#(If anything is Great At It Now & Koushiro Understands Perfectly)

[izumiyagami14]

Dusk to Dawn

enlightenmonth // [day 1-4] morning or and evening Summary: after a long night of hanging with friends, Hikari asks Koushiro to walk her home. As they walk together in the late night, they ask each other deep questions take enlighten their perspectives on one another. Happy Enlightenmonth, everyone! I’m so excited to see everyone’s work! Bear with me with my writing (haven’t written anything Koukari in a couple years…) I hope as the month goes along my stories will be better!

Two silhouettes walked side by side down the house’s walkway, away from the loud tempo beats and laughing crowds. The chirping of crickets and the cooing of doves drowned out the upbeat music with each step the two took away from their friend’s house. Koushiro’s hands were shoved in his pockets and his eyes were locked on the ground beneath him. Hikari, on the other hand, was light on her feet and humming a soft tune.

“Aww, you two are leaving so soon? But the party just started!” A voice shouted from the balcony of the house, causing the two to stop in their tracks and turn around.

“Yeah, Mimi! I have something to do in the morning and asked Koushiro to walk me home!” Hikari shouted back. “Thank you for inviting us! Tell Taichi that I will meet him at home!”

“Will dooo~! Thanks for coming!” And with that, Mimi skipped back into the party.

As soon as the balcony door slid shut behind her, Koushiro let out a long, unknowingly held breath and the two continued walking. “For only being back from America for this short of time-,”

“She sure does know a lot of people,” Hikari finished his sentence. She glanced over at the boy next to her. His hands still in his pockets and eyes still on the ground. He looked so tense from where he was.

Koushiro mumbled under his breath, “What did she mean ‘the party just started?’ It’s almost three in the morning.” A tiny giggle escaped Hikari’s lips from his statement, causing him to look up at her and slow his pace. She skipped along the path in front of him, still humming to herself.

After a couple minutes quietly observing the optimistic girl, he managed to ask, “So, what do you have in the morning?”

Hikari stopped humming and slowed down a bit. “I’m, uh, meeting a friend for pancakes in the morning. Haven’t seen them in a while.”

Koushiro squinted his eyes at the sound of her wavering voice, but decided best to ignore it. He let out another uneasy breath and trudged along.

As the two walked side by side, Hikari could sense the tenseness slowly radiating from the boy. She could hear the overthinking gears in his head. Every thought. Every calculation. Every probability. It needs to stop.

“Hey, Koushiro?” Hikari asked, looking up at him.

“Hmm?”

“What’s your favorite childhood memory?”

His head quickly turned to meet her gaze. Flustered, he responded, “What? Why would you want to know that?”

“Just trying to make some conversation, silly. We still have a while until we’re back at the good old Yagami residence.”

“Huh? Favorite childhood memory...” he repeated the question, bringing his hands finally out out of his pockets to run through his hair. “Let’s see...”

Even with his mind digging through his memories and thoughts overtaking his steps, she could see his shoulders loosened a bit and his hands were not ready go back home to his pockets just yet. She chuckled, “Take your time.”

When her eyes rested upon the boy’s face, they widened. A soft smile she had rarely seen before landed on his face. “I think my favorite childhood memory would have to be baking with my mom.”

His contagious smile found its way to her face. After admiring the unique sight for a moment, she said, “Now your turn, Koushiro. Ask me anything.”

“Okay...” He put a pondering hand under his chin. “What is something you’ve wanted to do for a while, but haven’t done it yet?”

Hikari copied his gesture and puffed out her cheeks in thought. “Hmm... Well, they’re many things. Write a poem. Bake a cake. Oh, I know! I’ve always wanted to see the sun rise above the ocean. All the pinks and purples and oranges mixing in the water below would be an amazing sight to see.”

Koushiro was a little shocked by her answer. “You mean to tell me you haven’t-,”

“Nope! Not yet. It’s on the tippy top of my list of things to do though.” She said, making a stacking gesture with her hand as she spoke.

“I would have thought that you have seen it at least once....” He was still stunned by her remark.

Hikari shook her head and exhaled a laugh. “Just haven’t had the time to, I guess.”

Their conversation was stopped abruptly as they reached a fork in the path. One lead straight back to the Yagami residence, the other had a couple detours but did just the same. Koushiro started taking the first path, but Hikari stopped in her place, looking at her hands in front of her. When he realized she wasn’t following, he turned around.

“Hey, Hikari, is everything okay?” Koushiro said with a concerned look on his face. “I know I’m going the right way, so it couldn’t be that…” he mumbled, thinking of any possibility as to why she’s not following him.

“Everything’s fine. It’s just…” she inhaled deeply.

Koushiro gave a puzzled look, “Don’t you have something tomorrow? Let’s get you home safely.”

“About that…”

“What?” He asked, walking back toward her.

She responded, looking at her feet. “I might have…kind of made that up.”

Koushiro stopped walking and took a second to process what she said. “Then why did you ask me to walk you home?”

“To be completely honest with you,” she slowly replied, still avoiding his gaze,but walking toward him. “You looked a little uncomfortable being there. Sooo, I thought I could help with that.”

Koushiro’s eyes instantly grew wide and blood rushed to his cheeks. “You didn’t have to do that, Hikari. Now you’re missing the party.” Because of me. “Let’s go back-,” He started to turn back around.

“No, no!” She shouted, grabbing his arm and looking straight into his dark eyes. He looked upset with himself, something she did not want to see at all. “It is perfectly alright, Koushiro! I know that you love your friends and are willing to do anything for them, even when it puts you out of your comfort zone, but everyone’s ‘social battery’ runs out eventually.”

The two stood there in silence, her delicate hand still resting on his stiff arm. Koushiro let out an embarrassed sigh and looked into her eyes. “Are you positive?”

She smiled back at him. “I promise. It is completely okay with me. You don’t have to fight battles by yourself.” He tried to smile back at the girl in front of him, but his eyes darted downward to the hand still resting on his forearm. Hikari’s eyes followed his gaze and she moved her arm back to her side. “Besides, I don’t mind talking to you. I like your company.”

Koushiro brought a hand to the back of his head and scratched. Letting out another uneasy breath, he gathered enough courage, stuttering, “Hey, um... Do you want to take the longer way home? Since you apparently don’t have anything in the morning...”

Hikari smiled. “The more scenic route? I would love to.”

Silence fell between the two of them, but neither of them wanted it to stay. Hikari knew she had to think of something quick before he retaliated back to his old overthinking habits.

“New question,” she started.

“Ready when you are.”

“What’s your biggest regret?” She asked, keeping her eyes locked on his face to see any kind of expression. Sure enough, he was surprised by her choice of question.

He scrunched his eyebrows and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “You are really bringing up deep questions.”

Hikari waved her hands in front of her. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“No, no! It is quite alright,” he replied as he placed his hands back in his pockets.

A moment of silence allowed the cicadas to echo in the night sky and dance with the sound of the pair’s footsteps on the concrete. Hikari hopped onto the wooden outline of the path and started walking the line like a balance beam. Koushiro was still lost in thought until realization hit him.

“I think my biggest regret as of right now would have to be not hanging out with the other digidestined as much as I should.” He looked at his feet and started counting his steps to himself. It’s a trick he did to help his mind from wandering off. He wanted to leave it at that, but something urged him to keep talking. “I want to get to know each of you more and make that effort, it’s just been… difficult for me.”

Hikari slowly nodded her head and jumped back down to his side. She lightly nudged him with her elbow. “Well, you’re doing great right now.”

“Because it’s you.” He said before his thoughts got the best of him. He felt his face get hot from his words and brought his hands to his cheeks. “I mean… you’re easy to talk to. You don’t judge me. You understand, if that makes sense.” He paused for a second to think his way out of this. “Did I really look that uncomfortable at the party?”

She giggled before saying, “Just a tad.”

He grumbled in defeat. “Why am I like this?”

“Is that your next question for me?”

“Pardon?”

She laughed again. “It’s your turn to ask me a question. Was that it?”

Koushiro looked at the girl next to him and slowly shook his head. He saw what she was doing and smirked. Thanks to her, it was time to change the subject.

“Okay, Hikari…. What is your biggest joy in life?”

“Oh, look at you with your deep questions now.” She giggled, causing a blush to form on Koushiro’s cheeks.

“I’m just making my observations.” He defended himself.

She looked up to the night sky and subconsciously started counting the stars. It didn’t take her long to count all of them since there was too much light pollution from the city. “I guess my biggest joy in life is… I don’t know, I can’t pick just one.”

