Windstar: This chapter is the first chapter where we really see a major difference from the original story. Hopefully this will make things a bit easier to read, and also give a new perspective to things. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you once again to my wonderful reviewers!

Chapter Seven:

+600 days

Time: 1200

Author: Kouichi Kohaku

That bastard! That bastard! He promised, we left Japan together, for the sole purpose of working out our problems and getting back home. He promised he would try, he promised that he would try to get his feet back on the ground, and what does he do? He does what he's always done – run away and sulk.

I'm sick of it, I'm sick and tired of his attitude and behavior. If he wants to run away and hide, fine let him! Let him! I don't care any more. I'm going home, and he can go wherever the hell he wants to go. I don't care if I never see him again.

Screw him.

Entry Seven:

Author: Kibo

Sources: Yamato Ishida, Hiroaki Kanbara, Takuya Kanbara, Tomoki Himi, Izumi Orimoto, Junpei Shibayama, Kouji Kohaku, Kouichi Kohaku

Rei came in silence, and he took Kouji away in silence. The younger twin followed behind him, his face pale, his eyes hollow. He looked like the walking dead, and it terrified Kouichi. He'd been tempted to beg Rei to let him kill the man instead, but he'd been doing so every day on their walks to the training room. Rei hadn't budged, and Kouji was falling deeper into the mind-set that they were planning out for him.

Unlike his brother, Kouji had excelled at hand to hand combat and weaponry. It was what Ryu specifically trained him in, and his skill in blades had grown exceptionally since he'd begun his training. When he'd started, he thrived under the day to day attention that Ryu gave him, and the encouragement to do better in a field that he was naturally talented in.

Now, after having inadvertently stabbed several men to death, he couldn't find enjoyment out of the field any longer. In fact, every time he saw a sword he flinched and was reminded of the feel of death. The feeling that overcame his mind and numbed his body whenever he snuffed out a life.

He felt as though his very soul was shattering in his chest, but he moved onwards. Kouichi was doing this for him, so he would do it for Kouichi. It was as simple as that. It was a mathematical equation that worked, and his mind accepted the information and the boundaries that the problem had.

Rei led Kouji to the conference room, where Ryu ran over the logistics of what it was that he had to do. Kill a man praying at a temple, could the desecration get any worse? He didn't think so. He didn't complain or comment as Ryu finished wrapping up the details of the mission, and then he wordlessly followed Rei to the car.

"You alright?"

"No." He replied softly.

"Hey…brat, just breathe okay?" Rei placed a hand on Kouji's head. "You're going to be okay."

"You promise?" The question was asked sarcastically, and Rei couldn't answer it. Instead, they both slipped silently into the vehicle and motioned for the driver to head out. It was time to leave.

As they drove, Rei kept his eyes on the teenager that sat beside him. His hair had grown out quite a bit over the past nine that he had been staying with them. It was pulled back in a long ponytail that was in desperate need of a good grooming. His face was paler then it had been in the past, and he looked defeated in all sense of the word.

Kouichi seemed to be handling things better; at least his attitude was normal. Kouji was pulling everything into himself, and was shutting everyone out. That type of behavior only got worse over time, and Rei had a stinking suspicion that after a while he was going to have some heavy problems to deal with. Kouji's mental state was far too fragile for the line of work they were involved in, and it was going to get him killed.

The car stopped at the bottom of the temple steps, and Kouji quietly slipped from it. He walked up the stairs at an agonizingly slow pace, dragging his feet the whole while. It took him nearly fifteen minutes to reach the top, and the quiet calls of the night were surrounding him, masking his presence.

There was only one man at prayer here. His knees were folded out in front of him on a dark blue mat, and his hands were clasped together. He was murmuring a prayer in spiritual verse, and Kouji moved quietly up to him. He knew it the moment the man recognized that someone else was with him.

