Title: Always Follow the Rabbit

Author: Mrpointyhorns aka Blemery

Rating: R

Status: In Progress

Part: 5

Pairings: Taichi/Koushiro, Augmon, Tentomon, Kei, Hikari, Mimi/Michael, Michelle, Daisuke, Ken, Junko, Joichi, Jimon, Julia, Jyou/June, Shuu/Momoe, Hayato, Susumu, Kurou, Miyako, Yamato, Takeru, Shin, Shuu, Chizuru, Mantarou (I think I got everyone!)

Warnings: Slash

Spoilers: Season 1 and 2, plus some of the movies (nothing blatantly but there)

Summary: Taichi's has started to settle in his life, and while that can be quite nice, he and Koushiro have never been better, it can also be a bit disappointing, especially his dead-end job. The only thing interesting that ever happens is when he has to babysit his nephew. Until Koushiro detects a disturbance that is about to give Taichi the adventure he craves.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by someone else. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: I think this chapter is juicier than some of the other ones. Sorry if I was too subtle with the past issues, but the story is long so I think everything should come out at the end at least for the most part. I don't think I've ever seen a Jyou/June pairing before, but I thought it was kind of funny since June kind of had a crush on a lot of the guys during the show, but she never met Jyou (as far as I saw) so I thought it could work if they met later on when she was a bit more mature.

They arrived at Jyou and June's after about a thirty minute taxi trip. Usually Taichi and Koushiro would take the train, but with so many people and digimon they thought it would be better to go straight there. Jyou and June lived in a home that was fairly big. Jyou was a doctor and June stayed at home taking care of their kids and nephews which was a big job since there were so many. Usually it was just Shuu's sons, but if Shin needed a sitter he knew who to turn to. The house had a small yard in the back and was sandwiched between two other homes. Even though, they were still technically in the city the area was old enough so as to have actual houses, but not too old to have been knocked down to put in an apartment complex. It was perfect for families who wanted an urban home without living on top of each other. Inside it was three stories and it was longer then it was wide, but the family made it work.

When Taichi rang the bell the group could hear excited rowdy boys inside. Shuu and Momoe along with their six sons were most likely there as their van was outside. So it wasn't really a surprise when the door didn't open. Koushiro sighed reaching out to try the handle with so many people coming and going on Sunday's the door was usually left unlocked. Sure enough it opened Taichi was the first to go inside. "Jyou? June?" He called as the others followed him inside Koushiro shutting the door behind them.

For a moment the seven of them stood around looking at each other. Taichi couldn't figure out which way the voices and noises were coming from so he felt a little weird exploring. But, standing in the front hall was no good either. So he led them into the main family room. It was a two step descent from the hall. In the family room there was dark carpet, homey couches and too many toys to count. In the center of the living room, Jyou and June's two older sons, Joichi and Junko were wrestling with Daisuke on the floor. From what Taichi could see Daisuke was losing. Ken was sitting on the couch, although faced away from them, Taichi still recognized him.

The family room was a large room that was shaped like a circle. There were five entrances into the room. One lead from the front door, another led to a staircase tucked into the side of the house. The stairs were also accessible from the front hall, but they were placed so far to the side that it was better to walk through the room. On each side of the entertainment center there were two smaller archways one led to a dinning room that was incredibly large. It had been extended over the years by Jyou and his brothers to accommodate their families and friends. The other one led to a small hall that had an office, a downstairs bath and a guest room that was used mostly for Gomamon. The last doorway led to the kitchen and from the kitchen there was a door to the yard.

"Hey guys look its Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke cried from the floor. It was quiet suddenly as the boys looked over at them. On the couch Jyou and June's youngest son, Jimon, peeked over the couch from Ken's side. "Get him!?"

"Aww Uncle Dai. We want to play with you," Jochi complained.

Junko stood up he was the oldest of Jyou's sons around seven. "Hi Taichi-san, Izzy-san. I'm going to let Mom and Dad know that you're here." He glanced silently at Mimi, but seemed uncertain.

"Go!" Jimon squealed and reached his hands for Tentomon who was hovering near Koushiro. "Go! Go!"

That got Taichi moving from the hall into the living room. "Junko, Joichi, Jimon this is Miss. Mimi and this is her daughter Michelle. Mimi is a friend out ours and your dad's."

"That's right Mimi is a good friend." Jyou cleared his throat coming in through the entrance that led to the kitchen from there to the yard. "Ji-chan that is Tentomon not Gomamon."

