"You guys look dead." Tenade-san crossed her arms at the six people looking back at her.

I couldn't help but give the group a withering stare, which made Kiyoshiro and Koutarou gulp as I asked, "You stayed up the entire night?"

".... A bit?" Dan seemed unsure.

"Dan, what time do you think it is?" Monica November, Dia's cousin, looked concerned for him. "You look so tired..."

Shin Parker muttered, "All night looking at Lirurun's cases... Even then... It was not easy."

"They said the clues were right in front of us but it makes no sense!!" Dan grumbled.

Yuga was going over the CCTV footage from yesterday with Touma, so I went over and asked, "How is i-"

I faltered when I saw both of them turn over with huge bags over their eyes. Yuga had covered his head with his hood while Touma had a headband on and both looked exhausted.

"Nothing... I don't get what they meant about the clues being enough!!" Yuga growled. "Ranma and Light don't know either. Even Lizzy struggled and Dad mentioned it could be something connected to his partners, but..."

Kiyoshiro had his head on the table, slumping as he said, "It's over... It's officially over..."

But the person who definitely caught me off guard was Koutarou. For one, he didn't seem like he had bags under his eyes as he looked at the cases on Lirurun. He also seemed to have a sense of focus, frowning ever so slightly. I wasn't that used to seeing Koutarou this focused. Usually he was flirting with his boyfriend or, sometimes, other girls, which actually never made sense to me. He was bi, sure, but he did seem dedicated to Hiro so why did he do stuff like that in public?...

"You should sleep, you know," Shin Michelle picked her husband up as she dragged him off despite his protests. "What?! No!! And endanger-"

She just knocked him out and sighed. "You guys should rest up. Really. It won't do if you stay up like this."

"But what if there are people being hurt?!" Dan protested. "Just like... just like..."

He and Yuga shared a glance, and I asked, "The case with Lily-san?"

"Yeah..." Yuga sighed. "I feel really bad... we could have saved those Digimon if we had been faster..."

"That... isn't exactly true," Uju suddenly spoke up, making us turn to him as he rubbed his neck. "I mean, from what you told me, it sounds like regardless of the situation, they would have killed the Digimon. My guess is that they were lying in wait for you guys to show up. Maybe they were confident that their luck would allow you to show up at that time. Either way, the door being left open probably shows it was premeditated, but about the fusing part... could it have been a failure from the evolution attempts?"

"Huh?" I blinked. What did he mean?

"Well, I doubt they could have accomplished any of this without... experiments..." he looked away. "So..."

"... That's..."

Blues looked sick as well. "That is insane. Who would... who would...? Just for a Digivice?!"

"It wasn't easy building it from scratch," Asagao-san snapped as she walked in. "I had to work my *** off just for it to actually work, but for the love of all things natural in this world we never had any failed evolutions! Don't accuse us of that!"

"I-I mean..." he... faltered a bit, looking away from her, and I felt annoyed as I said, "Hey! Uju didn't mean it. It was just a guess!"

She frowned a bit but sighed. "... True, sorry, kid."

"It's fine, Asagao-neesan," he said. "I just... jumped to conclusions."

A soft smile then formed on her face as she ruffled his hair slightly. "You weren't that far off, though, so good job."

"Thanks," he said. 

Why did they look so natural, though?

"What do you mean?" Hiro asked. 

"Well, experiments did happen. We made sure everyone got the evolutions they wanted and it wasn't easy. For one, we had to do tons of research into it, and then we..." she faltered, eyes conflicted. "... Nothing."

Why did she stop? I was a bit surprised by that, but then Koutarou spoke up as he looked up, "Blues, you did print some of the cases you thought Akashiro-san would want to take on right?"

"Yeah? Why?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The others... I think I remember a toy land was mentioned when we saw them on the third of Dec."

"Toyland Mystery?" I immediately caught on, briefly remembering it. "Tianheng's partners are mostly toy-based!"

"That's why we couldn't find it! The request usually gets archived after it's looked at!" Kiyoshiro gasped. That was my and Kiyo's bad; we had made it that way so no case repetition would happen.

"So that means...!" I rushed back to my room, which was thankfully on the same floor, and grabbed the rest of the printed requests, looking through them as I ran until I found the aforementioned paper, arriving to hand it over to them before I collapsed on the sofa with Pamiri, Akinori's Youkai guardian, as the others leaned in.

