Author's Notes: Another set of side quests. Starting off with a not very important or impressive DLC one. Well, the later DLC missions get more interesting.

~URGENT~CASE~FROM~MIREI~

"We've got another case from Mirei," Kyoko stated as she filled out the case request note for her assistant. She held it out to Takumi as he looked up from the boxes of case files he had been sorting through.

"What does it say?" he asked, accepting it from her.

Client: Mikagura Mirei

Place: DigiLab

Details: This is very urgent. There are malicious hackers… Will you teach them a lesson?

Takumi blinked at the note. "Ah… she didn't give you any details on where to find the hackers, did she?"

Kyoko nodded to him. "You should go talk with her directly and ask her what she needs," the detective suggested to him.

"Alright, I'm off!" Takumi called out to her.

"Have a safe trip," the blonde woman responded with a smirk.

"Were you surprised to get a sudden case from me?" Mirei asked as Takumi appeared into the DigiLab.

He nodded. "A little bit."

"My apologies for that," the woman slightly bowed her head. "However, this has to do with the blacklisted hackers we discussed earlier. Some unusual hackers have appeared in EDEN."

"Unusual how?" Takumi asked.

"These ones don't belong to any of the major hacker groups, but what makes them unusual is that rather than being alone, these three are always together. And with those greater numbers comes greater trouble for people and Digimon alike…" Mirei frowned. "What they do is pretty standard hacker fare, but we can't ignore that this is a group of them, either. Left unchecked, they could very well grow. If we don't nip this in the bud before they form into a proper hacker team, that could well spell trouble if you tried dealing with them later, no?"

Takumi crossed his arms. "Y-yeah… Zaxon has been encountering problems within their ranks… There are already rumors spreading of a faction of hackers leaving Zaxon to form their own group known as the Demons… While I believe in Yuugo's goal to preserve EDEN's order, a third hacker team will probably throw EDEN into further chaos."

"That's why I sent this case in as an urgent one," Mirei nodded with a smile. "I need you to hurry up and take care of them before they can multiply. They should all be hanging around somewhere on Cron's first level. Given their numbers, make sure you're prepared before you take them on."

"I will," the boy nodded as he checked his Digimon team.

"Regardless, best of luck out there. Go give them what they have coming."

Takumi noticed a hacker milling about just past Galacta Park. "This must be the hacker Mirei-san mentioned!" he told himself as he approached the capped teen. "Hey! Are you the Billing Scammer Takeshi?"

"Eh?" Takeshi looked up at Takumi in surprise. "Who the hell are you?"

"Cyber Sleuth Aiba Takumi, here to bring the misdeeds of you and your friends to an end," the detective's assistant said with a nod.

"You're here to stop our hacking?" He chuckled at the ridiculous teen. "I get it now. I see what you're up to. You're one of those self-styled 'good guys' who likes running around EDEN picking fights with big bad old hackers like me, huh?"

"It's not self-styled if it's my job," Takumi shrugged, "but I guess so, yeah."

"And now you've come to take us on, EDEN's legendary 'Three Scammers', am I right?" Takeshi frowned at the wannabe hero. "All right, you've got yourself a fight! I'm Takeshi, the youngest of the three siblings!" he declared. "I target dumb, young gamers playing free-to-play games, using my Digimon to sell them counterfeit items, and it's made me a real fortune! So hurry up and rack up your parents' credit card bills already! Time and money's a wasting!" With a yell he called out a PicoDevimon and another tiny Digimon.

Takumi blinked as his Digivice identified the second unknown Digimon as a Botamon. "Huh? It's only a Baby I?" He frowned as his team of Adults seemed a bit too much, but it was his job to stop the boy from misusing his Digimon. "Um… Galgomon… use Gatling Arm… But lightly, alright?"

The Vaccine Digimon obeyed and quickly dispatched the two Digimon. Takeshi blinked as he didn't even get a chance to call out a command. "Uuuugh… I never thought I'd… lose to someone as scrawny as you…" he told the red-haired sleuth.

"Now you have to repent," Takumi sternly told him.

"Repent? Ha!" Takeshi shook his head. "What have I got to repent here!? This isn't the end. My older brother's gonna swoop down and avenge me! I'm not repenting until you win against him, too! Got it!?" He laughed. "So until then see you in your favorite free-to-play games, sucker!"

The Cyber Sleuth crossed his arms. "Fine, but don't think this is over."

Further into Cron, Takumi spotted another hacker chuckling to himself. "This must be that older brother Takeshi was talking about," he nodded as his Digivice confirmed the account as belonging to the Mail Scammer Mamoru. "Hey! Are you Takeshi's brother?"

Mamoru looked up towards the strange boy approaching him. "If you're here, then that means you must have beaten Takeshi. Of the Three Scammers, Takeshi was the one who did the operational heavy lifting… If he's down for good, I'll have to step in."

"Sorry, but I'll have to stop you to," Takumi shook his head. "It's all a part of my job as Cyber Sleuth."

"I'm Mamoru, the middle child of the three brothers," the hacker introduced himself with a nod. "I sell elderly people ineffective heath products and use their personal information to hack into their bank accounts and swipe their pensions!"

"Eh!?" the redhead didn't think anyone would be so bold enough to do that. "That's what you have the Digimon doing for you?"

"Come on," Mamoru shook his head at him. "Don't give me that look. I'm not completely heartless! I mean it says in the labels of what I sell that 'Effectiveness may vary'!" he shrugged. "If they buy my stuff, it's their responsibility!"

Takumi jumped back as a Gazimon came out of nowhere to strike him. "Ah! This type of Digimon!" He dodged out of the away when another Digimon that seemed like a limbless sphere form of Gazimon tried to spew bubbles at him. "Pagumon… Baby II…" He shook his head as he nodded for Galgomon to quickly restrain them again.

Mamoru's smirk fell as he didn't think he'd be defeated so easily. "I didn't think you'd actually make it past me… Not in a million years." He shook his head as there was still a chance for Takumi to be beaten. "But there's still the oldest one of us all out there you haven't met yet. Suguru!"

"Suguru?" the detective crossed his arms. "Is he nearby?" he asked, looking around.

"Think you can actually win against him!?" Mamoru laughed at the boy's gumption. "I dare you to try!"

"Alright, I will," Takumi smiled as he moved on.

"It's all riding on Suguru, now…" the defeated hacker sighed. "He's probably watching infomercials or something right now, I bet."

"This must be the older sibling Mamoru mentioned," Takumi smirked as his Digivice notified him that Suguru was in the area. The redhead was surprised when the hacker immediately started towards him.

"You must be the one who's been roughing up my brothers!" Suguru glared at the sleuth. "As you can probably already tell, I'm Suguru, the oldest of the Three Scammers! Knowing my name and looking at me, you'd probably guess I'm a guy, right?"

The redhead blinked at him as the question came out of nowhere. "I guess…?" he knit his eyebrows together.

"Well, you're wrong!" Suguru exclaimed. "I'm neither a guy nor a girl! I don't have to spell it out for you, right? Right?"

"Uh…"

"When I first registered on EDEN, I could only pick one or the other, so reluctantly went with 'guy', but…" the hacker shook his—her—their—head. "I didn't want to be forced to choose either one! It's a grey area! I'm proud of who I am!" the hacker cried out. "Why couldn't I have a choice that better reflected that!? But the system just wouldn't have any of it… So I decided to say screw the system and rebel!"

"H-huh…?" Takumi blinked as he was still a bit confused by the whole situation.

"I fabricated a lot of different avatars…" Suguru explained. "Sometimes I go male, sometimes female. Then I hop on dating sites and steal money from dumbasses! That's my scamming style of choice! It's vengeance against an unjust system! You're in for a real world of hurt beating up my brothers and interfering with my personal vendetta like that!"

Before Takumi knew it, a Keramon was headed straight towards him. Thankfully, his Digimon were faster and managed to intercept it, giving the Cyber Sleuth the chance to examine their enemy. "One Keramon flanked by two… Baby II Digimon? Tsumemon…" he nodded to himself. "Togemon! Needle Spray!"

Suguru watched in dismay as their team was quickly dispatched. "I don't believe it… My payback for my two brothers, my vengeance on EDEN… Everything's going down the drain…" they sighed. "What a pathetic way for everything to end… I really am a nobody, inside and out. I can't do anything right at all."

Takumi shook his head as he spoke to the hacker. "Even if you can't compare to me, you're a role model for your brothers. They'll still look up to you."

"Huh?" Suguru looked up at the Cyber Sleuth in surprise. "I was the strongest of the Scammers? And I'm a good sibling to Takeshi and Mamoru no matter what?" They chuckled at the odd teen's kindness. "You're not so bad after all. You're a pretty sweet kid, you know that?"

"Even so," the redhead crookedly smiled, "I'm going to have to ask you to stop it with the illegal activities."

