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Disclaimer: Let me see, the owner and script writer of Digimon is writing fanfiction..?
...RIGHT

"Dark Metamorphosis!" -The spell that Alucard from Castle Vania: Symphony of the Night uses to recover his life.

After last night, the digidestined were a bit on edge, however it was not as bad as the dark cloud which had hung over them yesterday. As soon as they started walking the tension began to thin, and eventually vanished as they became more relaxed, more sure of where they were headed. Hope drifted in the air, and they were laughing and talking like the average child their age was supposed to.

Not all of them were so happy, however.

Jyou trailed along behind them all, head down, expression unreadable. He was not even complaining to Gomamon, or stealing glances over at Koushiro. Simply put, he was dark.

Koushiro had noticed Jyou's visible distance from the rest of them, and began to slack his pace a little in hope to walk side by side with Jyou. 'He certainly won't talk to Gomamon, and nobody else has been talking to him for a few days now.' Koushiro's pace slackened.

Koushiro was walking right next to Jyou, and Jyou, in his mood, did not notice anyone or anything but himself as he brooded. His realization from last night gave him a reason never to look forward ever again.

'You really don't notice how depressed he is until you're right beside him. I can feel it and I haven't even said anything to him.' Koushiro became worried, not understanding the strange premonition he felt coming on. "Jyou?"

Jyou almost jumped. However, despite the voice, his gaze did not lift from the ground.
"Yeah?" He replied, making great effort to even make his reply audible.
"Are you ok? I mean, you've been so depressed lately..."
"......" 'Isn't that Koushiro's voice? Why would Koushiro talk to me?' Jyou thought miserably.
"What's the matter, Jyou? I'm pretty sure Taichi and Yamato aren't mad at you, they certainly seem light-hearted now that everything's out in the open." Koushiro persisted. 'Jyou...say something. anything...'
"....." Jyou's brooding just seemed to get darker from Koushiro's attempt to cheer him up. 'You hate me, why do you care?'

Koushiro glanced over at Jyou's face only to see that the darkness in Jyou's eyes had only become darker. He had only made Jyou's mood worse. I knew I shouldnt have said anything...
Koushiro changed his pace and walked back over to the others, a heavy weight on his heart. 'Jyou, by now, you must hate me. I'm so sorry, Jyou...' Koushiro thought miserably. 'What's the good of being sorry if I can't even apologize to him? I wish I had never been adopted, I never would have lost my friends and I never would have made Jyou depressed like I have.
Koushiro glanced back at Jyou, whose head was still down and pace was still slow. 'You heard me, but you weren't listening. What's wrong, nii-chan?'
Koushiro sighed and looked ahead with his own personal cloud hanging over him.

"Wasn't that a bit mean, Jyou?" Gomamon piped up. "You haven't been listening to me at all, and even when Koushiro tried to cheer you up you just shoved him off!"
'Why not just save him the trouble of having to care for me?' Jyou thought.
"I thought you liked Koushiro? I thought you used to be best friends?" Gomamon was persistent.
"Used to be." Jyou said softly, so soft that Gomamon did not hear.
"Huh huh? Why won't you listen to him even, or me? Aww..Jyou look at that! Koushiro looks depressed now." Gomamon was becoming very fed up with Jyou and his constant depression.
Jyou looked up, and indeed Koushiro was acting different. His shoulders were slouched and his hands in his pockets. 'Whenever Koushiro had his hands in his pockets it usually meant he was thinking about something.' Jyou shook his head. 'The Koushiro that used to be my friend, before he started hating me. It probably means nothing now.'
Jyou's gaze returned to the ground. 'Nothing means anything anymore...'

Another night around the campfire. Another night of laughter, eating and fun. Normally anyhow, at least, for the other digidestined that was the normal routine. Two children had gone astray, unnoticed.

One was leaning against a tree, some distance from the others, his gaze constantly wandering to the stars and empty, lonely sky.

The other was leaning against a tree too on the other side of the camp. His backpack was on the ground next to him and loud, fast typing could be heard.

Koushiro was puzzling over the conversation with Jyou today, if it was a conversation at all.
'Who am I kidding? What's to puzzle over? It's obvious he doesn't consider me his friend anymore, and he has a very valid reason to do so.' Koushiro thought as the typing speed increased, once again, working on something so familiar to him that it did not require conscious thought.

