Chapter 38 : Fragile Mind

Koushirou

A peek out the window confirmed that there was a police patrol car driving slowly down the street. Some people on the streets were looking at it funny, but none were curious enough about it to ask. I pulled the curtain shut and sighed, once again facing my computer screen. I hated being watched all the time, it was unnerving, but it was nessicary. I suppose it was better being watched my the authorities than some psychotic murderer. But would it really do any good? Aymichi had slipped past them before, breaking out of jail so easily, so effortlessly. How had he gotten so good at that? What was he doing before he decided to go on a mission to kill off the Digidestined? I was sick of these questions; everyone was. When you've been left in the dark for so long, you really start getting tired of wondering.

I was a prisoner in my own home; the outside world was not safe to venture into. The world that had been so familiar and friendly had become dark, mysterious and withdrawn. Every street corner was a potential hiding place for a criminal mind, and every stranger was suspicious. This was paranoia and lack of confidence in the people that were supposed to be protecting us, wasn't it? But who really trusts the police anymore? The world was full of losers that get by by becoming cops. Did you know that people of that occupation are some of the most underpaid? And they said our tax dollars were going to a good cause. Ok, yeah, I don't actually pay taxes yet, but I will, and the idea that that money was going to waste was degrading.

And well, I will pay taxes, providing I live that long. There are three of us dead you know. Takeru, Mimi, and Joe. Dead, deceased, gone, buried. The cold truth was so simple to choke out but so much harder to accept. The suddenness of everything was crazy, everything changing for the worst in a matter of months, weeks, days even. Blah, my head's been through this before. And my mind was getting so tired of it. I just wanted that bastard to be caught and locked up so life can go on as best it can. It's the least I can hope for. The dead were not coming back, but the living could move on. So that's all I was asking for. For Aymichi to be caught, punished, whatever. As long as he was off the streets and no longer a threat to my friends and I.

The phone rang. I didn't bother moving, my parents would get it. They've been taking turns getting off work to stay home with me, afraid to leave me home alone. It was really sad, I felt like a child, confined in my room like I was grounded or something. I wasn't allowed anywhere. My dad picked me up from school every afternoon and drove me there every morning. I wasn't allowed to drive myself. I wasn't allowed to visit the others anymore without the accompaniment of a policeman. I felt like the president's kid walking around with twenty secret service details trailing me. It wasn't fun.

I sat there in my room, in my foldy chair by my barred windows. Being constantly bored left me plenty of time to think about all the crap I didn't want to think about. It gave me time to wonder about the situations, analyze them a million times over, memorizing each detail of each horrible event I had witnessed. You could only dismantle your computer so many times after all; there was a limit to how much you can up the preformance levels. You can only play pinball so many times to patheticly entertain yourself. You can only break your own records so many times before achieving impossible perfect score. There wasn't supposed to be a perfect score allowed for pinball because you could keep that ball in the game forever. But calculating the mechanics of it all proved otherwise.

"Izzy!" my mom's yell broke the silence of my room and the screaming of my thoughts. I gladly exited my room to see what she wanted. To clean the house, to fix the TV, whatever, anything to do on this Saturday afternoon was more than welcomed. I walked through the hallway and into the kitchen, where my mom was putting the phone back on the hook. Her expression seemed to be distant, like she was thinking about something. "Mom?" She snapped from her thoughts and looked at me; "Oh...the police just called. They found some information about the murderer...they wanted to know if we could go down there for a bit. The others are coming too."

I would have gone even if the information didn't intrigue me, it would have been a chance to see my friends after a few weeks of being locked up. Sure I saw Tai at school, but Sora seemed to have dropped out, and I didn't get to see Kari often. But the information did intrigue me and I was even more eagar to go. What did they find out about Aymichi? Did they know what his insane motives were? Did they know why he was doing this? Did they find out where he was hiding? What kind of weapons he possessed? What his next move was? What did they find? "So what are we waiting for?" I asked my mom, who seemed to have zoned out again, as I grabbed my jacket. "Let's go! And can I please drive this time? I haven't driven in a month."

