Digimon 1. Brothers

Digital World: Yokomon Village

Four years after the battle with Malomyotismon

Saturday, March 15th

18:45

Their screams unsettled him for a moment. He remembered not too long ago how he would wince at such painful cries. But overcome determination, his brief moment of second-guessing was soon drowned out by his thirst for strength. He watched with a determined gaze as his partner Arukadhimon engaged in battle; or as any other witness would describe it, slaughter.

Arukadhimon was his pink humanoid Digimon. He wielded a set of deadly razors in place of arms. His back was lined with pink spikes and two grey horns rested on his head. His red slits for eyes brought grave foreshadowing of destruction.

He watched, unblinking as his Digimon sliced through the tribe of helpless Yokomon.

He remained much more composed than his brother, who seemed to let out a cheer of joy as each one of the pink little creatures evaporated. His digimon, Commandramon, quickly struck down his opponents with the bullets from his rifle. His brother and his Digimon were ruthless, driven mad by the insatiable need to be the very best.

Commandramon resembled that of a velociraptor. His seemingly pixilated blue and white scaly skin was protected by a layer of grey armor. On his back rested a supply pack where he would hang his assault rifle. However, there was not much rest for it today. The brothers watched as Commandramon lept into the air and came down upon one of the unsuspecting Yokomon, his clawed foot pinning it to the ground. As the tiny Digimon cried for his mercy, Commandramon lifted his rifle and released it's bullets between the Digimon's eyes. As the one underneath him evaporated, another Yokomon leapt at him, to which Commandramon responded by slicing it open with his clawed paw.

"Fuck yeah Commandramon!", the brother shouted. "Tear them apart!"

"Katsu. I'm over this," Arukadhimon's partner said with an annoyed tone. "These Digimon are so easy….it's pointless. Meramon isn't even here. I'm done with the Digital World for today."

"Shut the fuck up Kiyoshi. We're almost done...," Katsu grunted with annoyance.

"We're _supposed_ to be looking for the other kids anyways.", Kiyoshi interjected.

The brothers' quarrel was interrupted as they were quickly surrounded by a circle of flames. The sudden heat from the fire nearly took Kiyoshi's breath away. From the flames emerged Meramon: the fire-engulfed humanoid Digimon that they were searching for. The glare from his blue eyes felt like it pierced right through them.

"Hell yeah! About time someone worth fighting showed up," Katsu said. A spark ignited in his eyes. It was power he craved, and power, could only be achieved by defeating the very best. The had heard that Meramon was the guardian of the Yokomon village, which had dubbed him a worthy adversary for them.

Like the other Digidestineds, the Digital World supplied them with a wardrobe tailored to suit their tastes. Katsu was clad in ripped, dark blue skinny jeans with black and white vans upon his feet. A black studded belt wove through the loops of his jeans. They hung a little low, revealing the white waistband of his boxers. He wore a black tank top that complimented his muscular build. A small silver chain rested around his neck and a red cloth mask wrapped around his eyes. Shaggy dark brown hair ran amuck on top of his head.

Kiyoshi's face was concealed by a white, skin-tight mask that covered from his nose to the nape of his neck. He wore a red track jacket with slightly faded boot cut jeans. Small diamond stud earrings were clamped onto his earlobes. He wasn't muscular like his brother, his form was rather slender, his dark brown hair was much better kempt. It was shorter and spiked with gel. They were twins.

Meramon took a moment to assess the brothers and take in the damage around him. They had demolished nearly the entire village. Everything around him was either in flame or in ruin. Bodies of the few survivors were mercilessly tossed about. He was in shock that they would cause such pain to creatures so small. Rage flared inside of him.

"BURNING FIST!" he shouted. The flames around his right fist grew as he charged towards Commandramon. Commandramon dodged his attack and quickly struck his jaw with a powerful uppercut. He took advantage of the dazed Meramon, drop kicking him directly in his chest. Meramon fell to the ground, Commandramon's foot and fist steamed and sizzled as a result of touching Meramon's fiery skin. He took no notice of his injuries and gave Meramon a wicked smile.

Katsu laughed, "That's it? My Digimon can seriously take you down without using his special attacks? That's fucking sad."

Meramon struggled to his feet. He was not even able to retort before Arukadhimon had positioned himself behind him, striking his razored arms directly through the center of his chest. He tilted them in opposite directions and proceeded to slice Meramon in half. His body disintegrated into data particles.

"What?!", Katsu exclaimed turning towards Kiyoshi. "The fuck dude? We could have at least had some fun with him."

"It's a waste of time" Kiyoshi said.

"SPIRAL TWISTER!" A green energy spiral knocked Commandramon to the ground. The attack came from a pink bird Digimon named Biyomon. Arukadhimon let out a hiss and charged for her. She flew higher out of the way just as Arukadhimon brought down his razor arms upon her. Her flight was the only thing that gave her an advantage.

_I'm in way over my head here_, she thought. She was terrified. Even at the rookie level, Commandramon and Arukadhimon were much stronger than she was. She very much doubted if she was going to make it out of this battle alive, especially since her partner was not there to give her the means to digivolve.

Commandramon raised his rifle and centered in on Biyomon. "M16 ASSASSIN," he shouted as a barrage of bullets came spiraling toward her. She stood no chance. Though she was able to successfully dodge about dozen or so bullets, one had finally clipped her wing, and like a hunted game duck, she tumbled toward the ground.

Arukadhimon's right arm razor started to glow an electric pink as he raised it above his head. "ERASE SICKLE.", he shouted as he brought his arm down. A pink boomerang of energy released from his claw and was sent spinning toward Biyomon. She let out a painful cry as the energy hit her, and she collided with the ground. Her limp body bounced before finally settling in the dirt.

Pushing through the pain, she was finally able to open her eyes. She gasped and her eyes filled with tears as she found herself staring down the barrell of Commandramon's rifle. A smile overcame his lips.

"I'm done with this", she heard Kiyoshi say. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him lift up what appeared to be a Digivice towards the Digiport television. "Digiport open!" He commanded as his and Arukadhimon's body glew a bright yellow as they were sucked into the TV.

Katsu grunted, "Fucking really?" He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Come on Commandramon. Just let her go, she's just as weak as the rest of them. Maybe next time she'll be digivolved and actually worth a challenge."

Commandramon lowered his rifle and hung it up on his supply pack. The smirk disappeared from his face as he reached down to pick Biyomon up by the throat. It took all the energy she could muster to let out the tiniest cry.

He brought his lips to her ears and whispered, "Be ready, you ugly pink fuck. Because next time, I'm going to fucking destroy you." He slammed her body onto the ground.

Biyomon watched as they were sucked through the TV as well. Through her blurred vision she saw the ruin of the Yokomon village and the collapsed bodies of the few survivors.

"S-Sora..", she quietly pleaded, "H-help me." Her vision became dark as her consciousness succumbed to pain.


	2. Happy Birthday

Real World: Kamia Residence

Saturday, March 15th

18:30

"Happy Birthday Kari!"

Kari was greeted lovingly as she and T.K. entered the doorway to her family's apartment. Crammed in her living room stood the other original Digidestined, save for Mimi and Joe. Cody, Davis, Ken, and Yolei were there along with their Digimon, as well as Patamon, and Gatomon.

She gasped in feigned excitement, "You guys threw me a surprise party?". She smiled. She acted taken aback. Davis had let it slip to her a week ago about the surprise party T.K. and Tai had planned for her. Davis was never good at keeping secrets. It is an unfortunate side effect of never being able to shut one's mouth.

"Yeeeeah. You don't have to act surprised Kari," Yolei chimed in. "Mr. Diarrhea Mouth over there told us that he told you."

Davis let out a loud sigh, "Come on you guys you know that I can't keep secrets for shit! I can't be responsible for that much information!"

Kari laughed, "It's alright Davis, you were just so excited and didn't want to keep anything from me is all."

Davis's face became marked with his famous ornery grin as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to herded her towards the living room table, "That's right beautiful, shows how much of a gentleman I am, never lying to you."

_He never gives up_, Kari thought as she rolled her eyes.

She was then greeted by her mother's cake. Their mother had described it to Tai as "A 3 layer gluten-free, vegan, chickpea paste, strawberry cake." Tai felt like he should have warned them all, but seeing their faces as they took their first bites proved much more amusing to him. Tai tried to convince his mother to buy a cake from a bakery, without crushing her feelings by telling her that her cooking was atrocious. But their mother found this suggestion ridiculous. Why spend money when it was the perfect opportunity for her to try a new recipe?

After eating what they could of the cake, Tai asked "So what do you think about getting to the presents now…"

"Ooo! Ooo! Kari!" Davis interrupted as he shoved a rather crudely wrapped box in her face, "Open mine first!"

"Wow Davis did a toddler wrap that for you?', Cody snickered.

"Shut up dweeb!", Davis responded.

Kari proceeded to open all of her wonderful presents from her fellow Digidestineds. Davis's ego was very much stroked knowing how much she liked the pink athletic shoes and SD card he bought her for her and her camera. She thanked them all vehemently for their wonderful offerings. T.K. was rather quiet throughout the duration of the party. He had yet to give her her birthday gift. His hand shook ever so slightly.

_Why am I so nervous?_ He thought._ Of course she'll like it, won't she? Why do I have to muster up this much courage to hand it to her? I'm such a weirdo._

"Um, Kari?" T.K.'s asked. "You have one more." He pulled out a small, white, glossy box, "I..uh... hope you like it."

Kari took the box from him and removed the lid. It was filled with a soft, white cotton cushioning. On top of it rested a necklace. She gasped. She had never seen anything so beautiful. In the box was a silver necklace with a silver charm that resembled the Crest of Light. In the center of the charm was mounted a shimmering pink diamond.

"Oh my god," she said. "T.K. thank you! This is so beautiful. I-it's the same symbol on my crest. Where did you find something like this?"

T.K. blushed, "I uh, just, had it specially made….that's a real diamond too."

"T.K...this must have cost you a fortune."

She was right. It did cost him a tiny fortune, "Well..I mean..yeah. But, it's your birthday." He shrugged one of his shoulders as he smiled., "You're worth every penny of it."

As T.K. and Kari looked and smiled at one another just a little bit longer than what would be considered normal as a silence fell across the room. Sora could feel the the aura of awkward start to grow as the other Digidestineds began to look at one another, unable to determine if they should be the ones to break the moment. More importantly, she began to see the jealousy heating and fuming up off of Davis.

It was as if everyone could hear him as he thought, _That. Freaking. ASSHOLE_.

Sora let out an awkward laugh and began to bound toward Kari's seat at the table, "Heyyyy Kari, let me help you put that on. After all, what 16-year-old girl doesn't need some bling right?"

Matt shook his head.

_At least he's trying now...I guess_, Matt thought.

For some reason he always felt himself being frustrated over T.K. Waiting for T.K. to do _something_. To make _some kind_ of move. He knew that being a big brother meant that it was his duty to help his little brother out whenever he could, but this was something that T.K. was going to have to figure out on his own.

"Hey weren't the other Digimon supposed to be here too?" Patamon asked as he flew over to T.K. and landed on top of his head. He leaned his head downward until his eyes were at the same level as T.K.'s and whispered, "Good job buddy." as he winked at him.

T.K. blushed and scolded in a hushed tone, "Shhh! Patamon knock it off!"

Kari smiled as she looked down at her pendant and clasped it between her thumb and pointer finger. She had heard what Patamon said. T.K.'s embarrassment made her heart flutter.

"Oh yeah that's right." Sora responded. "They said something about...having to secure their areas they're looking after in the Digital World first? And then they were supposed to meet up and we're supposed to bring them through. But they haven't contacted us yet."

"Maybe they're just running late," Kari said.

Sora's Digivice began to let out a wrenching alarm. As it clung to her hip it's screen flashed an ominous red. Its sudden signal made the whole team jump.

"What's going on?", Sora said as she fumbled with her Digivice, she eventually found the button to silence the device but the screen still flashed.

Izzy's laptop began to make the same alarm. As he open it, the screen flashed a red pop-up window containing the message: DISTRESS SIGNAL ACTIVATED - HOST:BIYOMON. A feminine, robotic voice began to blare from his speakers, "BIYOMON. DISTRESS. SIGNAL...BIYOMON. DISTRESS. SIGNAL...BIYOMON. DISTRESS…"

"What does that mean?" Sora asked, "What's wrong with Biyomon?!"

"IZZY!", Tai exclaimed with his hands cupped over his ears, trying his best to shout over the repeating message, "Shut that thing the hell up!"

Izzy noticed that there was a "view" and "ignore" option for the window. He clicked 'view' and the alarm was silenced. His computer brought up the Digital World Portal Program and zoomed in on a portion of a map of the digital world that contained a red blinking light. He could only assume that the light was Biyomon.

Suddenly a video transmission from one of the TV portals appeared. They heard the voice of Gabumon cry out, "Matt! Sora! Tai! Anyone! Help!" as his figure began to appear on the fuzzy grey screen.

"Gabumon!" Matt nearly shoved Izzy out of the way to get in front of the computer screen. "What's going on?"

"Is Biyomon ok?" Sora interjected.

"We need you right away." Gabumon stated. "Biyomon and the Yokomon village were attacked. She's...she's not doing well. They almost killed her."

"I'M THERE! DIGIPORT OPEN!" Sora shouted as she raised her Digivice towards the screen. As fast as she was engulfed in yellow light, she was gone.

"Sora wait!" Matt pleaded. But it was too late. "Damnit! Why would she just go like that?"

"We have to go too," Kari said.

"Hold on a sec," Tai interjected. "I think it'll be ok. It looks like whoever she was fighting is gone. Let the big kids handle this," He said as he smiled towards Matt. "Besides it's your birthday, you're not supposed to be dealing with anything today."

"But…"

"No 'buts'. You just stay here and enjoy your day. We'll be back soon." Tai and Matt raised their digivices towards the screen and vanished.

"I'll go too," Yolei said. "Just in case they need someone who can Armor Digivolve. Happy Birthday Kari. We'll be back soon!" Both her and Hawkmon were then engulfed in light and vanished.

The others were left alone in silence in Kari's living room.

"Well," Davis said raising his arms and rested his hands on the back of his head. "This is new."


	3. Under Duress

Digital World: Yokomon Village

Saturday, March 15th

19:15

The Digidestineds were suffocated by a swarming cloud of dust brought about by the wreckage of the Yokomon village. It stung their eyes as they tried their very best to fumble around the debris. Matt heard Sora's cry.

"Biyomon! Biyomon say something..please." Her voice was choked with tears, "Please...please."

As the wind cleared way the dust, Tai, Matt, and Yolei saw the destruction that was left behind. The Yokomon village was decimated. Matt spotted Agumon, Gomamon, Palmon, Tentomon tending to the few injured Yokomon they could see and digging through the rubble in hopes of finding survivors. He then saw Gabumon comforting Sora as she clutched the limp form of her partner. Her pink body was bruised and battered. Sora rested her forehead on Biyomon's. Matt saw her tears begin to drip on Biyomon's feathers.

Tai watched as Matt knelt by her side. Agumon ran towards him.

"Tai!" he exclaimed.

"Agumon," Tai said. "What's going on? What happened?"

"The whole village was destroyed. We all waited for Biyomon and when she never showed up, we assumed something was wrong. We found her...everything...like this." Agumon took a sudden pause to collect his thoughts. "Tai, this isn't the first time this has happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been hearing reports of clans of Digimon being wiped out all over the Digital World. I wasn't sure if it was true, but after seeing this….I...I think this attack might be connected."

They heard the faintest voice cry out Sora's name. Sora was overcome with relief as her partner finally opened her eyes.

"Oh my god, Biyomon! Are you ok?" Sora spoke.

Biyomon coughed, "Sora...they were..children."

"What? What do you mean?"

"They were...Digidestineds."

Real World: Kamia Residence

Saturday, March 15th

19:15

Kari knew that after the events that just unfolded, there was no way her day was going to be able to return to the normalcy of an average birthday. Questions and curiosities galloped through her mind. Worry for Biyomon plagued her.

The only sound emitting from the living room was the clacking of Izzy's keyboard as he relentlessly hammered away at the buttons. Kari decided to break the uncomfortable silence, "Izzy? I assume you're looking into what just happened. "Sooo...what exactly…did just happen?"

Izzy's eyes never strayed from the glowing screen as he spoke, "I have no idea. It seems that some kind of new software was installed in my Digital World computer program." He placed his Digivice on it's port on his laptop, "It looks like the same program was installed in our Digivices as well. It seems to be some kind of tracking program."

A video pop-up jumped on Izzy's screen, it contained the face of their familiar ally, Gennai. "Children!" he exclaimed with a smile.

"Gennai!" Izzy responded.

"So," Gennai said. "I see you got to experience the new Duress Alarm I installed in your Digivice's and computer's software."

"Yeah it scared the shit out of us," Davis whined.

Gennai laughed, "Yeah I'm sorry about that, I had just installed the program. I didn't think it would have to be used to soon."

"So what exactly is this 'Duress Alarm Program'?", Izzy asked.

"It's a software that is tuned into you and each of your Digimon's mental and physical states. Whenever your Digimon is in dire distress and is alone the alarm will signal onto your Digivice and on Izzy's computer program. Once it is acknowledged on the computer it can pinpoint the location of said Digimon. The alarm will also be signaled if one of you children are in grave distress. It will signal an alarm to the other Digivices and computer and can hone in on the signal in the real world or digital world. It works like a GPS. That way, in order to send out a signal, your Digimon won't _have_ to be near a T.V. Portal. And you'll be able to pinpoint their exact location with much more accuracy."

Izzy sat quiet for a moment then said, "Gennai, this is an amazing program you've given to us. But something tells me you didn't just develop it out of the blue. There has to be a reason why."

Gennai began to speak low, as if the walls around them may have been listening, "I have a feeling children that you might have some fighting to do in the future. The Digital World has not been as peaceful recently."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been hearing reports of mass amounts of Digimon being...slaughtered. I've sensed great power sources appearing in the Digital World and then disappearing. It's incredibly bizarre. But when they do appear, that is when I hear reports of large clans of Digimon going missing. I've sent my allies to those areas to see if they can find who's responsible, but by the time they do get there, all they find is the destructive aftermath. Digidestineds, we might need your help once more."

"All right!" Davis exclaimed, more than willing to prove his masculinity in combat. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing, we've got it under…"

Davis's words were cut off the by the bright yellow glow of Izzy's screen. The figures of Yolei, Tai, Matt, and Sora morphed in front of them. In Sora's arms rested the limp body of Biyomon. Her feathers were tattered and one of her broken wings was wrenched in a grotesque position. The other teens finally had a grasp as to how badly she had been beaten. At first glance, it would have been easy to judge her body as lifeless.

Tai looked up at the rest of the Digidestineds with stern eyes, "We have a problem."


	4. Investigation

Saturday, March 1st

06:00

_ An overwhelming cold shook her from her uneasy slumber. Numbness overtook her feet as they sank into the frigid, coarse sand. Her heavy breaths were filled with the piercing sting of salty air. Darkness caressed her as she fell to realization of the dreadful reality of where she was. She had not been to that shadowy beach since the day she was chosen; the day she received Dorumon._

_ Dorumon. She reached for the Digivice in her pocket. Where was he? She was petrified at the thought of being in this place without her partner. Black mist engulfed her feet. _

_He was coming. He was almost here. _

No. Please, no. Not yet.

_ Fear and guilt curdled her stomach as she saw a large hooded figured, clad in black, emerge from the shadows in front of her. Her eyes fell to the ground as his red eyes pierced her gaze._

_ "Kira", he said. She could hear the smile in his voice, she hated the amusement in his tone. She scared him more than anything she could ever imagine. Yet his presence gave her a contradictory level of comfort. _

_ "I-I'm sorry", she said, on the verge of tears._

_ He chucked, "Sweet child. You have nothing to be sorry about. Out of all of you who I look after, you have proven to be the most insightful and loyal." _

_ "Then w-what do you want?"_

_ He paused, "You have to take the next step"_

_ "But…" Kira looked down at her Digivice, "I-I don't want to hurt anybody."_

_ He placed his frigid, clawed hand on her shoulder. His physical contact made her wince. "Poor, plagued child. You know that this is the only all must destroy them. They will only hinder your healing, they will try to stop you. They will view you as a threat. They will try to kill you. Destroy you"_

_ He lifted his hand off of her shoulder and rested the tip of his claw on the crest around her neck, "That Devi Crest chose you. You are a Dark Digidestined. Do this and I promise all of your pain will disappear. It will heal you."_

_ Hope sparked within her soul, but to be healed seemed like such a distant destination. _

_ He began to fade into the shadows before her, "You all cannot exist while they exist. It is the only way. Give into the desires of your crest. Do this, and you will be able to destroy the Digidestineds. You will be healed"_

_ As he was almost entirely engulfed in darkness he added, "But remember who I told you to leave unharmed….He has a gift for me that I am long overdue for."_

Kira woke to the sound of familiar snoring. Sweat ran from her brow. She turned her head to face the grunted breathing. She smiled as she came to the realization that she was no longer in her nightmare. Nestled next to her was her partner, Dorumon. She stroked the blue fur on his head. He was a smaller Digimon, standing at about three feet. His body resembled that of a fur-clad tyrannosaurus rex. His tail and ears resembled that of a fox. Tiny black wings rested on his back. Each paw had three grey claws and a small red triangle resided in the middle of his forehead.

She laid there for a moment giggling at his comical snores. He was her very dear friend. Since the day that he was gifted upon her, she smiled a little bigger. She loved him so much. He cared for her, sat by her side in her darkest moments, and did all that he could to help her recover. Yet the painful reality was that it was not enough. She knew what she had to do.

Kira gently climb out of bed, careful not to disturb her slumbering partner. She made her way to desk and pulled out a single large manilla folder she kept hidden the the drawers. She spread its contents out on the top of the desk. She felt frustration instantly overcome her. It caused her head to ache and neck to kink.

Names. All he had given her is names. She had to carry out an entire 'Seek, Spy, Destroy' mission based upon a handful of names. She had spent the past six months carrying out extensive research between school, homework, other activities.

"_Davis, Yoli, Ken, Cody, T.K. and Kari. Start from the first Digimon sighting in The Real World 15 years ago, and you will find them." _ is what he had said.

"Fifteen years. Yeeeeah...thanks" Kira remembered saying to herself.

However, after diving into her research, 15 years ended up being a good time frame to start with. It was easy to deduce from the start of her investigation that the Highton View Terrace incident was the first time that Digimon were spotted in the Japan. Blog posts and eyewitness statements, all from children, had the common element of a sighting of a giant green bird and an orange t-rex fighting. Of course, being that they were children, these witness statement were written off as mass delusions. But the internet remembers and archives every posts or diary entry, making it easy to filter through key words. The name "Kari" was brought up by a in a few entries from Highton View Terrace from posts from children claiming to know her and her brother "Tai", but these entries did not help her locate either of these individuals.

The next major incident came from 7 years ago with the sightings of "demons", "ghosts", and a "giant vampire" in and around Odaiba. She recovered numerous reports from television stations, newspapers, and internet postings from children, teenagers, and adults alike. However, each report was either very vague or skewed due to the over dramatization from its interviewees. Photos were hard to come by since many were taken down, she assumed by a government initiative. The ones she could find were very grainy or blurred and only contained snapshots of a few Digimon. None contained children that looked as if they were there with partners. Dorumon helped to identify two of the Digimon in the photos as Wargreymon, Metalgarurumon, and Myotismon, but this did not do much to help her.

She finally caught a break with an internet battle with a 'Diaboromon'. Screen shots of that battle were able to help her identify Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon once more. During the battle, they appeared to have Digivolved together to create 'Omnimon'. There were even screenshots of two children during the battle and the name "Tai" was mentioned again a few times. Blog posts indicated the email of a said 'Izzy' to whom children all over the world sent messages to during the battle. But said email was no longer valid, assuming that if it did belong to an 'Izzy', he would have deactivated it long ago.

The final incident she had to go on was sightings of "monsters" in Japan and all over the world from four years ago. Several photos displayed a blue dragon identified as "Ex-Veemon" and a giant black dragon called "Imperialdramon". The most important photo she found was of Imperialdramon who looked to be was conversing with a brunette boy. However, the scene was captured at a distance so details of his facial features were few.

The only chance she thought of having to find them was to cross-reference every name in every Japanese school to see which ones contained all or nearly all six names. Two months she had spent searching, crossing off every middle and high school off her list that bared no fruit of success. She opened a new web browser and pulled the list of schools from her folder.

The next one read: Odiaba High School.

She rolled her eyes and thought, _There's no way it would be that easy_. She pulled up the school's website. There was no "Cody" or "T.K." on the list, assuming that "T.K." was most likely a nickname... But Ken, Davis, as well Yolei were a hit. "Kari" brought up several results. She clicked on Davis's name.

_If I'm going to be stuck creeping on people, might as well scope 'um out and see if they're hot, right?_

The screen flashed a picture of, who she found to be, an attractive brunette teen. On his head rested a pair of goggles. Kira's heart skipped a beat, but it wasn't from her attraction to him, it was the fact that he seem familiar.

_The picture._

Kira frantically searched the mass of papers scattered on her desk. She finally plucked out the picture of Imperialdramon and the mysterious boy. She couldn't make out the details, but the silhouette looks a great deal like him. There also appeared to be some kind of wrap around his head. They could have been goggles, like the one in his school photos. She decided to do more investigating. She needed more proof. Kira saw that he was on the soccer team and decided to look at team photos.

She scrolled through each one. Looking for some kind of clue, something linking him to that photo. And as one would have imagined, she eventually came across a shirtless practice photo.

_Daaaaamn._

Then she gasped. Her eyes widened as she finally landed upon a photo marked "Team Alumni Reunion". There, standing next to Davis was a tall brunette with distinctly crazed hair. She knew him, she had seen him in the photos a nearly hundred times. He was one of the boys with Omnimon in the Diaboromon battle.

She read for his name, _Tai Kamia? Wait….There was a "Kari" with that last name_. She went back to the list to find that they were indeed siblings. Her jaw dropped.

"Odaiba?" She said, "ODAIBA?! I'm. A fucking. IDIOT!"

Dorumon snorted awake in panic. He blinked and looked around as he tried to regain his senses after being abruptly awoken from his slumber, "What, what what happened what?"

"I found them!" she exclaimed. "They were under my nose this whole god damn time! Odaiba! Why didn't I think of that? It's where it all started!"

Dorumon hopped over to her desk. "It that one of them?" he asked, referring to the picture of Kari.

"I'm fairly certain."

"Are you going to be able to do it?"

Kira remained silent for a few moments, "I don't want to hurt anybody."

Dorumon nuzzled his head against her arm, "We could just scope them out you know? At least for now. At least for a little bit. Doesn't Brian go there? He could help you out too."

Kira smiled and scratched at her partner behind his ears, "You're right, I'll shoot him an email update and let him know what I found….it looks like I'll be changing schools then."


	5. The Chase

Shiokaze Park, Odaiba

Saturday, March 15th

21:00

Davis ran as hard as he could. His speed was impaired while carrying is chubby partner, DemiVeemon. He finally came across a collection of park benches where the other nine Digidestineds gathered.

"About freaking time Davis," T.K. said.

"Shut up TP," Davis fired back, "You know I'm never on time for anything."

"How about both of you shut up?", Cody snapped. "Tai, tell us what's going on. What did you see in The Digital World? What happened to Biyomon?"

Upon returning to the Real World earlier, Tai had called for them to disperse and meet at the park. He didn't want his mother listening in on their conversation. He also needed time to collect his thoughts. He needed time to explain the destruction that they came across. More importantly, Sora needed time to bandage up Biyomon, who had now digressed into her Yokomon form due to her injuries.

Tai looked sullen, "We found her at the Yokomon village. I...there...there was nothing. Nothing. The entire village had been destroyed….along with almost all of the members of the village."

Kari looked towards Sora who was cradling the injured Yokomon in her arms, "What was it that did this?"

"Not what. Who," Tai said. "They were Digidestineds"

Kari gasped, "What..what do you mean? You mean humans did this?

"Tai…" Yokomon said in a very small voice. "I think I should be the one to explain." Wincing in pain, she tried to sit up in Sora's lap.

"Yokomon you shouldn't. You're hurt," Sora pleaded.

"Sora, I was there," Yokomon said firmly. "I'm the only one who can explain it best." Sora nodded in understanding and Yokomon continued, "We were ambushed by two Digimon and their human partners. I couldn't get a good look at the humans, they had masks on their face." Yokomon's eyes began to water, "But they were ruthless. They were only at the rookie level and they were able to destroy Meramon so...easily. We didn't even have time to flee. They destroyed almost everyone. They had no mercy, even for the ones that begged for their lives. I tried to help but...they..they almost killed me." She began to choke on her words, "One of them and their partner left through the TV Portal. The other Digimon had his gun pointed right at my face." She began to sob. Between breaths she recanted, "I...I thought I was going to die, but then his human told him to retreat..then..."

Yokomon finally drew her gaze back up to the children, "He lifted me up by the throat and told me, to be ready because next time, he...he was going to destroy me.'"

As Yokomon cried, a wary silence fell across the group as they exchanged glances.

"It's ok Yokomon" Sora tried to comfort her as she held her tighter in her arms. "I have you now."

"That explains why your Digivice when off then" said Izzy. "We received a video chat from Gennai while you were gone. He said that he installed a new computer program in them that alerts us when our Digimon are in trouble or alerts the whole team when one of us kids are in trouble, no matter where we are." Izzy paused, "He said it was because he's heard reports of a lot of Digimon being destroyed. He said that the Digital World might need our help."

"Agumon said the same thing" Tai responded. "He told me it's been going on for a while."

