Chapter Nineteen - Chimayou
"Does he even care...?" TK sighed and walked through the forest, his head hanging down, staring at the ground. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was going anymore.
"Why did I even come? I should have stayed home... not that things are any better there."
He was walking the same path through the woods that all the others had followed, towards the Gekomon's temple. The darkness surrounded him, he knew his brother was out there somewhere.
"He never even said he was sorry..."
"That's because he's not sorry."
TK gasped and looked up. Tai was standing in front of him, leaning against a tree, smirking at him.
"Tai... he told you?"
"Matt tells me everything, little TK."
TK turned away, he could feel himself starting to cry. "What's wrong with him!?" he choked out. "What's wrong with me? I should hate him, but I don't..."
"He hates you, little TK," Tai said.
TK looked back up. Tai was still smirking, but he looked different, his eyes were red instead of brown.
"Tai... my brother would never say that!"
The presence that TK could not see felt slightly frustrated hearing these words. The brothers' bond was so strong, how could this boy still defend someone who had done something so horrible to him? How could they still love each other?
"You didn't think your brother would ever rape you either, did you?"
TK clenched his fist and dove for Tai, but he stepped out of the way too quickly, causing TK to fall flat on his stomach.
He coughed and held his stomach as he got to his knees, the wind had been knocked out of him.
"What's the matter with you?" he gasped, "You're not Tai!"
"That's what you think..." Tai hissed. TK blinked, and when he looked back up at the tree, Tai was nowhere to be seen.
"This is crazy... I'm losing my mind." TK got to his feet and stumbled.
"Teeekkaaay!!"
He turned around suddenly to see Patamon flying towards him at top speed.
"Patamon!" He caught his Digimon against his chest and hugged him.
"I've been looking all over for you, TK," Patamon said, still being squeezed.
"I've missed you so much, it's great to see you!"
"IZZY! We've found him!" Tentomon called behind him. He had just buzzed through the trees.
TK looked up and a few seconds later, Izzy, Ken and Jesi came crashing through the brush towards them, followed by 11 Digimon.
"TK!" Jesi cried and threw her arms around him.
"Hi, Jesi..." he said quietly.
"How are you? How have things been with you and Kari?"
What a question, he hadn't even had the will to leave his own apartment since February. After all the psychiatrists and doctors, his father leaving town without a trace, finally being put on medication, he was surprised he had survived the whole thing. The first time he had seen Kari since mid winter break was at Izzy's house, right before they had gone through the digi-port. He never even answered any of her letters or phone calls. How could he respond to a question like that?
He didn't, TK just sighed and looked down at the ground.
"What's wrong? Ken told me you were sick," she said.
"It's just stuff..." TK said.
Jesi decided it was best not to push any further.
"We're heading towards the feudal village," she said, taking hold of TK's hand. "Tentomon said it's just a few miles away, ok?"
TK smiled a bit and nodded. "Let's go."
"Are you feeling better?" Tai asked, his arm around Matt, rubbing his shoulder gently. "You don't still feel like you're going to puke, do you?"
"Nah, I'm ok now, my head just hurts a little." They had moved outside so Matt could get some fresh air, and were on one of the logs around the fire pit.
Tai kissed his cheek softly and rubbed his stomach.
"We're leaving for the village in the morning," Tai said "Are you gonna make it?"
"I'll be fine."
Tai started rocking his boyfriend back and forth slowly and humming 'Ashita wa Motto', the song Sora and Mimi had sang the night before. Matt smiled and chuckled softly,
"Tai, you sound like a girl when you sing."
Tai sat up and glared at him, but was smiling at the same time.
"Hey, watch it, at least I don't look like a girl."
Matt's eyes popped open wider and he glanced down at Tai, who was grinning slyly.
"I look like a girl, huh?"
Tai nodded.
Matt narrowed his eyes and pushed Tai off the log, then rolled on top of him. He started tickling Tai's sides, causing him to giggle uncontrollably.
"I'll teach you, Kamiya!"
As Matt and Tai were busy getting in a tickle battle, Jesi, TK, Ken, Izzy and the Digimon emerged from the woods and stepped into the clearing.
"If I'm not mistaken, that's Matt's butt sticking up in the air from behind that log," Gabumon said.
Matt stopped for a moment and sat up,
"Gabumon?"
"Matt!"
"Gabumon!!" Matt got up and ran over to his Digimon, and Tai sat up and looked over the log.
"Hey guys!" he shouted.
Matt kissed Gabumon on the nose and hugged him.
"Oh Gabumon, it's been so long, I've missed you so much!"
"I have missed you too, Matt."
"Tai!" Agumon ran over and jumped over the log on top of Tai.
"Hey buddy! How's it going?" Tai said.
"Well..." Agumon looked around at the grey sky, and grey sun, "pretty good, considering."
"Yeah... considering," Tai glanced around and echoed his Digimon's words.
"Hi everyone! Glad you could finally make it!" The group turned to see Mimi poking her head out the door of the temple, waving.
"Hi, Mimi!" Ken, Izzy and Jesi said in unison. TK just smiled a bit and nodded slightly.
"When did you get here, just now?" Mimi asked, stepping outside.
"We just arrived," Izzy answered.
