Salva Nos
Episode 13: Depths and Facades
-by Ajora Fravashi

Disclaimer - See the one on episode 1. I don't have time to retype it.
Note - Many apologies for the delay of this chapter. For certain very good reasons (character attitudes towards each other, for one), I've been tempted to go "ROCKS FALL, EVERYONE DIES." Then I'd have no story and that would be sad. The next chapter should be easier to write.

---

At five in the morning, the base was just quiet enough for Jianliang's tastes. His wanderings at this hour were triggered by force of old habits that took root long ago. The silence and isolation gave him freedom to think things over and consider information overlooked during the daylight hours.

Sometimes, if he so fancied, he could imagine Osamu walking by his side. No words had ever passed between them during the early morning walks, for they each had their own worries and thoughts to ruminate over. It was enough to know that he would not be asked about his past, and that all Osamu cared about was his capability to perform the tasks assigned to him. Having felt at the time that his claim to humanity was ill-suited, he took comfort in being capable. If nothing else, he was a good worker.

The corridor led to several security monitoring and communications rooms. A memory of his last walk with Osamu came to mind as he passed a surveillance room. He was settling into his new job as chief of security and Osamu had ever-deepening shadows under his eyes. Here was where Osamu shared with him his grand plans, because no one else on the base would understand. As much as Osamu loved his brother, Ken was too emotionally driven to appreciate the scale of what he had to do. Running the base had distracted Osamu from his work, he needed to get away, and surely Jianliang would understand that some sacrifices had to be made for the common good. Ken could never know what really hap-

Why was the door to the communications room unlocked?

-.-

Watches, and the batteries to run them, were a rarity that even Iwakuni couldn't afford. There were no specific times during which the agents were supposed to report, so they just hoped that certain periods of the day were sufficient. In this case, Takeru was told to report in at dawn. He dragged himself and Patamon out of a too-soft futon at the first rooster's crow to shuffle through the castle, wave drowsily at the guards, and settled into his seat to pick up the radio's handset and hoped Ken was up. Patamon found a soft spot in the seats and resumed his sleep.

He expected Shaochung to pick up and greet him in her usual cheerful manner, and there was never any reason to suspect otherwise. When she did pick up, her tone surprised him. Shaochung did not normally sound so worried. "Which team is reporting in?"

"PV," Takeru stated. He listened carefully, and when he heard no digimon in the background, his own concern mounted. "Is everything okay there?"

Shaochung's voice cracked suddenly. "No. Please, you have to save my brother, Ta-"

"I'll take it from here," Ken interrupted. Takeru's concern turned to full alarm, then to dread as Shaochung started crying in the background. The only Li agent on the field was Lianjie, wasn't it? Which meant Jun was with him. Suddenly, Takeru was thankful that he decided to let Daisuke sleep in.

"What's going on, Boss?"

There was a pause before Ken responded with a question of his own. "Is Daisuke there?"

"No." Alarm gave way to suspicion. "Why?"

"Well then..." The man on the other end sighed before continuing. "There was a leak and the PG team was captured near Hiroshima. We're investigating the source of the leak."

The urge to groan was quickly stifled. Of course. "Queen Ruki's still hunting us, I take it?"

"Surprisingly, no. Jun's last report stated that there was a plot to dethrone Ruki." The pause that stretched afterwards was too uncomfortable for Takeru's tastes. He was surprised at the turn of events, certainly, but Ruki was hardly someone he cared for. "Well." Ken's voice became uncertain, which only served to worry Takeru more. "Listen, I'm going to ask a huge favor of your team. Your team is the only one capable of the task."

Takeru didn't like where this was going. No. Ken wouldn't... "What is it," he asked, though he was sure he didn't want to know.

"Ruki is a known element, but we know nothing about the person now in her place. I want you to get the PG team out of there, but if Ruki is still alive, we need to have her re-instated to her throne."

He stared blankly at the rover's dashboard as he considered the request. Ken couldn't be serious! "You're worse than Daisuke at jokes."

Over the crackling connection, he could faintly hear a dry, humorless chuckle. "It's not a joke."

He sighed and scrubbed at his face before answering. "Let me guess, there's another reason you're not telling me about, so asking about it is pointless and I should just be a good little agent and do as I'm told."

"Yes, very good," Ken said. "You might just make a good military man after all."

"Sorry, I'm not that obedient."

"While blind obedience has a certain appeal, it is overrated. It's much more interesting when people question the status quo." His boss then cleared his throat. "So, what of the Shogun?"

Relieved at the change of subject, Takeru went over the talk with Mimi, careful not to bring up the Shogun's true identity. "He says he'll send some tin soldiers if you're willing to put his art collection into safekeeping. Don't you have space down in the basement?"

"How big an art collection?"

"We're looking at..." he paused to check over the memory of too many art pieces cluttered into a large storeroom and made an estimate. "Enough to start up a small museum."

As he waited for Ken's answer, Keiko came up to him with a sealed scroll and gestured for him to open it. He broke the pink chrysanthemum seal, scanned the contents, and thought he might as well give Ken something else to consider. "Oh, and they're offering to send a small escort. It's not necessary, but we could probably use the help."

"So long as you blindfold them once you get within the required number of kilometers near home base, fine. Do they want to send a representative to talk things over, too?"

Takeru glanced at Keiko, who was apparently waiting for something. Her gaze turned pointedly to the handset and she shook her head. "Doesn't look like it. They probably just want to see what they're getting into."