Koushiro cocked his head to the side. “Well, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, there’s my family-my biggest support system. There’s being with my friends, like Takeru, you, Sora… but I also find joy in helping others,” she sighed and glanced over at him, who was already staring at her.

When they made eye contact, his eyes darted away and looked back at the ground. “You can have many joys in life. I don’t want to make you choose just one.”

When he said that, Hikari stopped walking and looked up again. “What time is it?”

He pulled out his hand out of his pocket and looked at his watch. “It is 4:17am to be exact.”

“Golly, time is flying by,” she responded.

Koushiro hummed in agreement and turned his head to the left. He saw a path winding around the corner and the light bulb went off in his head. “Let’s go this way,” he pointed the different direction. “There’s something I want to show you.”

A little startled by his change of mood and curious by what he meant by that, Hikari gave a slight nod. “Okay.” The birds in the trees started singing their early morning tune as the two walked. “My turn then…” she started. “Where is the one place where you feel most like yourself?”

“Uh…” For the first time in a long time, Koushiro’s mind went blank. He continued to look anywhere but at her. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Really?” She smiled softly at him, trying to figure out an answer for him.

He gathered enough courage to glance back at her and his face flushed. “Hey, quit smiling at me! I can’t focus when you look at me like that.”

“Like what?” She teased, smiling even wider.

“Like that!” He says, throwing his hands in the air and gesturing to her face like she was supposed to know what he meant. “I don’t know, Hikari… I guess when I’m not worried about what others think.” Like when I’m with you.

“Hmm,” she hummed in response.

Distant waves from the approaching shoreline echoed in the dimly lit sky. Koushiro’s hand slightly brushed Hikari’s, causing him to pull hiss hand immediately back. He fumbled and fidgeted

“Do you believe in true love?” He mustered before he realized, shoving his hands back in his pockets and keeping his eyes to the ground.

“What? Why would you want to know that?” She teased again, crossing her hands behind her back and leaning forward to look at his face. His flustered face always made her smile.

“It’s my turn to ask a question,” he objected. “To be completely honest with you, I’m not entirely sure. Just… curious.”

After some thought, she said, “Well, true love could mean many things and could be between any two people. Mom, dad, sisters, brothers, friends, digimon partners, couples. It’s about unconditionally caring about someone. Putting their well-being before your own. Taking time to make them smile or doing things for them without asking. Surprising them. Talking to them about anything. Helping them achieve their goals. Respecting and accepting each other. Being a team.”

As she went on and on about this topic, Koushiro couldn’t help but admire her enthusiasm. The way her face lit up when she thought of something else to tie in. The way she made huge gestures with her arms. The way her voice picked up speed. He just smiled as they continued to walk side by side, taking in the sight of the passionate girl beside him.

When Hikari realized what she was doing, she laughed. “I’m sorry, Koushiro. What was the question?”

Koushiro stopped walking and sat down on a bench next to the shoreline. “I asked if you believed in true love.”

Hikari breathed out and sat next to him. She closed her eyes and listened to the waves crashing against the rocky shore. “Well, what do you think?”

He chuckled and looked out at the shore. “Well, from your passionate monologue, I would assume yes,” he responded quietly.

“Yeah,” she exhaled. “Yeah, then I guess so,” she replied softly, looking out for a brief second and then turning her head to meet his gaze.

The two sat there for a while, not breaking away eye contact. Koushiro unknowingly held his breath until Hikari broke the silence.

“So, what did you want to show me?”

“Well, in about two minutes and 39 seconds, you’re going to find out.”

Hikari raised an eyebrow and looked out toward the sea. Her heart fluttered when she realized what he meant by that. Right on cue, the pinks and purples and oranges mixed together in the sky. The rays of lights sent a beautiful radiant glitter on the water below. The glow glistened in her eyes as she sat there in complete awe.

Instead of witnessing the glorious sun rise from the horizon, Koushiro had his sights set on the girl next to him. He was completely mesmerized by the way the sunlight kissed her face.

“Wow… it’s so beautiful,” she whispered.

Still looking at her, he smiled softly and replied, “Yeah… pretty prodigious.”

Hikari took a deep breath and placed her hand on top of Koushiro’s hand. He did not tense up from her touch. “Thank you,” she said, meeting his eye contact.

“It was my pleasure,” he replied, his heart beating a little too fast. He hoped the sound of the crashing waves covered that.

The two sat there next to each other in the morning sun. Words left unspoken about the night we’re about to make way to this moment, when all of a sudden, a buzzing sound came from Hikari’s phone and her eyes widened from the caller ID.

“Taichi, hi! No, yeah! I’m so sorry for not telling you where I am! Where am I? I’m still out with Koushiro. Yeah, we are taking the more scenic route back.” She stood up from the bench, indicating for Koushiro to stand up as well. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I’ll be home in a bit. Okay, bye.”

Koushiro cleared his throat. “Let’s get you home then.”

Hikari smiled at him, hoping to have more times like this. “Okay.”

[o-w-quinlan]

Digimon Adventure 2020, episode 23 reaction (and over-analysis)

It’s... weird. Half of it is a battle scene that is clearly just marking time for the actual relevant one next episode, and the other half is emphasizing the importance of the B-Team, except it’s just “I must save my friends”, instead of anything more revealing about their characterization. All in all, it’s episode 17, but not as good.

Let’s start with the battle with Devimon/NeoDevimon, since that’s basically most of the episode. It starts with Devimon surprising them by being capable of attacking at a distance without them noticing where the attacks are coming from. It’s appropiately menacing, although it starts to feel too static very fast. After 2 episodes of high-octane action with great tactics from the digimon, this fell a bit flat. After that, he evolves, and the dynamics of the fight are almost exactly the same, except instead of the interesting “action at a distance because of miasma” attack, it’s just NeoDevimon moving fast enough that he looks like he is teleporting (shown in the episode by having NeoDevimon be in one place in a shot and then in another place in the next one). All in all, it was sort of forgettable, which would be understandable because obviously they can’t maintain the high level of the previous 3 ones due to budget constraints and other things, but it still felt weird that they would choose to have their less frenetic episode be a full-episode fight scene.

Devimon himself was interesting, though. He once again refers to Poyomon as “his old friend” and states he wants to share his pain with them. While I don’t expect this to be explored for him, I do think it’ll be expanded upon by future villains. The ominous crystal (that, confirming a theory I had discarded as wishful thinking, turned out to be MOON MILLENNIUMMON OF ALL DIGIMON!) ends up seemingly controlling Devimon, distorting his voice, making him go through a painful looking evolution (and Taichi notes something has changed, something apart from just evolving). When DarkKnightmon later shows up (he’s alive!) and recovers the crystal before making NeoDevimon evolve again, you realize the villain dynamics may be far different from what we had expected until now. Devimon was not the big bad, or even the boss of the previous digimon, but just another pawn of MoonMillenniummon, no more relevant than SkullKnightmon.

The A-Team... wasn’t quite as interesting this episode. We get some more dynamics between Yamato and Takeru: Yamato tells Takeru to hide, Takeru obeys until he realizes his brother is in serious danger, he tries to do something, when miraculously he succeeds Yamato congratulates him with no explicit lingering worry. Since this time around Takeru was not as suicidal as last episode, it’s a nice enough dynamic. What fell flat was Poyomon evolving to Tokomon and dissolving the miasma. Takeru screaming for the villain to stop before a miracle happens was already done, and much better, on episode 20. We never got to see much of Poyomon, so his evolution didn’t really ellicit any reaction (not even shock, since we’ve already seen a lot of miraculous stuff surrounding the Holy Digimon this season). About the only interesting things with Tokomon this episode were his smile when seeing NeoDevimon slowly vanish (”that’s for torturing me, you big meanie!”), and him being blown away from Takeru’s arms (the best bit of comedy in the episode). Taichi got.. er... observational skills, athletic skills and a burst of determination that felt vastly underwhelming compared to what he did 2 episodes ago.

As far as the B-Team goes, we saw Mimi be the first one to take action when being told what Calamaramon’s plan may be, Koushiro getting an internal monologue about how he believes he is helping his friends, and Jou and Ikkakumon getting humiliated for comedy (Kabuterimon was similarly defeated while attempting a rescue, but it wasn’t as focused on). All in all, functional stuff. Honestly, I was more drawn to the brief scenes with the ship crew trying to remain calm while realizing they were about to crash into the city (which was Singapore, not Tokyo as I thought last week). The tension there felt thicker than in the rest of the episode.

