Frontiers Unexplored

38) Rose Morning Star

The train thundered its way towards Rose Morning Star, and the Legendary Warriors sat inside alongside their Digimon guides. They had gotten lucky. After the battle against Duskmon and the Beast Digimon army, the group retreated to the train station for one final chance to recuperate before the final battle. A Trailmon, one of very few monsters who still dared to roam the Continent of Darkness, arrived by chance, and the group hopped aboard to make their journey to Rose Morning Star a bit shorter. They hadn't seen any Trailmon since first arriving in the Continent of Darkness, and they were more than happy to take this as luck as a sign of potential good fortune to come. 

Koji had been sitting in the far corner of the train car ever since first settling down. He had been hoping silently that Koichi would elect to join him, and much to his relief, his brother decided to take a seat at his side. Koji watched Koichi with a careful gaze, not wanting to say anything that could possibly rub the other boy in the wrong way. He could tell just how much Koichi was hurting beneath the surface, and Koji wanted nothing more than to lessen that pain. 

"Are you okay?" Koji questioned as his eyes met with Koichi's matching pair. "I know that fighting against Duskmon like that must have been a lot for you." That sure was an understatement. Koji didn't know what else to say about it though, so he let the simple sentence speak for itself. 

Koichi nodded in response, and a light smile graced his features. "Don't worry about me," he assured Koji. "I'm going to be alright. It caught me by surprise, but... I'm not going to let him bother me anymore. I was responsible for terrible things while I was under Cherubimon's influence, but I'm not going to let that drag me down for the rest of my life. He exploited my worst emotions and turned me into a monster. I want to show the world that I've changed, and I'm going to fight by your side to defeat him once and for all as proof."

"You don't need to prove to us that you're different from Duskmon," Koji pointed out. "We already know." Koji had known from the moment that Koichi was purified that he was far from being the same monstrous creature that Duskmon had been. Hell, he had even known before then when he saw the panicked eyes of Koichi's hazy outline. He had been aware of such when he heard just how terrified Koichi was beneath Malkakomon's terrifying layered voice. 

Koichi rubbed at his eyes, seeming to realize that he wouldn't be able to hide his tears no matter how hard he tried. "Thank you," he murmured, choking the words out around the lump that had appeared in his throat. Despite his attempts to hold back the torrent of emotions, tears began to stream down his cheeks, but Koichi didn't bother to wipe them away. 

Koji surprised even himself with what he did in the moment that followed. He closed the distance between himself and his brother by throwing his arms around Koichi's body, pulling him into a tight embrace. Koichi was still at first, shocked into being a statue by Koji's sudden forward behavior. Even so, it didn't take long for Koichi to relax into the hug, and he returned it a moment later. Koichi's head rested gently against Koji's shoulder, and the reverse was true as well. 

Koji had never been a particularly affectionate person. He suspected that he would have been different if he had the influence of a mother in his life rather than only living with his father, but because Kousei was the only one around throughout his childhood, Koji had no way of testing his theory. He had detested physical contact under most circumstances because it reminded him in a twisted way of what he didn't have. He lacked the love of a family, and the only connection that he was familiar involved burning enmity and endless bitterness. 

But none of that mattered as he sat on the train in another world beside his brother. Kousei was the last person on his mind, and Koji was more than happy to keep it that way. All that he cared about was the fact that he could leave his grief in the past. He still had a bone to pick with Kousei, to put it simply, but he was willing to set it aside for a short while. Koichi was more important than his rage towards Kousei ever could have been.