"Very well." Ken paused. After a minute of silence, he resumed in a voice so soft that Takeru almost didn't hear it. "Be careful in Osaba."

Though surprised at Ken's words, Takeru couldn't help but tease. "Careful, you might give the impression that you actually care about us."

A chuckle sounded under the crackling of the radio connection. "Oh, sorry, I keep forgetting the part where I'm supposed to be a soul-sucking vampire. It shan't happen again. But, for now I have to get back to work and you have to come up with a way to break the news to Daisuke. Over and out."

The radio clicked off, and Takeru wondered how long he could manage to hold off on having to tell his companion. The handset he stared at offered no answers.

Patamon's small, eternally young voice broke through his reverie. "You have to tell him sometime."

-.-

Daisuke started out of bed, his gut instinct having woken him with the hint that something was off. It wasn't the unnatural way that the people of Shibata clung to the idealized past; that just nagged at the back of his mind, not entirely ever-present, but it came up when he was reminded of the oddness. This was more like a thin film of wrongness lining the pit of his stomach.

"What's wrong, Daisuke," V-mon mumbled groggily as Daisuke rushed into his clothes.

Daisuke paused, frowning as he tried to figure out how to explain it to a digimon. "Ever get the feeling that it's going to be a bad day?"

"Nope!"

He stuck his tongue out at his partner. A moment's silliness always made him feel a bit better. "Well, thanks for making me feel paranoid."

V-mon beamed at him, happy to have offset whatever Daisuke was feeling.

It hadn't taken long to go through the daily morning rituals and trot out of the guest room with his partner. Takeru's unwillingness to talk still bugged the hell out of Daisuke, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He was sure an opportunity to confront his friend would present itself soon enough, but first he wanted to get out of here.

The courtyard was really very immaculately kept. Not a blade of grass or piece of gravel was out of place. He missed the chaos of other settlements, wherein people were less concerned in pretending they were in the past and lived in the present. It wasn't as if there was no place for order, but there was a difference between natural order and going a bit too far. And then-

"Yo, Daisuke," a too-familiar voice shouted from behind him, which was then accompanied by a sharp clap on his back that felt like someone was trying too hard to come across as strong. A quick turn on his heel and he found himself face to face with a pair of twinkling green eyes. "Been entirely too long, buddy!"

Daisuke took a moment to regain his ground and look over the young man standing before him. Well, "woman," if one wanted to be technical and ignore Rei's wishes. Considering what Rei did to people who didn't heed his wishes, Daisuke figured it was best to go along with them. Long of limb, short of hair, and skinny and androgynous enough to pass, Rei could easily be seen as how he envisioned himself.

There had been a point in Daisuke's past when he had tried that "finding yourself" thing people talked about but never actually discussed ways to do so. It ended up getting him into scrapes with people bigger and stronger than him, and he chose instead to figure out how to really defend himself. Much searching later and he found a young martial arts master and his apprentice with whom to study. He learned quickly once he got some humility knocked into him, but could never quite catch up to Rei. The master had been killed by Raiders and Rei took a bullet to the knee. That had been, what, seven years ago?

He grinned and the thin film of wrongness dissipated somewhat. "Way too long. What're you doing here?"

A strawberry-blond eyebrow, nicked by a knife long before Daisuke met him, arched at that. "I live here."

"I never figured you for a, uh, traditionalist," Daisuke admitted. Rei fit tradition almost as badly as he did.

"Pay's good, no one gives a shit what's under my clothes, and the ladies adore me." Rei flashed a rakish grin at that. "I really can't complain."

He was all set to introduce his friend to V-mon when another sudden shout diverted their attention to the rover. Takeru waited with the kind of blank expression Daisuke had long come to identify as his secret-keeping face. There was that daimyo, Mimi, and a blond guy in black clothing he didn't remember seeing before. Mimi was waving at them to join her, and it took but a second to cross the courtyard.

Rei, Daisuke noticed with interest, looked decidedly besotted when Mimi so much as looked in his direction. Oh, no wonder.

"Daisuke and V-mon," Mimi started with a very officious tone of voice, "the Shogun has assigned Rei and Warren to escort you through the Niigata borders and back to your territory. They're good fighters and we have every bit of faith in them."

Daisuke was very aware that Rei's jaw quickly snapped closed as he nodded, and that V-mon scurried into the rover. Mimi glanced at Rei and gave him a reassuring smile. "I do expect you two back once you escort these boys back home." When Rei brightened in response, Daisuke was hard pressed not to roll his eyes. At least he was never like that. He hoped not, anyway.

Mimi beamed at them, said something to Takeru that he didn't catch, and departed with a tell-tale bounce in her step and Kouichi close behind. Takeru didn't look his way when he waved Warren to his usual place in the shotgun seat, which only served to make Daisuke wonder what was going on.

"We have to depart for Osaba," Takeru said in that neutral tone that only made Daisuke certain that he was hiding something. The sudden smile Takeru gave him somewhat allayed that suspicion. "Why don't you two get reacquainted in the back, Daisuke? I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on."

What could possibly be important in Osaba, Daisuke wondered, that required their presence? Maybe he was just nervy from the weirdness here and it would go away once they were on the road again. Nevertheless, it was a long trip and the ride would give him ample opportunity to talk with Rei and hopefully make amends for whatever he did way back then. Maybe, sometime on the road, he might even be able to talk to Rei about the Takeru issue.