"Yokomon, what were the two Digimon that attacked you?" Gatomon asked.

Yokomon responded, "The one who threatened me was a Commandramon."

Gatomon explained to the humans, "He's a mercenary Digimon. Not really known for compassion.."

"The other one was Arukadhimon."

"He's an incredibly cursed Digimon, made from the data of destroyed Digimon," Gatomon looked at the children intensely. "We have some powerful Digimon on our hands. Especially if they were able to cause that much destruction in just their rookie levels."

"We have to stop them," said Tai.

Davis asked, "Yeah but how should we go about doing that?"

Without skipping a beat Tai responded, "We have to take them down."

"Don't you think that language is little brash Tai?" said Kari.

"No," Tail responded. "If it's been them this whole time, it seems to me like they have it coming."

"But we don't even know who these kids are," said Yolei. "How are we supposed to stop them if we don't know who they are or what they look like?"

Tai said, "We'll have to patrol the Digital World more and be on our guard here. We'll come across them soon enough."

Shiokaze Park, Odaiba

Saturday, March 15th

20:55

Kira's heart pounded with the blasting music in her headphones. Her legs burned with a fiery tingle and sweat seeped from her skin. She was about mile three into her run. She started to regret going this far, considering she still had to turn around and go home eventually. Though the stress of her impending plan required her to let off anxiety somehow. Changing schools was the easiest part.

But she was at a loss as to what she was going to do about the other teens. Were they really that dangerous? Were they really planning on hurting them? And why did they have to be destroyed? Nothing about her mission seemed clear though she knew that the first step was to befriend them and find their weaknesses. She was rather irked by the fact that she had to do this other Dark Digidestineds were too busy rolling around in their new found power with their partners. They claimed to be too busy to do anything for her, yet she was sure they would be first to claim credit for all of the information she dug up.

Kira shook her head, _Assholes_.

She glanced over her shoulder and abruptly stopped herself, to the point where she nearly fell forward.

_Holy. Shit._

There, right in front of her, were the children she spent countless hours trying to research and locate. She recognized three of them: Kari, Davis, and Tai. Kari and Davis both had Digimon with them along with four of the others. This had to be them. These had to be the kids she was looking for.

She placed herself out of sight behind a tree. She silenced her music, quickly plucked the earbuds from her ear, and tried her best to listen in. They appeared to be in a meeting and with all of their stern expressions, it looked to be an important one. She strained as much as she could to listen in.

"We have to stop them…" the one who she recognized as Tai was the first one she heard speak.

_Is he talking about us?_

"We have to take them down…"

_Holy shit he is._

"Don't you think that language is a little brash Tai?..." the voice came from a girl she recognized as Kari. She liked her. She seemed reasonable.

"No. If it's been them this whole time, it seems to me like they have it coming…."

_Oh my god._

The hooded Digimon was right. They did plan on hurting them. They planned on killing them. These Digidestineds saw her and the other Dark Digidestineds as a threat. She was terrified at the thought of what they would do to Dorumon. She could not fathom a life without him.

She jumped at the sound of her phone ringing.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit!_ She fumbled in a desperate attempt to silence it.

The screen read: Call from - Melody

_Fucking Melody. Now? Really? I'm trying to do shit for us!_

"What was that?" Tai broke from the intense conversation. Kira started to back away.

"Someone's been spying on us. I've felt a presence for about a minute now," said Gatomon.

"Come out and show yourself!" Tai yelled.

Kira turned and began to run. Fear had control over her body as it pushed through the pain of her sprints. She knew if she was caught, she was dead.

Gatomon caught a glimpse of a body in motion, "Wait, stop!"

"Whoever it is, go after them!" demanded Tail. "It could be one of those kids!"

Gatomon, Patamon, Armadillomon and Hawkmon bolted after the mysterious figure followed by their respected partners.

Davis cried out to Tai and the other four original Digidestineds, "Just stay here. Don't worry, we got this!"

Kira knew that she was in for the run of her life. But not matter how fast she went, they always trailed just around the corner from her. Her heart pounded, her chest heaved. She couldn't let them get a hold of her. She couldn't let them see her. Kira yank off the bandana that held her hair up and tied it around the bottom portion of her face. She felt ridiculous, comical even, like a stagecoach robber in a silent film. But she couldn't risk having one of them see her face.

"Hey!" she heard Davis shout. "Hang on we just want to talk to you!"

_Yeah fuckin' right._

She turned a corner down a dark alley way and must to her dismay, it was a dead end. A chain link fence split the alley in half. A mesh of metal stood between her capture and freedom. She heard heavy footsteps and turned to face her enemies. She backed up against the fence.

"Stop! Hey, why are you running? We just want to know who you…" Davis started.

"Are you with those evil Digimon? TELL US!" Patamon interrupted, still angered by the state of Yokomon. T.K. was taken aback by her partner's anger. Although the alley bared little light and shadows concealed most of the runner's face, he could sense how afraid she was.

"Patamon!" he scolded. He took a couple steps forward. "Look we're not going to hurt you. We just...look I think we got off on the wrong foot here." He took off his hat as a gesture of respect, "My name's T.K. What's yours?"

Kira made a small noise, as if she were about to speak. However, she was drowned out by a loud piercing growl. From the shadows lept Dorumon. He landed a few yards in front of T.K.; blocking the path between him and Kira. He greeted T.K. with a rabid snarl. His eyes glew red like magma and drool cascaded down his razored fangs.

T.K. froze. He never would have thought a Digimon so small could terrify him so. Patamon lept onto the ground in front of T.K. and made stern eye contact with Dorumon. Despite his strong disposition, Patamon was frightened as well. Wormmon positioned himself next to him for backup.

Dorumon slowly turned his head, giving a glare towards Kira, "Run..." He said. Kira still had not gathered herself from the chase..

"Go! NOW!" he barked. Kira had snapped herself out of her trans. Dorumon was going to give her a means to escape by holding them off. She was not about to make his efforts in vain. She turned to climb the gate. Dorumon slowly turned his head towards the other Digimon. As he turned they could see his mouth slowly widen and an intense fire grow inside of it. He faced them and shouted, "DASH METAL!" A large, fiery, metallic orb charged straight for Patamon and Wormmon and knocked them backwards onto T.K. sending all three of them onto the ground.

Gatomon, leapt towards Dorumon shouting "LIGHTNING PAW!" But he had jumped out of her way. His mouth glew once more, "METAL CANNON!" and sent a continuous barrage of small metal balls right at Gatomon.

Armadillomon began to call out for her, but Dorumon had pounced upon him, causing them to somersault together just before Dorumon kicked him into the air, slamming him into the brick wall surrounding them. Before the children even had time to register what had happened, Dorumon and lept into the air once more, this time towards Hawkmon. His teeth emitted a bright read glow, "DINO TOOTH!" he shouted as he clamped down upon Hawkmon's wing, sending them plummeting to the ground and with his mouth, shook Hawkmon back and forth. Hawkmon's cries were stricken with pain.

"NO!" Veemon shouted as charged towards him. "V-HEADBUTT!"

Dorumon quickly tossed Hawkmon aside. As Veemon charged, so did he. The claws on his right paw glew a bright red, "HYPER DASH METAL!" he shouted as he slashed them right at Veemon. When their charges came to an end they both stood very still for a few moments, until Veemon suddenly collapsed.

"There...there's no way" Davis said flabbergasted, looking at all of their partners and how they had all reverted back to their in-training modes. "He took them all down so fast."

Dorumon stared at the teens with his unforgiving, glowing red eyes. "Leave. Her. Alone."

And then, he vanished into the shadows as quickly as he came. His partner had long vanished as well.


	6. First Encounter

The Digital World: Primary Village

Monday, March 31st

13:50

A strong yellow light emitted from the television as the figures of of Sora, Yolei, T.K, Biyomon, Hawkmon and Patamon emerged through the screen. They were promptly greeted by Elecmon, who was overjoyed to see some of his old friends.

Biyomon had stayed in the Real World for a few weeks while she healed from her injuries. Sora had insisted. She and the team felt more comfortable knowing that she was out of harms way while she regained her strength. Physical recovery did not require much time. However, the mental and emotional wounds were still very tender. Sora had mentioned to the team how Biyomon had been suffering from recurring nightmares. Sora calmed her every night as she thrashed about, stayed up with her on nights she couldn't bear to go to sleep, held her every early hour she woke in tears. Biyomon painfully expressed to Sora how she felt that the responsibility of the death of her friends weighed heavy upon her shoulders. This guilt, Sora deduced, was responsible for a good portion of her nightmares.

Sora had come up with an idea to take her to Primary Village after she had healed. Sora thought that by taking Biyomon to see her friends be reborn, she could help shake her from her slump. Perhaps then she would stop blaming herself for their deaths.

"Hey guys," greeted a smiling Elecmon as he lept for a hug from T.K. "Talk about a blast from the past!"

"Hey buddy its good to see you," T.K. responded.

They were also greeted by numerous baby Digimon who were brave enough to leave their cradles. Patamon and Hawkmon had pranced away to entertain and play with the little ones. Yolei knelt down to pet them.

"Oh my gosh they're so cute!" she exclaimed.

Elecmon smiled, "Well, they love having new friends to play with that's for sure."

T.K. took a moment to take in his surroundings. It felt like so long ago that he was there. Everything was exactly how he remembered it. The dreamy landscape was decorated with giant baby toys. The soft, quilt-like ground provided a means of bouncing around the Village. The ground was sprinkled with hatched baby Digimon, Digi-eggs, and their cradles.

"So," said Elecmon. "What brings about this visit? Looking for someone? I'm sure you're not just missing me." He laughed.

Biyomon spoke, "I'm looking for my friends." Sora could hear the hope in her voice, which made her smile.

"Any particular Digimon exactly?" Elecmon asked.

T.K. could see the sadness rising in Biyomon's eyes, he didn't want her to relive it by her explaining it again. He answered for her, "The Yokomon village was attacked not too long ago. They were attacked by two Digimon and their humans."

"Humans? Are you serious?" Elecmon looked shocked. T.K. nodded.

"They'd be Nyokimon after they'd hatched" said Sora. "There was a whole lot of them, maybe about 60 or 70? They destroyed almost everyone in the village. Have you had a large amount of Nyokimon hatch?"

A concerned look fell across Elecmon's face. His eyes fell to the ground then to the left, then to the right, as if he was dissecting some puzzle in his head. He let out a sigh before saying, "I..I haven't had that many Nyokimon come through. I think, well, maybe one or two." Elecmon scooped up one of the baby Digimon and held it in his arms. "To be honest...I've only had about 10 Digi-eggs come to me this month.

"But...that's impossible" said Patamon in a confused tone. "There should be way more Digieggs coming in than that."

"Digidestined..." said Elecmon, raising his eyes to the humans. "You are not the first individuals to come to me recently looking for their friends, and with a heavy heart I find I can't help them. They just simply aren't here."

Biyomon spoke, "Elecmon, what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying," he responded, "is that many Digimon recently have come to me looking for their friends or their eggs and they're not here, it's as if their data has just disappeared." He looked down at the baby Digimon and held it a little tighter, as if he were afraid that it would vanish from his arms at a moment's notice. "I'm afraid that there are many Digimon that are not being reborn."

"But," Biyomon started, "that's impossible." She felt the pit of her stomach sink.

Elecmon said, "I didn't think much of it at first. I think mainly because I didn't want to believe it. But instances like this are happening so often. And I feel powerless. I feel helpless. And the fact that there are _that_ many Nyokimon expected and they haven't arrived yet...I...I'm afraid."

For a moment, they were dumbfounded. T.K was lost in his thoughts.

_How can Digimon just not be-reborn? Like, isn't that what they do? _

An idea sparked in his head, "Do you think that this could have anything to do with those kids? I mean, if they're as powerful as Biyomon says they are, they have to be the ones destroying all of those Digimon right? Like what Gennai told us about? Can this be connected as well?"

"You heard about them too then?" asked Elecmon. He gently placed the baby Digimon on the ground. "Go play with the others, the grown ups have to talk." He watched as the baby bounced away. He turned to the Digidestined and their Digimon, he lowered his voice. "Come close," he told them. "There is something that could cause this, but you must keep this information between just us and the other Digidestined. I don't want this information getting into the wrong hands."

"Of course" T.K. reassured him.

Elecmon continued, "There is only one reason I can think of as to why so many Digimon aren't being reborn. It's viewed as a forbidden act, and not many know of it. But when Digimon defeat other Digimon in battle, their particles that you see can be...downloaded by the other Digimon.

"Digimon can absorb other Digimon's data?" asked Yolei.

"Yes," Elecmon answered. "But it is a practice that is universally shunned in the Digital World, you do become exponentially stronger, but once you load their data, that Digimon cannot be reborn until you yourself are destroyed."

"That makes sense," said T.K. "That theory makes sense when you look at how many Digimon are being destroyed and how few eggs there have been."

"It also explains why they are so powerful," said Biyomon in a small voice.

Elecmon continued, "If my theory is true, you have to be very careful. It is very dark, and very powerful Digimon that are able to do this."

Odaiba City Bank

Monday, March 31st

13:45

"I hope that Biyomon feels better after today's trip" Kari said to Tai. "That's really nice of Sora for doing that for her. I'm sure she'll perk up once she sees her friends."

"Yeah." Tai said with strong undertones of distraction. He had hardly heard what Kari had said. His mind raced with questions. As they waited in line at the bank, Kari felt as if her brother wasn't next to her at all.

"Tai," she nudged him. "We'll find them. Don't worry. We'll find out what's going on eventually."

Tai smiled at her, "Well at the rate this line is going we won't be able to look for them 'til we're 80.

Kari laughed, "Yeah, banks are the worst. Thanks for coming with me to deposit my birthday money."

"After that run in you guys had with that nasty Digimon, I don't want to take any chances."

Little did they know, just behind the bank, two of the Dark Digidestineds they were seeking we nestled in an alley way. Under the cover of shadows, they loaded their pistols. It was Katsu's first heist on his own. He wanted everything to be perfect, to go exactly as planned, and he had no qualms with stopping anyone who got in his way.

"Hurry the fuck up Melody, damn." he spoke in an annoyed tone as he rested a black ski mask on his head.

"Chill dude, god damn." His accomplice Melody said as she struggled to get her black turtle-neck sweater on over her tank top. Both of them were now clad in black sweaters and black sweats. Melody was a petite blonde with a heart-shaped face and big, bright blue eyes. She wasn't as in a much of a hurry as her partner-in-crime. "Explain to me why we're doing this again? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm aaaalll about money, but aren't your parents, like, loaded?"

Katsu chuckled and smirked at her with an ornery grin, "Contrary to popular belief Mel, you can never have too much of a good thing." He slammed his magazine into his pistol. "And right now, I want my own fat stack of cash."

Melody rolled her eyes. With a cocky grin, she replied, "Well, imma snatch me some diamonds and look fly as fuck. Boys will be all over me even more than they already are." She pulled her ski mask over her face.

Katsu made a face at her.

"What? I can't help it that everyone wants me" she said, half-joking. She smiled as she tossed her hair back.

Katsu chuckled, "Yeeeah, sure. That's why you're in foster care right?" He exploded with laughter at his own joke.

Melody felt as though she had been punched in the gut. Even though he couldn't clearly see it, a disgusted grimace fell across her face.

"Fuck. _You"_ she sneered as Katsu continued to laugh. "That was a low fucking blow."

Katsu started to compose himself and smiled, "Oh come on, you set yourself up for that one."

She crossed her arms and replied in a smaller voice, "Fuck you."

"Oh come off it. I was joking alright? Can we just go over the plan real quick before we do this?"

She grudgingly nodded.

"Cool. So we'll run from here, go in the front door, and fire a couple of shots. I'll get the money from the vault while you get everyone's stuff. Our Digimon will jump through the side windows and give us back up in case we need it, they're already in position. When we get the cash we'll run out, run to the internet cafe just down the block, transport to the Digital world, and meet at Coela Beach there. Got it?

"Yup"

"Aight, let's roll out."

He pulled his ski mask over his face. With guns in hand and empty gym bags around their shoulders, they sprinted out of the darkness and towards the front doors of the bank. They plowed through them. Before Kari and Tai could even fully turn around to see what the source of the noise was, Katsu had fired two shots into the ceiling. A few of the guests screamed as they ducked.

"Ladiiiiies and gentlemen," Katsu said with a cocky tone. "Ya'll are gonna need to sit down and hand over the money." As as he talked he walked towards the one of the tellers, putting the barrel inches away from her forehead. Her face turned white. "And don't nobody try to play hero." A tight smile grew across his face as he threw his gym bag onto the counter. "Fill 'er up bitch!". The mousy, middle-aged woman shook relentlessly as she tried her best to stuff the money in it as quickly as she could.

Kari and Tai both did just as the other people within the bank and ducked for cover. Tai wrapped his arm around Kari in instinct. He could feel her shaking.

"AY! Did you not hear the man!?" Tai heard a shrill feminine voice. He looked up to find the other gunman pointing her pistol at a younger man who, in terror, had stood frozen in place. "He said to get the fuck on the ground! Are you deaf? Are you retarded?!"

The man slowly raised his arms. His voice shook as he said, "No-no.. I'm s-sorry I.."

"I don't want your fucking apology. I WANT YOU ON THE FUCKING GROUND." Her voice rang throughout the room with an unforgiving screech. She was enjoying their heist much more than she thought she would. The nectar of power was ever so sweet. The young man dropped to the ground. She pulled a smaller bag from the large gym bag around her shoulder. She threw it at him. "Here. Hand over the nice Rollex you got on your wrist." She tossed the larger bag to Katsu. "Here ya go boss." He grabbed it and proceeded to demand that the bank manager to open the other registers and fill the bag.

Melody was busying barking orders of her own as well. "Come on motherfuckers empty your damn wallets." She made her way around the room with the bag as the other occupants reluctantly placed their valuables and cash inside it. "And ladies don't you be sparing that bling either, unless one of you wants a bullet in the face."

"It's going to be fine Kari." Tai whispered to his sister, trying as best he could to calm her. She was shaking uncontrollably. In all of their dangerous adventures together, never in her life had she experienced guns. Tai began to take out his wallet. "Just give them what you have. If everyone cooperates, they'll just go and be on their way."

Kari nodded and began to take out the money in her envelope. Three hundred dollars was a lot to lose, but the lives of her and her brother were worth far more. Melody had made her way over to them, they put their money in the bag. The shimmer of Kari's necklace caught her eye. She cocked her head, "Whatcha got around your neck there huh?"

Kari reached for her neck and grew wide eye. _T.K.'s necklace._

Melody jiggled the bag in Kari's face, "Hand it over."

She couldn't bear the thought of losing it. _He_ had bought it for her. _He_ had it specially made for her. Kari was in no way a materialistic person, but there was something about the necklace that made her feel that she had to fight for it, because it was from _him_.

"N-no" her voice shook. "I can't do that."

Kari could see Melody's eyes squint as the smile erased from her face. "What? Excuse me? Bitch hand over the fucking necklace, unless you want to get blown away." Melody began to feel sick. Denial, from anyone in anyway, was the most gut-wrenching experience that she ever dreaded encountering. It was if every little bit of denial scraped away a part of her soul.

Kari noticed a faint light peeking out from underneath her sweater.

_Is that a Crest?_

Tai noticed Katsu coming out of the vault with a full bag. "Look, you guys have what you want," he told her. His voice was stern. "Just let us go."

Katsu tossed the second bag filled with money by Melody's feet. "What's the problem?"

Melody aimed her gun towards Tai. "Somebody's thinks they can try to play hero. It's a shame, for someone so hot, you really aren't that smart." She winked at him. Tai made a face in confusion. He was taken aback by her complementary insult.

"Hand it over," she demanded as she glared at Kari. "Or he gets it." She pointed her pistol at Tai's forehead.

Kari wanted to cry. Her eyes began to water as she unhooked the clasp of her necklace. She started to hate herself. She was never going to be able to forgive herself for letting the necklace get stolen. But she couldn't take the chance of her hurting Tai. She dropped it into the bag.

"That's what I thought." Melody huffed.

The roar of shattering glass filled the room as a bright light burst its way through the glass of the front doors, which now stood in shards. They snapped their heads towards the noise to find Gatomon standing a few meters away from them. She had charged through the door with her "Lightning Paw" attack. She raised her claws and stood ready to attack. She glared upon Katsu and Melody with a fierce gaze.

"Drop the money and let them go!" She demanded.

A look of shock ran across Melody's face. "Another digimon?" she said. _That must mean one of the other Kids is here._

Katsu let out a heavy laugh. "Kitty cat….you have no idea what you just got yourself into." He whistled. Two of the windows shattered as two animalistic figured jumped through them. They landed on the ground with a heavy stomp of their paws and the ting of glass shards. In attack stance they positioned themselves between Gatomon and their bandit partners. One of them was Commandramon. His lips receded over his fangs as he let out a deep growl. The other had made Kari do a double-take. Her looks mimicked that of Gatomon, but with black fur covering her body instead of white. She still had purple stripes on her tail and purple on the ends of her ears but she had no ring around her tail. Her gloves were blue with red stripes. Her name was Blackgatomon.

Kari gasped, "Tai.." she said to her brother. "..those must be some of the other kids too."

Worry fell upon Tai's face. That had made for at least four of them. It had seemed that new enemies were sprouting everywhere, and right now, he was too helpless to do anything about it.

The Digimons' brief stand off was cut short by younger male that Melody had terrified just a few moments earlier. Out of blind desperation, he pulled at one of the fire alarms along the wall. Bright lights flashed and screeching sirens rang in their ears.

"Damnit!" Katsu shouted.

BlackGatomon sprinted towards Gatomon. "LIGHTNING KICK," she shouted as a fierce kick landed upon Gatomon's chest, sending her flying out the door. Kari shouted after her as the two robbers, Commandramon, and BlackGatomon ran out the door. They sprinted down the block as fast as they could muster with their bags filled with cash. Tai followed after them as Kari went to help Gatomon up off of the ground. She began to open her eyes.

"K-Kari pick me up. We have to go after them." Gatomon pointed towards the other Digidestineds. They were almost out of sight. Kari noticed her brother trailing behind them. She nodded and began to follow Tai with Gatomon in her arms.

Katsu's breath ran shallow and heavy. He was not expecting other Digimon to be there to foil his plans. Anger began to steam off of him. He heard Melody behind him begging for him to wait up. She trailed significantly behind him. But this was every man for himself. There was no way he could ever live it down to his father if he got caught. He and Commandramon finally made it to the Internet Cafe. Katsu swung open the doors. He raised his green and black digivice to a computer screen, the portal appeared.

"Digiport open!" He demanded as he and his partner were then sucked into the screen with a glowing light.

Melody, out of breath, made her way through the doors just as Katsu and Commandramon were sucked into the computer. To her frustration, the portal had closed behind him. She let out an angry grunt as she pushed aside another computer user. She raised her Digivice to their screen, "Digiport open!"

As she and BlackGatomon disappeared, Tai had finally made his way into the cafe. He breathed a heavy "Damnit" as he realized that he was too late. Both of their portals had closed. He slammed his fist on the keyboard in anger.

Now, it is not known for certain exactly how the Digiports work. It is believed that they will open to where a certain area in the Digital world needs help, or open where the Digidestined desires to go. However, if the Digidestined does not entirely focus on where they are headed, they can end up in a place entirely different. While Melody had found herself on Coela Beach, Katsu was not where he had intended to be. His mind, bombarded with anger, caused him to lose focus on where he was headed. Just before entering the Digiport, he began to recount his recent battles and exploits. He was obsessed with the need to be better, to be the strongest, to have everything go perfect. All he could do was obsess over the heist and his recent battles. His mind vered to the battle in the Yokomon Village. He wished he would have let Commandramon finish all of them off.

Katsu began to hear voices as they neared the end of the portal. He was blinded to the shining light of the sun's rays.

"...you have to be very careful. It is very dark, and very powerful Digimon that are able to do this."

T.K. noticed that the T.V. portal was beginning to glow. His eyes squinted as the light stung his pupils. From it emerged Commandramon and Katsu in his black attire and red mask. All of the teens and Digimon stood silent for a brief moment as they gathered their thoughts as to what was happening.

"Oh...shit" Katsu let out as he realized that he was facing three other Digidestineds and their partners.

Biyomon gasped and pointed towards Commandramon, "That's them! Those two attacked me and my village!"

Commandramon quickly grabbed his rifle from behind his back. He aimed it towards them. "M16 ASSASSIN," he shouted as a barrage of bullets came hurtling towards them. They jumped out of the way. Elecmon heard the screams of the baby digimon as they ran as fast as they could from their terrifying attacker.

A green spiral of energy formed in front of Biyomon. She shouted, "SPIRAL TWISTER" as it cascaded down upon Commandramon and Katsu. Commandramon pushed his partner out of the way and received the full blow of the attack. He cried out in pain as the energy burned his skin. The other Digidestined were taken aback by his actions.

Commandramon quickly rose to his feet. A snarl seeped from his throat. He pounced for Biyomon as he knocked her from the air and took her down to the ground. Patamon and Hawkmon followed after him.

A few yards away laid Katsu who had still not recovered from being knocked down. Sora started towards him, "Hey are you alright?" she shouted at him.

T.K. attempted to reach out for her but had missed, "Sora! Get back here! You don't know if he's dangerous or not!"

_Why? Why is she like that?_, he thought.

Much like Kari, the depth of Sora's kindness knew no bounds. But in this moment, it was the source of great irritation for T.K.

Katsu began to get up onto his feet and brushed himself off. Sora was just over an arm's length away when he pulled his pistol out from his waistband on the small of his back. He held it out towards Sora's face. She had stopped dead in her tracks as she stared down the barrel of his pistol. Yolei, Elecmon, and T.K. found themselves unable to breathe.

"That's close enough," Katsu said with a stern face.

"Don't! Please, just leave her be!" Yolei begged.

"If you don't come any closer then you won't have anything to worry about." Katsu told them, his gaze never veering from Sora. "I don't know how we ended up here, but if you just let us leave, then I won't have to hurt any of you."

Sora began to tremble. "W-why?" she began to stutter. "Why are you doing this? Why did you destroy all of those poor Yokomon? Why did you have to hurt Biyomon?"

A brief look of confusion feel across Katsu's face. He looked past them, to the battle that was going on behind them with Commandramon and three other Digimon. He recognized one of them: the pink bird. She was the one that he had spared.

A snicker came across his face, "Ohhh so you're her partner? I have to say I'm super disappointed. Your Digimon is fucking weak. I should have had Commandramon kill her when he had the chance."

T.K.'s jaw clenched tight. It was quite obvious that this other teen had no regard for Digimon life. The language in which he spoke about them made him uneasy. He wanted so much to take Sora out of the path of his pistol.

A small stream of tears began to flow down Sora's cheeks. As she stared down the black and seemingly endless barrel, she grew fearful for her life. She could not believe that this could be her end. She couldn't help but to crave for one more of every warm event in her life. She desired to plant flowers with her mother once more, to hold Biyomon in her arms one last time...to once again feel the soft touch of Matt's lips upon hers.

She had to reason with him. There had to be a way, he was human after all.

"Please, why are you doing this?" Sora's voice cracked as she asked him. "You're a Digidestined. We don't need to be fighting one another. A-are you the ones? Are you the ones who have been destroying Digimon and loading their data?"

Katsu raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Uhhh I'm not sure what the loading data thing is…" He smiled. "But yeah, my brother and I have been the ones destroying all of your Digimon. And it's been really boring actually. I was hopin' ta actually find a challenge for us. But so far everyone's been pretty pathetic."

"How can you say something like that?" Yolei was appalled. "Digimon are real. They feel just like you and me and you just...kill them. Like it's a freaking sport to you!"

Katsu laughed, his gun still aimed at Sora's face. "Yeah but you see, what is the point of living if you can't be better than everyone else? If you can't be stronger than everyone else? I won't have a weakling Digimon. Mine has to be the very best. _I _have to be the very best. And destroying as many Digimon as I can is the one of the ways to get there."

Sora noticed a light shining from underneath his shirt.

T.K. looked behind him. Hawkmon, Patamon, and Biyomon were not faring well against Commandramon. Although their match was three against one, they appeared to be doing little damage to him.

Katsu noticed a rustle close to his feet. About two feet away to his left, behind a rock, hid a cowering Botamon; a baby Digimon who looked like a black cotton ball with cat ears and yellow eyes. It was trembling ferociously.

Katsu smiled and began to lower his gun. "Most of the Digimon that I have come across here are barely even strong enough to deserve the life they have." He snached the Botamon on top of his head with his left hand and rested his pistol into the front hem of his jeans. "Like this little guy right here." The Botamon let out a small squeal as he placed his other hand underneath it.

Elecmon and the Digidestineds grew wide-eyed. Elecmon pleaded to him, "No, please..please! He's..he's just a baby. Please let him go. He can't mean anything to you."

"Actually, you couldn't be more wrong." He began the stroke the terrified Botamon's head. "Every Digimon is important to me." He smirked, "Every Digimon has his place to help me get what I need, even if it might be only a small contribution."

He began to squeeze it between hands, the Botamon let out a small squeal. Katsu continued, "The destruction of the weak will slowly make you stronger." He began to clamp down on the Botamon much harder now. It's squeals of pain made the Digidestined feel ill. Katsu's voice became intense as he looked down at it. "Because if you become powerful no one can ever control you. No one can ever sway you. No one can ever use you. No one can ever manipulate you. And no one, no one, can ever hurt you..." His body shook as his voice trembled "...ever, EVER again." His gaze shifted towards the Digidestineds. "So why would you settle for being a mere mortal...WHEN YOU CAN BE A GOD?!"

