Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. If I did own Digimon, this story would be Season 6, Adventure 02 wouldn't have any plotholes, and… Frontier wouldn't have been so half-baked.

Author's note:

The times are somewhat off for the first three chapters, so just read by the content. I'll be editing these first few chapters once Spring Break ends to fix the errors. Just know that these first four chapters all take place on the same day.

Digimon: All-Stars

Episode 1: New Adventure

April 1, 2006

(Hikari Yagami's POV)

-- 8:05 AM Morning – Odaiba Senior High – Class 3A --

"Daimon Chika."

"Hai!"

"Kouichi Kimura."

"Hai."

"Motomiya Daisuke."

Silence.

"Motomiya Daisuke!"

A male teen, about 15 years of age, ran up to the door, panting heavily. Daisuke "Davis" Motomiya. "Here," he gasped out. "Gomen." He took his seat to my left. His maroon jacket was untidy and wrinkled, and sweat dripped down his face. His goggles snugly rested on his head holding back some of his spiky brown hair. How he managed to get into high school with those goggles on, I don't know. But it's just like him to wear them wherever he goes. Daisuke flashed a grin at me. I giggled behind my hand a bit and returned my gaze to the teacher standing at the front of the classroom.

"Noguchi Ikuto."

"Hai!"

"Takaishi Takeru."

"Hai." Another 15 year old boy to my right piped up. Takeru "T.K." Takaishi. His short blonde hair was hidden under his canvas hat. Boys and their headgear. Least Takeru was cute. He looked back down to his desk and scribbled away on some notebook paper. He was working on the Digimon memorandum of our adventures from the past six or so years. It's amazing how much time has passed since our adventures began.

"Yagami Hikari."

"Hai." I smiled and my own bright voice responded.

The teacher nodded and closed the role book to begin the lesson. It was the beginning of a new school year. The other Chosen Children and I had enrolled into the local Odaiba Senior High School. At least, the younger of the Chosen Children, except Ken and Iori. Ken decided to go to another high school for a fresh start without any former students recognizing him, so he's going to Shibuya Senior High, and Iori is going to Odaiba Junior High since he's younger than us by three years. Going back to school like this was a sign of normalcy.

It felt like a dream. It was peaceful. I propped my head up using my arm as a stand, my cheek resting in my hand. I gazed out the window at blue sky beyond the window and up at the fluffy cotton ball clouds floating away. About three years have passed since MaloMyotismon was defeated. The world knew about Digimon, who were not regarded as much of a threat compared to before. For once, the Chosen Children all around the world were experiencing a time of peace. I hoped this dream would last forever.

"Yagami-san!"

My head snapped up and I turned to look at the teacher from my daydream.

"Please take out some paper and pencil so that you may take down these notes."

"H-hai, sensei." I said in a small voice. I reached down to my bag on the floor to pull out my notebook and a pencil. I'm usually not clumsy, but I accidentally lost my grip on my pencil, which slipped to the floor, rolling away from me. I sighed and reached to pick it up… but I felt warmth under my fingertips.

Or was it cold? I was hit by a sudden surge of feelings or electricity,something. And it was cold. Not a biting cold, but just rather uncomfortable. Before my eyes flashed something that I had only seen before in a world parallel our own. Darkness loomed around me, and eyes penetrated the gloom, piercing my soul. I shook my head a bit to clear the image out of my mind and looked over.

The male teen sitting behind me was reaching down to pick up the pencil and had gotten to it first, his fingertips under mine.

"A-ah, gomen." He lifted the pencil up and placed it in my hand. Shouldn't it have been I to say sorry?

We both sat upright to copy the notes on the board. Before doing so, I stole a glance back to the boy sitting behind me. His navy blue hair was disheveled, and had sideburns run down the sides of his face. His bangs almost covered one half of his face, but with a hand, he pushed it behind his ear… almost like a girl. He looked up at me with sad, dark eyes that reminded me of Ken's. My breath hitched in my throat and I turn back to my notebook, trying to convince myself it was nothing. He was just another ordinary guy in class. He knew nothing about the Darkness, the Dark Ocean, or anything about the Digital World. I tried to reassure myself that, and with a deep breath, I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. I picked up my pencil and took down the notes.

