Kidan (part 4 of 6)
Back to Part 3Shinji hummed softly, her mind wandering slightly as she rode steadily
onwards back to Akasaka. For the first time that she could remember,
her birthday had finally been a happy one. She smiled slightly.
Happiness. The feeling, one she had rarely felt in twenty-one years,
was still a little bit foreign against all the anger she had harbored
for all her life.
I wonder why there's a cat running into my yard, she thought silently,
looking up ahead. That cat looks familiar-Tailmon? Why is Tailmon
here? Unless...it can't be. She turned sharply and slid to a stop by
the tree in her yard.
"Tailmon, what happened to Hikari?" she asked quickly, her heart leaping
into her head.
"How did you know something happened?" Tailmon questioned in return.
"You would never come here willingly," Shinji answered. "Now what
happened?"
"I don't know!" Tailmon said desperately. "I got back to Hikari's room
before you two got back to the Real World, but when Hikari came back,
she and her mother started screaming at each other! It was because
Hikari skipped school to go to the Digital World with you, but then
Hikari said that she likes you and her mother told her to get out! She
went into the Digital World alone!" Shinji paled sharply, her heart
slowing even faster.
"She did what?" she asked.
"She ran away into the Digital World!" Tailmon replied.
"Why did you run after me?" Shinji snapped. "Taichi must live in Odaiba
at least!"
"You're the only one Hikari's going to listen to!" Tailmon shouted in
reply. "You're the one that she's going to want to look at!" There was
a moment's pause as Shinji let out a snarling sigh.
"Why am I standing here?" she asked aloud, but neither to herself nor to
Tailmon. Without another word, she turned and ran into her house.
Tailmon, already having been left behind by someone running off, tore
after her.
"Tailmon, go back to Odaiba!" Shinji called over her shoulder, running
up a flight of stairs three at a time. "Find all the Chosen Children
you can and tell them to track Hikari and I down! I'm going to find
her!"
"Why shouldn't I go with you?" Tailmon asked, bounding into the room
that Shinji had run into. "What are you freaked out about?"
"Vandemon visited me a few nights ago," Shinji muttered as she grabbed a
number of things from shelves and drawers. "He told me something's
happening. He said it happened four years ago-old enemies are coming
back for blood." Tailmon's mouth dropped open.
"You mean if they find Hikari?" she murmured.
"They'll kill her," Shinji whispered with a nod. "That's why I need you
to find the other Chosen Children. Find all of them. Make sure that
when they find us, they're at full evolution. We might need all of
their help."
"What can you do on your own?" Tailmon asked. "You're just a human!
You might meet an entire army of evil digimon!"
"I've already killed three digimon for Hikari," Shinji murmured. "If I
have to fight an legion of them for her, I will! Now go before you
waste any more time!" Tailmon did not reply with a nod or words, but
sprang towards the open window in the room and vanished into the dawning
dusk.
Shinji didn't watch her go. She had barely been paying attention to the
conversation in any case. She had been counting the kunai and shuriken
she was slipping into a leather pouch. By the time that Tailmon had
gone, she realized that she had taken all that she had. For the first
time, Shinji felt fear simmering inside her.
"There's a good chance that I might die if I do meet with an army," she
whispered to herself. "But if I don't try, then Hikari will die." She
took her sword from its stand on the armoire, almost turning away before
noticing something. The stand also carried her father's swords. One
was his traditional to blade, and the other was a Japanese kodachi. She
stared at them for almost thirty seconds before moving.
----------
Hikari sobbed into her knees, curled tightly in the rising roots of a
dead-looking tree. She could barely think in her misery, barely
remembering to breathe and ignoring where she was. The Digital World
around her was blackened, darkened to unending night. The presence of
evil and wickedness had contaminated many areas, including the one
Hikari had unconsciously emerged in with her haste to escape her mother.