The Botamon let out one final scream as Katsu smashed it between his hands. Its body disintegrated into the air. The light grew brighter underneath his shirt. Sora felt tears stream down her cheeks. Never had she ever seen something so vile as a human killing a baby Digimon. The pit of her stomach felt endless. She had given him the benefit of the doubt, toying with the possibility that he was just a lost soul, but now, she saw just how ruthless he really was. Rage boiled in her veins.

"You...you _fucking_ MONSTER!" Anger swept across her face as she began to run towards him. Katsu reached for his gun in the front of his jeans, but Sora was too close for him to fire at her. He managed to raise his pistol and smash the side of her head with the butt of it's handle. Sora instantly fell to the ground in unconsciousness.

Biyomon screamed out Sora's name as she watched her partner fall. Her eyes became white with anger. She felt a great energy building up inside of her. The Digivice on Sora's motionless hip began to glow. Biyomon felt herself start to Digivolve. Out of the light of her Digivolution emerged Birdramon.

But just as quickly as Birdramon finished her Digivolution, still basking in the glory of his kill, Katsu's Digivice began to shine as well. It's light was blinding. He noticed his partner starting to glow and grow.

"Commandramon Digivolve too….Sealsdramon."

Sealsdramon stood about eight feet tall. His entire body was covered in grey and white armor. Two spikes protruded from his shoulders. His body resembled that of a human, but with spiked feet, a tail, and a snout. His full coverage helmet contained one large blue lense and one small red one. As Birdramon charged at him. Sealsdramon did the same and gave her a swift kick to the jaw. She cried out and fell backwards. Patamon Digivolved to Angemon and Hawkmon Digivolved to Aquilamon to assist her in battle. Sealsdramon was incredibly fast. No matter what attack they seemed to throw at him, he always dodged it. He preferred hand-to-hand combat, in which he was mercilessly engaged in them with.

Katsu, too much in awe with the Digimon battle in front of him, was unaware that Yolei had sprinted towards him. Anger filled her as she came closer and closer to him. Sora was one of the Digidestineds that she looked up to the most. She could not tolerate maltreatment of her or any kind.

Just as Katsu saw her out of the corner of his eye she tackled him to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand. She landed on top of him, straddling him. She had no idea what she was planning to do; merely acting on blind, vengeful, impulse. Yolei was overcome the need to hit; to hurt.

"You ASSHOLE!", she raised her fist to punch him but he caught it in his left hand. He twisted her arm with great force. She yelped in pain. He sat up and with her in his lap, he brought back his right fist and struck her in the stomach. Yolei instantly lost her breath as she hunched forward. Katsu pushed her off of him. Still on the ground, he reached for his pistol, but T.K. had picked it up just as he was about to grab it.

He was trembling. T.K.'s thoughts and emotions were racing. He was so enraged about what this bandit had done to Sora that he couldn't help but act on impulse. He was slowly realizing what he was doing. He had never held a gun before, but here he was, finger on the trigger, pointed at someone the same age as he. T.K. saw the weapon shake in his hands.

Katsu got up off of the ground. He put his hands in the air as a sign of defeat, but a smirk emerged on his lips, "What?...You me?"

T.K. couldn't speak. All he could do was shake. It was clear that the kid in front of him was their enemy, but he knew deep within himself that there would be no way that he could ever take someone's life.

Katsu chuckled, "That's what I thought. Look, we both know that you don't have the balls to pull the trigger so lets compromise k?" He slowly began to kneel towards his bag, his left hand still in the air. "I'm going to take this bag," He put it around his shoulders and raised his right hand again. "Then you're going to let me and Sealsdramon be on our way. You know that you're not going to shoot me, and your hot little friend there looks to be in bad shape."

T.K. looked over his shoulder to find that Yolei had gathered herself and held Sora in her arms, trying to nudge her awake. Sora remained unconscious, blood streaming down the right side of her face.

"So," Katsu continued. "Instead of wasting time making our Digimon fight until they pass out, an' you pretending like you're gonna to hurt me, how 'bout we end this? You go back home to the real world, and I make my gettaway, k? Sound good homes?"

T.K. could feel his face tense. There was an intense urge inside of him to make Katsu pay for what he did, but he could not waste time, not with Sora in her current condition. She needed help, and he very much doubted that this would be the last time that they run into him. He would have his chance.

"Birdramon! Angemon! Aquilamon! Stop fighting!" He shouted. All of the Digimon, including Sealsdramon, stopped abruptly.

"T.K. why?" Angemon asked.

T.K.'s gaze and the pistol never faltered from Katsu while he spoke, "Because Sora needs a doctor and we can't waste time with him…..She's more important."

Katsu smiled, "Awww. See pretty boy, I knew you were smart. Who knows, maybe next time we see each other I'll have the privilege of destroying _your_ Digimon." He lowered his hands, "Oh, an' you can keep that gun. I have plenty more of those. Sealsdramon let's go!"

T.K. felt a sudden gush of wind as Sealsdramon lept passed him and grabbed his partner. He made huge leaps into the surrounding forest to make their escape. Within 20 seconds, they were out of eyesight.

Real World: Takaishi Residence

Monday, March 31st

16:00

Yolei, Sora, T.K. and their Digimon had come through the Digital Gate back into T.K.'s room where, a few hours earlier, they had departed for Primary Village in the first place. Joe was the first person to be called. To T.K.'s surprised he actually answered. They couldn't take her to a hospital, for they did not know what they would tell the staff. Thankfully Yolei was able to bandage her up temporarily while T.K. made more calls and waited for Joe. The second person he contacted was Matt, her boyfriend. He was furious. He had arrived even before Joe did. T.K. sent a mass text to everyone else that read:

RUN IN WITH OTHER DIGIDESTINEDS AT PRIMARY VILLAGE. SORA INJURED. COME TO MY HOUSE.

Tai and Kari were the next ones to arrive. While swapping stories, it appeared that the same person who injured Sora, robbed the bank that they were in. It was then that Tai sent out a text for an immediate emergency meeting at T.K.'s and his mother's apartment. All were in attendance, save for Mimi who was still in New York.

"She appears to be alright," Joe said pushing up his glasses. "She has a concussion and I had to give her four stitches on the right side of her forehead...She's lucky, just a little lower and he would have hit her temple." He came out of T.K.'s room. They had left Sora on his bed while Biyomon watched over her. The other Digidestineds and Patamon, Gatomon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Gatomon, and Wormmon all congregated in the open livingroom and kitchen area. They sat in silence. Their fuming anger and confusion brought about a stiff tension to the room.

"So...she's going to be alright?" There was a sense of softness in Matt's tone.

"Yeah, she should be fine. I'm just waiting for her to wake up so I can be for sure. What was it that he hit her with again?" Joe asked.

T.K. had placed the gun in one of the empty drawers in the kitchen when they first arrived back at the apartment. He wasn't sure why he placed it there, he just wanted it out of sight.

T.K. opened the drawer and placed the gun on the counter, "This."

There was a sudden breathlessness around the room.

Matt's expression went stern, "Where did you get that?"

"It was his. He threatened us with it. He...he killed one of the baby Digimon with his bare hands. And then...Sora lost it. She charged after him. He wasn't able to get it out on time shoot her...so he hit her with it instead."

He watched as Matt's jaw and fists clench with rage. He loved Sora immensely and if T.K. knew Matt at all, he knew that he felt like a failure to her by not being able to protect her. T.K. couldn't blame him. He would feel the same way if someone did the same thing to someone he loved. Someone like his brother...or Kari.

"I know this is a lot for us to digest right now," Izzy said, breaking the silence. "But there's something else you all need to see. It's a news segment I caught from earlier today." Izzy opened up his laptop and placed it on the table. He pulled up a video from the local news station. A blonde, make-up caked reporter stared at them with stern eyes.

"And the attacks continue in Tokyo as another student from Kaetsuariake High School was hospitalized late last night," She spoke with a dramatic tone. A picture of a bloody and swollen face of a young man appeared next to her on screen. "Basketball super star Takumi Okada was taken into the ER after a passing citizen found him unconscious on the sidewalk just two blocks from his school. Okada was attacked while walking home from a late night practice. He is being treated for severe bruises, two broken ribs, and multiple lacerations to his arms and torso. He regained consciousness long enough this morning to report that he was apparently jumped by a masked male assailant and well… a 'large pink monster".

The Digidestineds exchanged looks with one another. Biyomon and the Yokomon village were attacked by one of the new children who had a pink Digimon: Arukadhimon. It was likely that they were the ones responsible for this as well.

The reporter continued, "It is unclear at this time if this 'monster' is related to the monster sightings four years ago. But parents of students are highly concerned about the attacks, as Okada has been the fourth victim from Kaetsuariake High School in three months. All four boys report similar descriptions of the assailants. Each one of them were hospitalized as well for similar injuries. Authorities are continuing to investigate."

Izzy paused the video and said, "I think we're all having the same feeling here. I have no doubt that those kids are behind this too."

"This really ups the playing field then," Tai stood and addressed the group. "That high school isn't far from here at all." He ran his hand through his hair. Stress tension began to build up in his shoulders. He exhaled audibly. "We're dealing with something entirely different than what we've ever faced before. No offense to Ken, but we're not just dealing with some power-hungry kids thinking they're in a video game. Their Digimon are incredibly strong and they themselves are incredibly dangerous. They're not just causing violence in the Digital World but here in the Real World as well." He paused. "...It's very apparent that they're willing to kill. Digimon and human alike."

Silence fell across the room once more. They all took side glances at the gun and the computer screen. The depth of the danger that they were currently in had finally hit them full-swing. In facing these enemies, they could really lose their lives.

Davis was the first to speak, "So what do you think our next step should be, Tai?" Although Davis was the leader of the current group, Tai was a veteran at leadership with the Digidestineds. Being from the original group, he was well-seasoned in the aspects of Digital battle. Whenever all seemed lost, the others could never lose faith in the fact that he always pulled through for them, and lead the way out of the darkness.

Tai felt all eyes on him, "We're going to destroy their Digimon."

Concern rang in Kari's eyes as she held Gatomon tight in her arms. Even if these new kids were their enemies how could they do something as terrible as destroy their partners? She could never imagine her life without Gatomon, she bet that those other kids would feel the same way.

"But...but Tai," Kari began. "I-I think that's a little extreme. They're kids just like us. They might be a little rougher but...maybe they just need help. Maybe if we talked to them?"

"No Kari, Tai's right." Davis interjected with a calm voice. It was the first time in a while that she had seen his face so stern; so focused. "These kids are dangerous and if we destroy their Digimon we'll cut off the source of their power."

A disgusted look appeared on T.K.'s face as he added. "Yeah… and it's clear by their actions that they don't deserve to be Digidestineds anyways."

"You all have to be incredibly careful," Tai followed-up. "In the Digital World _and_ the Real World. Until these kids are taken down and their Digimon destroyed they are our Public Enemy number one." He turned towards the younger ones of the group: Davis, Kari, Ken, Yolei, Cody, and T.K. "And it's going to be mainly up to you guys. You all can DNA Digivolve, so you're going to be our strongest line of defense."

Davis nodded in response.

"Guys! Sora's waking up!" Biyomon shouted from T.K.'s room. Matt, Joe, and Tai all rushed into the room while the others waited just outside the doorway.

"Sora?" Joe asked. "Sora can you hear me?" Joe shined a small flashlight into her eyes to check her pupils. Sora squinted, she lightly pushed his hand out of her face.

"Yeah..what..oh god my head." She went to touch her stitched head wound, but Matt had grabbed her hand.

"Easy there," he said to her in a soft voice. "You don't want to touch your stitches. That'll hurt even worse."

"Stitches?" Sora sat in a daze for a few seconds. Then everything came rushing back to her. She was bombarded with the memory of that boy, his gun, and how he killed the baby Digimon. She remembered running towards him, and everything went black. But what had stuck out the most from her memories, was the light from underneath his shirt. The light that burned a deep green from his chest.

"Matt," Sora said weakly, "There was a light. A light under his shirt." Tai and Matt looked at each other in confusion.

She continued, "There was a light under his shirt. It..it reminded me of a crest." She noticed hints of doubt in their expressions. "I'm serious guys. It...it started to glow when he killed that baby Digimon."

"Iiiii think you've just had a rough day." Matt said to her. "Why don't you just rest a little more alright?" Sora huffed at him.

The five youngest of the Digidestineds exchanged glances. Although what Sora "saw" may have seemed farfetched, there was a chance that she could be right.


	7. Brian

_To those who it will most likely not concern,_

_I feel as though I am not really apart of this world. As though I am not here nor ever really were. I feel lost in the midst of this world, barely even noticed by the other players in it. I am a shadow, a reminder of what people fear, what they try their best to avoid. Darkness. My whole world is darkness._

_ This school, these classes, these teachers, these other students, they see me every day yet they know nothing of me. They choose not to see me, or they choose not to see the ones that make my life the hell that it is. _

_ I hate them. I fucking hate them so much for how the make me feel. I hate them for how much they make me hate myself. I am reminded every single day of how worthless I really am. I am told every day at school how much my existence really doesn't matter. _

_ My parents….they don't help. Yes they hear my complaints but never will they ever really listen. Through tears I tell them of the torture I experience from the slurs of my peers to their physical violence. I tell them about it all, at least I used to. But I grew tired and disheartened every time they told me to "Suck it up", to "Be a man"._

_ Be a man. What is it "to be a man"? Is "to be a man" to ignore violence? Is "to be a man" to reciprocate violence? Or is "to be a man" to initiate violence? Perhaps a mixture of all three. I supposed that I have never been a man then, nor will I ever will be._

_They make me want to die._

_I am the happiest for the first few seconds right after waking, when I am still in bliss from my wonderful dreams. Then I am overtaken by a crushing sadness. A sadness seeded deep within my soul that has grown and spawned into this wretched monster. I cannot remember a happy time. In my 15 years of life I cannot remember a time that I genuinely smiled. Perhaps maybe when I was very young, but those times are long forgotten._

_I cry. I cry for the mere feeling of unrelenting sadness. It chokes me every day in a grip I cannot shake. Doctors have no cure, nor pity for someone like me. Pills. I am drowning in pills. I am choking on pills. They are much more willing to shove them down your throat than to actually talk to you, to actually care. And why should they? They get paid whether I am healed or not. My pain is invalid due to my age. Someone my age can't possibly have real troubles, so why even listen to me, right? Why even take my troubled thoughts seriously when a little pill can prescribe me numbness and them a paycheck?_

_I think about death a lot._

_ I want to vomit every morning thinking of school. You kids. You are ruthless. I go out of my fucking way to make sure I talk to no one, to not make eye contact, or offend you in any way, or do anything at all, yet you still find a reason to hurt me. Do you know what it's like to be called "faggot", a "piece of shit", and "nobody" every god damn day? Every moment I speak I'm greeted with a barrage of "Shut the fuck up faggot" or "You're such an ugly fucktard" and "Why don't you just kill yourself?"_

_Maybe I will._

_ Gym class is what I dread the most. Where the athletic stars feel the need to express and reinforce their masochistic prowess. Every "accidental" tripping, every elbow to the gut during basketball, every time my face is slammed into a locker, every time the teacher turns a blind eye...it...it slices me from the inside out. Davis. He's the worst out of all of them, never has he touched me, but never has he said anything. Never did he say anything when his friends decide that they had the right to hurt me. It was quite clear that he is the leader of their pack, his teammates, he could have stopped them, but never says anything._

_There is no value to my existence._

_ I remember one day, after gym class. I nestled myself in the far corner of the locker room, desperately trying my very best to change as fast as possible. Those brief moments in that room are the most terrifying, because they could strike at any moment. And they did. I had made my mistake of looking around in order to gather my things. "What the fuck you lookin at my dick for you fucking queer?!" I couldn't even retort before one of those roid-ed out bros punched me in the gut. I wish I could recount how many there were that hit me, but all I recall is pain and seeing spots. The blows covered my body. My face, slammed into a locker. Until finally, in one glorious instance, it all stopped. Embarrassed, bloody, and defeated, I slumped in pain into the corner. Through the ringing of my ears I could hear their murmurs of "Fucking faggot" as they left. And Davis, fucking Davis, who looked away during the whole thing had the audacity to tell me as he left, "They're going to just keep doing that you know? Maybe you should just change in the bathroom instead." He didn't even look at me. No one ever looks at me. No one wants to admit to seeing my pain._

_In death, all pain is absolved._

_ There is only one person in this school that even acknowledges me. Her name is Yolei. And she is wonderful. She looks at me when I speak, she even smiles at me. Being with her in Computer Club is the only sanctuary I have in this world. Who would have thought I'd actually look forward to something at school? She tells me all the time of how much potential I have, how smart I am. She says I'm the most talented of everyone in that club. But why? Why does she care when so few do? I don't deserve her kindness. I don't deserve her hope._

_And my boyfriend, my sweet, sweet boyfriend. It makes me so upset that I can't be better for you, that I can't be worthy of you. You tell me I'm perfect, you tell me you love me. Please, don't tell me that, you have to be lying. There is no way that a person like me could ever be perfect, that I could ever be worthy of anything. Please, don't tell me you love me, there is no way that I could ever deserve it. A person like me does not deserve anything. You hold me when I cry, you bandage my wounds, you encourage me to speak out against Davis's team mates, and you still talk to me even when I tell you about my desire for death. I don't deserve you. It hurts so much that I can't be as good to you as you are to me. I so much wish that I could, but I am nothing._

_I just take up space in this world._

_ I don't deserve the friend that I've been given. I don't deserve to be a Digidestined, I don't deserve the friend that has been bequeathed upon me. Dobermon, who in the manner of almost a year, has done so much more for me than anyone has. You give me sparks of hope. You give me reasons to stay around. You give me comfort when I need it most. You know when I just need someone to be there, just someone next to me, not saying a word. You come to me when I need help, before I even know I need it. I cry because I don't deserve you either. I don't deserve such a wonderful creature in my life because I am….stupid. I am hopeless. I am a worthless piece of shit and I just don't FUCKING understand why the fuck anyone in their right mind would love me...that is, the few that do. I have no place here. I am disgusting. I am nothing. _

_The weight of this Crest, is now far too heavy._

_I'm not afraid of death anymore._

_I don't want to _be_, anymore._

_Goodbye,_

_Brian Tanaka_


	8. New Girls and Breaking Points

Odaiba High School

Monday, April 7th

07:45

"Ohhhhhh I feel like I'm dyyyingggg." A fatigued Davis wined loudly to T.K. and Kari. He placed his head face down on his desk. Mornings were not things that he particularly enjoyed, even more so if the early morning was for school. They all sat in their Japanese Class classroom waiting for the morning bell to ring.

"You're not the only one Davis." T.K. said to him. He was not able to get much rest the past week. Memories of his standoff with the other Digidestined still ran in his head. He was worried about the future battles that they might encounter with him or the others.

"It's hard to sleep with everything going on." said Kari. "The fact that we haven't seen or heard anything about...the other kids in a week...I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be relieved or nervous."

"Oh," responded Davis. "You're losing sleep over that? I'm just tired cause' I stayed up all night playing video games."

T.K. sighed. _Yep. That's our 'leader' for ya._

"Um...excuse me?"

Davis heard a female voice coming from the doorway. He looked up to see a girl his age. She was wearing the female version of their school uniform; a green skirt with a green long-sleeved shirt. The blue and white collar resembled that of a sailor's uniform. She had on white knee-high socks and blue sneakers. In her uniform she seemed to be of average build. She had auburn hair that stopped in the just at the bottom of her shoulder blades.. Long side-swept bangs nearly overtook part of her face. Her hazel eyes carried a sensual tone to them, in the right light, they almost seemed golden.

_Daaaaang_, Davis thought. _She's cute. I hope she's in this class._

She peered at the class schedule and school map in her hand. It shook slightly. "Oh. I..I'm sorry. Um, is this Japanese class with...Mr. Ito?" Her feminine voice was slightly raspy.

_Score._

T.K. was just about to respond, but Davis quickly interrupted.

"Yeahthisisitareyouhere?" Davis felt like he was vomiting words. He was embarrassed over his lack of composure..

_Damn dude, _T.K. thought. _Keep it together._ _See a new piece of meat for 0.2 seconds and you're already ready to pounce_

"Y-yeah I am…is it cool if I sit here?" she gestured toward the open seat in front of Davis.

To which he responded with, "Yeahsurepleasegoahead!" _UH. What the fuck is wrong with me? I sound like an idiot. _

She sat down in front of him. T.K. smiled at her, "I don't think I've seen you around here before, are you new? I'm T.K. this is Kari and this idiot behind you is Davis." Davis glared at him while T.K. and Kari laughed.

"Umm yeah, I uh..just transferred," she answered as she blew her rabid bangs out of her face. "My name's Kira."

Kira's heart had not stopped pounding from the moment she stepped in the doorway of the classroom. It felt as though it was about to jump out of her chest. Feelings of terror, intrigue, and nervousness hit her all at once as soon as she saw them. She was finally charging head first into enemy territory. She had to be extremely careful not to give away what she was. She gave specific orders for Dorumon not to be around when she was at school or at any extracurriculars. Kira could not take the chance of one of them spotting them together. She was fearful that the consequences of that could be catastrophic.

"It's nice to meet you." Kari said with a friendly smile. "What brings you here?"

It was hard for Kira to believe that these were some of the kids that she had to be fearful of. Thier bright eyes and warm smiles made her feel very welcomed. But Kira knew that she was walking on eggshells. She had to remind herself about their intent to 'take her down'. She had to find more ways to get closer to them, to learn their strengths and weaknesses.

"I uh…" Kira struggled. _Shit why didn't I think up a background story for myself? Oh wait_! "Oh, I switched for the soccer team. I heard this school had a better program. My old school sucked, I wanted to play for a better team."

Davis perked up, "Wait, you play soccer?" _Ok, she totally just got hotter._

She knew she peaked his interest. She had looked into them as much as she could from the school website. Luckily for her, she actually did play soccer, so luring Davis in would be quite easy.

"Yeah I was on the Varsity team at my last school.," Kira said, " It's kind of, pretty much, my life." She laughed.

"That's awesome." said T.K. "Davis and I are on the team here. You should stop by after school sometime soon and try out."

"Yeah" Davis interjected, "Or at least play a game with us for fun." _You know, like, every day, with me, with no clothes...wait, what?_

Kira smiled, "That'd be great." _Hook, line, and sinker._

Their conversation was interrupted as they heard a shrill female voice ring from down the hall. As it ventured closer, Kari couldn't help but notice the eerie familiarity of it.

"Man you can't find shit in this place! Who the fuck designed this school!? Fucking M.C. Escher?"

A short, petite blonde rounded the corner, she too had a class schedule in her hand. She looked a little younger than everyone else in the class. She had a heart shaped face and big blue eyes that were outlined with thick black eyeliner. Her long, platinum blonde hair was in pigtails and blunt bangs laid across her forehead. She wore and a black choker around her neck. Her skirt had been rolled up far above the school-acceptable length. Her clearly non school issued sheer white socks came up to her mid-thigh. She wore bright blue stilettos and large silver hooped earrings.

She leaned into the doorway and half shouted at them, "Hey yo, is this Japanese Class…" She stopped herself. She gasped in excitement upon seeing Kira.

"TITS?!"

Kira cringed. She absolutely hated and despised that nickname more than anything in the world. She raised her eyebrows, "Melody?"

Melody smile and let out a gleeful screech. She ran up and nearly choked her out with an embrace.

"You're in this school too?" She sat down backwards in the open chair in front of Kira, legs spread to where her skirt barely covered. T.K. had to quickly looked away. "No _fucking_ way!" she exclaimed.

"You..you didn't tell me that you were going here." Kira was a little taken aback. As much as she liked Melody and as much as she hung out with her, she was still getting used to when she entered a room. Her presence and aura was much like that of a tornado; loud, disruptive, and attention-grabbing. She noticed several of the other students in the room already looking at Melody. Kira instantly became self conscious. She hated when people stared at them together. She was always jealous of how attractive Melody was. She felt at if their stares were comparing them to one another.

"Well you would knowww if you answered my freaking phone calls ya bitch," Melody fiercely teased her. "I called you, like, three fuckin weeks ago."

"Oh shit," Kira realized that the last night the Melody called her was the night that she had encountered Davis, Kari, the others at the park. She had been so anxious about that incident that she had forgotten to return her call. "Yeah that's right. I'm sorry Mel. What happened to your old school?"

"Those bastards kicked me out!" Melody's voice sounded appalled. "Can you believe that?"

Kira rolled her eyes. _Of course. Why would I have expected anything different?_ "What the hell did you do?"

"Fucking math teacher was being a cunt towards me. And all I did was tell her off. And well, maybe threaten to kick her ass….But she deserved it! The school expelled me cause they were tired of my '_attitude_'. Fuck those guys. I have a great attitude." Melody crossed her arms.

Kira rolled her eyes again. She turned towards the others and gestured towards Melody. "So yeah, this is my friend Melody. She's just _great_ at first impressions."

Melody's eyes lit up as she smiled once more. "What's up?" Her chest felt heavy when she gazed upon Kari. She had not seen her since the bank robbery. It had never occurred to her that she might see one of those people from the bank again. She felt a lump in her throat. She hoped that Kari would not be able to recognize her.

"This is Davis, Kari, and T.K." Kira told her. "They're… _a lot_ like us." She leaned in towards her and raised her eyebrows, hoping that Melody would be able to get the subtle hint she was trying to send her.

Melody nodded her head slightly and raised her eyebrows in response. "Ohhhhhh." Acknowledging that she had understood Kira. "Great. Nice to meet you guys." She forced herself to smile. Seeing the Gatomon at the bank made sense now.

T.K. looked back at Melody. A shimmer around her neck caught his eye. He gasped. Around her neck was Kari's necklace. The day that they had brought Sora back from the Digital World, Kari had told him about how it had been taken from her when the bank was robbed. He felt his blood rush underneath his cheeks as he was overcome by sudden anger.

"Hey, where'd you get that necklace?" There was a harshness to T.K.'s tone. He was taken over by a childish jealousy. He bought that for Kari, only her. No one else was allowed to wear it. He became instantly suspicious of Melody.

Kari gasped as she saw it too, "Hey that looks like the one that was stolen from me!"

Melody reached up for the pendant. She had forgotten that she was wearing it. _Shit shit shit shit shit! They're totally going to find out who I am._

T.K. leaned in towards her, "Have you been to any banks lately?"

Melody became panicked, she felt her temperature rise. "What? I-I don't know what you're talking about. I got this at a pawn shop."

Kira could see the frightened look in Melody's eyes. She wasn't certain what was going on, but she felt as though it was important to help her out.

"Yeah, I was there when she bought it. I needed something so she came with me," Kira lied.

"Yeah but..." T.K. started.

"T.K. maybe we're mistaken," Kari interrupted. She placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "I'm sure there's plenty of others that look like mine." They both knew that that wasn't true, but Kari was not a proponent of conflict. She also found it highly likely that Melody could have bought it at a pawn shop. The thieves could have tried to sell their stolen goods for more money.

T.K. looked at Kari. She saw a look in her eyes as if she was begging for him to just drop it. He quietly groaned and decided to honor her request. _Uh, why does she have to be so damn cute?_

He made himself smile. "Yeah you're right. I'm sorry Melody. I didn't mean to accuse you or anything. That was rude of me." His suspicions did not simmer though.

She instantly felt calmer. "Ayyyyy, don't worry about it." She turned herself around and placed her feet on the chair in front of her and smirked, half laughing. "Can't be too careful. Lots of hoodlums out there ya know."

Although Melody had seemed to be relieved, Kira was not. The tension had made her hold her breath. The anger in T.K's voice when he spoke to Melody, accusing her, it frightened her. She could never trust a face, a personality, that could change so drastically. She had a feeling that T.K. was going to be the most dangerous.

A puzzled look came across Davis's face._ Wait, so, is her nickname 'Tits'? Why would anyone be called…..Ohhhhhhh._

Odaiba High School

Monday, April 7th

15:30

Davis raced towards the locker room as fast as he could. Gym was his absolute favorite subject in school. It irritated how he had to wait all day for last period for him to enjoy it. Not only did it give him the opportunity to show off, he shared the class with three of his teammates from soccer: Kenzu, Marco and Jinji. As he made his way into the locker room he was vociferously greeted by them.

"Yoooo Bro whadddup?" he was greeted with a fist bump from Kenzu.

"Not much, just getting ready to kick your ass in basketball today," He teased as he opened his locker and began to take off his shirt.

"Yeah right you fuckin wish," he responed with a smirk.

"Duuuuude, I was just telling them about those new chicks in our first period!" Marco chimed in. He was sitting on a bench changing into his gym uniform. "Fuckin fine as hell right? That brunette was pretty good looking but I'd fuck the hell outta that blonde."

He noticed his other teammates peaked a sudden interest. Kenzu made a face, "Is he for real Davis or has The Thirst made him blind?" Marco flipped him the bird while everyone else laughed.

"Yeah, I mean I'd say they're both really good looking," said Davis. "The blonde one is named Melody, she's...a little much for me. But the brunette is Kira, she seems really cool, she plays soccer."

"Dude you should have fucking heard him," Marco told their other teammates. "Davis went into fucking derp mode when he tried to talk to her. It's like all his blood went from his brain to his dick."

A roar of laughter overcame them all. Davis felt himself begin to blush, "Shut the fuck up. You guys suck."

Davis saw the door open out of the corner of his eye. Through it emerged Brian. He quickly ran towards the bathroom stalls next to the showers. Davis felt his stomach churn. Ever since the one incident after class, where his teammates had ferociously beat him, he noticed that Brian would dress and undress in the bathroom stalls like he suggested. He hoped that Brian hadn't taken it the wrong way, he was just trying to help him out.