"All right, I hear you loud and clear. I'll quit using my Digimon to scam people," the reformed hacker nodded. "Somehow, just looking at you, I feel all that old bad blood just drifting away. I'll make sure my brothers actually repent, too. Don't worry about that."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Suguru," Takumi nodded.

"I never thought I'd ever meet a hacker like you here in EDEN, of all places…" they mused. "I'm so sorry we caused you so much trouble…"

"So long as you've learned your lessons, it's fine," the redhead chuckled.

"On that note, can I get your DigiLine ID, by any chance?"

Takumi crossed his arms as he decided to trust the hacker with it. When he was done, Suguru quickly set off to find their brothers. The redhead watched for a while before nodding to himself for a job well done. "They all seem repentant now… I better report back to Mirei-san."

Mirei smiled at Takumi's summary of what happened. "I see," she nodded, "so they were three siblings. Had we left them alone, I doubt they would have opted to grow beyond that, then. But, this way we've killed three birds with one stone and managed to make them change their minds before it was too late, so I'm content. I imagine it was hard work making it all happen, but thanks for doing it."

"It was nothing, Mirei-san," Takumi chuckled. "It's my job after all." He paused for a moment to consider something. "But what we were talking about before… Maybe it'd be best if a third hacker team did appear… One in support of the Digimon… I don't know if I could be a part of it myself since I'm too busy working as a Cyber Sleuth… but there should be hackers out there who would join such a cause if they don't agree with Zaxon or the Demons." The redhead shook his head. "It's just a thought, but what do you think?"

"Once again, fate remains on your side, I'd say," she nodded approvingly at his lofty ideals. "But for now, you'll find your reward back at your office."

"I'm home!" Takumi greeted Kyoko as he returned to the agency.

"Welcome home," the detective smiled up at him. "Did you solve the case?"

"Yeah, I did," her assistant nodded. "I just finished speaking with Mirei-san just now."

Kyoko chuckled to herself. "Mirei's always an abrupt woman. I won't deny that. But she's always doing favors for us, so it's worth repaying her kindness whenever we can."

"I understand," Takumi smiled. "It's thanks to her that my Digimon are well taken care of, so if she ever has another case, just leave it to me, Kyoko-san."

~SCRAMBLE~PENTAGRAM~

"Kyoko-san," Takumi frowned as he looked up from the heavy guidebook in his lap, "why am I reading this again?"

"As a detective, you'll need to know a great deal," the detective answered as she stared at the map of Tokyo on her monitor. "For starters, learning the history and geography of the city will give you a better understanding of the people you will surely encounter as well as give you an edge if you ever find yourself in a bind."

"Okay, but I thought you said actual experience is better than book learning," her assistant pointed out.

"Oh?" Kyoko smirked at him. "So if I were to ask you to look into a politician, where would you go?"

"If you mean foreign, I'd go to Minato. If domestic, it'd be Chiyoda," the redhead answered.

"Maybe that was too easy," Kyoko mused. "What if I asked you to climb Mount Fuji without leaving Tokyo?"

"Is that… possible?" Takumi asked as he knit his eyebrows together.

"Physically, no, but there are smaller replications of the holy mountain throughout the city," the woman told him. "They're known as Fujizuka and are believed to be made of the stones of Mount Fuji itself. Those who worshipped the mountain usually carried rites to climb to the peak but for those who could not due to distance, age, or other limiting factors could simulate the pilgrimage at one of the various Fujizuka."

"I see…" the detective's assistant nodded. "I'm guessing these Fujizuka are near shrines then."

Kyoko smirked at his correct guess. "Yes, but very few remain. If you're interested in actually climbing Mount Fuji, I suggest you head to Sendagaya Fujizuka at Hatonomori Hachiman Shrine when you have the time."

"Sendagaya…" Takumi crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "That's a neighborhood in Shibuya, isn't it?" he asked, opening his eyes.

She nodded to him. "Speaking of which, have you ever been to Shibuya Scramble Crossing?" Kyoko curiously asked her assistant.

"Eh?" Takumi blinked a few times. "No, not really," he shook his head. "Is there something special about the Scramble Crossing?"

"It's definitely something you should see at least once," the detective smirked. "The terrain is fascinating there."

"I'll check it out whenever I have the time then," Takumi shrugged. "I suppose I should finish reading this first though," he sighed as he realized that even if he no longer attended school, he would have to keep up with all sorts of material just to match himself to Kyoko's strange plethora of information.

Takumi paused when he spotted a girl wearing an Inoden uniform standing in the middle of Shibuya's famed scramble crossing. He blinked when he noticed the cars were signaled to go again and tried to call out to her in warning. When he looked back towards her, she was gone. He frowned to himself and quickly searched for her.

Finally, the pedestrian lights turned green again and Takumi hurried over to where he had spotted the girl. To his surprise, she was there again, in the middle of the scramble crossing. "Why does nobody pay attention to me…?" she asked in a sorrowful voice. "They never notice me… not one person…"

"E-excuse me…" Takumi tried to get her attention. "Can I help you?"

The girl ignored him though as she continued to talk to herself. "But woe to thee who finds the entrance there…"

The Cyber Sleuth winced when he felt a strange disturbance in the Digital Waves around him. When he opened his eyes again, the girl was gone and he jumped back as a truck swerved to turn in front of him. "Ah…!" he fell backwards and tried to calm his rapid heart rate. "That was close…" He looked around for the girl but didn't see her. Takumi felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard some sinister cackling echo around him.

"For if you make it, you only meet despair," the girl's voice wickedly laughed.

Takumi picked himself up off the ground and managed to safely return to the sidewalk. He checked his body to make sure he was really okay before searching for that ghostly girl. "What was that…!?" He didn't find anything but as he returned to the agency, an unsettling lump settled itself in his stomach.

"So how was your first time at Shibuya?" Kyoko asked her assistant as he returned. "It's truly remarkable, isn't it?"

Takumi frowned at her and shook his head. "I almost got into an accident while I was there… but uh… I suppose it is."

"Good, because a case just came in regarding the Scramble Crossing," Kyoko nodded, pointing to the new case she posted on the board.

"Eh!?" The detective's assistant curiously went over to look at it.

Client: Inoden Occult Research Club

Place: Shibuya

Details: The legend of "Shibuya Hirasaka"… I need help verifying it.

"I didn't know Inoden had an occult research club," Takumi stated as he turned back towards Kyoko. "But it sounds…"

"Interesting?" Kyoko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Dangerous, actually," the boy shook his head. "Doesn't 'Hirasaka' refer to Yomotsu Hirasaka? As in the entrance to the underworld Yomi?"

"Oh?" the woman blinked at him surprise. "I didn't take you to be so superstitious. Does this mean you'll decline the case?"

"Even if I decline it, you already accepted it yourself, didn't you, Kyoko-san?" Takumi asked. Her small smirk was all he needed to answer his question so he sighed. "I thought so." Takumi shook his head and psyched himself up for the new case. "Alright, so when are we meeting the client?"

Kyoko crossed her arms at the short-haired brunette sitting across from her. "So you're the president of the Inoden Occult Research Club, correct?"

Yes," the girl nodded and politely smiled at the detective and her assistant. "My name is Kokusho Mei."

"All right, what have you got for us today?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could help run an experiment to test and urban legend and see whether it's true or not," Mei requested.

"An urban legend?" Takumi placed his hands on his hips.

Kyoko chuckled. "I like the sound of that. It's not something we get around here every day."

"Eh? Really?" her assistant nervously laughed.

"Anyway, what legend do you have in mind?" Kyoko asked their new client.

"Well, it's called 'Shibuya Hirasaka' and it goes like this…" Mei began. "At the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, there are five hills, each of them going in separate directions. You split five different people up, one on each road alongside those hills. Then you have them all head towards the Scramble Crossing as they sing the 'Hirasaka Song'. If everyone makes it to the center of the Scramble Crossing at the same time right as they finish singing…" she stopped speaking as a frown appeared on her face.

"What…?" Kyoko curiously smirked. "Do their wishes come true or something?"

"No…" Mei shook her head. "A dead person is brought back to life."

Takumi was taken aback by this. "Eh!?"

"Huh," Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth as she considered Mei's story. "I can't say I've heard that one before. It reminds me of some old Shinto stories. I can see what makes the legend so appealing, though. You have to make it to the center through that constant crowd, all while singing…" She chuckled as she lifted her and nodded to Mei. "Pulling it off sounds like no mean feat."

"Indeed," the girl nodded. "We've tried at the club several times, but we always either bump into people or get held up by a traffic light. But we've heard rumors about your organization so I thought I'd see if you could help us somehow."

"Rumors?" Kyoko curiously asked. "Like what?"

Mei brought her hands up to her mouth in surprise. "Oh, like how, there's a, uh… detective agency in Nakano dealing in the occult that has, uh, supernatural ties to another world…" Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth and closed her eyes. Mei smiled as she continued telling the detective everything she had heard about them. "And if you go to it at 2:22 AM, there's a door to that other world that shows up… Stuff like that."