The dream mirror was slowly cracking.

-- 11:53 AM Lunch period – Odaiba Senior High – Stairs to roof --

I followed Daisuke up to the roof. He was yawning throughout our morning classes and demanded to have a little nap under the sun on the roof. T.K followed right behind me, and he agreed. He considered the roof to be the best spot he could relax and write in his notebook, provided it wasn't windy. We opened the door to a deserted rooftop. Almost deserted. The teen that sat behind me in class had beat us up there, and he was sitting by the railing, looking out. He had a bentou with him, and he ate in small bites.

T.K. and Davis barely registered our peer. Davis circled in a spot like a dog before collapsing onto the warm concrete, sighing in contentment. T.K. smiled a bit and took a seat a few feet away. I sat down beside T.K. and watched as he pulled out his notebook and started to write. It was quiet and peaceful. I didn't even feel that dark feeling from earlier. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm sunlight beaming down on us, like a god smiling on its children.

It wasn't too long before we heard a ring. T.K. glanced up from his writing to see where it was coming from, then ignored it. Davis meanwhile was already snoring, a snotbubble coming out of his nose and drool running down the left side of his mouth. I looked up and saw the only other person on the roof take out his cell phone. He pressed a button and held it up to his ear. I didn't want to, but I tried to make out what he was saying. His voice was soft, but not inaudible.

"Moshimoshi?" Pause. "Takuya?" Another pause. "Iie, I'm at lunch." He flashed a small smile to himself. "Hey otouto. How's school so far?"

Otouto? He has a little brother? And wasn't it against the rules to use the cell phone on grounds? Not like it mattered… Almost no one came to the roof anyways.

He chuckled softly, apparently amused by his brother. "I see. It's not too different here." He paused again, and tried to find something to talk about. His eyes landed on me and I held my breath. He turned around so as not to face me and probably hide his voice. I tried my hardest to catch what he was saying.

"Listen. I ran into someone that… felt like you." Pause. "I don't know. It's like she had this bright aura all around her." Pause. "I'm not sure." There was silence. Then he seemed to relax a bit, his back easing and his shoulders slouched. "What was that?" Pause. "Kouji!" His exclamation made T.K. raise his eyes in question. I kind of shrug, and he resumed writing.

"You didn't have to curse." I smiled a bit, now understanding why the boy was so surprised. "What's got you so worked up?" I heard a sigh and our male peer turned around, resting his back against the grate and closing his eyes. "Possibly." He seemed to be in a very contemplative mood. After a moment, he finally spoke. "Listen, lunch is almost over. I'll see you in a few hours, okay otouto?" One last pause. "I know, Kouji, I know." He put his cell phone away and basked under the sunlight as well, almost embracing it with all his heart and soul. Dark eyes opened and caught mine.

My breath hitched and I stood up, excusing myself to "use the bathroom". It was just an excuse to get away. I went back down the stairs, my classmate was the only thing on my mind. Who was he?

-- 2:31 PM Afternoon – Odaiba Senior High – School grounds--

"Hey, Kari! Wait up!"

I had just stepped out of school when a girl with big round glasses ran up to me, her purple hair flying out behind her, calling me by my nickname. She stopped near me and bent over slightly, panting heavily.

"Hi, Yolie," I said. Her real name was Miyako, but she preferred to be called Yolie, just like I prefer 'Kari' over 'Hikari'.

"Sorry." She straightened up, wearing her usual grin on her face. "I'm going over to the train station and head over to Ken's school. He said he was going to wait for me there and we'll hang out a bit. You want to come with?"

The thought of the boy from earlier today crossed my mind and I did a quick look over the grounds of the school, seeing all the students filing out. I didn't see him in sight. I was somewhat worried after feeling that dark aura earlier. If anyone else could sense the same things I did, it would be Ken. Therefore, it would probably be beneficial that I go with Yolie to see him. Maybe he knew something more that I didn't.

"Sure, I'll go. I've got nothing planned," I said.

