"Little ray of sunshine." That's what Ruki likes to call me.

Her lavender eyes are hard. Mouth set in a thin line.

I smile at her. I'm fourteen years old. Insufferable. I like to push her buttons. She falls for it, every time.

Oh, Ruki. If you only knew.

V-mon and Wormmon are curled up together to sleep, passed out as soon as we finished our dinner, laced with sand. They're tired. We're all tired.

Ken can't sleep without the weight of Wormmon clutched tightly in his arms. He has nightmares. He stares at the two Digimon in total loss from atop his filthy bedroll. He's too considerate to wake them.

Ken lets out a squeak when I lift him by his underarms from behind, carry him like a small child over to my own sleeping mat. "R-Ryo-sama...!?"

I hush him, burying my face into his dark, dirty hair. I feel the grains of sand against my skin. Eight years old. So young. Too young for this fight.

"Everyone needs somebody when it's dark, Ken," I tell him, rubbing at the nape of his neck to soothe his fears. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

He's not too young for me.

There is no light in my soul. I don't have a crest.

I am Akiyama Ryo. The Legendary Tamer. I have never met a Digimon I can't command. I've met a few that I would never want to.

I am nobody's Light. Nobody's Hope. Faithless.

All the Knowledge I have is useless. Twisted. Endeavored to pointless ends.

Friendless, with only Cyberdramon to walk unfailingly at my side.

There is no Purity left in me. Not after all the things I have seen and done.

I do not Love. I have no Kindness left for anyone besides myself.

Courage, there is plenty of that in my soul.

But maybe it isn't really Courage, what I have. Courage is not defined by a lack of fear.

Perhaps my true crest is my desire. When I have my sights set on a goal, there is no force in any universe that can stop me from achieving my own ends.

"I want you to stop seeing Ken."

I consider him, Osamu Ichijouji. I tilt my head toward him with a curious look of innocence. I know it infuriates him, when I act like I don't get the meaning of his words. "Well, have you told Ken that?"

"No," he says coldly. "He's too young to understand. You're older, Akiyama. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"For what?" I smile. "Ken is my best friend."

"He's four years younger than you."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Is this about jealousy, Ichijouji-kun? Are you afraid that Ken will like me better than you?"

"This has got nothing to do with that!"

He's lying. I was outside their door yesterday. I heard Osamu slap Ken, for the excitement he showed when he heard me knock. I heard Ken's cry of pain echo through the walls.

I won't stand for anyone touching what is mine.

Ken understands. He has a Digivice. So long as we are connected to the other world, there will always be a safe place for us to run.

Sometimes I think Millenniummon and I are destined to be partners after all.

Obsessive. Destroyers. Single-minded. Sacrificing anything, for the sake of what we want. What we need.

But Millenniummon had eyes only for me. He would accept no other partner, no other tamer.

Agumon. V-Mon. Monodramon. My friends. My partners.

Humans are no different. I can bend them to my will with a ray of light.

I could never be content with only one.

He squirms away whenever I try to touch him. "R-Ryo-sama, don't..."

Undeterred, I pull Ken toward me again. He is too gentle. I have to be firm with him. I can break him down every time with just a smile. "It's okay," I promise, softly running my fingers through his hair. "It's okay, it's okay. I've got you."

He won't survive the Digital World, if he can't survive this.

But that's not why I'm doing it.

Sakuyamon takes my breath away.

The red swirling mass of the True Enemy falls back, helpless in the face of a song of such warmth and light. Ruki and Renamon. The heart of ice and the calculating killer. Defense, protection, love. Shining armor over a lithe and sleek form.

Ten years old. I catch myself thinking, Ken would be ten this year.

I am a monster.

The next time Ruki scowls at me, I smile back brighter than before.

Ken's brother is red-faced from screaming, heaving in his chest. I stagger back when he punches my nose, blood flowing with an aching sort of pain.

It's petty, but I do enjoy it. Seeing the exalted prodigy, Osamu Ichijouji, coming undone beneath my innocent smiles.

"What have you done?" he screams at me, reaching out to shake me hard by my shoulders. "Ken came back yesterday—mentioned your name—do you have ANY idea how sick he is right now?"

I can't hold back a laugh at his choice of words. 'Sick.' We're all sick. Millenniummon wanting me. Me wanting Ken. Ken wanting Osamu.

It makes no difference, that these are all different kinds of love. Everybody wants something. Only I have the audacity to take it.

"If you ever go near my brother again, I'll kill you!" Osamu screams, pulling back his arm to backhand me with a ringing slap across my face. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"

I fall back to the ground, grinning around a mouthful of blood. He of all people has no right to call Ken by that word. 'Mine.' The smartest boy in the city has no idea what he's talking about, does he. We'll just have to see, who ends up killing whom.

Accidents happen every day, Osamu.

There are so many other worlds where they can't find me.

Shiuchon and Lopmon. A little girl and a Divine General. I can't help but smile whenever I see them together. What a perfectly mismatched pair.

Shiuchon is barely seven that year. Her eyes are so terribly bright. Jenrya hovers over her, always like a lion protecting its cub.

I give her a Queen Device card, during the fight with the D-Reaper. Shiuchon's a tamer, she deserves to be in the fight too. Coming from the Digimon King, a gift like that is no small honor, and by her thrilled expression I can tell that she knows it.

Takato gives me a strange look. I smile at him. I don't care.

I want her to remember my face.

"Y-You're just like him," Ken whispers in muted horror the morning after, rocking back and forth with his arms wrapped around his knees. "You're just like him. You're just like him, Ryo-sama."

I glance away from him, ashamed. I didn't mean to hurt him so badly. "Like Osamu?"

"Like Millenniummon."

Every time. I leave.

They'll never be able to find me.

Every time. I leave.

I'll never be able to find them.