koushiro stood up and started to pick up the fallen books. Jyou did the same, grabbing a grey one titled The good King's tale, by C. Renoir. He had never heard of the book or the author.
The silence of the fourth grader was bothering him immensely. Was Koushiro-kun capable of seeing spirits all along? Why did he keep this as a secret? Maybe he's just too shy to talk about it. I bet it must be a scary thing. I should help him to open up!
"You know, Koushiro-kun, my grandmother used to say that she could see spirits." Jyou told the other. "I never saw one but she taught me a few sutras just in case."
The younger boy, who was holding a book with both his hands, was focusing solely at the shelf in his front.
"What I'm trying to say is that there are people who are more sensitive to the paranormal and there's no reason to-"
"Jyou-san!" Koushiro interrupted, closing his eyes forcefully. "I can't see ghosts!"
"I could tell that you were interacting with something!" Jyou did not believe the other child. "You were even talking to the spirit!"
"They're not spirits! That doesn't exist!" Koushiro stated with a pained expression. "They can't be…"
"They?" Jyou asked. "There was more than one? How many did you see?"
"I didn't see anything!" Koushiro denied.
"Can you please stop lying to my face?!" The sixth grader was getting frustrated once again. "I want to help you! If the spirits are related to you-"
"Who said anything about being related? Where did you get that from?" Koushiro asked, nervously. It was obvious for Jyou that he was trying very hard to hide the truth.
"Pretending that they're not real will only make things worse. We should find out what they want. Maybe we could help them, somehow." The sixth grader suggested. "Grandmother used to tell me that we should listen to what the spirits have to say. It's like paying respect to the elders."
Koushiro did not reply. The hands holding the book were shaking.
"Look, I can help you with the spirits!" Jyou spoke with confidence. "I can recite a sutra and-"
"There's no need for that, Jyou-san. There's nothing wrong." Koushiro affirmed.
"Why are you being so stubborn?!" Jyou demanded to know.
"Why are you being so insisting?!" Koushiro shouted. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
Jyou stared at Koushiro, astonished. The other boy was visibly in great emotional distress. Yet, Koushiro kept rejecting his help.
"Do you think I'm not capable of helping you?" Jyou inquired. "I see. After all, you're so knowledgeable, right? The super intelligent Koushiro-kun who doesn't even need to study to get good grades surely doesn't need help from someone like me, isn't that right?"
Koushiro's face expressed deep sadness.
"So that's how it is." The fourth grader murmured.
Jyou felt insulted by that response.
"Alright, then! If you don't want my help, I won't insist anymore!" He stated, bitterly.
After that, the two boys remained in silence, rearranging the books in the shelf.
Meanwhile, Gomamon stopped walking when he felt that he and Tentomon were far enough from their partners. The insect digimon stopped by his side.
"Why did you want to separate me from Kouhsiro-han?" Tentomon asked.
"Jyou wanted to talk to him." Gomamon replied, showing a small smile. "Also, I wanted to talk to you alone."
"About what?"
"What is wrong with you and Koushiro lately?"
Tentomon stayed silent. Gomamon insisted:
"We all had plenty of sleep and ate a lot in the base. The reason why you can no longer evolve can't be because you're tired."
"You underestimate how tired I was." Tentomon commented in low voice, not sounding convincing.
"Was it because of tiredness that you didn't follow Koushiro after his argument with Takeru?" Gomamon was not willing to back down. He knew that there was something wrong and he would not let Tentomon get away with lying.
"You don't understand." The insect sounded irritated.
"I can only understand if you-"
"DON'T YOU SAY THAT TO ME!" Tentomon roared, startling Gomamon. It was out of character for the bug digimon to have outbursts. During their time together, prior to knowing their partners, Tentomon had always seemed to be an easygoing monster. Maybe because of his unwillingness to get into heated discussions, Gomamon did not understand the other's personality well enough. To see Tentomon in that state now made the seal digimon concerned.
The insect digimon looked away, as if he was ashamed of his shout. The aquatic digimon felt sorry for him.
"You can't show facial expressions now. You don't need to avoid looking at me to hide your feelings." Gomamon had a comforting tone.
Tentomon did not say anything back.
"Listen," Gomamon continued, "Jyou and I didn't have the best beginning for our relationship. Before I became Ikkakumon for the first time, we had a big fight and said awful things to each other. We met a Leomon who told us that evolution couldn't happen unless we cooperated. That guy was wrong about many things but was right about that one."
