Note: I do not own Digimon

Did you ever imagine what would have happened if Osamu and Ken had been a part of the Digimon adventure from the very beginning? I have, so here is my take on the way events could possibly pan out.
(I also wrote a prologue to this alternate Digimon Adventure, it was originally tagged on here as the first two chapters but now I've decided to put it as a seperate story, so if you're interested in a bit of Osamu and Gennai back story -which will be referenced here- then you can check that out too. Its only two chapters and is a different side of the Digimon Movie about Hikarigaoka :D hope you enjoy!)

I hope you enjoy it!

Also I am currently debating with myself who Osamu should have for a Digimon Partner.
Any suggestions on who you think could work well would be much appreciated :}

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Chapter One ~ The Start of All Epic Adventures: A Summer Camp

(Osamu's Point of View)

Osamu Ichijouji tinkered around happily with the wires and memory boards of the dismantled computer before him. This was how he chose to relax after another day of having to socialise with people he barely understood for hours on end at school.

He lived for the thrill of figuring out how things worked, how they could be rebuilt and improved, and this clutter of circuits and wiring before him made for a most enticing puzzle. People, on the other hand, bored and frustrated him. He was relieved to finally have some space from their constant pestering and futile social conventions.

Smile, make eye contact, engage in meaningless conversation about mundane things; going through these motions was so tiresome and ultimately pointless. He did not understand why people put so much importance on such things, but he did know that he found it... difficult. It was such a relief to be back home, tinkering with these wires and able to hear himself think again.

Maybe if I connect this here, using this wire... He nibbled his lower lip in concentration, analysing possibilities in his head and wondering which would give the desired effect. Oh wait, what about-?

Knock, knock, knock.

"Oniisan," a timid voice piped up from the other side of his door, interrupting his reverie. "It's nearly time to go."

Osamu frowned.

Of course, today had been the last day of term which meant only one thing. This afternoon, in the next half hour as a matter of fact, he was to endure further punishment by being shipped away to some outdoors summer camp for a whole week. With children his own age and younger swarming around.

Typical.

"Yes, all right." He mumbled dejectedly in response to his eager little brother.

The door creaked open slightly and Osamu could make out an inquisitive pair of eyes peeking around the corners, scanning his room with hungry interest. He never liked to allow his younger brother in here as there was so much he could damage or mess up, so for Ken getting a rare glimpse of Osamu's lair was always intriguing.

He swatted his curious younger brother away with a wave and frowned. All he had wanted was a short time to himself, was that too much to ask?

As the door shut and his brother retreated, Osamu lovingly collected up each of the scattered pieces before him and arranged them neatly in his desk drawer for later. He then turned to the worn rucksack on his bed as it sat there, waiting for him to pack for this ridiculous summer camp which his parents were insisting he and his brother participate in.

How tiresome, sometimes I wish mother and father would just leave me be. He grimaced slightly as he began carefully transferring rolls of socks and underwear into the waiting rucksack and sighed. Why can't they see I don't need to socialise, I'm far better off without these pointless distractions from my projects.

Once he had packed the required garments and a few cautious extras, as well as some books to read and the odd tool or gadget here and there which he hoped he would have chance to work on, he threw the heavy bag over his shoulder and left the security of his room, plastering a smile on his face to reassure his family that he was perfectly capable of social interactions and hopefully discourage them from doing this to him again.

Summer camp, honestly could they be more disagreeable?

His mother was already standing there outside his room, or maybe lurking was a more apt verb to use under the circumstances. She immediately threw on a smile of her own and started to make that drivelling small talk which Osamu disliked intensely.

"Oh honey, perfect timing," she beamed, so over-sweet he was convinced it could give him diabetes. Social diabetes; a new and disturbing classification mainly afflicting teenage sons... He very nearly smirked at his own bad quip before realising his mother was staring at him expectantly, had he missed something?

"Are you excited?" she asked intently, as if repeating herself. Which she may well have been, he hadn't been fully concentrating.