After a few moments of chatting, Mimi announced,
"Boy, after that big breakfast I really need to use the little girl's room. Er... does anyone happen to know where it is?"
"There is no toilet, Mimi, you're just going to have to make do with the bushes," Tai said.
"Ew! I HATE doing that! It's so... unsanitary."
"What's the problem? Guys do it all the time and we don't mind," Tai responded.
"Hmph, well I can't do that like you do!" She grumbled, standing up.
Matt glanced at Mimi and grinned.
"And you, shut up!" Mimi growled, pointing at Matt. Matt and Tai laughed softly as Mimi stormed off into the woods.
"I'm not sure if she should go off by herself..." Jesi said.
"Why, do you want to go with her?" Matt said.
"No, it's just..." Jesi looked around her and glanced up at the mountain. "There is an evil Digimon in the area."
"What!? An evil Digimon!?" Tai said loudly, and put his fists up.
Mimi hummed to herself lightly from behind a tree until she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her.
"Oh... who's there?" She said.
"Mimi,"
Mimi gasped and stood up, fixing her skirt. "Sora! Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Mimi, I'm glad I found you alone," Sora said, grasping Mimi's hands tightly.
"Really? What's the matter?" Mimi asked, somewhat suspicious.
"I need to talk to you, it's very important." Sora had her gaze fixed on Mimi's face and wasn't even blinking. "Something very, very bad is happening." She squeezed Mimi's hands even tighter than before, until they started to hurt.
Mimi tried to loosen Sora's grip on her hands, but she held tightly. "Sora, why are you acting so strange? You're frightening me..."
"Something terrible is on the horizon."
"What are you talking about?"
"Insurrection..."
"I don't even know what that means!" Mimi whined, still trying to get Sora to let go of her.
"Your suspicions were right all along, Mimi! Matt and Tai are the real enemy. You know you've noticed that they've been trying to break up the group since we got here. They especially want to do away with you, Mimi. They hate you, they want to destroy you!" Sora said, moving her face closer to Mimi's.
"But they're our friends! I mean, maybe they've been acting weird but... They wouldn't! Would they...?"
"They've been acting so hostile towards you, haven't you noticed?"
"Well... I guess, but..."
"Haven't you noticed!?" Sora said, almost yelling. "Remember what you said earlier, Mimi, they don't want us to succeed!" this was not a question, asking Mimi if she remembered, it was a command. Then, for some reason, her words seemed so convincing. Mimi tried to tell herself this couldn't be true... but everything Sora said suddenly became absolute truth.
"We need to destroy them before they destroy us! They can't be trusted." Sora insisted.
"But... why would they do that...?" Mimi interrupted.
"They can't be trusted!" Sora repeated, with more force this time.
"You're right..."
Meanwhile, while Mimi was alone in the woods, the Digidestined who had been inside the temple now came out to greet Ken, Jesi, TK, and Izzy.
"Ken!" Davis ran out and threw his arms around his best friend. Ken hugged Davis tightly.
"It's so good to see you, Davis."
"This is great, now we're all back together!" Davis grinned. Ken smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Yami, why haven't you said anything to TK?" Tai whispered. Matt's expression grew solemn and he simply glanced down at the ground. TK was sitting with Patamon and Kari on another log across the fire-pit.
Now what was he to do? TK was here now, they wouldn't be able to avoid each other for much longer.
Later that day, the sun was starting to set and the fire was blazing once again. When Mimi had returned earlier, she was not acting like her usual self. She avoided Matt and Tai and glared at them numerous times throughout the afternoon. She would only carry on conversation with Palmon.
Kari and Sora whispered to each other while the others roasted their dinner of fresh water fish over the fire.
"Mimi is acting to strange," Kari said. "Even worse than before. What could be going on with her?" Sora glanced over at Mimi and sighed, very puzzled.
"So Elecmon told you about this evil Digimon Monomanemon too, huh?" Tai said to Jesi, who was sitting next to Ken.
"Yes, it's so frightening to think he can control our minds," she said softly.
Kari looked up from her conversation with Sora. "You can sense the presence too, can't you?"
Jesi nodded.
"Well don't worry about him, when we find him, we'll just destroy him!" said Agumon. "We've never met an evil Digimon we couldn't beat!"
"But he may be able to trick us into attacking someone we love!" Gabumon said. "He could make us fight against each other."
"We're all in grave danger..." TK said. "Little by little, we're all going to lose our minds...." Kari reached over and placed her hand on TK's, and Patamon looked up at his partner with great concern.
"This is awful," Kari thought. "He's so hopeless. When the keeper of the crest of hope loses all the hope he had in his heart, then what happens to us?"
"We don't even know if this Monomanemon can effect humans! Let's not jump to any conclusions," said Tai.
"If he only knew what I saw in the woods... if he could only understand," Matt said to himself.
"All right," Tai announced, after a little while of discussion. "Tomorrow we're heading to the feudal village to see what we can find out about this Monomanemon guy. For now I guess everyone just needs to make them selves comfortable for the night." Tai looked around at the group of Digidestined and Digimon sitting around him.
"There's only one problem, there are 26 of us now, 13 people and 13 Digimon and only six beds. We're going to have to double up on beds and some of you are going to have to sleep on the floor for tonight." he instructed.