-.-

Ruki's head throbbed. While not necessarily a new thing, its cause was a rarity not entirely familiar to her. It spread from temple to temple, aching dully in response to the events of the last two days. One morning she had two new dunces from the Rocky Country in her office. Really, she might have even overlooked them had that girl not marched right up to her and bitched her out for killing someone she didn't even remember. The memory finally clicked when she spared a moment to pay attention to the girl's ranting about the deceased's virtues.

Oh, that Okinawan from a while back had a girlfriend. Oops.

It all went downhill after that. The girl had the gall to slap her, she hit back with a fist, and before she knew it, someone fired a shot into her perfectly nice ceiling. In the time it took to take a breath, four assault rifles were pointed at her.

She'd heard all the rumors, of course, and all the variations derived over the years. Ambitious grunts made plans to take over Osaba on a fairly regular basis, but her boys had always managed to snip any future rebellions in the bud. While she couldn't yet ascertain the particulars of why this particular coup was successful, she had a fair idea. Akiyoshi joined her posse a couple of years back, figured out her system, and bribed her boys enough to get most of them to turn on her.

It was with some bitter pleasure that she plotted out her revenge, even as a gaggle of turncoats led her into the woods. Akiyoshi claimed that his was a bloodless coup, but she knew they planned to kill her outside of town and would use the Raiders as scapegoats. Hirokazu was among the group, but she could count on him. He and Kenta had been her aces in the hole since they joined her so many years back. When an opportunity opened up, Hirokazu would neutralize the others in the group and go with her to regain access to the school through Kenta. From there, Kenta would create a diversion and she'd be able to plant a bullet in Akiyoshi's brain.

If only these idiots would lower their guard...

What came next was the last thing she expected. An unarmed man jumped in front of the group with the oddest looking creature she'd ever seen close beside him. He smiled pleasantly at them and didn't waver even when two rifles pointed at him.

"Hi, guys," he said with surprising self-assurance for someone being faced with three cocked guns. "I'm here for the pretty lady."

The little blue creature next to him piped up, just as cheerful: "Hand her over and no one gets hurt."

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Hirokazu slip his gun quietly to the forest floor and step back. One of the other men in the assassination group shoved her to Hirokazu and stepped up to challenge the intruder. She would have thought he didn't have a chance-

The blue creature charged forth to ram its head against the attacking trio's shins, making them lose their balance enough for the unarmed man to yank away their guns. The would-be assassins quickly regained their balance and charged, though it served little purpose once the stranger dodged past them and swung his joined fists at the back of the closest man's head. That would-be assassin fell forward, unconscious, as another slammed his fists into the stranger's back. The stranger jerked reflexively and stumbled, but not before his creature companion kicked the attacker's legs out from under him. The one would-be assassin still standing kicked the little creature away, but it rolled along its back and regained its footing fast enough to counter-attack and cling to its attacker's legs. Though hurt, the stranger gathered his wits and took advantage of the opening by repeating his knock-out attack on the attacker. The third was knocked out by the creature in one quick head-butt.

After a quick stretch and an audible pop as the stranger straightened out his back, he winced. "I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning. Are you guys okay?"

Ruki blinked in disbelief, still surprised that the stranger and his creature managed to take on three armed grunts. Hirokazu answered for her, thankfully, even as he busied himself with slicing through the plastic ties around her wrists. "Yeah. Thanks. Who're you, anyway?"

"I'm surprised you don't remember," a dour, if familiar, voice called out from the bushes. Her suspicions were confirmed when the blond stepped into the clearing. He seemed no happier to see her than she was to see him. "You got Kai and his girl killed, if that rings any bells."

"His girlfriend is quite alive, or was before the coup," she snapped. She was faintly aware of Hirokazu murmuring that he would have done better than the stranger, and some guy with a mild limp asking the stranger where he picked up those fighting moves. The mention of the girlfriend drew the stranger's attention from the other guy, and the blond's face drained of color when the stranger's face whipped around to look at him in confusion. Interesting. "Did you know her too? Looks a bit like that friend of yours."

"We're here to save her and her partners," Takeru said quickly. At least, that's what she remembered his name to be. "Daisuke and Rei will-"

The stranger stared with rising horror at Takeru. "You never told me which team we were going to rescue. Who is it?"

"Daisuke, there wasn't time-"

Realization seemed to hit Daisuke as he apparently came to conclusions Ruki wasn't privy to, and the familiar mix of anger and dread she'd seen so often on other people replaced the horror. "There was plenty of time! Who is it?!"

"The PG team." Takeru looked rather resigned to his fate as he answered. Very interesting.

"WHAT?!" Incensed, Daisuke stalked up to Takeru and gathered the front of the tattered grey trenchcoat in his fists. "Why the hell didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

Ruki rubbed at her sore wrists as the argument went into full swing. Her second-in-command rolled his eyes in disgust and returned his rifle to its rightful place on his back. She tuned out the argument once Takeru countered with the excuse that Daisuke was too happy talking with his friend that he didn't want to spoil the mood.

"They're obviously working for the Rocky Country now, if they weren't before," Hirokazu said quietly. "What should we do?"

While she still wanted access to the Rocky Country's resources, she had a bigger problem at hand. "Getting back at Akiyoshi is a bit higher on my priority list at the moment. Give me time to think and-"

A dull crack of flesh impacting flesh interrupted her, and she turned to see Daisuke stalk away with the confused creature trailing behind. Takeru remained behind, rubbing at his jaw, while the guy with the limp followed Daisuke and the other guy who remained unobtrusive stepped up to look at the newly forming bruise.