Takumi let out a sigh. "I-I see…"

"Jeez, I know we work in the shadows here and all," Kyoko opened her eyes, "but to think we're so infamous as to be having people make up urban legends about us… Wow." She smirked as her eyes darted to her not-completely-human assistant.

The boy nervously tensed up and shook his head. "Kyoko-san! Please don't look at me like it's my fault!"

Mei shook her head at the two investigators. "D-don't take it the wrong way! But, still, if we could prove that legend is true, it'd be…" the girl brightly smiled at them and chuckled. "It'd be a real boon for my club!"

"U-ugh…" The red-haired teen felt the lump in his stomach return with a greater intensity than before.

"What do you think?" Mei asked. "I know your main work here is hunting down ghosts and spirits, but will you do it for us?"

"Eh!?" Takumi's eyes widened at that.

Kyoko chuckled. "Wait, what? Hunting down ghosts and…" She shook her head. "Where do people even come up with this stuff? Now you've really got me curious…"

"Well, my assistant…" Mei crookedly smiled, "doesn't know a thing about it. Yeah… I don't know where I heard it, either." The brunette began laughing. "Silly me…"

"Don't worry about it," the detective nodded to her. "We'll take up your case. We need a little time to get ready, so could you wait for us elsewhere here in the building?"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Mei excitedly cried as she stood from her seat. "I have other members coming, too, so I'll just wait outside for them."

As soon as their client was gone, Kyoko turned to Takumi with an intrigued smirk on her face. "It looks we've got another weird case on our hands…"

"Looks like it," Takumi chuckled. "I still don't think it's a good idea though…" he admitted to her.

"But a case is a case," she pointed out. "What are you going to do? I'm going to start preparing for our Shibuya Hirasaka experiment."

Takumi brought his hand up to his mouth and closed his eyes. "Gathering information seems like a good place to start," he answered.

Kyoko nodded as he finally grasped the basics of their work. "Then why don't you go talk with the other club members and learn more about the legend? They should all be inside the building here. Talk with them and see what you can find."

"I'm on it," her assistant nodded.

Mei smiled when she saw Takumi coming out of the agency. "Ah! Aiba-san! Are you both ready to start?"

The redhead kindly smiled at her but shook his head as he walked towards her. "Sorry, Mei-san. Kyoko-san is still getting things setup but I do have a question for you. You said something about the 'Hirasaka Song' before. What is that exactly?"

"Have you ever heard the lyrics to the Hirasaka Song?" she asked the boy, resulting in him promptly shaking his head. "It goes like this… 'To hear of it a curse~ To see it even worse~ The depths of Shibuya~ It's where we all must cross~ When you feel alone, down you must go~ When you feel low, down you must go~ At the bottom lies, a secret, hidden world~ But woe to thee who finds the entrance there~ For if you make it, you only meet despair~ You only meet despair'…"

Takumi's blue eyes widened as he remembered hearing the last part of that song somewhere before. As he recalled, he almost died after hearing them. "Are those really the lyrics?" he asked the girl.

Mei nodded. "You have to sing that while heading towards the center of the Shibuya Scramble Crossing for the legend of Shibuya Hirasaka to work."

"I see…" the boy crossed his arms as he took a moment to seriously ponder the song and its meaning.

"By the way," the club president blinked, "the others seem to be a little late. Can I ask you to find them? I don't think they know where the agency is…"

"Sure, that's fine," Takumi nodded as he started down the hall.

Takumi spotted a boy wearing an Inoden uniform standing by the escalator leading to the third floor. "Excuse me. Are you a part of the Inoden Occult Research Club?"

"Ah, you must be a part of the Kuremi Detective Agency," the teen smiled at the redhead.

"That's right. I'm Aiba Takumi," the Cyber Sleuth quickly introduced himself.

"I'm the Vice President of the club. Call me Kenji," the boy smiled.

"Are you looking for the agency? It's just at the end of this hall," Takumi pointed out.

"Oh, I know where it is," Kenji chuckled. "I'm just keeping an out for stragglers in the club. No need to worry about me."

"I see," Takumi smiled. "Ah, but since you're here, can you tell me what you know about the Shibuya Hirasaka legend? Which hills in Shibuya are involved?"

Kenji crossed his arms as he thought about what to say. "Well, Shibuya's filled to the brim with hills no matter where you look. There's Konnosaka, Masaka, Organzaka…" The teen shook his head as there were too many to list. "Really, you could say that Shibuya is like the valley for all of Tokyo, and I don't just mean geographically, either."

"What do you mean?"

"There's just so much information and energy that flows into it from all sides," Kenji explained. "Mei thinks that's why Shibuya is so popular to begin with."

"I see…" Takumi nodded. "So the hills help to channel and lock this flow of information and energy…"

"Yeah, but if you want to know the specific hills involved with the actual urban legend, I suggest you speak with Manaka." Kenji looked towards the entrance and frowned. "She should have arrived by now…"

"Why don't I go look for her upstairs?" Takumi offered. "Thank you for your information, Kenji-san."

Outside the CD shop on the second floor, Takumi blinked at the brunette intently staring at her Digivice. The Cyber Sleuth shook his head before clearing his throat. "Excuse me. Are you Manaka-san? I'm Aiba Takumi from the Kuremi Detective Agency. I have something to ask you, if that's okay."

The girl suddenly looked up from her phone. "Oh! Sorry. What is it?"

"Kenji-san said you could tell me about the hills used in the Shibuya Hirasaka legend."

"Oh, that," Manaka nodded. "There are five specific hills you have to use for Shibuya Hirasaka: Dogenzaka, Bunkamura-dori, Koen-dori, Miyamasu-zaka, and Meiji-dori. If you look at them on a map, they even form a pentagram."

"Really?" Takumi knit his eyebrows together as he recalled the map he imprinted into his memory. There had been nothing about the land's geography that was indicative of a pentagram so he began shaking his head. "Sorry, but I don't really… see it…"

"Wait, what do you mean you don't see it?" Manaka frowned at him.

"I just don't," the detective's assistant chuckled. He quickly shook his head as he didn't want to get into a hopeless argument. "Anyways, thanks for the information. You should hurry to the agency. It's downstairs. Just head straight down the hall once you get out the elevator and you'll see it."

Takumi frowned when he didn't spot anymore teenagers in Broadway wearing Inoden's uniquely colored uniform. "Is that it?" he asked himself as he walked down the stairs connecting the third and fourth floors. He blinked when he saw a girl wearing a maid outfit standing outside the Fantasy Mansion store.

The girl frowned as she looked around in confusion. "Ugh… I'm going to be late if I don't hurry up and find the club."

"Excuse me," Takumi approached her. "Are you a part of the Inoden Occult Research Club?"

"That's right. My name's Lily," the girl blinked at him in surprise. "Ah, you're Aiba Takumi, right? You're Inoden's rumored dropout."

"Dropout?" the redhead knit his eyebrows together. "No… I was supposed to transfer abroad for a few months, but I ended up getting a job as a detective's assistant…" He shook his head. "Anyway, why are you dressed like that?"

"Hmm?" Lily stared at her work uniform. "Why am I wearing this maid outfit? Because I have to get back to work once we're done here. I came here because Mei really needed enough people to help out, but I can't say I'm otherwise super eager about the whole thing. I mean, there was an actual girl who died doing this, you know!" she exclaimed.

"There was!?" Takumi's eyes widened as soon as he heard this.

Lily nodded. "Apparently, she was doing everything you do for Shibuya Hirasaka and got hit by a truck right when she started crossing the street…" She shook her head and let out a frustrated yell. "I just want to hurry up and get this over with so I can leave already!"

"Y-yeah…" the detective's assistant agreed. "In that case, you should head over to the agency. Everyone else should be there already. It's on the first floor. Just take a left once you get off the stairs," he said, pointing to the nearby staircases.

The girl nodded to him in thanks. "Okay then…" she grumbled before leaving.

Takumi didn't follow her quite yet as he brought his hand up to his chin and closed his eyes. "Shibuya, the Scramble Crossing, a truck, and an accident…"

In his mind, he envisioned the pitiful high school girl he met earlier in Shibuya. "But woe to thee who finds the entrance there…" she had said to him. "For if you make it…"

"You only meet despair!" Takumi cried out as he snapped his eyes open. He wore an uncertain frown as he further considered the case. "Don't tell me she's—" He jumped when his Digivice began to ring. "Ah! Kyoko-san!"

"All right," the woman nodded to him. "I've got everything all set up. Get all of the club members together and take them over to Shibuya. I'll be giving commands from here. Meanwhile, I want you to join in and help perform Shibuya Hirasaka as one of the five people."

"Eh!? No, wait!" Takumi protested. "I don't think—" he stopped when Kyoko already cut the call. He sighed and shook his head. "I'd better be careful then…"

Takumi looked around the crowded streets of Shibuya and double-checked that he was on the correct street. "I'm in position, Kyoko-san," he notified the detective through the six-way communication line.