"It's better than sleeping on the ground," Yolei commented.
"I'll be all right sleeping on the floor," Cody said.
"Yeah, I'll sleep on the floor too," Joe said, "It's not like I'll be getting any sleep anyway. I'll just be up all night, worrying about being attacked by a mind controlling Digimon and having a nervous breakdown, nothing new!"
"Boy Joe, you really know how to relax," Gomamon said, looking up at his partner.
"Somebody can have my bed," Davis said "I can sleep pretty much anywhere!"
"Too bad nobody around you can sleep with all that snoring," Gatomon mumbled.
"I'm not giving up my soft bed!" Mimi said, turning up her nose to the others.
"No one was expecting you to, Mimi..." Tai said, glaring at her. She flashed him the most awful look, narrowing her eyes. "Well," Tai continued, "I don't mind sharing a bed with Matt of course." Matt smiled a bit and placed his hand on top of Tai's.
"TK can share with me," Kari said.
"Really!? I mean, sure, Kari." TK could feel himself start to blush slightly.
"Well, I guess everybody else can just fight over the beds. But try to get a good night's sleep, we have a long hike ahead of us in the morning," Tai concluded.
That evening, Ken exited the temple to find Jesi sitting on a log by the fire pit all alone. The fire was still blazing, she sat staring into it.
"You shouldn't be out here by yourself," he said.
She didn't look up at him, but replied, "I'll be all right, for now anyway..."
He sat beside her and looked at the fire with her.
"He's all around us, I can tell. And TK and Matt, I think there's something wrong with them."
"They're probably just scared like the rest of us," Ken answered.
"It's something else..." She leaned against him and almost began crying. The feeling of deceit and evil in the air was suffocating, almost overpowering. "Ken, I don't think we can win this time. What can we do to defeat an enemy that we can't see?"
"Or can see, but not even know it..." he said solemnly.
"Something terrible is happening in this place," she said. They sat together for a few moments until the flash of something running through the trees alerted them.
"Do you think it's one of the Gekomon?" She said, growing apprehensive.
"I don't know. Stay here," he said, standing up. "I'm going to go see."
"You shouldn't go alone."
"I'll be all right, if I'm not back in 5 minutes you can send a search party after me."
Ken and Jesi smiled a bit despite their fear, and he walked off into the woods just behind the temple.
He padded slowly through the trees, knowing that the eyes of something which could see him, but that he could not see, were upon him. Suddenly a twig cracked a few meters in front of him, causing him to jump.
"Who's there...?" He asked quietly into the darkness.
"Ken, it's ok, it's just me." A tall blonde figure stepped closer to him.
"Matt, what are you doing out here?"
"Nature called," he said, smiling a bit.
"Oh, Jesi and I thought there was an evil Digimon out here."
"Nope, just me." He leaned against a tree, a strange grin plastered across his face.
"She's really something, huh?"
"Jesi? Yes, she's wonderful."
"I know she really gave me a thrill."
Ken raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Matt meant by this.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, she's an animal in bed, you should know right?"
Ken's eyes opened wider and he was unsure of what to say for a moment.
"In bed...?"
"Don't tell me you haven't slept together yet."
Ken thought back to the night they had spent in the woods a year ago. When they had gotten so intimate, but decided they were still much to young to take the final step. Then he remembered when he had found Matt at her apartment. But she had always told him that nothing had happened, that she would never give herself to anyone but him. Did this mean she had been lying all this time?
"But, she always told me-"
Matt cut him off, "Oh, so you mean you haven't, huh?" He stepped closer and leaned towards him. "It's a shame, she's really wild."
Ken started to become angry, Matt had never acted this way to him before.
"I don't believe you!" He growled. "Jesi would never lie to me. Why are you acting like this?"
"It's a real shame..." Matt grinned and flipped Ken's hair lightly, then ran his finger down Ken's cheek.
He stumbled backwards, "Don't touch me! What's the matter with you!?"
"Ken!"
He looked back for a moment and saw Jesi stepping into the woods, looking around for him. When he turned back to face Matt, he was gone.
He gasped when he felt someone touch his arm. He spun around quickly.
"Ken, what's wrong? Did you find out who was back here?" Jesi asked him.
He thought for a moment, did she really lie to him?
"Jesi... you told me you had never..." Ken swallowed nervously.
"Never what?"
"Matt was just here... he told me that night he was at your house..." Ken looked down at the forest floor. "He said you had slept with him."
Jesi stared at him in disbelief. "Ken! I've never done that with anyone! And when I do it will be with you!" She took his hand and he looked back up.
"Why would he say something like that?"
Suddenly, something dawned on him. He glanced back at the fire still roaring by the temple and began pulling Jesi back with him.
"Ken! What's wrong?"
"We need to get out of this forest right away, it's not safe."
They hurried back to the clearing and Ken stormed inside the temple. Jesi hurried after him as he walked swiftly down the hallway and into the boy's room.
There was Tai, lying in one of the three beds with Matt by his side. They were both sound asleep.
Jesi looked into the room and saw Matt sleeping there.
"But I thought you said..."
"I know, apparently that wasn't him I was speaking to." Ken turned on one of the gas lamps by the door.