Yolie and I started off the premises of Odaiba Senior High. We had not taken more than a couple of steps before we heard a small explosion. As panicked as I already was over my encounter today, I whirled around. I looked for the source at the same time a place to hide.

"Relax, Kari." Takeru walked up to us. "I'm sure it's just Davis blowing up the cooking classrooms. Again."

Sure enough, T.K. was right. Yolie and I spotted an open window with a billowing column of black smoke. Typical Davis. Three years ago, he said he wanted to run a ramen cart, and yet he can't even cook. Everything felt normal again. Maybe what happened this morning didn't really happen after all and it had just been my imagination. Yeah, that must have been it.

"Let's get out of here before Davis decides to burn the entire school down." Yolie commented. "What a way to start off the school year, huh?"

I giggled a bit. "Yeah." I looked up at the sky. It was blue. Definitely normal. My mind just kind of wandered as T.K. started a conversation with Yolie.

"So, where are you and Ken going, Yolie?" T.K. asked.

"Oh, nowhere special. Probably just eat at some café or something. Maybe we'll go to Shinjuku for some shopping actually. That sounds like a good idea."

"You and electronics. I'm surprised you don't wear the Crest of Knowledge. Izzy'd be proud." T.K. said with a light chuckle.

I blinked a bit. Izzy? "Hey," I said while walking. "You hear about Izzy lately?"

Yolie shook her head. "I haven't seen him online. He must have been picked up by some company because of his genius brain. I'm so glad my Ken-chan hasn't been recruited, or I'd never see him again either."

"Ken-chan." T.K. said.

Yolie pouted a bit. "Yes. Ken-chan."

T.K. sniggered a bit. I rolled my eyes slightly.

"Sorry, sorry!" T.K. exclaimed. "It just… sounds funny… I'd like to see the look on his face whenever you say that. His face must turn as red as an apple!"

I couldn't help but laugh too, thinking about that. Ken had been known to be one of the darkest people in our group. It's not that he's a totally depressed and hopeless person, but he's just gone through a lot for a sixteen-year old. To have his brother die in front of his eyes when he was only eight…

"Anyways." I cough a bit to get their attention. "Izzy called Tai about a week ago. Said he had some job offer, so Yolie's guess wasn't too far off. It's some law enforcement company called DATS. Or at least it was formerly known as DATS. They needed someone to work as a kind of investigator or something. Izzy couldn't really tell us much detail, but he was trying to pass on that he's okay."

Yolie nodded. "I'll be sure to tell Mimi that. I'm sure she might be a little worried."

We arrived at the train station. It was crowded because of the senior and junior high students being dismissed from school. Nothing unusual. Just another afternoon on a school day.

"Well, this is where I leave, ladies." T.K. said. "I've got to get home. Mom wants to proofread my stuff and ask for my advice on her article on the history of paper towels."

"Ugh, she's still doing those? I thought she was being our spokesperson for the Chosen Children." Yolie said.

"Nah. She retired from that. Besides, over the past three years, the reporters on us finally decided to stop attempting interviews. She had to go back to her old job." T.K. answered.

"Maybe she just got pestered so much. Those paparazzi and newscasters are just as bad as when Ken-chan was a genius." Yolie said, shaking her head in shame. "Anyways, guess you shouldn't keep your mother and Patamon waiting."

"Yeah, I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." T.K. said, waving goodbye as he walked off.

"Later T.K." I said.

"Here, I'll pay for your ticket too, Kari. Round trip even." Yolie offered with a smile.

"Domo." I responded happily.

We walked over to the ticket machines and Yolie proceeded to insert yen for the passes. Suddenly, I felt a chill run up my spine. I looked around, wondering why I felt I had to be on guard all of a sudden. I kind of wished Gatomon were with me right now to protect me, but the plan was to leave all our Digimon at home for the first day at our new school. All I had for defense was my black suitcase bag with my schoolbooks and notebooks.

I saw what had triggered my inner warning. The boy from class was a couple machines down from us, getting a ticket as well. I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by someone brushing past us in a rush.