"Good," Kyoko told him as she tracked the students' positions through their Digivices. "Can everyone hear me?" she asked them all. "We're now going to commence verifying the legend of Shibuya Hirasaka. I've hacked into the cameras at the Scramble Crossing. I'll be watching you all from here and giving you commands as necessary. Keep your eyes and ears peeled and be ready for anything."

"Understood," Takumi nodded.

"Now, let's get started," the detective stated.

Mei started forward and began singing the Hirasaka Song. "To hear of it a curse~ To see it even worse~"

Kenji frowned as he made his way through the crowd. "The depths of Shibuya~ It's where we all must cross~"

Kyoko nodded as everything was going well so far. "You're doing great. Keep up that pace. Lily, I need you to speed up a little more."

Lily shook her head as she obeyed. "When you feel alone, down you must go~ When you feel low, down you must go~"

"Good, good," Kyoko smiled. "You're all about to reach the Scramble Crossing. The traffic lights should cooperate, too." She paused for a moment and began typing at her keyboard. "That being said, just in case, I… went in and rigged it to work in our favor, too. So just go ahead and cross."

Takumi gulped as his bad feeling grew even worse, but he continued forward anyways. "At the bottom lies, a secret, hidden world~ But woe to thee who finds the entrance there~" He spotted the other club members approaching the center and the five teenagers finished the song together.

"For if you make it, you only meet despair~ You only meet despair…"

Takumi stopped walking and frowned when he didn't notice anything strange. From his Digivice, he could practically hear Kyoko's curiosity through the line. "Well…" she began. "How'd it go?"

Kenji let out a shaky laugh. "W-we did it," he stated. "We all made it here at the… same time…"

"Yeah," Lily shrugged. "I guess we did, huh?"

"Yep," Manaka smiled, "without a doubt."

Takumi paused as he finally sensed something wrong. He quickly looked around the Scramble Crossing and his eyes widened. "What!?"

Mei brought her hands up to her mouth in surprise. "What the!?"

"There's nobody here!" Lily gasped. "Where did everybody go!?"

"You're right!" Kenji nervously looked around. "There aren't any cars around, either!"

Manaka frowned as she tried to connect to Kyoko. "Looks like we've lost contact, too…"

"Hello?" Mei frowned as she spoke into her Digivice. "Detective, are you there? Hello?" She shook her head and sighed. "It's not going through. I can't reach her."

Kenji worriedly crossed his arms. "Did we actually succeed? Now I'm not so sure…"

"I knew it…" Lily sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have tagged along for this thing."

"I don't like this. It's giving me the creeps," Manaka shivered. "Since when is Shibuya ever this quiet?" She blinked when she spotted something in the distance. "Wait, what's… what's that!?

"I'll go check it out!" Takumi volunteered as he saw the strange figure staring at them too. As he got closer, his eyes widened when he noticed it was the same girl from before.

"Why doesn't anyone pay attention to me?" she pitifully asked. "Or maybe… they actually do notice me."

"Of course we do!" the redhead tried calling out, but frowned when she vanished as soon as he reached her side. "Where did you go?" he asked aloud as he began searching again. He spotted her standing a bit closer to the others and rushed over.

"I can't live here anymore," the girl frowned. "I can't live and be here anymore."

"Wait!" Takumi reached his hand out to her only to have her disappear again. "So close…" He turned around and scanned the empty Scramble Crossing and saw the girl standing right by the group. Seeing her there though sent a chill through the Cyber Sleuth. "Everyone, behind you!" he cried out as he returned to them.

"So I'll…" the girl wore a dangerous smile.

Mei turned around and gasped. "Whoa, who are you!? How long have you been here!?" she asked the strange girl wearing their uniform.

"I'll die and remain here," the pitiful high school girl stated. "Here at the bottom of Shibuya, in the Other World."

Kenji jumped a little when she faded away. "Sh-she vanished…?"

Manaka screamed as the girl appeared directly behind her. Lily also shrieked when another girl identical to the ghostly figure stood at her side.

Mei looked around as a third copy materialized. "What's going on!? What's going on here!?"

Kenji quickly whirled around at the fourth apparition's presence. "Where did you come from!?"

All four girls cackled at once before disappearing. Takumi scanned the Scramble Crossing as he felt as though something was about to happen. "But what…?"

"Wh-what am I seeing?" Mei shook her head.

"Calm down," Takumi muttered, mostly to himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Focus…!"

His eyes snapped open when he heard a familiar voice calling to him. "Hey! What's going… on!? Come… in!" The voice was riddled with static, but Takumi could recognize it from anywhere.

"Kyoko-san…!" His blue eyes widened as his muddled senses began to clear up.

"Takumi!" the detective's urgent voice called out to him again.

"Kyoko-san!" Takumi had never heard her sound so panicked before, but he immediately understood what it was she was trying to convey to him. "Look out!" he called out to the club as he tackled into them.

Mei let out a scream as a truck suddenly came out of nowhere. The vehicle violently swerved away from them, just narrowly missing the teens.

Takumi heavily panted as he stared at the near accident but he quickly forced himself to recover before looking at the group of Inoden students. "Is anyone hurt?"

Kenji shook his head. "That was… that was a close one. If we didn't hear your voice just now, that truck would have…" he stopped speaking then, not wanting to finish that thought.

"Are you all right?" Kyoko asked them, finally able to reach them. "What happened? Fill me in."

"Right away, Kyoko-san," Takumi nodded as he began his explanation. He turned his back on the rest of the club as they slowly recovered from the ordeal.

Mei shook her head as the usual buzz of Shibuya gradually grew louder. "What was all that…?" she asked, looking around them. "And now everything's going back to normal…"

Manaka frowned at the unsettling experience. "Wh-what's happening here?"

"And that should conclude my report," Takumi finished up. He sighed at the results. "I knew we shouldn't have taken this case…"

"We owe Detective Matayoshi a lot for helping out again," Kyoko sternly stated, glad the teenagers managed to make it back to her agency in one piece. "Not only did he restore calm, but he also took the truck driver in for questioning. Apparently, that driver didn't see any of you until right before you all were nearly hit. But here's where it gets strange," she frowned. "The crowd in the intersection saw you all the whole time, but nobody responded to their warnings. It's like you guys couldn't see or hear anything that was going on around you."

Mei nodded. "Actually, yeah, that's how it was…" Mei nodded.

"It's just like I told you before, Kyoko-san," Takumi stated, bringing his hand up to this chin. "The Scramble Crossing was completely void of people from where we were standing."

"We didn't know there were still other people around until your assistant spoke up…" the president nodded with a frown.

Kyoko slid a photo across the coffee table towards Mei. "And would this girl happen to be that high school student you saw there?"

Lily gasped at the sight of it. "It is! That's her!"

"Y-yeah, definitely!" Mei nodded in agreement. "She's the one for sure!"

"I see…" Kyoko mused. "Well, that settles it."

"What do you mean?" Manaka blinked at her. "Who is she?"

"She was a high school girl who was killed three months ago in an accident at the Scramble Crossing."

"She… died in an accident?" Kenji asked in disbelief. "For real?"

"Yep," Kyoko nodded. "She was even hit by a truck."

"But," Manaka shook her head, "that doesn't make any sense! We saw her with our own eyes, right in front of us!"

"She came back to life," Lily stated.

"Huh?" Mei looked at the club member in surprise.

"Don't you remember?" the student dressed as a maid reminded the club president. "That's how the legend of Shibuya Hirasaka goes!"

"Hmph," Kyoko crossed her arms. "So what you five saw back there was the dead brought back to life, then."

Mei brought her hands up to her mouth in disbelief. "I don't even…"

"I did a little research," the detective continued. "Shibuya today is a valley that was cut off from Shibuya River, which itself now runs under the Scramble Crossing. Rivers are a common border in myths and religions between this world and the next. There's the Sanzu River in Japan, the River Styx in Greece…"

"Gjöll in Norse mythology?" Takumi added.

Kyoko smirked at him and nodded. "I'd say you guys got caught up in one such place today. There are a lot of names you can call it, but the end result remains the same." She shook her head as it was about time to wrap things up. "Anyway, this case is closed. We set out to prove Shibuya Hirasaka is real and we did."

"Really?" Mei blinked at her in confusion. "You're just going to—"

"Leave that girl alone?" Kyoko finished for her with a raised eyebrow. "Is that what you want to ask?" The detective chuckled as she smiled at the perplexed teen. "Hm, you may be confused about our role. Don't forget. We're not 'ghost hunters', and we're not 'exorcists'. That's not what we do."

"Oh, thank God," Takumi let out a shaky but relieved chuckle.