Dan read it aloud for us, thankfully.

There is talk of a land where people can become themselves and not judge each other... I thought it was impossible until I saw a portal open up to others and... I saw a humanoid creature and a smaller one watching from afar. I saw a world where humans and other creatures were all smiling happily and...it looked like paradise... I... I find myself wanting that world, little by little, and it scares me, because rumours have it that only one person from each family can enter, leaving the rest of the family to a curse where they are frozen to death. Please... I'm scared that someday I will lose my sanity to this insatiable desire...

The real shock came when the picture was shown.

"PETERMON!" Kiyoshiro gasped.

"And Tinkermon, too..." Jellymon gaped.

"Who now?" I blinked.

"Tinkermon was a Sin Code underling who wanted to revive Petermon after he died to Shiramon and Petermon was a Digimon who just wanted to hold onto the belief that children should stay children," Hiro said. "He was kidnapping kids to his wonderland, but he stopped. Plus, if he was the culprit he wouldn't be just watching."

"I suppose this means they were watching and investigating as well," I realized. "We should ask them for help, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah. That would help a lot," Koutarou nodded, and NamaBushomon climbed onto him as he said, "We need to finish this case as soon as we can."

Huh? "Kou, I get you're worried but why the rush-" Hiro reached out but Koutarou shied away, giving a nervous laugh. "It's nothing, Hiro-sama! Nama and I agreed on that, so that's that!"

Why did he seem so... burdened? He had never seemed so tired before but now that I looked at him for sure, I could see that something was definitely on his mind, so when the others slowly began to disperse to get ready to head to our world, I walked over. "Hey, Koutarou."

His body seemed to stiffen, but he turned around and gave a laugh. "H-Hey, Akashiro-san!"

"You okay? You're acting out of it," I asked.

"I-It's fine!" He looked away. "I'm just a bit worried about the situation, is all! And Hiro-sama is counting on me!"

"Koutarou, is there something... is there something you're not coming clean about?" I frowned. "You seem to be hiding something."

"I..." he went quiet, and then he sighed as he sat on the sofa. "... Remember when I was slowly losing myself to the Sin Code?"

"Yeah?" I had only seen him once but I had heard about it from the others.

"... My sloth... wasn't just about academics," he admitted. "It was also... about how I felt about others around me."

"Huh?" I blinked while Pump climbed onto my lap. "Friend?"

"Hey, Pump," Koutarou smiled while patting his head, before he continued, "I... I grew up not caring about myself. Not because of my family, no way! They were amazing! It was... the stigma of not having parents that stuck to me. I... I had given up by the time I had met Hiro-sama, but even after everything, I still don't care... I'm apathetic about my feelings and I don't want to acknowledge them. It's too much of a pain."

"I... I can relate to that, Koutarou..."

"I guess, but..." he gave a bitter laugh. "I wish I could care about myself, but I can't. I have to be cared for by Hiro-sama... After November, though, I realized how weak I truly was. I was useless in the fight... and Hiro-sama struggled alone. With Gulus, with everything... I hadn't supported him whatsoever. But it's... now reflex, and I... even though I'm dating him, I feel like there is a huge gap between us because he grew so much and I didn't... I'm still the flirtatious Nomura Koutarou..."

"Koutarou..."

"But that's just me!" He got up. "I don't want to burden you with this, so pretend I didn't say anything and let's go and save Tianheng!"

I... I wasn't sure if he could help out in this emotional state, but I couldn't judge him when I felt that way as well, so I sighed and got up as well, holding onto Pumpmon as I said, "I can't convince you otherwise, but if you feel like you need to pull back, I'll back you on that."

"Akashiro-san...!" He smiled a bit. "That's not really needed, but thank you."

"I mean, I did kinda scare you in the past when Hiro brought you home to introduce you to me, so we're even now," I said jokingly. 

"It just... it means a lot because I was adopted by my granddads," he laughed. "Having an actual parent is an entirely different feeling, I think."

"Hirokazu and Kenta, right?" I asked. 

"From Takato's generation," he confirmed. "They did try, like how Haru-san and Tagiru-san did, but it's a different feeling, you know?"

"I get it, so don't worry. I'll try to help as much as I can," I promised while giving him a smile. "So don't worry about it, Koutarou. Neither of us are alone, so... we shouldn't hesitate to lean on Hiro and the others."