"Everyone, wake up!"
The thirteen children and their Digimon sat around the table in the main room of the Gekomon's temple a few minutes later, all had been woken from their sleep except Ken and Jesi. Davis was still half asleep, and Yolei had to keep shaking him when he dozed off and started to fall forward every few minutes.
"All right, no one is allowed to go anywhere alone from now on, not even to go to the bathroom," Tai announced when Ken had finished recounting everything that had just happened in the woods. Matt sat silently staring at his hands across from TK, who was doing the same, like a mirror image.
"Ew, I don't want to go to the bathroom with anyone!" Mimi whined. She had been protesting everything Tai or Matt had said since that evening.
"Just have Palmon go with you, Mimi," Sora suggested, but was met only with a "Hmph" from Mimi.
"I think the only thing we can do now is wait for this Monomanemon guy to come to us, that is until we find out where to go looking for him," Tai continued. "This will be our base from now on since the Gekomon promised the clearing is sacred and Monomanemon won't come inside the temple."
"He's here right now," TK said, "all around..."
"That's crazy!" Davis said, starting to wake up. "How can a Digimon be everywhere at once? You mean he's just floatin' around like air or somethin'?"
"You wouldn't understand..." TK sighed. Kari placed a hand on his shoulder. She knew there was more going on here than TK would say.
"Ok, tomorrow half of us are going to Little Edo for supplies since we're running out of food. And we're going to try and find out more information about Monomanemon, anything can help. I want the girls to stay here in case we run into anything dangerous on the way." Tai said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yolei said, "You think we can't handle it?
"Uuhh... I didn't mean it like that," Tai said, scratching the side of his head. "I just don't want anyone to get scared and run off!"
"Scared! I don't know the meaning of the word!" Yolei got up and raised her index finger in the air like Izzy preaching the Law of Conservation of Energy and shouted, "I am woman, hear me roar!"
A huge sweat drop formed on Hawkmon's head and everyone laughed in unison (hey, this is anime, people) except TK and Matt, who still sat like bookends facing each other.
"Ok, ok Yolei, you can go to the village if it's that important to you!" Tai said. "Now everyone go get some sleep, but I want everyone to take turns keeping watch for the rest of the night."
"Gomamon and I will take the first watch," Joe said. "I've already woken up 14 times thinking my organs were being sucked out anyway."
"Hey... who said I wasn't sleeping?" Gomamon grumbled.
Joe and Gomamon sat by the door of the temple with blankets and some hot tea to keep them warm as everyone shuffled back to their beds or sleeping bags. Kari led TK back and he walked very slowly, his eyes lowered towards the floor. Matt was the last to rise and Tai placed his hand lovingly on his boyfriend's shoulder.
"Yami, what's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Matt sighed. But if he had said what he really wanted to the answer would have been everything. He had never been so confused or scared in his life. If the person he'd seen in the woods had not been his brother, but this mind controlling Digimon, then why did the words stick with him. He wished he could shake the image from his mind, all the things he said...
"How come you won't talk to TK?" The brunette asked as they walked back to bed.
"I can't..."
"Hey, I have an idea, how about tomorrow morning you can just apologize for whatever you and TK fought about and then everything will be all right! I'm sure he's forgiven you by now, it's been almost two months." Tai smiled a little to try and cheer Matt up.
The blonde glanced up at Tai. "Apologize...?" Tai still had no clue, when he had confessed to hurting TK, he must have given the brown eyed boy the wrong idea, making him think this was all over some huge disagreement. If he only knew... if he had any idea what had really happened.
"It's not that easy, Tai."
"Matt... I know it's been tearing you apart holding all this inside, why can't you tell me? Maybe I could talk to TK for you."
"You have no idea what you're talking about! If I could just say I was sorry and end all this suffering I would have done it a long time ago!" Matt yelled and collapsed onto the bed as they entered the bedroom. He held his face in his hands and could feel hot tears starting to sear his eyes.
"I'm just trying to help..." Tai whispered, slightly hurt from being yelled at.
"I know, I'm sorry..." Matt choked out. "I want to explain I just... can't."
Tai put his arm around him and held the sobbing boy to his chest. He noted to himself that Matt had been losing a lot of weight in the past weeks, his well toned muscles had begun to fade away and he was becoming extremely thin.
"Just try,"
"I have tried, I don't know how to say it... I just can't put it into words." He knew he could, he knew exactly what to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Tai sighed. "Promise you'll tell me when you're ready..."
"I will," he answered, but then thought, "If I'm ever ready..."
They lied down together and Tai pulled the blankets over the two of them. They faced each other and Tai brushed the last of Matt's tears off his cheeks with his fingers. He kissed his pale boyfriend's lips softly and waited for him to close his eyes. When he was sure Matt was sleeping, he held his hand tightly and allowed himself to drift off.
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I wrote this chapter a VERY long time ago and didn't even realize until today I had never uploaded it. The chapter title is Japanese, meaning 'to go insane or lose one's mind' I don't think the chapter is even completed the way I wanted it to bed, I just wanted to post something for all the readers who have been waiting for this fic to be continued. I promise, I will finish it someday and it's going to be spectacular. I'm really sorry for everyone who has been waiting for so long.