"Hi Yolie and Kari! Sorry I can't talk, bye!"

I spun around, confused.

"Cody!!" Yolie exclaimed. "Geez."

"Sorry, I've got to get to cram school. Later!" The boy spun around, bowed politely, and took off, his grey school uniform and all.

He had certainly changed. He was almost as tall as me now. He still had short brown hair and bright green eyes from what I had seen from that quick moment he ran past. We had gotten distracted. Yolie was muttering, annoyed. She had punched in the wrong price for the tickets and had to start all over, her hand flying across the touch screen. I then looked back to where I had seen the boy from school. He was gone. Great, was I imagining things again?

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"You okay, Kari? If you're tired…" Yolie started.

"Oh, no, I'm fine." I quickly returned my hand to my side and smiled. "Just a bit dizzy. So much going on at once, I guess."

"Good. Because maybe you can help me decide what to do with Ken this afternoon or any other date."

"Ehh?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

Yolie laughed, but stopped when we heard the shriek of a train pulling in. "Oh crap, come on, the train's arriving!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me off to the platform. We boarded the train just in time, the door nearly closing on my skirt as we slipped in. We looked at each other and laughed.

The train was crowded, but not overflowing. The seats were all filled, so we had to stand. Wasn't any problem. Not until something caught my eye. There he was again. That boy. He was standing on the other side of the car, holding onto one of the handrails. He seemed kind of out of it, staring out of the window.

"Hey, Yolie, look. He's from our school, isn't he?" I whispered to her.

Yolie looked over thoughtfully. "Yeah. He's wearing the Odaiba High uniform.

"I don't know if it's coincidence… He sits behind me in class. Why is he here? Is he stalking me?"

"Kari, you're the cutest girl in your class. I don't blame him if he is stalking you."

"Yolie!"

Yolie tried not to laugh too much since majority of the other passengers were deathly quiet on the train. "Sorry. Well, most likely it's just a coincidence since he doesn't even seem to notice that we're here."

I nodded. He seemed to be in his own little world. I wanted to know what he was thinking of. Why had I sensed such a dark aura coming from him from that split second of contact back in school? There he stood, staring listlessly at the window. Well, everyone was either staring off to space also or sleeping on the train actually, so I guess his action was normal.

It wasn't after the first stop that he seemed to wake up from his haze. As people filed off the car and random walked on, he seemed to be more aware of his surroundings. It was as though the jerky halt the train had coming into the station shook him out of his dream. Yolie was staring off into space, dreaming about Ken. I could hear her mumbling something about a movie. I was watching this boy intently, trying to find out his secret. That is, if he had one. But he must have one. That dark aura clearly meant he had a secret. My breath hitched in my throat when I heard a chime from a cell phone and he reached into the pocket of his green pants. He pulled out his own black plasticy cell phone and flipped it open.

He stared at the text message, his mouth dropping open for a second. Instantly, the lights went out on the train… and even the outside. I wondered if we had hit some kind of tunnel. But I did not recall a tunnel on this line. And then the light came back on. No, it wasn't light. It was darkness. It's hard to explain, but it was as though darkness had become the light, but I could still see through it. It also didn't help the mood any better that only Yolie, that boy, and I stood in that train car when the "lights" came back on.

The boy closed his cell phone and took two steps forward toward the window. He had an angry look on his face. For coming from such a quiet boy, I was surprised to see such an expression. He glares out the window angrily… and I follow his gaze. My heart nearly stopped. A creature of some sort was outside the train. The train hadn't stopped… so it was just kind of floating there, alongside the train.

And that's when I heard the boy's voice the second time this day.

"Go away, Duskmon!! I'm not you anymore, so just leave me alone!!"

I couldn't help but stare at the creature. It stood about two meters tall, long blonde hair flowing behind the helmet. It actually looked remotely human once I got past the armor. The skeleton-like armor was jet black and eyes stared from its shoulders, knees, and feet. Its lower arms were basically a large demon skull. Two jagged blades unsheathed outward from the mouth of the pairs of skulls. The human-like warrior kept its gaze on the boy.

