WHEN DARKNESS CALLS…

Author: Ucchan

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, or anything else in this story, I just wrote it cause it was fun, and I'm making no profit. So don't worry about it, you weird legal people at your respective companies! BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~TA!

This story takes place in Season 01 after Piedmon's Last Jest and before Now Apocalymon, just my little small rewrite of how things COULD'VE been. Small Mishirou warning, it's from Izzy/Koushirou's perspective.

"The Dark Masters aren't the real threat, you know." Gennai's voice intoned.

"What!?"

"Yes, something even more evil, something even worse than the dark masters, some dark, horrible mysterious force that we can't even begin to describe…" Gennai continued.

"Darkness…? Does that mean…" Yamato began.

"Matt… I know where you're going and I don't wanna hear it…" Joe cut him off.

"That's tough Joe, we have to face it now…" Yamato yelled at the blue-haired boy.

I was sick of the arguing, "STOP IT!" I yelled, "What's your problem, Gennai has just told us we have some even worse evil about to destroy us all and you're arguing over whether or not it exists!" I calmed myself, "Tai, c'mon, tell them."

Taichi nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but unfortunately, a red-haired figure -- Sora -- touched her hand firmly upon the childlike boy's shoulder, silencing him, "Tai, we don't have time for an argument, now…"

"That's right," Gennai spoke up again, "The darkness I spoke of isn't going to wait for you all to finish your debate."

Mimi sidled up next to me, her pink hat about her shoulders and her mahogany curls billowing in the hard breeze that wafted from where our opponent *had* to reside…

Takeru and Hikari sat side by side, their digimon perched just behind them, I hoped that they wouldn't be needed to fight much longer, this was the last opponent, Gennai had said so, and now we had to face it and go home!

Home… sigh… did I have a home? Every time I'd even thought of the word, it seemed my thoughts turned to my adoption. It was saddening, I hated being adopted, not knowing what my parents were like, and knowing that 'mom' and 'dad' weren't really MY 'mom' and 'dad'…

I pictured their smiling faces, they were always lenient and fair… too lenient… too caring… they had to try so hard to be the perfect parents to me. They'd lost their first child, so they substituted me. I felt so used. Yet I still continued on… I was a good boy. I could never do anything wrong. I could never be dumb, or clumsy, or afraid, or imperfect in any way. I was their last chance at a happy family.

They bought me off sometimes, my laptop, my pathetic laptop, broken now, but it was the perfect example of their 'love' for me. I hated it. I hate computers, and yet they are my only escape. It's sad, and yet ironically perfect for the sad, stand-in of a son that I was.

"Geek."

"Wha…?" I looked up, "Mimi?"

"Dork. You annoying computer nerd."

"Huh?" What was this? Mimi, the only Chosen Child that was in my grade, we'd never been great friends then. But here, in the DigiWorld, I'd always felt the bond between us. And now, my peer stood there, insulting me for being intelligent.

"You're always ignoring me, always in your computer dark mode when I'm around, I thought I meant something to you…?"

I blushed at the statement, "Na… nani?" I stuttered, pulling myself into a sitting position, "Mimi, I didn't mean… I mean I didn't know that… I--"

"Stop stuttering! You know so many big words and now you stutter at me, I can't stand you!"

"Mimi… I do… I do think that you're special, you and the others mean everything to me…" I tried to explain quickly.

"Hmph." She turned her back to me, her arms folded, her pink cowboy hat lie on the ground next to me where she had thrown it earlier, "I said I can't stand you, I'd much rather be with someone interesting… someone who pays attention to me!"

"Mimi! I'm not…" I began.

She stopped me, "Joe-kun?"

Joe showed himself and walked up beside her, "Yes Mimi-chan? Was that you? I wasn't sure, but I decided to come to see you anyway. You're so pretty."

Mimi smiled sweetly at him, yet at the same time she seemed to smile wickedly at me, "Oh, Joe-kun, you're so nice… I love it when you talk to me. Conversation is the most important part of a relationship you know."

"Of course Mimi-chan, I think so too," with that, he wrapped his arm about her shoulder and turned her away from me. He spared me a glance over his shoulder, and smiled wickedly at me with a look of total satisfaction.

"MIMI-CHAN!" I yelled, feeling stung by a million bees when she didn't even flinch.

"Tough luck, kid."

I turned about, Taichi stood behind me, "Taichi-senpai! Oh, can you believe it?"

"Believe what?" he asked, "That you're having girl troubles? Big deal! How could you think of something like that when there's a war to be waged!" He hit me. Hard. Against my cheek.

I now laid sprawled out upon the hard, cold ground, "Taichi-senpai?" I asked pitifully, touching the bruise on my cheek, "What's wrong with you?"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!?" he yelled, "You're my problem right now, you're supposed to the smart one and you're going to abandon your position just because you were dumped! Think again, jerk!" He struck me again.

"You're supposed to help me take care of things." The brown haired boy stated, "Where are you while Sora is being attacked by the darkness?" he gestured behind him where I suddenly noticed Sora sitting, weeping, unmoving.

