Is this a crossover? Um......half'n'half, yes and no. Light romance of the shoujo, shounen, and het kind. Not to mention SPOILERS for every season. Oh, and forget about 2.50's last ten minutes. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't exist (that doesn't mean I won't try and tie up loose ends with it).

"People don't just vanish for no good reason!"

Two days of confusion between a constructed group of roughly fourteen people finally came down to one thing: Miyako in a scream fest with the officer in charge of the investigation and everyone else trying to hold her back from committing assault.

The disappearance of three Chosen Children through three generations, all on the same night, not even two or three hours apart between the first and the third, pushed it beyond being a coincidence. And they had made it very clear this was a deliberate case. But when asked for explanations and/or evidence, not a word was said, and the police took that as a sign of noncooperation and suspicious in itself. So while their problematic virago stirred up a torrential hurricane, someone else in the department was running background checks. Just in case they were very, very bad people. Uber-bad people. Uber-bad people with drug lord connections and suspected black market dealings. And a whole lot of parents and work areas were called as a result.

In the meantime, between seven adults and everyone else barely breeching adulthood, there were many clashing and crashing personalities all on the same track of mind, two goggle boys and our genius are /gone/, and it fueled Miyako's verbal lashings while giving Izumi Koushirou a mother of a headache.

The short red-head felt useless piecing together the whopper of a puzzle. Taichi, Ken, and Aiyote had nothing in common with each other, except their past days of football which wasn't an abductable type of excuse. Unless it was demons wanting mortals athletes to compete in their hellish games, but -somehow-, Koushirou didn't find it likely.

And he couldn't think with all the rising voices. Even Kido Jyou was apart of it, his concerned and exaggerated worries not helping at all. Koushirou didn't even bother to excuse himself; it wouldn't have been heard. He found his solitude in the one-person bathroom down the hall, locking the door and seating himself on the lid of the toilet. He balanced his laptop on the edge of the sink, wishing he has a phoneline to jack into. Then, he could email Gennai and ask him if anything strange was going on.

Koushirou sighed. Somehow, all thoughts -always- led back to the world of pixelated data, whether fond memories, or when one turned missing. Who knew, it -could- have been coincidences. Ken went poof at one of the stations (his mother, Miyako, and Daisuke swore he took cabs to travel around at night; maybe he was taken by a cab driver?), Aiyote in the restaurant (he was a CEO of an electronics industry; he could have enemies, right?)... but nothing seemed to make sense with Taichi's case. Hikari woke up late at night, saw the TV on and went back to bed, woke up the next morning, only to find Taichi's shoes and car -still there-.

The report was, there were no signs of forced entry, nothing stolen, nothing new lying around. It was only Taichi. And Hikari wasn't sure of the sound that woke her up anymore; it could have been apart of her dream.

On Aiyote, it was a slightly different case. The doorman, being the only witness to the restroom scene, was also a suspect. Hiroaki had his own feeble protest about it, but in the end his doubts made him reluctantly agree 'to the possibility,' was his quote. But there wasn't enough evidence of any sort to square off a warrant for arrest, and there may never -be- enough. Which suited Hiroaki, but not Naoyuki and Tarou.

And Ken...well, everyone could only pray. The police had a /lot/ of searching to do. Too many possible witnesses and no way to identify if they'd seen the teen at all. If they could find out which leg of the trip heb disappeared during, they may have a chance.

But all this were police theories, and something to fall back on if it wasn't a Digiworld occurrence.

Why should everything be one, though? We have /real/ lives to deal with, /real world/ problems to handle. Everything can't, and /shouldn't be/, always about the Digiworld. ....All the same, neither can be ruled off indefinitely.

Koushirou had no clue; he was stumped, and when he didn't, or couldn't, obtain an answer, it was his justification to his own worries and insecurities. Jyou sometimes got upset with him about it, how Koushirou expected himself to always have the answer, that it rested solely on his shoulders and if he couldn't do it, no one could. A malignant form of responsibility, unhealthy for a already-pressured mentality. And when it came to health, one was guaranteed Jyou'd be pretty on top of it. ..What an understatement.