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"Does he even care...?" TK sighed and walked through the forest, his head hanging down, staring at the ground. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was going anymore.
"Why did I even come? I should have stayed home... not that things are any better there."
He was walking the same path through the woods that all the others had followed, towards the Gekomon's temple. The darkness surrounded him, he knew his brother was out there somewhere.
"He never even said he was sorry..."
"That's because he's not sorry."
TK gasped and looked up. Tai was standing in front of him, leaning against a tree, smirking at him.
"Tai... he told you?"
"Matt tells me everything, little TK."
TK turned away, he could feel himself starting to cry. "What's wrong with him!?" he choked out. "What's wrong with me? I should hate him, but I don't..."
"He hates you, little TK," Tai said.
TK looked back up. Tai was still smirking, but he looked different, his eyes were red instead of brown.
"Tai... my brother would never say that!"
The presence that TK could not see felt slightly frustrated hearing these words. The brothers' bond was so strong, how could this boy still defend someone who had done something so horrible to him? How could they still love each other?
"You didn't think your brother would ever rape you either, did you?"
TK clenched his fist and dove for Tai, but he stepped out of the way too quickly, causing TK to fall flat on his stomach.
He coughed and held his stomach as he got to his knees, the wind had been knocked out of him.
"What's the matter with you?" he gasped, "You're not Tai!"
"That's what you think..." Tai hissed. TK blinked, and when he looked back up at the tree, Tai was nowhere to be seen.
"This is crazy... I'm losing my mind." TK got to his feet and stumbled.
"Teeekkaaay!!"
He turned around suddenly to see Patamon flying towards him at top speed.
"Patamon!" He caught his Digimon against his chest and hugged him.
"I've been looking all over for you, TK," Patamon said, still being squeezed.
"I've missed you so much, it's great to see you!"
"IZZY! We've found him!" Tentomon called behind him. He had just buzzed through the trees.
TK looked up and a few seconds later, Izzy, Ken and Jesi came crashing through the brush towards them, followed by 11 Digimon.
"TK!" Jesi cried and threw her arms around him.
"Hi, Jesi..." he said quietly.
"How are you? How have things been with you and Kari?"
What a question, he hadn't even had the will to leave his own apartment since February. After all the psychiatrists and doctors, his father leaving town without a trace, finally being put on medication, he was surprised he had survived the whole thing. The first time he had seen Kari since mid winter break was at Izzy's house, right before they had gone through the digi-port. He never even answered any of her letters or phone calls. How could he respond to a question like that?
He didn't, TK just sighed and looked down at the ground.
"What's wrong? Ken told me you were sick," she said.
"It's just stuff..." TK said.
Jesi decided it was best not to push any further.
"We're heading towards the feudal village," she said, taking hold of TK's hand. "Tentomon said it's just a few miles away, ok?"
TK smiled a bit and nodded. "Let's go."
"Are you feeling better?" Tai asked, his arm around Matt, rubbing his shoulder gently. "You don't still feel like you're going to puke, do you?"
"Nah, I'm ok now, my head just hurts a little." They had moved outside so Matt could get some fresh air, and were on one of the logs around the fire pit.
Tai kissed his cheek softly and rubbed his stomach.
"We're leaving for the village in the morning," Tai said "Are you gonna make it?"
"I'll be fine."
Tai started rocking his boyfriend back and forth slowly and humming 'Ashita wa Motto', the song Sora and Mimi had sang the night before. Matt smiled and chuckled softly,
"Tai, you sound like a girl when you sing."
Tai sat up and glared at him, but was smiling at the same time.
"Hey, watch it, at least I don't look like a girl."
Matt's eyes popped open wider and he glanced down at Tai, who was grinning slyly.
"I look like a girl, huh?"
Tai nodded.
Matt narrowed his eyes and pushed Tai off the log, then rolled on top of him. He started tickling Tai's sides, causing him to giggle uncontrollably.
"I'll teach you, Kamiya!"
As Matt and Tai were busy getting in a tickle battle, Jesi, TK, Ken, Izzy and the Digimon emerged from the woods and stepped into the clearing.
"If I'm not mistaken, that's Matt's butt sticking up in the air from behind that log," Gabumon said.
Matt stopped for a moment and sat up,
"Gabumon?"
"Matt!"
"Gabumon!!" Matt got up and ran over to his Digimon, and Tai sat up and looked over the log.
"Hey guys!" he shouted.
Matt kissed Gabumon on the nose and hugged him.
"Oh Gabumon, it's been so long, I've missed you so much!"
"I have missed you too, Matt."
"Tai!" Agumon ran over and jumped over the log on top of Tai.
"Hey buddy! How's it going?" Tai said.
"Well..." Agumon looked around at the grey sky, and grey sun, "pretty good, considering."
"Yeah... considering," Tai glanced around and echoed his Digimon's words.
"Hi everyone! Glad you could finally make it!" The group turned to see Mimi poking her head out the door of the temple, waving.
"Hi, Mimi!" Ken, Izzy and Jesi said in unison. TK just smiled a bit and nodded slightly.
"When did you get here, just now?" Mimi asked, stepping outside.
"We just arrived," Izzy answered.