Brian was a slightly shorter compared to everyone else in their grade. He was scrawny to the point where one could say he looked sickly thin. He had a face that always carried a sullen expression that was only accentuated by his sharp cheekbones and angular jawline. He had a mess of greasy black hair upon his head. Davis had never seen him smile.

"I hate that fucking faggot," a vicious look of disgust fell across Marco's face. "I can't believe they still let a fucking queer share our locker room."

Jinji slammed his locker door shut. It made Davis jump. "Yeah, if he was to fucking suck dick like a fucking bitch then he should be put in the girl's locker room."

Davis had not made a single sound. He avoided making eye contact with anyone around him. The way that they talked and they way that they treated his classmate made him uncomfortable. He felt sick. These boys were some of his very good friends, even though their words and actions were soaked in violence. He felt, deep within himself, the need to stand up for Brian, at least a little bit. But he was a coward. He was a coward and he knew it because he knew that he could never muster the courage to stand up to his friends. Resistance against their groupthink could cause devastation to not only their friendship, but their soccer team as well. And besides, he didn't really know Brian at all….so it wasn't really any of his business...right?

The concept of "gay" is one that Davis had never really thought much about. He knew what it was due to passing conversation and media exposure but his views on it he had never really given thought to. He never knew anyone gay and never really interacted with someone of the sort. It was a foreign concept to him. All he knew was that it was natural to some, and taboo to others. He couldn't pinpoint why, but the concept of it did make him a little uneasy, like venturing into a dark basement with only a dim flashlight. You know that everything is most likely normal, but the darkness provides a sense of unknown; a sense that something alarming could be lurking just beside you.

"Yeah you'd think after the fucking beat down we gave him you'd think that fucking faggot wouldn't show his face again," Kenzu spat his words with spite.

Jinji spoke in a low voice, "I think that after class today we beat the fuck out of him again. That fucking queer should know better." The other two boys voiced their agreement with vicious smiles. Davis finished dressing with his back towards him. He clenched his jaw. That was not a sight that he ever wished to see again.

As his teammates walked towards the exit into the gymnasium, Marco slammed his fist onto the stall door that Brian was in. Brian wanted more than anything in that moment to just disappear. He sat on the lid toilet, shaking, waiting for them to leave before he left the safety of the stall. He just wanted them to fo. He jumped when Marco slammed on the door. He wrapped his arms around himself and brought his head to his knees.

_Please. Please just go away. Please just leave me alone. please_. Tears began to stream down his cheeks.

"You better not be wacking it in there you fucking faggot," Marco yelled to him as he smiled darkly.

Kenzu also slapped his hand forcefully against the wooden stall, "Yeah, quit jerkin it to us changing, queer." They all laughed ferociously as they walked away into the gymnasium.

Davis waited until he was sure they were gone. He closed his locker quietly. His body felt ill. He perked his head up to the sound of near silent sobbs. Conflict raged inside of him. He was not brave enough to stand up to his friends, but he felt the need to do something. Davis walked to the stall and quietly knocked on the door. He felt so ashamed that he couldn't even find it in himself to look at it as he knocked.

"Hey, uh… Brian?"

Brian lifted his head up slightly to the sound of Davis's voice.

"Hey uh...look...they're planning on….something real bad again after class…..I-if I were you I wouldn't….just...don't come back into the locker room after class, ok?"

Still carrying a sickly feeling inside of him, he walked into the gym.

Brian wiped his tears on his arms. As much as Davis might have thought he was helping, Brian was more angry with him than anyone else. Physical pain does not hurt nearly as much as the lack of action from those we could say something, but instead choose to stand around and let the violence around them continue. After her changed, he left the stall, placed his school uniform on the floor next to the door and slowly made his way into the gym as well.

Class was just as he expect it would be: hell. Every day he had gym he was constantly staring at the clock, desperately counting down the minutes. He absolutely dreaded days in which they played basketball. In such a fast-paced game where the teacher paid very little attention, it was easy for the other boys to sneak in a quick elbow jab to the gut or chin. He could never keep track of how many times he was tripped. He was entrapped in a game of desperation and spiteful laughter.

At one point he had finally gained control of the ball, as he began to dribble it he had become unaware that Kenzu had placed himself behind him. He shoved him to the ground with glee. Brian felt a sharp pain run up his arm as he landed on his elbow. The room erupted in laughter from his other classmates. The teacher blew the whistle to signal the end of class, ignoring what had happened in front of him.

Brain raced for the locker room door, grabbed his school uniform from the floor by the doorway and ran as fast as he could to the hallway. He felt his eyes begin to water again. It was the same day in and day out. No one could or would do anything to help him. He felt so alone.

Brain quickly glanced behind him down the hall to see if he was being followed. He breathed a sigh of relief to find that he was not. The force of another body had struck the front of him. He fell backwards onto his rump. He looked up to find that the person he had run into was Yolei. Her books and papers scattered everywhere.

"Yolei I'm so sorry." His voice cracked as he tried to choke back his tears. He began to gather up her things for her.

"Aww it's alright. I wasn't really looking either," Had it been any other student in school, Yolei would have given them hell for it. But she had a soft spot for Brian. Yolei wasn't quite sure why, but she always felt the need to be extraordinarily kind to Brian. He was an incredibly sweet, yet sad boy. It was very rare that she saw him smile.

She noticed the tear stains down his cheeks, "Hey, umm..is everything alright?"

He tilted his head away from her, "I'm fine."

Yolei knew that something was wrong, but didn't feel it was appropriate to pry. "Hey are you coming to Computer Club today?" She asked.

Brian let out a quiet groan. _Shit, I completely forgot._ "I..um..I don't think so. I don't feel very well today." They both stood up as he handed her belongings to her. He still could not bring his eyes to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry."

Yolei smiled at him. "Aww that's a shame. We could really use your talent in the programming lesson we have for today."

_Talent? _He thought. _You're wrong. I'm not worth anything._

"But it's alright." She continued. "Go home and get yourself better. We need you and your skills around for future projects. Those other guys are hopeless!" She laughed a girlish laugh.

He finally looked up at her. For a brief moment, her smile made everything around him seem surrene, made his world hurt a little less. She was one of the few people that he encountered that didn't make him feel utterly worthless.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll...I'll see you around."

He bolted for the door and began his race home. He wanted nothing more than to be as far away from that school as possible, to climb into the safety of his bed where only his demons could bother him.

He opened his front door. As usual, his mother sat passed out in front of the blaring television. The Doberman Pinscher with a silver spiked collar laying next to her perked his head up when he saw him. To his parents, he was a dog that Brian had found off of the street. Little did they know, he was a Digimon. His name was Dobermon. He usually had spikes that protruded from the back of his paws and his body was normally the size of a horse, but for the sake of disguise, he had the ability to shrink and to retract his claws. Dobermon ran up to greet Brain, but he had already made his way into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Brian undressed and placed himself under the near-scalding water of the shower.

He sobbed as he curled into a ball on the floor of the tub. He felt weak. He felt pathetic. He did not understand why he could not stop crying. It felt like all he did was cry. He couldn't stop. It felt as though he finally had a chance to release all of the sadness, rage, and emptiness that jabbed inside of him throughout the day. He wished that he could stay in that shower forever. It was as if he was if he was trapped in a deep pocket of the ocean, drowning, fighting with all of his strength to surface. But every time he got closer to the top, the deep-seeded sea monster inside of him would drag him back down.

And he had lost the will to fight it.

He didn't really bother drying off. To him even that seemed pointless. He wrapped a towel around his waist, avoiding the mirror. He did not wish to see a worthless failure staring back at him. Brian made it to his bedroom.

Pills. He had forgotten to take his prescription pills. Pills that made him too numb to care about the pain inside of him. Orange transparent prescription bottles were carelessly spread atop his dresser. They made his world hazy. So many doctors. So many leftovers from so many failed medications. So many failed treatments. Lithium, Zyprexa, Citalopram, Fluoxetine, Escitalopram, Zoloft, Prozac. The near empty and half empty bottles mocked him. He didn't even know what he was on anymore. What was he supposed to take? How many was he supposed to take? One? Two? Seven? He couldn't poured a large pile of a mixture from each bottle into his hand

"Whatever," Brian said to himself as he chucked the handful of his pills down his throat. Perhaps that many could kill him. He didn't know, nor did he care.

Climbing into the bittersweet refuge of his bed and facing the wall, Brian heard his bedroom door open and close. He felt a paw softly touch his back. He knew it was his Digimon partner.

"Brian?" There was a small silence. "Brian, I know you're going to tell me that everything is fine...but...are you alright?"

Brian felt his body tense. He did not want to hurt Dobermon's feelings by not answering, but he knew that if he starting talking, he would begin crying again. He was so tired of crying.

His cellphone vibrated in response to an incoming text message. He looked at the screen to find it was from his boyfriend.

Hey. I haven't heard from you in a bit. I know you're going to say that you're fine but...I just wanted to remind you that I'm here. And I love you. More than anything.

It was as if he and Dobermon had a sixth sense about these things. Brian did his best to fight back tears. _He loves me so much. He's so wonderful and I don't fucking deserve him. _He responded:

I'm sorry. It's been really bad lately. I'm so sorry.

He read the next message:

It's alright. I've told you, you don't have anything to apologize for. We'll get through this together. You'll get better. He promised you would. How about we do something fun to take your mind off things? Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow?...I haven't seen that adorable face in a while :)

Brian's eyes watered. _I don't fucking deserve him._

Yeah, I would like that alot. Thank you baby.

I love you.

I love you too.

Brian took a deep breath. He wrapped his arms around himself. As hard as it was to tell someone about his problems, he could not fight the fact that it did give him a miniscule bit of relief.

"Today was...really hard." He told Dobermon, still facing the wall, barely able to choke back a sob.

Dobermon remained quiet for a moment, "Was it those boys again?"

Brian began to shake as he held himself tighter and tighter. He was losing the battle of holding back the tidal wave. Tears began to seep from his eyes. His chest felt heavy. It was hard to breath. He shook his head 'yes' in affirmation.

Dobermon placed both of his front paws on his bed, "Can I come up there with you?"

Brian nodded again. Dobermon climbed in between Brian and the wall. Brian embraced him without opening his eyes.

"It's alright," Dobermon whispered to him. "You're safe here."

It was then that Brian's body made the decision that it was finally alright, finally safe, to completely break down. Loud sobs filled the room as tears poured from his eyes. He held Dobermon tightly and never wanted to let him go. He was finally able to release all of the hurt inside of him.

"It's alright. You have me," Dobermon told him as Brian buried his head into his chest.

"You will _always_ have me."


	9. Pretty Pretty

Shiokaze Park, Odaiba

Saturday, May 3rd

01:30

The events that had unfolded earlier that month still left Kari unsettled. There were so many questions that no one seemed to have the answers to. There were Digidestineds robbing banks, Digimon's data disappearing; she couldn't wrap her head around it. She kept playing the robbery over and over in her mind. She still recalled the piercing eyes of Blackgatomon. She couldn't sleep. She needed to get up, to think, to just do _something_.

"Kari," said Gatomon looking up at her partner as she carried her in her arms. "Do you think we should be walking around in the park this late at night?"

Kari smiled, "I mean probably not, but I'm not too worried. I do have you, just in case," she saw that Gatomon looked concerned. "I just need to get out of the house."

Gatomon understood. Her mind was plagued by the same questions. She knew that there was no way she'd be getting any sleep at well. "I keep wondering about what's going on too," Gatomon said, "I feel really bad for Biyomon. For all of her friends to just disappear like that...I...I can't imagine."

"Yeah I know," Kari said. "I can't imagine either. I'd be devastated if I lost someone like you, or Tai or even T.K."

Gatomon smirked at her. "T.K. huh?"

"I mean, yeah. He's my best friend."

"Yeah right. Best friend you're head over heels for."

"Oh shut up."

"Are you kidding me? Don't even try to deny it. You talk about him alllllllll the time. He talks about you allllllll the time. It's adorable and annoying. Just fess up to him all ready. Be a man!"

Kari laughed, "You're ridiculous. I mean, yeah I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for him. But, I don't know, we're just like, really close you know? He's my absolute best friend. I wouldn't want to ruin it. It might just make it awkward if he doesn't feel the same way...what if things aren't the same after I ask?"

"Ohhhh my gawwwwwddddd Kariiiiii. Did you not see the was his goofy ass acted around you at your party? Just _ask_ him if he feels the same way. If he doesn't, even though I _know_ he does, you're good enough friends to where it won't effect anything. Just freaking ask him! Quit being a pussy!"

"Wow Gatomon, I'm glad you put it to me so gently."

"Hey, I'm your girl. I'm supposed to push you. If I didn't then you wouldn't try new things. Asking is always better than living with the feeling of 'what if', you know?"

Kari smiled, "Gatomon, you know, I hate it when you make so much sense."

Shiokaze Park, Odaiba

Saturday, May 3rd

01:26

He watched, perched upon a tree as Kari and Gatomon walked through the park. He had been waiting so long for this moment. He was obsessed. He craved for a time to finally get her alone, well, save for her Digimon, in a place secluded.

_See her? _

_See that pretty girl? She wants you_

_Pretty girl._

_Pretty girl wants it._

_Take__. _

_Take__. _

_Take._

_Must always take. _

_Do it. _

_You won't do it._

_Pretty girl. _

_Take her. _

_Do it._

_You won't._

A smile came across his face as the voices within his mind danced. His eyes were a very dull brown, as if they contained a certain emptiness to them. He was of average build. He had shaggy blonde hair, which was shaved on the sides. Matted bangs covered most of his right eye with a black headband resting on his forehead. He wore ripped blue jeans and a white tank top under a tattered dark brown bomber jacket.

"MadLeomon," he said.

From the shadows emerged his partner, MadLeomon. He was a lion-type Digimon who walked on his hind legs. His long arms nearly touched the ground. His slouched figure was covered in dark purple fur. A massive black mane nearly engulfed his glowing red eyes. He wore black pants with a skull belt buckle. Black leather armbands encircled his arms from his wrists up to his elbows. Long violet claws protruded from his toes and fingers and grey spikes rested on his shoulders.

The boy continued to smile as he stared at Kari, "Keep kitty at bay so master can play." He leaped from his perch and slowly made his way out of the trees and out of shadows. With hands in his pockets, he walked towards Kari and Gatomon. He heard them talking.

"….ways better than living with the feeling of 'what if', you know?

"Gatomon, you know, I hate it when you make so much sense."

Kari was startled when she heard a cat-calling whistle. She looked up to see a blonde-haired boy, about her age, walking up to her. His appearance was disheveled. He gave her an incredibly uneasy feeling.

"Shit babe. You're fuckin fine. Wanna party tonight?" he smirked as he winked at her.

Gatomon gave him a piercing gaze. Kari just gave a nervous laugh, "Sorry. I'm..uhh late for an appointment." She had no idea what she was saying. She just wanted to go, to be away from this seedy figure.

The boy stepped out in front of her path, a couple meters out. "Come on baby," he said. "Why don't you give me a smile?"

Gatomon started to growl. The air of the situation changed drastically. Kari had no idea what was wrong with her, he had froze her with fear. She wanted so badly to just run away from him, to be safe at home in her bed. She wished that T.K. was here to protect her.

Kari shook ever so slightly. In a desperate attempt to muster up what courage she could find, she put on a stern expression and her voice trembled as she told him, "I don't owe you anything."

"Adorable." his smile curled into a wicked one. "You know...you look so _fuckable_ when you're scared."

Kari felt her stomach drop as she struggled to catch her breath. Gatomon jump from her arms and onto the ground between them. She emitted a snarling hiss. All of her fur stood on end. "And _you_ need to back the fuck off! Right. NOW."

"Awww you have a kitty cat. Cute," he laughed. "Mine's bigger."

Amidst the cluster of trees shown two glowing red eyes. Kari jumped. She saw a terrifying creature emerge from the shadows and form around the eyes. He looked like a Leomon, but she could tell that he contained a much darker spirit. She looked at him in horror. He towered about four feet over them as he stood behind his partner.

"MadLeomon," said the boy. "Take care of Gatomon."

MadLeomon let at deep roar as he rose his clawed paw to swipe at them.

"LIGHTNING PAW," Gatomon shouted as jumped towards him, striking him in the face with her claws. MadLeomon swatted at her with his other arm, sending her tiny body flying about fifty feet. He pounced after her.

Before Kari could cry out to her partner the boy had grabbed her by the throat, pulling her, and slamming her against the nearest tree. Before she could call for help, he had removed his hand from her throat and smashed it against her mouth, silencing her.

"Listen to me," he reached his other hand into his pocket, pulling out a switchblade. "If you yell, I will slit your pretty pretty throat. You understand?"

Wide-eyed, Kari violently shook her head in affirmation as best she could. His skin was oily. She could see specks of dirt upon his hands, neck, and cheeks. A faint brown ring of sweat and grime had formed around the white collar of his tank top. His hair held in place by an accumulation of grease. He looked as if he had not bathed in a week. The smell emitted from his jacket was almost unbearable. It made it hard for her to breathe.

He smiled, "Good." He removed the hand from her mouth, but just as quickly, had the other press the blade against her neck. There was a certain aspect of chaos in his eyes. She noticed how his head shook slightly, as if his neck struggled to to keep it in place. His head kinked to the left for a brief moment, causing his left eye to squint slightly and the left corner of his mouth to raise. A quick, but very noticeable tick. "Now, why don't you tell me your name?"

She struggled to release her words, "K-Kari."

"What a pretty name Kari. I'm Blake." His breath made her gag. He began to twirl a strand of her hair. Kari winced. "You know, I've been waiting for this. I've watched you."

Kari heard Gatomon call out for her, but MadLeomon had engaged her once more. She needed her help to Digivolve. Kari strained to look over at her struggling partner.

"Ah, ah, ah," Blake scorned as he slightly put more pressure on the blade. "You look at me ok? You only look at me the whole time, if you don't..." he smiled again. "I'll kill you."

Kari's body ran cold. She felt her eyes start to water. He began to run his finger down her shoulder, over her breast, down her stomach, and ever so slowly, down the front of her shorts while saying, "Why's such a pretty girl out in the dark all alone. You're just asking for trouble." His face came within inches of hers. Again, she noticed his tick.

Kari felt a sickening feeling come across her. This only happened in movies. In horror stories. On the news. But not here. Not her.

_Please, no. _She thought as tears began to stream down her face.

"Mmmmm," Blake said, "You're sexy when you cry. Come, cry more for me."

She felt his hand slowing move up underneath her shirt. She felt his hand cup and squeeze her breast.

She began to sob. "Please...Please don't...Please, just let me go" She felt his fingers move underneath the top of her bra, brushing over her nipple.

"Oh, you're precious," he mocked. "But, you see, I'm not satisfied yet." His hand inched back down underneath her shirt until his finger finally rested on the top hem of her shorts, just above her hip, pulling them down slightly.

Kari's stomach felt like a rancid cesspool. Her heart raced. She felt numb with terror.

"Why..why are you doing this?" He asked. "Have you lost your mind? You're...You're a..a Digidestined. You should be helping people."

Blake gave a maniacal laugh, "Yes, actually it's funny you should ask because, well, you see, I have lost my mind."

Pretty Pretty.

Pretty Pretty likes you.

Time's almost up.

Do it. Be a fucking man.

Just do it. She's waiting on you.

SHow that bitch who's boss.

She needs it. She wants it.

Time

Time is ticking. Do it.

Pretty pretty.

Time's up.

Fuck her.

Kari noticed a light shining underneath his shirt. She was taken aback by it. The light reminded her of the Crests that they used to have. She had seen the same kind of light underneath the sweater of the robber at the bank. She recalled Sora seeing a light from her attacker as well. Could Sora have been right about the Crests?

She looked back up at him, "Please. You're a Digidestined." She cried uncontrollably, "Please...please. Please don't do this. I'll give you whatever you want."

Blake tilted his head in amusement, "But you see," he placed his free hand, with a death grip, upon on her hip. "All I want is you, pretty, pretty."

Kari choked on her sobs.

"Now," he looked her down and up. "Why don't you take off that pretty shirt for me?"

Odaiba High School - Outdoor Basketball Courts

Saturday, May 3rd

00:45

"Not fair T.Q. that's an illegal block!" Davis whined.

"What?" laughed T.K. "Come on Davis just because I'm better than you at basketball doesn't mean you have to make up stupid calls out of jealousy."

"You're an ass bro," Davis responded.

Davis and T.K. had decided that night to blow off steam on the court. They too had needed time away from their troubled minds. Although they always seemed to try to one-up one another in any activity they did, Davis and T.K. had actually grown to become good friends, despite their drastically different personalities.

Davis began to dribble the ball. T.K. took his stance to counter his movements. T.K. said, "I think you're just afraid of getting beat. Again."

Davis darted to his left and faked T.K. out with a bluff shot. His body moved left and right as he went back to a dribble. Davis smirked and said, "See I think you're just worried that I'm going to get soooo good and soooo impressive that Kari is going to start liking me instead."

T.K. chuckled and rolled his eyes as he responded, "Oh my god."

Davis used this distraction as an opportunity to dart past T.K. Quickly rushing down the court and shooting the ball into the basket with an ever-so-satisfying 'swish'.

Davis laughed in triumph, "Hell yeeeaaahhhh!" He picked up the ball and passed it to T.K. "Your turn dude, now don't cry from this beat down you're about to get."

T.K. shook his head. He took his stance and began to dribble "Too bad your big mouth doesn't make up for the fact that I'm like ten points ahead of you." His mind paused for a moment as he recalled what Davis had just said. "Wait. What do you mean 'instead'?"

Davis looked confused, "What?"

"About Kari. What do you mean by 'like you 'instead'?"

"Dude. You serious? You mean you can't see it? Jesus and they say I'm the idiot."

Davis had always battled against T.K. for Kari's affection. He still tried to impress her endlessly and the fact that T.K was able to buy such a perfect birthday present for her, made him rage with jealousy. But he realized that his jealousy just came from pride. He just hated taking the ego bruising of being told 'No'. He toyed with the thought that maybe his attraction to her was just a 'skin-deep' one. He realized that her and T.K.'s bond as being two of the original Digidestineds created a deep type of relationship that Davis could never replicate, no matter how hard he tried.

"Naw," T.K. responded. "You're still the idiot." T.K. dashed to his right and ran for the hoop. Davis sprinted right after him. T.K. jumped and shot at the basket, but Davis jumped and knocked the ball out of the air.

"WOOOOO! How you like me now bitch!?", he mocked.

The ball had bounced outside the court and started to roll out onto the sidewalk. Davis was about to go after it when a runner passing by picked it up. She started walking towards them.

It was Kira. He didn't notice her at first without her school uniform. She wore white running shoes with a bright pink headband and shorts. Peeping out from the top of her black tank top were traces of a bright pink sports bra. He couldn't help but notice the glimmer of sweat as it ran down her chest into her, generous, amount of cleavage.

_Daaamn._

Davis felt his stomach flutter, "Oh h-hey Kira. What's up?" He noticeably struggled to maintain his machoism.

Now, Davis never really considered himself to have a type. He just found himself attracted to whatever seemed "skinny" or "pretty". He had been with a few girls like that in school, and had always had a crush on Kari. But he could never really define what he liked, just a cookie-cutter definition. But there was just something about girls in athletic gear that drove him insane. He couldn't help but gawk anytime he saw a runner pass by.

"H-Hey. Hey guys," she said trying to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her free hand and took a moment to look around, "Ummm, are you guys are playing basketball? By yourselves? At like, one in the morning?"

T.K. laughed, "Yeah I know it's weird, but we just needed to blow off some steam."

"Well I would say," Davis playfully sneered, "that running at one in the morning is weird." _Oh god. What the hell was that? Was that supposed to be smooth? What the fuck is wrong with me?, _he thought.

Kira chuckled, "Yeah I guess you're right….Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to want another player would you?" She decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try to obtain some intel on them.

T.K. said to her, "Yeah, sure, I don't mi…"

"Woah woah woah," Davis interrupted. "Sorry but you see we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, this is kind of a man's game we're playing."

Kira smirked and raised her eyebrows, "A man's game huh? Too bad the only 'man' I see here is T.K."

T.K. laughed. Davis was taken aback.

"Tell you what," she said as she forcefully passed the ball to Davis, nearly knocking the wind out of him as it hit him in the chest. "I bet that I can beat you guys two to one."

"I'm down." T.K. said.

"Alright," agreed Davis, "But the lose_rrr_ has to by the winner_sss _pizza tonight." Insinuating that she was, in fact, going to lose.

"You're on" she chortled. "I'll even let you guys have the ball first."

They took their stances in the center of the court. T.K. began dribbling as Kira faced him, ready to block. He took a few quick steps, faked her out with a shot and passed it to Davis. Kira darted after him. Davis ran and jumped to make the shot but Kira knocked it out of his hands and rebound the ball. She made her way down the court and Davis darted after her. She stopped to shoot, Davis attempted to block it but was just a second too slow. The ball whisked its way into the basket and rolled out of the court.

"Yes!" Kira exclaimed. Unbeknownst to her, Patamon and Demiveemon had been watching them from the trees, just out of sight. They snuck over to hide into the boys' gym bags to watch them play. Demiveemon, being the same level of hot-headedness as his partner, contained the same level of rabid competitiveness. As hard as he tried to refrain from voicing his disappointment, he failed.

"DAVIS. Quit sucking!" he yelled with a squeaky voice.

Over Kira's shoulder, Davis gave Demiveemon a death glare to signal him back into hiding.

"What was tha-" Kira began as she started to look over her shoulder.

"Nothing!" interrupted Davis. "Go get the ball, you threw it." She gave him a dirty look, then went after the ball. This gave Patamon enough time to stuff Demiveemon back into the bag and give him a hushed "Shut up".

Davis very much appreciated the view as Kira went after the ball. Her body was thicker than most girls in their grade, but in no way did she mean she was unattractive. Her breasts we larger than average. Her stomach reflected more of a barrel shape, so the curve of her waist rester higher on her torso. She had strong athletic quads and calves. Her rear had reflected the result of routine running, so much so that a small amount peeked out of the bottom of her shorts. Davis couldn't help but stare as she bent over to get the ball.

T.K. elbowed him in the side and smiled. He whispered to him, "Damn, close your mouth dude you're gonna drool on yourself." Davis gave him a squinting glare.

Kira felt eyes on her._ Is he checking me out? No there's no way, he's way too hot. _She smiled to herself. _Well, I mean, if he is, then I could use it to my advantage to get closer, right_?... _Naw, there's no way he'd say yes._

T.K. had moved to start another round. Kira held out the ball in her hands. When Davis grabbed a hold of it, she used it to pull him in closer.

"Hey, how about we make this more interesting?" she asked him.

"How's that?" he asked.

"Just between the two of us, the person who scores the least amount of three pointers..." Kira began to smile, "has to take the other person out. On a date."

_Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. What the hell did I just say? Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Please kill me. He's gonna say no. I'm so embarrassing. Oh god. Oh god. _She thought.

Davis was at a loss for words. He had never had a girl be so..up front with him before. He decided that he kind of liked it. It was refreshing. He smiled, "You're on."

"Great!", she said. As she began to walk away, with a smug expression she continued, "I like sushi."

_Holy shit. _She thought to herself, _Where did all of this confidence come from? Spy Kira is bad ass!_

T.K. was glad that Kira had asked to play with them. Davis needed someone to battle out cockiness with. He needed some type of spitfire to put him in his place.

As they played, the boys had realized how much that they initially underestimated her skills. T.K. still carried his and Davis's team but Kira, all on her own, was still beating them. The more that they played, T.K. noticed the more playfully intense her and Davis became with one another. They made playfully sarcastic remarks towards one another's performances, laughed just a little too much, barely took their eyes off one another, T.K. slowly got the ball passed to him less and less, and eventually T.K. was fairly certain that he could have just walked home and neither of them would have noticed.

Kira was dribbling the ball, facing away from the basket. Davis's body was pressed close to her backside in preparation for if she should turn around to shoot. But their bodies were much closer than normal player's would be. Kira could feel the butterflies slowing rising in her stomach as she felt the heat of his body against her's. Davis couldn't help but feel his stomach flutter as well, even if they were just playing basketball, he was still getting very sweaty with and rubbing up against a very pretty girl. A very pretty girl who was very good at sports.

_God that's hot._

A sudden fear swept him.

_Oh god. Please don't get a boner. Please don't get a boner. Please don't get a boner. Please don't get a boner._

"Figured you would have gotten tired of seeing running circles around you by now," she teased him.

Davis decided to take a sudden leap of faith, "I don't know," He smiled and very lightly placed a hand on her hip. The brushing of his fingertips gave her chills. "I don't mind watching if it's someone sexy," he said just loud enough for only her to hear.

Knowing he was distracted, Kira seized the opportunity to spin out of range and shoot, making the ball into the basket.

"Aw maaaan!" Davis playfully whined. "Not fair! You distracted me."

Kira smiled, "Wait so what score are we playing to anyways? Not that it matters 'cause I'm still way ahead and always will be." She turned to look at Davis and poked him in the chest, "And I do believe I'm ohhh, I don't know, three three-pointers ahead of you."

Davis snorted, "Yeah, you can keep talking shit, but we're playing until we drop!"

T.K. went to retort. It's not that he didn't enjoy a good game of basketball, he did. He just didn't really care for playing all night long, barely getting the ball passed to him, barely being able to run at all...watching them grind against one another.

"Yeeeah," T.K. said. "I'm not about being out here forever Davis."

