#at least I have Patamon and coffee!

[atsoraasayoma]

This is good. But I wonder about the Digimon found in the Digieggs for zero two. They aren’t intrinsically linked but more like sign up to be partners by sharing the Digidestined’s energy as well as hints of specific traits.

That said even though they technically are Digidestined I don’t think they really are as far as having been directly chosen by Homeostasis. They’re more like offshoots where the crests went to those who had potential for those traits.

Or, and this is just a theory of mine, perhaps Takeru and Hikari were the missing pieces for those Digivices going to Iori, Miyako, and Daisuke.

….

Ok, I’ll explain.

Hikari meets Daisuke sometime and shares a class with him.

Takeru moves back and interacts with Miyako and Iori before school.

When Taichi touches the crest of courage, in virtue to the potential these other kids as well as having some sort of bond with the other Digidestined awakened these Digivices.

So let’s go a bit deeper now.

Excluding Takeru and Hikari we have Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Jou, Koushirou, and Mimi.

Six Digidestined two of whom were nowhere near the same age.

Takeru and Hikari were the the initiating guiding forces in Yamato and Taichi’s lives and without them they all would have been toast on numerous occasions.

So, if Takeru and Hikari were the guides for the original group, and then once they form bonds with the Digidestined of the new zero two group that makes six:

Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Takeru, Hikari, and Ken.

Wow! IF WE TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT, and if this was Homeostasis’s strategy that would mean she had planned for them to branch off on their own for the new group! The proof is in the encounters again before the Digivices go to the Digidestined.

But, even more than THAT, Takeru and Hikari received their own digivices and Digi eggs as almost as a baptism. The other Digidestined of the previous generation did not remove theirs.

That is really fascinating! We can see the blueprint Homeostasis has been making!

…….

What, you think I was going to continue? We can just leave this where it’s at, right?

….

Ok, you got me. Thanks to Digimon Tri, we can go even deeper about Homeostasis’s plan! Or should I say, her failure…

We saw when the generation before Digimon Adventure fought the Dark Masters there were 5 Digidestined and five partners.

When the battle seemed lost homeostasis usurped control of Maki and sacrificed her Digimon in order to defeat them.

Five Digidestined. I contend Homeostasis realized five is not enough but two of the five had to have the traits of lighting the world and hoping for the best.

With her having possessed Maki with light and using the light of Digivokution she decided she needed a Digidestined of hope to sway the battle in the Digidestined’s favor. In that battle there was no hope as they all waited for their demise at the hands of the Dark Masters. And that light and the promise of that group of Digidestined failed. She did gain the sovereign out of this though.

Yet a ultimately,it was hope itself that turned the tide of battle in the coming generation when all hope seemed lost when Piedmon had nearly turned them all into keychains.

So to summarize, learning from her failure, Homeostasis this time centered her focus on Hikari and the ones in her vicinity who best exemplified traits for digivolving partners.

But she did not go with five THIS time. They needed Hope for survival. Who better than a child close to Hikari’s age going through family issues involving divorce and awkward sibling relationships which sibling is ALSO having knowledge of Taichi. a protector of Hikari?

It seems to me Homeostasis greatly emphasized this dynamic relationship so these two ‘guides’ could be protected so she can also get the next group of Digidestined AFTER this group ready.

I used to think Takeru and Hikari’s just vibes better with the 02 group. But now I believe this was the plan from the failure of the original group.

And we can see this was a major success!

Firstly Devimon’s demise by Takeru.

Secondly Myotismon’s fall by Hikari. (Taichi used his own strength against Etemon.)

Thirdly the combined power of the guides strengthening their brothers to achieve a new level to defeat venommyotismon.

Fourthly, and this is a continuation of the third, those new forms of the guides, Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon were responsible for the most part beating the Dark Masters.

We’ll give Hikari a bonus giving Wargreymon an extra onion slicing boost.

Then as I mentioned Takeru, when his back is against the wall not giving in, and, together protecting the other guide, Hikari and working together and believing in each other not only defeat Piedmon, but restore the others.

When round two against Piedmon comes in the comradery and closeknittness of these groups are enough to defeat him once and for all and literally banish him to Digimon Hell.

In the final test against Apocalymon they are the differences bringing everyone together. They share their powers. Remember this line? “Everybody’s hopes are my hopes!”

This could not be DONE without the light of Digivolution from the guide and I will even go as far as being able to undelete yourself. Hikari is the vessel and catalyst for the others and Takeru is her support.

So, in retrospect, to conclude the matter Homeostasis learned from her failed mistake, added an extra Digidestined to support the core catalyst, and then once the guides had played their part they ushered in the next generation of Digidestined and not only guided them on their way, but grew brotherly/sisterly friendships with them.

Eventually the 02 group Digidestined members found their voices and their power, and I find it fitting how the experiences and gentle guidance of Takeru and Hikari were a critical foundation in grounding the newer Digidestined.

To which I say, Homeostasis, BRAVO. That was a master class!

Something I’ve always loved about the Digimon is how they are the perfect partners for their respective Chosen Ones (and viceversa but this ain’t about that).

They are intrinsically connected—they understand them even when the Digidestined might not even understand themselves. They mediate and advocate for their Chosen, they love them beyond measure, they are willing to go to great lengths without hesitation because they know they are in good hands, because their kids will always have their backs.

Even when the Digidestined might doubt themselves, it’s okay if they do, because the Digimon wholeheartedly believe in them in their stead. Because they know them. They know what they’re capable of. They know their hearts.

They never once doubt their partners will do the right thing.

They never once misunderstand their partner’s character.

They never once think their partner’s curiosity is a bad thing.

They never once blame their partners for being scared.

They never once doubt their partner’s love.

They never once see their partner as anything less than a blessing and a miracle.

Even when the world is uncertain, the Digimon remain steadfast and a grounding presence.

They are a support system, for their support system.

[jamesthedigidestined]

TaiKouvember, Day 5: Hope

Pen meets paper furiously, scribbling down as fast as possible, and yet it’s still not enough to capture the speed of his mind. The sight laid before him was too rich for material; it simply couldn’t be ignored. So he stared; even as his pen veered off the perfectly straight lines, he stared deep into the core of his focus. 

“Uuuh… TK? You okay?” Taichi questions, worry written on his features. He moves from his leaning position, the arm that was once draped across the couch’s top now resting on his arm, his other partially reaching out. Before it can get too far, Koushirou pats Taichi’s thigh to gain his attention. 

“It’s no use. Taichi-san, Takeru-kun simply will not stop writing once something has taken his interest.” With a gentle shake of their head, they sip coffee from a red-and-black polka dot mug, leaning comfortably into the soft material. Taichi, not entirely satisfied, leans back as well, an eye still watching Takeru. 

“Still, does he need to stare so... intently?” 

“Of course! This is the best material I’ve seen in a while!” Takeru suddenly exclaims, jumping up. 

“I suspected it for a while, but this? Living together? This seals it!” 