Jyou was in fear of falling asleep, after admitting to the hatred of the others last night; he felt that he could not take it anymore. Now he was well aware of how much the others hated him and what a burden he was to them, so why would he need to have a nightmare this night?
'I know they hate me...I don't need to be reminded, so please...' a small tear trickled down his cheek.
'I just don't want to cry like this anymore, I know they hate me, I just want to go home and bury myself in schoolwork or something.' Another tear.
'If Koushiro and I were any farther apart, there would be a whole planet between us.' Jyou thought. 'Koushiro...' the tears came in full force now.

That night brought much needed rest to the digidestined, and to Jyou, who needed it the most.

The black gear had flown over the continent, seeking matter, of any living form, to possess.
Even the tiniest flea would do for it would make no difference. It sought a form, and desperately, before the distance from its source destroyed it.
A flock of bats flew proudly through the air, seeking their blood for the night. One was felled and unnoticed by the others, as it plummeted to the ground.

Once it was on the ground, the gear began to seep deeper into its flesh and began to spread its power.

A low, ominous laugh pierced the air as a dark figure rose up from the ground where the bat had been. At first it was like gel, and then, remembering it's source, took on the form of something. Someone.

Two legs and two arms were formed, as a head of hair and a face appeared. At first, it was naked, and then it covered itself with cloth. For a final touch, glass covered its eyes in a neat gilded frame.

The newborn digimon let out another laugh as it sent out a signal. It did not take long for the signal to return to him.

"You can run, but you can't hide..." the figure laughed evilly. "I know where you are, and I'm going to catch you."

The next morning.

"C'mon everybody, time to get a move on! So let's eat breakfast and get going!" Taichi's cheerful, bossy voice invaded the peaceful sleep of everyone else.
"Ok ok we're up, Taichi." Sora said irritably.
"Taichi, could you speak any louder? I don't think Myostismon heard you!" Yamato grumbled as he got up.
"Uck, I hate sleeping in the dirt! It doesn't do this outfit any good with dirt all over it." Mimi whined as she got up and dusted herself off.
Koushiro got up from off his close laptop, opening it and checking it quickly to make sure nothing had been deleted. Satisfied that everything was there, he closed it up and packed it away in his backpack.
Jyou slowly put on his glasses and blinked. "Morning already?" He questioned as he got up and looked himself over, brushing off some dirt. 'No nightmares?'
"What do you mean, already? You're snoring was so loud I had to go sleep in the river last night!" Gomamon snarled, rubbing at his big green eyes with his paw.
"Sorry, Gomamon! Not my fault I needed a good night's sleep." Jyou complained. "And if you were sleeping in the river, what if some evil digimon attacked me or something? Were you expecting them to stop and wait for you while they were attacking me?" Jyou complained, getting defensive at Gomamon's comments about his snoring.
"I know, with you snoring so loud it's a wonder they don't home in on us!" Gomamon teased.
'It's good to see you arguing with Gomamon again, nii-chan.' Koushiro thought, a small smile twisting his lips.

After a brief breakfast of fruit off trees, the digidestined were off walking again. Laughing, talking, as all good children should be. Happy.

Once again Jyou was lagging behind, however not as far. He was relieved from not having to suffer from another nightmare, and was feeling a bit better today.

Koushiro glanced over his shoulder from time to time at Jyou, wanting to try once again to cheer him up, however, not wanting to ruin the obvious decrease of sadness in his eyes.
Mimi walked alongside Koushiro, babbling in his ear about something or the other, trying to get him to care about her. Trying to get him to notice her at least.

After awhile, the group came to a clearing and Taichi announced that they would take a break then continue onward. However, their break did not last long.

A strange figure approached the group, at first unnoticed because they thought it was their companion returning to them.
Koushiro looked up at the figure briefly, recognizing him as Jyou and returned to his computer, trying to hide away from the sadness he felt in himself and from Jyou. However, something did not feel right. Looking up again, he saw that Jyou had malicious grin on his face, showing some white teeth, with pure venom lurking in his eyes. "Jyou?" Koushiro asked softly.
Jyou came running back from the bushes, suddenly in fear of being late. "Don't leave without me, don't leave without me!" Jyou called as he came back to the clearing and panted for a minute from his running.
"Took you long enough, Jyou." Taichi said, snickering. Then his eyes widened as he saw Jyou on the other side too. "Jyou?!"