Jimon looked at Tentomon and then Augmon his eyes started to fill with big crocodile tears and he started crying loudly. "No Go! Go!" Ken put a hand on his back and rubbed gently. Jimon turned towards him hiding his face in Ken's shirt.

Jyou laughed lightly and then turned back to Taichi and his guests. "Mimi I didn't know you were in town!"

"Jyou!" Mimi squealed, coming back to herself she ran over to give him a hug like she had with Koushiro and Taichi the other day.

Kei took that moment to slide past the couch and join Joichi on top of Daisuke, "Ah Ya!" He jumped on Daisuke loudly.

Junko smiled. "Do you want to play Michelle?"

"Is it alright?" Michelle asked.

"Sure Uncle Daisuke's likes it," Junko explained. Then bragging he said, "He's on Toyko's soccer team you know. So he's use to it."

"Well…okay," Michelle agreed. The two of them ran over to help the younger boys wrestle Daisuke.

"Oh no!" Daisuke cried, "Tai-sempai help!"

Taichi looked at Koushiro. They silently agreed that while Mimi distracted Jyou and June that Taichi would take care of Daisuke and the kids to give Koushiro time to talk to Ken. Taichi picked Jimon up from the couch on the way to the yard. He was careful to make airplane noises while he flew Jimon in his arms. Daisuke spoke up, "Look Taichi's going outside. Let's get him." He managed to get free and chase after Taichi and the kids chasing after him.

Jyou led Mimi upstairs where June and the baby were. "I love what June's done with the decoration in the front hall," She said as they ascended the stairs.

Koushiro went to sit next to Ken on the couch. "It's good to see you and Daisuke together."

Ken nodded. "He's always traveling with the team so I like to spend time with him when he's home. I don't mind spending that time here." Ken smiled.

Koushiro smiled back he really didn't know the state of Daisuke and Ken's relationship. He wasn't sure anyone did. Taichi and he had discussed it, but they both didn't know. They thought that Daisuke and Ken could just be close like brothers or they could be more then that. However, there wasn't enough evidence for one or the other. Taichi and he agreed that what was going on was between them first and if they wanted to include other people they would.

"Well I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you about the Dark Ocean." Koushiro shifted uncomfortably. "I've noted some disturbances and I've been running tests on it for a few days, but most of them are still running."

Ken looked a little surprised, but he stood up and went into the other room. He brought his laptop back to the couch. He opened it. "I knew you weren't simply keeping an eye on the digital world. I would have kept an eye on that place otherwise, but you understand why I let you handle it?"

"You could have said something about that." Koushiro smiled. He knew that Ken was considered a genius even now after the darkspore was gone. Miyako was also as smart as them, but sometimes Koushiro forgot that he wasn't alone!

Ken looked sheepish. He quickly opened up his computer and started working on it. "So what do you think is going on?"

"I think the dark ocean's plane was touched by another world, which caused a leak," Koushiro explained. He moved over on the couch to look over Ken's shoulder. Augmon crawled onto the couch behind him. He wanted to see too.

Ken stopped typing looking up from his computer. "It's leaking?"

"Water has been pouring out of Koushiro's computer," Tentomon clarified. "Oh and the mirrors."

Ken looked at Koushiro. "It's actually leaking? Why do you think that is? What have you been keeping from us?"

"Not that much." Koushiro smiled sheepishly that time. "Anyway, I think it's leaking because when the other world hit it, it transferred some matter. In this world it wouldn't be a problem because here the universe expands so extra matter doesn't spill over into other worlds, just into the vastness of space; that might not be the case with the dark ocean. Besides, there is something else…" Koushiro trailed off because Ken's computer dripped water onto the floor. It was the only drop. The door between Earth and the Dark Ocean opened and pulled Ken, Koushiro, Tentomon and Augmon into the depths of its ocean. Ken's computer fell onto Jimon's stuffed walrus.

Taichi had finally helped Daisuke with their nephews and Michelle. Shuu and Momoe were sitting at a picnic table on the deck that was pressed against the house. The table wasn't used for its intended purpose. It mostly was a shelf for all of the boys' toys. The bench could still be used though and Momoe had cleared some space for a glass of lemonade. They were watching Taichi as he commanded his new soccer team. He and Daisuke had split the kids up five with Daisuke and five with Taichi. Daisuke didn't really think he needed to coach them. He just told the kids to have at the ball. Taichi was not delusional. He knew this wasn't a real team and that meant that he didn't give them any drills, but he did show them some plays, a few moves and he gave them vague positions to play. At least he gave the older kids positions. Jimon was too little to do anything, but run after the other boys.