“Suspected ‘it’? What do you mean by that? And what does being roommates have to do with anything??? Kou, what does he mean?!" 

"In due time, Taichi-san, in due time," Koushirou says cooly, enjoying the warm drink as Takeru tightly seals his mouth, nearly exploding from laughter. 

Taichi Yagami decided that was not a great start to the day. He wasn’t the smartest; that was Koushirou, but more than not understanding something, he felt like he was left out of some kind of joke. Takeru stuck around for a bit longer but soon left as Patamon reminded him that a class was starting soon. After this, Taichi was left alone with Koushirou in their shared apartment, and he didn’t understand how that was involved. 

The day, otherwise, carried on as normal. Koushirou worked from home, occasionally poking out to grab a bite to eat or socialize with Taichi. Said retired gogglehead was studying in between sessions of scratching Tentomon’s shell. Who knew a carapace could be so sensitive? Soon enough, however, Koushirou walks out of his office and leans into Taichi, who had finished studying an hour ago. 

“Tough problem again?” Taichi questions, beginning to softly scratch and massage the spiky scalp laid before him, fingers untangling buried knots and tense muscles as Koushirou cannot help but lean closer. 

“Yeah, we’ve tried to use a new corpus of data to finetune our transformer model without as much inference time, but we still have yet to break past the Chinchilla scaling law,” Koushirou says casually, leaning more into their roommate’s touch. Taichi, for his part, cannot parse anything other than chinchillas riding massive robot cars. 

“You’ll get there, Kou; you always do. You’re a true genius, someone who can break past any barrier they set their mind to.” He says warmly, continuing to massage the scalp of his roommate, who has now turned away.

“That’s not true, and you know it, Taichi-san,” Koushirou says flatly, gently breaking off from the touch. Taichi, unsure but respectful of the newfound distance, turns to Tentomon for guidance. 

“Koushirou-han, you simply cannot blame yourself for that.” The large insect says, a robot-like arm moving up to pet his partner, a loving spark hidden behind the green compound eyes. 

Koushirou loosens their shoulders slightly, nodding as they return to leaning on Taichi. In response, Taichi naturally begins to massage their scalp, giving soft soothing words over their best friend's capabilities, remaining like this until a timer begins to go off. 

“You made dinner?” Koushirou questions, beginning to slowly stand up and stretch firmly, flexing their arms out. Taichi happily observes their best friend’s form, smiling as he confirms he at least threw something quick together. 

They walk over to their kitchen, and Taichi insists that Koushirou, as “the breadwinner," should sit down and be catered to by Taichi. Koushirou disagrees vehemently, arguing that Taichi’s studying is just as valuable as work, only finally agreeing to be served when the pair decide Koushirou will handle dinner tomorrow. 

It was indeed a simple but filling dinner, consisting of a salmon fillet for each, a large bowl of rice, and miso soup with tofu. They sit down, pray over their meal, and proceed to eat. Koushirou slowly begins to eat, eating bits of each and letting their flavors meld together. Taichi, however, quickly begins to devour his rice and miso soup, saving his salmon for last. Tentomon first focuses on the soup, enjoying the warm savory flood of miso before playing with his food, making small rice balls with salmon centers, and constructing a pyramid before continuing to eat. The pair of DigiDestineds look at the Digimon with joy, catching the eye of the other and smiling ear to ear. 

Soon, they’re all stuffed and go to recline on the couch, mimicking their position this morning except even closer, Tentomon resting peacefully in a fluffy bed made out of his favorite pillows. The similarities to this morning spark that aching question and feeling of being left out again, and deciding now was as good a time as any... 

“Hey, Kou, what did Takeru mean earlier?” Taichi questions, slightly worrying his lip as he looks over to his redheaded roommate, uncertainty written across his features despite his best efforts. 

“You mean you still haven’t understood how people see us? Taichi-san, we live together. We’re seldom apart. I can’t even think of a time in the last year I didn’t at least talk to you in a day. Whenever we talk to friends, the other always comes up without fail. Don’t you consider that out of the ordinary?” Koushirou turns to face Taichi, their eyes catching, mesmerizing their roommate. Fuck, were they always this deep?

“I, uh, thought that’s what best friends do?” Taichi responds somewhat dumbly, shifting his own body to face Koushirou as well. 

“‘Would best friends do this?’ Koushirou says, their hand reaching out to hold Taichi’s head before eclipsing their burning lips with their own. And while I don’t have all the details for this part yet, I bet the gist of it is you both end up in the bedroom, and you are SORE, Koushirou-san. Like Taichi just DECIMATED your tight-“ 

"Please spare us the details. Takeru-kun, for everyone’s sake. Please.” Koushirou pleads, pouring themselves another glass of coffee as Taichi, a flaming mess of nerves, just sputters and leans forward. A complete wreck. 

“Great, and now you broke my boyfriend; they don’t come cheap, you know.” The redhead says cooly, unphased by Takeru’s antics as they rub Taichi’s back. 

“Not in shock over this?” Takeru asks, leaning back into his chair and taking in the floundering composure of their dear gogglehead. 

“Takeru, I once saw you regale an entire group of Chosen with a legend from the Digital World you made up on the spot; your fanfiction regarding how me and Taichi got into our relationship is not surprising in the least. Now please, it’s 6 AM; me and Taichi were in the middle of sex, and I would prefer to get back to it and get to bed before Taichi is nothing but a melted mess.” In response, Takeru busts a gut and heads out while Taichi just implodes mentally at the brazen admission of his partner. Within moments, however, Taichi has more than enough motivation to return to bed, and they both have a fantastic day afterward. And Takeru had plenty of new writing material.  @taikouvember

[genork-the-fandork]

Coffee

Word Count: 640 Prompt: Seventh Beginning A/N: The final drabble. I never had them kiss, did I? Ah, well. I prefer the unspoken bonds when it comes to Digimon. And these two have one of my favorite bonds. Thank you, everyone, for reading my silly little drabbles. It's been a great event! @takariweek

"Digimon drinking coffee is… alarming," Hikari pointed out as she watched Patamon and Tailmon slurp down their drinks. She didn't often consume coffee herself, and she had a feeling most of Takeru's orders were for Patamon. It didn't seem to negatively affect the Digimon in the slightest, but she still worried. A part of her was always worried about them.

"As long as we don't give V-mon any, everything should be fine." Takeru's cheek was smooshed from where it rested on his hand. He looked content, and it made Hikari feel the same to see him that way. It had been quiet since their brothers had parted from their Digimon, and they'd made a semblance of a promise to enjoy every day with Patamon and Tailmon that they could. As always, Takeru had taken one of their many promises seriously.

Hikari rested back against the leather of the booth seat, her neck falling against the curve of it. Casting her eyes to the side, looking at her friend, she smiled. "Something's about to happen, huh?" She had been feeling it in her bones the last few days. Somehow, even before they knew for sure something was happening, that they would be called to save Japan or the world, they two had always sensed it. Maybe it had to do with how crucial Hope and Light had always been to the workings of the Digital World, or maybe they had always had a little bit of Homeostasis within them. Regardless, it had always seemed… rather psychic of them. It was something they couldn't tell their brothers, but at least they could share it with each other.