The whole group looked back and forth between the two Jyou's, one panting from lack of breath and the other with a strange, mean looking expression. Eventually the panting Jyou looked up to see his mirror image looking straight at him. "Wahh?! ME?! But that's impossible!!" Jyou nearly collapsed.

The other Jyou smiled and adjusted his glasses. "I said I would find you, and I did."
He looked over the group and then back at Jyou. "Hello, Jyou."

Jyou and Jyou held each other's gaze, one unsure of what to make of the other, and one thoroughly enjoying the baffling gaze he was receiving.

"You should know me, Jyou." Jyou said, the lips closing over the white teeth, the malicious still existing in his smile and the venom that was in his eyes was replaced by desire.
Jyou could not move a muscle. What was going on? Who was this guy who looked like him? Regardless, his voice was hauntingly familiar. Where had he heard it before?
"Did you forget already?" Jyou asked, the malicious smile never leaving his lips.
Jyou kept a steady gaze on him, trying to remember where he had heard that voice before.

A tongue licked over hungry lips, and the lips parted to let words pass through them. "They hate you."
Jyou stood, numb with shock. Those words, those words that had haunted him for the past few nights, those words that haunted him day and night. Those words. That voice...
"You......can't be..." Jyou said slowly, horror creeping across his face.
"OH, but I am." Jyou let out a laugh.

'They hate you? Who hates you?' Koushiro thought with wonder, glancing between the two Jyou's, meanwhile trying to see if he could find an entry for this strange being before them now. It was obvious who was not the real Jyou, so it was safe to assume that the impostor was some type of digimon.

"Got it!" Koushiro said lightly as he read over the profile, with both Jyou looking over at him with interest.
"Poltergeistmon, this digital monster is actually created from supreme negative psyche energy from either a digimon or a human. This digimon has no original form and takes on the appearance of its source of energy." Koushiro read out loud. Slowly the words he had read processed in his brain, and he realized what it meant.
"If it looks like it's source.." Sora said slowly, her gaze wandering over to Jyou, who had a look of sheer misery and loneliness in his eyes.
"Jyou...?" Taichi said slowly, looking at Jyou. "Is..is that true..?"
Jyou looked slowly up at Taichi, the pain in his eyes very visible. He slowly nodded his head, on the verge of letting his tears overflow his eyes.
"Nii-chan..." Koushiro breathed softly. He was not angry at his nii-chan, he was angry with himself for not trying to help. He was angry with himself for not realizing. 'Could I...could I have caused this? Could this be my fault..?'
Poltergeistmon smiled viciously at Jyou now. "Why don't you tell them? What you really think? You'll feel better."
Jyou made no response, no move at all, his eyes walked slowly on the ground.
"How about listening to yourself and doing what you really want to do?"
Jyou's gaze continued to wander along the ground, not wanting to look up at his manifestation, his own evil.

"If you're Jyou's poltergeist, why do you exist?" Koushiro put his computer away, got up and stood in front of Jyou, trying to defend him from something that was self-manifest.
"You'd love to know, wouldn't you? Always trying to be the brain that saves the group." Poltergeistmon sneered, his cruel gaze trying to pierce Koushiro's heart.
Koushiro, however, was persistent. "Why do you exist?" he asked again, this time more firmly.
Jyou looked up at Koushiro who was standing in front of him. 'Why...why is he defending me?'
"Very well, Koushiro." Poltergeistmon smiled with amusement. "I shall tell you a story, a story of a very lonely boy."
Koushiro flinched at the term lonely. 'Lonely..? Has Jyou been lonely all this time...?'
"This little boy had only one friend in the world, which was fine with him. He cared a great deal for this one friend, and thought everything of him. Then, when that one friend abandoned him, his life suddenly lost a bright light."
Koushiro's eyes threatened to spill with tears. 'Is that true? Nii-chan, is that, is that how you've felt all this time..?' "Nii-chan...?"
Jyou's eyes stung with pain from the past, remembering the days when Koushiro called him nii-chan. When Koushiro called him his big brother.
"Oh, did I hit a sore spot, Jyou?" Poltergeistmon was becoming more and more detestable by the minute.
"Now that's enough!" Taichi stepped forward, anger in his face. "If you pick on one of us, you pick on all of us! And we're not going to stand for it!"
"Oh?" Poltergeistmon turned to Taichi with that menacing grin. "And, how exactly to you plan to stop me?"
"Like this!" Taichi said confidently.