"... Got it. Thank you." He smiled back, but a part of me felt like it was only half-genuine. I could only hope he could open up someday... He deserved it...

"Oiii, Koutarou, Eos, we're leaving now!" Dan called out from the entrance, which made us share a glance before we nodded. 

As we walked over, I couldn't help but adjust my purple shirt and white jacket nervously at how the others seemed to assume I was Eos today. Pretty accurate, but I didn't know how to feel about it. Philip-san's words were coming back to me. 

My true identity...? He knew something, and it was frustrating to not know, but, how had he known I was still struggling with gender dysphoria even after identifying as gender fluid? I hadn't even realized until after the Dark Mist arc. 

I was half-tempted to call him again to ask what it meant, but something held me back. I knew that I had to go through this on my own and all that, yet... there was a shortcut right there! Why wouldn't I take the chance?

Then, I remembered when Wuliang had battled his Papa. Even though he had a clear shortcut, he had wanted to fight and work hard in order to reach that point.

Maybe... I could do the same? Maybe I could aim for one point to help me endure ?... But what would I...?

Then I remembered my promise to Uju. I had promised to help him find out what happened to his grandparents, to help him find closure fully about them. 

But what I truly wanted to do... was to stand with Uju through everything in life, be it good or bad. As a... l-lifelong companion.

I didn't know what this warm feeling was. It felt as foreign even now as it had during that one time in high school. I was so confused, but I was also very curious. I wanted to know more about these feelings, I wanted to discover more... With Uju. I wanted to find out more and learn and grow with him. 

I wanted to hold his hand through everything and reassure him that everything would be alright. 

The mere thought had me covering my face. Gosh, this was so embarrassing!

Despite that fact... I found myself embracing the feeling for once. 

A small step in my long road of recovery. 

(One small step forward, two steps backwards when one slips on blood.)

+ SPIRITUAL DIGILEMMA +

We once again found ourselves at DigiHarmony as Luisa the Renamon and Neemon, Bokomon's husband and fellow leader of the village, met us with Petermon and Tinkerbellmon at the entrance of the ever-migrating village. I waved a bit to Ophanimon Falldown Mode when I saw her passing by, and she smiled while waving back. She definitely seemed happier than before!

"It has been a while, hasn't it, Amanokawa Hiro?" Petermon greeted him as Tinkermon giggled. "Hey hey!"

"Hey, it's been a while. I was wondering if you were looking into this case?" Hiro quickly held out the picture of the two watching... Something.

Petermon frowned, noticing the severity of the situation as he nodded. "I had been hearing of situations when humans were taken to a different world to be 'saved from a calamity,' which I did not understand. However, my investigations have led me to believe that this world is... Not as blissful as it seems."

"What else is new?" Yuga drily pointed out.

"Can you elaborate on that please?" Touma asked.

"To cut it short, this world takes your body and decomposes it. Basically, it turns you into a ghost," Tinkermon said with a serious face. "The world dumps it out into a river and ejects any unwelcome visitors out."

"I-INTEGER OVERFLOW..." Kiyoshiro stumbled.

"Then what's the part about protecting people from a calamity? And how can it only be for one member of the family?" I asked.

"That... Is the baffling part, I'm afraid," Petermon admitted. "I did not get a lot of time to investigate the situation, but if I had to make a guess... Perhaps the creator of the place lost their family, and so it can be considered a projection."

"Lost their family?..." Koutarou repeated. "So... They're projecting their trauma onto others?"

"That is one way of phrasing it. Accurate, even." Petermon seemed surprised. "However, we do not have any supporting evidence that this is the case."

"Do you know the pattern of the disappearances?" I asked him while getting out my notebook to scribble down notes.

He shook his head. "I believe they are pretty random."

"So this is the game Yü Tianheng was referring to. Interesting!" Yuga hummed.

"Sounds like a challenge to me!" Dan said.

Touma smiled. "So it's all about staking out and figuring out where it shows up."

"In a way," I agreed. "Let's split up into teams then."

"Sounds like a plan!" Jellymon agreed in Kiyoshiro's stead considering he was knocked out.

"We should split up into groups to ensure we cover all our grounds," Natsume said.

"I'll go with Ichi to the downtown facilities," Dan volunteered.

"I'll go with Yuga to the shopping district," Ranma decided while grabbing his boyfriend and making him squeak.