Boys, such dunderheads.

With a grunt of disgust at the proceedings, Ruki stepped up to the lead dunderhead. "If you want to save your friends, you need to know what you're up against."

Takeru looked up at her in surprise. "What's the catch?"

"Simple; you help me and I help you. I'll tell you where to go and what to expect, you give me the manpower to oust Akiyoshi." Ruki spared a glance to Daisuke, who apparently noticed them talking and stalked over. "With your friends, there shouldn't be much trouble."

Hirokazu, recognizing the deviation from her original plans, spoke up. "So what do we do, boss lady?"

Though torn between dark amusement at the idea of working with the agents of the Rocky Country and displeasure towards the idea of asking for help, Ruki voiced her thoughts the best she could. "The original plan was for me to wait back here until the moon was at its zenith while Hirokazu went back to tell Akiyoshi that I was causing trouble and killed the others before he killed me." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other strangers gather to listen in and continued as if she never noticed them at all. "We have an insider who is intended to let me in, he answers to Kenta. Now that you all are here and want to save your friends, here's what I'm thinking-"

"We're storming the place," Daisuke cut in more viciously than she would have expected from someone who was grinning in such good nature earlier. She very much wanted to hit him for interrupting her. "They're not expecting us, right?"

"We can't go charging in," Takeru responded, ignoring the wilting glare Daisuke shot at him. "The school is too well defended, and someone has to stay behind to keep an eye out-"

"Fine. You stay behind with 'boss lady' and Patamon here. Rei and V-mon are coming with me. Warren...?"

For the first time, the quiet little blond man in black spoke up. "I'll go too. I am trained in some elements of ninjitsu. If we had someone who knew the place well..."

"That'll be me," Hirokazu said. "I can show you where to sneak in and how to find the holding area. Akiyoshi shouldn't be expecting anything; he's cocky and paid me way too much to off the boss lady." Ruki's curiosity peaked at that, and Hirokazu flashed her a quick grin when he saw her looking at him quizzically. "Shame I like the boss lady too much for that payment to do much."

If that was meant to be a poor attempt at flirtation, she was totally going to kick Hirokazu's ass once all this was over. For now she ignored it and turned to Takeru. "I assume it's all decided."

"We'll wait behind until the moon's zenith, then meet with your insider. Daisuke's group will rescue the PG team and we'll manage Akiyoshi." Takeru looked at her thoughtfully. "Am I missing anything?"

She shot Daisuke a glare. "Nothing, except... I don't care if your rushing in gets you killed, but try to keep it quiet and listen to Hirokazu. The less attention you draw to yourself before you rescue your friends, the better your chances are to survive."

Much to her surprise, Daisuke stuck his tongue out at her and stalked away. Abashed at the sheer childishness, she had no time to respond.

Hirokazu left with Daisuke's party an hour later, leaving her alone with Takeru. If he expected an apology from her-

"Let's go back to the rover," he muttered sourly. "Patamon's probably worried and hungry."

God, she missed being in power. No one would have dared talk to her like that and expected no repercussions. Grudgingly did she follow him, and she was certain he picked the most unfriendly terrain to hike through just to spite her. They eventually reached the rover, but not before rows were raked into her legs by unyielding branches and thorns. The jeans took the brunt of the punishment and she'd probably have to have them replaced later.

Given the previous encounter with the creature named V-mon, she wasn't as surprised as she would have been when another creature flew out of the land rover and into Takeru's arms. It crowed cheerfully in a voice that reminded her of innocent children, and she faintly wondered if such innocence would ever be found in children again. The creature then stiffened and turned to look at her with big blue eyes.

Well, at least it was cute. She raised an eyebrow at its scrutiny and Takeru paused to look at her. "What's wrong, Patamon?"

Patamon looked back at Takeru, bemusement clear on its face. "Not 'wrong,' exactly. There's something, but I can't place a paw on it." With a sudden smile, Patamon continued. "Maybe I'll figure it out once we eat!"

Takeru's look turned thoughtful, and his response to Patamon was almost distant. "Right. Food."

Ruki snorted at that; it looked like Takeru just spaced out. Boys.

While Takeru began preparing supper, she looked over the familiar rover. It still had bullet holes from when her boys shot at it, and there were the remains of a long trip in the rover's bed. Emptied food bundles were balled up and strapped down by cables next to empty gasoline storage tanks and water bottles. Sleeping bags were tucked under the seats, and blankets draped over them. Everything suggested to her that they were on a return trip, which meant that the Rocky Country just might be closer than she thought.

"You won't find anything incriminating," Takeru called out from the campfire. "But since you're over there, care to toss me a water bottle?"

A quick search brought up a full two-liter bottle, and she chucked it at Takeru in hopes that it would impact with his head. It landed harmlessly in his outstretched hands, and she cursed her run of bad luck. Was a little enjoyment too much to ask?

"So, why was your buddy so pissed off back there, anyway," she asked once she got bored of rifling through the rover for something useful. "I'm guessing it doesn't happen often."

Takeru took particular interest in grilling vegetables. "His sister is on the PG team. I... didn't want to tell him before we came here. He was just so happy to see his friend-"

"And you didn't want to spoil the mood," Ruki interjected as she stepped into the makeshift circle around the fire. "I got all that from your little fight back there."

Patamon looked up from washing rice and gave his partner a half-hearted scowl. "I told you to tell him before we left."

Takeru sighed and threw some dried meat into the mix. "I know, I know. Let me have that rice."