"You've come to kill me, haven't you?" The man asked, not sounding too surprised. Kouji winced, and his hand gripped the hilt of the sword Ryu had given him. He'd never had the people talk to him before. It made his heart clench tightly. He didn't know if he could do this.

"Yes." He murmured softly. The man turned his head slightly, a sad smile formed on his features as he looked him over.

"You're so young…too young to kill."

"I have to."

"I know. I know how Satsu thinks, how he works, and I know that you have no choice."

"Satsu?"

"The man you work for, or has he not told you his name?"

"No." Kouji whispered quietly. The man smiled slightly.

"What is your name, son?"

"I'm not your son."

"No, but you have a name, don't you?"

"It's…Kouji."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kouji." The man tipped his head in a polite bow, and Kouji found himself reciprocating. The man's prayer beads jingled in the evening breeze. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"So young…too young." Sighing slightly the man shook his head. "Is it worth it? The reason you must kill me? Is it worth risking your soul?"

"It's my brother. They'll kill him."

"So it is worth it."

"Yes…"

"Hold onto yourself, Kouji. It's the only way you'll make it out of there alive." The man smiled to him. "This has been a wonderful conversation, thank you for indulging my last few moments."

"I'm sorry." Kouji murmured softly.

"You'll be fine. You'll make it out one day Kouji."

"Why are you supposed to die?"

"I didn't pay them back. I suppose in your world, my partner failed, and it is my job to pay the price."

"My brother…"

"Yes, the situation is similar. Except for you, I expect it to be much worse. You best make your stroke quick boy, and then make a hasty exit. My guards will come soon."

"Why are you letting me do this?"

"Because, you're so young, you deserve a chance to escape…where I do not. My best wishes to you, Kouji. To you and your brother." Kouji gripped the sword tighter in his hand before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, finding the exact spot he needed to cut through. He raised his katana and brought it down. He barely even noticed it when the body slumped to the ground, or blood splattered all over his body and weapon. He simply stood there, standing in shock, as he ran over the surreal conversation in his mind.

He slowly, numbly, turned away from the mess, and began to walk back down the steps and down to the car that he needed to leave by. His mind was dull, and his brain stopped working. His movements were memorized, mechanical. He hardly took note of it when he reached the bottom and opened the door to the towncar.

Rei glanced at him for a long moment, before sighing and taking out a bag from under his feet. Inside were some cleaning supplies that he hastily began to employ. Kouji didn't even seem to notice as Rei began to wash the blood off of his face, his hands, his arms. He didn't seem to notice as his shirt was tugged over his head and replaced. He didn't seem to take note of anything. Instead, he stared out the window, and hoped that the man was right. He hoped that he still did deserve to be saved, and that Kouichi and him still had a chance to get out of this life.

"You're going to be okay." Rei murmured softly, but Kouji knew, just as well as Rei did, that that probably was a lie. He didn't know how things could possibly be okay. He didn't know how things could possibly get better. Everything felt dull and lifeless.

One Year, four months, two weeks, five days, and twelve hours since the abduction of Kouichi and Kouji, Hiroaki Kanbara sat at his desk, and stared at the worn out file in dismay. There was nothing, not a speck of new information, not a brief comment of anything. There was nothing to go off of, nothing to help them with, nothing to assist in the investigation. There was absolutely nothing.

His fellow coworkers were busy calling him obsessed and he just couldn't think about anything else lately. Closing his eyes, and running his hands through his hair, he let out a defeated sigh. There was nothing he could do now. He hated going back to Takuya and telling him that there was nothing else that he could go on, but he was honestly out of ideas.

"You look like you've aged a decade since I last saw you, partner." The teasing tone had him snapping his head up and blinking in dumb shock at a young man he hadn't seen in years.

With neatly combed blonde hair, and bright blue eyes, the man before him had been a shining star in their police force before heading off for a better job offer. He was the head of Serious Crimes in Tokyo, but he was humble enough to know that he got his start right here, as the junior detective working the graveyard shift right along side Hiroaki Kanbara.