A thoughtful look passed over Takeru's face, and he met her gaze out of the corner of his eye. "I think so, yeah. Probably specific to the newbies." Not that they were "newbies" anymore. But Takeru had always thought of them as such, or at least referred to them that way. Sometimes it was like they two were their parents, even though Miyako and Ken were older than them and Daisuke was their age. Always looking after them, wise beyond their years. Maybe they'd both been born with some piece of the Digital World inside them.

"Let's hope it won't cause too much trouble," Hikari mused, turning back to look at Tailmon polishing off her drink.

"We always say that. It never works."

They laughed, and their Digimon looked up, their heads tilted in confusion at the sound. Takeru reached across the table to pet Patamon's head, and Hikari touched her own hand to Tailmon's claws. "We'll be okay. Whatever time we have left with them, we'll spend it wisely."

"We always have. Something to be said for the last two usually standing." Takeru grinned, and Hikari's face automatically mirrored the expression. Two halves of a whole, as they always seemed to be. There was something to be said for that. Although they were not usually ones to say it outright.

"Leave some fun for the others, hm? Wouldn't want Daisuke complaining that he didn't get to have his chance in the spotlight." Hikari bumped her shoulder into Takeru's, and the blond returned it.

"I suppose I can. Besides, when it all comes down to it, Daisuke will probably be the one to save us all." True to the parental role he'd taken on ever since meeting their friends, he smiled proudly. "He's come a long way."

"We all have. And it's just the start." Hikari held out her hand, and Takeru took it. Their fingers didn't even need a mental command to intertwine. Their lives may have just been starting, in some sense of the word, but theirs was a bond forged from years of trust. One that would never go away, no matter how much the Digital World tried to hammer it away.

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 25 - A brother’s puzzle: The last shard!!

[AO3 version]

With the warnings given by the 02 Team and Koushiro, Yamato got a little way more concerned than usual. Takeru asked everyone to not tell Yamato that he was also a victim of those bad guys before, knowing very well who his brother is capable of doing.

Would someone spill the beans and tell Yamato? Not really, at least not from the younger kids or the rest of the older six. 

He knew there’s two kinds of digimon running around and brainwashing people, giving them shards of a wicked and forbidden Digimental. He knew Sora, Taichi and Joe were victims, and that almost Mimi was the next. What would happen if someone else… Someone…

“... Takeru.”

“?”

Yamato had called Takeru for a drink at a coffee shop. Patamon was with Takeru, of course. But Gabumon… Was actually at Koushiro’s server, and talking with them via Yamato’s phone.

“...” Yamato wanted to ask him about something, but he faltered. 

“What is it?”

“ ‘I want you to be careful.’ is what Yamato wants to say,” Gabumon spoke via the screen.

“Don’t worry, they can’t catch me or the others” Takeru smiled, “We don’t have strong negative feelings or desires at the moment.”

“But…!!”

“I’m with Takeru and I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to him!” Patamon said with a serious yet cutesy gaze on Yamato and Gabumon.

“I’m counting on you, Patamon” Yamato then gave the digimon a pat.

“Leave it to me~”

“Did you catch that digimon who forced Sora and Piyomon to fuse-evolve?” Then he asked Takeru and Patamon. Takeru could notice that he stopped the pats on Patamon and grabbed his latte. Took a sip, and then looked again to his brother.

“Uh, no?” Patamon replied with a frown.

“But you don’t need to worry about it,” Takeru added quickly, “We will find them and retrieve the last two shards before someone else turns into a victim.”

“... How about Arsenemon? He got 10 of those. There’s nothing saying he won’t use them on you or on others.”

“Um… Arsenemon is a weird case” Patamon explained, “He has gathered ten fragments of the Digimental, but he… Didn’t use them at all.”

“Yeah,” Takeru nodded, “He told Daisuke-kun we wouldn’t believe him if he told us his true intentions with those shards.”

“I understood,” Yamato said, thoughtful.

“... Daisuke-kun wants to ask him what he plans to do with them though,” he added, trying to keep the conversation going on, “Though he has been acting strange lately.”

“Daisuke?” Yamato raised an eyebrow; he took a sip of his latte again.

“Yeah, first he was fired up about catching Arsenemon, but since he met a new student called Noel Leblanc he’s… Not much interested in it anymore.”

“Hm??” Gabumon blinked.

“Ichijouji-kun suspects Noel-kun had created Arsenemon, but Daisuke-kun gets a little defensive when we check Noel-kun’s background…”

“A human-made digimon… Like Chimeramon, or Arukenimon and Mummymon…” Yamato took another sip.

“He said he knows Catherine, the French Chosen Child who I met six years ago… But… It sounded a little off too.”

“... Stay safe then, if you think this kid is suspicious.”

Yamato finished his latte and then got up from the table. He took his phone and put it in his pocket. Then, “I have to go now. I have classes now.”

“Oh ok, so please stay alert and don’t let those digimon come after you. And don’t do something reckless.”

“Same to you.”

“...” 

Daisuke was a little… strange indeed. He just felt like he had done something bad but why?

“I caught you now, and you will give me those shards!!”

“My, why don’t you ask yourself if it is a good idea keeping me captive right now, mon ami?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!!”

“Your friends are in danger, monsieur Motomiya. And I’m the only one able to save them right now.”

“...”

“Daisuke…” Lilymon had called him, “Aren’t you…”

“Ack, I don’t know! Lilymon please let him go. I got a bad feeling…”

“But…”

“Just… Trust me, okay?”

“Alright…” she had snapped her fingers and the vines and flowers magically had turned into dust, freeing Arsenemon.

“Oh? Are you really letting me go?”

“Save them. Like, now. I don’t care about that stupid shard, just save Wallace and Gummymon. Stop them before they hurt someone.”

“Alright, mon ami. I will grant you that wish.”

Arsenemon had left in a blink of the eye. 

“...” Now, Daisuke was full of regrets. But… Deep down, something said it was the right choice.

“You’re too quiet,” V-mon commented.

“... Sorry, I… I was thinkin’ about…”

“Is it about Arsenemon?” the digimon said, while they headed back home, “You think Ken is right about Noel?”

“... I don’t think Ken is right, he’s just accusing Noel without proof. Like, who cares if Noel is a distant relative of some famous writer??!”

“Said writer made a character called Arsene too, it’s… suspicious, don’t you think?”

“Noel wouldn’t make something like this, he’s not a guy like… The old Ken, ya know?”

“Maybe Arsenemon is not a bad guy,” he heard someone’s voice coming from the back. He and V-mon looked back, and saw… “Ah I’m sorry I heard you by accident...”

“Since when you were behind me, Noel?” Daisuke blinked.

