Taichi and his team were wandering the streets, looking for any sign of the Eighth Chosen Child. Close to the Yagami's apartment block, they came across a cloaked, elven Digimon who was showing magic tricks off to a crowd of gathered children.

Taichi's body froze when he recognized one of the happy kids. His hand unconsciously reached for Koushiro's, who glanced at him before following his line of sight.

Hikari was there, watching the performance.

Koushiro hesitated, knowing the elven Digimon was one of Vamdemon's minions who went by the name of Wizarmon. They had encountered him and his feline comrade, Tailmon, a few times in their search. He wanted to call her away, guide her gently back to Taichi's protective arms. But he also knew Hikari wanted to be her own person.

Neither did it help that he was beginning to have feelings for Hikari, feelings that he was still trying to comprehend.

For now, he decided to try a logical approach. "Wizarmon's not doing any harm, Taichi. Your sister seems genuinely happy at the exhibition. Why don't we keep watch from over here?"

Taichi stared back at his best friend, stunned. "But they're… he might… Hikari's in-"

"She's not in any danger, Taichi. Wizarmon's only logical approach, now that we're observing, is to keep entertaining these children."

Sora glanced at Koushiro, seemingly intrigued by something she'd caught in the computer genius' inflection. "Koushiro's right, Taichi. Hikari's fine," the Takenouchi girl commented after a moment in her 'motherly' way.

So the Chosen stayed and observed the show until, inexplicably, their eyes slipped shut for a few moments. It was the disappointed cries and the scream of one child that brought them back to reality.

"He took off with her! Acted like a phantom and she was gone!"

Taichi's eyes tore through the crowd and he started trembling with anger and buried grief.

Hikari was no longer with the children. Neither was Wizarmon.

Carrying the girl underneath his arm and covering her mouth with his gloved hand, Wizarmon snuck behind the bushes and gently placed Hikari down. Placing a finger over his masked mouth in a "quiet" gesture, he slowly removed his other hand from her mouth.

"I'm so sorry about that," he explained, his voice laced with genuine regret. "This was the only way I could get you out of that crowd without being caught."

"You could just have asked me to come with you," she replied earnestly. "My parents always say that I should never leave with strangers, but you don't seem like you're bad."

Even though his mouth was covered, Hikari could tell by the magician's eyes that he was smiling.

"You know, to be honest, I don't think I'm all that bad, either... I'm just in a bit of a sticky situation right now. Call it a hunch, but I think you can help me!"

"Okay. By the way, my name's Hikari! Now we're not strangers anymore!" she exclaimed, smiling sweetly.

"You can call me Wizarmon. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hikari."

"Wizarmon..." repeated the girl. "Does that mean you're one of those monsters that have been showing up everywhere lately?"

"Well, umm, I, umm..." he stammered, unsure how to respond.

"It's okay, I know all about the monsters. My brother even has one!"

"What? You're not kidding around with me, are you?"

"Of course not! Why would I do that? My brother has a monster for a friend. I think he's called Agumon."

Could it be... was this the sister of a Chosen Child? The moment he saw the girl, he had a most peculiar premonition about her...

"Tell me, Hikari, does your brother carry around an electronic device with him? About the size of… oh, I'd say, a wallet?"

"He sure does!" replied the girl. "He keeps it on his belt, all the time."

His premonition was beginning to make more and more sense.

"Well, I'm trying to find one of those devices for myself. Do you think you could help me?"

"I'll try my best, but except for my brother's, I wouldn't know where to look!" she replied, shrugging.

"Think hard: maybe you've seen one lying around somewhere?"

"Now that you mention it... our cat was playing around with something that looked a bit like one of them. It might have been a toy, though... and anyway, she pushed it under the couch, where I can't reach it."

"May I visit your home? I'd like to check for myself. It's very important!"

"Well... I guess that would be alright. After all, we're friends now!"

"Thank you so much. You've been very..."

A loud cry of "Over there!" cut Wizarmon off mid sentence. Turning his head, he saw two boys - and their Digimon - running towards him.

"I'm afraid I have to be going now, Hikari!" exclaimed Wizarmon, levitating away. "It was a pleasure meeting you!"

"Hikari!" shouted Taichi, hugging his sister. "What did he do to you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You don't understand!" said Koushiro. "He's one of those evil Digimon we warned you about!"

"He may be a Digimon, but he's not evil!" insisted Hikari, folding her arms fretfully across her chest.

Taichi couldn't believe what he was hearing. One glance at Koushiro confirmed the computer genius couldn't, either. Both boys stared at the spot where Wizarmon had flown off from, but it was Koushiro – not Taichi – who spoke first.

"What exactly did he want, Hikari?" The auburn-haired boy wanted desperately for his theory not to be true, as Taichi would lose his temper if he knew what he was guessing.

"He wanted my help to find a device that's like yours," Hikari answered cheerfully. She still didn't know what the fascination was with these devices, but she would help Wizarmon anyway.

Koushiro blinked and sweat-dropped. It couldn't be… Was the Eighth Chosen Child they've been searching for under their noses all along? And if Wizarmon suspected Hikari was it, what was stopping him from reporting the information to Vamdemon? Although… "He wasn't harming you in any way, so is there a chance he's an innocent?" Koushiro looked contemplative as he pondered his thoughts out loud.

"Are you nuts, Koushiro?!" Taichi exclaimed, looking aghast at his best friend. Koushiro was clearly off his rocker. "This is an enemy we're talking about!"

"He's not evil!" Hikari repeated again. She couldn't understand why they insisted on calling Wizarmon evil.

Koushiro took the time to pause and genuinely look at Hikari. Truthfully, she was a beautiful girl and her tenacity to stand up for what she believed in added to her pleasant nature. But, he was worried about starting a relationship with her because of what Taichi might say and how it would impact the team. Koushiro sighed and turned to Taichi.

"Taichi, you might have to let this one go. Hikari tends to be right in picking up peoples' intentions, you told me that yourself. Wizarmon wasn't harming her as you saw, so there is a very real possibility he's playing Vamdemon," Koushiro deduced, getting out his laptop to study Wizarmon's data.

Taichi shook his head, unwilling to let this go that easily. "We're going home, Hikari. See you, Koushiro."

"Bye, Koushiro," Hikari farewelled.

She brushed her hand against his accidentally and the genius froze, feeling his face redden. "B-bye, Hikari," he stammered, before he could catch himself.

Taichi caught the broken speech and glanced back at him weirdly, but Koushiro's face was already fixated on his computer screen. The gogglehead shrugged it off and kept going, taking Hikari's hand protectively as he led her across the pedestrian crossing.

Sora found them at that moment and walked over to Koushiro, watching the Yagami's make it to the other side. She had a theory of her own and wanted to confirm it. "Koushiro, do you like Hikari?"

Koushiro knew he could trust Sora with this. "I do like her, Sora. But I'm worried..."

"About Taichi?"