Before Davis could respond, his and T.K.'s Digivices, which rested on top of their belongings, began to emit a loud, wrenching alarm, just like when Sora's Digivice had gone off. They immediately bolted towards them. Like that on Izzy's computer, a feminine, robotic voice began to blare from them, saying, "HIKARI KAMIA. DISTRESS. SIGNAL...HIKARI KAMIA. DISTRESS. SIGNAL...HIKARI KAMIA. DISTRESS…"

T.K.'s face lost all color as he felt his stomach drop. "Kari's in trouble! We have to go!", he shouted to Davis as he gathered his bag and began to bolt away. Davis silenced the alarm on his Digivice, but the screen still flashed red. He quickly threw his gym bag strap over his shoulder.

"Sorry we have to go!" he shouted towards Kira as he ran off.

"Wait!" She called out after them, "Is everything ok?" But they were already sprinting away. She recognized what they carried in their hands: Digivices. They looked almost exactly like hers. But she was curious as to why they alarmed and why they signaled that Kari was in distress.

She waited until the boys were just out of her sight line,

"Dorumon," she called. His furry body jumped out of the shadows and landed next to her. "Digivolve. We have to follow them."

He nodded his head in affirmation. Kira's digivice began to glow. As Dorumon's body became engulfed in light she saw it transform.

"Dorumon Digivolve too….Dorugamon"

Dorugamon strongly resembled Dorumon but he was much larger, standing at about eight feet. His wings and claws were greatly expanded as well. Kira hopped on his back. At a safe distance, they began following Davis and T.K.

"T.K where are you going?" Davis shouted after him. He was able to pull on his shoulder to get him to stop running.

T.K. was nearly breathless "To her house maybe? I don't know, I just know I have to move." His body had taken over before his mind could respond. The thought of Kari being in danger had suppressed any rational reasoning, he just knew that he had to act. He finally stopped to collect his thoughts.

"T.K. I should Digivolve. We can get a better view higher up and I can go faster." Patamon said to him, poking his head out of his gym bag.

"You're right" T.K. said, pulling out his Digivice.

"You too," said Davis as he opened his bag in order for Demiveemon to hop out.

Patamon Armor Digivolved to Pegasusmon and Demiveemon Digivolved into ExVeemon. The boys jumped onto their partner's backs. T.K. pulled out his cell phone. He needed to get a hold of Izzy so he could pull up the location program on his computer. He desperately hoped that he could.

_Pick up the damn phone Izzy,_ He thought. Just before the call went to voicemail, he answered. "Izzy where…" he began to say but Izzy interrupted

"Shiokaze Park!" he shouted. "She's in the North end. In the wooded area!" Izzy already knew what they were calling for. The signal had struck him out of his slumber. As he was groggily trying to silence the alarm and open the program, he was already beginning to get calls from the other Digidestined, one of which was T.K. "I'll send a message to everyone else, JUST GO."

T.K. hung up the phone and barked orders for the Digimon to speed towards the park. It was about a fifteen minute walk from the basketball courts, they could fly there in three to five. Their phones began to receive an exceeding number of phone calls and text messages as well. With T.K being too preoccupied with his worry of Kari, Davis decided to answer is phone. The current person calling was Tai.

"Tai!" exclaimed Davis. "She's in Shiokaze Park. We're headed there now on Pegasusmon and ExVeemon. We'll be there soon. I can see it!"

"I'm on the road now." said Tai. He was currently in route from his apartment just next to his university, driving as fast as he could manage, "I'll be there in fifteen. Please hurry!"

Shiokaze Park, Odaiba

Saturday, May 3rd

01:30

"Leave her alone!" Gatomon shouted as she brought herself up onto her feet. It tore her apart to see her partner held at knife point and not be able to do anything about it. MadLeomon was too strong for her. She stood no chance against him. Every blow from him slowly diminished her strength.

He roared. Gatomon looked at him in horror. He brought up his fist. A great fiery light surrounded it and formed into a head of a rabid lion. He shouted, "BEAST BLASTER."

Gatomon screamed as the force hit her. The attack had brought her to the ground once more. It left her unable to move. A wicked smile grew upon MadLeomon's face, revealing his razored teeth. He brought his great hand down upon her, crushing her. He brought his head close to her. Gatomon nearly choked on his rancid stench. The feel of his hot breath made her heart race with fear. She felt his warm drool drip upon her face.

He spoke in a deep, grumbled voice, "Now...kitty...watch." He turned his head towards Blake and Kari. Gatomon strained as best she could to look over. Tears flooded her eyes as she watched as Kari sobbed, taking off her shirt.

"Kari…", she choked. "No..please no." She could barely speak under the force of MadLeomon's arm.

Kari began to cry harder and she raised her shirt over her head, revealing a pink cotton bra.

She felt dirty. She felt exposed and disgusting. She hoped that this would be a nightmare, that she would wake up at any moment in her warm bed. But deep down she knew that it was all too real.

_Oh my god, this is happening. Please no. Not like this. Please._

She felt the tears rapidly stream down her cheeks as she dropped her shirt next to her.

"Such a good girl," Blake said.

Taking off her shirt had required Blake to take the switchblade away from her neck.

_My Digivice_, she thought.

She quickly reached into her front pocket. She was almost able to pull it all the way out, but Blake grabbed her wrist, and felt a sharp piece of metal on her neck once more. He pushed her hard against the tree, the scratching bark felt strange against her nearly-bare back. Blake grabbed the Digivice from her hand and tossed it aside.

"Now that," he said. "Is a good way to get me angry. And I'm not very gentle when I'm angry. Since I can't trust you...I'll just have to undress you myself." His tick was harsher this time as his sadistic smile turned into an angry snarl.

Kari closed her eyes. As childish as it sounded, she hoped that maybe, just maybe, making the world disappear, would make her disappear. She didn't want to be all the way aware of what was happening and what was going to happen to her.

"No!" Blake scolded, pressing the blade harder against her neck, creating a small cut. She saw this anger grow drastically with another harsh ticks. "No, you look at ME. You, you look this time. Look. Look at me. No, no wander," he struggled to enunciate his thoughts. He was losing control of them again. "Make you see. I'll make you see. Wanderer can't see. Pretty see. Seee. ARHH." His frustration became visible.

Kari's confusion grew with her fear. He did not appear to be of sound mind. "What?" she asked him, pleading. "Please I...I don't understand what you're saying."

Blake growled loudly. His hateful and angered gaze appeared to look at her and past her all at once. He shouted, "Shut up! ALL OF YOU!"

Kari wanted nothing more in that instant than to die. She wished that some mystical force would strike her down, anything that would take her away from this place.

Blake shut his eyes tight, and when he opened them he was overtaken by an expression of sadistic enjoyment. His low whisper of, "Prettyyyyy. Prettyyyyy" made Kari feel sickly violated. Blake, with one hand, unzipped the front of her jean shorts.

"Please…" she pleaded one more time. He grabbed at the waistband.

"EQUUS BEAM." A great beam of green light from Pegasusmon's forehead struck MadLeomon, causing him to fall backwards.

Blake turned to see what was happening to his partner.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER!" Blake was taken by surprise as T.K. tackled him to the ground, causing him to drop his knife. Blake didn't even have a chance to recover from the impact before he began to feel T.K.'s fist upon his face.

"Kari are you..." Davis choked on his words as he saw Kari in her state. A sickness spiked through him as he watched he slide down onto the ground, covering her exposed self. Thoughts raced as his mind became filled with his unanswered questions of what that boy did, or didn't to to her. Along with her shirt being off, he noticed her shorts were unzipped. It was very apparent to him as to what he was _trying_ to do. Davis knelt down next to her and place his hand gently on her shoulder. "Kari... are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

She quickly grabbed her shirt, put it back on, and hurriedly zipped up her shorts. She said to him, "No..no he didn't. I'm fine. How did you find me?"

"Your Digivice sent out a distress signal to ours" he said.

Just after Kari and Davis stood up, Kira and Dorugamon arrived close to the scene. They observed from a safe distance, just out of sight.

"V-LAZER." A giant glowing "X" emerged from ExVeemon's chest and struck MadLeomon. He wiped his paws at them, snapped his jaws at them, thrashing about like a wild beast.

Blood began to collect on T.K.'s had with every blow that struck Blake. As Blake lay flat on his back, T.K. straddled him over his chest, striking him in the face. He was enraged. A primal madness took over him. He wanted nothing more than to hurt him. He had no detailed idea of what he did to Kari, all he knew what that he wanted him to feel pain.

Blake was able to gain enough thought to jab T.K. with a quick hook to his ribs. T.K. flinched in pain. Blake grabbed T.K.'s hair and smashed his forehead against T.K.'s nose. As he yelped and grabbed his nose, Blake pushed him off and scurried to his feet. He ran for the blade that was knocked out of his hands, putting a few meters of space between him and the others.

Kari cried out for T.K. She ran to him and helped him to his feet, blood ran from his nose.

Blake's face however, was in a far worse state. His lower lip and right eye were already starting to swell. Blood poured from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

"Not cool," Blake said as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Didn't anyone tell you? You don't cock block."

"I will kill you." T.K. growled. The rage upon his face frightened Kari. There was such hate in his eyes that she could hardly recognize him. Just as T.K. was about to try to charge at him, Blake held out his switchblade.

"Not if you want to get stuck, punk." Blake said.

Gatomon, with all the energy that she could muster, jumped between him and T.K. A snarl emerged from her lips, "You're done here. You're not going to hurt anyone anymore."

A bright pink light shown from Kari's Digivice. Gatomon was engulfed in the same light as she Digivolved into Angewomon. She took her bow in hand and created a shining arrow of pink and white light, aiming right at Blake's chest.

He emitted a wild laugh, "We underestimated you guys." He chuckled and spat out a wad of blood from his mouth. "Well, I give. One slut isn't worth such trouble." He brushed back his hair as he brought his gaze to Kari. "Kari, baby, so sorry we couldn't…." He had to pause for his tick, then smiled, "consummate our friendship."

Kari felt T.K. tense up as his fists curled even tighter.

"MadLeomon!" Blake shouted. "Let's go!" MadLeomon broke away from his fight with Pegasusmon and ExVeemon. He jumped towards his partner, picked him up in his arms and began to leap away, gliding over trees with each bound.

They watched as Blake and MadLeomon disappeared into the darkness. Kari was overtaken by a crushing hug from T.K. "Are you ok? We were so worried."

She reciprocated T.K.'s embrace, "I'm ok. I promise." She released him and looked back at Davis, "Thank you, thank you both. If you hadn't of come...I…"

Kari stopped when she saw Angewomon collapse. She had suffered so much in her battle that she had reverted back to her Salamon state. Kari scooped up her unconscious friend.

"I just…" she said, bringing in Salamon closer. "I just want to go home." The boys agreed. Davis hopped on top of ExVeemon while Kari and T.K. climbed on Pegasusmon's back.

Kira's eyes widened from the battle they had just took take place. "Holy...shit."

As they hovered in the air, Dorugamon looked back slightly at his partner. "I...I don't know what to say….It-it seemed like they were going to kill him.

Kira let out a shaky breath, "We have to warn the others."

On their flight back to Kari's apartment, Davis was the first to break the silence. "Hey Kari, so..uhh… do you know who that guy was?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk about it Davis." T.K. snarled as he glared at him.

"No, it's ok." Kari said, "People are going to ask me anyways. I'm sure everyone got the signal right?"

Davis pulled out his phone. That had reminded him to message everyone to let them know Kari was safe and that they were taking him home. Tai would be the one to want to know the most.

She continued, "He said that his name was Blake. Gatomon and I were just walking through the park and he came up and started saying rude things to me. Then MadLeomon appeared and starting fighting with Gatomon. He...he made me take off my shirt."

T.K. could hear her voice crack. "Did he...he didn't…" he wasn't sure how to ask her.

"No" she responded affirmatively. "He made me do that and...touched my breast but..but nothing else happened."

T.K. felt his face and shoulders turn red from the boiling blood that rested beneath his skin. The thought of someone touching her, against her will, made him wish that he could tear him apart. He felt like a failure to her. Nightmarish scenarios played in his head as to what could have happened if he was just a few minutes too late. The taste of bile grew in his mouth as he blamed himself for not being there to protect her. He felt a hand softly squeeze his shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself T.K." Kari said. After all of these years together, she could almost always tell what was on his mind. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have been out there."

"No freaking way!" Davis scorned her, "Don't you dare put this on yourself! Those were _his_ actions. _His_ decisions. There is no one else here to blame but him. You got that? Don't you _ever_ say that something like this was your fault."

Kari smiled. She nuzzled against T.K.'s back, "I don't know how I got so lucky as to have you guys as friends."

Davis smirked, "Ah well. The universe decided that you were special enough to be gifted with my presence." Davis had put on his typical personality. He hoped that by adding some normalcy to their situation, maybe he could help take Kari's mind off of what just happened.

She laughed, "Yeah that's what it is Davis, I'm sure." Kari was suddenly struck by a detail she had left out. "Hey you guys, there was something I noticed about Blake. Underneath his shirt, I saw something glowing. There was something around his neck that went underneath his shirt. It kind of looked like a Crest."

T.K. and Davis looked at her in confusion. "Are you sure?" T.K. asked. "I mean...I guess Sora said she saw the same thing too. But I didn't think that there were any more Crests."

"I don't know," Kari looked down at Salamon, beginning to doubt herself. "Maybe I was just seeing things."

They arrived at Kari's apartment. She was grateful that her parents were out of town. She wasn't sure if she had the energy to make up an excuse as to why she was out late, let alone the state of T.K.'s face. Small bruises of purple and crimson began to form under his eyes. Small lines of dried blood had crusted underneath his nostrils.

"T.K." Davis started, grimacing at his face. He was not one for the sight of blood. "You should really get that cleaned up dude." He pointed at his nose.

"I can do it, " said Kari. "I think we have a first aid kit here somewhere. Let me put Salamon to bed real quick." She started towards her bedroom with her sleeping partner in her arms.

T.K. couldn't help but smile at her kindness. Even after all that she went through, she still couldn't stop thinking about other people. She couldn't stop taking care of others. It was one of the things that he loved most about her. Her undying kindness never failed to shine bright, no matter how strong the darkness around her.

Kari placed Salamon in her bed and quietly shut her door behind her. She heard sudden, loud, rapid, footsteps from down the hall outside. The front door was slammed open by a frantic, breathless Tai.

"KARIAREYOUOKWHATHAPPEND?!" he yelled at her in one breath, as he collected her in an embrace.

"Tai.." she said short of breath, "I'm...fine….you're...crushing me."

He let her go, but placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes with grave concern. "Who attacked you?" He looked her up and down, "Are you sure you're ok?"

She brought her eyes to the ground. "I'm fine Tai," she said in a very small voice.

"It was another Digidestined," said T.K. "He tried to...attack her. He had a MadLeomon with him. It left Salamon in pretty bad shape."

"Holy shit," Tai was taken aback by the sight of T.K.'s face. "What the hell he do to you?"

Davis laughed, "Don't worry, T.K. showed him what's up."

"What?" Tai asked confused.

"He beat the shit out of him dude," Davis said.

T.K. had no idea why, but he could feel the warmth on his cheeks as he began to blush.

"But then…" Tai sounded confused. He look towards Kari. "Why did the alarm go off saying _you_ were in distress?"

Kari looked away from him. The embarrassment of the vulnerable state that T.K. and Davis had found her in still made her feel ill. She never wanted anyone to discover her so fragile, so exposed. Telling her two male friends about being groped was hard enough, but telling her brother? She couldn't find words for it. She couldn't muster the courage to tell someone of her own blood.

"I just...don't really want to talk about it Tai," With glossy eyes, Kari looked up at her brother. "I'm sorry."

As much as Tai wished that she would talk to him, he understood.

"It's alright. I get it." he smiled at her. "I'm just glad you're ok." He turned towards T.K. and Davis. "Thank you guys for taking care of her."

"Anytime dude." A smile grew across Davis' face. An uncomfortable silence fell between the four of them "So..uhhh, I guess we should be going then. It's kinda late."

"No...wait," Kari said. She began to wrap her arms around herself. "Can you guys… can you guys stay here? I...I know it's late but, after everything, I'm not going to be able to sleep for a while...And I'd feel safer knowing you guys were here with me."

Tai looked at the other boys and shrugged. "I'm fine with it. You guys cool to stay?" Both of the other boys responded in affirmation.

Kari's eyes lit up, "Great! Umm, I'll go put on a movie or something." As she headed towards the living room, an idea sparked in Davis's mind. He had noticed that Veemon and Patamon had already fell asleep on the couch. The battle had taken a toll on them as well. They needed something to replenish their strength. He began to pull Tai towards him.

"Yeah and after you do that" he said. "You can clean up T.B.'s disgusting face while Tai and I go get pizza."

"What?" Tai began to protest, but he was silenced by Davis's hushed response.

"Dude, we'll go out and I'll tell you what happened so she doesn't have to talk about it again."

Tai smiled in understanding. _Huh, I guess that kid does have a brain...sometimes._

"We'll be back in a few!" Davis stated as he and Tai went out the front door.

"Sit down T.K. and I'll clean you up." Kari gently lead T.K. to one of the living room chairs. She grabbed a washcloth from the cabinet and soaked it with warm water.

"You don't have to take care of me you know," he said playfully.

"It's the least I can do after you and Davis saved me." She wiped the dried blood from under his nose. T.K flinched, his face was still tender. Kari apologized.

After a brief silence T.K. asked her, "Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah," Kari's voice cracked. She cleared her throat. "I'm just a little shaken up."

As Kari leaned towards him again to wipe off his face more, T.K reached for her hand and their eyes locked. "I...I'm so sorry that I wasn't there Kari. I should have been there to protect you. If...if I was just a few minutes too late….I promise that I won't let anyone ever hurt you."

She almost started to cry. No matter how much good she will do in the world, she is still always surprised by the amount of love and care that she receives from anyone, as if a small voice in the back of her mind tells her that she doesn't deserve it. It warmed her soul to see how much he cared for her.

"T.K." she squeezed his hand. "You don't have to tell me that. I already know that you would do anything for me. And don't blame yourself. Like Davis said, it was _his_ fault, not anyone elses."

She found her face had moved a little closer to his. She began to recall her conversation with Gatomon earlier. Her stomach began to burst with nervous butterflies.

_Quit being a pussy Kari._

"I could never thank you enough." It was then that she placed a very soft kiss upon his lips. And although it had only lasted for three seconds, no amount of time had ever felt so tranquil to her.

She slowly pulled away from him. As she opened her eyes, she found a dumbfounded look had overtaken T.K. after he opened his. She felt her cheeks flush red.

She cleared her throat, "So..yeah...I uh.. Oh yeah! I forgot something." She skurried towards the refrigerator and pulled a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. She threw it him, "Put that over your eye." She giggled, "If you were a Digimon I'd call you Puffymon."

With uncharacteristically slow reflexes, T.K. barely caught the bag of peas. His brain felt as though it was running on Dial-up speed.

_Did she just kiss me?_

The streets of Odaiba

Saturday, May 3rd

02:15

"I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!"

Tai had reacted exactly how Davis expected he would. It was an awkward conversation, but he felt that Tai needed to know. He just hoped that he wouldn't take out his rage on him. As Tai began to throw every trash can in sight, Davis began to worry if he was in the clear. Tai was yelling nearly unintelligible utterances. Davis could feel the anger steaming off of him. A boiling pot with a sealed lid, no way to release. It was as if he was about to run and never stop, destroying everything in his path. Davis hoped that they didn't run into anyone on their walk, for he would not be safe from Tai's fury.

"Tai, breathe." Davis did what he could to calm him down.

"I just..who does he think… ARRRRRGGHH….I just want to hit him!" Tai began to simmer down the more that they walked.

"Yeah, well, T.K. already took care of that. And don't worry, we'll find him." Davis attempted to reassure him.

"I'm just so..frustrated." Tai had finally calmed down. "I just feel like there's so much going on that we don't know about. Who are these guys? How can they be Digidestined? Like...I'm just so..confused and..and _angry_."

"We'll figure it out Tai." Davis tried to reassure him again as he placed a hand upon his shoulder.

They both headed into the pizza place and walked up the to counter to place their order. The aura of the restaurant was just what one would expect at 02:30 on a Friday night/Saturday morning: drunk. The stench of liquor stung their nostrils. They had to raise their voices significantly to talk to the cashier due to the inebriated ramblings and laughter filling the air.

The boys sat themselves down at one of the tables while they were waited for their order. Overtop of all of the noise they heard a winey, rather loud, female voice.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhh. Where's my piiiiiiizzaaaa?"

Davis turned around to find the the voice had, in fact, come from Melody. She sighed heavily as she dramatically laid her body, from the chest up, on top of the counter, "I'm starrrvvinnggggg!"

The cook laughed at her from the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, Melody spotted Davis in a booth with, who she deemed to be, a rather attractive and tall brunette.

A great smile drew across her face as a very wobbly, very drunk Melody began to bound towards them, "Daaavvisssss!"

"Oh god." Tai heard Davis say, as he turned his head away from her in a last-ditch effort hide from her. Tai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he saw her. She was a very petite blonde, a few inches shorter than Kari. Her tousled blonde hair fell to the middle of her back. She wore a red miniskirt with a black crop top, black fishnets, and black heeled boots. Her thick eyeliner began to smear slightly. She seated herself right next to Tai, with a comfort level that would usually only be attributed to very good friends. She greeted them with a breathy, "Hi!"

"What's up Melody?" Davis asked her.

"Iiiiiii'm just gettin some 'zaaaa." She laughed at herself. Despite the smell of whisky on her breath, Tai found her to be rather cute. He found himself drawn to her exuberant smile.

"Melody this is my friend Tai," He motioned towards him.

She smiled, "Hiiiiiiiiiii! You're ssuper cute."

Tai chuckled at her bluntness, he thought it was adorable.

"Heyyy you look super familiar. Are yooouu related to someone I know?" She squinted at him and brought her face close to his. The invasion of personal space made Tai back away slightly.

"He's Kari's older brother." Davis said.

"Ooooooh," she said, as the gears in her head took just a little longer than normal to process. She finally recognized him from the bank robbery. "Oh yeeahhh. Sheee's that mousey girl in our Japanese class right? She's cute too. No wonder that T.K. kid's always eye-fucking her."

Tai and Davis flinched with discomfort. They weren't used to such bluntness. Davis couldn't make eye contact with Tai as the awkwardness of the situation was too much to bare, considering the events that had just unfolded earlier.

Melody laughed, unable to process and follow social courtesies, "They're totes gonna boooone." She leaned in towards Davis. "Speaking of bonin. Heard you played basketball with Kiiiira tonight huhhh?"

Davis perked up at her question. _Wait, she talked about me?_

"How did you know that? That just happened like, and hour and a half ago." he asked her.

"I texted her, duuuhhhh." she responded. "I wanted to see if she'd get food with me, but she said she was playin baaaasket ball with Daaaaavis. Bitch neeeverrr wants to get food with me. Bitch never wants to eat."

Melody grew wide-eyed and cleared her throat, as if she was trying to change the subject on a forbidden topic.

"Melody, your order's ready." The cook called out to her. "Boys your order is up too."

Melody let out a drunken cheer and skipped towards the counter. Tai and Davis followed.

"It was nice to meet you Melody. I'm sure we'll see you around." Tai grabbed his pizza box but just as he turned to leave, she stopped him..

"Wait!" She said. Her face grew serious. She reached for the back of her neck and unhooked the necklace that wrapped around it. Tai hadn't recognized it at first. The pendant was hidden underneath her shirt.

"Here." She reached her arm out and handed it to him. Tai looked at the palm of his hand and realized that it was the necklace that T.K. had given Kari on her birthday. "I uh..got this from a..a pawn shop. Kari said it was sstolen from her. I guessss… if it's her's, sshe should have it."

"Wow. Thanks Melody. She'll be so happy to have it back." Tai said.

"Don't mention it." She grabbed a pen from the counter and began to scribble something on the back of her receipt. She slipped the piece of paper into his hand and looked up at him with a seductive smile. "And uh..this is for you." She grabbed her box from the counter and smiled at them. "Chiao!" She made her way out the door.

Tai looked at the piece of paper in his hand. It contained a phone number on it with the word '_Melody'_ followed by a heart.


	10. Kira

There once was a joke my friend would say;

that they would rather roll around on glass

than know what they weigh.

Glass.

My scale is made of glass.

And if I were to smash it,

to make it a broken mess,

and slit my wrists with the shards,

it would hurt,

far less,

than if I were to step on the scale.

_ I've been told that we all have our little demons; that everyone is fighting something. We are told that everything gets better with time. We are told that someone, somewhere, has it worse than you. We are told that eventually we will 'get over it'. _

_But what they don't tell you, what they don't want you to know, is that sometimes the demons win. They drown, and suffocate, and slice you apart. And sometimes it is far easier to let them take over your life, to give up. Because sometimes you realize, that you're not worth fighting for._

_ I read once that a woman's self esteem peaks at age nine._

_ I wake in the mornings craving, so desperately, to be something else. Most of the time I go to bed hoping that I do not get up the next morning. No, not to die. Just to be forever caressed by the warm lull of sleep. To never have to be conscious of myself ever again. To never have to see myself again. _

_ I wake. A continuous throbbing inside my head plagues me as soon as my eyes are open. I am overcome by a feeling of lightheadedness as I step out of bed. I fall back onto the mattress. I am too weak to stand. I force myself to the kitchen for a glass of water. I drink and drink and drink until I feel I may explode. _

_ No mom, no breakfast for me today, I'm running late._

_ And I do not deserve it._

_ Showering is the part of my day that I hate the most. I rub the soap all over my body, touching it's flaws. It makes my stomach sour. I dry and dress as quickly as I can, avoiding the mirror until I am fully covered. I do not wish to see myself today. Nothing ruins my day quite like the mirror. _

_ I take a peek at it to do my hair and makeup, hoping that over-emphasis on these aspects can help make up for my disgusting form. But once in front of my reflection, I cannot help but to poke and prod, squeeze and pinch until I feel water build up in my eyes. I wish so much to be someone else. I hold my breath and step on the scale._

_ Thirty pounds. Thirty pounds overweight. The number weighs so heavy on my soul. I have been told that I 'look fine'. My coach and teammates tell me not to worry. They tell me that it's mainly muscle, that muscle is heavier than fat. _

Mainly_. _

_That is the key word. It means that I still _have_ fat, that I am still disgusting. I race out of the bathroom. I do not wish to see myself anymore_

_ "Sit down and eat," my mother says. "I spent all morning making this."_

_ My little sister gleefully gulps up her plate. A child of 10 years without a care in the world. _

_Please mother. Please do not make me eat. My body does not deserve food. My body is too big. _

_ I stare at what is in front of me. Normal people see nutrients. Normal people see energy. Normal people see food. _

_I see numbers. _

_I see calories. _

_Vile, unforgiving calories... _

_I add them in the my head. The omelette, the toast, the orange juice. The numbers pain my stomach as I add them higher and higher. Or is the pain from hunger?_

_ My stomach growls. I eat it. I devour it like an animal. A primal, disgusting, fucking animal. I am so ashamed and disgusted. If I am alone I won't give into these cravings, but when offered by another I cannot control myself. When was the last day I ate a full meal instead of scrapings? Yesterday? Two days ago? I don't remember. _

_Bingeing is the body's self-preservation method; to devour everything in sight after long periods of nothing. It is done to keep itself alive; I wish it would stop. I wish I had control over my body. _

_ My mother asks if I need a ride. I tell her that I still need to shower, that Katsu is taking me to school. _

_ She does not approve of our friendship. She fears for my involvement with his family. She is afraid of my involvement with 'those people'. I tell her we are just friends._

_ She heads out the door with my little sister. It cannot come sooner enough. I am choked by an overwhelming feeling of guilt. There is substance in my body. Substance that will make me even larger than I already am. I must get it out._

_ I do not deserve to eat._

_ I quietly make my way to the bathroom. Dorumon is still sleeping. I do not want to wake him, not with this. I turn the lock on the door and turn on the shower. It fills the room with noise. I grab my toothbrush, tie my hair in a bun, and kneel in front of the toilet. _

_ To successfully purge, you must expel what you can within 45 minutes of consumption. Otherwise your body has already begun digesting, has already begun creating fat. _

_Nobody pities a bulimic. Bulimics are gross. With rancid breath, bloodshot eyes, and vomit-coated fingers; who would ever want to touch us? To treat us? Why can't we just eat salads and diet cokes like everyone else?_

_What people forget is that it's not really about the food. It's about the feeling of not deserving food. It's about feeling that you are so disgusting that you are not worthy of anything that is put on the plate in front of you. Your body begs for you to consume it, but once you do, your mind drowns you in feelings of failure, of worthlessness, and guilt. _

_It has to come out. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve food. I am far too fat for it. _

_Too fat for food._

_I take the handle of my toothbrush and begin to prod the back of my throat, gagging and choking until chunks begin to come up. I am unsatisfied with the amount I see. I prod harder and harder until larger masses begin to appear. I see specks of blood. The crest around my neck begins to emit a crimson glow._

_I observe the mound and estimate how many calories came up with it. I am satisfied with the number. I've read that some girls will puke in a bucket and physically feel how much they purged to know exactly how much came up. I have not reached that level, yet._

_Bulimia is not taken as seriously as anorexia. When the general public views an eating disorder they picture something similar of a Holocaust victim, a poor shard of a person with sunken cheeks and bones nearly piercing through the skin. They are unaware that persons with eating disorders can come in all shapes and literal sizes. Bulimia is not taken as seriously by doctors if you are not thin, as if thinness is the only form of death._

_They forget that excessive vomiting can cause a ruptured esophagus and heart papillations. They forget that severely restricted eating can create an electrolyte imbalance that can cause you to suddenly drop dead, no matter what weight you are. But who cares, right? No one cares about a fattie. To them, when you're fat, you don't have an eating disorder, you're just on a 'diet'._

_In the beginning of our friendship I remember Dorumon's kind words and aggressive actions. I remember times of him pulling my face out of the toilet, his angry tears begging me to stop. I tried so hard. I tried so hard to be better for him, but I can't. I don't deserve it. Fatties don't deserve to get better, fatties don't deserve to eat. I would guess that he has since given up and now keeps his concerns and lectures to quiet musings. I do not blame him though. There is only so much that someone can do to try to help. Frustration is an overwhelming partner of fruitless endeavors. I love you more for at least trying. It pains me more than you can ever imagine that I can't be better for you, Dorumon._

_Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, or EDNOS, is what I have deduced my condition to be. A bulimic with anorexic tendencies. It is a common misconception that anorexics do not eat at all. On the contrary, the eating-disordered are very aware that they cannot live off of no food at all. For if you do not eat at all, you will for sure fall prey to a binge. So we make our diets very selective, put elaborate boundaries on what we can eat and when we can eat. For some it might be 100 calories a day, 100 every two days, eat nothing but bread and eggs every other day, restrict from everything and then eat whatever you want every three days, eat nothing for 6 days and then whatever you want on the last day, eat what little you can and vomit what you do eat. It is different for everyone._

_I try to eat as little as possible, 500 calories max, to make up for the days that I will inevitably binge, and when that time comes, I have to expel it._

_Numbers._

_My life, my consciousness is consumed by numbers._

_I've been told over and over to just 'diet', to 'exercise', to eat normal. But what is it like to 'eat normal'? No one ever 'eats normal'. Everyday you can hear people bragging about how they were too busy to eat all day, how they are on a juice cleanse, how they are on the latest fad diet. I've tried it all. I've met with a nutritionist, a personal trainer, I partake in many sports, I run religiously, I've tried weight lifting, interval training, paleo, vegetarian, seen a endocrinologist. I bawl in frustration because NOTHING. FUCKING. WORKS. I don't understand why I can't be skinny, why I can't be small. I just want so much to be small, to feel beautiful and petite. _

_I've been told that I'm fine. That I'm just "sporty" and "curvy"._

_Curvy. I fucking hate that word more than anything. _

_To me, "curvy" is a polite way of saying "fat"._

_Melody told me once, "Maybe Kira, you know, since you've tried everything, maybe... you're just not meant to be, like, my size."_

_As much as I know she was trying to comfort me, to make me feel better about myself, I cried that whole night. I did not eat for three days after that. I cannot face that reality. I have to control my body. I guess if what she says is true, then I will never deserve food. Sometimes I wish that I will not wake up. Sometimes in a haze of tears and sadness I think about taking every pill in the house. Fatties do not deserve food. Fatties do not deserve life._

_I tried to tell a doctor about it once. It took all the courage and energy I had inside me to say through my tears, 'I think I have an eating disorder. Most of the time I throw up my food and sometimes I don't eat for days." _

_His emotionless face took a stern look at my chart, then eyed me up and down._

_He said, "Well.. you're not _that_ skinny, so I wouldn't worry about it. Just try to eat clean and exercise."_

…

_Go fuck yourself. _


	11. The Docks

Odaiba Beach

Sunday, May 4th

02:00

The waves crashed loudly upon the rocks and they vered in and out of the ocean. Kira and Dorumon took shelter under the pier. It protected them from the sight of passers by. The cool salt air stung her cheeks as it swept across her face. She couldn't help but smile at Dorumon as he chortled to himself while he gleefully dug into the sand.