"I'm not being uncooperative." Tentomon informed. "And Koushiro-han and I didn't have a fight."
They didn't even have a fight? The seal digimon was surprised. But there's certainly something wrong with their relationship! Could it be that they're avoiding a troublesome subject and that's what's straining their bond? This isn't good!
"Maybe that's the problem!" Gomamon opinionated. "Maybe the two of you need to have a fight!"
Tentomon faced the seal digimon once again.
"How can you say something like that?! You don't even know what's going on!" The insect yelled.
"I know for personal experience that your friendship with your partner won't get better unless you both address your problems!" Gomamon insisted.
"It's easy to say those rich words when you don't know what we're going through!" Tentomon accused.
"What's your solution, then?" The seal monster inquired. "How long are you going to run from your responsibilities towards your partner?"
"Shut up, Gomamon!" Tentomon ordered.
"What is this? Do you want to fight me?" Gomamon spoke with defiance. "I'm not the one you should be directing that energy at!"
"Oh my, this carriage is noisy today." Wisemon approached the pair of digimon, coming from a passage in their left.
The tall digimon asked them to follow him. After a few minutes of walking in corridors created by long shelves, they found Jyou putting a book back on its place, while Koushiro seemed to read a different book by the sixth grader's side. Gomamon thought that his partner looked upset.
Wisemon instructed the children and their partners to put the scanners on the ground outside in an approximate distance of fifty meters between one another. He also said that they should look for a big stone that had a drawing of a cross with four triangles around it because that was the crest of honesty. Nobody seemed to be on the mood to ask too many questions. Koushiro volunteered to carry the bag with the spherical scanners before Wisemon led them to a different room where there was a door. He opened it and the other four could see an area filled with mist.
"I'm going to wait for you here. Be careful not to fall into the canyon!" Wisemon said, closing the door after the children and their digimon were out of the carriage.
"It's kind of hard to see." Gomamon said.
"Tentomon could use electricity to illuminate the path." Koushiro suggested.
"Isn't he too tired to do that? He couldn't even evolve earlier." Jyou recalled.
"What do you say, Tentomon?" Gomamon had a taunting tone. "Are you too tired to help us to see in this mist?"
"I can use lightning just fine!" The insect digimon stated, using one of his attacks. For a few seconds, the group could see their surroundings. They were standing on rocky ground, with the canyon twenty meters on their right. Fifteen meters on their left, a tall rock wall emerged as far as their eyes could see. In front of them, there was a descending path. They followed it slowly, placing a scanner whenever they felt that they had walked 50 meters. Every couple of minutes, Tentomon let out a few sparks to illuminate the path.
After an hour, they found a round pond blocking their way. The water came from a dark cave on the rock wall and almost reached the border of the canyon. It would be dangerous to try to walk on the twenty centimeters long passage between the end of the pond and the abyss.
Gomamon approached the water and, after glancing at it, said with excitement:
"The time has come!"
"Huh?" Jyou was puzzled. Gomamon took a deep breath and shouted:
"MARCHING FIIIIIIIIIISH!"
Suddenly, dozens of fish came to the surface and formed a living carpet.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Gomamon said with enthusiasm, jumping on the fish. "You can finally see with your very eyes my incredible power over the fish. I can control them and make them do anything I want! What do you think, Jyou?"
"Is this ethical?" Jyou had a troubled look on his face."You're brainwashing the poor things, right?"
"Be quiet and ride the fish." Gomamon sounded annoyed.
"Okay." Jyou agreed, carefully stepping on the living carpet. Tentomon preferred to continue to fly. Koushiro did not move from where he was. Cold sweat fell from his face as he stared at the water.
"Come on, Koushiro-kun." Jyou called him, impatient. The other boy took a step back, in the direction of the abyss's border, with a horrified expression.
"Koushiro-han, I can carry you." Tentomon offered, believing that his partner was just afraid of the water. The fourth grader took another step back, trembling.
"Is he scared?" Jyou asked, standing up and returning to the ground.
"Leave me alone!" Koushiro suddenly shouted. He tried to lift his arms but they did not move. The fourth grader glanced at his right and left, with pleading eyes.
"What's the matter?" Gomamon asked, jumping to the land as well.