He loved Jyou, he -really did-, but the bluenette also had his cases of instability whenever the chances of something going wrong was two to one. Well, they were working on it, both of them.

But three people go missing and Koushirou felt like it was right back to square one. And he cursed it. Dammit, I need a phone jack!

This wasn't getting him anywhere. Sighing angrily, he saved his open notepad file and shut down the laptop, exiting the bathroom in a worse state than he had been in before. Why did this have to be so complicated, yet childishly simple? There was no answer, and right now, he was scared. Three people he closely associated with, vanish all on the same night. High-chance coincidence, or planned? Digital World or Real World? Rescue-able or not?

Back where he left the others, things had calmed down. Miyako was sitting down betweeen Jyou and Tarou, a black scowl on her face. Everyone else was anxious, fidgeting and pacing and dead silent. So Koushirou broke the silence. "Miyako, Daisuke, c'mon. We're taking you home."

The 'we' was noted by some, most likely meaning Koushirou was aiming to take Jyou along too. Which suited the oldest Adventurer just fine, but it was still required of him to ask, "Anything wrong, Kou-kun?"

Koushirou shook his head. "We're just not doing anyone any good sitting around. And if people /are/ going to hang out here in high hopes of some news before tomorrow, we might as well cut the roster."

Miyako protested, as the couple ushered both students out of the lobby, but her excuses were unconvincing, and it took Daisuke's persuasion to get her out without Hell descending yet again. Let it be known, that when she stepped out into the night, the entire station visibly -relaxed-, and so did their 'guests'.

Outside, while walking to Jyou's car, said owner of the car looked down at Koushirou. "What do you think?"

"That it might be Digital-related."

From behind them, there came a groan, and Daisuke rushed up to the front, holding up his hands to halt the group. "Kou, man, I'm obsessed with the Digiworld as the next Digidestined, but thinking that every little occurrence revolves around it is a bit more obsessive than normal. Like the ugly teacher from that American cartoon, with the fairies and the little boy and the really /big/ commando fairy, who's down-right twitchy - slash - nuts. Get me?"

Koushirou didn't, and half-lidded his eyes with a condescending sigh. "Daisuke, it's all speculation. And I'm not obsessive; it's just where one point of logic leads to. May I remind you? Three former Chosen Children disappear, two being leaders and one an ex-Kaiser, in the same night with no other reported 'normal person' kidnappings. Coincidence? Either not at all, or the hugest one in known history."

"So are you going to get ahold of Gennai?" Jyou inquired, turning to stand off to both Daisuke and Koushirou's sides and one hand adjusting his glasses. "If it is Digital, he would certainly know; the guy's like an omnipresent mosquito who likes popping up with news at the most close-cutting times."

Koushirou nodded in agreement. "He'll be easy to find, if he needs to be found that is."

"Well /I'm/ not going to be excluded!" Miyako stepped forward, glaring with all the infinite-power of a Fury that sent men writhing in mental anguish. "If that old timer doesn't know a damn thing, I plan to give him a piece of my mind. And if he knows something, it'll be an even bigger piece!"

Koushirou sweatdropped in dread; he liked Miyako enough to consider her a little sister, and sadly, she came with all the perks of female adolescence. "Ah...Miya-san, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, we don't know--"

A hand reached out to screen Koushirou's mouth, and Jyou cleared his throat. "Kou-kun, let me handle this. ...Miyako?"

"Yeah?" she grumbled.

"We know Ken means a lot to you. He means just as much to your friends as Taichi means to ours, as much as Yoshikazu-sama means to Ishida-san, Adachi-san, and Konaka-san, all in interchangeable degrees between our three groups. ...I don't think threatening Gennai, whether he knows anything or not, will help us get them back any quicker. So /you/ need to calm down, and maybe, we won't take you straight home."

Miyako gave a loud huff and folded her arms. "Fiiiine."

Koushirou's eye twitched. I could've done that.

Daisuke saddled up next to Jyou in the last leg of their strolling, beaming up at him. "You got some cool therapy skills in there, Jyou-san."