"Yamato Ishida, man has it been a long time since I've seen you. How've you been?" He asked, smiling genuinely for the first time in a long while. He held out a hand but disregarded it in favor of a hug.

"Doing well, doing well."

"How's Sora? The kids?"

"Fine on all fronts. Yourself? I haven't been by in a while, but Takuya's…fifteen now right?" A pained look crossed Hiroaki's face at that, and the blonde frowned. "You alright, partner?" He asked gently, placing a hand on the man's shoulder and giving it a brief squeeze. "Want me to buy you a drink?" Usually the request was denied, but right now the man was in desperate need of someone to talk to.

"Sounds great." Grabbing the well worn case file from his desk, he wrapped up everything he was working on, and let Yamato lead the way. The blonde still had a bemused expression on his face, and Hiroaki sighed. "What'd you really come by for?"

"Not really important I don't think, I'll tell you later. Where do you want to go?" Hiroaki motioned off to the left when the reached the sidewalk outside, and Yamato followed his lead with a confident and self-assured walk. Moving gracefully through the crowds, he gave polite smiles to anyone who glanced in his direction, and when a woman kept a looking longer then was appropriate, he easily moved his hand so his wedding band was easily spotted. Hiroaki rolled his eyes at the display.

"I can't believe how many women still throw themselves at your feet. You're married with kids already!"

"I'm just naturally charming, what can I say?" Yamato asked, smiling brightly at him. The neon sign for a bar caught his attention, and they quickly entered it. The lights were dim, but they easily managed to weave their way through the crowd to an empty booth in the back. "What's going on Hiro?" Yamato asked gently, his face filled with open concern. "Is Takuya alright?"

"He's fine…he's fine…it's just…well…look at this, would you?" The detective passed the file he'd been holding to his old partner, and the blonde opened it with slight trepidation. Frowning slightly as he read, he flipped through several pages and photographs, looking at all the statements and notes that were made on the situation.

Hiroaki waited patiently, ordering a drink and nursing it while Yamato read. He knew by the time his old partner finished reading he'd have had an extensive look through everything and would have questions to ask. It only took him fifteen minutes, and when he finally finished, his blue eyes lifted to look at him, and they were sharp with the same gaze he used whenever he was preparing a case to work.

"You knew these kids personally?" He asked immediately.

"Takuya did, they met on some online thing, and they became his best friends. Them and three other kids were completely inseparable. I've never seen anything like it. One week Takuya comes home complaining that he has no friends and everyone around him is a jerk, the next week he's got five kids coming over every day playing video games and acting like they'd spent years together." Yamato smiled faintly at that.

"Sometimes you just meet the right people." He suggested gently.

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, the twins went missing over a year ago, but there's been nothing to add to the file since then. No ransom demand, no money trail, I've kept a close eye on Kousei, Satomi, and Tomoko, but none of them look like they had anything to do with it. I'm running out of options, kid, and I don't know what to do. Pretty soon I'm going to have to tell Takuya for certain that the case is being put on the backburner."

"From how old it is, it wouldn't surprise me if you said that it's been there for a while." Yamato murmured, glancing at the pictures and dates once more.

"Well over a year by this point. I know the first twenty-four hours are the most critical, and that after that it's unlikely that they'll ever be found, but I've hoped…I've hoped that something might have come up."

"Do you want me to see if I can find anything on my end? I have access to different sources then you do." Hiroaki looked like he'd just seen gold, and he smiled broadly at his old partner.

"That would be great, thank you so much." The man sighed and ran a weary hand over his face even as he sipped at a drink he'd ordered while Yamato had been reading. "You know…Takuya and his friends go to Shibuya station every day…maybe to see them or something? Tempt fate? I just wish I had something I could give them…make them see that everything is alright."

"I'll see what I can do, Hiro. Now, you know this case, and these kids better then anyone, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" The older man shook his head quickly.