Other notes for this episode:

I was very weirded out when Devimon’s mouth didn’t move whenever he spoke, specially since he did move his lips at other points. Made him feel off, alien, which is great for this series.

Someone as big as MetalGreymon trying to hide behind the ruins of the castle was a bit silly.

We saw intereference in the communications between the Chosen Children through the digivice. Perhaps this is because of the massive ammount of data moving from the human world to the digital world?

We got the consecutive evolution sequences back. Can’t say I’ve missed them. Can’t say I’ll miss them if they never appear again after this episode.

Whoever is piloting that boat must be the GOAT to be capable of steering it that fast.

Sagittarious Mode appeared for only a second, just for one attack, after a massive burst of the Power of Feelings with a Holy Digimon at his side. It’s a great justification for why Alteros Mode didn’t appear last episode.

DarkKnightmon does not attack the Chosen Children, even though we know he is perfectly capable of fighting a fresh MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon without any issue, let alone exhausted ones. The Holy Digimon, even when in Baby form, are dangerous enough even one of the most powerful and skilled villains yet would rather run away.

No, Koushiro, I beg of you, please don’t enable the belief that “natural lines” are the norm in Digimon. Please.

All in all, a functional episode that raises a couple interesting questions. Next week we are going to see a new Ultimate form for Devimon (which looks very silly to me), Taichi getting corrupted by Darkness, MetalGreymon maybe evolving to Mugendramon, Tokomon most likely evolving to Patamon and perhaps even WarGreymon as a cliffhanger. Exciting stuff.

[ashxketchum]

Digimon Adventure: Episode 1

So here’s my well thought and more collected take on the first episode (ignore the gushing rambling posted yesterday). 

From the opening and ending we can tell clearly that the first arc or at least few episodes will definitely focus on Taichi and Yamato’s introduction as the two leads of the show. The opening itself, Mikakunin Hikousen by Takayoshi Tanimoto, when viewed separately sets a great tune to the underlying shonen and adventure themes but for long time fans of Butter-fly, it may take some time to warm up to the new song. The sequence focuses greatly on Taichi and Agumon’s partnership, with occasionally giving us glimpses of the other kids with their partner digimon. It teases a more subdued and mysterious scenario for Takeru and Hikari, and also without wasting any time very coolly introduces us to the concept of Ultimate and Mega evolution. I was also happily surprised by all the crests appearing from the get go. My personal favourite scene is when Greymon is shown with imprints of MetalGreymon forming over him. 

The ending, being Yamato focused was a tug at the heartstrings for someone like me who has been a long time Yamato stan. The full version of the song is already out on many platforms and I honestly love it and have been playing it on repeat since yesterday! Without holding anything back, the sequence showcases how Yamato doesn’t really fit in with the crowds around him and spends most of his time being alone, at the same time longing for a closer and deeper relationship with his younger brother. It puts Taichi and Yamato at odds but also shows that it will be his budding interactions with Taichi that will bring him closer to the group make him belong there, nicely ending with his phone wallpaper being a CUTE AND ADORABLE photo of him and Takeru sleeping next to each other which happens to be my favourite scene of the ending. 

Now on to the episode under the cut. 

Masako Nozawa takes us through a brief explanation of the setting. I think her slightly raspy voice makes for a good narrator because the question of who is narrating can head in any direction at the end. I know many fans want it to be Hikari, but personally I’d like for it to be a Digimon. 

We see Taichi in his house, prepping for the camp (all you OG fans out there, don’t cry, they’ll still be at the camp) AND THERE’S A CAT CASUALLY NAPPING IN THEIR HOUSE! The phone call scene is so sweet, Yuko Sanpei already has so much experience playing a doting brother as Boruto that I feel she will have no trouble nailing Taichi and Hikari scenes. Shortly after Taichi ends the brief call and takes a break, we have Koushiro show up at his house! 

Their first interaction was in one word, PURE. Koushiro’s mannerisms clearly put him in the introvert who becomes an extrovert around the right people category. And of course, Taichi is that right person. Taichi acknowledging his shortcomings and praising Koushiro (a junior) so straight forwardly puts the latter at ease and he’s immediately sucked into Taichi’s pace. I also laughed at the bit where Koushiro is going on about the abnormalities in the network and whether he should stock up on batteries and water. (BECAUSE THAT’S KINDA WHAT WE ARE ALL GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW)

The pace immediately picks up after this with Koushiro giving us the background and I cannot believe that this is the same person who voices Balck Star in Soul Eater because wow, the difference in the tone and her general portrayal of Koushiro is so on point, I bet at the end of the series she will have the most number of dialogues because her voice is just perfect for a role like this. 

With the phone call being abruptly cut, Taichi moves fast and I loved the whole sequence from when he jumps through the gates at the station and enters the Network. The art and animation is so vivid and the BGM is perfectly fitting. We are shown that his crest keeps getting stronger with every action, finally manifesting as his entry into the Network. This was one of the most interesting bit because this would mean that each of them will need to activate their crest to get the digivice and enter the Network? 

I won’t lie, I cried when Taichi automatically reached forward to pull Koromon into his arms the moment he saw him. And the adrenaline rush when they suddenly cut to all the other kids (albeit Yamato) as Koromon digivolved into Agumon was REAL. Then they move to Koushiro, whose curiosity to know and understand whatever is happening around him, manifests into him getting his digivice and being able to connect to Taichi in the Network. I just love, love, love this concept man. Rather than the digivice appearing in front of them randomly, they are earning their access to the Network through the activation of their crests. It makes me really curious about how it will play out for someone like Mimi, whose crest IMO is the most abstract one and whose character profile on the website paints an absolutely opposite picture to than what the crest activation would require. 

With Koushiro becoming the guy behind the screen ( *HACKER VOICE* I’M IN) and quickly and confidently guiding Taichi through the Network, the action takes over. I love how much thought and effort they put into the Digivolution sequence. I know other fans are missing Brave-heart playing in the background, but the art is just so beautiful, we get to see Agumon fully morphing into Greymon with focus on angles of his anatomy and I just generally loved the colours and setting of the Digivolution scene, not just for Agumon but Algomon as well. The fight sequence was also well done and I liked the Network space too, the vividness of the art and colour just blew me away really. It had a lot of Links and Rearise sorta vibes to it. 

Finally, the enemy is defeated and we see Hikari smiling slightly as she realizes her brother saved them and all is about to be well when Koushiro announces more trouble, and as Taichi is ready to gear up into action, Yamato and Garurumon appear in front of him! IMO they could have also ended the episode with Greymon winning and Taichi and Koushiro reuniting back in the real world and rejoicing over the win and just generally have a ‘let’s work together from now on’ moment but clearly the writers want to show us a lot of stuff so they’re not wasting any time available. 

Other tidbits I enjoyed were Mrs. Yagami living her life, taking classes for something and taking her daughter along for them. The ‘TK’ Tachikawa logo on Koushiro’s tablet and whether it means that Mimi is literally a princess of a huge cooperation. Taichi putting on gloves before attacking Algomon, that was hilarious under the current circumstances. 

I’m not sure if all fans will adapt well to this fast-paced story-telling. For first time viewers it’s okay because it keeps their interest and makes sure that they tune in next week, but for older fans its more like ‘oh they showed the crests already without any explanation whatsoever’ which, I can understand, would annoy some fans. 

OVERALL, I enjoyed the episode but can see why some people did not, and am equally excited for the next episode because it’s called War Game and it’s definitely gonna be a big throwback to my favourite Digimon movie of all time and Yamato’s introduction! I am very curious about the situation Yamato activated his crest and got his Digivice in because the ending showed him as not having any friends, so maybe something to do with Takeru? 

Counting down the days till next Sunday! 

[gossipchii]

Birthday Shenanigans

FF.net link: here

Characters: Ishida Yamato and Takenouchi Sora 

Pairing: Sorato

Words: 1300+

Notes: I’m certain about Yamato having tried to tell his feelings for Sora even before she actually did on Christmas Eve. This is one of them.

HAPPY SORATO DAY!

Enjoy!

“You don’t have to repeat how important my fifteenth birthday is, I already heard you the first fifty times.” Yamato was clearly annoyed, Taichi didn’t seem to care.

“Then why haven’t you told me what you want to do to celebrate?” Taichi had been running after Yamato for at least two weeks. He knew the blonde one didn’t really enjoy birthdays per se, at least not like he did. Or Mimi did. Or Hikari did. Heck, even Koushiro did! But Yamato never cared about his birthday.

