Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Ethereal ❯ The Fragile ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter X

The room was dimly lit, casting shadows all over the people's faces. Notably, the faces were also all buried in some textbook or another, making them all look like they were under some sort of spell. With the flickering fluorescent lights, it was also easy to impair your vision in this room. And to Kido Jyou, this was not a good thing for his vision was already impaired enough. Amongst his fellow classmates, though, he felt quite out of place with his piles of books and papers around him. Groaning to himself, Jyou flicked a strand of hair out of his eyes before closing one of his books. This was all useless really. Finals were coming up in two days-what was the point of all this studying? If he read one more word, he was going to puke. Standing up, the tall man gathered his books and quickly left the monstrosity of a library.

Once outside, Jyou breathed in the cool air around him in relief. He really was starting to slack off, he noticed. A few months ago he would have studied down to the point where it was a few minutes before the test. Now he was giving up two days beforehand-two days! Shin would be proud of him, he thought to himself as he crossed the street.

Jyou continued smiling to himself as he walked down the street. Then, as he turned the corner, he found himself wondering about the incident that had happened more than a week before-the day he crashed into that blond fellow. Ever since then, he had been reminded of that boy whenever he turned this particular corner. Jyou couldn't quite understand why, but he knew that man! That face and blue eyes were haunting him forever. And that name…Yamato. It had just come out of nowhere. As far as Jyou could remember, he never knew any Yamato…or did he? Once again, Jyou found himself thinking over his life. There wasn't any Yamato he could recall and the blond also didn't seem to recognize Jyou as well. Maybe he was just hallucinating. His imagination must have just created that name.

But why couldn't he forget him?

"Gah!!"

Perhaps it was because he thinking too hard to notice, but somehow Jyou managed to find himself sprawled out on the ground feeling quite dazed. A hand was then offered before his eyes and he took it gratefully and stood up before adjusting his heavy shoulder bag. But before he could even look at the face of the stranger, he spoke.

"Jyou?"

At this, the blue-haired man looked up in surprise to find a shorter dark-haired boy staring up at him in wonder. Somehow the boy's face and eyes looked familiar to Jyou as he cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked. The boy jumped slightly before grinning slowly. It scared Jyou somewhat and he continued staring at him confoundedly. Purple eyes and purple hair…now where in the world had he seen that before?

"Come with me," the boy ordered lightly as he once again offered his hand to Jyou. The latter looked at him dubiously and the boy sighed in exasperation before standing straighter. "My name's Ichijouji Ken. And you're Kido Jyou, am I correct?" he stated firmly.

Jyou nodded absentmindedly. Why was it that he felt like he was meeting the strangest people lately? First it was the blond-haired man and now this one…they all seemed so familiar to him…but why? He frowned to himself and looked at this Ken critically. He seemed nice enough, though a little hurried. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to see where all this would lead up to.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked softly. His question must have surprised him for Ken blinked up at him a few times before recovering.

"To-"

"Ken!!"

The boy was cut off by a new voice and he whipped around to greet the person. Jyou followed Ken's gaze to see a petite, shorthaired girl with a redheaded boy running towards their direction. He watched as Ken waved to them and called them over. Faintly, Jyou prayed he wasn't making a mistake by doing this. What if these guys were a bunch of hoodlums waiting to rob him? But then again, how did this Ken know his name? He didn't think a bunch of gangsters would waste their time getting to know one particular person.

"Ken! You found him?" the girl greeted once she came up to Ken. The latter nodded, a smile on his face as he turned to greet the redhead. "We sort of crashed into each other. Would you believe my luck? Did you track down Iori and Miyako?" he inquired with a grin.

"Oh yeah. Would you believe that they went to the same school? So we got double the prize," the redhead answered coolly. The girl nodded in agreement as his side. "We managed to get their numbers and they agreed to meet up with us later to discuss our 'secret past,'" he added.

Ken nodded before turning to face Jyou again. The man merely stared at the three in slight shock. Somehow once he heard all of them speaking at once about this girl named Miyako and a boy named Iori, more names popped into his mind. Hikari and Koushirou… It was strange, yet Jyou somehow felt that he knew all of them as well. Absentmindedly, he raised his right hand and glanced at his palm. He traced with his eyes a barely visible symbol and blinked in surprise. That mark had appeared there ever since his first collision with the man his mind dubbed Yamato. Then at night he began having strange dreams that involved even stranger looking creatures and a whole group of twelve, him included, fighting some dark force. During the day he even began sketching out pictures of the people, though their faces were always blank-he could never see them. But now as he looked at these three people before him, three of those blank faces he drew became complete.

"You're…Hikari and Koushirou," he found himself saying. This took them all back before the girl stepped forward boldly.