"We're 'cyber sleuths'," Kyoko stated with a nod as she eyed her ever precious assistant. "No more and no less. I would appreciate it if you remember that from now on." Mei fell silent as she took in her words. Kyoko gave the four teens a smile. "Stay safe on your way home. Don't get into any accidents for real now." Takumi politely let the Inoden students out and closed the door behind them. When they were finally alone in the office, Kyoko crossed her arms and flashed the boy a smirk. "Whew, well, that case is over and done with for now, although I know you didn't get a chance to really use your powers. But I figure if you had used them in front of those kids, that would have just spawned another urban legend," she chuckled.

The redhead let out a heavy sigh. "It looks like people are mistaking my Connect Jumps for supernatural phenomena though… We'll probably be getting even weirder cases later on." He shook his head before he remembered something. "Oh, yeah… thanks for today, Kyoko-san. You saved me yet again," he gratefully smiled at her.

"Oh?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow at him. "You're thanking me even though I was the one who put you in such a dangerous situation? You already pieced together who that girl was before me, didn't you?"

Takumi chuckled at that. "Ah… so you knew?" He shrugged it off as he prepared to write out the full report for the case. "I figured it out a little bit after you sent us to Shibuya. I had a feeling she was a spirit with unresolved business," he lightly laughed.

The detective shook her head at him. "So you went along with it because you wished to help her. What made you think you could attempt to do something so ridiculous as to appease a ghost?"

"I just thought she was lonely and that maybe I could have done something to ease her spirit," the boy replied as he knit his eyebrows together. "I didn't know she wanted to take my life," he frowned. He shook his head before looking up at his boss. "But even so, I knew that if anything happened I could trust you to get us out of a bind. And you did!"

Kyoko chuckled as this was the first time her assistant managed to soundly defeat her with his unusual logic. "I suppose I will let you have this one. You have the results to show for it after all."

Takumi laughed at that. "Thanks, Kyoko-san," he nodded. He paused though before frowning to himself. "Still… I really do wish I could have helped that girl's spirit… Even if she did try to kill me twice… she must be painfully lonely…" The boy felt a shiver run down his spine as a girl's voice whispered in his ear.

"If I kill everyone, that'll make me lucky!" Her smiling face appeared in Takumi's mind. "And if everyone dies, that'll make me happy!"

Takumi flinched as his body tingled from the wave of static washing over him. He heard a car screeching on the road before it came to a crash as the girl cackled.

"Takumi…!" Kyoko watched as the boy snapped his head up to her in surprise.

"Ah… Did you say something, Kyoko-san?" Takumi crookedly smirked.

The detective crossed her arms and frowned at him. "It's exactly that type of soft-heartedness that will get you into trouble." After a while, Kyoko eased her gaze and gave him a kind smile. "Don't take your own life too lightly. There's no one in this world who can replace you as my assistant, after all, my dear Watson."

The red-haired boy smiled at that. "I understand, Kyoko-san."

"It's great to see you pulled through with this case," Kyoko nodded as her smile turned into a proud smirk. "Keep up the good work going forward."

~NIGHTMARE~EATER~

"I'm home," Takumi smiled as he returned from his latest trip to EDEN.

"Welcome home," Kyoko nodded, not taking her eyes off her screen for a moment.

The detective's assistant grabbed his laptop and began typing out his report. "This makes it my twenty-third property retrieval case," he thought aloud. "They're not very interesting…"

"As I've told you before, tracking down lost objects is among the most basic skills any good detective has," the detective responded as she noticed something strange on her monitor, "So make sure you always stay on top of those cases."

"I understand that, but I never see you take them, Kyoko-san," Takumi pointed out. "On that note…" he frowned as he realized something, "I don't think I've ever seen you log into EDEN either."

"I often don't get the chance to," the blonde woman merely stated as she began remotely hacking into the security system she was looking into.

"No, I don't think so," Takumi dubiously crossed his arms. "There's more to it, isn't it? Are you perhaps banned from EDEN? Or maybe you're afraid of contracting EDEN Syndrome…?" he theorized with a sad frown. He quickly shook his head to rid himself of such negative thoughts. "Or maybe you really do just love making me do all the legwork?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Oh? Those are a few good guesses, my dear Watson," Kyoko smirked, impressed by his rapidly growing observation and deduction skills, "but unless you have a sound argument or evidence to support such hypotheses, I suppose you'll have to leave them at that."

"Okay, but was I close with one of those guesses?" Takumi asked with a hopeful grin on his face.

"Not at all," the detective chuckled.

"Eh…? It must be something extremely complicated then…" the young Cyber Sleuth mused. He shrugged it off as he figured he didn't have enough information to work it out quite yet. "A mystery for another time, I suppose." Takumi spent a few minutes typing his report before stopping again. "Wait… Have you actually ever been in EDEN before, Kyoko-san?"

"Perhaps," the woman vaguely answered.

"I'll take that as a no then," the boy shook his head. "Aren't you curious to know what it's like though? Even I was surprised by my first time in EDEN."

Kyoko shook her head and sighed as it didn't seem as though her assistant would be dropping this topic anytime soon. "I've heard that the view from the entrance is impressive," she shrugged. "Go see it and tell me what you think."

"I had meant for you to check it out for yourself…" Takumi crookedly smiled.

"You're the one who insisted in pursuing this line of thought. Consider it a case from me," Kyoko nodded to him. "I expect a fully detailed report."

"Somehow this seems more like punishment than a case…" the boy crookedly grinned, but he didn't dare argue with her. "Well… I brought this on myself, I suppose… Alright then. I'm going."

Takumi let out a satisfied sigh as he finished his detailed report on EDEN's entrance pavilion. He got up from the bench he was sitting at but paused when he noticed a young girl whining to her mother about something. "But Mooom, I swear!" she cried as she pointed at the area behind her. "There's something there! I just felt it!"

The woman shook her head as there was nothing there. "Sweetie, look behind you and check for yourself." The girl reluctantly turned and frowned at the empty space. "See? Nothing there. Now don't worry about it."

Takumi stared at the distortion the girl pointed out to him and tilted his head to the side curiously. Thinking it could lead to something dangerous, the teen approached the distortion and studied it intently. He paused as his Digivice rang, notifying him of a new message. Takumi quickly pulled it up with a confused frown on his face. "There's an anonymous post on my DigiLine," he said aloud to himself. "Huh?" he blinked at the strange message.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME"

"What is this?" the redhead asked as he returned a message of his own to the mysterious sender. He remained still for a moment before shaking his head. "No reply…" He looked up back towards the distortion but quickly picked up his phone, sensing a call from his boss. "Ah… I just finished the report you asked for. Is something up, Kyoko-san?"

"Yo," Kyoko curtly greeted him with a nod, "we got another case from the occult club. This one looks personal, though…"

"I see…" the teen shivered. "It's not anything weird this time, is it?"

"I think those guys might have taken a, uh, liking to us, given that we deal in the strange and unusual in our line of work," Kyoko stated as she brought her hand up to her mouth. "And in doing so, they're inviting yet more strange unusual things into our lives. Starting with themselves, really," she chuckled.

"But a client is a client," Takumi stated with a nod. "Alright, I'm coming back now."

Client: Occult Research Club's Manaka

Place: EDEN

Details: My DigiLine is weird… It keeps transmitting without me doing anything. Please find the cause!

Takumi looked up from his note and studied the brunette sitting on the client's sofa. The case seemed normal this time, but still, it was best for him to keep his guard up. He patiently watched as Kyoko nodded to the high school girl. "Hey, nice to see you again, Manaka," the detective smiled. "What brings you here by yourself?"

"Uh, well, I…" Manaka frowned, "think I might be caught up in a cybercrime."

"Cybercrime?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you go to the police?"

"I can't, really…" the girl hesitantly said. "There are some supernatural elements involved, I think…"

"I understand," Kyoko nodded with a smirk. "You made the right choice coming to us. All right, give us the details."

"Okay," Manaka gratefully nodded. "Take a look at this," she handed over her Digivice. "It's my log on DigiLine."

Kyoko pensively scrolled through it as Takumi curiously peered over her shoulder. "All right," the detective began. "Let's see what you've got…"

Manaka: *sigh* Should I go to my club tomorrow?

Manaka: They claim they do research, but… all they really do is hang out and talk. It's only a club because everyone has similar interests…

Manaka: I should probably enroll in something a little more serious and go to that, too…

Manaka: And I could really use a hot, manly boyfriend, too! Oh my gosh, did I just write that!?

"Huh?" Kyoko frowned. "What's so special about this?"

"These just look like the normal thoughts of a normal high school student," Takumi nodded in agreement.

Manaka shook her head at them. "Keep going. You'll understand why…"

"Eh? Why? Does it get strange?" the redhead blinked as he continued.

Manaka: Could Kenji have a crush on Mei?

Manaka: lolololol, no way! She has a one track mind! She can't think of anything else but occult stuff!

Manaka: …does that guy even have his eyes on straight?