"Well, what is it?"

Kira turned to find Kiyoshi making his way under the pier. He carried an annoyed look on his face. His partner Arukadhimon, climbed out of the backpack he was wearing and crawled onto his shoulder. He was in is in-training mode now. His grey body resembled that of a spider with a teardrop shaped torso. Six bony legs protruded from his sides. His pupil-less eyes were red.

She shivered. Arukadimon creeped her out in general, but she especially disliked his is in-training form. There was something about his stare that seemed cold and unforgiving.

"Well?" Kiyoshi grew impatient.

"Wow," Kira responded sassily. "You know, you could at least say 'hi' first."

Kiyoshi half smiled, "Yeah...I'm sorry." He brushed his hair back. "Things have just been a little crazy lately. And of course my brother has been a complete dick so that hasn't been helping."

Kira laughed. "Yeah, when is he not?" She sat down on one of the rocks. "I found them...the other kids. I transferred to their school. They go to Odaiba High School with Brian."

Kiyoshi gasped. "Wait are you serious? How long ago did you meet them?"

"About a month ago."

"Jesus fucking christ are you serious? You could have fucking told us."

Kira raised her eyebrows at him. "Wow. Really? I was the one doing all the leg work in finding them. YOU all were too busy partying and battling and doing God knows what. I had doubted if you guys actually still gave a fuck."

Kiyoshi huffed. She was right. He had been busy battling in the Digital World with his brother. He had strayed from their mission for a while.

"Yeah...I'm sorry….Well, what did you find out about them?"

Kira's expression transformed into a concerned one. She looked away from him to watch Dorumon play in the sand. "On the surface, they all seem really nice….incredibly likeable. But…" Her memories of them flashed in her head. "I overheard them talking about us. They said they planned on 'taking us down'"

Kiyoshi sat down next to her. Arukadimon jumped off of his shoulder. "What do you think that means?"

"At first I thought that maybe it didn't mean too much but….Kiyoshi….I saw them try to kill Blake."

"What?"

"I didn't see the whole fight but...one of them had an Angewomon. She had an arrow pointed right at his chest. And one of the other kids he attacked him...beat the hell out of him, his face looked practically destroyed."

Kiyoshi remained silent for a moment, "Holy shit…"

"Yeah...I know."

A silence emerged between them.

Kiyoshi finally spoke, "My brother told me he had a run in with a few of them a couple weeks ago in the Digital World."

"Wait are you serious?"

"Yeah...he said their Digimon were powerful."

Kira watched as their Digimon attempted to play with one another. Dorumon made a game of teasing Arukadhimon by swatting him on the face and jumping away until he eventually became furious and chased Dorumon around in circles. The thought of them destroying Dorumon made her chest ace.

Kiyoshi continued, "What does Melody think of all of this?"

"I don't really know," Kira answered. "I don't really see her aside from first period. She knows about them but she'll just, kind of, change the subject whenever I talk about it for too long. It's like she doesn't want to deal with it right now."

Kiyoshi cleared his throat, "What about Brian?"

"He knows," she started doodling designs into the sand with her finger. "I've sent him emails with all of the info. I try to text him now and again or stop him in the hallways at school but….he either doesn't respond or just doesn't really seem to be all there when I talk to him. He's in some Computer Club at school, I'll try to get him alone after it this week and see if I can pick his brain." There was another long silence. "Kiyoshi….he's gotten really bad. He never talks to us anymore or ever really leaves his apartment….I'm really worried about him."

"Yeah...it's been really hard for me to get a hold of him also. He never opens up anymore."

"I'm worried about Melody too." Kira brought her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "I feel like every time she texts me she's either drunk or high. Even on school nights she's always out at some bar or some college party. She never remembers the guys she goes home with anymore….I-it's gotten so much worse since we all first met."

Kira noticed Kiyoshi starting to fidget, as if his skin was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. She knew what he was about to ask her.

"S-so….what about you?" He couldn't help but be awkward when it came to dealing with these kinds of things in person. "Have uh..you..gotten worse?"

Kira felt tense. This was not a subject that she liked to talk out loud about. She felt as though she didn't deserve it to be talked about as "a problem". To her, she was not nearly thin enough for it to be taken seriously.

"I'm fine," she responded.

Kiyoshi couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. Kira gave him a confused stare. He tried his best to cut off his laughter. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry...It's just...heh...what is it with our group and saying that? Why do we always say 'I'm fine' when we're at our worst, ya know? It's weird."

Kira looked away from him. He regained his serious tone.

"But you know...I-I'm being for real," His voice trembled slightly. "Have things gotten worse for you too?..Are you still, like...not eating? Are you...puking more?"

"Maybe I don't want to fucking talk about me!" she snapped at him.

Kiyoshi raised his hands up in retreat. "Woah hey, I'm sorry! I'm just trying to asses everyone's, like, condition alright?"

She absolutely hated more than anything to talk about her disorder. In her mind, she was for certain that they all thought that she was far to fat to really have a disorder at all. She turned her head away from him and after a long silence responded, "Yes…..to everything."

Kiyoshi went to place his hand on her back to comfort her, but retreated at the last moment. She was not the type of woman who appreciated pity. He didn't wish for her to snap at him again. He began to watch their Digimon play.

"Do you think...do you think that _he's_ right?" Kiyoshi asked. "We've been doing everything he says. Destroying Digimon, finding these kids. Is it all really going to make all of us...better?"

Kira looked over to him, she knew precisely who he was talking about. She clenched her fist. She was overwhelmed with uncertainty. "I don't really know but…...I-I have no other choice though. I have to believe him. He's the only one who's ever taken an interested in our lives. He's the only one that's ever promised we'd be healed."

"Yeah," Kiyoshi said in a small voice. "I really hope he's right."

Kira clutched her Crest Tag underneath her shirt, "Whether it's an outside enemy or our inner demons….we have to keep fighting...for our survival."


	12. Melody

Alright.

so I'm like typing this right now cuz it's homework or whatever.

God this is so stupid. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Alright so my social worker/shrink/pain in the ass is making me do this exercise. So fucking dumb. I'm suppose to type out my feelings like I'm talking to someone. Answering some questions she wrote down for me so I'll b more 'prepared' or whatever for our next meeting. im not supposed to stop, just writing down everything that flows from my mind

Fucking stupid. She's off her rocket if she think's im going to go all mushy and shit with feelings

God I feel so dumb. Whatever im bored so what else should i fucking do?

alright questions one says describe my relationships with my my parents… lolololololol talk about fucking stereotypical shrink.

Whatever. so I don't really have one with my dad, he fucking split like a looooooong time ago. thanks dad, u fucking dead beat. whatever, typical men right? I mean if youre gonna make a kid at least pretend like you care about its well being a little. whatever i don't give a shit about him

My mom? Talk about junkie like woooooooah. at least she's in rehab soooo that's nice. i'd be nice if I could see her, but the docs said she told them that I would off set her "healing". what the fuck ever that means. I just can't wait for her to be done so we can do our own thing together again. mom's pretty chill, i don't mind her.

The next question says to describe my feelings of abandonment towards them. wow. That's heavy. Ummm I wouldn't really say I feel 'abandoned'. I mean yeah dad sucks, but if you don't want a kid, you don't want a kid rite? yeah it fucking sucks a little. I mean, babies are annoying. I could understand why he wouldn't want one. I mean, yeah he left like I didn't fucking exist but whatever. I dont know maybe. Yeah he didn't want anything to do with me like I was the fucking plague or some shit but i wouldn't say I feel abandoned by him just…

Angry

I don't really feel like mom abandoned me. i mean i love her. she just needed to get her shit together. if she doesn't want to see me or answer my calls or letters she doesn't have too. whatever she needs to get better ok. yeah, id be nice to get something from her, to talk to her. i mean yeah sometimes i just really need a mom to talk to about things but if she can't be bothered by me right now then she can't be bothered ok. so back the fuck off.

wow i just really got super fucking angry.

I fucking hate this exercise but i fucking started it so i might as well keep going

Jesus the next one says describe my relationship with drugs and alcohol. lololol she can't be serious. im a teenager. Who doesn't party? i do it with my friends or whoever. it's not a big deal. i don't even black out every time. i know people who are waaayyy fucking worse. it's not like i do it by myself all the time. Yeah, i mean sometimes. but it's only if i've had a super shitty day. but that's perfectly normal you know? if it makes me feel better about myself then who gives a shit? Like, if mom doesn't respond to my calls in a while or you know, some dude's being a douche to me so what if i need to be like a little numb for a little bit? I'm entitled to that. It makes me feel better, so what.

Oh goddddd. Next qustion says to describe my sexual experiences, why i engage in them, when I tend to engage in it, and how i feel after.

Haaaaaa god that's a fucking weird question. Like, I hope she doesn't mean describe them in detail? haha. What a perve. I guess she means like how do i have sex and who do i have it with? Well, dudes, duh. I mean I've made out with chicks and fooled around with them before when I'm like, SUPER wasted. but I'm allll about dudes. Not even going to try to lie about that. I guess i tend to fuck dudes that are a little older. idk i just feel like they have their shit together? And I do it because it feels good, duh. Everyone does it for that. like i guess i do it to feel closer to someone. I guess it feels nice being needed? Even if they ditch later, like, it's cool i get it. I usually only have it when I'm drunk or high. Yeahhhh haha. I can't remember the last time I had sober sex. Pretty sad right? LULZ. Oh well, I mean, you know how it is, when you're out and it's late and all the shit in your system just makes you super fucking emotional kinda. And idk I guess you just want to feel wanted. I mean, I guess that doesn't always work.

YEah, i mean. yeah it doesn't always work. yeah it kind of stings a little when you fuck someone and then they just want to split super fast afterwards. I get it though. I mean, yeah sometimes it really hurts when you know, you might kinda like someone and want to do other shit like hang out and stuff, but all they want to do is fuck. But i mean, it's whatever. I'm used to it haha. Good ol Melody, hot enough to fuck but not good enough to date. Yeah it bugs me sometimes but whatever, that's just what my life's meant to be like.

Next question says to describe my feelings of loneliness, when I feel them, and how I cope with them.

Jesus christ. Makes me sound like a fucking emo. Yeah i mean it's a basic human emotion. people feel it sometimes, no big deal. I mean, i guess. i don't know. i . god it's weird ok so like i guess it's like this: Sometimes I get kinda sad over like my mom or my dad or some douchebag dude. and i want a couple drinks to take the edge off of it, whatever. But then I guess I just end up feeling more lonely the drunker I get, and then I fuck someone to feel less lonely (mainly that fucking jackass Katsu) but then they just kinda throw me away. i get it though, Im easy. I'm not going to fight that. but sex is the only way I guess i know how to communicate, so i guess im just royally fucked forever. forever a cum dumpster

It's really weird yeah? The fact that if a man says that he's lonely he's knighted as attractive, and soulful and mysterious. Where if a girl says she's lonely everyone runs for the fucking hills. Like she's some fucking crazed diseased monster.

I guess sex is just a way for me to feel a little less lonely, at least for a little bit, because i know that probably for the rest of my life ill never deserve anything deeper than that. I mean, hell, my own parents don't really want anything to do with me, so what guy ever would?

id just be nice to actually feel wanted though, you know, wanted as a person for once, not just as a body, By anyone. But i guess I'll never really be worth that though. I'm not worth anything.

Wow i'm going to kill my fucking social worker for making me cry

And finally the last question

….

…..describe my motives for my self mutilation.

Self mutilation

Im going to assume she means the cutting right?

Yeah

fuck this

Absolutely Fuck this

this shit exercise is fucking stupid

I'm fucking done


	13. The Winners and The Worthless

Odiaba High School

Monday, 5th

07:45

"Daaaamn dude. What the fuck happened to you?" Melody leaned over in her desk towards T.K. Her blue eyes traveled up and down his face. The inside corners and bottom lids of T.K.'s eyes had become of mixture of dull crimsons and blues. Yellow stains around them appeared on the parts that had begun to heal. Blake's headbutt he gave him on the bridge of his nose had unmistakably left it's mark.

"Yeah….I uhh, got into a fight." T.K. stated. All weekend long he could see and feel the stares of everyone around him. He admitted that his face did look a little beat up, but it was still weird to him to get so many glances. He felt like a circus freak.

"Damn dude, you got fucked." Melody raised her finger to poke at one of his bruises, to which he swatted her hand away.

"If you think he looks bad," Kari started, seated in the desk next to T.K. She reached over and grabbed his right hand, which had been resting on his desk. She interlaced his fingers with his and continued, "You should see the other guy."

Kari looked up at him with soft eyes. She smiled sweetly as she squeezed his hand and T.K. found himself smiling back at her. As terrible of an event as it was, Kari couldn't help but to think that it had made them significantly closer. And although seeing him in such a stage of rage had frightened her, she was in awe at how hard he fought for her. The amount of (unnecessary) guilt that he carried for not being there, she found incredible.

"Well shit," Melody said. "Remind me never to make you angry."

Kira glanced over towards T.K. She stared at the small lacerations upon his knuckles; remnants of where his fist had met Blake's face. No more was she swayed by the smiles and calm demeanor she experienced with him in class. She had seen the consequences of his fury. She hoped that whatever she needed to do, she could do it before he had a chance to use those fists on her.

She had to talk to Melody. It was time for Melody to get over whatever it was that was causing her to ignore their mission. She needed her advice. They needed a plan.

"Hey Mel," Kira asked as she leaned in towards her. "Would you be able to meet up with me after school for a bit?"

Melody gave her a confused look, "Uhh, yeah dude. We already are...we're supposed to be hitting up happy hour with Katsu remember?"

"Shit...yeah that's right." She had forgotten their plans, well, Melody's plans for them to go out together. She remembered the change of clothes she had stuffed in her backpack that morning.

Kira didn't much care for Katsu; describing him as a 'spoiled, misogynistic, arrogant, narcissist'. But regardless, he was one of them, he deserved to know about everything going on.

As Kira walked down the hallway after class she was wrought with confusion, anger, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Her head hurt, the world around her seemed fuzzy. She couldn't think of what her next step should be. She even found physical steps hard to muster. Her head throbbed and her stomach roared.

_God my whole body hurts. It even hurts to think._

Inability to focus and body aches are often a side effect of malnutrition.

Kira felt a sense of light headedness rush over her. She reached her left arm out to the wall for support. She heard someone speak behind her.

"Hey Kira, are you alright?" She turned her head to find Davis. He held a slight look of concern in his eyes. She felt him lightly put a hand on her right elbow. She couldn't help noticing how handsome he looked in his green uniform jacket and charmingly wrinkled white dress shirt. A whiff of his musky cologne brushed past her nose.

_Damn he's good looking._

She plastered on a smile and lied, "I'm fine. It's just a migraine." She straightened herself up and added, "What's up?"

A strange nervous feeling overcame him, it was as if his body knew what he was about to do.

He cleared his throat, "I..uhh." _God damn what's wrong with me? You talk to girls all the time, how's this any different?_

Her smile made him melt. He never really had a good look at her until now. He usually only saw the back of her head in class, save for the one time she played basketball with him.

She had natural highlights of light brown that freckled her auburn hair as it's waves spiraled into curls at the bottom. It looked so soft to where he was tempted to reach out and touch it. Her cat-eye eyeliner made the whites of her eyes pop even more as her hazel irises danced with different shades of brown and gold. Her nearly uncontrollable side-swept bangs grew longer as they cascaded down from her off center part to the right edge of her jawline. The skin around her button nose wrinkled slightly as she smiled.

_Fucking hell she's pretty._

"You uh..you won." Davis rubbed the back of his head as he smiled nervously. He saw Kira squint back at him in confusion. "The three pointer contest, you won."

He bore the torture of a small awkward silence as Kira took a moment to realize what he was talking about. It took her a few seconds to remember the bet that she had made with him when they played basketball the other night. Whoever scored the least amount of three pointers during the game had to take the other out on a date. It finally came back to her. With everything going on, she had forgotten about their little wager. For some reason she couldn't help but laugh.

Her laughter stung Davis's ears. He flinched at the sound. Was she laughing _at_ him? He took it as a condescending sign of denial. He suddenly felt very ill, very stupid, and incredibly self-conscious. He knew he shouldn't have said anything at all. He was dumb to think that someone as pretty as her would want anything to do with a chump like him. The smile from his face dissipated.

"Wow," he pouted as he shifted his gaze to the floor. "You could have at least let me down a little easier."

She blurted, "Oh no no no!" Kira gently touched his arm. She saw that he had took her response all wrong. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that!"

All of her worry built up from the past weekend had pushed their encounter to the back of her mind. It was humorous to her that he actually remembered; boys never remembered anything. She too found herself overcome with self-consciousness. He probably just felt bad for her or something, right? She had to find a way to help get him out of it.

"I've just been so preoccupied, it slipped my mind." She struggled with her words as she prepared herself for her self-induced disappointment. She was sure he was a busy guy, there really wasn't a need to take her out on a forced pity date. "I-I didn't think you'd actually remember. Naw, no, it's cool dude, don't worry about it. It was just uh..like, smack talk, ya know? Don't waste your money on me. You don't _have_ to take me out. It's cool. No worries." She let out a forced giggle, waiting for his official time _she_ found herself babbling.

"Yeah but," Davis's heart raced as he smiled shyly. "I _want_ to." Although he was still slightly afraid she might reject him, he felt his confidence start to build up again. "I wanna take you out."

"Oh…" was all that Kira could respond with. That was not the answer she was expecting him to give her. She felt her cheeks turn red. "I..uh..yeah." She smiled at him. "I would like that."

Davis felt as giddy. "Awesome!" He found himself grinning as wide as he physically could. "So are yooooou free tonight, maybe? I know a place that has great sushi."

Kira chuckled. He even remembered favorite food. But she suddenly felt disheartened remembering the plans Melody made for them.

_Fuuuuuuckkkkk. Melodyyyy whyyyyyyyy?! Of all the days I'm free, you just had to drag me out today._

"Ugh. Crap. I kind of already made plans with Melody." Kira felt torn. She desperately needed to catch Melody and Katsu up to speed...but that also meant having to hang out with them. Both were their own disruptive whirlwinds of attention-demanding. There was only so much she could handle from each of them, let alone both of them together. She could use Davis as a reason to cut the meeting short. And their 'date' would be another opportunity to get to know him, for their mission, of course. But even though it would technically be a spy date, she could still enjoy it...right? "But that'll only be for a couple hours. I can meet up with you after?"

"Great!" he exclaimed. "I have soccer practice right after school anyways. I can just text you after I shower and change?"

"Cool, sounds great." She responded and an awkward silence fell between them. She broke it with a chuckle. "So, I uh, gotta go. I'm going to be late for biology."

They stated their farewells. Kira smiled to herself as she walked away to her next class. However, her giddiness soon faded. She scolded herself for being so stupid. Why was she letting herself feel like this? It might be only a crush, but she needed to work incredibly hard to keep her emotions in check. This was a dangerous path she was traveling down. Because deep down she knew that their future interaction was most likely going to be a fight for survival.

_If he really knew who you were Kira, he would destroy you in a heart beat._

"Come onnnnn, you're killin me hoe!" Melody screeched as she scratched on the door of Kira's stall.

When the end-of-the-day bell rang, they made their way into the bathroom to change into street clothes. As much as Melody was sure the old perverts at the bar would love her school uniform, she preferred going out in something more fashionable. She wanted them to be ready before Katsu got there to pick them up. He did not like to be kept waiting and she needed to keep him in a good mood to get anything from him.

She checked herself in the mirror for the tenth time; fixing and straightening aspects of her outfit and hair that were already perfect. She let her hair out of her normal pig tails and let it flow freely down to the small of her back. She wore a white, lace, bandeau top that clung tight against her small breasts, it's hem resting just underneath them. Over it when wore unzipped, a brand new, shiny, red leather bomber jacket. Snug black leggings slid all the way down from underneath her hipbones to her ankle. The seer lace down the sides of her leggings slightly revealed the band of her tiny red thong. Her ensemble was topped off with a pair of red metallic pumps. Despite their robbery not going exactly as planned, she still scored big with their bank heist, giving her a new wardrobe with no expense spared.

Melody added one more layer of red lipstick and smiled mischievously.

"God I am sooooooo getting fucked tonight," She said out loud to Kira.

Kira, still in the bathroom stall, shook her head as she pulled on her boots. "I don't know why you're always trying to impress him. He's always such an asshole to you."

Melody proceeded to put her lipstick in her black handbag. "Yeah, well, whenever you're itchin' for some good dick, you'll take whatever comes your way. Plus, have you seen him lately? He's getting so super buff too!"

Kira proceeded to open her stall door, "Well I think you still deserve someone who at least treats you like a human being...He's an absolutle shitbag Mel. He's abusive. You don't deserve the way he talks down to you. "

Before Melody could snap at Kira to mind her own business, she caught a glimpse of what she was wearing: A daringly low cut, off-the-shoulder cream sweater. It's sleeves nearly engulfed her hands. She wore a brown tank top underneath it with a brown belt that rested a couple inches under her bust. Her dress barely made it a few inches over her rump, and she would have to tug it down periodically for the rest of the night. Underneath it she wore brown fishnets and calf-high brown boots.

"Daaaaaaayyum," Melody gawked. She slapped one of Kira's breasts. "Just look at them titties! I'd kill to have jugs like yours girl."

Kira covered herself with her arms. "Quit! I hate it when you do that." It always made her uncomfortable when Melody made comments about her breasts or bottom. She never believed anything she said. She either had to be lying or just trying to make her feel better. As far as Kira was concern, they were just mounds of unnecessary fat. What the hell did Melody have to be jealous of _her_ body for? She was so thin, so small, so petite, so….perfect. She practically had the body of a supermodel. So what she had a small butt and boobs? To Kira, it was a perfectly reasonable trade-off for being thin. She would gladly sacrifice years of her life to get a body like Melody's; and she was.

"Seriously dude," Melody said to her. "I don't know why you don't wear stuff like that more often. If I had a chest like that, I'd seize every opportunity to show it off. I look like a fucking toddler sometimes."

Kira groaned and rolled her eyes. She was not about to play this back-and-forth comparison/let's put ourselves down game. She couldn't stand that type of conversation between girls, and she wasn't about to act like a teenage stereotype. "Come on, let's go wait outside."

As they made their way out of the school, Melody burst through the front doors. In her haste, she was unaware that Yolei and Ken stood just on the other side of them. The heavy metal doors nearly knocked them over.

"Hey! Watch where the hell you're going!" Yolei scorned and she whipped around to face them.

"Well don't stand by the fucking door, dipshit!" Melody spat back at her.

Yolei fumed, "What they hell did you just call me?!"

"You heard me bitch," Melody sassed.

Kira quickly positioned herself between the two of them. Melody was never one to turn away from a physical fight. It usually ended up being Kira's responsibility to end any conflicts Melody started.

"Hey, I'm so sorry about that!" Kira told Yolei nervously. "We weren't paying attention to where we were going. Are you alright?" Kira recognized both of them. They were the two other Digidestineds that chased her down the alley.

"We're fine," Ken responded. He placed a hand on Yolei's shoulder. "It was just an accident. Right Yolei?" Yolei grunted in response. Ken had grown use to Yolei's short fuse. He had learned how to get her to calm down instead of overreacting. He didn't mind it so much though, he'd much rather be with someone with too much passion as opposed to too little.

"I see Melody's made a good first impression with Yolei too." T.K. had come up behind them. He was wearing his white soccer practice jersey and blue nike athletic shorts. Next to him stood Kari and a short, brown haired boy. She had also recognized him from the alley. She had finally met all of them.

Kira shot Melody a look, "Yeah she certainly has a habit of that." Melody responded by crossing her arms.

T.K. laughed and began introductions, "Yolei, Ken, these are our new classmates Kira and Melody. And I don't think either of you have met Cody yet have you?"

Kira reached a hand out towards Cody, "No we haven't, nice to meet you." Cody greeted her handshake diligently. Something seemed off about her, and he couldn't help but shake the feeling that they had met prior. He found himself concentrating very hard, biting the skin on his lower lip, racking his brain to find where and when he'd seen her before.

Yolei and Melody were still not quite pacified. They continued to glare at one another.

"You both look nice. Where are you off to?" Kari asked them.

"Oh, we're just meeting a friend," Kira told her.

Melody instantly broke out of her glaring contest. A smug look came across her face and she leaned into Kira, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "Yeeeah and then Kira has a date afterwards! That's why her titties are out so much!" She proceeded to smack one of them with her free hand.

Kira violently blushed and brushed her off, "Ouch! Knock it off!"

Not only did she loathe when Melody would bring up her 'assets' she even despised it more when she brought them up around other people. Melody knew it embarrassed her but still teased her about them anyways. Kira instantly regretted telling Melody about her 'not' date tonight. But she had fallen into the habit of telling Melody and everything about her life, since she had such high demand for gossip.

"Heyyy Kira!"

Kira heard someone call out for her, she turned around to find Davis running towards them. Her stomach fluttered slightly when she saw him. She usually only saw him in his school uniform, so seeing him in his soccer practice uniform, made for a delightful change. She was able to appreciate his defined arms in his sleeveless jersey, and the traces of his pecs that rested underneath it.

"Hey," she asked him. "What's up?"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, "I just realized I forgot to get your num-"

Davis was cut off by the deafening roar of a powerful car engine. The sound of screeching tires filled the air as a black car whipped around from the street corner to the front of the school, with blatant disregard for students trying to cross the street. The students it almost hit shouted obscenities.

When the car pulled up, the Digidestineds couldn't help but gawk. The car had stopped itself on the road, about five meters in front of them. It was a shiny, sexy, black Maserati Convertible. It's perfectly polished paint and chrome hub caps glistened in the the sunshine. It's sleek body was topped off with smooth, black leather interior.

With the it's top being down, they were able to get a full view of the driver. Melody and Kira instantly recognized him as Katsu. His messy dark brown hair had been painstakingly groomed. The sides of his hair had been cut to a little over an inch. The top portion of his hair was longer and was gelled upwards and forward with just the right amount of purposeful messiness. His dashing haircut meshed well with his black Ray-Ban Wayfarers. He wore a silk, dark blue, pinstripe button up shirt with a black undershirt. His sleeves were rolled up just below his elbow, revealing the impressiveness of his defined forearms whenever he switched gears. His snug, slim fit jeans were slightly faded around his thighs. A slim gold chain rested around his neck. However, there was one thing that seemed out of place in his ensemble; a large red cloth was tied around his left bicep. On it was printed a black and white symbol. It resembled a double diamond, laid on it's side, with a line running vertically through the center.