Is that a serious question? "Thrilled." He answered, with a heroic effort to conceal his sarcasm.

She searched his eyes, trying to tell whether he was being genuine and sighing when she found him lacking.

He looked down and an awkward silence descended.

Ken bounded into the hallway lugging his own rucksack which seemed to be brimming with an assortment of dubious and hasty attempts at baking.

Osamu smothered a grin as he saw the edge of a peanut butter encrusted mound (that, knowing his enthusiastic brother, was an interesting attempt at sponge cake) peeking from one of the many pockets.

I wonder if he packed anything useful? Maybe he intends to wear cupcakes the whole week… He chuckled slightly and ruffled his brother's hair with affection.

He did not like most people, yet his Ken was impossible not to love. Even if he could be infuriating with his constant need to bug Osamu during all hours of the day.

"Can we go yet?" Ken pestered, practically bouncing up and down in his eagerness to set off.

"Your father is just starting the car, go put your bag into the boot sweetheart." His mother smiled kindly, stroking his hair before he could bound off in excitement.

As Ken became a blur running out of the door Osamu's mother looked down at him seriously. "Look after him, Osamu." She implored.

He bowed slightly. "Of course, mother."

"And, honey?" She hesitated for a moment, "just try to have fun."

He bowed again, this time more rigidly. "Of course, mother."

She frowned slightly before pasting that ridiculous smile back on her face and pulling him into a forced and awkward embrace.

"I mean it," she whispered against his hair, tickling his ear. He was almost as tall as her now. "We aren't doing this to punish you, Osamu. We want you to experience life beyond…" she made a sweeping gesture to indicate his room. His life.

He stiffened against her and tried to break free. She let him go reluctantly and brushed his cheek with her thumb. He pulled away and once more stared at the ground.

"Bye, mother." He muttered before he made his way out of the door and closed it behind him. He thought he heard her make a noise behind him, but if she was saying something it was cut off as the door closed her in. No matter, it was not important now. Honestly, he was just relieved to have escaped the awkward emotional wreck that was his mother, she was always so volatile and made him feel uncomfortable.

That would be one good thing about summer camp, being able to get away from his parents for a little while, their constant attention and fuss could just become too much sometimes.

Yet on the flip side of that there would be the other children to contend with at the camp itself. What was that saying, "better the Devil you know"? There could be something in that as at least with his parents he could make them respect his right to privacy. He did now have his own room after all, a luxury for many people his age. He doubted such a privilege would be available to him at camp.

There was going to be no escaping these other children. Dios mios, he frowned, this is really going to test my limits.

He wondered what they would be like.

"Oniisan!" Ken was suddenly by his side, dragging him towards the car and chattering about something.

I just hope there are some I can be myself around, he sighed as he allowed himself to be led into the car.

"Pst," Ken interrupted his thoughts with a conspiratorial smile. "Want some peanut-cake?" He whispered, holding out a sticky hand with an even stickier offering of mutilated cake smothered in stomach turning globs of peanut butter. Delightful.

"I'm okay thanks, Kenny." He smiled, amused at the mess his younger brother was already making a mere two minutes into their journey. He wondered how his car-proud father would feel about that.

Ken responded with a happy noise, muffled by the mouthful of cake he was getting through, and a proud smile. Osamu laughed, causing Ken to giggle in response and splutter half-chewed fragments of his creation all over the back of their father's pristine leather seat.

Osamu suppressed a smirk.

As the car rounded the next corner he spotted the sign for the camping ground, claiming it was only fifty miles away. They should arrive in around an hour, but the reality would be that they would reach it long before then knowing his father's driving.

Right then, here we go. Only one week, I can survive that.

When they arrived, despite it being the middle of summer, there was a chill in the air so Osamu grabbed two jackets out of his rucksack and threw one around the small shoulders of his little brother. Ken smiled up at him gratefully and Osamu nodded.

"Probably a lot warmed to wear than any of those cakes you packed, dummy." Osamu ruffled his brother's hair and grinned.