“Maybe I already have a something else planned-“ he regretted saying that as soon as he saw his friend’s face.

“What could be more important than spending it with your best friends Yamato?!”

What Taichi didn’t understand, what he didn’t know, was that he had already planned something special with one of his friends. She didn’t know this, of course, because he hadn’t found the words to ask Sora out on his birthday, but the plan had worked out perfectly fine inside his head. They would go to Tokyo Disney Sea, since his mom had tickets somehow, and he knew Sora would enjoy spending the whole day there.

He had never been to Disney Sea, but he knew they had all kinds of different popcorns and Sora loved popcorn, so it was perfect. They would also enjoy the firework show late at night and he would finally find the words to tell her how much he liked her. Like, liked her. Perhaps they would hold hands, or perhaps she would never be able to speak to him the same way as they always did, because maybe she only saw him as a friend.

And the chest pain came back, it was always there somehow. That’s why Yamato had decided that he could no longer hold his feelings inside of him, it was too painful. And it was becoming awkward, he couldn’t be in the same room with Sora without acting weird, and he didn’t want to ruin their friendship… their friendship was the most valuable thing in the world to him. But he had to try, he just had to.

“Nothing, you’re right,” he finally answered, Taichi softening his gaze. “I will let you know what I want to do, I promise.”

“Your birthday is in two days,” dramatism in his voice. Everyone thought Mimi was the most dramatic of the gang, but they hadn’t met dramatic Taichi.

“Hey guys! Why so serious?” Redhead and long legs broke into the conversation, making Yamato immediately blush. Sora shouldn’t be wearing those short skirts when it was mid-November and it was getting chilly. She shouldn’t just appear in front of his face when he wasn’t able to control himself no more. She shouldn’t be so… Sora.

“NOTHING, SEE YOU GUYS LATER!” And he just… ran. To his mother’s place to be precise, which wasn’t quite close from his school. Sora was probably thinking he was a freak, and she was probably right.

He arrived, fast pacing and sweating at his mother’s place, where Takeru was weirdly absent. Maybe weirdly was an exaggeration, he was never home, except on Thursdays, and it happened to be a Thursday that fine day-- where he already wanted to move to Australia. Yet Takeru wasn’t there.

“Natsuko?” He asked around the apartment, if she wasn’t there then he was lost. He would have to look for the Disney tickets all over it and he wasn’t in the mood to turn his mother’s apartment inside out.

“Yamato? What a surprise! You’re staying for dinner?” His mom was obviously getting ready to get out, so he wasn’t understanding the invitation. He still couldn’t, he had rehearsals with his band. They had this huge Christmas gig booked and had been rehearsing like crazy, it was their biggest concert yet and they couldn’t let anything ruin it.

“Sorry but I can’t stay for dinner tonight,” he suddenly remembered what he was there for. “Actually, I came all the way here to ask if I could take those Disney tickets they gave you? Wanted to use them on my birthday…”

Natsuko’s face could’ve just seen a ghost, she covered her face and everything. Yamato knew right there the tickets were gone.

“Takeru asked me for those tickets yesterday, he’s actually there right now.”

“What do you mean ‘there right now’, it’s a Thursday.”

“He said there was a teacher’s meeting or something and classes had been cancelled, so he took Hikari.”

“Natsuko,” Yamato was frustrated, he pinched the tip of his nose. “They didn’t cancel classes, but I bet he’s having fun trying all the popcorn flavors,” he whispered, more to himself than for his mom.

“Yamato, I’m so sorry.” Natsuko didn’t understand the popcorn reference, but she sure was sorry. She wished she could gift more tickets to Yamato but they were crazy expensive and she wasn’t going through the best economic phase at the moment. Maybe she could gift him some popcorn, since he was so invested in that.

“It’s ok, don’t worry.” His mom seemed so worried, it just felt worthless to claim her about anything else. Takeru on the other hand… he would pay.

“You still need to come have dinner, and maybe some cake next week,” she said, soft smile on her face. “You don’t turn fifteen every day.”

“Sure thing,” he tried to sound happy, even excited, but he was just disappointed. He had only one plan, that was his only plan to come clean to Sora and maybe, if he was lucky enough, start dating his best friend. He could notice how other boys started looking at her, every day that passed by she was more beautiful and his heart felt like a ticking bomb. If he didn’t tell her his feelings anytime soon, it would explode.

His phone started ringing, and he almost fainted when he saw Sora’s name on the screen. He considered dropping it on the nearest trashcan, but he didn’t. He was too poor to afford a new one.

“Yes?”

“Yamato! I’m so glad you answered, I thought you were mad at me.” He imagined her biting her lower lip. She tended to do that when she was nervous, by her voice, it was obvious she was nervous. But why would she be nervous, anyway?

“Of course, I’m not, why would I be?”

“You ran away as soon as I appeared, I even thought it was my smell or something…” she laughed. He laughed. It was all good.

“You always smell good.” Awkward silence, hearts pumping. “I just had to see Natsuko, nothing crazy.”

“So, you finally know what you want to do for your birthday? I know it’s not your favorite thing to celebrate, but Taichi told me…” Of course, Taichi had told her, Taichi always spoke.

“Yes, something quiet. Just a picnic.” Just the two of us.

“That sounds great! Same place as always?” There was a park where they always met, that had the most amazing view to the Daikanransha*.

“You know it.” Silence, again. Just, this time it wasn’t awkward. It was nice. “Around 5pm?”

“I don’t know, Yamato. It’s your birthday,” her laughter was his favorite sound, he had just decided that. He was never going to change his mind.

“5pm it is!”

Yamato had quietly hoped Sora wouldn’t tell anyone about the picnic, and it would only be the two of them celebrating his birthday, but of course, when he showed up at the park, the whole gang was there, his friends from the band, even! Yamato made Takeru buy four bags of popcorn at Disney Sea, which must’ve cost a fortune, but he owed him, and Sora adored popcorn, it was worth it.

He might have failed in his poor attempt to reveal his feelings to Sora that day, but he promised himself he wouldn’t fail next time.

Even if he had to fight a bunch of Digimon while trying, he wouldn’t fail.

*Odaiba’s Ferris Wheel.

[crest-of-courage]

Digimon OTP Week Day 1: Coffeeshop AU

Pairing: Taito/Taiyama/Taichi x Yamato

Word Count: 922

Summary: Earning some money to buy the perfect present for his little sister’s birthday is a perfectly good reason for Taichi to get that job at the local coffeeshop. The chance to finally charm the handsome regular with the blond hair and the blue eyes into going on a date with him is just a nice little bonus...

-

If he was being completely honest with himself, he had to admit that the chances of him getting this job had been pretty terrible.

But since Taichi decided that for today, he was better off not questioning his luck, he just happily accepted the stupid, disgustingly green apron instead and threw it on as quickly as possible; almost as if he were afraid someone would snatch it from him if he didn't.

(And maybe he was.)

The thing was that he simply wasn't what his friends would call “the most suitable” for this kind of job. Standing behind a counter for hours on end, listening to people's complex orders and endless rambles about what horrible days were ahead of them, wasn't necessarily something he could sync with his rather restless personality.

But he was a man on a mission and this mission demanded sacrifices.

First of all, he was honestly kind of broke.

Now this wouldn't be too much of a problem if it weren't for his sister's birthday, which was coming up next month. And since he heard that her new little boyfriend had accidentally revealed that he had gotten her an expensive as hell Polaroid camera, Taichi planned to get her something that would at least equal the thoughtfulness of such a great present.

Hikari deserved it.

The second reason walked into the little coffee shop right this moment.

He felt his heart almost giving up on him the second he caught sight of disheveled blond hair and stormy blue eyes.

Quickly, he put on what he hoped was his most endearing and welcoming smile, even though he himself felt that he might have missed the mark with this one.

“Welcome! What can I get you today?”

The boy in front of him didn't seem fazed by his cheery attitude at all.

“Coffee. Black”, he simply said and Taichi did his best to hide the fact that he already knew his order because he may or may not have seen him around here one time or five.

Which was the elaboration of reason number two.

He remembered asking his best friend Koushiro if asking for a job just to talk to cute blond guy a little more was a new level of pathetic for him.

Koushiro had spared him a single glance, eyebrows drawn tightly together, before quickly returning it to the screen of his laptop.

Which was enough of an answer for Taichi to work with.