In a millisecond, the warrior crouched and rushed at the boy. I let out a shrill scream, covering my mouth with my hands. I felt Yolie grab my shoulders and pull me back, ready to protect me. I could only stare in horror as the monster phased through the train wall. Its blades came in contact with the boy. I felt helpless, just standing there. Time seemed to freeze and my heart felt like it stopped beating. I waited for the blood to gush from the boy's stomach.

A moment passed. Two. The warrior and the boy were frozen in time. Then, their outlines fuzzed out, as though I was watching a TV die. Then, everything went black. As soon as the vision came, it disappeared. Lights snapped back on and it was daylight outside the window. Yolie was still holding my shoulders. And the boy was standing where he was… unharmed.

He turned and saw me. He saw me. He knew. Oh God, he knew. The boy watched me with those sad eyes of his. He then looked down and away from me.

"Was that… a Digimon?" Yolie whispered.

"I… I think so." I said.

We had been unprepared for that moment. Our Digimon were left at home, and we were just two high school girls with only a schoolbag each. We stayed tense, ready for it to happen again. The next stop came and went, and Yolie and I relaxed only a hair. The boy didn't dare look over at us. Like he was ashamed or something. I wanted to go over and comfort him, but his looking away said otherwise. If he really wanted me to go over and comfort, he'd glance over at us occasionally. But he didn't.

Yet another stop came and went, and the boy still seemed to be more interested with the advertisements lining the walls of the train car than be jittered about what had just happened. I did notice that several times he pulled his cell phone out to check something and text a note.

Yolie and I were silent, but I could feel her eyes glancing between me and the boy, then look away to make it seem like she wasn't watching him intently like I was. We had to transfer over on the next stop. As the train pulled into Osaki station, I saw the boy turn and wait patiently at the door near him. He was getting off at this stop as well? The doors on the right side opened with a hiss and Yolie and I stepped out. She and I walked quickly to the platform that we had to transfer to. I carefully glanced behind me and saw the boy following us a few meters back.

"Yeah. We have a shadow." Yolie said without looking behind her.

I silently nodded and we continued walking. We approached the platform before the train arrived. The three of us, the boy included. He kept his distance during the three minute wait for the train to arrive. The train pulled up beside the platform with a screeching halt and opened its doors, welcoming us. I noticed the boy got onto another train car from us as we stepped on. The doors slid closed after a minute and we were well on our way to Shibuya station.

The silence restricted our throats. Thoughts plagued our minds as we watched the screen on the Yamanote line car tell us where we were and how far we were from the next stop. Gotanda. Meguro. Ebisu. Shibuya.

"His eyes…" I mumbled.

"They're kind of like Ken's." Yolie finished quietly.

I bit my lip. Darkness. That's what it was. I didn't want to believe it, but that's what I felt from him. A strong presence of Darkness. But for some reason, I wasn't scared of him. I thought back to what we had seen before our transfer.

"Duskmon? Is that what he called it?" I asked.

Yolie nodded. "I've never heard of it. I'll have Ken check Izzy's database on Digimon. See what he can find."

"Okay."

We patiently waited for our stop to come. The distance between our schools was staggering. This might be a problem…

"What if… this is a new enemy?" I asked, a hint of fear in my voice.

"Another human?" Yolie said. "I hope not… It was bad enough that we had to fight Ken for a while…"

"What if it is? And… Well… We have our own paths." My worry was starting to show.

Yolie broke into a grin. "Don't worry, okay? We have our Digimon. Least after today we will. I think it was silly to think that bringing our Digimon to the new school might freak out all the students."

"Yeah, I agree. We're not leaving our partner Digimon behind again." I said.

Feeling at ease, we stood in the train car, watching the minutes tick by on the screen and reading the stops. After about twenty more minutes, the train pulled into the station.

"Shibuya, Shibuya," came the announcer's voice as the doors of the train opened.

Yolie and I stepped out and looked around. It was crowded, so trying to find that boy was in vain. We exited the station and I followed Yolie, since she had an idea of where she was going. I stayed close like a child to its mother. I didn't want to get separated in case that boy was following us… or whatever was following him was following us.