“I just… I just came. Sorry, I wanted to talk about something with you.”

“Something huh…” V-mon blinked.

“... About Arsenemon.”

“?!”

“So, you made him, right!?” V-mon babbled, Daisuke immediately covered the digimon’s mouth.

“H-huh??”

“Don’t mind him, he ate too much sugar today!” Daisuke babbled, “T-then… What do ya want to talk about him…?”

“I think he’s not a bad guy…” Noel began, “I mean… It’s just a gut feeling.”

“Yeah, he kinda… helped us out before and before, and he said to have a reason for catching those, something he claimed we wouldn’t believe him…”

“And why would he think you guys wouldn’t understand his reasons?”

“Beats me” he uncovered V-mon’s mouth and shrugged, “I think he’s just a weirdo.”

“A… A weirdo…?” Noel gasped.

“What, don’t ya agree?”

“Or are you implying you know something we don’t?” V-mon squinted his eyes at the French boy.

“O-oh… No, I… I never thought of him that way…” He seemed sad???

“... If you…” Daisuke started, quite hesitant, “If you were to make a digimon, like, if you could make one… You wouldn’t make one to hurt others, or… us, right?”

Noel blinked, “Uh… No? Why would I do that…? Humans shouldn’t create digimon, they shouldn’t play a god role…”

“... Ah Alright. You’re right, this would be bad.”

“But Oikawa…” V-mon frowned, “Oikawa did that… And he wasn’t bad.”

“... You’re right… But Arukenimon and Mummymon said their only purpose was to destroy the Digital World… Though… I think it was because of Vamdemon’s influence, if they…”

“A human shouldn’t mess with the power of creating digimon life” Noel sighed.

“... I think Arukenimon and Mummymon would’ve been good digimon if they had the chance…”

“?!!” Noel gasped in silence.

“The Digimon Kaiser made a legit bad digimon without a single mind, so I don't think Chimeramon would be redeemed. However…”

“You think I made Arsenemon, right…?”

“No, I…”

“It’s okay… You don’t need to defend your thesis. Actually, I--”

Daisuke’s phone rang and he gently asked Noel to wait a moment, so he took it from his pocket and answered the call. It was Koushiro.

“I’ve detected one of those fragments. I sent the details via email, please check it.”

“Oh, right! I’ll check my inbox right now, thank you!” and then he hung up, opened his email inbox and then the most recent message on it.

Noel frowned, he didn’t want to be interrupted like this… Daisuke then smiled.

“It wasn’t activated yet!!” Daisuke cheered “It’s not that far from here…!! We can catch that Impmon before they use it on someone!”

“Um, Daisuke-san I…”

“Uh, sorry Noel. Can we talk later? This is important, we might get a fragment and stop those pranks!!”

“O-ok… See you later, I suppose…” And then he watched Daisuke and V-mon leave quickly.

“...”

Noel fixed his bangs, and he glanced in the direction Daisuke and V-mon went with his green eyes.

“... Maybe I should be going too…”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, Naito will murder me if I don’t find that fragment before those humans and their digimon--!! Where did I put it?! W-where-- HUH?!”

Impmon just found Ken with the said lost shard in hands.

“Oh, maybe I could--”

Stingmon appeared behind Impmon, and tried to catch him. Impmon screeched and left his hidden spot in panic “AAAAH W-WHAT HOW DID YOU--”

“I know you would be there,” Ken had the same Digimon Kaiser glare at the digimon.

“G-give it b-back!!”

“No, because I know you want to use it on someone else” he smiled, then he put the shard on his pocket from his coat, “Now you will show me where’s the last one, or…”

“Or what, you punk!?”

Ken snapped his fingers and Stingmon charged his spikes to execute a Spiking Finish attack.

“AAAAAAAAH!! I do-- I do tell you but please don’t hurt me!!” They replied in panic.

“Then… Where is it?”

“W-with Dracumon…!! I don’t know where he is though, don’t ask m--”

“Spiking…”

“AAAAH H-HE WENT AFTER O-ONE OF THE CH-CHOSEN CHILDREN!! PLEASE DON’T KILL MEEEE!!”

“One of us…?” Ken raised his eyebrows, this meant something was not right.

“Ken!!” Daisuke called him, meeting with the other. Just by doing this, the eyepatched Impmon managed to escape, “Huh, that Impmon--”

“Easy,” then Ken showed him the shard, “They lost the fragment and we found it first thanks to Koushiro-san’s tracker.”

“That’s Koushiro’s power for you!” V-mon grinned, “But they left…”

“Yeah, but there’s one more problem…” Stingmon said.

“What is it?”

“Dracumon has the last piece” Ken explained, “And is after one of us.”

“Man… Alright, it’s easier if we let this Dracumon spot one of us first than start looking for it.”

V-mon, Ken and Stingmon looked at Daisuke in awe.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s… better than nothing,” Ken shrugged.

“H-Hey, I’m really trying to think how we can get that piece BEFORE that thief! And before someone gets hurt too.”

“He’s still upset with those meanies for using Takeru,” V-mon explained.

“Not just Takeru… I meant everyone so far!!”

“Alright, let’s gather the others, and try to track the last one.”

Arsenemon was there, hiding… And starting to not trust those kids to solve any major problem, so he used his magic to write on thin air the list of possible victims according to what he eavesdropped from the boys.

“Hmm… One of them… This means it can be either one of the young ones, or one of the older ones.”

“Would they use someone else again?”

“Hmm… They wouldn’t target the younger ones, because they’re attacking them indirectly…”

“And mademoiselle Tachikawa has returned to her current home overseas… Hmm…”

“Ah, could it be…!!”

Yamato was going home, still worried about Takeru, and also about Sora. He was well aware Taichi and Joe were also victims, and his blood was still boiling. He was almost going after that Impmon! Almost…

Suddenly, he stops in front of a hooded person. Still wary about the events, he brings Gabumon to the scene by opening his phone and accessing Koushiro’s server. Gabumon popped out from the screen and stood in front of that human.

“I’m not an enemy,” the hooded person said. Then they showed Yamato one of those forbidden shards, “I know you can use this for good. I can offer you… Protection against that Impmon.”

“Offering me one of those like them?” Yamato flipped, and this was what the little shard needed to be activated.

“That Impmon… Attacked your brother, didn’t you know?” Then, Yamato and Gabumon saw that smile under the hood. By the shock, Yamato couldn’t move, and then the hooded human put the Digimental piece in Yamato’s hands, muttering “Make them all pay for hiding this little secret from you, and get rid of that Impmon.”

“...”

But mysteriously, Noel managed to witness the scene. And he left in a hurry.

The group was all gathering at the usual karaoke booth, checking the network and the radar program Koushiro made… When suddenly… Someone knocked on the booth’s door.

Ken opened the door, but he realized no one was there… Until something almost hit him in the face. He dodged a card which was pinned on the door by one of its edges. Ken also managed to get to see someone hiding behind the wall of the corridor section -- Was it Noel? -- he thought.