After seeing blond and beautiful the next day though, he had accepted his fate.

Had begged one of the employers to hire him by charming an elderly lady into buying three whole cakes for the family gathering she had had that day.

Maybe it was a little more than just pathetic.

But here he was, in that ugly ass green apron, all his hard work finally paying off:

He was serving Mr. Stormy and Mysterious.

“Alright, coming right up! Can I have your name for the order, please?”

He felt his grin slightly wavering when his guest raised one of his perfectly plucked eyebrows and suddenly squinted at him in a very suspicious manner.

“Since when do you need names for the orders?”

“It's new. So we don't mix anything up. Have you never been to Starbucks? They do that too.”

Taichi could watch his suspicion growing visibly and he felt a sweat breaking out on his forehead.

“I feel like I've seen you before”, the boy suddenly said, words slow and with an edge of challenge to them.

“Haha, I get that a lot!”, Taichi exclaimed, quickly covering his embarrassment with a loud laugh.

He can't know. He had never even looked in his direction when he had been here as a guest himself!

His customer looked even more wary of him now.

“Yamato.”

“Huh?”

“That's my name.”

“Oh!”

Taichi quickly grabbed some nearby pen and wrote the name on the cup like this was actual freaking Starbucks and he hadn't just made that tradition up in here.

Then he filled it up with the strong-smelling liquid, his mind racing.

Now or never.

In an impulsiveness that was in no way unusual for him, he grabbed the pen again and scribbled his number all over the cup, which was thankfully hidden from view right now.

A look at the masterpiece told him that literally anyone would be able to see what his intentions were, but he couldn't care now.

Go big or go home, was what they said.

“Here you go!”, he chirped, handing the horror-cup over to blond and beautiful.

Who looked at it completely dumb-founded.

The expressions in his face went through a flurry of emotions within a single second; from confusion, to understanding, to even more confusion.

Then he looked back up at Taichi.

And suddenly, there was a hesitant, but definite happy smile breaking out on his pretty lips.

Taichi felt completely floored.

He had never seen him smile before and the sensation made him almost spill the coffee in the cup all over his hand.

Yamato then took it from him, his gaze lingering on him for a few more seconds, before he handed the payment over (more than was necessary, Taichi noticed), turned around and left the shop, smile still evident on his face.

Taichi felt the desperate need to slap his hands over his face and scream like a little kid that went to Disneyland for the first time.

Mission accomplished.

[fizzingwizard]

Okay then. Yagami Taichi. So that's Y/A/G/M/I/T/C/H. And Izumi Koushiro is I/Z/U/M/K/O/S/H/R. Give us your wisdom, oh great one.

Finally answering! Thanks for your patience. OK, I’ll put the answers under a cut because I accidentally added a couple ficlets teehee. Also got Yamato and Daisuke in my inbox so will get to those soon~

Yagami Taichi and Izumi Koshiro under the cut

Yagami Taichi

Y: What is one question they’ve always wanted an answer to?

Why does what everyone else sees as courage feel so much like fear?

A: What are/were this character’s best subjects in school?

In elementary school, he just barely made the grade by in pretty much everything. Outstanding marks in P.E. Otherwise, generally too energetic and distracted for homework. He was very much that kid the teacher genuinely likes yet wishes was in someone else’s class some days…

In high school, well, Tri verse seems to have made him into a pretty standard, “life happens to me” type of high school student, but I like to think that his sense of leadership and resourcefulness would make him a bit more of a go-getter. I think he’d buckle down to some extent — perhaps for most of his high school career, soccer would be first in his mind, and some subjects would just not be his thing. But charisma, public speaking skill, and leadership ability would definitely show through in group projects, presentations, debate, that sort of thing. So I think his best subjects would probably be social studies, government, and perhaps English.

G: How do they flirt?

If he tries to flirt on purpose, he acts like Marty McFly, minues the oedipus thing. Luckily he’s not a very flirty guy. At least not at first. After he’s been in a relationship for someone in a while, however…

“Stop licking my ear.”

“But it’s delicious. I just want to eat it up.”

“I am not your dinner.”

“Of course not, you’re too sweet for that. You’re dessert!”

“That is so cheesy.”

“Would you like it if I ate cheese off your naked body, sweetums?”

(Of course, he’s really trying to be funny here, more than he is trying to flirt. In truth he remains an awkward, fairly oblivious lover his entire life, and his redeeming qualities are his positivity and affectionate nature.)

M: What is their favourite dessert?

Chocolate banana! At festivals he breaks them in half, sticks them under his tongue and parades around as a walrus. But honestly he’ll take fried food over sweets.

I: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do they love themselves?

He doesn’t really think about it. If you asked, he’d open his arms wide and say in a loud, child-like voice, “Thiiis much!” But he has his real lows as well as his real highs. Sometimes he’s bitter. Sometimes self-pitying. Sometimes he thinks someone else, anyone else, could do a better job at being Yagami Taichi than he does. But he shakes himself out of it pretty well usually, or someone helps him to it. He gets by thanks to his friends.

T: Where are they ticklish?

“I am not ticklish. At all. Anywhere.”

“You definitely are.” Yamato looked like he was struggling not to laugh, which only made Taichi frown harder.

“Maybe when I was a kid, and overreacted to everything.”

“Yesterday, when Jou tapped you on the shoulder, you started squirming around.”

“I was surprised, not ticklish. I do not have ticklish shoulders.”

“Okay,” Yamato sat down on the edge of the couch. Taichi immediately scooted back against the arm and pulled his legs in. “What are you doing?”

“I sense danger.”

“You think — I’m not going to tickle you,” Yamato sighed. Then his eyes narrowed. “But if you’re not ticklish to begin with, why are you worried?”

“Not worried,” Taichi harrumphed. “Not ticklish either.”

“Fine, you’re not ticklish.”

“I’m not.”

“I just said that.”

They fell quiet. Yamato picked up the remote, started to flick through the movie selection on TV. Meanwhile, a muscle worked in Taichi’s jaw as he sat beside him with tense, folded arms.

“Taichi.”

“Do NOT tickle me!”

“I’m not going to tickle you! I was going to tell you to unclench! I’m getting a charley horse just watching you!”

(In sum: He is not ticklish. At all. Anywhere.)

C: Can they swim well?

Like a fish. An exceedingly ungraceful fish. Like a torpedo when Sora’s in the water too and he wants to start a splash fight.

H: What is their deadly sin?

“Let’s see, there are seven deadly sins, right?” Taichi frowned. “Uh, I don’t remember what they are, so.”

Koushirou began to tick them off on his fingers. “Pride, wrath, gluttony —”

Yamato let out a low chuckle. “Gluttony, for sure.”

“You shut up.”

“Yesterday you ate the ramen and fried rice special, the large size, for lunch,” Yamato remarked, cool as you please, while glaring daggers down his nose. “After which you ate my fried rice too.”

“I was doing you a favor,” Taichi pouted. “You couldn’t finish it.”

“Admit it. You’re a glutton.”

“I’m a gourmand.”

“Pffft.”

“It’s thanks to people like me that your beloved matcha Kit-Kats became a thing.”

“— Envy, greed, sloth, and lust,” Koushirou finished, not appearing to note the interruption.

Mimi squealed. “Lust! That’s it for sure!” She clasped her hands over her chest. “If we only knew the nights he lies awake in bed, tormented by desire, confused, all alone with his turbulent teenage hormones —”

“In your dreams!” Taichi shouted.

He threw a pillow at her. She ducked. Sora lunged between them and snatched the pillow before they could begin an all out war in Koushirou’s pristine office.

“Taichi’s deadly sin is not lust.” She rolled her eyes. “Unless it’s lust for nachos.”

“Not you too,” the glutton groaned. “Gimme that pillow.”

“No.”

“You’re no fun.”

The pillow smacked him in the face. “I’m not what now?”

“How about sloth?” Hikari suggested.

All eyes turned to stare at her. She blushed. “Well, it takes him fifteen minutes to roll out of bed in the morning.”

“Traitor!” Taichi said with what the others supposed was meant to be righteous fury, but sounded rather more pitiful with his face squashed into a pillow.

“We still haven’t heard from the accused himself,” Yamato pointed out. “If Sora can be obliged to stop suffocating him for a minute.”

Sora acquiesced in favor of sitting on Yamato’s lap. Very serious, Taichi cupped his chin in his hands as he gazed at the coffee table.