After a few moments of chatting, Mimi announced,
"Boy, after that big breakfast I really need to use the little girl's room. Er... does anyone happen to know where it is?"
"There is no toilet, Mimi, you're just going to have to make do with the bushes," Tai said.
"Ew! I HATE doing that! It's so... unsanitary."
"What's the problem? Guys do it all the time and we don't mind," Tai responded.
"Hmph, well I can't do that like you do!" She grumbled, standing up.
Matt glanced at Mimi and grinned.
"And you, shut up!" Mimi growled, pointing at Matt. Matt and Tai laughed softly as Mimi stormed off into the woods.
"I'm not sure if she should go off by herself..." Jesi said.
"Why, do you want to go with her?" Matt said.
"No, it's just..." Jesi looked around her and glanced up at the mountain. "There is an evil Digimon in the area."
"What!? An evil Digimon!?" Tai said loudly, and put his fists up.
Mimi hummed to herself lightly from behind a tree until she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her.
"Oh... who's there?" She said.
"Mimi,"
Mimi gasped and stood up, fixing her skirt. "Sora! Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Mimi, I'm glad I found you alone," Sora said, grasping Mimi's hands tightly.
"Really? What's the matter?" Mimi asked, somewhat suspicious.
"I need to talk to you, it's very important." Sora had her gaze fixed on Mimi's face and wasn't even blinking. "Something very, very bad is happening." She squeezed Mimi's hands even tighter than before, until they started to hurt.
Mimi tried to loosen Sora's grip on her hands, but she held tightly. "Sora, why are you acting so strange? You're frightening me..."
"Something terrible is on the horizon."
"What are you talking about?"
"Insurrection..."
"I don't even know what that means!" Mimi whined, still trying to get Sora to let go of her.
"Your suspicions were right all along, Mimi! Matt and Tai are the real enemy. You know you've noticed that they've been trying to break up the group since we got here. They especially want to do away with you, Mimi. They hate you, they want to destroy you!" Sora said, moving her face closer to Mimi's.
"But they're our friends! I mean, maybe they've been acting weird but... They wouldn't! Would they...?"
"They've been acting so hostile towards you, haven't you noticed?"
"Well... I guess, but..."
"Haven't you noticed!?" Sora said, almost yelling. "Remember what you said earlier, Mimi, they don't want us to succeed!" this was not a question, asking Mimi if she remembered, it was a command. Then, for some reason, her words seemed so convincing. Mimi tried to tell herself this couldn't be true... but everything Sora said suddenly became absolute truth.
"We need to destroy them before they destroy us! They can't be trusted." Sora insisted.
"But... why would they do that...?" Mimi interrupted.
"They can't be trusted!" Sora repeated, with more force this time.
"You're right..."
Meanwhile, while Mimi was alone in the woods, the Digidestined who had been inside the temple now came out to greet Ken, Jesi, TK, and Izzy.
"Ken!" Davis ran out and threw his arms around his best friend. Ken hugged Davis tightly.
"It's so good to see you, Davis."
"This is great, now we're all back together!" Davis grinned. Ken smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Yami, why haven't you said anything to TK?" Tai whispered. Matt's expression grew solemn and he simply glanced down at the ground. TK was sitting with Patamon and Kari on another log across the fire-pit.
Now what was he to do? TK was here now, they wouldn't be able to avoid each other for much longer.
Later that day, the sun was starting to set and the fire was blazing once again. When Mimi had returned earlier, she was not acting like her usual self. She avoided Matt and Tai and glared at them numerous times throughout the afternoon. She would only carry on conversation with Palmon.
Kari and Sora whispered to each other while the others roasted their dinner of fresh water fish over the fire.
"Mimi is acting to strange," Kari said. "Even worse than before. What could be going on with her?" Sora glanced over at Mimi and sighed, very puzzled.
"So Elecmon told you about this evil Digimon Monomanemon too, huh?" Tai said to Jesi, who was sitting next to Ken.
"Yes, it's so frightening to think he can control our minds," she said softly.
Kari looked up from her conversation with Sora. "You can sense the presence too, can't you?"
Jesi nodded.
"Well don't worry about him, when we find him, we'll just destroy him!" said Agumon. "We've never met an evil Digimon we couldn't beat!"
"But he may be able to trick us into attacking someone we love!" Gabumon said. "He could make us fight against each other."
"We're all in grave danger..." TK said. "Little by little, we're all going to lose our minds...." Kari reached over and placed her hand on TK's, and Patamon looked up at his partner with great concern.
"This is awful," Kari thought. "He's so hopeless. When the keeper of the crest of hope loses all the hope he had in his heart, then what happens to us?"
"We don't even know if this Monomanemon can effect humans! Let's not jump to any conclusions," said Tai.
"If he only knew what I saw in the woods... if he could only understand," Matt said to himself.
"All right," Tai announced, after a little while of discussion. "Tomorrow we're heading to the feudal village to see what we can find out about this Monomanemon guy. For now I guess everyone just needs to make them selves comfortable for the night." Tai looked around at the group of Digidestined and Digimon sitting around him.
"There's only one problem, there are 26 of us now, 13 people and 13 Digimon and only six beds. We're going to have to double up on beds and some of you are going to have to sleep on the floor for tonight." he instructed.