"Well, well, well," an unseen but well-known voice chuckled. "Would you
look at that? A Chosen Child in distress." A hand grabbed Hikari's
brown hair and pulled sharply. Hikari let out a cry of pain, grabbing
uselessly at the hand as she looked to see who was hurting her. She
would have gasped, but the sound died halfway in her throat.
Ladydevimon chuckled, bringing Hikari closer to stare her in the eye.
Behind her stood creatures that haunted Hikari's nightmares.
She recognized enemies she and the other Chosen Children had battled
over the years: Phantomon, Bakemon, Warumonzemon, Woodmon, Etemon, and
many others. Even though she still felt despondent, Hikari grew
terrified. She didn't want to be killed.
"And it's the Light Child, no less!" one of the Bakemon laughed darkly.
"Isn't that a great thing for you, Ladydevimon?"
"Oh, yeah!" Etemon roared gleefully. "She's been slapped around by that
angel chick at least twice! I hear she let a human smack her with a
piece of wood!"
"Shut your mouth, you ridiculous ape!" Ladydevimon snapped. She turned
back to Hikari and grinned, baring her fangs. She tossed Hikari up by
her hair and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing tightly and bringing
the girl close. "But I can't deny that I'm sick of that angel bitch of
yours. Killing you should put her out of commission for good, don't you
think?" She squeezed even tighter, laughing as Hikari choked.
"Get your fucking *filthy* claws off of my Hikari, you devil bitch!" A
flash lit the darkness for a moment; Ladydevimon let out a scream of
pain as Hikari fell from her hand. She fell into someone's waiting arms
and looked up into Shinji's blazing blue eyes.
"Get behind me," the taller woman whispered. Hikari did as she was
ordered, peeking out from around Shinji.
"Who's this one?" Etemon asked with a sneer. "Never seen this little
piece of shit before."
"That's the traitor Vandemon's partner," Ladydevimon hissed, clutching
her profusely bleeding right arm. "The one with the Crest of Dark." A
taunting laugh rose up from the gathered digimon.
"Ooh, the Crest of Dark," Warumonzemon guffawed. "I'm so scared!"
"I already cut your head off once, asshole!" Shinji shouted angrily.
"Don't think I won't do it again!" There was a lowering in the
laughter, but it did not cease. Shinji's eyes narrowed. She let out a
sharp breath, which was followed by a sudden scream of pain from
Ladydevimon. A shuriken was embedded in her left eye. Taking the
moment of shock, Shinji leapt forwards and swung her sword.
Ladydevimon's head briefly slid away from her neck before she burst into
shards of data.
"Who wants to be next?" Shinji murmured, a small smirk on her face.
----------
"In danger?" Yamato asked. Tailmon nodded, panting for breath. She had
leapt, run, and sprung at top speed to Taichi and Yamato's apartment to
alert them.
"Yes," she gasped. "Hikari ran into the Digital World and Shinji went
after her."
"The kunoichi?" Yamato inquired, though in a more curious voice than
Taichi would have used. "Vandemon's partner?"
"Yes!" Tailmon said impatiently. "We don't have time! They're in
danger right now, and I don't know if Vandemon is going to realize that
Shinji's in the Digital World! We have to get all the other Chosen
Children, evolve as much as we can, and help Shinji and Hikari!" She
and Yamato looked to the other side of the couch where Taichi had been
sitting, but he was gone.
"Yamato!" Taichi snapped. "What's Takeru's phone number? He can
contact the younger kids while we get the older ones!" As Yamato jumped
up to aid Taichi in his calling, Tailmon let out a small sigh of relief
before Taichi shouted for her to turn on the computer.
----------
"So who's Shinji?" Inoue Miyako asked as she and Gatomon rode on
Aquilamon's back. Beside them, Taichi and Yamato rode on Wargreymon and
Metalgarurumon respectively, Ichijouji Ken and Motomiya Daisuke kneeling
on Imperialdramon's back, Takeru and Hida Iori holding tight to
Shakkoumon, Takenouchi Sora and Tachikawa Mimi standing on Garudamon's
shoulder as Lilymon flew close by, and Kido Jyou and Izumi Koushiro held
carefully in Megakabuterimon's hand with Gomamon in tow.