"But not as tasty to eat," reasoned Ken happily, tightening the jacket around him to make the most of its pleasant warmth.

Mm, child logic has a strange idea of 'tasty', he thought as he remembered the mushed up offering from earlier. "Whatever you say, Kenny."

"Oi, Ichijouji!" A loud and slightly annoying voice called out, causing Osamu to curse his parents yet again for forcing this on him.

He forced a smile and turned around to spot the source of the greeting. "Oh, hey Yagami, you're here too?" Just my luck.

Taichi Yagami, his rival on the football field and the boy who just never seemed to leave him alone, stood grinning goofily at him. Perfect, this was officially set to be the week from hell.

Behind him stood a shy little girl, probably about Ken's age, who watched this encounter with wide amber eyes.

"Sure am, along with my little sister Hikari. I have to keep a good eye on her, she nearly didn't come because of a nasty cold. She's a tough kid though," he beamed down at the child behind him proudly as she smiled up at him with a large dose of sibling admiration, the same look Osamu often caught in Ken's eyes.

Ken, who was now paying attention to this exchange, had sidled behind Osamu to watch the strangers with interest. His eyes glanced warily from the older boy to the younger girl and back again, not quite sure what to make of them. Osamu hadn't realised his younger brother was intimidated by people as well, he usually acted so at ease with anyone and everyone.

He grasped the younger child's hand reassuringly and smiled fondly down at him. "I'm here with a sibling too, this is my little brother Ken."

He squeezed his hand to let him know that it was okay to say hello and this seemed to refill all of Ken's previous confidence. He bounded up to the other two children and grinned, his previous shyness forgotten. "Hi, I'm Ken and I'm eight. How old are you?"

Taichi smiled down at the energy filled younger boy. "I'm eleven, same as your big brother and Hikari here is eight, the same as you."

Hikari nodded and smiled bashfully, but said nothing and remained cautiously behind Taichi.

"Cool," Ken decided, smiling around at the other three children. "We can all be friends then."

Taichi nodded, happy with this arrangement. He had been trying to befriend Osamu for years without much success and was glad to catch such a break. Osamu and Hikari were slightly more reserved but made no objection and so the four of them decided to explore their new surroundings together. Well, more like the three other children willingly went along with Taichi's need to 'explore', wandering around bushes and trees for the sake of it. A use of time which Osamu felt to be highly inefficient, until he saw the wide smile on his brother's face as he took in the different environment with its scenery and intrigue.

Maybe I should make it a priority to take Ken to the countryside or the seaside more often, it certainly couldn't hurt.

"Tai!" a female voice called out from above them after about half an hour.

Taichi looked upwards and saw his best friend, Sora, laying on a branch of the tree just behind them. "Hey Sor, having fun there?"

Osamu knew Sora from years of playing football on the same team as her, yet it hit him then as he saw her in the tree above them that he had never bothered to have an actual conversation with her. Not that he had ever wanted to, at the time, but it occurred to him that this may make things awkward over the next week if Sora was the type of female to hold a grudge over that kind of thing. He seemed to recall she had tried to initiate conversations in the past, always in vain.

Most females managed to hold grudges over much less, he had observed.

"You bet I am, away from mum and her dumb old flower shop I can do whatever I want. She can't scold me for climbing or having fun, oh Tai this week is going to be the best week ever." Her shining eyes left Taichi for a moment and landed on the others with him. Sora smiled and waved kindly at Hikari who waved back and then she noticed Osamu. "Oh, hi there Osamu." Her voice conveyed a note of surprise to see him, of all people, there but she merely smiled in greeting and jumped down from her branch with practised grace.

Looks like she isn't the type to hold a grudge after all, he thought gratefully as he saw the genuine smile in her eyes. What a relief, this week would have been so tedious if she were.

"Hello Sora," he nodded, doing his best to give her a friendly smile.

She then noticed Ken, who had again retreated behind him in the face of another stranger, and smiled towards him encouragingly.