"It's better than sleeping on the ground," Yolei commented.
"I'll be all right sleeping on the floor," Cody said.
"Yeah, I'll sleep on the floor too," Joe said, "It's not like I'll be getting any sleep anyway. I'll just be up all night, worrying about being attacked by a mind controlling Digimon and having a nervous breakdown, nothing new!"
"Boy Joe, you really know how to relax," Gomamon said, looking up at his partner.
"Somebody can have my bed," Davis said "I can sleep pretty much anywhere!"
"Too bad nobody around you can sleep with all that snoring," Gatomon mumbled.
"I'm not giving up my soft bed!" Mimi said, turning up her nose to the others.
"No one was expecting you to, Mimi..." Tai said, glaring at her. She flashed him the most awful look, narrowing her eyes. "Well," Tai continued, "I don't mind sharing a bed with Matt of course." Matt smiled a bit and placed his hand on top of Tai's.
"TK can share with me," Kari said.
"Really!? I mean, sure, Kari." TK could feel himself start to blush slightly.
"Well, I guess everybody else can just fight over the beds. But try to get a good night's sleep, we have a long hike ahead of us in the morning," Tai concluded.
That evening, Ken exited the temple to find Jesi sitting on a log by the fire pit all alone. The fire was still blazing, she sat staring into it.
"You shouldn't be out here by yourself," he said.
She didn't look up at him, but replied, "I'll be all right, for now anyway..."
He sat beside her and looked at the fire with her.
"He's all around us, I can tell. And TK and Matt, I think there's something wrong with them."
"They're probably just scared like the rest of us," Ken answered.
"It's something else..." She leaned against him and almost began crying. The feeling of deceit and evil in the air was suffocating, almost overpowering. "Ken, I don't think we can win this time. What can we do to defeat an enemy that we can't see?"
"Or can see, but not even know it..." he said solemnly.
"Something terrible is happening in this place," she said. They sat together for a few moments until the flash of something running through the trees alerted them.
"Do you think it's one of the Gekomon?" She said, growing apprehensive.
"I don't know. Stay here," he said, standing up. "I'm going to go see."
"You shouldn't go alone."
"I'll be all right, if I'm not back in 5 minutes you can send a search party after me."
Ken and Jesi smiled a bit despite their fear, and he walked off into the woods just behind the temple.
He padded slowly through the trees, knowing that the eyes of something which could see him, but that he could not see, were upon him. Suddenly a twig cracked a few meters in front of him, causing him to jump.
"Who's there...?" He asked quietly into the darkness.
"Ken, it's ok, it's just me." A tall blonde figure stepped closer to him.
"Matt, what are you doing out here?"
"Nature called," he said, smiling a bit.
"Oh, Jesi and I thought there was an evil Digimon out here."
"Nope, just me." He leaned against a tree, a strange grin plastered across his face.
"She's really something, huh?"
"Jesi? Yes, she's wonderful."
"I know she really gave me a thrill."
Ken raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Matt meant by this.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, she's an animal in bed, you should know right?"
Ken's eyes opened wider and he was unsure of what to say for a moment.
"In bed...?"
"Don't tell me you haven't slept together yet."
Ken thought back to the night they had spent in the woods a year ago. When they had gotten so intimate, but decided they were still much to young to take the final step. Then he remembered when he had found Matt at her apartment. But she had always told him that nothing had happened, that she would never give herself to anyone but him. Did this mean she had been lying all this time?
"But, she always told me-"
Matt cut him off, "Oh, so you mean you haven't, huh?" He stepped closer and leaned towards him. "It's a shame, she's really wild."
Ken started to become angry, Matt had never acted this way to him before.
"I don't believe you!" He growled. "Jesi would never lie to me. Why are you acting like this?"
"It's a real shame..." Matt grinned and flipped Ken's hair lightly, then ran his finger down Ken's cheek.
He stumbled backwards, "Don't touch me! What's the matter with you!?"
"Ken!"
He looked back for a moment and saw Jesi stepping into the woods, looking around for him. When he turned back to face Matt, he was gone.
He gasped when he felt someone touch his arm. He spun around quickly.
"Ken, what's wrong? Did you find out who was back here?" Jesi asked him.
He thought for a moment, did she really lie to him?
"Jesi... you told me you had never..." Ken swallowed nervously.
"Never what?"
"Matt was just here... he told me that night he was at your house..." Ken looked down at the forest floor. "He said you had slept with him."
Jesi stared at him in disbelief. "Ken! I've never done that with anyone! And when I do it will be with you!" She took his hand and he looked back up.
"Why would he say something like that?"
Suddenly, something dawned on him. He glanced back at the fire still roaring by the temple and began pulling Jesi back with him.
"Ken! What's wrong?"
"We need to get out of this forest right away, it's not safe."
They hurried back to the clearing and Ken stormed inside the temple. Jesi hurried after him as he walked swiftly down the hallway and into the boy's room.
There was Tai, lying in one of the three beds with Matt by his side. They were both sound asleep.
Jesi looked into the room and saw Matt sleeping there.
"But I thought you said..."
"I know, apparently that wasn't him I was speaking to." Ken turned on one of the gas lamps by the door.