Jyou chuckled. "Infinite patience is a virtue learned."

"Too bad it's not a virtue carved in a crest."

"You never know; it might just be one."

It was more than woman's intuition that was rattling off her warning bells. When a husband disappears for a night, immediately after calling and saying he'd be right home, a wife normally suspects the husband of infidelity. But she knew him inside and out; they all did. So when -her- husband disappears, it's not infidelity.

It's something else.

"His parents said the only time he stopped by was before he called you."

Juri nodded, letting the disappointment sink in. "Thanks, Akiyama-kun."

Akiyama Ryo gave her an easy smile and took her hand. "C'mon, tea's ready. Sit down and drink."

At the low table, both Lee Jenrya and Makino Ruki exchanged murmured small talk, Jenrya helping himself to the tea Ryo had offered and Ruki indulging more in the rush-job coffee she'd made fifteen minutes earlier. While an overnight disappearance normally wouldn't warrant a late-morning cancellation of their lives, this -was- Takato. Their boy scout who couldn't lie without flustering or stand up to matters that weren't life and death; he wouldn't have grown a backbone without them knowing it.

Juri took her spot beside Jenrya with a sigh. "I'm reluctant about calling the police," she explained. "I could be overacting and blowing this all out of proportion."

Ruki shrugged. "Perhaps. But you can be assured he's in the upmost doghouse, until his excuse clears medically."

"Always so positive, yet horribly negative at the same time," commented Jenrya. "You'd make a wonderful therapist."

"Wouldn't I?" she replied flatly.

Juri spoke up after the silence that followed, head bowed. "I'm sorry I called you two out so early."

"It's nothing. Work's boring right now." Ruki smirked. "At least this way I can deliver divine justice onto Takato."

"Ru~ki," Ryo chided, watching her under half-lid eyes. "I'm not letting you beat one of my favorite tenants black and blue and bloody. What'll the others say?"

"It's not what they'd say, it's what they'd do: pay the rent or suffer mighty bouts of pain."

"It's killing two birds with one stone," Jenrya mused, "but I don't think Takato would think it's fair if he comes back with a good reason why."

While the three of them remained optimistic about Takato's fate, Juri merely sighed to herself. What if he doesn't come back? What if he was mugged and....killed?

Warm tea sloshed over the edge of her trembling cup, doplets curving to the ceramic outside and falling noiselessly to the saucer. Her hand wouldn't stop shaking, now that those early thoughts had come back to haunt her mind. Death had already claimed her birth mother, and her beloved Leomon. What could be done if Takato suffered from this curse of her's?

"Juri?"

Startled, she jerked her chin up. focusing on the three sets of eyes on her. She flushed. Her hand stopped quivering. "....Sorry."

Jenrya frowned. "You okay?"

"I suppose I am. ...Maybe we should. --Call the police, I mean. Either way, they'll find him. ...right?"

Ryo hopped up wordlessly and grabbed at the phone listings, like that was his cue to be of use. After all, a well-mannered and timely tenant disappeared. It -was- his responsibility.

The atmosphere around Juri hardened into mortal depression, watching Ryo, but a warm feeling encircled the back of her hand and wrist; it felt encouraging. Juri gazed at the corner of her eye to see Ruki grasping her, wearing a lesser mask of the same expression Juri no longer pushed away. "Juri, I swear. It'll be alright."

She looked away from them all. Will it? This was the same feeling of overwhelmed anxiety and loss that fed the D-Reaper's need of human suffrage. That alone frightened her; Takato saved her from its captivity and for it, she could not thank him enough. But he did not save her from her mental imprisoning. No, that wasn't Takato. It was--

"Calumon??!"

There he floated, the tiny white and purple-trimmed digimon tapping noiselessly on the window pane across the room, his huge, green eyes saddened and his ears retracted. Calumon had returned.

The phone listings fell from Ryo's grip, and so did Jenrya's tea cup. Neither tore nor broke.

The window was opened by a wide-eyed and shocked Ruki. "Calumon, what're you doing here??"