"Darling and I'll go to Hazakura to check on the situation there," Jellymon decided while hoisting up the unconscious male.

"Natsume and I'll go with Petermon and Tinkermon to the other Digimon villages," Touma already had the Youkai Watch Ogre out as he said this.

"Kou, let's go to the business district to check on things there," Hiro suggested.

"Totally!" He smiled, but now that I knew how he felt I realised just how empty his eyes seemed.

Poor Koutarou...

"Can... Can Uju and I join you?" I spoke up, making Hiro blink but nod. "Sure? If that's okay with you."

Uju shrugged, "It's not like I have anything else to do..."

"You don't?" Dan blinked. "What about your parents?"

"Oh, they're usually pretty busy so..." He sheepishly smiled.

"You celebrated Christmases alone?!" Natsume gaped. "WE HAVE TO RECTIFY THAT!!"

Touma placed a hand on his shoulder, making him turn to see his solemn and empathic face despite the blank tone he used. "Don't worry, we can celebrate it together under the moonlight and mistletoes."

"M-MOONLIGHT?! M-MISTLETOES?!" His face flushed the colour of his hair while I felt my face heat up as well. What the **** Touma?!

The others all chuckled as Pumpmon giggled. "Friend so red!"

"Pumpppppp!"

"He's not wrong, though." Yuga grinned.

"Kid, don't push your luck," I warned despite the fond smile threatening to break out, which only made the rest burst out laughing.

This was really, really nice... if only Koutarou could feel the same way. He still looked pretty numb...

Oh, Koutarou... How can I help you feel again?

The four of us soon started flying away on CanoWeissmon from the others as we split up to find the portal to that world. Hopefully we could find it right away... 

"Wow, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Koutarou exclaimed, which made Hiro sigh as he agreed, "If only there was a pattern..."

"Hm..." now that we knew his name, maybe... I got out my phone and texted Semo-sensei, 'Mind looking into Yü Tianheng? Figure out if he has childhood trauma or anything related.'

He got back to me pretty fast. 'He was diagnosed with PTSD after his parents died mysteriously. He was sent to a mental health facility shortly after.'

"A mental health facility?" I repeated to myself. I then texted back, 'Was he in remission like Asagao-san and Morinomiya?'

'Let me check...' he said, and I waited before he typed out a reply, 'Apparently yes, but I don't know what could have triggered it to resurface.'

'Could you ask Asagao-san and Morinomiya?'

'I'll do that now. Blues has been eying both of them with this mad scientist glint for a while and I don't like it.'

I shook my head fondly. Blues was way too intense at times. 'Thanks, Semo-sensei.'

'No worries, kiddo. Stay safe, okay?' 

'I'll try.' Was all I said before I closed my phone and yelled out to the other three, "Tianheng has PTSD!"

"Over what, is the real question," NamaBushomon frowned. 

"Could be related to Digimon," Hiro offered. "They've been around for a while, haven't they?"

"Before we were born, they were already roaming around," Koutarou pointed out. "So the actual question is how do we stop him."

"Empathy?" Uju then suggested. "Maybe he just wants to be heard?"

"Point taken, but Perfectio... they seem less and less insane and more and more traumatized when I think about it," I hummed. "Maybe not Akira but..."

"Empathy huh...?" Koutarou looked away.

"Kou?" Hiro frowned as he hugged him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Hiro-sama! Don't sweat it!" He waved it off. "Just a bit tired, is all."

Physically, or emotionally? Oh Koutarou... I could only watch with a frown. I really wished I could help out, but it wasn't my right to tell them about him.

Then, I got a call from Ichita. "Eos-san! We found the portal! Venoclaw and Elfin are keeping it open at the moment, so please hurry!"

"Alright! We'll find you so tell the others!" I answered before the call ended. "CanoWeissmon, Dan and Ichita found a portal! We need to get there right away!"

"Oh!" He roared as he turned around and sped up. My arms wrapped themselves around Uju as a reflex, and I felt the heat rush to my face again. Oh this was so embarrassing!!

Still, we soon saw the others flying over to Dan and Drago who were waving as we landed to see Ichita's Aura holding the portal open.

"HURRY! I DON'T HAVE... MUCH ENERGY LEFT!" Ichita yelled, and we shared a glance and nodded. One by one we dived into the portal, and as we were the second last one, I saw Dan and Drago grab Ichita before the portal snapped shut.