"Everyone, wake up!"
The thirteen children and their Digimon sat around the table in the main room of the Gekomon's temple a few minutes later, all had been woken from their sleep except Ken and Jesi. Davis was still half asleep, and Yolei had to keep shaking him when he dozed off and started to fall forward every few minutes.
"All right, no one is allowed to go anywhere alone from now on, not even to go to the bathroom," Tai announced when Ken had finished recounting everything that had just happened in the woods. Matt sat silently staring at his hands across from TK, who was doing the same, like a mirror image.
"Ew, I don't want to go to the bathroom with anyone!" Mimi whined. She had been protesting everything Tai or Matt had said since that evening.
"Just have Palmon go with you, Mimi," Sora suggested, but was met only with a "Hmph" from Mimi.
"I think the only thing we can do now is wait for this Monomanemon guy to come to us, that is until we find out where to go looking for him," Tai continued. "This will be our base from now on since the Gekomon promised the clearing is sacred and Monomanemon won't come inside the temple."
"He's here right now," TK said, "all around..."
"That's crazy!" Davis said, starting to wake up. "How can a Digimon be everywhere at once? You mean he's just floatin' around like air or somethin'?"
"You wouldn't understand..." TK sighed. Kari placed a hand on his shoulder. She knew there was more going on here than TK would say.
"Ok, tomorrow half of us are going to Little Edo for supplies since we're running out of food. And we're going to try and find out more information about Monomanemon, anything can help. I want the girls to stay here in case we run into anything dangerous on the way." Tai said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yolei said, "You think we can't handle it?
"Uuhh... I didn't mean it like that," Tai said, scratching the side of his head. "I just don't want anyone to get scared and run off!"
"Scared! I don't know the meaning of the word!" Yolei got up and raised her index finger in the air like Izzy preaching the Law of Conservation of Energy and shouted, "I am woman, hear me roar!"
A huge sweat drop formed on Hawkmon's head and everyone laughed in unison (hey, this is anime, people) except TK and Matt, who still sat like bookends facing each other.
"Ok, ok Yolei, you can go to the village if it's that important to you!" Tai said. "Now everyone go get some sleep, but I want everyone to take turns keeping watch for the rest of the night."
"Gomamon and I will take the first watch," Joe said. "I've already woken up 14 times thinking my organs were being sucked out anyway."
"Hey... who said I wasn't sleeping?" Gomamon grumbled.
Joe and Gomamon sat by the door of the temple with blankets and some hot tea to keep them warm as everyone shuffled back to their beds or sleeping bags. Kari led TK back and he walked very slowly, his eyes lowered towards the floor. Matt was the last to rise and Tai placed his hand lovingly on his boyfriend's shoulder.
"Yami, what's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Matt sighed. But if he had said what he really wanted to the answer would have been everything. He had never been so confused or scared in his life. If the person he'd seen in the woods had not been his brother, but this mind controlling Digimon, then why did the words stick with him. He wished he could shake the image from his mind, all the things he said...
"How come you won't talk to TK?" The brunette asked as they walked back to bed.
"I can't..."
"Hey, I have an idea, how about tomorrow morning you can just apologize for whatever you and TK fought about and then everything will be all right! I'm sure he's forgiven you by now, it's been almost two months." Tai smiled a little to try and cheer Matt up.
The blonde glanced up at Tai. "Apologize...?" Tai still had no clue, when he had confessed to hurting TK, he must have given the brown eyed boy the wrong idea, making him think this was all over some huge disagreement. If he only knew... if he had any idea what had really happened.
"It's not that easy, Tai."
"Matt... I know it's been tearing you apart holding all this inside, why can't you tell me? Maybe I could talk to TK for you."
"You have no idea what you're talking about! If I could just say I was sorry and end all this suffering I would have done it a long time ago!" Matt yelled and collapsed onto the bed as they entered the bedroom. He held his face in his hands and could feel hot tears starting to sear his eyes.
"I'm just trying to help..." Tai whispered, slightly hurt from being yelled at.
"I know, I'm sorry..." Matt choked out. "I want to explain I just... can't."
Tai put his arm around him and held the sobbing boy to his chest. He noted to himself that Matt had been losing a lot of weight in the past weeks, his well toned muscles had begun to fade away and he was becoming extremely thin.
"Just try,"
"I have tried, I don't know how to say it... I just can't put it into words." He knew he could, he knew exactly what to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Tai sighed. "Promise you'll tell me when you're ready..."
"I will," he answered, but then thought, "If I'm ever ready..."
They lied down together and Tai pulled the blankets over the two of them. They faced each other and Tai brushed the last of Matt's tears off his cheeks with his fingers. He kissed his pale boyfriend's lips softly and waited for him to close his eyes. When he was sure Matt was sleeping, he held his hand tightly and allowed himself to drift off.
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I wrote this chapter a VERY long time ago and didn't even realize until today I had never uploaded it. The chapter title is Japanese, meaning 'to go insane or lose one's mind' I don't think the chapter is even completed the way I wanted it to bed, I just wanted to post something for all the readers who have been waiting for this fic to be continued. I promise, I will finish it someday and it's going to be spectacular. I'm really sorry for everyone who has been waiting for so long.
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