“My deadly sin,” he began — pausing for dramatic effect — “is greed. I want too many things,” he went on, quietly, eyes unfocusing as if looking far into the past. Somewhere he didn’t like to go too often. “Like wanting to win without losing anything. Wanting strength without getting hurt. Wanting peace but also wanting change. I’m greedy.  I can’t… accept the way the world limits me.”

His friends stared. For a moment, thoughtful silence reigned. Then:

“So you admit to being a glutton.”

“Damnit, Yamato!” Taichi drove his fist into the arm of the couch amid the flurry of giggles that spread throughout the group. “I am trying to have a moment of self-reflection here!”

“Sorry,” Yamato said unrepentently. “Everyone, he wants a moment of self-reflection. Show some respect. No more titters for fifteen seconds.”

“Ten,” Sora corrected, “No, better make it five.”

“Better make it zero,” Taichi growled, “if you want a decent head start before I rip you all to shreds. With my teeth.”

“How about Mario Kart?” Koushirou said, digging through the box of games.

“… OK, fine. With Mario Kart.”

(You could, and probably will, argue that his sin should be pride. It’s a common one for shonen protagonists. But I’ve never really felt that Taichi is prone to pride, or arrogance. His big struggle with just that, the infamous SkullGreymon episode, isn’t enough for me to put it down a major character flaw. Taichi’s bossiness and optimism to the point of naivete don’t come from an overblown image of himself for the most part. I think he really does just, as the song goes, want it all and want it all now. And being the leader puts him in a position of constantly having to make sacrifices he doesn’t want to make. That’s my reasoning, but you’re perfectly welcome to yours.)

Izumi Koshiro

I: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do they love themselves?

He might put it at 8.4. Generally he is happy with himself. He values hard work, creativity, thirst for learning. He also values friends and family. As long as those things are first in his life, he feels pretty good. But if something slips, he beats himself up pretty hard. And he’s not so great at talking himself out of it. In those cases he needs a dose of perspective from the people who love him and understand how hard he drives himself.

Z: How do they sleep?

Like a log or not at all. Also a light snorer. The type who snores through a closed mouth while lying on his back. If he rolls over on his side, no issues.

U: What’s their voice like?

Gentle, neutral, precise, neither high nor low. Everyone listens the minute it’s colored by some emotion. Always apologizes afterward. Someone hug this kid.

M: What is their favourite dessert?

Creme brulee. He is secretly quite fancy.

K: How do you know when you’ve upset them?

Most people don’t. Those closest to him, though, find out pretty easily, because he tells them. Very frankly. (This he learned from a long friendship with a certain big-haired blockhead who doesn’t always notice when he’s being an ass.) And he forgives them quickly as well, once he knows they understand what they did that hurt him. He always wants to be fair and hates pettiness. Though now and then he has a petty moment ahaha.

O: What would it take to break them, inside and out?

WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THIS.

but seriously, it would probably be losing the trust and support of his friends. He may have a bunch of solitary hobbies, but Koushirou really, deeply values his loved ones. He’s not cut out for perpetual loneliness. Similarly, if he felt like he could have helped more but didn’t, hello guilt trip.

S: How stealthy are they?

Can be quite stealthy. He’s short and soft-spoken, easy to overlook. But the reason why he wants to be stealthy tends to influence his judgment. Case in point…

“Koushirou…” Taichi stared, jaw hanging open a bit, giving him a rather stupid look which Koushirou felt compelled to warn him off. But before he could say a word, Taichi linked his arm around Koushirou’s neck and dragged him bodily down the hallway to the boys’ restroom.

Inside, he found the farthest unoccupied stall and, to Koushirou’s extreme confusion, locked them both inside.

“You’re not going to dunk my head in the toilet, are you?”

“Excuse you, what do you take me for, some kind of boneheaded jock? Wait, don’t answer that.”

Taichi looked nervously through the crack by the door hinges. “Taichi-san, what are we doing?” Koushirou sighed.

“What are we doing? What are you doing? What is that,” he cried, pointing emphatically at Koushirou’s collar.

“This?” Reaching up, Koushirou’s fingers adjusted the purple bowtie he’d painstakingly selected to match his silk lilac shirt. “This is a bowtie.”

“It looks you pinned some kind of moth through your button hole.”

Koushirou’s brow knit. “Does it? I thought it made me look sort of dressed up.”

“Why would you want to though?”

“Well, we are at a dance, you know. I just wanted to make sure I blend in. It would be horrible if tomorrow everyone was talking about how I was the only one inappropriately dressed.”

“Uh, I hate to say this, but haven’t you noticed that nearly all of the guys came in their school uniforms?” To illustrate his point, Taichi gestured at his own attire. He had indeed come in his school clothes. His shirt was even tucked in for once.

A streak of crimson colored Koushirou’s face. He looked down. Taichi’s eyes darted back and forth as he struggled to come up with something to say. Just then, the bathroom door swung open.

“Taichi, Koushirou, if you two are in here, come out before Mimi accosts every last person looking for you,” Yamato called in a tone of deep longsuffering.

Without opening the stall door, Taichi replied: “What does she want us for?”

“To take a picture.”

Koushirou groaned. “Tell her I’m sick… Taichi-san… I can’t go back out there like this!”

“Why not?” Yamato asked impatiently. It sounded like he was at his wit’s end dealing with Mimi.

“I’m… a little overdressed.”

“Psh. So what? Mimi came here in a ball gown.”

“What?” Koushirou exclaimed as Taichi made a noise of surprise. “She did?”

“Yeah, and you can’t be more overdressed than her.”

“There’s your out, Koushirou,” Taichi hissed in his ear. “Just stick with Mimi the whole night. If anyone asks, she picked out your clothes. She’ll be happy to take the credit. She’ll think you look great.”

Koushirou blushed harder, though for an entirely different reason. With a smirk, Taichi patted his back, and even straightened his bowtie for him before opening the door.

“Get out there, then. Stud.”

(whoever thought I, a staunch joumi fan, would write a koumi drabble… oh well… it just happened lol)

H: What is their deadly sin?

Hard one. He’s a pretty perfect kid lol. I suppose I might put him down for “greed” as well, and maybe it fits better than it does Taichi, in the sense that his curiosity compells him to want to know as much as he can, so he sometimes doesn’t noice the needs of people around him. But it’s not like this is intentional or he doesn’t know about it. Half the time the reason he’s working so hard is because he’s trying to help those people.

R: What are their hands like?

Short, stubby fingers. Often ink-blotted. He’s constantly flexing his hands from typing so much. Bound to get carpal tunnel someday.

[ladyofthecastleproject]

[Angel of Miracle] 304 - Get into ACTION!!

“It won’t?!” - The Chosen Children and the digimon exclaimed petrified, they didn’t know how to react to Dai saying that.

“No, because without Fiorella, Mimi-san’s self from this world, we cannot get the Core of Purity” - he explained - “I completely forgot I killed her back in time, when I got corrupted…!”

“It’s okay,” - Ken looked at at him - “I’m a murderer too. I killed innocent digimon when I was the Kaiser. I… I understand the pain.”

“We’re aware that this place lost its light and is now doomed by the darkness” - Miyako sighed - “Even with you saying it’s not possible to corrupt us…”

“Excuse me,” - Warlock coughed - “Whatever Lance said about the corruption on you six… Is not certain or true. We never had outsiders before, so we’re not sure what will happen to you.”

“N-now I’m panicked” - Wormmon hid behind Ken’s legs - “Kenchan, let’s go home!!”

“I thought--” - Dai babbled.

“You may be a great mastermind, Lance, but you lack knowledge” - Warlock started to close the manuscripts - “It was my duty to teach you wizardry so you could use it to fight Pandora and seal the darkness.”

“Wow, nice friend you got here, Lance” - Dai said sarcastically.

“If this girl who was Mimi-san’s counterpart is dead, what should we do?” - Hikari seemed concerned - “Aren’t we able to save Lia-san’s world?”

“No, we’re definitely saving this world!” - And here was the goggle boy working at full speed - “There must be some way that exist to make it work…!!”

“You lack knowledge, but you don’t lack willpower” - the mage smiled.

“Warlock, please look at your books and everywhere. Lia, go with Miyako and try to gather Helios and Jason, please. The rest help me to find Sora-san and Koushiro-san from this world.”

“Right!” - everyone replied.