Koushiro kept walking backwards, approaching the abyss. Jyou hurried to him and grabbed the other by the arms. The younger child screamed as if he was in pain.:
"LET GO OF ME! I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT!"
"Are the spirits here, Koushiro-kun?" Jyou questioned. "What are they doing to you? What are they saying?"
"Koushiro-han!" Tentomon flew in his direction. Is he still listening to the voices? Has he been listening to them since…?
Suddenly, the insect digimon's wings were paralyzed and he fell to the ground.
"What happened to you?" Gomamon asked, getting close to Tentomon.
"GO HELP KOUSHIRO-HAN!" Tentomon shouted.
Jyou was trying to pull Koushiro in his direction but a stronger force seemed to be pulling the smaller child towards the abyss. The sixth grader knew that the other kid was not physically stronger than him.
"They're going to kill me. This time, they're really going to kill me." Koushiro said, beginning to cry.
"Koushiro-kun, listen to me!" Jyou ordered, pulling the other with all his force. "I won't let anyone hurt you! I swear!"
Koushiro looked into his eyes and Jyou could tell that, on the inside, the other boy was asking for help.
"Jyou-san… do you remember those times when you said that good kids always obeyed their parents?"
Why is he bringing this up now? Jyou was confused.
"Koushiro-kun, I made a promise, remember? I told your mother that I'd take care of you! And I'm going to do that!"
"T-they w-want me to be with them…" Koushiro sobbed. "I didn't w-want to believe it was them… I t-thought it was all in my head and that I c-could just ignore them… but they hurt you… and now t-they hurt Tentomon… they're real, aren't they?"
"KOSHIRO-HAN, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM!" Tentomon yelled. Unable to stand up, he crawled in his partner's direction. "IT'S SOMETHING ELSE TRYING TO TRICK YOU!"
"Can someone explain what's going on?!" Gomamon shouted, anxiously, looking from Tentomon to the human boys.
"Jyou-san… do I have to obey my parents?" Koushiro's voice was almost inaudible. "D-do I really have to d-do what they want?"
What do his parents have to do with any of this? Jyou could not understand. Wait! His parents, especially his mother, wanted him to be safe! To stay out of trouble! Maybe the memory of how much his parents love him helps Koushiro-kun to resist the spirits!
"Your parents want what's best for you, Koushiro-kun!" Jyou spoke with conviction. "Of course you have to do as they say!"
The fourth grader paled intensely and looked like someone who had his heart torn in pieces.
"My parents…" Koushiro's voice was nothing but a whisper and the force pulling him to the abyss became so strong that Jyou was losing his grip on him. The red-haired child did not divert his eyes from the older boy. It was better than paying attention to the two people pulling him.
The woman with long red hair and the man with short black hair were now completely visible to him. The boy had seen their silhouettes for the first time during the first feast in Tamaki's base. That scared him so much that he let a cup slip from his hands. Then, he listened to their voices right after Mimi helped him with his panic attack. Once again, they became visible for a split second during his conversation with Takeru. During that night, the only way to ignore their singing was to hum. When the morning came, Koushiro had hoped that the torment had stopped. But it returned when he found himself alone in the carriage. His dead parents appeared by his side, only slightly transparent. They pushed him in the direction of the marble pillar and forced his arm up, telling him to touch the mask. And now, they were hugging him tightly, whispering in his ears to break free from Jyou and let them drag him down.
"Jyou-san… my parents want me to die."
The shock made Jyou loose his grip for enough time to allow Koushiro to fall into the abyss. Both the older boy and Tentomon screamed. Jyou leaned in the canyon's direction but could see nothing beyond the mist.
This can't be happening! Desperate, Jyou tried to deny the reality in front of his eyes. But it was not possible. The vision of the child falling to his death was too clear in his mind. All because he had loosened his grip for a fraction of a second. I was going to protect him… I promised… Jyou felt guilt take his body over. It was painful to breathe. I just made everything worse… I couldn't help him in any way… I let him die…
"It's my fault." Tentomon cried, regaining his movements. "I didn't want to listen… I didn't want to believe that his parents were calling him and now Koushiro-han-"
"His parents were calling him?" Jyou asked; his sight was blurred by his tears. "His parents are in Odaiba! What is this madness you're talking about?!"