Ruki watched as the blond and his partner worked together on the meal. Something about it nagged at the back of her mind, as if she was on the verge of remembering something that eluded her every time she tried to seek it out. "What is that, anyway?"

"He's a digimon," Takeru said as he situated a pot full of rice on a tripod over the fire. "Digital monster from another world. Kind of. It's hard to explain."

"Like spirits," she thought aloud. It made some weird kind of sense, and something clicked. "My grandmother was into Shinto, she believed in nature spirits. Before she died, she made me promise to set food out each night for this protector spirit she thought I had. Never saw any harm in it, so I did."

Takeru and Patamon exchanged glances, which rather annoyed her when they didn't say anything, then Takeru spoke again. "Did that food ever disappear?"

"Of course it did! Do you have any idea how many greedy bastards work under me? Look the other way and anything will disappear. When I was still in power, I could throw a dead rat outside my doorstep and someone would grab it out of habit." Ruki paused as she remembered that she would be sitting at her desk waiting for someone to bring her a hot meal right now, and silently cursed the bastard who sent her here. "I'm sure Akiyoshi has the same problem now."

Still Takeru looked thoughtful, and a little bit disbelieving. "Have you ever seen other monsters like Patamon?"

"No. I've seen a few zoo escapees running through old Hiroshima, but nothing alien." Ruki fondly recalled the tiger skin on her bed, acquired during the breakout of animals from Hiroshima's zoo, and again fantasized about killing Akiyoshi. He'd have probably tossed it out by now, unaware of how close that tiger had come to killing her.

With a shake of his head, Takeru seemed to throw off his train of thought and pull the boiled rice pot from its tripod. He shoveled portions onto little mess kit bowls and offered one to Ruki, which she accepted with a muttered "thanks." She raised an eyebrow as he set a fourth serving at a bit of a distance from the campfire, but said nothing. It was his business if he wanted to continue on old superstitions. However, when she noticed his little pet trying to peer into the ever-darkening trees, she spoke up. "So, what's he doing?"

Takeru looked up from his own bowl of rice and grilled vegetables just long enough to answer. "Looking for proof of something."

With a shrug, she went back to her food. It wasn't bad, just a bit bland. The company could be worse; at least he didn't seem to hate or be disgusted by her. The evening was young, though, and surely he'd do something to sour her opinion. Everyone did, sooner or later.

-.-

"So, you're a ninja..."

Warren sighed and turned to address the speaker for at least the third time that afternoon. "Yes, I'm a ninja. I can't cast magic, walk on water unassisted, or rain death from above. I can't magically disappear in a puff of smoke and reappear on the ceiling. My training has more to do with espionage and military intelligence than assassination. Anything else?"

"Well, you didn't have to be short with me about it," Hirokazu said with a grunt. "I was thinking that if anyone were to go with me into the school, it should be you. But if you're not up for it-"

"What do you mean, if anyone were to go with you? Aren't you going to need all of us," interrupted Daisuke, still a bit anxious from learning that his sister was captured and just plain pissed off that Takeru hadn't bothered to tell him until they got here. V-mon was the only one who seemed to be as irritated as he, and his digimon partner glared at Hirokazu with equal intensity.

Hirokazu gave him a quick, unreadable look and responded. "You're all nerves right now, and this is going to require caution. Stay here in the market until I send Warren back for you. Go ahead and pick a brawl if you want. Warren, come with me. Become one with the shadows or whatever when we run into the guards."

Growling, Daisuke turned away from Ruki's little lackey and glared pointedly at an innocent brick wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed V-mon retreating out of his vision and couldn't bring himself to care much. There were bigger things right now. He didn't have words for everything he felt, only that he wanted to punch a hole in something if he couldn't save his sister now. They had been separated for years and he told her to be careful, but she didn't listen and now she was in danger and there was nothing he could do! And then Takeru just hadn't told him anything, betraying his trust in the process. God, who was he kidding? Takeru had been hesitant about being friends with him from the start, and he'd gone and latched on anyway.

"Hey you," Rei said gently as he laid a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. Though tempted to shrug it off and sulk, he listened. "Feel up to some sparring? I'm a bit rusty and teaching hasn't given me many chances for practicing."

If nothing else, Rei knew how to handle him. He turned and gazed solemnly at his friend. V-mon, he realized at last, had been at Rei's side. His partner looked awkward and confused by the situation, which he might have felt bad about were he not so worried about Jun. "I know, you want me to expend energy so I'll have calmed down when Hirokazu and the ninja come back, right?"

"That was the idea." Rei's smile was dry, humorless. "But if you're not up for it..."

"We're supposed to keep low profiles, aren't we?"

Rei turned to make a survey of the marketplace. No one had noticed them so far, even with a digimon dogging their steps, but if they started a fight now... "Since when were you hesitant, Daisuke? Let's just find a quiet street and spar."

A few minutes later, they found an abandoned playground in old Hiroshima. The grass growing where sand once lay would make a decent fall mat, and there shouldn't be any rocks poking out anywhere. Weeds were in the process of reclaiming the roads and poked out from cracks scattered throughout, dead leaves clogged gutters and any available depression, decay hung in the air, past earthquakes broke down several buildings. It was a common scenario found in every abandoned metropolis.

Rei settled into his ready stance, with balance settled over the good leg, and waited for him to follow suit. V-mon, realizing this was just one of those human things that confused him, sat on a swing to watch. "Remember, everything goes."