"Hey there buddy," she knelt down to address him and he gazed at her with wary eyes. "What's your name?"

When he didn't answer Osamu decided he should step in. "His name is Ken and he is my younger brother."

Sora smiled again, this time with more of a visible effort. "Lovely to meet you, Ken. Do you play soccer?"

At this Ken's face pricked up into an eager and open smile. "I love soccer!"

Sora laughed, her previous easy manner returning now that she had made progress. "Well then Tai, Osamu, Ken, Hikari," she began as she made eye contact with each of them. "What do you say we round everyone up for a friendly game of soccer later? Would that be fun?"

"Brilliant idea, Sor!" Taichi grinned, glancing confidently at the others around him.

That does sound like fun, conceded Osamu to himself. Camp could be a lot worse.

Seeing the others nod enthusiastically Sora smiled and she began to plan with Taichi possible equal teams and likely participants from what she knew of the children attending camp. Ken followed their conversation with excitement and Osamu smiled to himself.

Yes, indeed. Camp could be a hell of a lot worse.

Fairly soon the five children decided that exploring with their heavy rucksacks in tow was not the most fun activity and made their way to the Camp Organiser to find out which cabin they had been allocated. It seemed they were all in the same cabin, just up the hill at the top of the steps, which they would be sharing with five other children.

Osamu froze for a moment as they began to make their way up the roughly carved steps. Had a snowflake just landed on his nose? No, that would be just ridiculous. It may be getting bitterly cold but this was summer. Snow right now was impossible. Or at the very least highly improbable.

He must be imagining things.

He shook his head and ignored it, rushing on upwards to catch up with the others.

When they reached the cosy log cabin they saw that they were the last children there, meaning that most of the best bunk beds had been taken already. Not that Osamu was particularly bothered but he knew that Ken had set his heart on a top bunk space by the window and he couldn't help the small pang of regret that he could not provide such a simple thing for his younger brother.

He glanced around the room at the faces of the other children and was glad to notice there was another boy Ken's age.

He was also relieved to see one boy, around his age but maybe younger, fiddling with a laptop. Maybe he would have someone here who he could relate to over more than just soccer, but over technology and other such interests, after all. The thought filled him with hope.

"Hey guys!" Taichi's voice was both urgent and excited as he rushed into the cabin's entrance from outside, a small fold-out telescope in his hand. "You won't believe this, come look outside. It's snowing!"

There was a commotion as gasps of disbelief and a medley of excited voices built in the small cabin.

Ken and the other young boy became suddenly animated and rushed to the nearest window for a better look, grinning at each other with their shared excitement at such a sight. Hikari followed them tentatively, and smiled slightly at the view outside.

Osamu then followed the other children as they crowded around the two small windows, exclaiming at the sight before their eyes. He had never seen such pure, thick snow in his life, as far as his memory went, and he did not hesitate to join the other children as they filed outside to properly appreciate this sight when the limited view offered by the windows just wasn't enough.

The ten youngsters left the cabin and spread out to enjoy the breath taking scene before them. Strange lights in the sky appeared and Osamu whispered in awe "The Aurora Borealis" at the same time as the red haired boy with the laptop. They glanced at each other and smiled slightly.

What on earth was happening? Osamu wondered. Snow in summer, the Aurora Borealis being visible from Japan; something was very wrong here.

Suddenly Osamu felt a small hand fit into his. Ken. He squeezed it reassuringly and looked down at the rapturous yet confused expression on the face of his little brother.

"Onii-san," he breathed quietly, almost reverently.

"It's okay Kenny," Osamu looped his arm around Ken's shoulders while still grasping his hand tightly.

The ground began to shake and the children panicked. Osamu ignored the others and focussed only on the shivering bundle in his arms; Ken was terrified. He grabbed him closer and began to stroke his hair, soothing him in the only way he could think to at that moment. He was about to whisper again that it would be okay when the world went black.

Suddenly his arms were empty and he was falling into the darkness, alone.

"Ken!" he cried, but no words came out.