The demiboy immediately collapsed onto the ground, panting while Dan supported him. "That portal... It felt malicious. Not just digital aura, it felt... Magical in a way."

"That's not a good sign. Does that mean Perfectio managed to access other worlds thanks to their other inventor?" Jellymon asked.

"Could be, but we can't truly know," I said as I dusted myself off. "Let's get going. We should look ar-"

"I fail to see why you would when you're not going anywhere," A familiar voice said, making us pale as we turned to see Tianheng and Jaltermon standing side by side while we were surrounded by various people, Digimon, Youkai, and so on... "Also, the open source situation gave us more opportunities, so thank you."

"Wha-" None of us had a chance to respond before we were all grabbed and forced to our knees.

Suddenly, I couldn't move as I felt ropes being tied to my wrists and body before we were kicked to Tianheng's feet as he smirked, a Youkai standing beside him, most probably the one that inspirited us to keep us still.

"You thought we wouldn't know of the portal that was kept open? I commend you for keeping it open, Shinkawa Ichita but it left you drained and unable to do anything," The Fragmented Evolved Digimon smirked.

"You genuinely want to keep evolving your Digimon this way?!" Hiro demanded angrily. "They're all suffering and-"

"Oh cry me a river and get over it! Digimon made my life MISERABLE!" He kneed Hiro in the stomach, making him fall to the ground in pain while Gammamon screamed, "Hiro!"

"W-What do you mean, Digimon made your life miserable?" Kiyoshiro stammered.

"My parents are gone because of one. One single Digimon left me unable to do anything! It was only when I met Akira-nii and the rest that I could finally get over it! But!! That ****ing tree was still alive and you!!" He pointed a shaking finger at Hiro, eyes burning. "YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!"

"... Wait... That was..." Koutarou stammered.

"His name was Jyureimon, I believe," He coldly answered. "He killed my parents, laughed at my face and called me a weakling! Saying life was a gamble and that he didn't care for others!! Unforgivable... Unforgivable!! SO I WILL TAKE IT OUT ON THOSE WHO SAVED HIM! WHO LET HIM BE! KASHIWAGI MIKA, AMANOKAWA HIRO, GAMMAMON, SHIRAMON AND WRATHIRAMON! ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE, DIE, DIE!!!"

And then... It hit me. He had come out of remission because... He must have seen Jyureimon during the Gluttony arc...

"Tianheng...."

"The... We're considered illegitimate DigiDestined because we don't fit the mold, as Amanokawa Hokuto claimed. He threw spare parts on everyone's face and laughed at our pleading! You.... YOU'RE JUST LIKE HIM, AMANOKAWA HIRO!! SO I WILL END EACH AND EVERYONE ONE OF YOU SO-CALLED DETECTIVE-"

"Why... Why not take a gamble then, if you think life is that?"

Koutarou!?

He looked at me, blue eyes pleading with me, as if he was saying, "Trust me."

And... And I didn't know why, but I nodded. I... I wanted to trust him, I found. But why?

"Excuse me?" Tianheng looked surprised.

He forced himself to his feet, eyes steeled over as he made eye contact. "You can take all the people who hurt you out if you take the gamble. All you have to do... Is to win one game."

Tianheng seemed intrigued as he snapped his fingers, allowing Koutarou's binds to come loose. "Game? What game?"

Koutarou grinned while holding out... A Dungeon World deck?! "A Buddyfight. You have a deck as well, don't you?"

"H-How did you?!" Tianheng stammered as his hand went to his belt, where I saw that, true to Koutarou's words, he did have a deck case.

"The rules are simple. You win the game, Perfectio wins. No conditions on my side. So it's a lost situation for me either way," He said as he raised his hands. "But you can get all the people you want to get rid of and more. Even Akashiro-san, who hurt your partners, will be surrendered to you, be it by will or force."

"You... You're for real now?"

"I am for real. I swear by how much I love Hiro-sama."

"But you're handing him over to be killed?!" Natsume gasped.

"Natsume-chan, I'll be frank." Koutarou grinned as he looked back. "I never make a bet that I can't win when it comes to games."

"But your skills-" Kiyoshiro was stopped by Yuga, whose eyes were bright as he said, "I need to see this for sure."

"Yuga!" Garga looked shocked. "We could be killing people if he loses!"

"That deck... That gaze, I'm sure of it, he has a plan. Something that will change the tide for sure."