He could understand the subtext as clearly as if Rei had said it aloud: don't treat me like an invalid. As he tried to force himself to calm, he stepped away just far enough to be able to watch Rei. Anger, their sensei once said, clouded the mind and left them vulnerable to attack. But sometimes, rarely, the energy could be channeled if one had complete control of themselves.

Rei dodged out of his way as he attacked with the out-thrust side of a hand and redirected him with little more than a raised forearm. For a moment he stumbled, then regained his balance and swept out with an upward-angled kick aimed at Rei's good leg. With a quick sweep of a hand, his ankle was grabbed before it connected to the knee and was redirected in a way that unbalanced him. Unable to regain his balance in time, he rolled aside and returned to his feet. Using the moves they learned together would never work; Rei had always been faster and lighter than him.

Time for a change of tactics. His muscles stiffened as he solidified his stance and balled his hands into fists. Time to use weight to his advantage. He surged forth, his feet grounded each time they came in contact with the ground, and he aimed a fist at Rei's shoulder. As expected, Rei dodged, but fell into his trap all the same. His other fist came up against Rei's unprotected side, making Rei lose his balance and trip over Daisuke's extended foot.

Only faintly was he aware of V-mon cheering for him.

Stunned, Rei stared up at him from the ground for a few seconds. Daisuke just then realized that he could have seriously hurt his friend. "Er, sorry, I-"

It was his turn to be surprised as Rei suddenly laughed. "Been cheating and studying other martial arts, eh?"

Relaxing, Daisuke smiled and stretched a hand out to help Rei up. "Well, yeah, after you kicked me out, I needed to learn more and-"

Having already taken his hand at a point when Daisuke's guard was down, Rei rose just enough to regain his balance and strengthen his grasp on Daisuke's hand. Just as Daisuke's brain suddenly registered what Rei was going to do, his arm was twisted up behind his back and a sharp pang shot up his shoulder from the wrist. Before he could yell at Rei for cheating, he was let go.

Smiling, Rei bowed to him. "Remember, grasshopper, it's not over until defeat is conceded."

He was all set to comment when a movement in the distance caught the corner of his eye. Turning to look, he caught a glimpse of a woman in a monk's outfit walking by a ruined building. She returned his look with solemn blue eyes set in a pale face framed by white-streaked brown hair for just a moment, and then she disappeared into the ruins.

Anything Daisuke was going to say had died in his throat.

-.-

Everything added up to the suggestion that Ruki may just have a digimon and she was completely unaware of its existence. Frankly, the very idea baffled Takeru; Ruki wasn't nice to anyone, didn't seem to have many redeeming traits, and never saw one before V-mon. The disappearance of the digimon's share of the dinner, followed by a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye, only sealed it as a fact. Ruki again dismissed it, stating that animals must have eaten it when they weren't looking.

"It wouldn't kill you to look forward to something, would it," he asked once she shot down his suggestion. "A digimon partner is a wonderful thing to have." Patamon practically beamed at him for that.

"No offence, Blondie, but I have a poor track record of getting anything I want to just fall in my lap. Best I can do is work for what I get," Ruki snapped. She hadn't helped at all when he and Patamon cleaned up the campsite, which only soured his mood and he wasn't up for her attitude anymore. "Besides, why do I need a digimon? I faired well enough without one!"

In an effort to put a damper on his exasperation before having to face her again, he spent some time securing everything back in the rover. "Well, everyone hopes for something," he said conversationally.

Takeru was sure that if he looked back, he'd be able to see Ruki glaring daggers at him. "Oh, let's see. I hope my grandmother doesn't die! Oh, she dies anyway. I hope my mother comes back! Oh, she's probably dead now too! I hope the boys just see me as one of the guys! Oops, I just barely manage to avoid getting raped, he goes to smear my reputation and I end up having to eviscerate him publicly. Did you know that some people shit themselves when they die? And oh, I hope that tiger doesn't eat me! Ended up cornered, having to scrabble for some sort of weapon, and the only thing that saved me was a broken metal rod lying on the ground. I still have the teeth scars on my shoulder, want to see them?" Ruki stopped her diatribe in disgust. She took a few breaths before continuing. "I don't know how sheltered you are at the Rocky Country, but out here in the real world, hope can get you killed."

Words failed to come to Takeru's mind, and the diatribe only made him feel ashamed of himself. Any sort of reassurance after that would be insulting, and silence would only prove her right. The only thing he could come up with was; "I'm sorry."

Ruki snorted in disbelief at that and pushed past him to return to Osaba. He was ready to follow her when Patamon whispered for him to look behind.

Slanted blue eyes in a vulpine face looked back at him, and the digimon in the trees nodded once in acknowledgement. Her voice was so low that he could hardly hear it. "I must confess that I have been negligent in my duties."

Before he could respond, convince her to stay so that Ruki could see her, or say anything, she disappeared.

-.-

Jianliang strode down Iwakuni's corridors with determination born of blood loyalty. His soldiers finally found the person responsible for leaking the information that got Lianjie and his partners captured, and now that person would pay. His pulse felt erratic in his neck as he closed the distance between himself and his prey, and he wasn't sure if the caffeine pills Ryo had given him once were to blame. He hadn't allowed himself sleep until he could find the traitor, and the lack of sleep was wearing him down. How did his double agent manage to go days without it?

By the time he reached the interrogation room, the traitor was already under the lights and sweating heavily. Good. Time to get to work. He sat across from the traitor, put on his best poker face, and began opening and closing an old cigarette lighter's metal lid. The clicking alone made most people nervous.