"Not the parents who raised him! The parents that he lost!" Tentomon did not bother to keep that secret anymore. There was no point to it. His partner was dead because of Tentomon's negligence. "He told me that they made him jump into the well and I didn't want to believe in that! It was too scary… so I told him… I t-told Koushiro-han that he was just imagining things… that it was going to pass… what did I do?! How could I do that to him?!"
"The parents he lost?" Jyou processed that information slowly. "Then, Mrs. Izumi and Mr. Izumi… they're not his…"
"He's alive." Gomamon said, suddenly.
"Nobody can survive a fall like that!" Tentomon shouted as tears fell from his eyes. "Koushiro-han died! He died because of me!"
"Nobody should survive a shot from Picodevimon but Sora did!" Gomamon stated. "Didn't Koushiro fall into the healing water lake as well? He has to be in the window too, right?"
Jyou stared at Gomamon with his eyes completely open.
"You're right." The boy murmured, lifting his glasses and wiping the tears away. "It's very possible… it's Koushiro-kun we're talking about. That guy wouldn't die before getting answers for all the mysteries of the universe. He's alive! He has to be alive!"
Gomamon smiled in relief after seeing his partner calmer.
Tentomon observed the human with attention, before asking:
"Do you remember the conversation we had about parents before being abducted by the Pyokomon?"
Jyou remembered, but it took a few seconds for him to understand what the insect meant.
"Parents are very kind people who love you and take care of you."
"If the adult who was once so kind as to take care of you, despite lacking any obligation to do so, suddenly has a change of heart and attacks you with no reason… if such a thing could be easily acceptable or even expected, the world would be a horrible place."
Those were things that Koushiro had told them. And what Jyou had said was:
"Parents are biologically linked to you. They teach you the right values and expect you to honor your lineage and your ancestors."
No. It was not just that. How many times did he say insensitive things to the younger child without realizing it? And the fourth grader never called him out for that.
"Koushiro-han loves the parents that he has now, and they love him too." Tentomon stated. "Even if I've never met them, I know it's true. And I won't let anyone say that they're not his parents. Do you understand me?"
"I know that they love one another very much. Anyone can tell that just by looking at them." Jyou replied. "But I never thought that a love strong like that could be born from people not tied by blood… I still have a lot to learn."
"You can talk to Koushiro about it once we find him." Gomamon suggested.
Tentomon glanced at the pond nearby, saying right next:
"I'm going to waste too much time following you through the long way. Sorry, but I'll take a shortcut."
Whatever force had paralyzed his wings had dispersed by now, so he took flight and disappeared into the abyss.
"That guy!" Gomamon commented, irritated. "How could he just ditch us here?"
"It's not like he could carry us two. He'll find Koushiro-kun faster this way." Jyou said. "Now, we need to hurry too. Let's ride the fish!"
"In better circumstances I'd be so happy to hear you say that." Gomamon lamented.
The fish had dispersed but the seal digimon invoked them again. The monster and his partner climbed on the living carpet and began to cross the pond. Suddenly, everything shook, and the water began flowing back into the cave. Gomamon did his best to urge the fish ahead, but despite their efforts, Jyou, Gomamon, and the fish couldn't escape the pull.
Jyou and Gomamon descended the dark corridor for several minutes, until they fell on a lake. The human would have sunk if the fish his partner commanded had not saved him.
"T-Thank you, Gomamon. I'm not a great swimmer." Jyou said, trying to sit on the carpet of fish while adjusting his glasses. The digimon was in the water. At the rocky floor and walls around the lake, and in its bottom, blue creeping plants emanated light.
"Jyou, look at that!" Gomamon said, indicating with his head something behind Jyou. The boy carefully positioned his body in a way that allowed him to face the other direction without falling in the water.
The boy was left speechless. In the wall, a square block five meters tall and five meters large was visible. It had the drawing of the cross surrounded by triangles that Wisemon had described.
"This is the lowest point of the canyon, several kilometers under the surface." A distorted voice echoed from everywhere. "If you activate the crest of honesty, you will find Izumi Koushiro."
"Who's talking to me? Are you a spirit?" Jyou asked, trembling.
"That's not incorrect." The voice replied. "There are, after all, many who call me the Spirit of the World."
This chapter was meant to cover the entire story of Jyou's search for his crest but I chose to divide it in two parts due to the length of it.