"But it's Nomura-k-"

"I think we should trust him, guys," I spoke. I had a promise to uphold, and even if it didn't work out, I was prepared to fight my way out, because even the most optimistic chances of Koutarou winning were pretty unrealistic. I didn't know when he had gotten the time to build a Buddyfight deck with how limited the packs were. (Trust me, I had bought them for Gammamon and Solisamon, Lumos' Child form, and it was THAT limited.)

Still, something inside of me was telling me to trust that Koutarou would deliver. It was a long shot, sure, but he was trying, and...

It had to mean something as well, right? Hard work should mean something in the long run, right?

Tianheng gave a sharp grin. "Very well. If you insist."

With a snap of a finger, the space changed, and Uju caught me as we were suddenly in a stadium, with Tianheng and Koutarou standing across each other. Thankfully, Jaltermon had devolved, but the pain was clear in their eyes as they went to one knee.

Just how bad were these Fragmented Evolutions?

Nanana Ion, official Buddyfight commentator and Yuga's surrogate cousin (long story involving his adoptive mom who was Ion's aunt), then showed up. "I didn't expect there to be one so soon after the worlds became open source! But here we are, with Yü Tianheng and Nomura Koutarou facing off! Tianheng is representing the popular group, Perfectio, while Koutarou is representing the Mystic Detectives, the group that banded together to fight against Haavik! How will this battle go?! Well no one can tell!"

"You're going down, and I'll finally get my revenge on you all." Tianheng's eyes were dark. "You will pay!"

And a mark glowed powerfully on his heart, making me frown. "That's...."

"The Fragmented Code," Hiro paled. "Kou... Please be careful..."

"Let's have both sides Luminise!" Ion yelled while virtual boards appeared in front of them.

"Melancholic yuki-onnas dance in the snow! I will create a castle of my own and CRUSH you with it! Luminise, Melancholic Ruins!" Tianheng chanted.

"My turn! A conviction formed by trust and a promise-" His eyes landed on me and he grinned. "- will never falter! Pride and joy come together for this one deck! Luminise, Slothful Determination!"

"Buddy..." Ion cheered.

"Fight!" Yuga and Ranma yelled.

"Open the flag!" The fighters chorused.

"Legend World!" Tianheng announced.

"It's Dungeon World for me!" Koutarou grinned. "And my Buddy is Overlord of Sloth, NamaBushomon!"

My eyes widened as NamaBushomon's form shifted to a slightly familiar one. "Wait, Hiro, this is!"

"He managed to get the data for that form!?" Hiro gasped.

At one point, a young girl programmer had borrowed the Sin Code Digimon and their underlings for a real-time RPG to raise funds for sick kids. We did manage to beat the game but I hadn't expected this of all things!

"Long story," I quickly said to a confused Uju.

"My Buddies are ToyAgumon, ClearAgumon, and YukiAgumon," Tianheng coldly said, disdain clear in his tone. "I start. Draw! Charge and draw! I call to the center, YukiAgumon, to the left ClearAgumon and to the right ToyAgumon!"

Tianheng's Life: 10 -> 13

"Oh no! How will the opponent go up against this?!“

"This isn't all I have, you know," Tianheng said while holding out his Digivice, which spat out a card as he placed it at the center. "I call to the center, Dissociated Digimon of Melancholy, Jaltermon!"

"Hold on, what?! He's already pulling out his ace this early into the game?!" Ranma frowned.

"That will definitely bite him on the butt later," Yuga agreed, a frown on his face evident.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that," Tianheng called out, an arrogant smirk forming as he added, "A crit of 10, Attack of 30000 and Defense of 30000, not to mention a size of 0! And his ability activates! If I pay all my gauge for it, I can make all defense spells in your hand go to the drop zone!"

"What?!" Koutarou paled, watching 3 cards go into his drop zone while Tianheng continued, "Attack Phase! Get rid of him!"

Jaltermon laughed and said, "With pleasure!"

"Ugh!!"

"KOU!!" Hiro was definitely terrified as we saw his life points take a steep drop.

"I cast, Morpheus Mirage!"

Koutarou's Life: 10 -> 0 -> 10

... Wait what?

"What just-"

"-happened?!" Dan and Ichita chorused.

"It's not a defense spell, but it allows any attacks to miss according to its size!" Koutarou grinned while NamaBushomon chuckled.