Greymon stood up proudly, ready to take on this new opponent.
Poltergeistmon laughed in Greymon's face. "You're going to need more than that, you know."
"I guess we have no choice." Koushiro said, holding up his digivice.

Kabuterimon was ready for battle with an electro shocker, understanding full well what defending Jyou meant to Koushiro. As Tentomon, he had only had to look in Koushiro's eyes to see what each of the digidestined truly meant to him whenever he looked at them, and there had been plenty of times to see what Jyou meant to Koushiro.

Poltergeistmon laughed at them. "So you really want to fight?"

DeviJyouMon rose above them all into the sky, smiling down upon them all with the white fangs in full view. The other digimon decided that their help would be needed for this battle.

DeviJyouMon opened his hands, concentrated for a minute, and then a large black axe appeared. It was sharpened to a fine point, for he could see his reflection in it. "Bring it!" he challenged.
At the sound of a challenge, the digimon sprung into action.

'I'd go with them...' Gomamon was next to Jyou, looking up at him. His face was stained with tears, and he made a sobbing noise as his knees buckled and gave out, causing him to slump to the ground. Gomamon put a paw on Jyou's knee. 'But I need Jyou's help to digivolve, and he's in no condition to fight right now...'
Koushiro looked over his shoulder at Jyou. The urge to hug his nii-chan and tell him everything was ok was very overwhelming, only he had to concentrate on defeating the problem first, then fixing the aftermath of the problem later.
That was, if there was to be a later.
Koushiro brought out his computer again and looked up DeviJyouMon's profile in order to help their digimon. He sat down next to the weeping Jyou, looking up at him.
"It's...it's going to be ok, nii-chan." Koushiro reassured him. "It's going to be ok."
Jyou, in his loneliness, looked up at Koushiro with all his tears, all his pain and guilt showing clearly on his face. Koushiro looked to the computer screen while searching through profiles, however, his glance returned to Jyou from time to time. Jyou's gaze was broken, his sorrow evident, and it was a gaze that never left Koushiro. When Koushiro looked up again, he realized that there was something besides pain and sorrow in Jyou's eyes. There was something else there....

"Nova blast!"
"Howling blaster!"
"Meteor wing!"
"Needle spray!"
"Electro shocker!"

All fine attacks from fine digimon. However they were not fine enough, for DeviJyouMon easily brushed off the attacks with strokes from his axe. The power flung at him from the other digimon just disappeared when it touched that axe.
"Whoa!" Koushiro gasped as he read the profile. "DeviJyouMon is the fully evolved form of Poltergeistmon. It takes on the form of it's source and whatever matter it used for its flesh form. DeviJyouMon has an attack called "Leech Power" that absorbs the attacks of other digimon in his axe and fires it right back at them!"
Taichi who had been monitoring the fight heard Koushiro and tried to yell at the digimon. "He'll just absorb your attacks, be careful!"
However the warning came too late as the digimon were blasted away with a big ball of energy.
"Greymon!" Taichi called, running to his digimon.
"MWAHAHAH! Did you think you could defeat me so easily?" DeviJyouMon laughed, then started to head for Jyou and Koushiro.

MegaKabuterimon suddenly butted DeviJyouMon, then, while DeviJyouMon was stunned, used a powerful Horn Blaster which caused the digimon to crash into a tree below. DeviJyouMon knocked the tree head on, and then collapsed to the ground. For a moment he lay still as the digidestined tentatively approached him, and they all jumped when he suddenly got back up again.
"Don't you get it?" DeviJyouMon cackled as he cracked a few bones back into place. "As long as my source shall live, so shall I!"
Koushiro, concerned by this statement, looked back to the DeviJyouMon profile, and found it to be listed there. The only way to destroy him would be to destroy his source..
'Does that mean...we have to...'
Koushiro looked over at the sobbing, sorrowful Jyou. 'N..no..' Koushiro thought. 'There, there has to be another way!'