"There it is." Yolie pointed ahead after about ten or so minutes of walking.

There was a group standing outside of the gate of the school. And there was Ken, separated from them like the loner he is. He stood there silently and patiently for Yolie. I smiled when he looked up at us. He definitely looked glad. It must have been a real long day for him at school. Yolie ran up to him, waving her hand in the air.

"Ken-chaaaaaaan!"

I saw Ken's cheeks light up pink. T.K. was right, and it was quite adorable really. My laughter was stifled though when a bunch of girls ran up and pretty much barricaded Yolie from getting to Ken. Fangirls. Great.

Yolie made a face. "Out of my way!!"

"No!!" chorused the girls.

Yolie clenched her schoolbag tightly and Ken slunk back in the group, utterly confused. Yolie looked like she was about to slaughter the girls and Ken seemed to try to fade back and find another way out.

"Get the hell out of here."

A boy walked up, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. His dark blue jacket was unbuttoned and his white shirt wasn't even tucked in. He held his head up proudly. His dark blue hair was tied back in a ponytail—and he reminded me of the boy in my class… on the train. But he on the other hand was bolder than the other.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you girls. Get. The. Hell. Out."

He was quite intimidating actually. The fangirls around Ken stared at the boy before running off, cursing him. The male teen smirked a bit, but quickly faded when a hand reached out and rested on his shoulder. I heard a familiar, soft voice come from behind him.

"Otouto…"

I stared. It was the boy from class… the train… following us. No, not following us. He had only taken the same route as us to get to the school because his brother goes here. It all made sense now.

His long-haired twin turned and they stared at each other for a long moment, silent words exchanged through their gaze. Then, they turned and left, with several other children from the school following them. Who were they? Did they have any relation to the Digimon that Yolie and I had seen? I hoped it was nothing, but I could not shake it off at all.

"Ken-chan, I'm so glad you're okay! I should've beat up those girls when I had the chance." Yolie said, smothering Ken with hugs and cuddles.

Ken's face was as red as an apple. "Miyako-san… onegai.. We're in public."

"Still so formal, Ken-chan!" Miyako made a little pouting face and let go of him.

I smiled. Everything felt normal again. Miyako's love and Ken's shyness lulled me back into the peaceful dream we were in. As long as we had each other, there wasn't anything we couldn't do. With that in mind, I decided it was time to leave.

"Aww, come on Kari." Yolie begged me to stay longer.

"I've got to get home." I apologized. "I have to go pick up some flowers for my parents."

Ken nodded. "You know what, let's walk you to the station."

Sweet kind Ken as ever. "Arigatou." I smiled softly to him.

We headed back the way we came. So much for spending time with the two. At least this train ride would be quiet since that teen from class wasn't following us anymore. For a while I was quiet and let Yolie jabber on about school and such. Ken noticed my silence and half paid attention to Yolie's rambles. After several minutes, Ken lowered his voice and walked closer to me.

"Yagami-san, is something wrong?"

I looked at Ken, scared. Had he sensed it too? My eyes darted to the side, then met his. Yolie was still talking to his left, not realizing he wasn't listening anymore. He put a hand on my shoulder and I took a deep breath.

"Have you felt anything today?" I asked in a small voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Like… the Dark Ocean?"

Ken pulled his hand away and thought for a moment. "No. Not really. I did feel… something like you."

Okay, now that was different. "Like me?"

He nodded. "Light. I mean, it was an intimidating kind of light that suffocated the darkness, but it was still Light. It came from one of those guys in class… The one who yelled at those girls earlier when you and Miyako-san arrived."

The one the dark boy in my class is related to. This was turning stranger by the minute.

"Think it's a new enemy?" I asked worriedly.

Ken shook his head. "No, but I can't be so sure. We'll just have to wait and see. It's probably better that we don't take any action right now."

"You two are ignoring me, aren't you?" came Yolie's voice.