Needless to say, despite Daisuke's star status Taichi's team was winning by two points, if they were keeping score. Momoe's older sons were actually on soccer leagues, but they looked more improved after five minutes with Taichi than they had after the year of soccer lessons.

Taichi didn't know the last time he felt so good about something. He knew that when he stopped playing soccer and took a job he was losing a big part of himself, but sometimes it was easy to forget that huge part. He had so many other things going. Actually, that wasn't true the last time he felt this good was two months ago when he had come over to Jyou's to celebrate Julia's birth. That time Daisuke and he just played goalie for each other. He had been over to Jyou's since and every time it made him happy, but there was something about soccer that amplified the emotion.

"And Hayato scores that's three up!" Taichi smiled at Daisuke. "You should give up you're never going to beat your senpai."

Daisuke grumbled. The boys laughed at him lightly. Everyone playing knew that Daisuke was a soccer star, except maybe Jimon, but most of the older boys knew that Daisuke rarely managed to best Taichi or Ken, not that Ken played soccer anymore. Daisuke never played too seriously in his sister's backyard, but he would admit to most people that although retire, Taichi, was still a great soccer player.

Taichi called his team over, Kei, Hayato, Michelle, Jimon, Susumu and Kurou left their positions and hurried over. "Let's give them a break, okay guys? Look Jyou's brought cookies." The kids seemed to agree. It was fun playing soccer sometimes, but it was also good to just goof around in the yard and be kids. Anyway, Daisuke's pouting it was starting to spoil their fun by that point.

"Tai." Mimi grabbed Taichi's arm and pulled him over she whispered to him, "Where did Izzy and Ken go?"

Taichi glanced towards the house, but Mimi shook her head. "Are the digimon gone too?"

"Yup." Mimi looked at him expectantly.

Luckily, Taichi's lack of response was cut off. Miyako was suddenly between them and hugging "Mimi!" She squealed. Mimi's excitement bubbled over and the girls were jumping around and hugging each other.

Taichi gulped and slid passed them. While he had been talking to Mimi, Miyako wasn't the only one that had arrived; Micheal was there, as well as Yamato. He had Takeru with him, but Takeru was trying to sneak into the house. Jyou's brother Shin and his three sons were there, but their mother wasn't. Also, Miyako's other sister, Chizuru, and her older brother, Mantarou, had arrived. Taichi glared at Mantarou he was slouched against the house and he looked about as hung over as Hikari probably was at that time. Taichi knew that Mantarou wanted to be a father even less than Hikari wanted to be a mother, but that didn't keep him from taking Kei when it was his turn. He wasn't a bad father when it was actually his turn to watch him, but he didn't have much of a job and his apathy towards his son when it wasn't his turn with him drove Taichi crazy. Like right at the moment Kei was holding onto Mantarou's arm and swinging lightly on his heals, trying to get Mantarou to see something, but Mantarou didn't seem to notice at all.

What was strange was Taichi hardly ever saw Yamato or Takeru at Jyou's, unless it was some occasion, like a reunion or Julia's birth. He couldn't remember ever seeing Miyako's other sister or brother there. It wasn't a bad thing, but Taichi was curious. Koushiro must be rubbing off on him.

The good thing about their being so many people around was that everyone had someone to talk to. Like Miyako was taking Mimi over to where Yamato and Michael were talking with Jyou. Monue was talking to her sister, Shuu and Shin. Daisuke was attempting to talk to Takeru. They stood at the edge of the deck, Takeru resting against the railing.

Taichi always felt bad for Takeru over the years he had been pushed to the edges of the group. Besides Iori, Taichi wasn't sure who Takeru still spoke with. It really wasn't his fault. After what had happened with him and Hikari, those two could hardly be in the same room together let alone speak civily. They had been great friends and the rift between them had been hard, and for Takeru it isolated him from support that he had really need. After Takeru's break up he began having issues with Yamato and Sora. Taichi and the others didn't really know the full story about what happened between the three of them, but it had been pretty bad. Taichi being close to Sora and Yamato probably knew the most about it, but he had been busy in college and then playing soccer in Milan. So he had missed the majority of the fighting to this day he wasn't sure how Yamato had finally patched things over with Takeru, though even that was pretty rocky at times. Takeru's parents had started dating when Takeru was in High School. Some of them were alright, but some of them didn't really care to have a snot nosed kid getting in the way. Plus it seemed as though until that point Takeru always had hope that his parents would get back together. So when they started to seriously date other people Takeru's hope started to wane. All of these problems on their own were bad, but having them happen at or around the same time had really taken a toll on Takeru. He had just fell into himself. He distanced himself from everyone and everything. None of the other digidestine ever blamed Takeru or took sides against him, but they had all been busy doing their own things and hadn't taken his side or tried to help him all that much. Since then, Takeru struggled when it came to finding trust and happiness. He said to Taichi that he didn't blame him or anyone not being around afterall a lot of they had been away at college or even out of the country. However, it still didn't keep Takeru for feeling the way he did. At this point no one really knew what they could do to help. Should they do anything?