The fine pretty black card with its back filled with a golden cat paw caught Ken’s attention. He took the card from the door and closed it. He showed the new Calling Card to the others.

“W-what!? Already!?” V-mon exclaimed.

“I think I saw Noel Leblanc too,” Ken explained.

“Maybe he was told to deliver it!” Daisuke quickly tried to defend Noel, enough to make the others wince, “It doesn’t matter. What does it say?”

“It says… He’s going to retrieve the fragment from… Yamato-senpai.”

“WHAT!?” They all exclaimed.

“But why Yamato?” Takeru babbled, “Oh no… It must be that Dracumon you mentioned before…!!” 

“We should not waste time,” Tailmon said with a serious glare, “Miyako, have you caught anything on the radar?”

“Ummm… I think yes, there’s something near the area of the university Yamato-senpai attends.”

Then, they left the booth, but… For some reason, Daisuke caught something suspicious and went after it. Again, V-mon was left with Ken and the others… Was Daisuke just being reckless lately?

Yamato was not found. Instead, there was this dark armored digimon -- Plutomon. The 02 Team could sense this meant Yamato and Gabumon fused into that digimon, or Yamato used the fragment in himself or in Gabumon.

“When would you tell me… That that Impmon hurt Takeru?”

They definitely heard Yamato’s voice coming from that digimon.

“Isn’t that Plutomon?” Patamon asked, “This is no good…!”

“He definitely sounds like Yamato-senpai” Miyako frowned, then looked at the group while clutching her digivice, “What should we do?”

“YAMATO!” Takeru screamed, “Please stop! I’m fine now!”

“... You lied to me.”

“... Everyone, let Hikari-chan, Miyako-san and I deal with this.”

“But why Hikari and Miya--” V-mon was about to ask, but Takeru interrupted him:

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Takeru looked at them with a smile, “I will save my brother from himself.”

“If you say so…” Armadimon shrugged.

After finishing evolving, all the digimon went to their positions -- Ankylomon and Stingmon were there to shield the kids, Silphymon and HolyAngemon were on the battlefield and ready to fight. It was when they realized… V-mon came all alone.

“EH!? Where’s Daisuke!?” V-mon looked around quite panicked, “D-did we get separated!?”

HolyAngemon knew what was Takeru’s plan, so he and Silphymon attacked Plutomon immediately. Plutomon shielded and even repelled Silphymon’s Top Gun and Dual Sonic attacks. They had to find a way to approach Yamato (?) immediately!!

“Daisuke’s not here…” Miyako frowned, “This means we can’t use Paildramon to hold Plutomon and let HolyAngemon get closer…”

“No, he can evolve without Daisuke,” Ken explained, “That’s how I evolved him before, remember?”

“That’s right…” Iori nodded, “Ichijouji-san was who evolved V-mon and Wormmon into Paildramon when we had to fight Wallace-san.”

“... Can you do that?” Takeru asked out of the blue.

“You don’t want us to use Imperialdramon, right?” V-mon spoke, “Well, we can use Paildramon instead, we won’t hurt Yamato or Gabumon!!”

“Thank you, V-mon.”

Once Paildramon was in the fight, they used their cables against Plutomon the moment the opponent was simultaneously attacked by Silphymon once again. Plutomon dodged Silphymon’s Dual Sonic again, but got trapped by Paildramon’s finger-cables.

“NOW, HOLYANGEMON!” Takeru screamed.

“HOLY DISINFECTION!!” 

HolyAngemon approached very quickly and used his holy aura coming from his hands and touched Plutomon’s head, and then, he removed the shard on the chest of the armor, undoing the fusion between Yamato and Gabumon, but falling unconscious. HolyAngemon and Silphymon catched them before they hit the ground and gently put them on the floor.

The digimon devolved back to their usual standard forms. The kids approached Yamato. Ken put his hand on Yamato’s wrist to check the man’s pulse.

“He’s fine, just passed out.” he looked at Takeru, “He and Gabumon might just need to rest for a while.”

“...” Takeru looked at Yamato sleeping.

“Ah! You got it…!!”

They heard Daisuke’s voice from the distance, and glanced at the other:

“Where were you, Daisuke?!” Miyako and V-mon snapped.

“Oh… I… I was after Arsenemon, he was inside the karaoke building.”

“He was there!?” The others exclaimed. Daisuke just nodded his head.

“But why was he there, dagya?”

“Beats me” he replied with a shrug, “The moment I almost caught him, he vanished in thin air like magic.”

“Hmm…” Ken mused.

“Oh, you got our 10th shard!” Daisuke looked at Takeru’s hands, “Now all we have to do is take the other ten back from Arsenemon and we will finally… What do we plan to do with them though?”

“We will find a way to seal them away from everyone else,” Ken explained.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“I thought that was obvious,” V-mon blinked, “Like, what else would we do with them? If they’re cursed and the Digimental itself has a price to pay for its power…”

“O-oh… Yeah, that was a stupid question.”

“Are you okay?” Hikari frowned, “You seem strange…”

“Haha, I’m fine no worries!” Daisuke laughed, “Then, we should send this right to Koushiro-san while we’re plannin’ how to snatch the other ten from that sneaky thief!”

“Yeah, we’re about to do that,” Patamon replied.

“Daisuke…” Ken looked at his best friend for a moment.

“Huh? What is it, Ken?”

“Nothing… Let’s go.”

With 10 fragments for each side… The Chosen Children now are about to witness something unexpected…

Something Ichijouji Ken cannot stop in time.

[digitalgate02]

Cyber Sleuth AU for 02 kids

If you know me, you would remember i'm more like a "Walking AU Machine" and instead of making OCs for the things i like... I just throw Daisuke & co. into those universes to see how they would handle them.

[SPOILER-FREE BTW!!]

I’m copy + pasting from my twt thread.

※ temp art for the post, he does not look wear Aiba protag outfit, ok?

Daisuke, Ken, Miyako, Takeru, Hikari and Wallace are from the same high school, but NOT from the one Aiba/Keisuke are.

Do not ask about why Wallace is here, i just can't leave him out. I'm pretty much Wallace brain rot right now.

Miyako is secretly a hacker, while the rest not. 

 Daisuke accidentally get taken by an Eater like Aiba protag, but just like Aiba he manages to become a "digital being" and Miyako helps him to find data to build a body. Like Aiba, yeah. Then this group of teenagers decide to investigate this peculiar critters to bring Daisuke back, so they casually meets Kyoko and the CS cast. 

 They solve things together sometimes, but their focus is just helping Daisuke, of course.

The 02 group got their respective digimon (yes Wallace got two again because he can) though Daisuke has befriended a ton of digimon. Yet his main partner is V-mon.

Mirei finds interesting this version of those kids, because she's aware about their 02 (canon) counterparts lol.

Oh yeah, Iori is just a middle schooler who works as everyone's "voice of reason" and he vaguely remember of his late father knowing Matayoshi.