"She was the ninth Chosen Child eight years ago," Daisuke called back.
"Hikari told me that a few months ago! I'm pretty sure Hikari and
Shinji are dating!"
"Dating?" Taichi shouted in shock. "What?"
"There isn't any time to explain!" The humans jumped slightly at the
voice, turning to find Vandemon flying up alongside Wargreymon and
Taichi. "Hikari and Shinji are in danger now! Shinji can't fight an
entire army of digimon by herself! We have to hurry or both of them
will be killed!" With the warning, the team redoubled their efforts and
moved faster towards the black mountain that stood tantalizingly close
and miles away.
A shout of pain rang out from the mountain followed by someone screaming
a name. As digimon came into view, the Chosen Digimon cried out their
attacks. The evil digimon fought back as best as they could, but faced
against the Chosen Children, three Mega digimon, and five Ultimate
digimon, they had little chance. They scattered in fear.
"Shinji!" Jyou cried, jumping down from Megakabuterimon's hand as soon
as possible. Hikari was kneeling by Shinji, who looked like she had
been thrown into the tree. There were multiple cuts on her body, and
she was bleeding from her mouth as well. Jyou gently pushed Hikari away
to check Shinji over, ignoring the woman's demands that he make sure
Hikari was all right. Taichi took Hikari by the wrist and pulled her
away.
"Hikari, are you all right?" he asked softly. "Tailmon didn't say why
you were in the Digital World without her, but Daisuke says that you and
Shinji are dating. Did something happen back at home? With Mom?"
Hikari stared at the ground for a moment before turning and crying in
her brother's chest.
"Taichi, I can't go back home," she sobbed. "Mom said I can't be in her
home anymore." Taichi hugged his sister close, patting her head gently.
"You can stay with me and Yamato," he murmured. "OK?"
"I want to be with Shinji," she said in return. "I know I haven't
asked, but I think she'll be happy about it." Taichi did not get a
chance to reply to this. Shinji had shoved them suddenly, a kodachi in
her bloody hands.
"DARK NETWORK!" Etemon shouted. He had remained, hiding behind a tree.
He knew that his attack would not kill the Children of Courage and
Light, but he wanted to strike at them in any case. Shinji barely had
time to lift the sword to stand in a straight guard in front of her.
The energy hit the blade, paused, and shattered the sword before hitting
Shinji. She was lifted off her feet and thrown far, far through the
air. Hikari stared, watching as Shinji began to fall far from the
mountain towards the dark forest below.
Etemon stood laughing at his triumph. Vandemon did not pause to lash
back at the digimon but ran and jumped from the mountaintop. Hikari,
not seeing or feeling what she was doing, ran to the shards of Shinji's
sword, grabbed a piece, and rushed with a scream at Etemon. She stabbed
him in the heart, falling to her knees when he burst into data.
Hikari began to sob again, crying until her limbs gave out from
emotional exhaustion and her body could no longer let loose tears or
screams. No one knew what to do. Taichi knelt by his sister and pulled
her close.
"He killed her!" she choked out. "He killed her because she tried to
save us! She's dead!"
"It'll be all right," Taichi whispered. "It'll be all right, Hikari."
He said this without knowing anything.
----------
Hikari spent that weekend sitting on the balcony of Taichi and Yamato's
apartment. She did not eat and slept fitfully during the day. At
night, she stared at the moon. On Sunday night, Taichi begged her to
eat something, to take an old uniform of his for school the next day.
"Taichi, I don't want to go to school," she murmured, her eyes still on
the moon. "Please, I don't want to do anything."
"Hikari, you can't keep moping around like this!" Taichi said
desperately. "You've got to...to do something! Just because we haven't
heard from Shinji doesn't mean she's dead! You have to have faith or
nothing matters!"