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“Taichi? Taichi!” - Yamato kept asking but the other wasn’t answering anymore - “Did he hang up? No… I still hear their voices…”

Suddenly, the Chosen Child felt something around, but ignored it. No, he needs to talk to Taichi. He heard something ‘she’s gone’. He wasn’t sure what it meant so…

“Taichi! Are you still there?! What happened? Did Koushiro discover something new about the kids? TAICHI! ANSWER ME, YOU--”

“YAMATO-SAN~♥”

Some hands grabbed Yamato’s shoulders by his back and he screamed. That scream echoed for the entire place. When Yamato looked behind him, he saw…

“M-Mimi-chan?!”

“Hello, Yamato-san!” - She smirked - “Did I scare you? Hee hee!”

“I’m on the phone, and… What are you doing here?! Weren’t you--”

“I decided to come visit you eleven!” - she said with excitement - “Where’s the others? Are they doing a party? Didn’t Sora-san tell you I was coming to make a visit? Summer is the best way to have fun with friends, there’s the beach, camping, shopping, and the city too. But I was planning to make a party for the digimon too, maybe we should go to the Digital World and enjoy the day?”

“Mimi-chan, I… We…” - how to tell Mimi that they’re having a little issue regarding the younger ones? - “Let’s talk about it later. I’m trying to talk with Taichi. Something strange happened and he’s not responding me.”

“... What’s wrong?” - she dropped that smile.

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“We can use a gate to go back to Duskstella” – Lia said it to Miyako, as they were walking on the dirt road that leads to the village - “I remember there’s one in the shore.”

“I’m fascinated with this world, Lia-san” - Hawkmon commented - “I wonder how it was before the corruption.”

“It was a nice place” - she started talking about her childhood, before Lance opening Pandora’s box. Miyako was in silence, just watching her partner and Lia interacting lively.

Actually, Miyako was overthinking. Lia Duskstella looks like Hikari, has powers, she can do anything by herself. Why would Dai tell her to go with a person who she didn’t know that well?! Wouldn’t have been better to send Hikari, since they were together before?

“He’s still Daisuke, right?” - Miyako muttered to herself, a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation - “He… He won’t be like this forever, will he? Will he become this ‘past life’ now?”

“Miyako-san?” - Hawkmon gave her a worried gaze - “Are you okay?”

“I… I am…”

“You don’t seem fine to me” - Lia frowned - “Is there something bothering you?”

“I can’t tell them I’m afraid that Daisuke won’t be the same anymore”

“It’s everything perfectly fine!” - She grinned, and saluted - “Haha! Let’s go! Can I offer you a ride? Holsmon is the best horse you can find!”

“Though I’m not a horse...” - Hawkmon felt a sweatdrop running down his head.

“I appreciate your offer, lady Miyako” - Lia giggled.

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“How will we find Sora-san and Koushiro-san from this world?” - Takeru asked - “And is there any other way to use the spell without the Core of Purity?”

“We’re going to make it work. No matter what happens, we gonna make it work!” - Dai was focused and determined - “I have to fix my mistakes, I didn’t want to involve your all… This is my problem.”

“You’re our friend, Dai-san” - Iori responded - “We wouldn’t leave you behind!”

“You did a lot for us” - Ken put his hand on Dai’s shoulder - “You did a lot for me. I’m in debt with you, and this is my time to return the favor.”

“Maybe we should ask Warlock-san and the others” - Iori suggested - “They must know someone who looks like Koushiro-san and Sora-san.”

“But redheads are not uncommon here like in Japan, Iori” - Dai replied - “They can know a lot of people who look like them. It’s not like Helios and Taichi-san, who have that… big natural crown.”

“Crown...?” - Vee tilted his head.

“I meant the hair. It’s unique, it’s like Goku’s hairstyle.”

“Ah…”

“We don’t need go with appearance though” - Ken interrupted - “Warlock-san and I have a few things in common, and I believe Lia-san and Hikari-san have too. What if… We give them exact information about quirks and behaviors that might help with the description?”

“Ken, you’re definitely the boy genius…!”

“I… I prefer to not hear those words anymore. It makes me remind how arrogant and lonely I was...”

“I’m sorry…” - Dai bowed his head, which made the others a bit confused until they remembered that Daisuke wasn’t acting normally at all.

“Okay… this wasn’t Motomiya-kun but Lance-san, right?” - Ken blinked.

“A-anyway, let’s ask! We know a lot about Sora-san and Koushiro-san.”

 “A person who’s… curious?” - Flannery and Amis looked at each other - “There’s a bunch of people in this reign like this” - then they answered.

“He’s a redhead,” - Dai repeated - “always working hard, too curious… Saved our butts several times… Are you sure there’s no one like him in this kingdom?”

“I dunno anyone like this either” - Boniface responded. He was chained to the pillar of the castle, being watched by the wolf and the guardian - “H-hey, don’t you think they exaggerated a little… Why chaining me?!” - he was glancing at the five Chosen Child.

“Because you’re dangerous, inmate!” - Flannery gritted her teeth.

“Don’t you think they went too far?” - Ken whispered to Dai - “Since we captured him, his behavior and mood changed drastically.”

“I don’t trust him” - Dai looked away - “I don’t trust a blond guy like him.”

“Daisuke-kun!” - Hikari snorted.

“A-ah, I’m sorry-- I mean, I trust Takeru but not HIM. He tried to kill me! And you!”

“Warlock-san” - Iori was too busy seeing a few photos in the library. One of them caught the little kid’s attention - “This person looks like a friend of ours” - then he pointed at it - “Who’s he?”

“Who?” - the other Chosen frowned, then looked to the picture Iori was asking about - “Koushiro-san?!”

“Ah?” - Warlock stopped reading and adjusted his glasses, then he replied - “That’s my big brother, Diomedes. He’s the prince of Scientia Terra. Our family has this branch where a few of us are wizards… And some are devoted to the knowledge. Don’t you remember of him, Lance? You met him once.”

“Koushiro-san from this world is Warlock-san’s big brother?!” - Ken was completely lost.

“Did I?” - Dai blinked - “Oh wait… Hmm… Was that time you had to give me a name and you used ‘Dai’ because Lance Duskstella could’ve given you troubles to keep me in Scientia Terra? Ah yes, as far as I remember… He’s very Koushiro-ish.”

“Can we call him, Warlock-san?” - Hikari asked.

“We don’t talk that much… Like I said, he’s obsessed with learning about the world and how it works. I’m the one who decided to follow the wizardry path of our family. I meet him only when is needed, because I prefer to stay studying and learning spells.”

“This is an emergency!” - Dai said - “What if I go there? I can try to call him so he could come help us.”

“I’m…”

“If you don’t try, then our world will be forever doomed! And I didn’t get this second chance for nothing!”

“Fine…” - Warlock sighed - “You convinced me. I will call Diomedes, it won’t take that much time” - he left the Library. During that time, Ken decided to talk to Boniface again.

“You are not an enemy at all” - Ken began - “I can make them free you if you cooperate with us. Do we have a deal?”

“I’m not sure if I have other option” - Boniface sighed - “Sure, I will help. I’m willing to help to compensate for all the grief and sorrow I caused.”

“Why would he help us?” - Dai stopped behind Ken - “I don’t think he knows something--”

“You said a person named Sienna sent you to kill Lia-san” - Ken said seriously - “Could you describe her?”

“What do you plan to do, outsider?” - Boniface bit his lips.

“Sienna…” - Dai repeated - “You must be kidding…!! Sienna wouldn’t do that! She was like a big sister to me! She wouldn’t-- No she--”

“She never liked Lia Duskstella for all the suffering she caused to the country and especially for your death. I lived with her once Purezza got destroyed. Since we shared the same pain I… Promised to revenge her and Purezza.”

“... I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Because I opened the box and released this evil in this world…” - Dai clenched his fist again - “Sienna… I don’t have too many memories of her at the moment…”

“Okay,” - Ken interrupted him - “Could you please describe her?”

“She’s a brave woman who loves everyone and the life” - Boniface started to describe that ‘Sienna’ - “short red hair, a skin a bit tan, a lovely gaze…”

“Wow, his description is like Sora-san’s” - Hikari commented.

“SORA-SAN!” - Dai screamed - “The strange dreams…!! I’ve seen a woman who looked like Sora-san and she was with Taichi-san in a dream… I remember…!! Those were Sienna and Helios! It was a memory!”

“This means we discovered who has the Core of Love?” - Armadimon asked. “Most likely” – Tailmon commented. “So now we have to find her, right?” - Patamon questioned.