He didn't answer, simply drifted in and dropped himself onto the low table, now surrounded by his once-playmates. "Ohhhh," he whimpered to them. "You all got bigger. Has it really been that long?"

"Twenty-two earth years," Ryo murmured automatically, dropping down to his knees. "Calumon. ...What's wrong? You look unhappy." Like we are.

Calumon nodded, tear-pricks budding up under his eyes.

"Calumon," Jenrya asked, "..does your coming back have anything to do with Takato?"

Suddenly, the digimon burst out crying, rushing into Juri's chest and clinging to her shirt; instinctively, Juri's arms wrapped around Calumon to comfort him.

"I...I...I was sent here by..." Sob. "..th-the Sovereigns! They need you!"

"But why?" Now recovered, Ruki was scowling; this was ugly timing. "What do they need?"

The story and instructions they worked out from Calumon's crying was not a promising journey. Not in the least.

Before the clock struck five o'clock that evening, Kouji had not one but three Children by his side, courtesy of Takuya's cellular plan and triple-digit minutes. Himi Tomoki remained unable to join them for the moment, due to his parents' rules of traveling by taxi cab without one of them present. In the meantime, Orimoto Izumi had literally stumbled into the lobby twenty minutes after the school got out, followed by Shibayama Junpei an hour later.

Since then, Dr. Endo had stopped in once to speak to the parents, and in seeing two different senior highschool uniforms between the four of them (five if you counted Kouichi and his clothing), wondered to himself what sort of circumstances could've happened to bring them together; rival schools normally led to rival students and the two high schools Shibuya possessed were no different.[1] In the end, he shrugged it off and moved on.

The update he'd brought with him wasn't good news, but it was better than the more dire conclusions they'd been dreading. Kouichi's condition was stable, as stable as a catatonic could be. Results of some of the smaller tests determined nothing out of the ordinary, but it would take another few hours before more solid answers were providable. Until then, the Minamoto's and Kimura-san would simply have to wait until they could see him.

When Dr. Endo left, Minamoto Kousei took his ex-wife's damp hand and watched her gravely. "It'll be alright, Tomoko. I swear it will be."

Kimura Tomoko wasn't as reassured as she'd've liked to have been; this, after all, was the son she'd taken with her and isolated from everyone but her own mother. He'd already fallen victim to the darkness of a coma once before, on the same day he'd met Kouji. An omen or a warning, she hadn't been sure. She wasn't sure -now-, either.

Moments later, Minamoto Satomi returned, a few bags in hand that she carefully placed on the table. Already, the waif of fastfood choices assaulted the lobby, and she addressed the teenagers with a sad smile. "Why don't you take these and wander up to the cafeteria? It'll do you good to stretch your legs."

Izumi spoke for all of them: "Arigato, Minamoto-san."

Kouji didn't want to leave, but he also wasn't about to give up his hold on Takuya, much to the brunette's dismay. The lone wolf rarely touched another person, let alone attached himself to another like a leech. And Takuya just blushed out of exasperation, trying to maneuver Kouji out of his seat without killing himself in the process.

With a thousand and five promises hanging around him, Kouji finally gave in to leaving the lobby, but clung onto Takuya that much more childishly. Down the hall they managed, Izumi and Junpei carrying the bags and talking between themselves, mostly about the different work they had to do. Izumi even commented on how furious the teacher had been when Takuya didn't return from the bathroom. "You still have the pass, don't you?"

Takuya blinked, realizing he'd finally been dragged into the conversation, and grinned sheepishly, "In my backpack. I have no idea how I'm gonna explain it to her."

"You could always say you fell in," chuckled Junpei. "And that the janitor had to plunge you out."

"I think I'll come up with a cleaner excuse than that."

"There's always the truth?"

"And I'll be given detention for the rest of the year. No thank you--wah!" Takuya stumbled forward, managing to catch himself before he took himself and his passenger to the floor. He looked down at Kouji. "You know.....It would be so much easier if you clung to something other than my waist. I'm all for it, but not when I'm tripping over two pairs of feet."