"Nothing does matter," Hikari replied softly. "Fine. I'll go to school
tomorrow. Please leave me alone now." Taichi opened his mouth, but at
a loss for what to say, he closed it and walked back inside, sliding the
door shut behind him. Inside the apartment, he stood with his hands as
fists at his sides. In fury, he let out a growl that carried into a
yell as he punched a wall. He stormed into the bedroom, where Yamato
was sitting on the bed and plucking at his guitar. Taichi sank down
next to the blond young man and leaned his head onto Yamato's shoulder.
"If Shinji does come back, I don't know if I'm going to punch her or
start liking her a little bit," the brown-haired man sighed. "If she
makes Hikari act like this, then my little sister is really in love with
her."
"You think?" Yamato asked sarcastically with a smile. "Come on, Taichi,
it'll be all right. I don't think someone like Shinji is going to up
and die on Hikari like that."
"Still," Taichi murmured. "It just doesn't seem like she...well, she
was blasted off of a mountain. Do you think she has a chance of
surviving something like that?"
"I do," the blond man replied. "She strikes me as the stubborn type. I
really think she'll show up just in time to be dramatic." Taichi sighed
and leaned a bit harder against Yamato. A smile curved Yamato's lips,
but he did not give in just yet. Taichi let out a low rumble in his
throat and leaned harder. Yamato gently put his guitar down and looked
at Taichi with a bed smile. Taichi returned the smile and pounced.
----------
The sun rose up in the Digital World. A digimon, an Adult and the
Wizardmon that could say he was Tailmon's friend and comrade, stared up
at the black mountain. The night before, he heard the terrible sounds
of battle. He had hoped, briefly, that perhaps Tailmon was near the
melee. Before he had left the Real World, he had taken a guess and
supposed that she was the eighth Chosen Digimon. His only reason for
thinking this was Tailmon's strange behavior when she was around the
humans-how she seemed to calm ever so slightly when she looked at the
little girl who looked related to the boy Taichi.
It had been such a long time since he had seen his dear friend and
wished that he could have reached the mountain before the battle ended
and the same group of digimon that had landed there had vacated. By the
time he had even thought to race to the mountain, the digimon and the
humans had left and vanished once more. Trying to ignore his
disappointment, he strode towards the river that began a fourth of the
way up the black mountain.
Wizardmon, still somewhat depressed, decided to keep his hope of finding
Tailmon near the mountain. The best place to begin looking on the
mountain was the river because its water was clean and bracing and many
digimon lived there and stayed near there for its ideality of location.
When he emerged from the black trees, he paused and stared. A human lay
on its back on the riverbank, feet drifting limply in the current. Red
drained away from the human's body in the water, but it vanished quickly
from the minerals in the water.
Wizardmon jumped in shock when memories emerged in his mind. The girl
that Tailmon had stared so avidly at in the past had brown hair, just as
the human-a woman he noticed-did.
It has been so long, he thought. Perhaps this is Tailmon's human
partner. But she looks like she's been attacked by other digimon. He
walked over to the woman, kneeling down and looking her over. With a
start, he heard something come from the woman's mouth. Her chest was
rising and falling very slightly-it was nearly impossible to tell she
was breathing at all. She was conscious, of all things.
"What did you say?" Wizardmon asked softly.
"...Hi...ka...ri," she whispered through blood in her mouth. Her right
hand twitched slightly.
"Hikari?" Wizardmon questioned, leaning closer to the human. "Did you
say Hikari? What does that mean? Is it a person?"
"...Hi...Hi," the woman coughed, blackening blood splattering from her
mouth. She didn't seem able to speak a full word. She grimaced, still
not opening her eyes and coughing weakly.
"She's dying," Wizardmon whispered. He closed his eyes and clasped his
hands together. The magic he called up was enough to stop the bleeding
and restore some of the lost life force, but it was not enough. Her
energy, the thing that mattered far more than the blood, was too low to
support her injured body. She would die.