(why? because i like Matayoshi so much. He and Hiroki would've been good friends imo)

The 02 group has actually no official "headquarters", so they keep using the computer room from their HS for this. And sometimes they have to use the bedroom for one of their members instead. 

 But y'know, Miyako being part of the Computer Club helps them a lot.

They do not want to mess with the business of the other hacker teams (Hudie, Zaxon, Rebellion/Rebels, Jude, Demons, etc) but they somehow follow Nokia's philosophy about considering the digimon more than hacker tools. 

So they fight evil hackers hurting the digi for Mirei lol

Hikari heard of the rumors of the ghost boy wandering in Kowloon and keeps trying to catch a cool picture of him. Ken is also so interested on this mysterious boy that he goes investigating it. 

 However, Daisuke hates ghosts. Especially because Ghost Boy = Eaters around.

When the other six discovered Miyako was actually a legit hacker, they asked her why and she just "Idk i thought it could be useful someday" "Oh..."

Takeru: So Daisuke-kun, since you can become invisible... Daisuke: No. I won't help you to prank Yamato-san. • • •

Ken: ... How do you feel? Daisuke: Ken: I'm serious, do you feel something? Daisuke: It's hard to explain... I feel nothing, but i can taste the food. Wallace: How!? Aren't you made of data now? Daisuke: [shrugs] At least i can't die by Kuremi-san's coffee blends. Them: Lucky you • • •

Daisuke: We need a group name if we're hackers now! Ken: I don't think we need a name though. Daisuke: How about... Them: No. Daisuke: But-- Hikari: Please, no names. Daisuke: Okay 😔😭 • • •

Btw, evolution chart:

V-mon → XV-mon → Wingdramon → UlforceV-dramon 

Wormmon → Stingmon → Okuwamon → GranKuwagamon

Hawkmon → Aquilamon → Hippogriffomon → Valdurmon

Armadimon → Ankylomon → Groundmon → Cannondramon*

* I know this line is not present in the games, and i don't like the options in-game 😔

Patamon → Angemon → HolyAngemon → Seraphimon

Tailmon → Angewomon → Holydramon

Terriermon → Gargomon → Rapidmon (perf.) → SaintGalgomon

Lopmon → Turuiemon → Antylamon (deva) → Cherubimon (virtue)

That’s all for now folks ✨

[noctisfishing]

Milk Buns and Happiness

Summary: On the day before White Day, Hikari questions her heart and her choices after a failed relationship. Eventually, she goes to Takeru to cheer up, not realizing that the answers to happiness were laid out in front of her all along.

Pairing: Takari

Notes: Written for @blondeandconfused. Happy Birthday!! <3

I hope you enjoy this Takari fluff :D

~*~*~*~*~

One afternoon, Hikari took a seat on a bench near the front of the high school. She caught within her earshot a group of students chatting about the next day being White Day, and about their plans of giving return gifts to the admirers who had spoiled them on Valentine's Day. They were all smiles, but Hikari could only feel the opposite.

"Are you alright, Hikari?"

A rustling of leaves from above her followed by a gentle drop at her side told Hikari that Tailmon appeared next to her. She noticed the look of concern on Tailmon's face.

"I'll be okay, Tailmon," Hikari said. "I just feel bad that I had to break up with Hideki."

It had been a week since Hikari delivered the news to her now ex-boyfriend Hideki, and although she tried to stay cheerful, the breakup left her feeling glum since then.

"You were just following your heart, weren't you?" Tailmon asked.

"Yeah."

But her heart always seemed to let her down in the end. Hideki was a nice, friendly guy in her class. She liked to hang out with him, and he treated her well to make the rest of the class jealous.

Being with him just didn't feel right. But Hikari still felt guilty.

Tailmon tilted her head, frowning. Then, she crawled onto Hikari's lap and nuzzled herself against her chest.

Hikari patted Tailmon's head gently. Digimon were unfamiliar with the topic of romance and breakups, so Hikari knew that Tailmon was at a loss of what to say. Still, Tailmon wanted to comfort her in that moment, and it got her to crack a smile.

"Maybe you should talk to Takeru?" Tailmon asked. "You're always happy when you're around him, and he knows how to cheer you up."

"Well, he's busy right now," Hikari replied. "Knowing him, he left his White Day gifts for his admirers at the last minute."

Somehow, that made Hikari even sadder.

"He always makes time for the friends that he cares about."

Knowing that Tailmon would persist, Hikari stood up, carrying her in her arms. "Alright, Tailmon. I'll give him a call later. But I'd like to go home first. Maybe a quiet stroll back with you can give me time to think."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, you're here, Hikari," Taichi said as he entered the apartment.

Hikari sat on the couch with Tailmon on her lap and Agumon leaning against her side, all of them watching TV together.

"I haven't been going out much, lately," she replied, and she was certain that Taichi had understood why. Before last week, much of her time outside of her classes was spent with Hideki.

As Taichi took off his shoes and set his school bag down, Hikari thought about how he handled romance and heartache. He was always comfortable with her in talking about a girl he spent time with, and he would answer her questions whenever she asked them.

When he sat down on the other side of Agumon, Hikari couldn't help but ask:

"How do you know when you love someone?"

Taichi turned to her, startled at the question.

"Uh, well…" He seemed to hesitate more as both Agumon and Tailmon seemed to stare just as intently while they waited for an answer. "I guess you just feel it. If it's in your heart that you want to be with that someone, you kind of just go for it."

"And what if my heart was wrong?"

Taichi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "There's no easy way to say it, really. None of us are perfect. We'll go on what we feel is right, and what we think will make us happy. It won't always work out the way you wanted it to in the end, but, hey, at least you went for it."

After a few moments, Hikari turned to look at him. "Are you still thinking about the cookies?"

"I'm always thinking about the cookies."

Taichi stared at Hikari as though he waited for her reaction, and she stared back, trying hard to hold back her laughter. She couldn't.

"I think about cookies, too!" said Agumon

"I wouldn't mind some right now," added Tailmon.

Hikari knew that Taichi was smiling at her as she giggled for the next few moments.

"Thanks, Onii-chan."

"Sure."

Then Hikari looked down at Tailmon and shared a smile, and sat back to return her attention to the TV. She heard the crinkle of wrapping paper from Taichi and from the corner of her eye she saw that he was holding some pastries.

"Well, I don't have any cookies, Agumon, but I've got some milk buns if you'd like."

"Yes, please!"

"Have some, too, Hikari, Tailmon." Taichi held out two in front of them. Tailmon grabbed one and started munching on it happily, and Hikari reached for hers, recognizing the style of the sesame seeds decorated on top.

"You went to Takeru's favorite bakery," said Hikari.

"Yeah," Taichi said with his mouth full. "I can taste why, too. Give him a 'thank you' from me when you get the chance."