"Not at all, please. Anything!"

"You said that Takuya met these kids online…where exactly did they meet?" Hiroaki looked like he wasn't quite certain what this had to do with anything, so Yamato plowed onwards. "If they met in a chat room, there might be previous posts they made there, something that could have drawn attention from an outside source." The man nodded in understanding and sighed.

"It's funny, now that you mentioned it. When the kids first started coming over, I looked into it. I didn't want Takuya just going off to meet anyone that he met online, and so I wanted to make sure it was safe."

"That was pretty smart." Yamato praised lightly. "What'd you find?"

"Nothing. I couldn't find the place at all. The only thing that I found were books and the like written by a…Takeru Takaishi."

"TK?" The name slipped from Yamato's mouth before he could stop it, and Hiroaki blinked.

"You know him?"

"He's my kid brother, he writes children stories. What exactly were you searching for when you looked for this chatroom?"

"Some online forum called…the Digital World. People in it were digidestined. They role-played games, had monster avatars or something like that. It was all very strange." As he spoke, Yamato's face had grown very serious all of a sudden. His eyes dropped back down to the photos that the file had of the twins. He was scanning them for something that he didn't find, and Hiroaki stopped talking as he realized how much tension was filling in the young Agent's body. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, there were a few cases several years ago that revolved around the Digital World, and I was thinking about them. Do you mind if I talk to your son? The server was supposed to have been shut down, but if there is another way people are accessing it, I'd like to know how they're doing it."

"It's not illegal is it? What he's been doing?"

"No, no absolutely not. It's just, there have been times where it's been the case of obsession crimes and it's always good to keep in mind how these things are being used. I promise it won't take too much time."

"Right…well…I'm sure that Yuriko won't mind." Hiroaki didn't look certain, but Yamato smiled at him.

"I really appreciate it. It'll be a quick conversation, and if you'd like, I can tell him I'm taking over this case for you so you won't have to worry about seeming like the bad guy if it really does stay as a cold case." Looking like he just won the Lottery, Hiroaki practically shot to his feet in excitement.

"Let's go now, Takuya's going to be so happy to hear that it's moved up the chain of command."

"Right." Yamato smiled politely, and stood up to follow him. "Hey, do you mind if I call Sora quick? I just need to let her know I'll be home later then I originally planned."

"Not at all, go right ahead." Hiroaki smiled, and motioned for him to do just that. He started to walk down the street to give him some privacy, and Yamato quickly dialed the memorized number onto his cell.

"Hey…Sora? It's Matt, look…I need you to do something for me. Call Koushiro and have him check up on the gate for me would you? I think something might have happened recently that needs to be looked into. I'll be home late." There was a quick and hasty reply, but the conversation ended relatively quickly after that. Hurrying to catch up with Hiroaki, Yamato was relatively quiet as he listened to the man talk about his wife, Yuriko, and sons.

He always like the Kanbara family, and in truth, he'd only stopped by because one of his coworkers had told him that Hiroaki was taking on too much work and was becoming obsessed. Now though, he feared he might become obsessed too. He didn't like how this was all feeling, and there was a part of him that was very concerned with the children and their involvement in the Digital World.

They reached the Kanbara residence in no time though, and he didn't have too much time to think about what he was going to say or how he was going to broach the topic. If he knew digidestined, and he was pretty sure that he did, then he knew that flat out asking them about the Digital World meant all he was going to get were lies. He needed to prove that he was actually one of the chosen as well, and to do that, he was going to need to be completely alone with Takuya and Hiroaki couldn't interrupt.

Yuriko looked flustered when he walked through the door, but he quickly smoothed things over with her by sentencing Hiroaki to his punishment for not informing his wife properly of their guest. He took that opportunity to walk up the stairs and talk to Takuya before he could be derailed from his train of thought.