"Jyou…do you remember us? Do you remember the Digital World and the Crest of Faith?" she inquired gently, her eyes shining brightly. Jyou stared back at her in mild surprise. Again this was bringing him back to some sort of sick parody of the Twilight Zone. His mind was swirling.

Taking a deep breath, Jyou looked at his palm again. Faith…Digital World… This was related to him somehow. Looking at the three strangers, he narrowed his eyes. They were all related to him somehow. Then, as if someone had just opened the door to a forbidden lab, memories flooded into his mind. Names such as Taichi and Sora flew all round as well as their names and their faces were also revealed. It was like trying to remember a dream, Jyou noted distantly. The mysterious creatures he saw in his dreams…they were digimon! Frowning, Jyou massaged his head. All of this was beginning to give him a migraine.

"Jyou…?"

The blue-haired boy looked at the girl and saw her staring at him hopefully. Smiling faintly, he remembered. It was odd…he somehow managed to block out memories of the Digital World for four years. All those dreams…he had thought they were just some reoccurring nightmare. Now he realized what they were. In reality, he never did actually forget the Digital World. They were just stored deep in his mind somewhere, waiting for a trigger. And these people in front of him had been it.

Sighing, he shifted his bag lightly. "Gathering up for a reunion, are you?" he asked casually, grinning at the surprised looks on his friends' faces. Looking at Hikari on a more serious note, he added, "When do we go back?"

Hikari looked slightly stunned before glancing at Ken and Koushirou happily. "When we find Sora and Mimi," she replied shortly. Jyou nodded faintly and thought to himself.

"So you've found the rest? And Daisuke?" he asked, looking intently at them. All three of them nodded in unison and he sighed in relief. "Well, that's good."

"But Yamato and Taichi still don't remember really. They're in the Digital World right now as a matter of fact with Takeru and Daisuke, who are supposed to be trying to jog up their memories. We came back to look for the rest of you guys and as you heard before, we found Miyako and Iori but we still haven't a clue on where Sora and Mimi are," Koushirou added informatively.

Jyou frowned slightly at this and looked at them firmly. "Then let's go find them. How about you deal with Miyako and Iori? I'll try and check out on Sora and Mimi's location," he suggested. Koushirou looked at him questionably.

"You think you know where they are?"

The blue-haired boy smiled faintly. "Yeah, I think so. But let me drop off my books first."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Fuck you, Takeru."

The blond froze at the comment before turning around to face Daisuke inquiringly. The dark-haired boy stared at him for a long moment before turning his gaze elsewhere. The room's atmosphere was thick with tension. Yamato and Taichi stared at the two in confusion while Wallace looked torn between amusement and exasperation on Daisuke's behalf.

Sighing, Wallace stepped between the two with his arms raised in peace. "Come on, you guys. We're trying to help Yamato and Taichi to remember, not to bring back old grudges," he said bracingly.

Daisuke snorted and whipped around. "Old grudges?! Trust me, Wallace, it's way more than a grudge," he snapped back while glaring at Takeru.

The sight of the blond infuriated him. How could Takeru stand there looking so calm after not seeing each other for four years? Takeru was the one who broke his trust and he didn't even murmur an apology. Daisuke clenched his fist and resisted from letting out a loose fireball. No matter what he would not give into violence.

Takeru hadn't even bothered to look at Daisuke for he knew if he did, he probably would have exploded in rage. Instead, he clutched onto his left arm painfully. He half-wondered whether he should even mention it to the others but the other half of his mind decided against it. The physical pain was nothing compared to the pain he felt when Daisuke's words struck him. Eyes flaming in anger and accusation and his tone as cold as steel-Takeru found it hard to keep cool under the pressure when all he wanted to do was break down. It had been a while since he felt so…human. And it hurt him.

"Is everything cool now?"

Bless Taichi. Takeru turned to face him and nodded slightly. The older boy looked slightly perturbed but was reassured by Takeru's gesture. In all truth, Takeru felt guilty for putting the two through the drill. They were probably confused as hell with what was going on and Daisuke most certainly was not a patient person. It had been one hour and all they managed to explain was the history of the Digital World and the Destined. They hadn't even begun on their own connection with the Digital World.

It was going to be a very long night.

Takeru sighed lightly and forced his mind to forget Daisuke and focused instead on trying to jog up Yamato and Taichi's memories. "Well, does anything we've said so far ring a bell?" he asked softly, stirring the two from their seats. Yamato stared at him for a long while before answering.

"It all seems to make sense in some weird way. I remember something about…crests?" he said unsurely, arching his eyebrow at the last part. Takeru smiled slightly and nodded. At least Yamato was over his denial in the whole situation actually happening.