As the digimon were closing in on DeviJyouMon again, deciding that the best way to beat him was to gang up on him, were careless because for a moment they forgot the golden rule. Never underestimate your opponent.

DeviJyouMon suddenly let out a powerful wave of energy, knocking back all the digimon and their humans, except for two people.
Two people sitting on the ground next to each other.

"Jyou! Nii-chan! We have to go!" Koushiro yelled at Jyou, trying to grab him by the wrist.
Jyou would not budge.
"NII-CHAN!" Koushiro yelled in frustration, seeing the approaching DeviJyouMon creep closer. Koushiro got up and blocked the path between him and Jyou. Koushiro was determined not to let this digimon or poltergeist regardless hurt his nii-chan.
"Out of my way, sweet little Koushiro. I don't want to have to hurt you." DeviJyouMon leered. "Much."
Koushiro's gaze was steady, his willpower was high, and he confidence of lasting against his opponent was zero. However, he had to try. 'For nii-chan.' he thought.
"Suit yourself." DeviJyouMon snickered, striking forward with his axe.
In the last possible second, Koushiro was shoved roughly to the ground, and as he looked up he cried out in horror.

For in slow motion, he watch DeviJyouMon's axe pierce Jyou's flesh and saw the end come out the other side.
"JYOU!! NII-CHAN!!" Koushiro screamed, catching Jyou as he fell back down. "JYOU!!"
Jyou looked up at DeviJyouMon, who was in shock from what happened. "You....my feelings...aren't worth Koushiro's life..." Jyou passed out.
"JYOU!"

For a moment Koushiro's mind went blank, panicking, not knowing what to do. That was when Jyou's crest started to glow...

DeviJyouMon was in shock. 'He..sacrificed himself for him...?' he thought dumbly. This was his last thought too as he was squashed like an ant by "Vulcan's Hammer!"

Koushiro did not start thinking clearly again until he realized there was blood on his hands, from Jyou's sweater where the wound was. Koushiro jumped as he felt Jyou shiver.
"Jyou.." Mimi said softly, numb from shock.
"Quickly! Find something, leaves, whatever, to cover him up with!" Koushiro took charge and started to bark out orders. "Or else he'll freeze to death!"
For a moment the others made no move.
"GO!!" Koushiro yelled so loud that the others jumped into action.
"Get something to prop his head with! And some sticks, we'll make a splint or something.." Koushiro whipped his head around him. "Only we need bandages.."
Finding no appropriate cloth to do the job, Koushiro grabbed his shirt with both hands and start to tear at it with his teeth, making some cloth strips for band aids. "Hang on, nii-chan.."

"Don't die, nii-chan..."

"Nii-chan..."

Koushiro was typing away on his computer again. Only this time, he was not trying to run away, he was not trying to think. This time, he was using his computer as the thing to keep him awake.

Jyou's shallow breath could be heard, as he shivered from time to time. A pile of leaves covered him from his feet up to his waist, for any higher than that and Koushiro feared it would infect the wound. The wound in question was covered with orange strips of cloth, and had turned from it's dull orange hue to a reddish-orange. Reddish-orange, the colour of fire, fire that was associated with passion.
Koushiro blushed. 'He's been seriously hurt because of me and what do I think about?' Koushiro scolded himself, once again checking over Jyou to see how he was, if he needed anything.
If he needed a cloth for his forehead, Koushiro had reversed one strictly for that purpose. Or if he needed his head to be propped up he could always build a pile of leaves ontop of his backpack where Jyou's head now rested. Yet for warmth..
The only to keep Jyou warm was to hold him, which required Koushiro to admit to his other secret. 'If I don't keep nii-chan warm he might freeze, and I can't use leaves, they might infect the wound even if it's covered.' Seeing Jyou shiver again, Koushiro could not ignore it.

