Digimon Adventure Chronicles II: Secrets Revealed

Taichi leaned against his sister's bed, glaring at her sleeping form. He shook her arm gently, then again more roughly. Frustrated, he continued the motion without stop. He stopped and sighed in annoyance.

’I've been at it for five minutes!' He thought , annoyance slowly turning into amazement that his sister could be so immersed in the land of dreams.

"Kari, wake up!” He prodded with his voice, curious to see if speech would make a difference. “Do you remember where we are going?"

"Mm?" She whimpered, turning her back to him. It wasn't much, but it was certainly a start.

"KARI!" He yelled, catching her off guard and effectively eliminating the sleep in her. She jumped, and stirred a bit, rolling back onto her stomach so that she was facing him, but kept her eyes clenched shut in protest.

“What...” She grumbled. It was rather unlike her.

"The mall..." He muttered, knowing the word would encourage her to cooperate.

“What?” She opened an eye.

Taichi smiled disdainfully, and thought, 'I knew it would work.'

“What about the mall? We're still going aren't we?” She asked with worry, both eyes open and fighting with the amount of light trying to enter them

“Of course we’re still going.” He grunted. “Just not alone.”

She blinked incredulously at him.

Taichi growled slightly. 'Don't get frustrated. I've been told I'm like this too.' Taking a breath he continued.

"The whole gang is going to be there. Mimi even traveled here early from America! It was a surprise, so no one knew until today when arrived on Jyou's doorstep." He explained, watching her waken with each word he spoke.

"Really!" She piped up, grinning. Any sign of sleep that existed on her face previously was gone. “It'll be great for everyone to be together again! It's been so long!”

“Yeah,” He said, finally relaxing. "We should be there in about...three hours, so make sure you're ready."

‘Three hours.' She thought. 'That should be plenty of time.'

She swung her legs off the side of the bed, forcing Tai to back away. He made to leave, glancing back at her momentarily before shutting the door. She dressed with vigor, putting on a heavy blue sweater and khaki pants. She retrieved and set aside a scarf as well, for extra protection from the chilling weather outside. Hastily she reached into her drawer for a brush pulling a chair in front of the window and allowing the cold breeze from outside to blow by her and awaken her even more.

As she brushed through knots created in sleep she surveyed the land below her room. The snow on the ground made the day bright despite the clouds threatening to spill in the sky. She could see children playing in now deep snow that had fallen overnight. Her gaze shifted to a few feet away from the first group of children to a second gathered at the foot of a tree. They were throwing snowballs upwards.

She followed their aim to see a man sitting high up who looked rather perturbed but did nothing. He had blond hair, most of which was tucked inside the back of his shirt which was light and large for his slender frame. Despite this, a large amount of hair remained whipping in the wind and about his face, obscuring deep blue eyes.

'How did he get up there?’ She wondered, eyebrows raising in amazement. ‘Not even Tai could climb that tree, though he did stop trying a few years ago. That man looks so familiar...but where could I have seen him before?'

As if he could sense her thoughts his gaze traveled to the window Hikari was watching from. Upon seeing her his eyes widened and the annoyed look on his face from the children was replaced with one of shock and horror.

“Shit...” He muttered, surprising Hikari. She dropped her brush with a gasp, letting it hit the table and fall to the floor as her mind made a connection between the man's voice and appearance. He snapped his head away, a stern look now planted on his face. Slowly he stood, holding a branch to his side tightly so as not to fall. He glanced back at her once more before sliding quickly and gracefully to the cold ground below.

Hikari jumped once more as the door open and Gatomon shuffled inside, stretching as she walked the way cats do when they’ve just woken from a long nap. She was about to say something but Kari flew past her to seek out her brother, thinking it might be unwise to tell the cat what she had seen.

"Taichi...” She called, but received no answer. She spun in place looking for him. “Tai! Come here, I think I saw-”

“Not now, Kari!!” He growled from a distant room. “I'm busy right now!”

“But Tai, I -”

“I said I'm BUSY Kari! Go bother someone else.”

A lump caught in her throat. She was probably just imaging it, but at that moment when voice and appearance blended the resemblance was so strikingly similar. Gatomon poked her head outside Kari’s room and gazed at her quizzically.

“Are you okay, Kari?” She asked, a hint of worry in her voice. You don't seem yourself.”

“I’m fine...” She whispered, but Gatomon was unconvinced. The cat looked downwards, thinking of what to say, and when she looked up again Hikari was gone.

Hikari stood impatiently in the elevator trying to steady her shaking hands and control her breathing and beating heart. Her thoughts frightened her, for if the man she saw was the same as the man, no, the creature she was thinking of...

‘Myotismon.' She thought wildly. 'He looks like Myotismon. What am I going to do? He looked as frightened as I am...could that be why he fled?'