Taichi's reaction about Takeru was different than it usually was. At worst, he would grumble whenever Takeru joined Hikari at teasing him as well as Yamato - which neither younger sibling could help. But Hikari saw how highly Takeru thought of Taichi, and the only way to improve the current moment was seeing the bright smile on Takeru's face from hearing Taichi himself.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Then, Hikari picked up her phone, with her first instinct to send a message to Takeru. The thought of visiting the bakery with him was bringing some cheer to her mood, and she wanted to do what she told Tailmon she would do, anyway.

Takeru had texted her first.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Are you free? Let's meet up at the train station," Hikari answered.

Takeru followed up with an immediate response: "Be right there."

"I guess I'll send him your message sooner than I thought," Hikari told Taichi as she and Tailmon got up from the couch and headed toward the door.

"Don't cause too much trouble," he said, slouching into the couch.

"I'll get him to go with me to the bakery so that we can buy more milk buns. He'll probably want some help picking out something special for his White Day gifts tomorrow, too."

"Wait." Taichi sat up straight. "Tomorrow's White Day?!"

Hikari closed the front door without responding to him.

"He just told you not to cause too much trouble, and you're already starting for him," Tailmon pointed out.

"He'll live," Hikari said, continuing down the corridor.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Takeru greeted Hikari with a long, warm hug.

"You're smiling a little more today," he told her.

"Who wouldn't be happy to see you, Takeru?" Patamon piped up, sitting on top of Takeru's hat.

Takeru grinned. "So, Hikari, where to?"

"I thought you'd have some place in mind, you know, with all of the White Day specials going on," she said.

"Hmm. I'm not too worried about that. Besides, you're usually better at knowing the best places to shop. Maybe I'll be inspired wherever you lead me."

"Alright, then…" Hikari eyed him suspiciously. What was he planning for White Day? She took note of the stark difference in reactions between Takeru's calm demeanor and Taichi's sudden panic. Taichi must have had at least one gift on Valentine's Day that he wanted to return a gift for, and knowing Takeru and seeing the handfuls of chocolates he received, he was likely to have similar intentions.

"How about we head over to the cafe first? I'm craving a parfait," Hikari decided.

Both Tailmon and Patamon's eyes widened with excitement.

At the cafe, Hikari ordered a parfait with matcha and strawberry for herself, and let the Digimon partners order a chocolate parfait to share. Takeru ordered a cafe latte.

While waiting for their orders, Takeru told Hikari his story about running into Daisuke, Iori, and Ken earlier that day. He mentioned how Daisuke complained about an exam and Ken arguing with him about complaining too much. Iori stood there, watching them, but he and Takeru could only look at each other and sigh helplessly.

Hikari laughed as she pictured the encounter, and from the way Takeru told her about it. She enjoyed listening to his stories.

"Miyako thinks you're hiding from her," Takeru added. "She's been worried about you."

Hikari thought Miyako might have been just as helpless as the rest of her friends. "I did tell her I needed space."

"I get that, Hikari, really, I do. Even if, for a while, I thought you were hiding from me, too."

Surprised, Hikari looked into Takeru's eyes from across the table. She had seen that same look of concern in the past, back when she fell into darkness and her mind was clouded with thoughts of hopelessness. Perhaps the breakup was taking her back to that same place.

Back then, Takeru had found her and helped her out of that mess. Was it fair to keep him in the dark again?

"I'm sorry, Takeru," Hikari began, feeling guilty.

"No - I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that knowing what was going on. And especially since we see Hideki every day…"

The somber mood at the table seemed to change the moment the parfaits arrived. Both Patamon and Tailmon gasped in delight and gathered around their chocolate parfait, and Hikari took her spoon to scoop up the first bite of hers.

"Delicious…" Hikari said, suddenly in bliss.

"Welcome back," Takeru said jokingly.

She eagerly offered spoonfuls to Patamon and Tailmon, then to Takeru who followed up with a critique as he usually did whenever she shared her food with him. Hikari gathered that he inherited that habit from his older brother, Yamato, whose critiques were a complete opposite of Takeru's. When comparing the two, Hikari was grateful that she got along with the brother whose critiques were in her favor.

Halfway through eating her parfait, Hikari observed her Digimon partner relishing the chocolate parfait along with Patamon. She looked over to Takeru who appeared to be at peace as he held the large coffee cup to his lips and drank it slowly.

When they weren't laughing and joking with each other, Hikari found comfort in the moments of silence with Takeru.

Once the parfait glasses were empty and Takeru took his last sip, he set his large cup down. "Where to next?" Takeru asked her.

"Wanna hit the bookstore?" Hikari asked back. "It's been forever since I've gone to one."

"As you wish."

Once they were all finished, they headed toward the bookstore, but not before Takeru took care of the bill.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hikari was going to all of the stores that she wanted, and Takeru didn't seem to mind at all. After Hikari found a new book that she was excited to find on the shelves, she led Takeru and the Digipals to the accessory shop, where she found a cute pair of earrings. Then, they went into a pet store, where Hikari caught the attention of a Kishu puppy. Squealing with joy, she picked him up and cradled him in his arms.

"Tailmon, look!" she said, the Kishu nuzzling his cheek against her. "Isn't he so cute?"

"Hmph," Tailmon said, turning away unimpressed.

Patamon sat atop Takeru's head, staring at the Kishu in amazement.

"He looks like a new friend!" Patamon exclaimed.

Hikari and Takeru exchanged knowing looks, and Hikari set the Kishu down on the floor. Takeru let Patamon fly down, and the puppy yelped with glee while Patamon a few inches above him, flapping his wings in greeting.

As Patamon attempted to include Tailmon with their playtime, Hikari stood beside Takeru from afar. In that moment, she realized that she was in a much better mood than she had been all week.

"Can I be honest with you?" she asked Takeru, who was cradling a kitten that was dozing off in his arms.

"When aren't you?" he asked.

"I've been wondering why I've been so down about the breakup, when I wasn't happy being with Hideki, after all."

Takeru turned to her to listen.

"He wasn't a fan of animals," she continued. "We liked some of the same music, TV shows, and movies, but he didn't seem interested in talking about them. Especially not about books. And whenever we ate food together, he wanted to stick to whatever was on his plate."

"That sounds like all the things you don't like."

He wasn't that great of a kisser, either," she added, which she instantly regretted once Takeru gave her a look. "Don't get me wrong. He was sweet and really caring. I had fun. But I get it - everyone's different and that's okay. I don't blame him for any of it. I just blame myself for being together with him for so long even though I knew it wasn't right."

"At least you did what was right for yourself, Hikari. It's okay to think it was right at first but be wrong later on. We're human, and we make mistakes."

A soft purr was heard near Takeru's chest. They both looked to see the kitten was stirring from its slumber.

"Hideki's been down, just like you," Takeru went on. "But it's hard not to be after a breakup. He'll get better, and I know you will, too. You're recognizing a mistake and learning from it. Maybe one day, I'll get over my mistake, too."

Hikari raised her brow. "What do you mean by that?"