Manaka: He's such an ass. He has a real hottie right in front of him and can't take his eyes off Mei for even a second to notice it!

Manaka: Maybeeeeee I should seduce him, ehehehe.

Manaka: I mean… I've got the goods. I'd give him a peek aaaaanytime…

"Eh…?" Takumi awkwardly looked away from the Digivice. "Do all high school girls think this way…?"

"Hmm…" Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth as she continued staring at the Digivice. "How do I put this? Your posts aren't… pulling any punches here." Manaka lowered her gaze and frowned at the coffee table. She remained silent as the detective continued. "Putting my personal opinion aside, I otherwise don't see anything wrong with them. They look normal to me."

"Uh, the thing is…" Manaka shook her head, "I didn't write that stuff."

"What!?" Kyoko blinked at her in surprise.

"They just randomly showed up," the girl explained, "but they freaked me out so badly that I deleted them."

The blonde woman nodded in understanding. "Ah, I hear you. Then doesn't that mean your account was probably just hacked? Some two-bit hacker probably did it to screw with you, or maybe your computer was infected with—"

"No, it isn't anything like that," Manaka shook her head.

"Hmm…" Kyoko took a moment to think the case over. "Then I take it that this is where that 'supernatural' part you mentioned factors into these posts?"

"Yeah…" Manaka sighed. "I wasn't the one who wrote those posts and put them online, but… they are how I feel. What you see written there, that's… stuff that I think about, but don't express… out loud."

"Okay, I get you," Kyoko nodded. "It's stuff that's hard to share with any of the other club members, basically."

"Those are… your actual thoughts…?" Takumi blinked. "Your deepest, darkest, most private of internal secrets…?"

"R-right…" the girl hesitantly nodded.

"Hmm…" Kyoko smirked as she absently fiddled with the Digivice. "Seeing as you're in an occult club, I'm sure you know about Ouija boards and whatnot, right?" Both teens blinked at her in surprise. "Your hands move against your will, sending you messages from the spirit world… Something like that could very possibly be happening to you. Looking at the post times on your log, those messages went out in the dead of night. You should have long been sound asleep by that point."

"Okay…" Manaka frowned. "Then what?"

"In the late 1800s, there was an academic by the name of Inoue Enryo who posited these sorts of things can come from having multiple 'selves'," Kyoko stated with a small smile.

"Inoue Enryo?" Manaka smiled as she recognized that name. "You mean the man who came up with 'mystery studies', right? I've shown off his work at the club bef—" she gasped as she realized something. "Hold on, are you saying I have a split personality!?"

"The politically correct term for that would be 'dissociative identity disorder', actually," Kyoko corrected her.

"I guess… I guess it makes sense," Manaka nodded. "If I'm writing those posts at night without realizing it, that would explain it, but… but…!" She shook her head and seriously considered the possibility. "Hmm… M-maybe it really is that… I've honestly been worried that it might be deep down…"

"So you're suffering from a mental disorder?" Takumi asked with a dubious frown.

"No…" Kyoko shook her head as she brought her hand up to her mouth. "That's not it."

"Huh?" Manaka blinked at the detective in confusion.

"This isn't because of some mental issue…" Kyoko seriously stated. "Here, take a look at this." She returned the girl's Digivice and Takumi managed to get a glimpse at the message on the screen.

"JUST TRY AND FIND ME!"

"Eh…?" Takuim blinked. "That address and font…" He quickly pulled up the message he received in EDEN and compared the two. "They're… a match…"

Kyoko's eyes darted toward her assistant in interest, but continued addressing their client. "This was just now posted onto your account. It's a reply to what I wrote on your DigiLine."

Manaka scrolled up to see what it was the detective posted.

Manaka: To the culprit: I'm a detective who's taken up Manaka's case.

Manaka: Know that we will track you down and uncover your identity, no matter who or where you are. You can't hide forever.

Manaka: You've been warned.

"Well…" the brunette blinked at the message.

Kyoko crossed her arms as a smug smirk appeared on her face. "This conversation unfolded online as you and I were talking, while you weren't touching any terminals. That means you're not the one behind those posts, let alone any mental disorder of yours. The real culprit is out there somewhere. Whoever's behind it is just a dumb troll, albeit an arrogant one at that. To quote Inoue Enryo's work again, what we've got is a case of a 'fake wonder', or someone trying to make this look more mystical than it really is."

"In other words," Takumi smirked, "this is plain old hacking."

The detective nodded to him before turning her head to study Manaka. "You said that the contents of these posts are based on actual facts about yourself, yes?"

"Well, I don't know about facts, so much as…" Manaka frowned, "just how I think and feel, really…"

"Were you logged into EDEN before you fell asleep?"

"Y-yes," the girl nodded. "I do that every night."

"Gotcha," Kyoko nodded as she brought her hand up to her mouth. "Then the way I see it, I bet the culprit's been snooping around and hacked into your memory data in EDEN."

"You can do that sort of thing in EDEN!?" Manaka asked in surprise.

"Well, not literally," Kyoko shook her head, looking over towards Takumi. "At least not when you're lone-wolfing it like your hacker here. Still, avatars in EDEN are essentially digitized versions of people's 'mental data', so to speak, and so memory data hacks are theoretically doable. Things take a bit of a different turn once the so-called 'supernatural' enters the equation."

"Okay, but this case isn't 'supernatural'," Takumi shook his head. "And as far as mental data goes, that's a bit too complicated for any ordinary hacker. It would have to take someone with a good understanding of the EDEN Network's inner workings and even then, accessing and altering a person's mental data is near impossible with all of its associated risks. The only thing we've encountered so far that can do that is an Ea—" he stopped speaking then as he remembered they had a client in the room.

"Huh?" Manaka blinked at the boy in confusion.

"Don't sweat it," Kyoko kindly smiled at the girl. "For now, just log into EDEN tonight like you normally would. I'll have my assistant waiting for you in the lobby."

Takumi seriously nodded. "Just leave it to me, Kyoko-san."

Manaka looked between the detective and her assistant. "All right… But what do you actually plan on doing?" she curiously asked.

"Oh, let's just say we're going 'fox hunting'," Kyoko said with a smirk. "And our decoy will be… Our little maiden's deep, dark secrets," she chuckled.

"I'm here," Takumi notified the detective as he looked around the empty EDEN entrance.

"Looks like Manaka still isn't here yet," Kyoko noticed. "Here's hoping this isn't a sign of what's to come…"

"What do you mean?" Takumi asked, placing his hands on his hips. "Do you really think an Eater is involved?"

"Hmm? Oh, I had Manaka lay down our decoy," she cleared things up for him. "If the culprit's the type of person I suspect they are, they'll definitely go for it. That means it's a pretty safe guess to say that they're going to log into EDEN tonight." Kyoko chuckled as she anticipated the results. "Once they're in position, it's just a matter of apprehending them… But that shouldn't be a problem, either. That's because Pete's going to be working with us."

"Pete…?" Takumi knit his eyebrows together in confusion. He blinked as someone else connected into their call.

"How's it goin'?" the Wanyamon from the tube computer greeted Takumi.

"Ah…!" the redhead's blue eyes widened. "It's you…!"

"Long time no see!" Pete nodded. "Thanks again for what you did back there with the AC stuff!"

"No problem…" Takumi sheepishly smiled. "Ah… so cute…" He blinked after a while though. "But… uh… what are you doing here?"

"I had Pete here take a look at those posts the hacker wrote so he could learn their 'scent'," Kyoko explained.

"Yep!" Pete nodded. "Turns out those messages had traces of a Digimon on them. Can't fool me!"

"A Digimon? Not an Eater?" Takumi relaxed a bit at that. "That's… good…"

Pete flashed the Cyber Sleuth a smile. "I'll let you know when the bad guy's close by. You can count on me and my nose!"

"But of course," Kyoko smirked. "That's why I brought you onboard."

"This is so cool working with a real live detective!" the Wanyamon chuckled. "I feel like a real Boy Wonder here!"

"Boy Wonder…?" Takumi tilted his head to the side.

"Eh?" Pete blinked at him. "You don't know who the Boy Wonder is? Really?"

"Hey," a voice from behind Takumi called out. "I'm here." The detective turned his head and noticed it was Manaka. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Ah, Manaka-san," Takumi nodded to her. "Kyoko-san said she asked you to do something?"

The girl nodded to him. "I did just like she asked and posted the message on my DigiLine, but…" She curiously frowned at Takumi. "Am I really going to be okay doing that?"

"Huh?" Takumi returned his attention to his call. "What did you need done, Kyoko-san?"

The woman chuckled at him. "You're curious what she wrote, aren't you? It's fine. I'll tell you… She confessed her love to the hacker and also mentioned that she really wanted to meet him."

"Eh!?" the blue-eyed boy blinked at the detective. "Will that really work?"

