Frontiers Unexplored

52) Spiraling Toward Hell

For the most part, the Legendary Warriors had come back together even after dividing to take a deep breath and sigh with relief that the battle against the Royal Knights was over. They only wound up needing a few minutes before they were back to being up and ready once again, and Koji found it shockingly easy to gather everyone that he needed to speak to about Koichi's peculiar behavior. 

Hinoka was stroking Salamon between the ears, and the small dog Digimon was humming gently at the contact, clearly infatuated with the affection that Hinoka had to provide her with. There were were a few other members of the group watching them both, and one of them was Mayumi. By this point, the party had primarily split off into two prominent groups, and Koji was relieved beyond imagination that the three people he was targeting were all together. 

Izumi, Saki, Junpei, and Haroi could also be found in this group, and Patamon was perched gently in Izumi's arms as she gave him similar doses of physical care to what Hinoka was doing with Salamon. The other three Digimon, along with the other five humans in the group, were together a short distance away. Koji didn't give them much of his focus, instead steeling himself to ask the difficult question. 

"Can we talk for a minute?" Koji questioned once he could finally force the words to form. He had shoved his hands haphazardly into his pockets because he was desperate to feel something between his fingers. He worked the fabric inside of the pockets over between his pointer finger and thumb, allowing the subtle motion to ground him as he prepared for the nerve-wracking answer that he feared he was about to receive. 

Hinoka didn't even seem to notice that Koji was talking to her at first. She was so caught up in looking down at Salamon that she didn't recognize Koji was watching her until after Saki had tapped her on the shoulder before pointing in the direction of the Warrior of Light. Hinoka immediately snapped to attention, though Koji had to admit that she seemed significantly less tense than he was used to seeing from her. "What is it?" she questioned as she continued to stroke at the back of Salamon's head with a deliberate, careful touch. 

"Have... Have you noticed that Koichi has been acting off lately?" Koji asked. Hinoka's eyes glassed over with concern, and he took that as a cue to continue. He was too nervous to stay quiet for too long anyways. "He seemed fine when we were all together before the fight against Alphamon, but when we came back together... I don't know. He just seemed different, and I have a really bad feeling about it. Did something happen while you, Mayumi, and Salamon were with him to make him act like this?"

Mayumi was the one who responded to his inquiry first. She shrugged as an anxious smile spread across her lips, and Koji couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it was her way of softening the blow. "I honestly don't know what to tell you... He just started acting off when we first got to Rubrum. He seemed to be distracted by something, but I don't think I would be able to tell you exactly what it was. He and Salamon wound up splitting away from me and Hinoka since we were trying to find a way off the moon. Salamon, did you notice anything off about him when you two were alone together?" she questioned.

Salamon was slow to offer an answer, and each passing second where the silence hung in the air made Koji feel a little more nauseous. "I don't know what to tell you there... He just sort of started acting that way after we got to the moon. He decided to try and make contact with the original Warrior of Darkness while we were there since Rubrum holds the tombs of the Legendary Warriors. He didn't make any progress in reaching out the first time that we went to the Temple of Darkness though," Salamon explained. 

"What happened after the fight then?" Koji questioned, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice and failing. Nothing about this was sitting well with him, and he needed answers as soon as possible. It didn't make sense to him that Koichi, someone who had been so open and sincere up to that point, would suddenly close away from the world. It was anxiety-inducing at best and utterly terrifying at worst.