Koushiro closed up his laptop and placed it next to Jyou's side. He then gently lifted Jyou's head from his backpack, moved to replace that spot, then he put the backpack in his lap, then he gently placed Jyou's head back down on it. 'That should be enough elevation' Koushiro thought.
Koushiro placed a hand on Jyou's head, and to his shock found it burning with fever even through his glove. 'Jyou's had a fever ever since he was wounded...was he infected with bacteria from that axe?'
Now that he was sitting there, he could not simply get back up. It would jostle Jyou way too much. However, Jyou needed a cloth for his forehead to keep him cool. The fever was too hot to be ignored...
Gomamon was curled up next to Jyou, softly snoozing. Koushiro reached out and gently shook the digimon, "Gomamon!" he whispered.
The response was a snore.
"Gomamon!" Koushiro whispered a little louder, shaking Gomamon more firmly.
"....fish....." Gomamon muttered in his rest. Finally Koushiro snapped and hit Gomamon on the head.
"OW!" Gomamon yelled.
"SHH!" Koushiro covered his lips with one finger. "Be quiet, or you'll wake him!"
"He's been sleeping straight for the past two days, what does it matter?" Gomamon said miserably. Then both Koushiro and Gomamon looked sadly at Jyou.
'He's right, two days straight. Is he in a coma?' Koushiro was worried, however this was no time to fuss. He pulled the spare cloth strip out of his pocket and handed it to Gomamon. "Go soak this in cold water, then bring it back to me."
"What for?" Gomamon narrowed his eyes. 'You've been up two days straight looking after Jyou, you're so grumpy.' Gomamon then softened his gaze. 'But I know how much Jyou likes you so I'm glad you care about him so much.'
"It'll bring down his fever and help him to get better faster." Koushiro explained, irritably. 'I hope the digimons lack of comprehension when performing their tasks doesn't affect Jyou's recovery.'
"Ok ok I'm going I'm going." Gomamon grumbled as he wandered towards water, with the cloth in his mouth. "Grumpy." he muttered under his breath.
Tentomon, who was never far from Koushiro, opened his tired eyes slowly and looked up at Koushiro. "Koushiro, you've been awake for two days straight. I know you're worried about Jyou but you really need your rest! I'll watch over Jyou for awhile, you take a nap."
"NO." Koushiro objected firmly, looking at Tentomon with fire in his eyes. "I will not." Under those firm eyes were black bags, results from Koushiro's lack of sleep.
"Koushiro..." Tentomon shook his head and returned to his sleep, saying: "Once you've made up your mind not even I can dissuade you." 'You must really care about him..'
"I couldn't sleep anyhow, knowing Jyou's like this." Koushiro sighed, gently stroking Jyou's hair.

Grade three, one of Koushiro's favourite school years. The main reason being that the grade threes and the grade fives had been assigned into pairs, one from each grade, to do various partner work. By this time Jyou was in grade five, which meant Koushiro was paired with him. The friendship between the two was obvious after all, so the teachers had paired them together. That, and they always did such good work.

So it was another partner project, where you had to make a dialogue between two characters from a book both partners had to read. Boring assignment, however as long as he was with Jyou then it was fun. Besides, they had been given a week to work on it, meaning he got to see Jyou in class everyday.

The joy in it lasted until SHE showed up.

Mimi Tachikawa

For the longest time, ever since she saw Koushiro hanging around with Jyou at the playground, Mimi had the biggest crush on Jyou.
Which suddenly gave her the right to call herself Koushiro's "friend" and hang around with them at recess. Koushiro was raised on the principle "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all", thus he would not tell Mimi to bluntly get lost. Even though he wanted to because the way she would cling to Jyou was really annoying. She would just grab Jyou's hand and follow them around at recess and at lunch time, which bothered Koushiro to no end. Jyou was too nice to tell her to go away too, thus the duo was in a tight spot.