"It's a real blatant ploy on our part," Kyoko smirked, "but again, this guy thinks his hacking skills are hot stuff. He's going to want to verify Manaka's claims, preferably by checking her memories directly. Hacking memory data takes some work, though, even to just take a look inside it. It'll require actually directly reaching out and making contact with her avatar. That's the only way he could have done this," Kyoko nodded and crossed her arms. "He had to have been touching her somehow in order to do the attacks. What's more, messing around with someone's mental data would take going into the core of EDEN itself."

"Like I thought," Takumi frowned. "But even for a skilled hacker, that'll still take some time, right?"

"The security there is supposed to be tight as can be," the detective nodded. "It'd take real effort to break in. The hacker behind Manaka's messages would have therefore had to be touching her for at least several minutes before leaving his handiwork."

Pete jumped up in alarm. "I smell him!" he cried. "He's close by!"

"Good," Kyoko chuckled. "It's time to go hunting! Go investigate the surrounding area and get this person out of his foxhole!"

"I'm on it!" Takumi nodded. He looked over towards Manaka and flashed her a reassuring smile. "Just sit tight, Manaka-san. This'll be over soon."

"I don't really understand what's going on…" Manaka shook her head as she looked around the empty area. "Is the culprit really somewhere nearby?"

Takumi shrugged as he and Pete began their search. "Even if the hacker is hidden, we'll definitely find them! Let's go, Pete!"

"What…?" Pete frantically shook his head. "I don't smell anything anymore! This is bad! If we don't pick it up soon, we'll lose him!"

Takumi looked around but didn't notice anything. He quickly turned towards the stairs and started running up them. "Did they go up…?"

"I smell him!" Pete nodded. "We're getting close!"

The Cyber Sleuth reached the pavilion and spotted a distortion. "Is that it?" he asked as he approached it slowly.

"There!" Pete smirked. "Right in front of you! Hurry up and do a scan!"

"Right!" Takumi held out his right arm.

"Yes!" the Digimon cheered. "We've got you now, buster! You're not going anywhere!"

"Ugh, for real!?" a boy shook his head as he suddenly appeared before the detective's assistant. "How'd you find me!?"

"I knew it," Kyoko smirked. "The culprit's a little kid."

"Don't call me a little kid," the boy frowned. "That's rude!" He glared at Takumi before taking a step away from him in surprise. "Hey… wait a minute! You're the one who spotted me here before, aren't you!?"

"So you really did leave the message on my DigiLine," Takumi stated, placing his hands on his hip.

"Crap, how'd you notice me!?" the precocious child asked. "You're not supposed to be able to see me at all!"

"Oh?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow at her assistant. "So that's what's happened, huh?" She chuckled to herself. "My little assistant is so sensitive to Digital Waves and special networks… The culprit didn't stand a chance of hiding forever!"

"What can I say?" Takumi sheepishly shrugged. "I'm a Cyber Sleuth. It comes with the job."

"But enough of that," Kyoko crossed her arms. "We've got questions for you," she told the younger boy.

"Does that make you a detective, too?" the boy stared at Kyoko's display. "Whoa! You're so hot!"

"Yeah, whatever," Kyoko dismissively stated. "Just answer my questions already. Who are you and how did you achieve such a complicated—"

"I'm… what you'd call a genius 'architect'," the boy interrupted her with a smile. "I'm not some lowly hacker or programmer. Do you know about the Baku Reborn Service? It's a special service here on EDEN."

"What does it do?" Takumi asked.

"In cases like where a user either permanently leaves EDEN or they die, the Baku Reborn Service gathers all of that user's data and deletes it," the boy explained before putting on a smug smirk. "And I'm the one who runs it."

"Eh!?" the redhead blinked at the child.

"You don't have to act so surprised," the boy chucked. "Kids are just more attuned to the digital world than adults. I just studied on my own and joined groups that I could trade info with and soon enough, I started working in corporate R&D."

"I see," Takumi nodded.

"Oh, but the reason I'm considered a genius isn't just because I run that service," the boy continued. "I'm also the one who designed it. Actually, what I said about Baku gathering and deleting abandoned user data isn't entirely accurate. It actually does more… Not only does it gather and accumulate data pertaining to a given account, it also organizes it, almost like it has a mind of its own. To be honest, even I'm surprised by that. I never expected it to act so precisely and deliberately."

Takumi crossed his arms at how sentient the program was beginning to sound. "Sounds a bit like a Digimon…" he muttered.

"It's a real case of the creation surpassing the creator," the boy chuckled, not hearing what Takumi had said. "But that's how it should be with these sorts of things, no?"

"I follow you…" Kyoko nodded. "Baku Reborn Service… Tell me, does the name 'Baku' refer to the mythological creature that consumes nightmares?"

"Yep, you've got it!" he nodded. "I named it that because data we don't want to show online is very much its own sort of nightmare."

"And by using that baku on yourself, you could…" Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth and nodded in understanding. "All right, I'm onto what you did now."

"Eh?" Takumi quickly picked up on what she was thinking. "A makeshift invisibility program…?"

"You handed your avatar's surface level appearance over to your baku and let it consume it," Kyoko nodded. "That way, nobody around you would be able to know that you were lurking. But you didn't let it purge that data outright… You controlled it yourself, making it hand it back, like a dog returning prey to a hunter."

"Wow, you figured it all out!" the boy nodded. "Yep, you got me! That's amazing, though. I love it when I actually meet a smart adult."

Takumi frowned at the boy. "At least now we know your trick."

"I'm guessing you basically used that same trick to draw out Manaka's mental data, then?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah, I copied it, but I only did that with her short-term memory," the boy nodded. "The stuff you'd find around a person's hippocampus inside a real brain. Even something as advanced as Baku can't break into a person's memory within active mental data. That would definitely be crossing the line and I understand why that's bad," the boy frowned. "I'll hand over what I copied to your partner, given the apparent interest it's sparked."

Takumi studied the files he just received. "Alright, I'm sending it to you now, Kyoko-san. It's actually pretty interesting…"

"It… really is a like a baku, isn't it?" the boy asked.

Kyoko nodded in agreement. "I think I more or less have a grasp of the current situation now. 'I Am That I Am Not'…" she crossed her arms and smirked. "I think that might be the best way to describe what your partner is to this world, if you catch my drift."

The boy chuckled at that. "You know, I was thinking the same thing. Genius or not, even I can't purposefully go out and architect life itself. That thing was… probably 'born' as such by pure chance. I have no idea how it'll end up growing moving forward. Certainly at the very least," he sighed, "I have a feeling I'll lose control of it eventually…"

"You really are smart," Kyoko smirked at him. "I don't just mean you know a lot, either. There's a sharpness to your words that I admire. Can I trust you to let me deal with the baku?"

The boy sadly frowned. "Do you plan on… disposing of it?"

"We'll see…" Kyoko answered. "It depends on how things go."

Takumi nodded in agreement. "It's hard to say right now, but I'm sure there's a way for me to salvage it. I am a Cyber Sleuth after all."

"Okay…" the boy nodded to the older teen. "I trust your judgment. You'll find it uploaded onto a site. The password lock for it is lifted. The rest… I'll leave up to you."

"Alright," Takumi stated. He paused though as he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he noticed Manaka was coming towards them.

She blinked at the small boy. "Who, this little kid… He's the culprit!?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I'd have never guessed it would be someone so young!"

"What!?" the boy tensed up when he saw her. "I, uh… Well, you see…"

"Oh, yeah… You never explained your motive for why you targeted Manaka-san," Takumi realized.

"Huh?" the boy frowned at him. "Why did I do what I did with her account?" He shook his head and made a fist. "Who… who cares at this stage!? I won't do it again and I promise to even apologize for it later! I'll even give her some consolation money, so just leave me alone!"

Manaka studied the boy's face before smiling at him. "You know, I just remembered… We've met here in EDEN before, haven't we? We talked for a little bit while I was waiting to meet up with a friend. Right?" she asked, placing her hands at her hips. "So why did you do all of that mean stuff? You're so smart that you shouldn't be out committing crimes."

"Eh… Um…" the boy nervously looked away from the older girl.

"Yeah?" Manaka pressed him.

"Yeah, you're right…" the boy hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry…"

"That's what I was hoping to hear!" Manaka nodded. "See, you're a good kid at heart!"

The boy scratched his head and sheepishly chuckled. Takumi tilted his head to the side and frowned. "Is something the matter?" the redhead asked.

"What are you staring at!?" the boy glared at him. "I did it, all right!? I apologized!"

"Yeah, but…" Takumi frowned. "You still look like you're guilty of something…"

"Let's… call it good at that, shall we?" Kyoko chuckled. "You still have work to do," she reminded her assistant. "I'm sending you the URL of the Baku Reborn Service now. We're going to resume our hunt now… only our goal here is to capture, rather than kill our target."

"Understood," Takumi nodded to her.

"Manaka," Kyoko looked over towards their client, "I want you to go back. It's too dangerous for you to stick around. My assistant will take care of everything from here."