The police patrol out by my apartment trailed us to the station, always keeping an eye out for me. The road was recently plowed and salt had been poured everywhere, more traction for the wheels of the vehicle. Snow was piled up on the sidewalks, stained with dirt. People bustled about, casting glances at us at times, wondering why we were being followed by the police. The drive was rather short for the station was not far off, but I enjoyed it anyway. It felt nice to know that I hadn't forgotten how to drive. I didn't even know why I had been barred from the car in the first place, but oh well. Several other cars were parked outside the building. One of which I recognized to be the Kamiya's, though the Takenouchi's van was not in sight.

My mother and I went inside, and police from the patrol car followed us. Inside, Tai, Kari, and their parents were already waiting. Apparently, they didn't want to start until we were all there. "Hey." the Keeper of the Crest of Courage greeted simply. Hikari said nothing, but was instead eyeing the FBI that was standing in the corner. As I took a seat next to my friends, the FBI walked forward, papers in hand. "Sora isn't coming." Tai told me quickly, "We were just waiting for you." I nodded, but did not reply as the agent handed each of us a copy of whatever he had in his hands. He then stepped back and started talking.

"You said the murderer of your friends is Aymichi Resuko, yes? That was the name he gave you when he confronted you all Halloween night, right?" We all murmured agreements. "We finally found a file on him; he wasn't in the regular database because well, he had no criminal record." I found that fairly surprising, the guy seemed very skilled at what he did, a professional criminal. The FBI continued on. "And according to his file, Aymichi Resuko is supposed to be dead. Or at least he was assumed dead, his body was never found." the man motioned to the papers in our hands. I glanced down and read the big fat 'assumed dead' that was stamped over a blurry image on the file.

The file was actually very, very small, containing little information. The photo had horrilbe quality and the person in it looked only eleven or twelve years old. "His apartment went down five years ago, it was in what is now that 'old' section of Odaiba. Everyone in the building died in a fire. But his body was the only one not recovered from the ruins. No one really thought much of it, they figured his body burnt up or something on those lines." the FBI explained. I nodded slowly and looked sideways at Tai. The once self-proclaimed leader had his brow wrinkled like an old man, appearing very deep in thought. "Is that all?" Mrs.Kamiya asked.

The agent nodded solemnly, "Yes, it isn't much, but I thought you might want to know." Taichi and Hikari's mother scoffed, "That doesn't help anything! Knowing that that psycho's supposed to be dead!" she said almost angrilly. My own mother simply sighed and stood. "Thanks though, officer. It's nice to at least know that you are working on the case." The FBI nodded, "Of course." and walked away, leaving the six of us there in the lobby of the station. Mr.Kamiya rubbed his chin, "Shall we go then?" We all stood up and started to the exit. "Can we visit Sora?" The goggle-boy asked, pushing open the door and letting a gust of winter wind blast into the building.

"Well..." Mrs.Kamiya started, but her husband interrupted her. "I don't see why not. You guys haven't seen her in weeks have you?" The two siblings shook their heads; I turned to my mom. "Yeah, we can go too, c'mon." she answered before I even asked, climbing into the passenger seat of the car. I smiled, and got in as well. The Takenouchis lived near the Kamiya's apartment complex, so the drive was longer than the one to ths police station, but like I before, I didn't mind driving at all. Grey clouds swirled in the sky, swelling with moisture and threatning to drop a thunderstorm. Distant rumbles confirmed the threat, and became louder with every growl. A dandy day to rain.