“Look, Sienna will kill Lia if you put them in the same place” - Boniface explained - “She hates her. For losing a fianceé, for losing Lance, for having her country ruled by a monster--”

“Lia is NOT a monster!” - Dai roared - “If you have someone to hate, put the blame on me! All those shouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t opened that box!”

“We can protect everyone from Sienna” - Amis pointed at him with his thumb - “We have another pair of chains too.”

“Chaining her won’t solve anything!!” - Boniface screamed.

“Can’t we tell her it’s not Lia-san’s fault at all?” - Takeru suggested - “B-But I don’t think Lance-san was the one to blame. The darkness used him as well.”

“I dunno how would Sienna react when she sees me” - Dai confessed - “She might… not believe me.”

“I’m sorry for the wait” - Warlock returned - “I contacted Diomedes, but he’s with king Helios at this moment.”

“... I will help you to find something about the spell” - Dai announced - “the others free Boniface and try to bring Sienna here.”

“I… want to stay” - Hikari looked down - “If Sienna-san hates Lia-san so much, she will mistake me with Lia-san.”

“Takeru cannot go either” - Dai added - “Maybe you two could go get Zuzen with Flannery. Ken, Amis and Boniface go get Sienna. Iori, Warlock and I stay here and keep looking for another way to complete the enchant.”

“Right…!!” - they all agreed.

“Daisuke-san is acting like a true leader” - Iori smiled.

“Lance was a natural leader as well,” - commented Warlock - “I assume sir Daisuke is the leader in your group?”

“Most likely” - he responded - “Taichi-san and him lead the group, without them we could’ve been lost.”

[o-w-quinlan]

Digimon Adventure 2020, episode 10 reaction (and over-analysis)

This week, some absolutely amazing stuff mixed with some pretty bad stuff, and neither of them is what you’d think it’d be.

By the way, this post is pretty long. Just a warning.

The episode starts with an ellipsis from last week’s ending. The Chosen Children are all in a cave, having escaped in the confusion, as Koushiro’s recording of it plays behind them. As silly as the idea of Koushiro starting to record what was happening in the middle of a life-and-death situation is, it actually manages to underline how everyone is feeling about those events perfectly. The moment is then ruined when apparently Koushiro managed to get the information from the fortress before it was destroyed. It makes no sense that he would have had the time to do that, and when Jou makes the completely reasonable question as to how, it just gets ignored.

We go back to Taichi and here’s where the episode shines. As action-focused as the series has been, it’s actually pretty good at showing small moments that characterize the children (and to a lesser degree the Digimon). Taichi’s clenched fist and neutral expression, the use of flashbacks (so much better than last week), Ogremon’s pride influencing and motivating Taichi and Agumon... it’s all great. Yamato, meanwhile, is rather pragmatic (though his distrust of Ogremon’s information seems more paranoid than actually reasonable). The small combo of Mimi-Jou-Sora perfectly sets up both Mimi’s and Jou’s character arcs for the next episodes. The Agumon and Taichi reunion is extremely touching, as is the show making it obvious that Ogremon is dead without explicitely saying it (I’m assuming Toei forbid the writers from that). We get emphasis on Taichi and Agumon thinking and feeling the same, which will be relevant later on. Taichi’s, Yamato’s and Sora’s conversation shows that, while the emotions have now calmed down, every argument they said still holds true. It’s a couple of truly excellent scenes...

And then we go back to Koushiro’s ultra-convenient and unexplained information from the fortress. The map we’re shown makes no sense considering it shows the enemy HQ in the middle of an uninterrupted forest, when we know there’s a lake of miasma and a desert at least in the proximity. To be completely fair, this moment does give some Taichi-Koushiro interaction by making it obvious everything Koushiro did is in the service of supporting Taichi’s position in the argument (why else specifically give Taichi the enemy information?).

Off-screen, they come up with a plan to have Taichi and Agumon serve as bait for MetalTyranomon. This makes no sense. Agumon was the most injured from their most recent fight, why would they let him fight alone? If the entire attack plan requires them to make use of a small window of time in which MetalTyranomon is vulnerable, why not send their acknowledged fastest digimon, Garurumon? Are the kids seriously fine with Taichi and Agumon going on what’s almost certainly a suicide mission? Yes, I know both Sora and Yamato have some dramatic staring moments that imply they are not fine with that, but considering they do nothing, I’m not going to count them. The plan is perfectly fine as something Taichi and Agumon would come up with, but it makes no sense as something the other kids would agree with. If they’re going to do this, then please at least give us a scene with them discussing the plan and agreeing it’s for the best, otherwise it just makes everyone but Taichi (and maybe the Digimon) look terrible.

The introduction to the miasma is great. The characters reacting to how it just reeks of evil, Mimi throwing Jou’s book to make sure it’s actually dangerous and being completely unapologetic (there’s a lot of Mimi-Jou interactions this episode, and in the past few ones, and I love every second of it). The only problem is that, while the show establishes why Ikkakumon can’t cross it, it does not say anything about why Kabuterimon and Birdramon can’t. I’d accept any explanation why it’s a bad idea, but I want to see them actually discuss the obvious solution before discarding it. A single flashback to Gesomon would have been enough.

Then it’s the star of the episode, the Greymon/MetalTyranomon fight... and it has more problems than any other fight in this series. MetalTyrano’s original attack for this series, the electric web, is simply terrible. The fact that it makes sure to not hit the opponent first but just to encase him in some dodgeable weaker beams makes it seem ineffective. The more standard missiles are fine, but after a great sequence where MetalTyrano baits Greymon into attacking him while he’s “vulnerable” only to then hit him from the side and has him completely at his mercy while still ready to shoot missiles, we get... ellipsis. Greymon and Taichi were dead, there was simply no plausible way for them to escape that attack, but they did it off-screen anyway. This is then slightly redeemed by Greymon suceeding in his plan to attack MetalTyrano while he’s switching attacks only to find that it’s completely ineffective. The missile conveniently throws them to the same place their friends are, and upon seeing MetalTyrano has Greymon on the ropes, the other digimon do... nothing. Seriously, why. I understand if Greymon doesn’t want help, but I don’t understand why the others aren’t offering it. Oh, and MetalTyranomon runs extremely fast to get there, which just highlights how static he looked for the previous part of the episode.

After that, we get Taichi and Greymon being completely in sync, thinking the same, with Greymon suddenly seeming a lot more powerful than he did before, and the evolution triggers. Honestly, while it’s certainly not among my favorite evolutions to Perfect in the franchise, I am intrigued. For the majority of previous series, evolutions have been about the Tamer resolving a personal issue, perhaps inspired by their partner. In Adventure 2020, though, evolution is about the depth of the bond between Tamer and Digimon. While I think Ruki and Renamon did this far better in Tamers, I do think it’s in general the best evolution trigger concept and thus am glad they’re using it in this series too.

Anyway, it’s MetalGreymon vs MetalTyranomon, and it’s completely amazing. MetalGreymon looks like a war machine (as he should), and the light effects on the metal are great. He’s far, far more mobile than he’s ever been before, and pulls the exact same “hit with tai” trick MetalTyranomon did on him before. MetalTyrano being amped by the miasma, and MetalGrey showing extraordinary speed to move out of the way before finally killing his enemy, was done perfectly. The fight ends with MetalGreymon devolving to Agumon (curiously, Taichi is engulfed in a sphere of light during this and dropped to the ground), who then wonders if Ogremon was watching the fight. On Agumon’s part, it’s the perfect ending to the issues set-up by the previous episode and by this one.

Oh, and Taichi tanked an explosion from MetalTyranomon. We better get an acknowledgement that kids are more durable in this world soon.

To end the episode, we have an scene where the kids decide to separate after visual aid from yet another convenient Koushiro map. This decision makes no sense, and the show tries to handwave this by having Yamato say it’s for certain that one of the two groups will find the HQ, which it’s not. The most reasonable position for the enemy HQ would be in the middle of the miasma, since no one but them can cross it. There’s no actual reason for them to separate other than “the script says so”. At least it’ll most likely lead to some great interactions between the smaller groups, so I’m fine with this.

I was originally going to make a post summarizing how I feel about this series 10 episodes in, since I thought the first evolution to Perfect was a good place to do so, but this episode feels in general worse than any other one in the series (with the exception of 4, which is the only one I’d call straightforwardly bad) that I don’t want it to poison my general thought on the series. I’ll do that later, next time an opportunity shows itself.

Next week, Sorato shipping, WereGarurumon evolving and Gomamon being best boi:

He’s doing this in the middle of a desert.