Manaka looked between the detective and the assistant. "All right… I'm counting on you."

Pete gave Takumi a worried smile. "We don't know how our prey is going to react once we get there, so you'd better be prepared for anything before we go!"

"It's up to you what happens to Baku now…" the boy smiled at Takumi.

"It's going to be okay," Takumi nodded. "Well, I'm off!"

Manaka waved to him. "Stay safe! I'm going back to your office in the meantime."

"Kyoko-san, I see a Digimon ahead," Takumi stated with a nod as his Digivice scanned the Clockmon.

"There it is," the detective crossed her arms, "our one and only Baku. From the look of it, that kid's program has merged with a wild Digimon."

"Kioku, kuu—kuwaseru—kioku," the Digimon growled in the garbled language Takumi heard before. "Taberu—kioku—omae—kioku—kuwaseru…"

"Kyoko-san…" Takumi's blue eyes widened. "It wants to eat… my memories…"

Kyoko blinked at the boy, surprised he managed to understand the Digimon's strange gibberish, but she quickly shook her head at her assistant. "It's no use trying to reason with it here. The program's erased whatever traces were left of that Digimon's own sentience.

"W-what…?" Takumi frowned at that. "Is there a way for me to repair it? Digimon are data, right? I should be able to—"

The detective shook her head at him. "Digimon are easily susceptible to influence from man-made programs… It's one of the reasons why some don't consider them to be autonomous beings with their own sense of will."

"But even if people think that way, it doesn't make them any less sympathetic," Takumi adamantly stated. "Kyoko-san, isn't there any way we can save—?" He quickly jumped back as the Digimon slammed its hammer down towards him.

"There's no getting around this one…" Kyoko sternly told the soft-hearted teen. "You're just going to knock some sense into it."

"B-but—"

"Now is not the time for you to be indecisive," the woman scolded him. "I told you before to not take your own life so lightly. Now, it's either that Digimon or you. I suggest you be quick with your decision."

Takumi clenched his teeth together as it wasn't a fair choice. He quickly called out his team as the Clockmon came for him again. Guardromon quickly brought his arms up defensively to catch the hammer as it came down.

The Clockmon let out a roar as the hands on its clock face began spinning. "Chrono Breaker!" Guardromon winced as his movements came to a standstill. He had been in the middle of taking aim at the Digimon, but now it appears as though he was frozen in time. The Clockmon took advantage of the robotic Digimon's openings and knocked the Virus Digimon out of the way. "Chrono Breaker!" Clockmon roared again, targeting Growmon and Garurumon (Black) next.

Takumi shook his head as both Virus Digimon slowed down. "Hurry and get back!" he ended up calling before reaching into his pack for something to help his team. He finally applied a Speed Booster on his team right as Clockmon tried to haphazardly attack Garurumon (Black).

"Wolf Cry!" the wolf howled in an attempt to stun their opponent.

"Howling!" Growmon joined in.

Takumi helped push Guardromon up to his feet as he decided to quickly end the battle before it got out of hand. "Xros Combo!"

"Exhaust Flame!"

"Foxfire!"

"Destruction Grenade!"

An explosion erupted around the Clockmon and Takumi hurried straight towards the Digimon to finish his scan. He sighed in relief as his team didn't directly attack the fallen Digimon.

"Okay, now that that's over," Kyoko nodded, "Download the data and collect what's left of Baku." She paused as her assistant was already doing that. In fact, judging from the data Takumi was sending to the office, it looked like he was hard at work trying to separate the Clockmon from the Baku program. She smirked as his soft-heartedness knew no limits. "Once you're done, get out of there and come back to the office," she instructed him. "You did well."

Takumi smiled to himself as the call was cut. "Sorry, Kyoko-san… I couldn't just turn my back on the Digimon though…" His efforts were rewarded though when the second hand on the Clockmon's face began ticking. He let out a shaky chuckle as he patted the Digimon's head. "You're okay now," he gently told the Clockmon with a nod.

Manaka frowned at the detective and her assistant. "It's hard to believe such a little kid would do a heinous crime like that… I'm still shocked."

"Heinous, huh…?" Kyoko brought her hand up to her mouth. "I guess I see where you're coming from. Even if he didn't mean any harm by it, what he did certainly broke the law. But that's all in the past now that we've 'exorcised' your account of that little stalker that haunted it," Kyoko smirked. "This case is closed now."

"Alright, but what about with the data I recovered?" Takumi asked.

"We'll be holding onto the Baku program in the meantime," Kyoko crossed her arms and looked at the redhead. "If we can tune it up a bit, it could very well come in handy."

Takumi chuckled as he noticed she was staring not at him, but rather his half-cyber body. "I see… It sounds pretty interesting if you put it that way."

"But I still don't get it…" Manaka shook her head. "Why did he go after me in the first place?"

"Oh, yeah…" Takumi brought a hand up to his mouth. "What was his motive?"

Kyoko sighed and shook her head at the teenagers. "Do neither of you really get why that boy picked on her?"

"Hm?" Takumi blinked at her.

"In a way, there really was no reason at all…" the woman smirked at their client, "Except to say that it was love at first sight. He really liked you, Manaka."

"Eh?" Takumi placed his hands at his hip.

"Huh?" Manaka stared at the woman in confusion.

"At first, he probably just wanted to get to know you more with all his heart," Kyoko chuckled. "But as we saw, he was less mature than he'd like to admit. He wanted to tease and mess with you so you'd pay attention to him. At his age, it's a pretty standard mentality towards someone you like, really…"

"Do young boys really think that way?" Takumi asked, crossing his arms. "Because I certainly didn't…" He blinked a few times as he couldn't quite recall his childhood personality.

"Well, thank you for solving my case," Manaka bowed her head to them.

"You're welcome back at any time," Kyoko nodded to her as Takumi let her out.

As soon as the client was gone, Pete let out a tired sigh. "That was sooo fun!" he exclaimed. "Let me help out again if something else comes up, okay? I think it'd be pretty cool to be a detective cat Digimon like that!"

"Ah… that'd be even cuter…" Takumi said as his cheeks went pink.

Kyoko chuckled at her assistant's strange weakness before addressing the Wanyamon. "You definitely helped us back there, so you have my thanks, Pete. Anyway, are you still not able to actually leave the confines of Nakano Broadway's intranet?" she curiously asked.

"Yeah," Pete nodded. "I think it has to do with how old the network protocols for the intranet are… It makes it hard to transfer data around. It could be I'm just stuck to the vacuum tube computer, like how Baku was to that Digimon…"

"But I managed to separate the two," Takumi stated. "I ended up getting an awesome Digimon out of the case," he smiled, pulling up Clockmon's data onto the screen. "See?" The redhead curiously stared at Pete. "If I ever get the time, I'll see if I can get you free, okay, Pete?"

The Digimon nodded to the boy. "Alright then! I'll talk to you later!"

As the call ended, Kyoko brought her hand up to her chin. "Hmm… there's still much to learn about what Pete truly is, it seems."

"Um… I've been meaning to ask," Takumi turned to her. "Why is his name 'Pete'? Did you name him for the 'Blue Peter' time capsules?"

"Huh? Why do we call Pete 'Pete'?" Kyoko blinked at him. "Well… he's a cat. He was extracted from his own little time capsule, where he was frozen asleep all that time… besides, open enough doors and you're bound to—" she shook her head at her assistant and gave him a smirk. "Do you really need a reason for it?"

"Is it bad that I want there to be a reason?" Takumi asked.

The detective chuckled at him. "Unlike the digital world, the real world is filled to the brim with things that have no real reason for being what they are. It's a simple pleasure in life that we're entitled to have as humans. Don't sweat it too much. Just kick back and enjoy it."

Takumi took a moment to consider her words as she returned to her desk. "Kyoko-san…" he began, looking up at her. "You might be right… but searching for a reason, even if one doesn't exist, is another pleasure humans are privileged with. But it's not unique to humans either… I'm sure even Digimon, like Pete or Clockmon, can find joy and meaning in their existence." He sheepishly laughed and shook his head at himself. "That's what I think anyway…"

Kyoko smiled at the half-cyber entity. "You truly are a soft-hearted irregular," she mused. "In that case, Pete's an important member of the team, so make sure you two get along, all right?"

"Of course!" Takumi adamantly nodded. A crooked grin grew on his face. "How can anyone not get along with such an adorable Digimon?"

Final Notes: And another Digimon joins Takumi's team. I felt bad for what happened to the Clockmon... But I guess it's sentience can be restored by a personality patch. So yeah, the DLC hackers case was okay. I don't really have much of an opinion on it other than it was just there. Scramble Pentagram scares me though... I feel like I have a theory of what really went on, but I'll wait until later to explain it. But yay, Pete! I would have stuck Pete into Takumi's team, but then... having a Baby II Digimon for the majority of the game would be strange. Plus, Pete's stuck in Nakano Broadway...