We pulled up beside Sora's apartment, a patrol car sat on the street corner. The complex was tall and omnious looking against the dismal sky, the sky our friend was named for. I wondered how she was doing. I haven't seen her since she disappeared from school right after Joe's death. Taichi said that her parents said that she didn't feel well at all. I hoped she was alright, the last thing we needed was for her to lose it. I rang the doorbell, and for one reason or another thought about what Sora had to go through when she found Joe's ... body. It was disgusting to think about what Aymichi did to the Keeper of the Crest of Reliability. I shuddered mentally, I could see why Sora would be shaken up by such an experience. But there was a fine line between between grieving and becoming unhealthily depressed.

The door opened a crack and two eyes looked out. They belonged to Mr.Takenouchi, "What do you want?" he asked gruffly, seemingly annoyed. "We're here to see Sora." Taichi answered unwaveringly. "She isn't in any condition to have visitors." the man answered and started to close the door. Tai stuck his foot in the crack to prevent that, "Please, Mr.Takenouchi. How is she? Maybe we can help her feel better." Sora's father glared for a moment, then with a huff opened the door and let us in. Courage, Light, and I went directly to Sora's room, while our parents stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Takenouchi in the living room. Sora's parents seemed overly nervous about something, and kept looking at each other.

The door to her bedroom was opened just a bit, revealing a dark, gloomy room inside. Tai pushed it open and stepped slowly inside. The blinds were pulled shut, not allowing any kind of light to seep through. Everything in room was eerie looking, the most normal items somehow looked out of place. A dark shape sat by the window, a heavy blanket draped around her shoulders. Her hair was unkept and sat wildly on her head like a savage jungle. She was facing away from us, and did not seem to acknowledge our entering. In truth, I might not have recognized her if I hadn't known already who she was. Hikari seemed to draw back upon seeing her. I stood at the door, but Taichi walked boldly forward, "Sora?"

She did not answer, didn't move, didn't even flinch. The Keeper of the Crest of Love sat as still and silent as a statue, staring unblinkingly at the tightly drawn blinds of the window. It was scary,...because the scene was familiar. Too familiar. She was exactly as Yamato had been in the hospital. Withdrawn, unresponsive to the people that spoke to her. Ghawds...I hated to think of what would happen if Sora ran off like Yama had. Gone off to seek revenge upon the loved ones that had been killed. But she wouldn't...Sora had much more self-control that Matt...she wouldn't go and do something that stupid....would she? I blocked the thought from my head. Didn't want to think about it.

"Sora? Are you alright?" Taichi spoke again, walking closer. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sora hissed shrilly and unexpectedly, pulling her blanket closer around her body and shuddering violently. Our leader recoiled, surprised, but not discouraged. "Sora..." I stepped forward as well, I wasn't going to let Sora be drawn in by the thoughts that plagued her. Loosing her to the thoughts of revenge and hatred would almost be as bad as loosing her altogether. "What's wrong?" It was a stupid question, but really, what was I supposed to say? Don't go on to the Dark Side?!

She didn't turn to face us, but her expression darkened dramaticly. "You know very well whats wrong." she breathed under her breath, her voice full of venom and spite. It was really scaring me. "Sora...don't do this...you're turning into Yama..." Hikari squeaked frightfully, I had almost forgotten that she was there, but she spoke my mind right there. Sora flinched a tiny bit, then growled. "Am not." she denied, though I couldn't tell if she believed that or not. Tai sat down on her bed, and sighed. "Please Sora, you're really worrying us." I nodded, though she couldn't see it. Kari sat on a chair by the door, as if she wanted to be ready to run.

Could we save Sora from the consuming thoughts that ate at her mind? Could we save her from what held Yama so tightly in its grasp? We could try...Sora could be helped...she wasn't like Matt, she had tried to dispersuade him from going off in the first place hadn't she? She had to have believed that things would get better at one point. She just had to see that hope again. That's all. We could help her...we could. Sora just needed support. We could save her from the darkness. Man, that sounded so corny. If I had been reading this somewhere, I might've laughed and made fun of it. But I was living it, and it wasn't funny at all. Sora's sanity might depend on our support. And sanity was such a fragile thing these days.

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© Kiriska