"Nakabayashi Tadashi, do you understand why you're here?"

The young man quailed under his words and shrank in the uncomfortable wooden chair. "Sort of, sir."

He flipped open the file in front of him casually, looking over the contents with bland disinterest. "You were recruited by Motomiya Jun four years ago. According to her report, you are 'trustworthy, knowledgeable in radio and television technology, creative, and loyal.' Why, then, would you betray her by alerting dangerous parties to her location?"

The lighter clicked again and again as he waited for an answer. Tadashi closed his eyes against the light, though Jianliang was sure the bulb had burned into his retinas by now. "I didn't mean to. I- She- I'm sorry! I didn't know-"

Click. Click. Click. He didn't have to say anything; they usually broke down on their own.

"I have a girlfriend on the outside," Tadashi said at last. He took a moment to wipe away some sweat before resuming. "We talk over the radio late at night, but it isn't enough. It's been so long since we've been together. I just wanted to-"

Jianliang put the lighter away and leaned close, staring unrelentingly behind folded hands. "According to the logs, you have contacted her six times before. Sloppy job of covering up your tracks, by the way."

The traitor looked up at him then, bewildered. "But I thought I deleted those entries-"

"We have safeguards," Jianliang said, his mind drifting for a moment to the backup system and redundancy file saving programs Osamu had him install so long ago. They couldn't save conversations, but they did keep track of access and hours. The most disconcerting thing was that Tadashi was a trusted staff member. What if someone who knew the system could get away with the same thing?

Sighing, Tadashi slumped further in his chair. "All I did was tell her that Jun would be in her town. She just wanted to join me."

Moments passed as Jianliang carefully read the unintentional traitor's body language. While obviously guilty, Tadashi didn't look to have anything other than good intentions. When he came to his conclusions, he rose and turned to the soldiers behind him.

"Put him in holding," he said in a measured monotone. "Ken will decide what to do with him once the PV team reports back and we have an assessment of the damage done."

-.-

The marketplace was empty by nightfall, and most folks retreated to the school or the huts and shanties surrounding it. The rest congregated in the bar, maintained by a gruff man who was none too pleased when his temporary help disappeared shortly after a brief revolution at the school. One young woman hid in the shadows between a couple of run-down stalls and waited for a sign.

Tadashi told her so much about the Rocky Country that she just couldn't wait to meet an agent and ask to be taken back. She would beg if she had to. Sure it was nice to live in Osaba, but she missed Tadashi and a change of pace was welcome. Everything he told her about the place only made her want to go all the more.

When the moon was nearing its highest point in the sky, something odd happened in the marketplace. Two men coming from Osaba met up with two men and a digimon coming out of the cursed part of Hiroshima that no one ventured to because ghosts were thought to live there. Her ears perked in an attempt to understand what they were saying. Something about going to rescue someone? Diversion? The one that dressed in black said something about weak points in defenses and advantageous routes, and that their best prospect would be to follow the bushes as far as they could until they reached the... something or other. They had to be from the Rocky Country, because no one else would dare infiltrate Queen Ruki's lair.

Gathering her courage, she took a few tentative steps into the wavering moonlight. She rather thought it was a good night for infiltrating, if that was their plan; it was a cloudy night and the turbines weren't yet ready to light up the entire perimeter.

"Uhm, hello," she called out tentatively. First to turn and look at her was a rather pretty man she might have been interested in if she wasn't already involved. "I'm Iria, and my boyfriend said you'd be here."

The prettyboy blinked at her in confusion at first, then smiled gently and took her hand. "Hello, Iria! I'm Rei. You might have us confused for another party."

She shook her head and looked at the others. "Is there anyone here named Motomiya Jun?"

A man with goggles on his head stepped up to her. "She's my sister. Why?"

Iria was sure her confusion was clear on her face. Did Jun come earlier and she missed it? Tadashi didn't have the times of arrival available to him, but...

Then she remembered the morning before, when there was a commotion in the market square and two people and a bundle of squirming something were taken away by Queen Ruki's posse. ... Oh. Oh dear. Tadashi said that the radio wasn't being listened in on, but what if Ruki's scientists had found out and reported it to her? Then that must have been Jun being captured and it was her fault and-

Rei's hand alighted on her shoulder in reassurance, and she looked up to see a brilliant smile that made her blush. "Don't worry, miss, we're here to get them out."

"Rei," the man in black interjected suddenly, "can't you wait until after we save those people to start wooing the poor innocent local girls? And really, she already has a boyfriend!"

The other man that she recognized as a member of Ruki's posse suddenly grinned. "Man, I need to learn how to do that sometime."

Rei tsked at them in disapproval. "I happen to be doing nothing. It's not my fault none of you knows how to be gentlemanly to a woman in distress."

"Can we argue about this later," Motomiya groused. "I have a sister to rescue and would prefer to have that done now."

The little blue digimon next to Motomiya nodded enthusiastically, and for a moment she was entranced by it. She'd never seen a digimon before, and if they were all like this one, they must be fascinating!

In time, after several arguments over whether or not to take her and what the best plan of action would be, they let her come along. She followed, listening excitedly as the man in black, Warren, explained something about ninja tactics in his soft voice and Rei's presence at her side made her all too aware of her surroundings. Sometimes V-mon would glance back to make sure they were still following and smile reassuringly at her when their eyes met. They were all surprisingly nice about it.