Knocking lightly on the door, he waited until he heard the disgruntled acceptance for entry, and he pushed open the door. He hadn't expected to see a group of children all sitting together, but from the descriptions he'd been dealing with over the walk from the bar to here, he was pretty certain he knew who they were. Still, manners. "Hello Takuya, long time no see."

"Matt? What are you doing here?"

"Your father invited me over after a chat we had. You must be Takuya's friends, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki?" He asked politely, and the youths looked at him in bemusement. "Sorry, my names Yamato Ishida I used to work for Takuya's father, and we were discussing your friend's case tonight after work."

"Wait a second...Yamato Ishida? You're – you're- you're!" Izumi was glowing red as her mouth dropped.

"A detective and special agent for Japan."

"You're the lead singer in that band the-"

"Nah not me. I'm just your average officer of the law." He smiled slightly, and shook his head.

"You know something about Kouji or Kouichi?" Takuya asked, cutting off anything that Izumi wanted to say. Yamato glanced at the door he stood at and he stepped inside and closed it softly.

"That depends really." He murmured, before turning around and looking at them all with a calculating expression.

"On what?"

"On what you can tell me about the Digital World." He stated simply. The group instantly became extremely rigid and uncomfortable, and from the sidelong glances they were sending each other, he wondered just how many variations of the story they'd spread to everyone they knew.

"It's an online chatroom thing that we all were apart of at one point." Takuya replied calmly.

"So you don't think it's possible anyone from this…chatroom…could have taken your friends? You gave a meeting time when you all met up, isn't it possible someone else was there too?" He wondered how far they were willing to take their lie.

"It's possible…" Junpei murmured quietly, biting his lip and looking at the others worriedly.

"When's the last time you went to the Digital World?"

"Over three years ago." Izumi stated firmly. Yamato nodded.

"When's the last time you had contact with anything from the Digital World?"

"Over three years ago."

"You never tried to go back?" It was an honest question, one that was met with awkward gazes.

"The…site was taken down. We couldn't figure out how to get back…on it." Takuya explained weakly.

"Ah, and Kouji and Kouichi…you think they might have been taken by something from the Digital World?"

"Taken by something…what are you trying to get at man?" Junpei asked bitterly.

"I'm honestly wondering how far you're going to extend this lie of yours." Yamato replied with a wave of the hand. At the same moment, his phone rang, and he answered it. "Sora? Sorry Izzy…you got to my house quick." He sighed slightly. "Actually, your digidestined are right here. I'm sure they're going to want to hear this." Clicking it so that it was on speakerphone, he held the device up towards the group. "Go ahead Koushiro."

"Right, well, I did some digging. It seems like three years ago there was a disturbance in the barriers between the Digital World and the real world. Not as bad as the last time, but it was significant none the less. A few seconds after the disturbance, there was another one."

"For the return trip?" Yamato asked mildly, taking some amusement from the children's startled and amazed faces.

"Yeah, I pinpointed the focal point of the energy and it was in-"

"Shibuya Station."

"Hey, if you knew already, why'd you call me?"

"I didn't, Sora did. Has there been any other surges since then? Have the gates opened since three years ago?"

"Not that I can tell, it seems like it's been relatively quiet. I did do a sweep of the area just to make sure, and it seems like nothing truly interesting has happened since then. I contacted TK and Kari to check up on Patamon and Gatomon though, did you know that they're in charge over there now?"

"Fancy that." Yamato murmured with a wry smile.

"Wait a second, you're telling me that you know what the Digital World is?" Junpei asked, staring up at Yamato with wide eyes.

"Not to quick on the uptake are they?" It was a new voice this time, and even Yamato frowned slightly.

"Taichi, what're you doing at my house?"

"Corrupting the youth, Takeru and Hikari are here too, but they're still on the wire with their little-big buddies. Going by Ophanimon and Seraphimon now."

"Wait, what on earth are you talking about? You guys know Ophanimon and Seraphimon?"