"Grrr...! My turn ends!"

"Then it's my turn! Draw! Charge and draw! I call to the right Gummy Slime and to the left I Buddycall NamaBushomon! Both of you attack Jaltermon!"

Koutarou's Life: 10 -> 11

"I cast! Holy Grail!"

"Grr! My turn ends." He growled.

"It's a stalemate but Koutarou is at a disadvantage here!! What should he do to win?!"

"We are going to lose our friends at this rate!" Natsume panicked.

"Ahhh, if only it had been Yuga..." Kiyoshiro paled.

"Look! Not even your friends have confidence in you, much less yourself! You think I can't see past the bravado?! You're nothing but a spineless coward whose laziness makes him stand out!" Tianheng laughed. "My turn! Draw! Charge and draw! I Move Jaltermon to the right and equip Sceptre of Midan with a cost of one life!"

Tianheng's Life: 13 -> 12

"Its ability triggers! Jaltermon now has an additional 5000P,  and when that happens his second ability triggers; he can block any attack from any part of the board, be it center, left or right! Attack the fighter!"

"I cast! Divine Protection of Shalsana!"

Koutarou's Life: 11 -> 1-

"I cast! Melancholic Despair! Using this I can pay 1 gauge to get rid of both monsters on your board and deal damage the amount of their crits!"

"What?!"

"But... But..." Ion looked pale. "NamaBushomon has a crit of 3!"

"Not to mention..." Tianheng smiled evilly. "You get double the damage AND get your defense spells nullified if you're not using the same world."

"HOLD IT WHAT THE ****?!" Ichita gasped.

"There was that one card in the Tomodachi SRS flag that had a similar effect, but... Oh Kami... Oh Kami this is bad... That's a crit of 8!?" Ranma paled.

Koutarou grunted as the attacks hit him, both his monsters going to the drop zone.

Koutarou's Life: 11 -> 3

Tianheng was downright cackling now. "My turn ends here! So! How does it feel to be so helpless?! How does it feel to be so empty!?"

Koutarou was quiet, fists tightening, but... His posture told a different story.

He was ready to fight.

No, maybe the right way to describe it would be that he was prepared to go down fighting if needed.

"Well?! What do you have to say for yourself, seeing how you're about to fail eve-"

"... Why is your Code Melancholy?"

"... H-Huh?" We were all taken aback by this sudden question.

"As you're acting now, honestly you could have fooled us into thinking your Code was Hubris, but... It isn't. All the words you've been saying, who are they really for? Me? Or... Are you trying to punish yourself for not saving your parents from Jyureimon, even though the situation was out of your control?" He asked, eyes soft.

"W-What are you-"

"Empty? I feel that all the time. This ain't new for me. I..." He sighed. "We're not that different, actually."

Huh?

"My birth mom died giving birth to me and my birth dad was too overwhelmed with work, so my godparents took me in. I know I joke that they're my grandparents, which is technically true, but... The experience I had isn't the same as others. Sure, they tried and I love them to this day for it, yet it could never fill the void here." He pointed to his chest. "The same feeling you felt because your parents were killed. The same feelings Dan and Dia felt which led them to be taken over by the Codes. All of these feelings, they culminate under one category; melancholy, because... You feel empty, numb... All you can feel is your body going limp."

"Kou..." Hiro's eyes softened.

"I couldn't do anything to help my own boyfriend. My own partner manipulated me before." He chuckled bitterly. "Turns out... All I am is a punching bag. No feeling, just physically there."

"... What did you think I chose you as my tamer for then?" NamaBushomon suddenly asked from beside Koutarou as he popped up. "You thought it was because you were lazy and fit the bill?"

"Isn't that the truth?"

He shook his head. "No. I... I actually chose you because I also wanted to find someone in this world who could look at my pain and say, 'That must have been hard.' HE made me seem like a sadist, when really, I was just following what I knew innately. You.... You changed me. The day I saw you hugging one of your classmates and comforting them... Koutarou, you moved my heart to bits. You showed me what it was like to feel. You forgave me even after I used you as energy fodder. No one... No one I know can do that. And that's why... That's why we click. Not just you and me, but you and Tianheng. Because at the end of the day... We want to be rid of the numb heart we have. Yet, is self-care truly that hard? You dating Hiro, you indulging in games... Doesn't that show you can feel as well?“

"Nama..." Koutarou's eyes widened.