Once they all reached the gymnasium, she was told to stay behind with V-mon in case it got dangerous. Then, one after the other, they slipped into the gym. Warren went first, slipping as smoothly into the darkness as if he was a part of the shadows themselves. Rei followed behind shortly afterwards, leaving Daisuke twitching at the entrance, and he was followed by Hirokazu. She could just faintly hear the sound of quick jabs to the flesh and Daisuke was waved inside. It sounded like there was a brief fight, and Iria took the moment to talk to V-mon.

"So," she whispered, "are all digimon like you?"

V-mon cocked his head curiously at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, do they all look and act like you? I heard a bit from Tadashi, but he never went into detail."

After looking thoughtful for a moment, he finally responded. "Well, we're kinda like humans in that we can all act different, but not in that we have different goals and ideals. Y'know? It's kinda hard to explain. Like, most of us know that there's a human we're supposed to be partnered to and that makes up most of our lives. Those that don't find their human partners can end up being bitter and mean. And when we find our partners, we're supposed to protect them the best we can. A lot of times we can't help and get left out, and it's frustrating 'cause we're supposed to do something and can't."

She nodded slowly. While she could understand feeling helpless all too well, the thought of knowing you had someone to belong with and spending a life trying to find that someone was a bit alien to her. When she had a response ready, Rei walked up to the entrance and waved them in.

Smoke still hung in the air, but it was rapidly dissipating, and the bodies of guards were slumped on the floor. She stepped carefully over the still-breathing bodies and followed Rei to a chainlink cage at the far side of the gym. Daisuke was busy embracing his sister, and a Chinese guy helped the others drag the bodies into the cage. V-mon bounded past her to meet up with a penguin-looking digimon and one that looked like a mix between a cat and a rabbit. Rei stopped her when she tried to move forward to help lock up the guards, saying that she shouldn't strain herself on the louts.

It was pretty frustrating being left out all the time.

-.-

No words were said as they ventured into Osaba and infiltrated the perimeter, though Patamon made a point to flit around Ruki until she got annoyed and pulled him down to carry him in her arms. Ruki remarked on the good fortune of the guards being out cold, but Takeru suspected that the mysterious digimon might have had something to do with it. Eventually they made their way to the space below a second-story window still sporting a light. One of the scientists he recognized from his last venture into Osaba poked his head out to look over the countryside. When the scientist noticed Ruki, he withdrew long enough to drop a rope ladder out the window and Patamon took it as a cue to flap away. It hadn't taken long for them to climb up it and into the lab.

"Hirokazu said you'd be here," Kenta whispered. "You have no idea how glad I am that we have help." When he noticed Patamon, he suddenly smiled. "Hey, you're a cute whatsit, aren't you?"

Patamon rebuked him for the title, but enjoyed the attention entirely too much to be huffy about it.

Ruki sniffed and knelt at one of the storage cabinets. She pulled out a key from somewhere Takeru didn't want to know about and unlocked it. Hidden within was a pistol so ancient that it had a cylinder for bullets instead of a place for magazine clips. "Colt Peacemaker," she muttered in response to his inquisitive gaze. "Had it for years. Ready?"

Takeru glanced at Patamon, who seemed to be enjoying Kenta's pokes too much to move immediately. "I think your digimon might have already taken out any guards along the way."

"Is that what this is," Kenta asked, pausing in his tickling of Patamon. "Fascinating! Where-"

"Why are you so hung up on the idea of me having a digimon?" Ruki stood and buckled the holster onto her belt. "I can't even take care of a pet!"

"But-"

"Because everything points to it! Patamon's easy acceptance of you, even though you're Queen Bitch, the missing food and unconscious guards-"

"It would-"

"When will it get through your head that I never get anything nice unless I take it," Ruki snapped at him again. "Ugh! Like I'd have anything to offer one, anyway!"

"Oh, come on! I saw-"

"What the hell would I even do with-"

"WAIT!"

Everyone turned to stare at Kenta, who had been trying to get into the conversation for some time. He flustered at the sudden attention and coughed into a fist in embarrassment. "Er, well. I always thought it was weird how none of the other attempts at a coup were successful until now."

"So one asshole got lucky. Big deal." With a snarl, Ruki shoved past them to stalk to her office. Though ready to throw up his hands in exasperation, Takeru followed close behind. It wouldn't do for her to get hurt because he wasn't paying attention. Perhaps unwilling to be left behind, Kenta ran after them with Patamon in his arms.

Eventually they reached the former principal's office, and Ruki flung open the door with enough force that it bounced against the doorstop and caused the window to reverberate. They were all brought up short by what greeted them, though Patamon was perhaps the least surprised of them all.

Akiyoshi was slumped unconscious over the desk, but what drew their attention was the tall, yellow-furred fox digimon standing beside him. Upon seeing Ruki, she gave a deep bow. "My apologies, Ruki. I should have presented myself long before now. My name is Renamon, and I have done my best to protect you. I'm afraid my best may not have been good enough."

An uncharitable part of Takeru's mind rather thought that Ruki was doing a good impression of a fish that had suddenly found itself on land.

---

Note: For some reason the fight scenes were a lot cooler in my head. Oh well. All unfamiliar names are from D-1 Tamers (except Tadashi, who's one of Takato's classmates). Rei is also from that game and any similarities to the Rei from V-Tamer are purely coincidental. Please let me know if Rei (or anyone, really) comes across as a Marty Stu.

Two-parter episode, obviously. Also, there is a cut-scene available for this episode that couldn't fit in anywhere, and it can be found here: ajora . livejournal . com / 2006 / 12 / 29 /