Kouji countered with a red-eyed glare. "Klutz." But he shifted his grip to Takuya's arm in compliance, returning to his silence and cluttered mind.

A cellphone jingle went off, and Izumi, Takuya, and Junpei all went for their pockets, but the two former stopped once they recognized the tune as not their own. Junpei grinned and held his up in triumph. "Maybe it's Tomoki-- or not." The heavy-set boy blinked, confused, and finally answered it. "If you're selling me something, sorry but I'm too young to buy your products."

Izumi rolled her eyes. "It's probably a wrong number."

But Junpei didn't hang up, or even say, 'sorry wrong number'. He just got a shiny-eyed look, full of bewilderment, excitement, and concern. "It's Ophanimon, you guys."

Though your past trials were enough to prove your rights as Chosen Children, something more dangerous has emerged. To save Kouichi's life, return to Shibuya Station as you had once before and take the Trailmon waiting for you. At the end of the track, you will meet our contact, and he will explain further. Good luck, my warriors.

To watch a vengeful human take apart his higher authority piece by piece with no regard to rank and respect was nothing less than entertainment. At least, it was to Yohji.

Yohji and Hayato stood side by side, as expected of them from various years of military pressuring, as their commander bit, chewed, and spat out the older man who sat behind his desk. Hayato was shaking, trembling, and remained pressed to keep himself firm and upright. On the other hand, Yohji had to force himself from chortling. Hayato's fear and Ryoushi's anger mixed well with his questionable humor, especially since Hayato really had -nothing- to fear, and maybe...Ryoushi would finally get what was coming to him: termination.

The supervising general hadn't done a thing to interrupt him, gazing at the ravenous boy with a frozen, blank expression. And he listened as Ryoushi spoke of threats to walk out, how Jasir -wasn't- just another 'alien freak', and bringing up old and unwarranted topics of how the Digital World was more involved with the Real World than they previously thought, an idea built upon nothing but a guess gathered by what he knew and witnessed.

It was there the older man's eyebrow dipped low. "Kitajima."

Ryoushi froze, a recoiled snarl left in place.

"You have gone way beyond your line of rank, and I allowed you to until you crossed another no one here will tolerate." He stood up, reaffirming his position high above Ryoushi's. "The Digital World is nothing more than a host, a second realm that opened up to us shortly after the initial alien invasion. What you described happened to your teammate deserves no investigation, despite your feelings. As terms of agreement with the Belnarquians, it's their problem, not ours.

"And, if you ever bring up query on the Digital World again, I will personally strip you of rank and benefits."

Benefits.

...Heliomon.

"Dismissed."

Ryoushi straightened, the mask of neutrality sliding into place as he bowed in respect. But when he turned around to face the others, it cracked and fell away, leaving an estranged bitter sneer directed at neither of them. Yohji and Hayato fell into step after him and Ryoushi let them out of the room.

When the door closed, the sneer grew worse and he shot it at the slab of metal the general hid behind. "Old bastard."

"Hell yeah, mah boy's growin' a pair!" Yohji beamed, fox-eyed and his hands clasped in front. "Priceless performance, cap'n! He'll be shitting eggs for a month over all that."

Ryoushi's glare suddenly cut the redhead quiet. "I didn't even get to the part where I'd petition you for suspension, so back off Obinata, before I 'grown some more' and march back in there to demand one."

Yohji grinned and waved cutely, backing off the older boy's case as per his order.

"Um, sir?"

Hayato scuffed his foot against the linoleum nervously, feeling no ease even when Ryoushi's features softened just so when he turned to him. "What do we do now?"

It was the classic question for odds to clash, as well as innocent in all its display. And so unexpected, Ryoushi had to stop his turmoiling to ask himself what -did- come next. But the eventual answer came to him, trailing behind an agonizing wait that ground on both Hayato and Yohji's nerves.

"Follow me."

Only three seconds after the front door opening was Koushirou seated at his home computer, wasting no time booting it up. Jyou gave a slight roll of his eyes before hooking Daisuke to help him start making coffee; it was late enough for those who went to bed at normal hours, but for the likes of Miyako and Koushirou, normal was four in the morning and could handle the isolated night-life of teching it.