However today, today just took the cake. Today was the day Koushiro would lose it.
By cruel fate, Mimi's partner was away today, so she had been told to help another group with their dialogue. Which group did she choose?
"Hi Jyou! Hi Koushiro!" Mimi's cheerful voice shrouded a different intent.
"Hi Mimi..." Koushiro grumbled, very aware of his and Jyou's space being invaded.
"Hi Mimi." Jyou was more polite, trying his best not to laugh at Koushiro's sudden pout.
So they worked on their respective dialogues, Jyou and Koushiro helping more with Mimi's than Mimi helping them with theirs. However, to Koushiro, the sooner she went away, the better.
"Say, Jyou.." Mimi said sweetly, placing her hand on Jyou's.
Steam was coming out of Koushiro's ears at that, and he had to bite his lip to prevent himself from saying some very cruel and truthful to Mimi.
"Yes, Mimi?" Jyou asked, he had noticed Mimi's hand as well. Only he had not noticed the steam coming out of Koushiro's ears.
"Did you want to swap partners? We make such a good team and I'm sure my partner wouldn't mind working with Koushiro." Mimi asked, smiling.
"Mimi-" Jyou began but Koushiro cut him off.
Koushiro slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. "No! Mimi! We have been working hard on this dialogue and we're not about to give that up now! Stop being selfish and think of other people for a change!"
Mimi looked shocked, then hurt, then she calmly walked away.
Jyou gaped at Koushiro, and Koushiro blushed and sat down.

"Koushiro..." Mimi said softly, from her place by the trees. She watched Koushiro sadly, as he placed a cloth on Jyou's head, fixing it until it was in a perfect position, then resumed stroking Jyou's hair. Gomamon curled up beside Jyou again, and Tentomon fell asleep by Koushiro.
'He won't even let Tentomon take a turn looking over Jyou. Is he that possessive?' Mimi wondered. 'Or maybe, he's that worried.'

Mimi walked up to Koushiro and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Koushiro jumped, then fumbled a bit to make sure Jyou was alright, then turned on Mimi.
"Mimi! You shouldn't of startled me like that! I might of jostled Jyou." Koushiro then turned away, returning his attention to Jyou. Not before Mimi had seen the bags under Koushiro's eyes.
"Koushiro...why not let me look after Jyou? Get some rest." Mimi asked, using her sweet girl voice to persuade him.
However this was something beyond sweetness. "It's ok, Mimi. I couldn't sleep anyhow.." Koushiro sighed, rubbing Jyou's arms in an attempt to warm them up.
"Oh..." Mimi sighed and walked away, trying hard to suppress her tears.

"Man, look at that! Koushiro must really love Jyou, he won't let Mimi or Gomamon or anyone else takeover for him." Taichi said, crossing his arms. He, too, had been watching Koushiro look after Jyou.
Yamato slapped his head. "Ok, genius, how long did it take you to figure out that Koushiro was inlove with Jyou?"
Taichi grinned. "Ever since I first met them!"
Yamato sweatdropped. "...RIGHT."
For a moment, the two watched Koushiro stroke Jyou's hair, fuss over details, make sure Jyou was as comfortable as possible.
"Would you do that for me, Taichi..?" Yamato asked softly.
"What?" Taichi asked, looking at Yamato.
"Would you take care of me like Koushiro is for Jyou, if I was hurt or sick?" Yamato was very sincere, and very vulnerable.
"Of course not!" Taichi's bright voice shattered Yamato's heart.
"What..?" Yamato asked, hurt and disappointment showing in his voice.
"I'd never let that happen to you in the first place." Taichi said, his smile turning sweet as he wrapped an arm around Yamato. "I'll give you baths to keep you clean, I'll keep you warm if you get cold, and I'll always protect you in battle." Taichi kissed Yamato, lovingly wrapping both arms around him, pulling him close.
'Taichi..' Yamato blushed as he returned the kiss.

Koushiro had dozed off slightly when Jyou's head began to toss and turn in his lap. His eyes snapped wide open as he looked at Jyou.

"Shu...tup..." Jyou muttered in his sleep, tossing and turning his head, sweat trickling down his forehead, his cheeks flushed with fever.
'Shutup?' Koushiro wondered. Who was Jyou talking to?
"Go...away...not..true.." Jyou muttered, tears starting to trickle down his cheeks along with sweat.
"Nii-chan..?" Koushiro asked aloud, worried that if Jyou did not cease the tossing and turning that he would jostle himself and tear the wound open.
"Devi....." Jyou said painfully, his brow creasing, his face cringing.
"Devi...DEVIJYOUMON?!" Koushiro yelled, causing Jyou to cringe.