Ken and I instantly looked at her and tried to assure her that we weren't. But that was all of the serious talk for that afternoon. We got back to the train station and I waved good-bye to them. I went to the platform and boarded the train, alone. The whole train ride, I wondered if I was safe, and willed myself to stay awake. That was to no avail though. It had been a long day and it would be at least thirty minutes before my transfer. I closed my eyes and proceeded to nap.

-- 4:07 PM Afternoon – Odaiba-kaihin-koen Station --

Stretched as I got off the train. I was back in Odaiba. There were absolutely no problems getting from Shibuya to Osaki and Osaki to Odaiba. I exited the station and walked on familiar sidewalks and by buildings embedded in my knowledge. I took the usual path to the Takenouchi flower shop, where Sora worked.

Sora Takenouchi was growing into a fine young woman. She had short orange hair and looked pretty no matter what she wore. She plays tennis, but helps her mother about the flower shop as a means of making money. Sora currently studies at a local university to be a fashion designer.

Her backstory though is quite interesting. She bears the Crest of Love and yet she thought that she was incapable of love…

"Hi, Hikari-chan!" Sora greeted me warmly with a hug when I entered the shop.

"Hi, Sora." I smiled back at her, welcoming the kind embrace.

"So, what are you here for? Flowers for T.K.?" Sora giggled.

My face turned tomato red. "No!" I coughed a bit and calmed myself down. "No. I'm getting some flowers for my parents. Their anniversary is in a few days."

"Oh, I see." Sora then started looking over the flowers. "If you see anything nice, just tell me, alright? I'll see if I can find a good one as well."

"Okay." I responded and started through the aisles and aisles of sweet scented flowers.

The bell above the shop door dinged, signaling the entrance of a new customer.

"Sora?" came a male voice.

And I forgot to mention that the older brother of T.K., Yamato Ishida, was her boyfriend.

Sora squealed and ran over to the young man, throwing her arms around him, and kissing him on the lips. I smiled as I continued my search for the perfect bouquet. Sora and Yamato began chatting away about their new lives at the university. I caught that they were also planning where to go this evening for dinner. Didn't really need to know that. Finally settling on a bouquet of pink flowers, I walk over to them. Sora smiles in awe of my choice and takes them behind the counter.

"Hello, Matt." I said politely and bowed a bit. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, thanks." Matt said. "Flowers for my little brother?"

My cheeks lit up again. "They're for my parents!" I then turned to Sora, pulling out my cell phone from my school bag for her to scan.

"The total amount is 700 yen." Sora replied. I nodded and Sora finished the transaction. "Thank you, please come again."

I giggled at Sora being all responsible over the store. I bowed to both her and Matt and started out the door, the new bouquet of flowers in hand.

"Tell Taichi that we said hi, okay Hikari?" Matt said.

"I will. Take care!" I left the store and walked on the sidewalk with a bit of a happy step.

Everything felt so much better now that it seemed normal. I had gotten flowers for my parents' anniversary of their marriage and now I'm on my way home. At home, I would greet Gatomon when I arrive. Then, I'd give my parents the flowers and go to my room to do homework. And Tai… would be packing up to leave for a university in Osaka.

"Hey, all of you out there!"

I blinked and looked around. I turned and saw stacks of televisions behind the large window of the shop next to me. The screens all showed this one cooking show with a familiar brown-haired host with a pink cowboy hat. Mimi Tachikawa, one of the original Chosen Children, hosts a cooking show in America. Good to see that she was doing well.

"Hikari-san?"

I jerked a bit in surprise. A man had come up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He had glasses on the bridge of his nose and his blue hair was cut short compared to the last time I saw him. Joe Kido, yet another one of the original Chosen Children. He was standing there, dressed in a dark brown suit and necktie.

"Oh, good afternoon Joe!" I chirped. "Sorry, you kind of surprised me there."

"Gomen, Hikari-san," he said to me politely. He followed my gaze to the television sets. "We're all moving on in life, aren't we?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad. No more hardships." I hope.

"Yeah." There was a moment of silence as we both recalled our adventures with the group. "Anyways, I guess you're on your way home?" I nodded. "Is it all right for me to walk you home then?"

"Sure, I could use a companion." I replied.