Miyako herself pulled up a spare chair and sat beside her red-haired idol with a sigh. She wasn't against the idea that maybe something digitally inclined did happen-- the chances were too high stacked to be considered anything else-- but why should it be? Weren't they assured that the physical portals were all sealed off once BelialVamdemon's essence scattered into the four winds?

Yet if they weren't closed, would Gennai really know what was happening?

"Kou-san?"

"Hmm?"

"......Nothing."

The computer was set and immediately found itself surfing down a high-speed connection and entering the datastream of cyberspace. A quick check revealed no new mail in Kou's inbox, and Miyako grew worried, then puzzled as Koushirou hardly seemed put off by it...as he pulled up more email servers and began checking them as well.

It was in 66HerculesKabuteri99@mail.co.jp that one message sat, from "Jenny in Love!" and a subject called, 'Download me, baby.'

"That's it."

"/That/?! It's porn! Or a virus!"

Koushirou glanced at her with a light smile. "Do you honestly believe /I/ could get a virus?"

She smacked his arm and grumbled, "Don't brag. Open it, then."

It read as so:

'To my hotpants Koushi,
I know how much you looooove a good mystery. Maybe you should download me and unravel mine.'

Miyako's eyes boggled at the picture it was followed by. "....That's porn, Kou-san."

He didn't reply, and casually clicked on the link. A download box appeared, setting a premature time of nine-minutes. Miyako spent this time hopping up from her seat, rushing over to the kitchen, and with a tattle-tail whine, exclaimed loudly, "Jyou-san! Your husband's downloading porn when he should be looking for Gennai!"

Daisuke perked up. "Really??" He was ignored, and chuckled when no one paid attention.

Both of Jyou's eyebrows rose. "Porn, huh?" He looked past her shoulder to stare at Koushirou. "He used the 'Jenny loves you' thing again, didn't he?"

"'Jenny in love'," the red-head corrected. "And yeah, that's the gist."

"Ah." He looked back to Miyako, easily keeping his expression grave. "Thanks for the warning. I'll make sure he sleeps on the couch."

Miyako half-lid her eyes, huffed, and made a grab for the (nearly-full) fresh pot in its cradle. "Tell me you have some sort of alcohol in your closet, Jyou-san."

"Even if we did, you're underaged. Rough it."

Daisuke snickered, and received a smack on the head for his troubles.

"I got it."

The package in the email had turned into a letter and a program to install. Koushirou began uploading the files and Jyou read the notepad from over the redhead's shoulder:

"Aloha!
Now is not the time to be resting, mi compadres. By now, I'm sure you're well aware of the situation you have at hand. I can supply your answers, but not here. The problem is bigger than you can imagine and you'll no doubtably have more questions once you arrive. In parting, try not to attack the people you come across. P.S. Please inform Miyako to stop worrying; we can hear her even in this world."

Miyako wasn't abashed by the accusation. "Who does he think he is?!"

"Apparently a Mexican - slash - Hawaiian mix." Jyou straightened himself and fixed his glasses. "I never understood him."

With the download complete, it wasn't a surprise to find a transportal identical to those they used five years ago. A tiny smile cracked Koushirou's placid expression at the achingly familiar sight on his screen. "Jyou, get ahold of Ishida-san. Miyako, call Mimi and get her online. I want her in on this."

Daisuke crowed it best. "Look-out, Digiworld! Your Chosen Children aren't kids anymore and we are /on/ the warpath!"

[1] Despite having tried to find out, I'm very unsure how many senior high schools Shibuya-ku has, so.... *flashes creative licence*

I didn't like writing the Tamer and Frontier scenes. After rewatching the Tamer final episodes, I noticed Juri's stability. And I had her more frail in the original draft, the scene had to be changed, much to my chagrin. And the Frontier...ah, it was stressed. It was /all/ stressful to write, but those were the worst. It doesn't reach my standards. *frown* But there's not much to do but toss it out.