She continued to utter the same phrase, "I've got to help to Tai, he needs me, there's no place like home, there's no place like home…"

Home… that word again… that awful word that now brought even harsher feelings of rejection.

"You see?" Taichi continued to yell, "You can't even help my best friend… all your intelligence… and I end up with you as a sniveling bag of nothing on the ground."

"I've got to help Tai, he needs me…"

"Sora…?" Taichi asked her gently, "Sora… its okay, please wake up, we've only got one more fight and we can all go home, and you won't be burdened anymore… come on, Sora…"

"Tai…?" she asked weakly.

Taichi smiled, "Uh huh!"

"Oh Tai!" She jumped up, wrapping herself about Taichi's neck.

I was about to smile at Sora's recovery, but…

"Can we really go home soon?" Sora asked, "Can we… Tai? All of us? Except, of course, him… He doesn't have a home to go back to," she pointed directly at me as if I were a lawn ornament.

Home… That word… That indescribable feeling of guilt and pain associated with it.

"Real soon now, just one more fight," he hugged her closely.

"Having girl troubles?" a cheery voice asked from behind me.

I turned and saw one Yamato Ishida, looking very tall, blonde, and incredibly too happy for normal, "Uh… kinda…" I managed to squeak. I could still feel Taichi and Sora's presence behind me.

"That's too bad, but it's okay, I'm always gonna be your friend. You wanna know why?" The cheerful blue-eyed boy asked.

I smiled, feeling better, "Why, Yama-kun?"

"Cause I don't have any choice!" he exclaimed brightly, "My crest is that of friendship, remember? Besides, you know me, I wanted to digivolve myself, and since we found our crests together, maybe yours will have something to do with my goal!"

Yamato's words were happy-go-lucky and matter-of-fact, but each well-placed chosen word felt like another dagger being jammed and twisted into my already beaten body.

"Yamato… I…" I began, stopping because I didn't have the energy to finish the sentence.

"No need to thank me," he said, walking around me to where Taichi was already standing, where Takeru and Hikari had joined him, "I don't mind pretending to be your friend," he smiled sweetly as he placed his hands of Takeru's shoulders, "I've already got a brother and six REAL friends."

I couldn't speak, I merely stared at the four gathered people before me.

Takeru and Hikari stepped forward, released from their brothers' grasps. The both looked at me sympathetically, their voices spoke as one, "Don't feel bad, Senpai, we believe in you."

Ah… Takeru and Hikari, my final ray of hope. They both looked up to me. They knew I could do it.

"We know you can do it, you're a chosen child," they continued to speak in unison, "I mean, you've got Tentomon, how could you mess THAT up, he does everything for you. You worthless old computer junkie."

It was so innocently honest and so quick, I was reeling before I was sure of what they had actually said, "Takeru-chan…? Hikari-chan…?"

"Don't speak to us anymore, please…"

"TK…? Kari?" I repeated, but they, and their older siblings had left. I was alone again, glad to be alone.

"Alone, partner?" came what was obviously Tentomon's familiar voice.

"TENTOMON! Buddy! I thought I didn't have friends anymore!" I exclaimed happily to have at least ONE caring ear.

"What do you mean…?" the maroon insect asked me.

"Well, the others, they all…" I began.

"Oh, THAT, please, give me more credit than that, I know that already, I know everything, more than you'll EVER be able to know! And without that rusted, broken, piece of junk you used to carry around, you can't even possibly begin to keep up with me!"

The digimon's words hurt more than I thought they could, this was my life-bonded friend for all time! He was supposed to be my friend until the end of my life… "How could you say that!?"

"Oh, sorry, but you're boring to talk to, so I'm leaving to find some intelligent life form." The insect spread his gossamer wings and was gone.

I felt buried in a pit. Alone. This was as low as it got, you didn't come back from this depth. I just wanted to let it all end. No one would care. The Izumi's would find some other child… The Chosen Children didn't need me or my KNOWLEDGE… Tentomon didn't even need me anymore… so who would care… or even notice if I was gone… I'll just lie down and wait for it. That's it, just wait for death to come. Things were looking darker already. Darker… darker. Dark. Blackness. And then the light, the light that was death, I moved to it.

Welcomed it. Beckoned it to finally come to me.

Death wore a lot more pink than I would imagine. Wait. "Mimi-chan…?" I asked pitifully.

The figure nodded.

"I'm sorry I can't be for you what you wanted me to be."

The figured frowned and words were spoken, but I couldn't hear them. Still, I knew what they would be: "I hate you…"

With that, I closed my eyes once more and waited. Within seconds I could almost hear the slice of the scythe of death just before…

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

A gloved hand lifted the spiky brown-haired boy's still warm head by his neck. His closed eyes and all around stillness, told the owner of the hand that he was dead. Tears. The girl who held the dead boy wept for his demise. She knew the darkness had consumed him, eaten him alive. And though that with his sacrifice, the darkness had been killed, Mimi Tachikawa still couldn't bare the thought of their loss, her loss. Placing the limp body down, she pulled her hands to her lips and pressed against her fingers lightly, then slid her fingertips along the boy's face, finally resting on his lips and then pulling away. For the first time, for the last time.

"Koushiro-kun…"

End.

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