"No, we knew Patamon and Gatomon, and as years passed they continued to watch over the digital world until they became named guardians. So, why don't we talk about that little adventure?" Yamato cut in, giving them all a dirty look.

"What does this have to do with Kouji or Kouichi?" Takuya hissed.

"It has everything to do with them. You keep trying to get to the Digital World."

"How do you know?"

"Because your father told me you all keep going to the station. If that's where you left from, your continuing to return there is your attempt to go back. But, none of you have any idea how you'll even make it back if you start tumbling down that rabbit hole do you?"

"We'll figure it out when we get there."

"That's a good way to get yourselves hurt." Taichi's voice stated evenly as he spoke over the phone.

"The Digital World isn't a balanced place, and if you don't know for certain you can just come out of it, you can get stuck there for a long period of time. From how long it took you guys to get back, you were there for what? Ten months? Twelve? More then a year? Do you really want that to happen again?" Koushiro continued, voice calm despite the situation.

"You just said that it was only a few seconds between when we left and came back." Takuya mumbled, clearly bothered by the accusation that was, for all intents and purposes, true.

"Yeah, and a few seconds is a long time when the time difference is so askew." Yamato replied simply. "Listen, we can check into the Digital World for you, but don't keep trying to go off by yourselves. It's a good way to get hurt."

"Ophanimon says that she shut down the barrier between the two worlds on purpose, and that no one has come in or out." This time it was a young woman's voice, and Yamato sighed slightly.

"No one, Hikari?" He clarified.

"No one, when we pressed her on the issue, she verified that there hasn't been a single human in the Digital World since everyone was sent home last time."

"Thanks everyone, I'll call you all back later, alright?" There were various goodbyes from several other people, and Yamato hung up the phone with a sigh. Looking down at them all he gave them a pointed look. "The gate isn't open anymore. Your friends are truly missing."

"Well, what the hell are we supposed to do, huh!" Takuya shouted, jumping to his feet in agitation. "Going back is the only thing we have, it's the only thing we can try that no one else has tried! Have you found anything useful, Matt? Huh? No one's even looking for them anymore, at least we're doing something if we go back!"

"Takuya, going back isn't as easy as you seem to think it is. It took a long time for us to figure out how to travel between the worlds, and even then it only worked if the Digital World opened the gate first. Ophanimon closed that gate, you can't go back. None of you can, not without her permission."

"She's lied and misled us before, what's so different now, what if they're really there and it's just another place no one is looking for them." Yamato's heart slowed in his chest, and he sighed heavily.

"If we manage to open a gate for you, a controlled gate. Will you be satisfied with a quick journey over? You'll be coming back very soon, but will you be satisfied that you at least got a chance to look around?"

"Yes." All four kids quickly replied. Yamato winced ever so slightly, but nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Here…" He passed a business card to Takuya. "Give me a call if you guys need anything, alright?"

"Yeah." The blonde nodded his head at them, and then opened the door, and stepped into the hall. All he needed to do now was plan a field trip to the Digital World with four teenagers. Not so bad. Still, now his concern for the twins had grown. He'd been just as surprised as the new digidestined when he'd heard the gate hadn't opened. Usually in cases where digidestined just disappeared, it was because they had some involvement with the Digital World, this wasn't the case though, and it was making him more concerned.

Something didn't settle right in his stomach. He couldn't understand how two kids could just vanish out of their beds and not be found, and have no trace of where they went or what they did. In all other crimes that he'd seen that were similar, it had been an inside job, but Hiroaki had been looking into their parents, and come up with nothing.

Maybe he just wasn't looking deep enough. It was something he'd have to look in to. Right now, he needed to play happy guest, and he smiled as he went back in to talk to Yuriko and Hiroaki. He told them that Hiroaki was off the hook, and now Takuya expected him to find the twins. The older man was insanely grateful for the news, and Yamato just smiled. Saying that was the least he could do, he intended to do so much more.