"Katsuuuuuuu!" Melody screeched out his name as she threw her arms into the air.

He double tapped on his horn. "Let's go sluts!" He called out to them.

Melody ran for his car. She jumped on the hood with her rump and slide all the way to the other side to get to the passenger's seat.

As Katsu panicked for his car. He frantically yelled at at her, "Ay yo yo! Watch the paint! Watch the paint!"

Kira rolled her eyes dramatically. There was absolutely no reason for a 16 year old to have a $300,000 sports car. She turned towards Davis. "Sorry, that's my ride. What were you saying?"

"Oh, uh," Davis snapped back from the car's draw. "I didn't get your number. You know, to text you when I'm done with practice."

"Oh yeah that's right," she grabbed the phone from Davis's hand and programmed her number into it. She smiled shyly, "Yeah so, uh, just text me when you're done? And then we'll meet up?"

Davis reached for his phone back. His hand brushed against hers, leaving him briefly breathless. "Y-yeah, it shouldn't be more than like a couple hours or so."

"Cool," she smiled back at him.

They stood there for a moment, not really wanting to break away from one another just yet. But they were jolted back into reality with Melody leaning over Katsu, pushing down forcefully on his car horn.

"KIRA! Quit sucking Davis's dick and let's goooooooooooooo!" she howled.

Katsu joined in. He loved how easy it was to mortify Kira. "Yeah, come on Tits! Blow 'im later, we're gonna be late!"

Kira shot them an angry look, demanding them to shut up. Her face turned red with embarrassment. She laughed nervously, "Sorry, they're assholes. But, I'll uh, see you tonight then?"

"Definitely," Davis answered. He watched her as she got into the car and sped away. Davis was unaware that the other Digidestineds had noticed the ear-to-ear smile upon his face. He looked around him to find that Kari, Yolei, Ken, and T.K. had all been smirking at him.

"What?" he said to them confused. "What are ya lookin at me like that for?"

"Oohhhhh, so you're the one Kira has a date with tonight huh?" T.K. said to him, nudging Davis's ribs with his elbows. "That's why you can't go to the Digital World with us tonight then?"

As part of the plan of trying to track down the new Digidestineds, they were spending much more time in the Digital World. Their Digimon partners were there presently, regaining their strength. Too much time in the human world slowly diminished their energy. Davis and T.K. were supposed to join the girls, Cody, and Ken after they were finished with soccer practice, but Davis hand canceled on them last minute. Now T.K. knew why.

"Shut up T.X. it's none of your business!" he barked at him. The others couldn't help but laugh in response.

Cody was the only one not joining in on the laugher. He was still watching the car speed away into the distance. "Hey, did you guys notice the bandana around his arm?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Ken asked him.

Cody furrowed his brow. "That's a gang symbol. I'm not sure which one it belongs too. But I know it is one."

The others looked at one another with concerned expressions. Ken asked him, "Are you sure Cody?"

"Absolutely," he nodded. "I've seen it in the news before. I'll see if I can find the name of it online. But...If those girls are friends with someone like that, they might be involved somehow." He turned towards Davis. "Davis, I know that you might be fond of that girl, but I'd be careful associating with her." He smiled slightly, "I know this might be hard for you, but at least when you're around her, try to keep your wits about you."

As just as Cody expected, all Davis did was look confused.

Katsu's father, being a prime figure in Japan's criminal social elite, owned several businesses in Japan. One of these being a grimey, hole-in-the-wall box named Sato's that held patrons (as tarnished as the place itself) in the front and an inconspicuous conference room for his father's "business" meetings in the back. Needless to say, Katsu and his guests received free service there, to which Melody was more than willing to latch on to him for. She would use him for all the free alcohol her little body could handle, and he would use her for the occasional lay.

Kira was almost certain that time stood still in Sato's bar. All of the visits she made there seemed to blur together with one another. It was not because of the alcohol, but because of the same defeated-looking patrons balancing upon their barstools and the same greasy, neck-beard wielding bartender that seemed to have permanent residence there. Every booth, stool, and table each seemed to have it's fate set in stone as to whether it would remain empty or occupied. Nothing ever changed until Katsu would graciously honor the place with his presence, causing a riff in it's normal activity.

They had placed themselves in a disturbingly sticky, round booth in the corner. Melody and Katsu had already finished their fourth or fifth style of drinking was 'fast and hard'. To them, casual social drinking was a waste of time. Drinking to get drunk was the only option for them.

Kira sipped on her severely watered down vodka and sprite. She very rarely drank. She found the extra calories to be unnecessary. Kira saw that Melody's eyes were already slightly glazed. It was time to make them listen to her before they became too far gone.

She cleared her throat, "Hey Katsu, so when you picked us up, did you see that group of kids we were with?"

Katsu chuckled. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and began to repeatedly hit it on his opposite palm, loosening up the pack. "Yeah. I did. We're really going to talk about this now, aren't we?"

"What?" she asked.

"The other kids right? I'm guessin you want to talk about what we're supposed to do with 'um?" He lit the cigarette in his mouth and took a long drag. "I fought that pretty boy and that homely lookin bitch in The Digital World not too long ago."

"T.K. and Yolei. Yeah, I heard about your run in with them."

Katsu took another drag, squinting his eyes at her. "How did you know about that?"

"Kiyoshi told me."

"Yeah, well, my brother needs to not tell people about my fucking business." His tone sounded disgusted.

Kira never understood what Katsu's problem was with Kiyoshi. Aspects of their personalities clashed, but they were twins after all. She had assumed that that would have created some type of bond. But all they seemed to do was try to outdo one another.

Kira pushed her half empty glass to the center of the table, "Well, all six of those kids you saw are Digidestineds."

"Really?" Katsu looked mischievously intrigued.

Kira noticed how the cigarette trembled in his hands. Despite the fair temperature, sweat trickled from his brow. Since climbing into his Maserati, she would catch his muscles clenching sporadically, his body clinging on the edge of irritability. An underlying sensation of violence seemed to itch beneath his skin. This notion frightened her when she realized that Melody had been right, he was getting bigger.

"Duuude Kira, I forgot to tell you I met that Kari chick's brother. And he is fiiiiine." Melody squeaked. As the level of liquor in her system rose, so did the pitch of her voice.

Katsu cringed as he put his cigarette out on the ashtray in the center of the table. "Jesus Christ you're annoying," he told her. Melody sneered at him.

Katsu took a fist to his other hand, cracking the knuckle on each finger. An intense look came across his face, "I'll take care of them."

"All of them? You're going to 'take care' of all of them, by yourself?" she asked him.

Katsu knocked back the rest of the whiskey in his glass. As he pushed it towards the ashtray he said, "When I fought those kids, one of them asked me if we had been 'downloading data from defeated Digimon'".

Kira gave him a confused look. He responded, "Yeah was my reaction t too. I had no idea what the hell they were talking about. But I took Commandramon to the Digiworld the other day and...we tried it." A fire lit up in his eyes. "Kira it was fucking amazing. Your Digimon can just absorb those floating particles you see when you kill another Digimon and...god he just became so...powerful. He's the strongest he's ever been! He can kill so easily now."

Katsu's obsessive fawning over his partner's power made her fidget in her seat. A dark expression overcame his face. "We are doing to destroy all of their Digimon. And I will be the strongest in both worlds." He became every quiet, "...I have to be".

Melody felt uncomfortable. She didn't really mind the other kids at all. Losing Blackgatomon, she imagined, would feel like losing a sister. The other kids surely had to feel the same way about their partners.

She started, hesitantly, "I...I mean do you really have to do that? All of them? Their Digimon are their friends too…"

Katsu threw his hands up in a sign of irritation. "Oh. My god Melody. Do you never fucking remember anything? _He_ told us if we destroy them we'd get stronger. We'd get better. If we don't, he said they'll destroy us. So, you should be fucking grateful that I'm going to do this for us. God you're so fucking stupid," He declared to her.

Kira fumed. The way that Katsu talked to Melody disgusted her. Though despite his language, Melody always fell right back into his lap; both in a figurative and literal sense. Kira had grudgingly stopped standing up for her to him. It was too exhausting to fight for someone that did not want to be fought for. In one of Melody's emotional, intoxicated nights, Kira learned just how powerful a drug loneliness can be as Melody confessed to her how important it was to put up with his abuse. Because no matter how small and lowly his words made her feel, it was worth it to feel needed, to feel wanted, even if for only a few hours a week; with his touch.

"Well I still think…" Melody began.

"Actually, nobody gives a shit what you think," Katsu interrupted. "So why don't you go get me another Jack and coke?"

Melody struggled to hide her anger in her face. She violently stood up from her seat, shoving the table in front of them. Just as she turned to head towards the bar, Kira could see her eyes watering slightly.

"Wow." Kira said at Katsu. "Well you're just super duper dick today aren't ya?"

Katsu shook his head and responded softly, "Fucking cycling"

"What?"

"Nothing."

To change the direction of conversation, Katsu turned his body towards Kira. He came uncomfortably close to her. The stench of liquor on his breath was strong. He looked Kira up and down in a way that made her wish she were wearing a burka.

"But, an even more pressing matter is why you and I..." he placed his hand on her knee and slid it up her inner thigh. "..have never gotten to..._know_ one another yet."

Kira gave him a stern look and slid his ever-encroaching hand off of her. "Because I'm not interested in boys who feel the need to validate their masculinity by degrading women."

Katsu scrunched his nose, "Ew. Feminist type. Gross."

Kira was unable to hide her irritation. "I actually don't give a shit if you'd fuck me, I'm trying to find out what you guys want to do with the other kids! Jesus Christ!"

Katsu gave her an annoyed look, "Jesus, do you women never open your goddamn ears? I said I would take care of them. End of story. I will destroy them when I see fit." He pulled out another cigarette. "I will be the strongest."

A silence fell between them. Kira watched him light his cigarette and said, "You haven't told any of us what your Crest means yet."

A large puff of smoke stormed from his nose."Yes I have. We all know what everyone's Crest is."

"Yeah, I do." She responded. "But you never told us _why_ that's your Crest."

A snarl erupted from his lips. With intense eyes, he turned towards her once more. Kira was taken aback, scared that he was going to grab her. In a harsh whisper he responded, "And that is something that you will _never_. Fucking. Know."

He had intimidated the air right out of her lungs.

"Kira," Melody had arrived just in time to break the tension. "I didn't know if you wanted anything, so I just got you another Vodka Sprite," She placed their drinks on the table.

It was then that Kira's phone chirped. It was a message from someone not in her contacts. She opened it.

Hey cutie (:

Kira found herself smiling, she knew who it was from. She responded:

Hey! This is Davis right? Where you ready to meet up?

"Yooooo. Earth to Kiraaa." Melody tried to get her attention.

Kira snapped her head up from her phone, unaware, "What?"

"I asked you a question and you straight up ignored me."

"Sorry I got a text.."

Kira's phone chirped again. Davis had messaged her back.

Yep it's me! Um so do you know where Sushi Ting is? Is that place ok with you?

She found herself grinning and responded.

That sounds perfect. I can be there in 15.

Kira looked up from her phone to find Melody staring at her with a smug look. "Who ya textttttin? It's Davis isn't it?"

Kira blushed, "Yeah, it is. I have to go we're supposed to meet up."

"Davis?" asked Katsu. "He's one of those kids right?"

Melody laughed, "Yeah and Kira has a 'not-date' with him tonight."

Katsu had a mischievous look plastered on his face, "Ahhh. Fucking with the enemy before battle huh? Nice. Gotta use them for all their worth while you can, I guess."

Kira's blush intensified. She stumbled over her words and she attempted to exit the booth, "S-shut up, it's not a like that. It's..it's strictly recon!"

Katsu laughed, "Hey, it's all good. All the best spies in the movies sleep with the enemy right?"

Kira rolled her eyes and began to walk away.

"Hey!" Katsu shouted after her. "Have your fun while you can Kira." He smiled darkly and brought two fingers, resembling the shape of a gun, to his temple. "Before I...have my own fun."

Kira felt violently sick as she hurried out of the bar. As much as she knew the other Digidestineds were a danger to them, she hoped that it wouldn't come down to such violence. As she made her way she practiced in her head the questions she was going ask him. She also found herself checking her reflection in some of the store windows as she passed, picking and fixing little parts of her hair and outfit as she walked by.

_What is wrong with me? It's not a real date. Why do I care so much?_

Butterflies stormed her stomach as she opened the restaurant door and found Davis sitting in the waiting area. He greeted her with a smile. They were seated by their waiter. Kira's hand shook slightly as she held her menu.

"Um, how was soccer practice?" she asked, nervously blowing her ravenous bangs out of her face.

"Uh, yeah, it was fine." Davis responded, unable to keep his left leg from bouncing slightly.

An array of awkward small talk ensued that any onlooker would describe as 'painful'. During any other normal circumstance, neither of them had this much trouble conversing with one another. But the looming presence of a 'date' have applied a certain pressure that made them second guess what to say and what to do.

_Jesus Kira,_ she said to herself. _Quit being such a dork and just do what you came here to do. _

"So uh, are you like, good friends with T.K. and Kari and all those other kids?" Kira asked.

"Yeah totally," Davis answered. "We've been tight for god, like, six years now?"

"What kind of stuff do you guys do together?" Kira asked next.

Davis squinted in confusion at her question, "Umm..I don't know, like, lots of..adventures, and stuff." He wasn't sure how to describe their time in The Digital World together.

"Is T.K. getting into fights the norm for your adventures?"

Davis laughed, "No, trust me he doesn't do that that often. Scared the hell out of us actually."

"Why did he do it then?" she asked hurriedly.

Davis was taken aback by her barrage of questions, "Um, the other guy was a really bad dude. He tried to hurt Kari."

"Kari? So...does he like her or something?"

Davis chuckled, "Probably more than he's willing to admit."

_So Kari is his weak point. _Kira thought_, Noted._

Davis raised an eyebrow, "You know, you ask about a lot of weird questions."

She laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm such a freak." She hid half of her face with her menu. "I don't do..._this_ that often."

David laughed, "Well if you're not out doing things like _this_, then what other things do you do?"

"Umm, aside from hanging out with Melody and school? Well...I guess I mostly just workout and play and watch soccer."

Davis's face lit up slightly, "Oh shit, yeah I forgot you like soccer too. Did you happen to catch the world cup?"

Kira let out a feigned applauded gasp, "Did I...did I watch it? Are you kidding me?! I never miss a single game!"

"Duuuuuude," Davis chimed. "The U.S. like, totally threw a curveball with their first game, even when their own coach basically said they were going to suck!"

Kira laughed, "Yeah and then they completely freaking blew with the next games."

"Yeah I know, I lost so much money in a bet to T.K. over them. I had them pegged to win the whole thing."

"Dude. What? Are you serious? There was no freakin way."

"Yeah huh, if they would have just kept playing like they did the first game…."

And that was it. That was all that it took to get the ball rolling. Without them even noticing, their awkward small talk had erupted into long-winged, boisterous conversation.

Kira absolutely did not believe in love at first sight. She found the concept to be too much of a far fetched fantasy. But what she did believe in, was a 'click'. And dear god, did she and Davis have that 'click'. Be it hormonal compatibility or identical personalities, she believed that it was possible for two individuals to connect, in a slightly deeper manner, after only meeting for a short time, through some sort of matching spark of connection.

And once that spark ignited, they found themselves unable to stop talking. Their rampageous laughter prompted irritated looks from the other diners. But neither of them cared. Too enthralled in each other's company; the only outside factor they really noticed was how sore their cheeks were becoming from far too much smiling.

And for the first time in a long while, Kira forgot about all about food. She forgot about calories. She forgot about purging. She forgot about what the scale would weigh later that night.

All she could think about was sitting there, in the company of a lovely brunette boy with an intoxicating smile, finding herself absolutely unable to shut up. When their food arrived they shared their rolls, argued over which ones were better, and competed over who could ingest the most wasabi at once. A competition, to which Davis found himself the loser after a very painful coughing fit. But she found his intense competitive nature enthralling.

Kira laughed at him. She smirked, "Looks like playing basketball isn't the only thing you're a little bitch at huh?"

Davis scowled at her playfully, "Hey, now that's not fair! You like, totally threw me off my game with that bet."

Kira rolled her eyes, "Yeah right. That's not even the least bit true."

"It is too!" Davis responded. "You threw me off guard...being so straightforward." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I mean, cuz you're like, really pretty and athletic and cool. I wasn't...really expecting you to be that interested in me."

As Kira's cheeks became unbearably red, they were approached by the waiter. Being unaware of anyone else but the two of them had caused them to stay over past closing. All of the other guests had left. Davis hurriedly paid the bill and offered to walk Kira home.

During their walk, Kira was overcome with a drowning feeling of guilt.

_What am I doing? This kid likes me and...I'm just using him to figure out how to take down his team. God, I feel fucking awful. _I'm_ fucking awful._

Davis however, was more than ecstatic that she seemed to have a good time during their date. But he couldn't help but worry that, despite their laughter, she'd never want to go out with him again. That maybe somehow, he had made a fool of himself in some way.

He was forced to face the unrelenting roar of butterflies in his stomach as they stopped at the front door of Kira's apartment. An awkward feeling fell between them.

Kira cleared her throat, "So um, this is my place. Thank you for dinner. It was great."

Davis smiled. "Yeah...no problem." He found himself moving closer to her, unable to stop his face from slowly encroaching on her's. He took his left hand and lightly held her right fingers. "So, I had a really good time tonight."

"Me too." Kira lost her breath at the feel of his touch. She felt a fire grow in her gut. She could feel that he wanted to kiss her and she wanted so badly to do it in return. But before he could come any closer, she turned away and slid out from in front of him. She didn't really know why she did it. Kissing boys for recreation was something she enjoyed doing, but kissing someone she actually liked? _That_ was a terrifying thought. For it would be far too likely for her to hurt. To hurt him. Especially with their 'Digidestined' circumstances. And she enjoyed his company far too much for her to ruin what they created, for now.

"I should get going," she said as she slipped her keys in the door and opened it slightly.

Davis felt like his insides were tossing and turning. He knew it. He knew that he must have messed up somehow. It felt so right to try to kiss her and he just scared her off. An uneasy feeling of self-consciousness rushed over him.

He drew his eyes to the ground, _God, I'm such an idiot_.

She read that look upon his face and did something that she knew she shouldn't have done. But she was not about to let this wonderful boy go to bed that night thinking he was anything less than, well, wonderful.

"Hey!" She called to get his attention. He looked up at her. She continued, "Think of where you want to go for date number two. It's on me."

He chuckled as a crooked smile emerged from his lips, "Alright."

She opened the door all the way, "Goodnight Davis."

Before he could stop himself, the words "Goodnight, beautiful" rolled off of his tongue.

She tossed him a sensual smile, then walked inside and shut the door behind her. Leaning against it, she smiled and bit her lower lip. Her fluttering stomach had yet to cease.

She thought, _Man. Was tonight even real?_

On the other side of the door, Davis turned to walk away. He grinned and laughed as he placed his hands behind his head.

_Dang, that girl though_.

Odiaba

Monday, May 5th

23:30

As Kira had found herself home in her bed, Melody found herself in her usual spot after a night of drinking: in the back seat of Katsu's Maserati. When they left the bar, he tucked them away into a corner of a dense parking lot. With the top rolled up and his deeply tinted windows, he had no concern for intrusion.

Melody straddle his lap as they sat in the back seat. He had removed his dress shirt and Melody's jacket. Their breathing staggered between rough kisses. They exchanged potent tastes of earthy whiskey and salty tequila. He broke away from her to remove her bandeau. As her small breasts slightly bounced out of her top, as he grabbed one of them he began to violently suck on her neck, causing her to let out a small yelp.

He grabbed the base of her hair and whispered a slurred, "Sshut up" and began biting at the bottom of her neckline. Katsu never seemed to like it when she made any noise during sex, which she found to be rather odd. He would always scorn her or cover her mouth if she made even the slightest moan.

For the first time, Melody had found herself not into it. She felt as though she was just simply going through the motions. The more and more they drank that night, the more that she became obsessed with Kira's words from earlier.

_You deserve someone who at least treats you like a human being._

The fact that he just told her to 'shut up' added to the list of her irritation with him. But, as she usually found herself doing, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was her. Maybe being stuffed into a tiny back seat was making her grumpy, she needed room.

"Come on, can't we go back to your place or something?" she tried to whisper to him. "It's so cramped in your car."

Katsu groaned in irritation. He absolutely did not take girls home. Ever. It was either their place or his car. That way he leave of his own accord, or drop them off whenever he found appropriate. He couldn't understand what her problem was tonight. She was being more trying than normal. It was starting to irk him.

"You know," he said. "This whole sex thing is _much_ more enjoyable if you don't fucking talk."

Melody was dumbfounded. She stared at him with her mouth agape. She was nearly at a loss for words, "E-eexcuse me?"

Katsu cringed, "Yeaaah...you're not hot enough for me to get over your voice."

A fire burst inside of her. That was it. He only had nasty things to say to her all night long and she was tired of it. She wouldn't take any more of him tonight. She pushed herself off of his lap and onto the other side of the back seat. She hastily grabbed at her top and jacket and tried to put them back on.

"Seriously?" Katsu asked, his tone growing from irritation to anger.

Melody clenched her jaw, not saying a word to him.

Noticeably cross, he began to lean towards her. "Don't be a fucking cunt. I got you free drinks, the least you can fucking do is blow me."

Melody snapped her head towards him. She asked him in a disgusted tone, "Are you serious?"

Katsu grabbed her arm and forcibly pulled her closer. Melody cringed at the power of his grip. Scared and in pain, she felt her nose tingle as she fought hard to not let herself cry in front of him as he said to her, "Look, we both benefit from this system. You take my free shit, and then you give it up. Why are you trying to fuck that up?"

She wrenched her arm out of his grip. Her voice cracked, "Be-cause I deserve a little respect."

Katsu was usually able to contain a little more composure around her, but with all of the additives in his system, his words flowed a little more freely. "Are you serious Mel? You are one of the biggest whores I know. You seriously can't tell me with a straight face that _you_ of all people deserve respect."

She needed to leave and she needed to do it quickly. She had a feeling that she was either going to cry soon or that he was going to do something much worse than just grab her. Melody struggled to open the door. She stumbled out. The cold asphalt felt rough against her feet. She attempted to put on her heels while trying to put distance between her and the car at the same time.

Katsu got out and stood next to the driver's side door, "You're seriously just going to walk away?"

Melody zipped up her jacket and glanced back slightly at him, "Yup. Have fun spending the night alone." She crossed her arms in an effort to warm herself in the chilly air and began to walk away.

Katsu shook with rage. He was not going to let her have the last word. Disgusted, he screamed at her, "YOU REALLY THINK YOU'RE SPECIAL!? You really think you're the only one I can call to get fucked!? You're fucking delusional." The crest that rested in it's Tag around his neck began to glow a deep forest green.

With each of his words, she felt as though each of her steps were becoming heavier and heavier; unable to breath from fighting back her tears.

Seeing that his words caused some sort of reaction, Katsu lowered his voice, but his tone contained the same violent intensity.

In a near-whisper he spat, "You are NOT that fucking important…..You _NEVER_ will be. The only thing that _you _will ever be is a stupid. Fucking. Slut."

Melody's body released it's sobs without her consent. Every word felt as though they were daggers, stabbing her ruthlessly.

She ran.

As fast as her designer heels could carry her, she ran.

Ugly sobs streaked black eyeliner down her cheeks. She couldn't hear the sound of Katsu's car as it sped off in the opposite direction. She couldn't clearly see the sidewalk in front of her. She just wanted more than anything to be home, to be away. But no matter how fast Melody ran, she couldn't escape Katsu's words.

He was right. He said to her what she thought about every day. He had voiced the opinions that plagued her to her very core. She was worthless, disgusting, vile, and unimportant. What a fool she was to think was nothing important about her. Sex was the only thing in the world that she was good at; that she was good for. Loneliness bled inside of her as she caved to the constant, poisonous fear that she will never be loved; that she does not deserve to be monster aching inside of her demanded to be free, demanded for her to break. It demanded her to hurt. The self-created fact that she deserved to be in pain began to suffocate her mind.

She finally made it home. She saw BlackGatomon sleeping upon the couch. Melody bolted for the security of her bedroom. She sobbed and she undressed and threw on her pajamas.

Stupid, worthless, disgusting, nothing.

They were words that played on repeat in her mind.

Stupid.

Worthless.

Slut.

Anger towards herself boiled inside of her. As she sat hunched over on the floor of her bedroom she began to scratch at her arms and legs until bright red streaks emerged. She wanted so much to crawl out of her own skin. And the only way to get out of her own skin, was to open it up.

Her body shook as she crawled towards to desk and opened the top drawer. From within it, she pulled out a small, shiny razor blade that she pocketed from her foster mother's art supplies. She sobbed as she held it. She pulled hard at the base of her hair.

Stupid.

Disgusting.

Worthless.

Slut.

Katsu was right. She was nothing. She was always going to be nothing. She did not deserve to be loved and never will be. All she deserved was pain. She pressed the razor down onto her thigh.

The first cut is always the hardest. The first cut is the one that hurts the most. But when it is done there is such an awe of relief that is almost euphoric. And after the first few, especially with the numbness of alcohol, it is easy to escalade into a barrage of slashing.

She cried harder with each stroke.

"I am so stupid. I'm so disgusting."

The first few barely broke the surface. But the more she slashed the harder she starting pressing as an eerie need to see blood began to surface. As if blood were the proof that she had punished herself enough.

And the more she cut, the brighter the crest around her neck emitted an indigo light.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she stopped. Finally coming down from her high of hatred and through the fog of teary eyes she could finally see the final damage. She finally felt the raging sting of the marks she had made.

She cursed herself as her sobs became lighter. She watched as streaks of blood trickled down her leg.

"I am so disgusting."

Blackgatomon bolted awake. Her gut felt like it was trying to jump into her throat, the same feeling she'd get after waking from a dream of falling. She felt a large rush of energy inside her. An energy that made her feel as though she would Digivolve a hundred times over. She became very worried, for that had meant that Melody's Crest had been activated.

She hopped off the couch and made her way to Melody's bedroom, opening the door very quietly.

"Mel...is everything alright?"

Melody was sitting on the floor cross-legged with her back towards the door. She was slumped over and Blackgatomon could see the slight rise and fall of her chest when she let out a tiny sobs. She was shaking.

Blackgatomon slowly came up behind her, lightly placing a paw on her back.

"Mel?"

She let out a small gasp at the sight of Melody's legs. Melody still gripped the bloody razor in her hand. Saying nothing, she gently took the razor from her grasp and placed it on the far end of the room. She could her the sounds of Melody's sobs slowly start to grow again. She wrapped her arms around Melody's neck and pulled her in for an embrace. She felt her own tears start to form.

"It's alright. It's alright, I'm here."

It was not alright. It was not alright that she had to watch her beautiful, confident, wonderful partner drown so much in such a sea of self-hate that she felt the need to harm herself. It was not alright, because she couldn't seem to do anything to stop it.

The light from her crest still shone bright.

It was not alright, because she became stronger every time Melody did it.

But what was alright, was that Blackgatomon would not think twice about about being there for her, for taking care of her afterward, for being beacon of comfort instead of scorn or judgement.

She wiped a streak of tears off of Melody's cheek, "I'm going to clean you up ok?"

Melody nodded. She felt terrible that she had woke up her partner. She hated to be seen in such an embarrassing state.

Blackgatomon returned with a warm wash cloth and bandages. Melody winced at the sting of the cloth against her fresh wounds. They sat in silence as Blackgatomon wrapped gauze around Melody's thighs.

Silence, until Melody let out in the smallest voice, "I don't want to be here."

Her partner looked up at her. She knew exactly what she meant, she said it far too often. It was not in the moment or in the room that she did not want to be. It was in this world that she did not want to be in anymore.

Blackgatomon took Melody's face between her paws. She stared into the saddest eyes that she had ever seen. Fighting back her own tears she told her. "But _I_ want you to be here. I _need_ you to be here." She felt tears start to streak down her face as she said, "You _deserve_ to be here."

Melody placed her hand on Blackgatomon's paw and began to cry again. They embraced for a long time, neither saying a word. They used each other's touch to speak to each other the urgency of their feelings; the strong statement that Melody was not alone. That she would never be alone.

Sometime after she put Melody to bed, Blackgatomon crawled out from her sleeping embrace. She picked up the razor from the other side of the room and tossed it into the garbage. She crawled back into the arms of her slumbering partner.

"You'll get better," she whispered. "I'll make sure of it."


	14. Coward

Kamia Residence

Wednesday, May 7th

18:00

He regretted choosing to sit next to the window, finding himself nodding off. The warm rays that spilled into the room proved to be problematic for T.K. as he tried his best to study. The fatigue from soccer practice had begun to take over.

"T.K!"

T.K. jerked awake at the sound of Kari's voice. She shook her head at him, "Did you even hear anything I said?"

He smiled warily, "Uhhhh, yes? 'Yes' is the answer you're looking for right?"

She tried her best to hide a smile and threw a wadded up ball of paper at him, "You dork. How are you supposed to listen to my essay and critique it for our test tomorrow if you keep falling asleep?"

He stretched his arms upward. Through his yawn he said, "I'm sooorrryyy, practice just has me beat."

Kari found herself unabashedly staring as he stretched, watching every muscle in his arms and chest as they tensed beneath his tight t-shirt. His abs peeked out slightly from the bottom hem. She fidgeted in her seat. His thin frame had begun to bulk over the past year. She found herself visually drawn to his shape and movement more and more. He brought out a rather strange feeling from inside her; a feeling much different from when they were younger.