"Where's Gatomon?" Joe asked as he walked beside me.

"Where's Gomamon?" I countered. "Gatomon's at home. I didn't want to scare anyone with her at the new school if she was waiting for me or anyone caught her."

"Ah, I see. Makes sense." Joe said thoughtfully. "Gomamon's staying at home, helping my parents. He's not really into the whole sit still and learn thing. Besides the fact that the class I have might decide to dissect him." He laughed a bit at his own joke.

"Ew. Yeah." I felt my stomach slightly heave a bit when I thought about that image.

After a moment or two of no conversation, Joe attempted again. "So… flowers. What's the occasion?"

"My parents anniversary." I said, glad that he wasn't teasing me about T.K.

We didn't have much more time to talk since we arrived at my apartment complex. I bowed to Joe and gave him my thanks for walking me home. We went our separate ways as he headed to his own apartment down the street and I took the elevator to the fourth floor to the Yagami apartment.

It was an odd silence. There were no children taking the elevators up and down and no friends visiting others. No chatter of neighbors outside their doors. It was quiet and peaceful, but at the same time a tad eerie. I exited the elevator on the fourth floor and turned the corner, proceeding to the fifth apartment on this floor. I took my key out from my bag and unlocked the door.

"Tadaima!" I called out when I opened it. I closed the door behind me and slipped out of my shoes.

"Welcome home, Hikari-chan!" I heard my mother call from the kitchen.

She was already cooking dinner from the smell of it and I saw my father sitting in the family area, watching the television. Normalcy. I went into the kitchen, kissed my mother on the cheek and handed her the bouquet. I went and peeked into my room to see my brother, Taichi, packing his suitcase and Gatomon sleeping on my bed. I sighed a bit and jumped when the phone rang. I was the closest to it, so I had to pick it up.

"Moshimoshi?" I say into the telephone receiver.

"Is Tai there?" A deep male voice came over the phone.

"…. H-hai." I said nervously. "Who is this?"

"He's being offered a job. I must speak with him."

I held my hand over the phone. "Taichi-niisan? You've got a phone call."

Tai walked out of his room and over to me, a bit confused. He took the phone out of my hand and put it to his ear.

"Hai?" he said. After a few moments, his eyes met mine.

The peaceful dream we knew shattered.

Japanese vocabulary:

hai - yes

gomen - Sorry

sensei – teacher

(domo) arigatou - thanks/thank you

moshimoshi - Hello? (phone use only)

iie - no

otouto - younger brother

bentou - lunch(box)

tadaima - I'm home!

niisan - older brother

Author's Notes:

This is my first official fanfiction in the longest time, go easy on me… somewhat.

This story has been in planning for about a year now, and hopefully I can actually finish this one.

Comments are greatly appreciated. I'm sorry if my grammar and writing skills aren't up to par as they should have been. I was trying to meet the deadline that this story would premiere on Sunday, October 14, 2007, but I got so sidetracked.

Hopefully updates for this story will come every two weeks or once each month, depending on writer's block and the amount of schoolwork I might have.

Anyways, I'm looking for beta readers for this fanfiction. I don't necessarily need someone strict on grammar/writing skills (I would prefer it if you were not overly critical… just point out areas that seem to be way too confusing). I need more of Digimon fans or non-Digimon fans to read so that I know if the story is appealing to the general public. I also need people that are knowledgeable about Japanese culture (again, nothing too critical… It was hard trying to find actual school names in Japan so I winged that, and the metro maps are a bit confusing despite having taken it around for a week or so on my trip there). Depending on how much and how well you contribute, I may have you cameo in a later chapter with a Digimon of your choice (nothing uber please).

It's a collaborative piece by the way. I'm doing all the writing, but so far a friend and myself are the major plot makers and I have had about 4 other people review the story, so be prepared to have to discuss the story with more than one person or have more than one opinion presented against/with you.

Last but not least… Thank you for reading the first chapter of Digimon: All-Stars. I apologize for the title, I'll try to think of an alternative name for it as I continue the story. Or even drop some suggestions for me! Reviews greatly appreciated!