"SHUTUP!" Jyou yelled, falling to his knees covering his ears, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I'm only telling you the truth." DeviJyouMon stood in front of Jyou, grinning down at him. Soon the two were surrounded by a wall of fire.
"No! He, he called me nii-chan! He stills thinks I'm in big brother!" Jyou yelled, trying to block out the digimon's influence, trying in vain to cling to what had happened.
"Does it matter?" DeviJyouMon pointed to Jyou. "Soon you will be dead. They are not tending to you, this fire? A fever. You will be left alone to die because they hate you."
"SHUTUP!" Jyou sobbed. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his sides, and he cried as he clutched them. When he brought his hand up, he saw..
Blood?
His blood?
DeviJyouMon..was telling the truth?
"They...they really...abandoned me?"

"Abandoned..." Jyou muttered, his head thrashing about.
Koushiro was about to yell, however stopped himself. 'If I yell, I'll upset him. I have to calm him down, and help him beat this.' Koushiro thought. He removed his gloves, then placed his hands on either side of Jyou's face. Then he began to stroke Jyou's cheeks gently.
"Jyou, nii-chan, can you hear me?" Koushiro asked gently.

"Jyou, nii-chan, can you hear me?"
'That voice..' Jyou thought. "Koushiro?" he asked out loud.

"...shiro?" Jyou muttered.
"Nii-chan.." Koushiro sighed with relief. "Listen to me. Is DeviJyouMon with you?"
"..yeah.." Jyou started to relax, as he ceased his thrashing.
"We're going to beat him together, ok?" Koushiro said.

'Koushiro...' Jyou thought. "Ok." Jyou nodded. He got up off the ground, and looked DeviJyouMon in the eye, who was silent and gazed back with that malicious grin.
"A poltergeist is a manifestation of a person's negative energy." Koushiro explained.
Jyou could feel something cool touching his cheeks, a sensation he enjoyed, even though he did not know it's source.
"Meaning you've been penting up these negative feelings all this time." Koushiro said, his voice choking.
Jyou nodded grimly. "That's right...that's who he is."
"Do you think that we all hate you, Jyou?" Koushiro asked gently, soothingly.
"Yes.." Jyou responded as soon as the question was asked, starting to sob.
"Why?"
"Because I try to look out for everyone since I'm the oldest and I have to be responsible. But I think I spoil everyone's fun too..." Jyou said miserably. "I just want to do the right thing.."
"We're all trying to do the right thing Jyou, you're not the only one. We don't hate you, we never did."
Jyou was numb from fever and Koushiro's voice just being there.
"We're all friends Jyou, we're all in this together. And we all care about each other."
"And I've always cared about you, Jyou. You've always been my nii-chan."
Jyou's eyes threatened to spill over. "But why.."

"Did I push you away? Jyou..I..I'll explain that to you when you wake up. But it's not because I hate you, that's never been the reason. Nothing is farther from the truth." Koushiro swallowed back his tears. And the urge to say something else.
"Jyou, ever since I was little, I don't remember but I know it's true, you've always been my best friend. You've always been there for me. I've always looked up to you as my nii-chan and considered you my best friend."
"That hasn't changed, it never will. Even when I pushed you away, I still considered you my best friend. Jyou, the truth is, I really care about you. I-"

Had he heard right?
Did Koushiro, really say that?
Did he really mean it?
"Koushiro.." Jyou said softly before he passed out. The fire disappeared, and he closed his eyes as he heard the tortured scream of DeviJyouMon before death took him.

"You're acting like he's your boyfriend!" Mimi pointed a finger at Koushiro accusingly, fire in her eyes.
"What?" Koushiro asked, stunned.
"The way you're so jealous of me and everything, you think you were in love with Jyou!!!" Mimi shouted fiercely.
Koushiro was about to retort when something small and soft inside him agreed with her.

Jyou's tears had stopped, the sweat no longer trickled. Koushiro laid a hand on his forehead to find the fever was already dropping. Just to make sure, he placed two fingers on the side of Jyou's neck, checking for his pulse.

There was one, and it was more steady now. Koushiro let out a relieved sigh Jyou started to snore gently in his sleep.
'He looks so...peaceful..' Koushiro thought.

Koushiro's eyes started to close slowly, as he leaned close to Jyou's face...
And...

To be Continued