Kari turned back towards her desk she was sitting at, trying to compose herself. Clearing her throat, she attempted to speak, "Uhh, um, yeah, well we can't get good scores from sleeping."

T.K. watched her as she readjusted the barrette in her hair. It was grown out a little more now, resting just past the tops of her shoulders. As she was growing up and T.K. began to notice the little things about her; like the way she did her hair and makeup and how her clothes began to cling a little more at the growing curves of her body. He found her nothing short of beautiful.

T.K. rolled himself in the wheeled chair he was sitting on towards her. He scooted next to her, placing his left arm on the back of her chair and leaning into her to get a better look at the paper in front of her. Her body tingled at his warmth.

"Here, let me see." He said, "If I read it myself I'll probably stay awake better-."

He suddenly caught himself off-guard as he was unaware of how close he had placed himself to her. She smelled like vanilla. Her sweet perfume danced in his nose as he felt his temperature rise. She looked so lovely. He found himself overcome with a clutching feeling of excitement, a feeling that he had not been able to shake every time he was close to her; a feeling that had bombarded him ever since the night that she had kissed him.

He backed away slightly and with shaky words asked her, "Um, Kari? Uh...can I- can I ask you something?"

She responded with a high-pitched "Hummm?" as she barely looked away from her paper.

T.K. felt as though his throat were swelling shut, "Umm. So we uh...we never really talked about...that kiss."

Kari's heart skipped a beat at his last word. He tried her best to play dumb, "W-what kiss?"

In all honesty, she had hoped that he would have forgotten about it. She had been proud of herself for taking Gatomon's advice, but she still worried that she may have made a mistake. The kiss, though very small, was enough to create a whirlwind of emotion that she was not able to organize. She feared that she had created an irreparable rift in their friendship by acting on impulse.

Both of the teens were unaware that Patamon and Gatomon were eavesdropping on them from the living room. They strained their ears to hear what they could of the conversation that traveled through the crack of Kari's ajar bedroom door.

"The kiss," T.K. continued. "You know..from when you were fixing me up? After that fight?"

He hadn't stopped thinking about it since that night. He was unable to shake the memory of the feel of her lips upon hers. It was something that he had thought about long before; what it would be like to kiss her, to touch her. But he had been so unprepared by her action that he was unable to fully appreciate it, or understand what it meant. He was driving himself crazy trying to decode it, he needed to finally have it addressed.

"Oh….yeah…." Kari trailed off.

T.K. waited for a moment then tried to probe for a better response, "...yeah...and?"

Kari struggled with her words, "A-and, and what? It was...nothing...no...no meaning behind it or anything." She let out a nervous chuckle.

T.K. made a playful face at her, "You know I can tell when you're lying, right?"

"What? How?"

"You do that cute nervous laugh thing when you're trying to blow something off."

Kari found herself blushing, this wasn't a matter that she wanted to discuss at the moment. However, she knew that T.K. would not let it go that easy.

"T.K. look," she found it hard to maintain eye contact with him as she spoke. She took a deep breath. "I...I do like you. We've been through _so_ much together, in the Real World and the Digital World. You've been my best friend for _years_. You know me better than anyone else and..you do so much for me. I guess..I guess I just kissed you out of...overwhelming gratitude maybe? I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it, now I've made everything confusing."

"Yeah, well…" T.K. began, "I mean, I don't think it's _that _confusing...you know that I like you...don't you?

"Yeah…" she said quietly. "That's a kind of obvious." She emitted a tiny laugh, "I've never heard of anyone buying a girl a diamond necklace 'just because'."

"Well, then, so, did _you_ like it..when you did it?...The kiss?"

She smiled shyly, "Yeah."

"Well, I liked it too."

"I...I don't know. I don't think we should make such big decisions on such a small event you know?"

T.K. chuckled and shook his head, "You're a pain in the butt you know that?"

Kari laughed, "Besides that...that wasn't even a _real_ kiss."

"It wasn't?"

"N-no it was like, three seconds long. A real kiss has to be like...ten seconds long at least I feel."

And before she knew it, T.K. had brought his face remarkably closer to her's. Her breath trembled at his closeness. As she instinctively wet her lips, she found herself unable to speak.

He spoke softly to her, "Then how about we take a chance with a real one?"

It was soft and sweet, just like she had daydreamed that it would be. He tasted like sugar. She found herself overflowing with a deep feeling of relief and safeness. She was discovering what and who her body had been craving for a long time.

T.K. felt like his skin was on fire. He had thought about this moment so many times before that to actually experience it was...invigorating. Her lips were so soft. He wished that he could slow down time to capture the moment for even longer. He lifted his right hand up to her cheek. He wanted nothing more than to hold her forever. T.K. could feel her body relax as she wrapped her arms around him and up his back.

He deepened the kiss and turned their soft motions into harder, more passionate ones. He found an itching feeling of need surfacing. He began to periodically place his tongue in her mouth, and she would match his actions in return. Never stopping, never breaking away, if only for a quick moment to catch their breath. He placed his left hand on her waist and placed his right hand behind her head to deepen their kisses even further. She held him tighter in response. He felt himself become unintentionally aroused as she let out a small moan. His soon followed. Kari felt a tingling, foreign feeling of desire crawl from her chest all the way down to her groin.

"T.K.!" she shouted, nearly winded, as she pushed him off of her.

He struggled to catch his breath, "I'm-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean too...was it too much?"

She looked at him with wary eyes, "I think you should leave."

"What?" was the only response he could exhale out. He hoped that he hadn't made her feel uncomfortable.

"I can't do this to us T.K."

"Kari…..but," he wanted so badly for her to understand.

"T.K. you mean more to me than anything. Anything in this world. In both worlds. And I can't...I wouldn't be able to live with myself if- if _this_ happened and.. what if it didn't work out? If it ended up tearing apart our friendship? How do we know? How do we know if it would work out?"

"I mean. You never know." he rubbed the back of his head. "You never really know if _anything _will work out in the end. But...but maybe the ride there to find out is worth it, you know?"

Kari turned away from him, addressing the paper on her desk as if their conversation, their kiss, had never happened,"I think...we should keep this ride right where it is."

"Kari…." his response almost came out in a whine. It was so difficult for him to explain his feelings for her. He craved to hold her, to kiss her, to tell her every wonderful aspect that she had brought to his life. But there was no point in conveying his affections any longer if she did not feel it right to reciprocate. "You're right. I should go." He gathered his belongings and started to leave the room. "I was an idiot for even saying anything."

"T.K. don't be like that." Kari said to him sadly. She could see how much she had hurt him. But his pain now, she felt, would hurt far less than his pursuit and involvement with something, with her, in a relationship that could very well decay.

"Come on Patamon, let's go," he commanded to his partner. Patamon jumped into his gym bag. T.K. opened the front door.

"T.K!" Kari shouted after him as she charged into the living room. She did not want him to leave her feeling this way.

He glanced back at her slightly, "Good luck on your test."

Kari jumped as he shut the door roughly behind him. The sound left her with an awful feeling in her gut. She felt like she was going to vomit. He had no idea how badly she wanted them to be together too. But it was just a step that she was not brave enough to take; a step into the unknown that she was too fearful of. She looked over to find Gatomon with her arms crossed, giving her a disappointed smirk.

"You were being a pussy, weren't ya?" Gatomon asked.

Kari exhaled audibly, "Yes Gatomon. I, Hikari Kamiya….am a _gigantic_ coward."


	15. Too Heavy is the Burden

Odaiba

Thursday, May 8th

18:15

"Ugh. I can't belieeeeve that Davis and T.K. are friends with that girl." Yolei was still fuming about her interaction with Melody from earlier that week. She couldn't just let such a rude person off the hook right away. Yolei also found that Melody would still give her dirty looks as they passed in the hallways at school, looks to which Yolei was more than happy to return.

"I don't know about 'friends'," Ken told her. "I think they're more like acquaintances." After Yolei's computer club meetings Ken always insisted on walking her home. It also gave them the opportunity within their busy schedules to spend a little more time together. As they walked, he gently interlaced his right hand with her left, "And besides, maybe she was just having a bad day. I don't think she'd be so...brash on purpose."

Yolei fluttered at the feel of his hand, "Yeah, I guess you could be right, who knows."

After Ken had met the other Digidestineds four years ago, his parents decided that it would be a healthy decision to move closer to them and allow him to transfer to their school. Since his Dark Spore became dormant, he lost his extreme athletic and academic prowess, so there was no need for him to stay enrolled in a prestigious prep school. And after finally seeing him happy, seeing him make friends, seeing him finally start to come to peace with the death of his brother, his parents wanted to do everything they could to keep him on the path of healing.

Poromon and Minomon poked their heads out of their partner's backpacks. Now that their partners were older, they couldn't be carried around in their arms like they used to. They now had to be stuffed away to keep from arousing suspicion or unwanted interest.

"Yolei," Poromon said. "Tell him the good news about your parents."

"Oh yeah," Yolei chimed. "My parents finally got their license!"

"For what?" Ken asked intrigued

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Yolei said. "My Mom and Dad decided to get registered as foster parents. They've been having craaazy empty nest syndrome since I'm the only one in the house now."

"I hope they get a baby." Poromon stated. "I just want a new friend to play with. Yolei has been so booooring."

"Hey!" Yolei scolded. "I'm not boring, I'm just busy!"

Ken laughed as Yolei and Poromon continued to bicker at one another. They were startled by an animal jumping out onto the sidewalk in front of them. It was a dog, a Doberman Pinscher, and it appeared that they had startled him as well.

"Hey I recognize him," Ken stated. The dog slowly began to back away with his back arched. "He's always running about my apartment complex." Ken bent his knees and placed his hands on them and said sweetly, "Hey boy, come'eer, are you lost?"

Minomon tensed, "Ken, that's not a dog."

Ken looked at his partner, now standing on his shoulder, "What? What are you talking about, of course it is."

"No, that's a Digimon. A Dobermon." Minomon jumped from Ken's shoulder and Digivolved into Wormmon, placing himself between Ken and this new Digimon. He carried an intense look in his eyes.

Dobermon began to growl. When Brian was at school, he usually never ran into any sort of trouble while wandering Odaiba, keeping himself busy. But today he found himself stumbling upon the ultimate conflict, but without his partner there to help him Digivolve there would be no chance of him winning. He began to grow to his normal size and release his claws. Perhaps he would be able to scare them off with intimidation.

Dobermon stated in with a deep rumble, "This is not a fight you want to take part in Digidestineds."

"I don't think that's for you to decide." Wormmon stated aggressively, positioning into an attack stance.

Ken waved his arms out in front of him, "Hey hey hey we don't have to fight! Did you just get lost? We can help get you back to the Digital World.

Dobermon relaxed slightly, "Child of Kindness, your crest suits you."

"What? How do you know what his crest is?" Yolei asked with a stern voice.

"My partner and I have seen you from afar in the Digital World. Your armor evolution is most impressive." Dobermon stated.

"Your partner?" Ken asked, the gears in his head starting to turn. "You must be with those kids that have been causing all that damage."

Dobermon scoffed at him, "Not all of us are like our comrades. My partner has no interest in pursuing you. But, I must warn you Digidestineds, the other Dark Children are not as mild mannered. They _will_ fight you. We have been told that you are a danger to their survival...they _are_ out for your blood…..a great darkness comes your way Digidestineds."

"What?" Yolei asked. "What do you mean out for our blood?"

Dobermon ignored her question, "But that darkness is not me. I do not believe what _he_ says. I know of your past adventures. I know the good that you have done for the Digital World. I think that you can help them, that if you come to accept them, you can help the other children. But please….please for now just let me walk away and I won't have to fight you."

Poromon jumped in front of Yolei and said, "I don't trust him Yolei. Let me waste him!"

Yolei reached for her hip, but with a terrified gasp found that her Digivice was not there. She did not recall ever picking it up off of the table after Computer Club. "Shit! I left my Digivice at school!"

"It looks like I'll take care of him then!" Wormmon assured them as he spat his 'Sticky Net' attack.

Dobermon blocked his attack and scowled, "We're done here." He jumped faster than their eyes could follow.

And just like that Dobermon, fled amongst the rooftops of the city. He was out of sight in no time at all.

Wormmon let out a yell of frustration as he attempted to Digivolve. Ken picked up his partner, breaking his concentration.

"There's no point in doing that. He's already long gone. Besides we need to go back for Yolei's Digivice," Ken said.

Yolei began to march back towards the school. Fuming, she declared, "UGHHHH I'm so angry at myself! We finally have a chance to fight one of them and I screw it up!"

"Hey don't be so hard on yourself," Ken struggled to keep up with her pace. "Besides there's no point in fighting him if we don't know who his partner is. Isn't it them we're looking for?

"God we really don't have a plan at all do we?" Yolei shook her head. "I'm going to text everyone and let them know to look out for a Dobermon."

As they came closer to the school, Ken grew more worrisome. "I'm actually kind of scared that some of them know who we are. I thought we would have the element of surprise but I guess not."

Yolei halted abruptly, a terrified look plastered upon her face.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Ken apologized to her.

But Yolei had not heard him. As she looked forward, her breath trembled. She gathered enough breath to scream, "STOP! DON'T!" before sprinting into the school faster than Ken had ever seen her move.

Ken was confused by her sudden, random outburst. Before he could call out to her, he caught the same sight that she had viewed. Trembling, he sprinted inside after her, praying that they would not be too late.

Odaiba High School - Computer Club

Thursday, May 8th

18:00

"Great work today Brian!"

Brian looked up from his screen to find Yolei grinning at him. He found her voice to always carry a kind and genuine tone. Being the president of the high school's Computer Club, she had no qualms with taking leadership authority. Even at the times when she had to put the slackers in the group in line, she still had a sense of kindness to her. She made him smile. Brian greatly admired her strength and her ability to stand up for others and herself. He wished more than anything to posses that strength within himself.

Yolei continued, "You have some skill! You should seriously consider computer programing a career in the future. You gotta knack for it."

Brian brought his eyes downward. He felt uncomfortable. He never knew what to do or say when compliments were brought to him. He could never make himself feel that he really deserved them.

"Yeah," he said in a quiet voice. "Maybe".

_A future...I don't think that I will have one...I don't deserve one._

Yolei placed her hand on top of his. She was disgusted at the way many of her fellow classmates treated Brian. Being a quirky and different herself, she understood what it was like to fight against the current of everyone else. She felt it was her duty to reach out to him as much as she could. Not out of pity, but out of a sense of decency. When she looked at him, she saw a quiet, lonely, bullied boy that just needed a little help. A boy who needed a shimmer of love and kindness in a cruel school; something, or someone, to make him feel appreciated and needed.

"I have some awesome stuff planned for next week. But I definitely need your help though." Her voice rang sweetly. "Can you promise me that you'll be able to make it next week?"

Brian felt sick. _Please_, he thought. _Don't make me promise that to you._

"Sure," he tried his best to smile as he lied through his teeth.

"Hey Yolei. You all ready to go?" Brian and Yolei both turned towards the doorway of the classroom to find Ken. He was still in their school uniform. Brian noted that it seemed like no matter what, Ken always made sure to walk Yolei home.

"Yeah just let me get my stuff real quick," Yolei told him as she began to gather her bag.

"That's fine, take your time. Hey Brian how are you?" Ken asked him in a cheerful voice.

Brian forced an "I'm alright" for his response. Brian didn't know much about Ken. The only time that he ever really saw him was when he came to walk Yolei home. Oh, but the way that she talked about him, the way that his name made her smile; he had never seen a face light up quite like hers at the mention of Ken.

He was quiet, calm, and gentle. In Brian's eyes, Ken was perfect for her. Sometimes he would join in on their Computer Club meetings, and he would catch Ken stealing glances at her. His eyes looked as if he had never seen anyone so perfect. Even when Yolei would go on with one of her loud rants to the group, it seemed like Ken could not take the smile off of his face whenever he looked at her. So much alike, yet so different. Brian was glad when Yolei told him that they started dating. She deserved someone like him.

"You want to walk with us too?" Yolei asked him. Brian lived in the same apartment complex as Ken.

"Uh, no, thank you. I have some stuff I need to finish up," Brian told her.

"Alrighty. See you tomorrow!" She and Ken waved at him as they walked out the door.

In almost a whisper Brian managed a, "Goodbye," with a small wave.

The other members of the club began to slowly disperse. As they took their time leaving, Brian clanked away on the keyboard, punching away at mindless tasks. When the last member finally left, the eerie silence of the building struck a key inside of him. He began to shake and sweat.

This was it. It was time.

His breathing became shallow as he pulled up Microsoft Word onto his screen. He began to write a letter, a letter that spoke the words of his very soul, without filter. Tears slowly started to slide down his face as he recalled every memory mentioned in it; whether they were for the better or for worse.

It was strange. As much as he wanted to do it, no, needed to do it, he hoped and prayed for the chance that someone, anyone, would pull him off of his chair and take him away. But he knew that it would never happen. For that is not the type of world he lives in.

Writing the final paragraph of his letter, he began to bawl. The realization of what he was to follow, what needed to follow, what deserved to follow, came inching towards him. But no longer were they tears of sadness, for they were filled with relief, filled with the promise of no more pain.

_I will finally be free._

He signed his letter. He pulled out a flash drive from his backpack. Using his programming skills, he unlocked the virus on it that he created. It infected the school's entire server. With it, he used it to put his letter on every computer in the building.

_Now they'll know. They all deserve to know._

He placed his backpack neatly on his chair and walked out the classroom door. He made his way up the stairs. In that moment, the world around him felt as though it didn't really exist. He was floating away in dreamland, inches closer to paradise. The only noise was the soft patter of his footsteps; the only thing keeping him from drifting away from earth. Before long, he had walked the four flights of stairs in the school building. The janitor had left the top floor utility closet open. He walked inside and made his way to the roof access stairs in the corner of the room. As Brian opened the hatch, he felt a soft wind brush against his cheeks. It chilled the tear stains on his cheeks. The warm sun engulfed him in it's rays, as if it were beckoning him. The day was beautiful, and while caulded in his bliss of excitement for eternal happiness and relief, he too felt beautiful.

He stood on the edge of the roof. Numerous cars zipped passed him on the road below. His stomach jumped. He was afraid of heights, but not nearly as much as he was afraid of being alive. This was his moment, he took a long breath.

If the collision with the asphalt did not kill him, he was sure that a passing vehicle would. At least, that was what he hoped. To survive would be an embarrassment. To survive would make him even more of a failure. This was not a world in which he which he wished to survive in any longer. While staring at the ground below, he heard a small ringing in his ears, a far off voice telling him:

'Stop! Don't!'

The voice was muddled by the roaring cars below him. His thoughts began to stray to his boyfriend. The image of his face would not budge from his mind. He began to cry. Guilt overcame him. It ripped him apart on the inside knowing how much that he would hurt him. But deep down he knew, that it was for the better. He loved him so passionately and recklessly. He felt that his boyfriend deserved so much more than what he could offer to him. He felt as though he was not worthy of someone so perfect.

He felt the chill of more sobs.

_I don't fucking deserve him._

Words poked and prodded at every corner of his mind:

_Stupid._

_Ugly._

_Worthless._

_Faggot._

_Disgusting._

_Idiot. _

_Hideous._

_Gross. _

_Nothing._

_Fucking worthless. _

_Stupid._

_Disgusting._

_Faggot._

_You're nothing._

_Retard. Fucking stupid._

_Kill yourself you fucking faggot._

"BRIAN! STOP!"

He was pulled from his thoughts by a scream, a cry for him. His saviors, his way out, finally came. But he feared that it may have been too late. He turned his head to find Ken and Yolei on the roof, a couple of yards away from him. Next to them, stood their doe-eyed Digimon, Poromon and Wormmon.

Yolei screamed her request to Brian as loud as she could muster. She felt herself stricken with fear when she saw him upon the roof. Never in her life had she climbed stairs faster. Deep in her gut she knew that something was wrong with him today, yet she was unable to see it clearly. Now she knew. She began to blame herself.

A look of desperation came across Yolei's face. She choked on her words, "Brian, what, what the hell are you doing? Don't please, don't!" Her mouth could not articulate fast enough the words and sentiments she wished to express to him, the countless pleads for him to back away from the edge.

She noticed tears falling from the corner of his eyes. He smiled slightly, as if he knew everything would be over soon. "Yolei...I'm sorry I couldn't keep that promise to you."

In that instant, she lost her breath. She remembered. His promise that he gave just a little earlier. The promise to come to their club next week. She understood what that meant.

It was as if a dam within her tear ducts burst. She could barely breathed as she pleaded, "Bri-Brian, please…"

He felt his tears increase at the sight of hers. His breath shook. "Please, don't cry for me….I don't deserve your tears."

Ken knew that by this point Yolei would be unable to respond intelligibly. He barely knew Brian at all, but he knew that he had to help him. He had to save him. He deserved to be alive. Worry weighed on his face. He shook his head as he told him. "Brian..you don't have to do this. Whatever it is, we can help you work it out. We can help you get better. It will get better. I promise. Please. Please just come down." Ken noticed that Brian was wearing a necklace. The large pendant it carried rested in the middle of his chest and began to glow a vivid dark blue.

A moment of silence passed between them. Brian gave him a thankful smile. His words were soft, "Child of Kindness…..It's too late." He turned his head to face forward and gently closed his eyes.

In the exact moment that his feet lept from the edge, Yolei found herself sprinting towards him. Time sped exponentially, yet almost halted to a complete stop. The unforgiving paradox faced when confronted with split-second urgency. It reminded her of a dream. A dream in which, while seeping with desperation to run, her legs could not move fast enough, as if they were filled with concrete. She jerked as though she had to rip them from the earth. The closer she came to him, the further his body cascaded downward. And finally at the edge, she thrusted her upper body towards him as she pivoted her knees against the shallow edge of the roof for support, grabbing the edge with her left hand. Her body leaning down as far as she could, helped stretch her right arm to him. Her open hand came centimeters away from the floating fabric of his jacket. With her joints spread as far as she could muster, she desperately grasped her hand at him…

And missed.

The sound of a human body shattering against asphalt is a haunting one. It is a sound that once it is heard can never be unheard. Because for the rest of your days, any sound that may seem similar, will bring you back to the day it first crept into your life. It is a sound that will infect your nightmares for years to come. It is a sound that will wake you in a cold sweat, a sound that will taint you. It is the sound of death.

It is the last futile cry of sadness.

Yolei's scream shattered the air around her.

Ken and their Digimon arrived at the edge of the roof just seconds after her. They made it in time to watch the blowout of blood splatter from Brian's head onto the roadway. A loud crack shook them as his arm contorted grotesquely. His body bounced slightly. The unfortunate driver on in the lane he fell in had far too little time to completely swerve out of the way. Brakes screeched as he did his best to jerk his steering wheel towards the sidewalk. The driver felt the repulsive 'thump' as his wheel ran over Brian's pelvis. His car hopped the curb and crashed into a streetlight. Despite taking place within a manor of seconds, it would be the longest and most vivid experience that Yolei, Ken, and their Digimon would ever encounter.

Yolei tore her head away from the edge. Falling to her hands and knees, she vomited. Followed by Wormmon, Ken darted towards the roof access stairs. For the rest of his days, he would not remember his run down the stairs. He would not remember the time in between leaving the roof and touching Brian's lifeless figure. He would not remember why he even did it, why he would rush so quickly to the side of someone who had, without contest, left this earth. Perhaps it was because he was blinded, trapped in a tunnel vision of urgency and hope. All he knew was that in one moment he was turning away from Yolei, and in the flash of a blinking eye he found himself next to Brian's oozing body. He still remembers the feel of the asphalt's sting as it scraped his hands and knees as knelt next to him.

Brian's body lay face down. His left arm twisted around his back while the other rested above his head. His crushed pelvis was gashed open. His face was turned away from Ken. Ken cried out his name. He grabbed at the shoulder of Brian's jacket. Ken mustered all the strength he could to turn over his limp body.

Ken choked on his own breath to find Brian's wide, unblinking eyes staring right at him. Their gaze screamed of emptiness. The right one barely stayed place within it's socket, for that side of his face had become no more than a red seeping mass, crushed by the force of gravity. And eerie warmth kissed Ken's knees as the blood from Brian's skull began to fill all around him and soak through his uniform.

Ken trembled. His breath felt as though it was being pulled from his lungs. Flashbacks of his brother's death began to choke him. He envisioned his brother's face upon what was left of Brian's. He was rattled by an unfamiliar touch of the viscid blood on his hand. He lifted his right hand from the ground and quivered at the crimson liquid that coated his palm. Through the space of his fingers, Ken noticed the necklace around Brian's neck. The pendant had survived the fall. It's blue light slowly began to fade.

He couldn't believe it. It was a Crest.

The driver of the vehicle that had struck Brian stumbled out unjuried. He walked towards them, rubbing his head. Flustered, he mumbled, "Hey kid are you alrigh…" and gasped at the sight in front of him.

Ken turned towards the man, "Call for an ambulance! NOW!"

The man stuttered, "R-r-right" and raced to his car to retrieve his phone.

Clearing out of his haze of shock, Ken began to notice the small crowd gathered in the road and on both sides of the street, some of them he recognized as classmates. Amongst the younger crowd he noticed a barrage of cell phones, all pointed in his direction as they slowly inched their way towards the scene. The sound of their camera clicks stabbed his ears. Rage overtook him as he curled his hands into fists.

_How DARE they. How dare they dishonor him by capturing him in this state. How dare they waste precious time by using their phones to record in this moment instead of calling for help. Is that all he is to them? A sick memory to impress their friends and family with?_

His lips curled into a snarl. Fuming, Ken shouted uncharistically, "Put your_ fucking_ phones away!" He finally began to sob. "Our classmate just fucking killed himself! BACK _UP_!"

They were visibly started by his shrieks. The irate tone in his voice terrified them. A handful of the adults in the crowd began to herd everyone else further away from the scene.

"No…."

A soft voice caught Ken's attention. He turned his head to the left to find Dobermon, back to his smaller state, standing only a few feet away from him. He inched towards the body. He choked, unable to catch his breath at the sight.

"I felt….no...no….Brian no!" Dobermon rushed next to Brian's body, nearly knocking Ken over. He saw Dobermon start to sob as he laid, placing the top of his torso on Brian's unmoving chest. He held him as best he could. "Brian. Brian what did you do?! I'm too late. Brian. BRIAN!"

Ken felt violently sick at the sound of Dobermon's cries. "You were...you were his partner."

Ken watched as Dobermon sobbed atop the body. Shaking at his eerie whispered pleas of, "Please...please come back...Brian, come back."

His words from earlier rang in Ken's ears:_ You can help the other children._

Dobermon wasn't too late. _He_ was too late. Ken placed a hand softly on Dobermon's shoulder as he gendly tried to pull him off, "Dobermon, he's...he's gone. I'm sorry."

Dobermon let out a deep, loud, shattering howl. A howl filled to it's core with sorrow. It shook Ken's very soul. And with one last sob, Dobermon sprinted off down the road. Unable to control the rage, sadness, disbelief, and feeling of failure inside of him, the instinct of 'fight or flight' demanded that he run. He ran in an attempt to escape the grotesque feelings inside of him, to run from the blood soaked images of Brian seared into his mind. He needed to run away from reality, run away from the world.

Ken called out to Dobermon as he ran away, but it was a futile attempt. But on the ground, not too far away, he noticed a black and dark blue Digivice, similar to his. It must have been Brian's, it survived. Off in the distance, he could hear the wails of an ambulance coming closer. He had no idea why he did it, but before his brain could respond, his body grabbed the Digivice and tore the Crest from Brian's broken neck. He felt the intense urge to keep them safe, to keep them out of the wrong hands; for they were all that was left of Brian's legacy.

Has he pulled the crest off of Brian's body, he caught something out of the corner of his eye; a marking at the base of Brian's neck. Out of morbid curiosity, he pulled down the collar of his shirt. It was a black tattoo, one that resembled that of cattle branding. It resembled two rhombi, catty corner to one another, with a straight line touching the left corner of the top rhombus, reminding Ken of the letter "P".

It's edges were raised. The coarse feel of it's scaring sent a chill down Ken's spine as he accidentally brushed it. It was a symbol that Ken had never seen before, but sent a painful twitch down his neck; as if the Dark Spore within him had recognized it's presence.

"Out of the way kid!" The paramedic nearly knocked Ken over as he knelt next to Brian, beginning his futile attempts at resuscitation.

Ken stumbled onto the sidewalk, shock finally settling into his body and mind. Yolei had pulled herself together a little before. She and their Digimon made their way down to the street with the other onlookers. She hurriedly embraced Ken, seeing the state of disturbance in his eyes. She guided him to sit down.

Knowing that, no, everything was not fine; she still asked Ken the needed, rhetorical questions, "Ken? Ken are you ok?"

Ken felt something cold and sticky in the palm of his hand, he slowly opened it. It was Brian's Crest in it's Tag; he had nearly forgotten that he had taken it. The light that had shown from it not a few minutes before, was completely gone. It was now cold and fragile with the color now fading to a repugnant grey; as if they life inside of it of had dissipated with it's owner's.

"Is...is that his crest?" Yolei asked.

The symbol on crest resembled three teardrops in a row, with the middle drop placed in front of the two beside it; hieroglyphics of an ancient Digimon language.

Ken turned the crest towards his partner, "Wormmon. Wormmon..what does his mean?"

Wormmon peered at the crest. A confused and disheartened expression became plastered upon his face. He shook his head, "I...I don't..why?..I don't understand."

"What is it Wormmon?" Ken asked. "What is it the crest of?"

And with very grave eyes and heavy hearted voice he replied:

"Despair."


End file.

Digimon, Horror, Romance