"Good morning. This is Mrs Yagami."

Natsuko battled to stifle a groan. Of all the people in Tokyo who could have telephoned her, it had to be Yagami Hiruko. If she were calling again to ask her to keep Takeru away from Hikari so that her daughter could concentrate on her studies, she was going to give her the piece of her mind that she should have given her a long time ago. It was all very well to encourage her to do her best and to try for a private school, but it was wrong to isolate her from her friends. She could not expect Hikari to spend every moment of the day in front of her books, while her friends were enjoying themselves, yet Natsuko doubted even that would have been enough to satisfy Hiruko.

"How can I help you, Mrs Yagami?"

"Is Hi . . .Hikari there?"

There was a slight tremble in the other woman’s voice as she said her daughter’s name. She sounded as if she were on the verge of tears. What on earth is going on?

"I’m afraid not," she replied more gently, "Takeru’s sick at the moment. He wouldn’t be able to have visitors. Why? Whatever’s wrong?"

On the other end of the line, Hiruko began to sob - sharp gasps of breath that seemed torn from her. Natsuko held the phone slightly away from her ear, both embarrassed to hear the other woman break down in tears and worried about what would cause her to lose control of herself in such a way. After a few moments, however, Hiruko composed herself enough to speak: "When I woke up this morning, Hikari was missing from her room. She must have left in the night, but . . . but I don’t know where she’s gone. I think . . . she’s run away from home."

"No. . . ." Natsuko breathed, unable to believe what she had just heard. In the two years she had known her, she had become almost like a daughter to her. She had never thought that Hikari would run away from home. She had always seemed like such a stable, sensible girl to her. The pressure of exams must have gotten to her, as it did with so many other children. There were always reports of children committing suicide because they were afraid of disappointing their parents. Perhaps Hikari had left home for the same reason. She did not know how her son would handle the news. Takeru would be devestated. She could not tell him until he was completely well, "I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do . . . ."

"There is, actually," Hiruko replied, sounding calmer, "You work for a newspaper, right?"

"I’m a freelancer, but I’ll make sure to get them to run an article in tomorrow’s paper about it," she promised, "And I’ll phone , and get him to broadcast it on the station’s news. I know he’ll be happy to help you."

"Thank you, Ms Takaishi. I appreciate it," she paused, "I must go and phone my husband now. He’s on a business trip in Osaka and will want to know."

"My pleasure. And I hope you find her."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye," she replaced the receiver with a click.

Her mind a whirl of confusion, Natsuko slowly walked back to Takeru’s room. Yagami Hikari was missing, and her son had claimed to have seen her the previous night. He had said she was in danger, that she was vanishing into a dark ocean. She had no idea what that meant, and she doubted that it had any significance to whatever had happened to Hikari. It’s just a coincidence. It’s impossible that he could have actually heard or seen Hikari last night. People can’t reach across space like that. They can’t call other people for help when they’re blocks away. It’s just impossible. It was just a hallucination brought on by Takeru’s fever, wasn’t it?

There was no denying her son was very ill. He had spent most of the previous night tossing and turning, before finally falling asleep in the small hours of the morning. Much to her relief, as she pushed open the door, she saw he was sleeping peacefully now. He seemed completely relaxed. His long legs were sprawled gracelessly across his bed, and his right arm dangled over its side brushing the carpet beside it. His face was still flushed, though, and there was a slight crease in his forehead between his eyes. He looked as young and innocent as the child he had been only a few, short years ago.

Running a gentle hand through his damp hair, she whispered, "Did you see Hikari last night, Takeru? What has happened to her?"

*

Feeling like the lowest of the low, Taichi slowly removed Hikari’s diary from the drawer and placed it on the desk in front of her. He knew he had no excuse for what he was about to do, other than desperation. There was nowhere else to look, no-one else to ask. His mother had phoned everyone they knew, had checked all the places Hikari might have gone, and there was no sign of her. It was like she had vanished into thin air. If there was any clue about what had happened to his younger sister, it would be found in her diary. And, at the moment, he did not care if he was invading her privacy, if it would bring her back safely to him.

"I’m very sorry, Hikari," he whispered, as he picked up one of her hairclips and used it to jimmy the diary’s cheap lock. In a matter of seconds, it clicked open under his hand. He had not expected it to be so easy to do, and he wondered if Hikari had known how poorly and flimsily her secrets were protected. Swallowing guiltily, he flipped the book open to a random page and read what she had written:

Tears pricking his eyes, Taichi looked up from her diary. Hikari had a chatty style of writing that made him feel as if he were listening to her speak. While he had been reading the entry, he had kept expecting her to come around the corner, smiling and teasing him about Sora. It was hard to believe that she would not, that she was missing. It was all the more reason to find her. He turned forward a few pages:

Guilt surging back up in him, Taichi dropped the diary onto the desk. No matter how desperate he was, he had no right to pry into it and read his sister’s most private thoughts. She would have died of humilation if she knew he had found out how she really felt about Takeru. Even under the circumstances, it hurt that she had not trusted him enough to tell him about it. What else has Hikari been hiding from me? What other feelings has she been keeping bottled up inside her? Why didn’t she come speak to me? It’s my fault that Hikari’s gone - my fault for not being more observant -

"IT’S ALL MY FAULT!" he screamed, sweeping his arm angrily across the desk. Her ens and pencils clattered to the ground, making a spill of colour on the floor. Her photos of the other Digidestined stared up at him accusingly. He could almost hear their voices telling him that he had failed, that he had been a terrible brother, that he was responsible for what had happened to Hikari. Paper rustled down around him, black with his sister’s neat handwriting. Every character was an accusation. Amongst the other chaos, her diary had fallen face-up, its pages outspread and its spine split. He sunk to his knees when he saw what was written in it, his muscles weak, his nerves trembling. Over and over again, in watery, grey ink, were two kanji: Dark Ocean.

*

I give you . . . the stalker’s guide to Takeru’s bedroom. <grins> Seriously, though, I was doing my homework in front of Digimon - bad habit - so I had a pen and paper on hand. I thought I’d sketch Takeru’s bedroom, if I needed it.