The only way to be certain was to find out herself, scared as she was. The elevator come to a stop with a lurch, and after an agonizing moment the doors drifted apart with a ping. She stepped out warily, wondering if he had already fled a far distance away. Her worry was ill placed, as she found him easily, his appearance branded in her mind.

He was hidden in the shadows of her building, leaning against the wall and staring at something he held in his hands. There was a glint of reflected light from the sun hitting it as he turned it about his hands. She stood unmoving for a minute as he stared at it. As he tucked it away he lifted his head and glanced in many directions, again locking eyes with Hikari. He stood there frozen, seemingly at ease, but his eyes betrayed him. Slowly he took a step forward then another, and moved around the corner to his right. She walked over to the corner and peered around the side to see his form retreating with a fast run. Desire for answer burning inside her, she took off running as well.

He was beginning to run out of breath. Never had he felt such a sensation! His lungs hurt and his throat burned as he breathed short, ragged breaths in his relentless flight. Tears were running down his cheeks from the wind against his eyes, and his hair was a mess about his head. For almost ten minutes he wove in and out of people and between buildings, numerous times thinking he had lost her only to find her right on his tail. Once he had gained a large lead he stopped again and doubled over in pain. His stomach and ribs burned as he let out a groan of pain. He looked back again to find her at the end of the alley, no longer alone. Behind her was a mess of red hair.

'The computer boy' He thought and broke into a run once more. He growled in frustration as he found himself back at the apartment building where the chase had started. He could see annoyance plain on her face as well.

'I wish I knew this area better.' He thought dismally. 'At this rate she'll hunt me down and kill me for sure.’ No matter what he did he just couldn’t get away from her.. As he ran he glanced back and saw her come to a stop. ‘What-’

With a rough jolt he was flung backwards to the ground. His head hit the pavement with a thud. He could feel the air get pushed out of his lungs, following a strong jolt of pain in the organ. He struggled with the pain to look upwards. A large, muscular main was towering above him, a look of anger etched on his face. He saw only a blur as a huge hand flew downwards and grabbed him at his neck and pulled him up to eye level. He let out a gasp at the flash of pain and inability to breath.

“You'd better watch where you're going, pretty boy.” He growled with a deep, hateful voice.

He clenched his eyes shut and began to flail in a desperate attempt to free himself. Scratching and kicking as hard as he could, his salvation came when he landed a foot in the burly man’s groin. With a bellow the man dropped him to the ground. There was another flash of pain as his rear scraped the pavement. While breathing huge gulps of air he clenched his hands in anger. Looking around at the ground he saw he was standing before a construction worker. They must have been putting an addition onto the apartments as there were long metal poles lining the ground. He quickly grabbed one and held it up just in time to block a strong punch the brute of a man had thrown at him.

With a screech the pole broke in half, twisting to a sharp point at the end of each piece where it had snapped off. He smiled to himself watching the man pull back his fist once more fling it forward. Moving quickly, he positioned one of the half pieces of pole so that it went through the man's hand through the palm and out the back of his hand, creating a large, wet wound. Blood splashed first towards the assailant then back at himself. The injured man stared at the wound for a moment as the realization of what had occurred traveled through his brain before letting out a scream. He twisted the metal inside the would a few more time, relishing the man's pain before pulling it out with a strong tug. Blood seeped from the gaping hole. Slowly he licked his lips, clearing the sticky substance off his lips and into his mouth, keeping eye contact with the man cradling his hand all the while.

‘Still sweet.' He thought wryly, watching a look of revulsion form on the man's face. 'Though it does have a different taste than before.'

Sirens blaring in the distance drew him away from his thoughts. Turning his head slowly he saw a woman with a cell phone held loosely. She had just ended a call. At a fierce glare from him she took on a sick look and took a few steps backward. A number of people moved in front of her as he took a step towards, metal pole still in hand. He stopped and growled , fighting his instinct to slaughter the woman, knowing it would further worsen his predicament. He dropped the metal and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Without notice he bolted down the nearest alleyway.

Koushiro and Hikari were on his heels in an instant. Dismally he realized he was much slower this time and extremely dizzy. His vision blurred suddenly as a sharp pain flashed through his forehead. He lost his footing and slipped on a patch of thick, nearly invisible ice. The entire thing happened in slow motion to him. His vision suddenly crystal clear, he felt his body fly into the air as his foot hit an uprooted tree branch. His body twisted about twice in the air before he crashed with a crunch into the bricks of a neighboring apartment building. The first thing he felt upon impact was a crack and a searing pain in the arm he had hit the wall with, then another sharp pain in the back of his head. Suddenly he couldn’t breath. He began to cough violently, unable to control the pain that prevented him from breathing properly. As the fit subsided, he disdainfully looked up into the eyes of his two pursuers.