"It seems that I owe you my thanks, Wizardmon." The wizard digimon
whirled about, lifting his staff at the voice. Just as he feared,
Vandemon was walking towards him and the human.
"For what?" Wizardmon snapped aggressively. "For giving some blood back
to this human? No doubt you've brought her back for a meal!" Vandemon
frowned but continued to walk towards the human. "Stay back, Vandemon!
You will not hurt an innocent human! You will not hurt a Chosen Child!"
"If it weren't for the fact that you gave me some time to save her, I
would have swatted you away by now," Vandemon murmured. "I need to
impart my energy to her or we'll both die." Wizardmon lowered his staff
slightly, but did not completely drop his guard.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Vandemon chuckled.
"You think she's the eighth Chosen Child, don't you?" he questioned.
"She is a Chosen Child, but she's the ninth. I'm her partner."
Wizardmon stared at him, utterly confused. With a frown, Vandemon
snapped his fingers. The woman rose up from the ground from Vandemon's
magic and floated into his arms. Wizardmon would have leapt forwards to
stop Vandemon from whatever he was doing, but halted when he realized
what was happening.
Vandemon lifted the woman gently, bringing her face close to his and
closing his eyes. Wizardmon could almost see the energy flowing from
Vandemon into the human. A few moments later, Vandemon opened his eyes
and smirked at the human.
"You'll live now," he said to her. "I'm sure Hikari will be happy."
"Hikari?" Wizardmon asked. "Is that the person she was talking about?"
"Of course," Vandemon replied. "Hikari's the eighth Chosen Child.
Tailmon is her partner. If you like, when Shinji recovers in two days
or so, you can come to the Real World and see that little kitty friend
of yours." He turned and smirked at the bemused wizard. Shinji groaned
slightly and opened her eyes.
"Ow," she muttered. "I'm cold." Vandemon laughed aloud.
"You humans are such whiners," he said. "Here." He let his arms drop
away from her, concentrating to keep her in the air as he reached over
his shoulder and took hold of his cape. He pulled sharply and tore a
sizable strip from the length of the cape, wrapping it around Shinji's
neck and lower face like a scarf.
"Thanks," Shinji murmured tiredly.
----------
"Ah, poor little thing. Don't have your girlfriend here to protect you
today, huh, you bitch?" Hikari did not turn about, but stopped at the
boy's words. He strolled leisurely around to stand before her, a
leering smile on his lips. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He
slapped her sharply. Hikari did not respond to the strike.
The boy growled and grabbed the camera around Hikari's neck, ripping it
from her. In a burst of emotion, Hikari remembered that there were
pictures of Shinji saved on the camera-the only ones she had of Shinji.
She jumped at the boy, grabbing at her camera desperately.
"Give me that!" she gasped. "Please, give it back!" The boy laughed,
elated at the fire of feeling he had sparked in Hikari. Tears began to
stream from Hikari's eyes. If she lost the camera, there was nothing
but her memories of Shinji left for her to revisit. She didn't want the
last traces of the one she loved to be wiped away. Leaves in a nearby
tree rustled ominously. A twig snapped and a foot fell heavily on the
concrete path Hikari and the boy stood on.
"I don't care much for honor," a somewhat muffled voice said. "But I've
asked you once before why you keep picking on my Hikari, and I won't ask
again. Give her the camera now and I won't hurt you." The boy
blanched, staring behind Hikari with terror in his eyes. He shoved the
camera into Hikari's hands and stepped away quickly. He was suddenly
tackled to the ground.
"Just because I was a little late this time doesn't mean you can ever
try and pick on my Hikari," the person snarled. "If I ever hear that
you've even looked at her the wrong way, I will break your back like a
stick. Do you understand me?" The boy nodded fervently. "Good." The
boy received a punch to the forehead and was knocked out.
Hikari stared as the person stood straight and turned about. Shaggy
brown hair fell in front of dark blue eyes. Hikari ran to her and leapt
into Shinji's waiting arms, smiling so much that her cheeks stung.
Onwards to Part 5
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