"Yes, we all have crests. The original eight, being you, Taichi, Jyou, Koushirou, Mimi, Sora, Hikari, and I each have our own crests. Ken, who joined up with us later, has his own as well. Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori would be, I suppose, your successors. Taichi is Courage, you are Friendship, Jyou is Faith, Mimi is Purity, Koushirou is Knowledge, Sora is Love, Hikari is Light, Ken is Kindness, and I…am Hope. Daisuke would be the successor to Courage and Friendship, Miyako to Love and Purity, and Iori to Knowledge and Faith," Takeru began slowly, pausing very briefly when he said Daisuke's name. Even saying the boy's name was painful. And Daisuke didn't say a single word throughout his explanation.

"Each crest has its own symbol which appear on your right palm," Takeru said, showing his palm and the light faded mark of Hope on it. "Yours and Taichi's aren't there because…well…you don't yet remember everything. Once you do, it'll appear very faintly. The only time the crest really ever shines is in the moon's light or whenever you call upon your powers, which is yet something else I must discuss."

Takeru stopped for a moment and sat down. Explaining everything was going to take a while and Daisuke didn't seem to want to help anymore. That and his arm was beginning to throb most painfully, almost as if there was a heart in there ready to come out. The bandages felt like constraints and Takeru just wanted to rip them off. Noticeably, the room seemed to have gotten darker in his eyes and a little foggy. Shaking his head, Takeru tried to regain his composure and looked at Daisuke.

"You want to fill in for me? I have to use the bathroom," he murmured quietly, trying to keep all emotions out of his voice. Daisuke barely glanced at him before carrying on where Takeru stopped and was explaining their powers.

"Taichi, you have the ability to create and manipulate fire as does Sora and I. Yamato, your power is over ice. Jyou's is over water, Iori over earth, Koush over lightning, Mimi over plants, and Miyako over wind. Now Ken's ability was to block every known physical attack and Hikari's was like a sort of exorcism. She could drive out the evil in people and digimon. Oh, and Takeru's is…well, we really don't know because he never showed much signs of having any…"

Takeru flinched at the roughness in Daisuke's voice when he spoke of him. The blond left the room quietly and entered the small hallway to find the excruciatingly small bathroom and sat down on the toilet inside. Placing his head in his right hand, Takeru thought for a moment. Daisuke spoke of him so…condescendingly. It was harsh and hurtful but Takeru knew it was partially his fault. In fact, Daisuke was handling it quite well considering the situation. Takeru was supposed to come back for him, which he did, after four years and without any reason or explanation whatsoever. In fact he knew he had to give everyone an explanation soon. The hard part was how was he going to do it without breaking his own mind in the process? It took him so long to finally ignore everything around him in the ward and to focus on getting out. The memories he had were something he did not want to get reacquainted with. But it was the only way.

"Fuck."

The one word fell short in the stuffed room as Takeru shifted his left arm accidentally. The pain was unbearable and the blond soon found himself clutching onto it tightly and shutting his eyes. Hisses came from his mouth unknowingly and Takeru did all he could from screaming out. Koushirou was right. He should have gotten it checked by Daisuke earlier. But knowing him, he'd probably only want to make it worse. Takeru closed his mind on that thought. No, Daisuke may have been mad with him, but he was no indecent person. Daisuke would have helped him with his arm.

Suddenly the room seemed to spin and this time Takeru really did tear his bandages off. The mark on his arm was a searing red and almost seemed to be glowing as new blood poured free. Takeru stared at it in shock before another wave of pain hit him. It was coming directly from his arm and nowhere else but the pain made him feel like someone was pulling his arm out of its socket slowly and painstakingly. And the mark was now burning a fury red. Takeru collapsed to the floor while holding his arm in horror and pain.

"God, help me…" he muttered lowly. His voice was nowhere to be found and he was soon sprawled on the floor and writhing around in pain as the fogginess crept around him. He wanted to scream. But it was like something was holding him back. Tears fell from his eyes and hit the ground silently.

Then the burning doubled. Takeru was no longer holding his arm and was now lying flat on his back with his face to the ceiling. His eyes were closed shut and his left arm lay limply beside him, almost normal looking if not for the unnatural glow around it. A low growl came from deep inside Takeru's throat, longing to be released until suddenly, the wall was broken. Whatever limitations held Takeru back was now gone and the scream that issued from him was unlike anything he ever heard before. And now that he was free to scream, he felt as if he could not stop until he was soon panting for air. The cry diminished slowly and Takeru faintly heard poundings on the door. But Takeru couldn't move. He couldn't cry. He couldn't see. Just then, strong arms wrapped their way around him and Takeru could feel the warmth around him, soothing him the very slightest.

"…Takeru…"

The blond could barely register the words. All he heard was his name and someone familiar…very familiar. Clouded images popped around him and he was able to make out a dark figure holding him with burgundy hair. Daisuke. Takeru could have laughed at the irony of the situation but he couldn't speak. All control he had over his body was long gone now and his vision was beginning to blur messily again. Takeru decided not to fight it anymore and allowed himself to close his eyes and give into the burning sensation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

TBC