Actually, the person that was closest to Takeru now was Taichi. He hadn't done anything to earn it, expect for treating Takeru just as he always had. Also, he had a few times, made an effort to call Takeru after getting off the phone with Yamato or Sora. Taichi was completely unaware that the gesture had such and impact on Takeru at the time or to this day. Whenever the group gathered, Takeru spent his time near Taichi or Iori. Taichi knew the Takeru and Yamato's relationship was still fine, but not when the group got together. Yamato was always interested in talking to people that Takeru didn't want to.

So seeing that Takeru was here, Taichi made his way over to him. Takeru looked up when he was about a foot away. "Tai." Takeru stood up a slight smile on his face. He was wearing a black and grey hat and his face looked thin and hollow. Taichi hugged the younger man when he reached him.

"Hey how come I didn't get a hug, Taichi!" Daisuke cried.

Taichi smiled at Daisuke's words. He liked the fact that he could tease Daisuke like thi. He had always kind of thought of Takeru as his own little brother. When they were in the digital world together there was a point were Yamato had separated from the group. Taichi stepped up and took over as the big brother. Since then he always had a soft spot for Takeru and continued to think of him as family. Hearing Daisuke's complaining, it made him think that maybe he had two little brothers. He held on to Takeru tight. "It's good to see you," He said quietly. "I finished reading your book." Taichi said ignoring Daisuke as he pouted.

"You read it?" Takeru smiled something he didn't do anymore.

"Well, Koushiro put it on my mp3 player and I listened to it on the way into work," Taichi corrected.

Takeru's smile didn't fade however, "But you really read it?"

"Of course I did. I really liked it." The book was on their adventures in the digital world. It was for young adults, but Taichi had more than one reason to read it. "When is the next one coming out?"

"Well, I'm trying to break out into the adult market," Takeru explained. He mostly worked with his father at the news studio. That wasn't what he wanted to do. He wanted to be an author. He did well with his first novel, but it had been critiqued harshly because it seemed too childish, the novel was actually about the events of their trip into the digital world, up until Angemon died.

"Too bad, looks like Daisuke will never be able to read your books." Taichi nodded. He understood how difficult it was to get and hold on to a career that he loved. At least by working at his dad's news studio Takeru was doing something in his field, unlike Taichi.

"Hey, I read his book!" Daisuke protested. He pouted even more; people often gave him a hard time because he wasn't always the brightest among them. However, it wasn't like he was an idiot. Daisuke was smarter than most of the people Taichi knew, just among the digidestine he was at the bottom of the barrel. Yet, Daisuke and Taichi share intiution which was an intelligence of its own, one that Koushiro said he never discounted though others might if they didn't understand what it was.

"Thanks Daisuke." Takeru smiled.

"Well what else am I suppose to do on a seven hour plane ride," Daisuke blushed slightly.

There were a few moments where the three of them fell silent. Taichi waited until he was sure that conversation was over. He still wanted to know what was going on, but he didn't want to appear to be rude, by changing the subject. "So, I didn't notice you guys come in, what's going on?"

"We were inside for a little while saying hi to Julia. We came outside right as you were showing Daisuke some mercy. I, honestly, don't know what was going on. Yamato insisted that I come here. Miyako has some big announcement and he said I had to come."

"Oh is that why her sister and brother are over?" Daisuke asked equally curious.

"Yeah. Honestly, the only reason why I agreed to come was I knew that Daisuke was in town this week. I figured that whatever this is, at least I could hang out with him and Ken," Takeru explained. Daisuke smiled brightly his pouting long forgotten.

"Where is Ken?" Daisuke asked.

"Koushiro had a technical question that he wanted to ask him. So I think they are probably still inside talking it over," Taichi explained. It was the truth, even if it wasn't the entire truth.

"That must be the most boring question in the history of everything." Daisuke looked sick at the thought. "I'm staying away."

"So Miyako thought she would make her announcement in front of as many people as possible?" Taichi asked.

Takeru shrugged. "I guess so."