"You and I, the four of us are peas in a pod. And emotions are scary but hey, processing them with those you love goes a long way. So don't worry too much and keep moving forward. Reach for the skies and grasp anything you want! Be you! Don't flirt with girls to fulfill stupid societal standards!“

"I... I..." Koutarou smiled, wiping a lone tear. "Gosh you're right. I'm an idiot."

"Always, but you're the idiot Hiro loves. That's all you need, Kourou," The Digimon smiled.

"Heyy," He pouted, but he smiled and turned back to the game, and music began to play.

His eyes narrowed. "Alright, let's do this. I Call Overlord of Sloth, NamaBushomon, to the center, and activate his ability which can only be triggered if he is killed once! I send the item you are using to the drop zone! I cast! Sin of Sloth! With this I freeze and send all the cards on the field to the drop zone!"

"He is doing awesome!!" Hiro cheered.

"So that's what I was sensing!" Yuga suddenly exclaimed, making us turn to him as Touma asked, "What was?"

"Ranma, if you thought I was insane with my instincts, then Nomura Koutarou is a legendary final boss," He grinned, making Ranma gasp. "I couldn't place my finger on why he seemed so different, but now I get it! Nomura Koutarou works on reflexes and strategy, balancing them somehow! He's not smart academically, yes, but if he were a Brawler or a Buddyfighter... I'm willing to bet he would give all the former Youth members a hard time. If any title were to fit him the best... Well, I think the Ace of Games is appropriate. Because he embodies the point of a game; to challenge and have fun. You can just see it on his face! He's definitely enjoying this battle!! The true Ace of Games, if I had anything to say about it, would be Koutarou!"

And indeed a grin could be seen as he yelled, "Time to end this! I pay three gauge to evolve NamaBushomon to his Mega form, Morpheusmon, and then! I activate his ability! He can clear the entire hand from the opponent! Size 3, Crit 5! I pay 1 gauge and equip Conquering Blade, Dungeon Domination! Let's go, Morpheusmon!"

"Oh!!" He roared, and as both rushed in, Ion gasped. "Hold on, this card has a second ability!! It says, 'This monster and others can attack a grand total of seven times if there is a link attack!'"

"That is indeed otherworldly!" Petermon chuckled.

"You got this, kid!!" Tinkermon cheered.

"One time!" Morpheusmon roared as they both attacked Tianheng.

"Ugh!"

Tianheng's Life: 12 -> 5

"End this, Morpheusmon!!" Koutarou yelled.

"You got it!" He grinned as he rushed in, and swung his claw...

Striking the mark spot on and causing a huge light.

When it receded, I blinked multiple times to see people beginning to stumble away. Huh...? Were we out of that world?

Then I saw Koutarou standing in front of Tianheng, and he extended a hand to him as he said, "You were awesome back there, Tianheng! Honestly I would love to Buddyfight if possible!“

His head swiveled upwards. "You... You want to be around me? After I..."

"The aim of the battle wasn't to win. It was to find an opening to smack sense into you. But hey got extra growth along the way," He shrugged. "No complain- oof!"

"K-Kou... I-I... I'm so sorry I didn't... I should have..." Hiro was sniffling while hugging him.

"Hiro-s- No, Roro, listen." He made eye contact and said, "I chose to do all of that. It's not your fault for not noticing. I'm sorry for holding you back, actually. So... I don't mind if you want to break u-"

"No way!!" Hiro argued. "I love you Nomura Koutarou! There is NO way I'm breaking up with you! You hear me?! No way!"

"Roro..." Koutarou's eyes widened, but he smiled as he brushed a stray tear away. "You try so hard. And I'm... I'm going to put in effort to be there for you as much as I can. I promise you that, so... Let's keep this going, okay?"

"Of course!" Hiro smiled, and the two then... They...

"GAH!!! WHY NOW?! COVER THE CHILD'S EYES!!??!!!!" Dan and Ichita covered a perplexed Tianheng and confused Pumpmon's eyes while the rest of us laughed at the two kissing so passionately.

Koutarou and I then made eye contact, and he winked.

I just smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

He could get away with this for one day. Just, one day.

Any other day, I would slaughter him, but today he did bring up a good question;

Was fully accepting emotions possible?

There were many questions I had, but maybe not for today. It was emotionally taxing as it was.

venusaura owns Monica November and Pamiri.