"And what's Mimi doing here. How come no one told me she was going to be in town?" Daisuke asked.

"They are just here on vacation. Koushiro and I ran into Michael the other day. She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to see everyone so she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. Anyway, you know how Mimi is, she likes to surprise." Taichi glanced over to where Mimi was. She was standing with Michael and Jyou. She didn't look too happy. She caught Taichi looking at her and walked over.

"Hi guys." Mimi hugged Daisuke briefly, because she saw him earlier, but she hugged Takeru tight. Then, she pulled away. "You won't believe what happened. We were all talking and then Matt took a call from Sora."

Taichi glanced at Takeru. Takeru's smile was gone, and his features were set with little emotion. Taichi knew that Yamato and Sora were still friends, but he knew that was always a big strain between Yamato and Takeru. Taichi was still friends with Sora too, but he was better at being discreet, plus the issues that Takeru had with Sora caused Takeru's problems with Yamato. Even though those problems were mended they still caused Takeru to have contempt for Yamato's friendship with Sora.

"She's on her way over. Anyway, Miyako decided that since almost everyone is here anyway, she would try to get a hold of Hikari and Iori. That way she can make her big announcement to everyone," Mimi explained the bitterness in Mimi's voice was not hidden.

Taichi flinched. Hikari coming over would just be another throne in Takeru's side only he wasn't sure if she would make it over. Takeru's folded into himself resting back against the railing. He looked shaken and sick.

Daisuke looked at Mimi and Taichi for guidance then he stepped back. "I'm going to see if Jyou needs me to help out with anything. I don't think he was expecting this many people over for dinner."

"That's a good idea." Mimi followed Daisuke away. "I'll see if June wants help holding Julia."

"My sister knows how to hold a baby, Mimi."

Taichi looked over at Takeru he knew he had been silently put in charge of the younger man.

"Don't, just don't." Takeru warned. He pushed away from the railing and started to head inside.

Taichi didn't know if Takeru was planning to leave, or if he just wanted to be pissed off in private, but he followed him anyway. "It's not so bad." Taichi said when they were both in the kitchen. The kitchen was a yellow color and it had a large breakfast table pushed up to one corner. It was the only room that didn't have any toys. The stove was large and there were two ovens. There was tons of counter space. At the moment, there was no one inside, but it wasn't uncommon to see June, Jyou or one of their brothers cooking. The kitchen was well used, but it was clean and comfortable.

Takeru walked through the kitchen to the main room, the one that Taichi had left Koushiro in. Taichi walked over to the couch and picked up Ken's computer. It was still on, the screen was shut, but it was weird for it to be out on the table like that with so many kids around. He moved it to the top of the entertainment center. Takeru slumped onto the couch.

"It won't be so bad you know. You don't even have to talk to them. I don't even think Hikari will show up." Taichi sat down on the couch, but not too close to Takeru.

Takeru looked at Taichi pointedly. "I said don't. I'm not going anywhere. I promised Yamato. I just don't understand why he had to go and invite Sora here. He knows how I feel about that."

"Sora's not that bad anymore. She had her issues, but she's grown out of that." Taichi tried to reason with Takeru, but he knew there was really no use. He wasn't sure if he believed that Takeru should forgive Sora.

"I don't get you either." Takeru fell back on the couch looking across the room at the blank television screen. "The stuff that she did to you guys I don't know how you can just get over it. I don't know how Koushiro can even look at her."

Taichi bit his lower lip. It was actually a sore issue with between both of them, but Koushiro allowed Taichi to remain friends with Sora, because he realized how illogical it was. That's what hurt Taichi the most. Koushiro was the smartest person that Taichi knew, but despite that Koushiro had felt his emotions very strongly. He chose logical over his emotions in many situations, but in truth Koushiro's emotions were always close by and they were always part of his decision making. There wasn't much that upset Koushiro, but Sora had put herself on his bad side and it was unlikely that she would earn any forgiveness from him. "It's because Sora never stood a chance."

Takeru looked up again. Taichi usually didn't open up about those times with anyone, except Koushiro. None of the other digidestined understood why Taichi was able to forgive Sora it puzzled everyone, but no one ever asked. The shaky harmony that had formed in the group kept most people from bringing up the bad times. Only, for Takeru he had never really gotten over the bad times.

End note: Sorry the chapter ends kind of in the middle of things. The events at Jyou's takes up a lot of room, so I had to break it in interesting places. Next Chapter will be about Koushiro and Ken in the Dark Ocean! Yippee! Thanks for reading.