The kitten's meowing grew louder and began to fidget even more. Takeru was left no choice but to turn around to return the kitten to the store. When Hikari returned to Tailmon, she found her stare grumpily ahead while the Kishu licked her cheek while Patamon giggled madly.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As she promised Taichi, Hikari made sure to stop by the bakery - Takeru's favorite one. She bought a dozen milk buns to bring home to Taichi. Everyone also indulged in sample slices of the bakery's chocolate castella cakes, which Hikari thought were delicious but didn't want to bring too many sweets home.

"Is there anything else you want?" Takeru asked. "It'll be my treat."

"Takeru, you've done so much for me already, I can't even begin to thank you for today-"

"Please, Hikari. I want to do this for you."

Maybe it was the way his voice lowered or how firm his tone was, but it somehow caught Hikari off guard.

"W-Well, fine…" she stammered, her face warming up, but she thought of her most favorite pastry. "One chocolate cornet."

"Just one?"

"Okay, two. One for Tailmon."

Takeru stared at her long and hard.

"Three. Three chocolate cornets," was her final answer.

Takeru gave her a playful smirk - a favorite expression of hers on him - but it seemed to fluster her even more at that moment.

"Hikari?" Tailmon asked, her ears perked up and her eyes wide with curiosity.

"I'm fine," Hikari replied in a hush, even as her heart was racing.

When Hikari thought that Takeru and Patamon were going to part ways with her and Tailmon, Takeru decided to walk them home and carry the bag of pastries for her. She went along with it, given that he was her best friend and she was comfortable being around him.

There was also the fact that she wanted to stay with him as long as she possibly could.

"Are you sure you're ready for White Day?" Hikari asked while she walked alongside him.

Takeru laughed. "Why are you so concerned about it?"

"I'm skeptical. You don't seem concerned at all, and I know you want to make sure that a girl knows how special she is."

Only their footsteps were heard after that, and Hikari began to wonder whether she said something that troubled him. But she heard him laughing again.

"Funny you should say that, Hikari. You're right. Maybe I should be concerned."

"Really, now? What changed your mind?"

"The fact that I've been trying to do that all afternoon, yet, you still have no idea."

"...What?"

Hikari stopped in her tracks, and so did Takeru. Patamon and Tailmon stopped as well, staying a few feet behind and looking on in confusion.

"This… might not be the right time, Hikari," he began. "Maybe you still need space, but I just couldn't wait anymore."

"He's shaking…" Patamon said softly, to which Tailmon quickly shushed him.

When Hikari looked down at his hands, including the one that held the bag of pastries, she saw that he was trying to hide it.

"Can I be honest with you?" Takeru asked her.

"Of course," Hikari replied, her voice soft, and she felt uncertain as to what he was about to say next.

"I was never ready for White Day. I never planned on returning gifts to anyone this year. I just planned on sitting this one out."

"Oh…"

Takeru chuckled, and Hikari could sense that he was nervous. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was only one person I wanted to spend it with. I just didn't know how to tell her, given the circumstances…"

"And… what are the circumstances?" Hikari asked.

"That she's got a broken heart, and I want to be the one to mend it."

Hikari's breath caught in her throat. At that point, it was obvious where this conversation was headed, and she believed that Takeru would reach his point in due time.

But she still wanted to help him get there.

"Maybe you should back up a little. How long have you felt this way about her?"

"Since that summer in 1999."

Hikari gasped. "That long?!"

"Isn't that when we all first met?" Patamon chirped from afar.

"But, Takeru…" Hikari stared at him, awestruck. "All these years, you've never said anything."

"Well, I wanted to play it cool, and let her go her own way while I went mine. Yet, the longer we knew each other, the closer we became. It just got harder to figure out how I felt, and harder to understand what my heart really wanted."

"So then, how did you feel whenever she had a new boyfriend?"

"I wanted to feel happy for her. I wanted to believe that if she was happy, then I would be, too. But, I just couldn't be happy."

Hikari realized then, that Takeru had been unhappy, even when she was in her relationship with Hideki. He was doing the same thing that she was - following his own heart thinking that it was right, even when it wasn't.

"It was different whenever I was with her, though. The way she smiled like the sun and her laugh sounded like a melody. Whenever she was happy, I felt it, too. Seeing her sad, I felt it just as much."

For a moment, listening to Takeru speak of a girl with beautiful similes made Hikari feel jealous. Then, she remembered exactly who he was talking about.

Her cheeks flushed as the thought set in. Crossing her arms, Hikari asked her next question.

"So, she's got a broken heart, huh? How were you thinking about mending it?"

"Oh - that's easy. I figured I'd start by taking her out and reminding her of all the things that brought her joy."

The parfait, the books, the earrings, the adorable pets, and the chocolate cornets that sat on top of the box of a dozen milk buns in the bag that Takeru was still carrying for her.

"But you let her choose where to go."

"A broken heart cannot be fixed without the owner's permission. I wanted to let her wander freely. It's the most surefire way to see her smile. And I knew - well, I hoped - that spending time with me was an even better way."

Contrary to his words, Hikari felt her eyes beginning to water.

"I've never given you anything for Valentine's Day, Takeru," she croaked. "I've teased you about the girls you've flirted with, and supported you for the girls you were actually serious about. How could you be serious about me? When you've seen me make mistakes that I'm bound to make again?"

"Hikari, you've given me more than you'll ever know after all these years. I could give you all of the gifts in the world and I still don't feel like it would ever be enough." Takeru gripped the handles of the bag in his hand. "I've made a mistake, too. The mistake of letting your heart break more than once. I love you too much to let that happen again."

"You love me?"

Tears streamed down Hikari's face. Were they of sadness? No, she knew that it couldn't be. Fear? Maybe. The fear of following her heart one more time - she could feel that. But there was something else she felt from those tears, something she hadn't felt with anyone else.

It was hope.

Takeru stepped closer to Hikari, and every step towards her made her heart beat faster. Her mind had gone blank, she couldn't find the words to respond, and she held her breath just as he stopped in front of her, only inches between them.

"Hey, now…" Takeru said with a gentle smile, and Hikari gave way for his hands to brush her tears away. "The girl I'm in love with hasn't told me how she felt. Don't leave me hanging."

Hikari looked into Takeru's bright blue eyes and thought about her time with him up until that moment. Deep down, she knew her feelings had been there all along, but they had never been brought to light until now.

This time, it just felt right.

"I love you, Takeru," Hikari said. "I always have."

"Wait, really?" Takeru asked, now searching her eyes which were now watering again.

"Really."

That was when Takeru leapt forward, throwing his arms around her and closing the gap between them with a kiss.

Hikari was stunned. Her arms fell at her sides as Takeru held her tightly with his lips pressed against hers. He pulled away a moment later, watching her and waiting for a response that she was too stunned to give. The look in his eyes told her that he was starting to doubt himself.

But she never wanted him to, not when she shared the same feelings for him. Reaching for Takeru's shoulders, Hikari pulled him close and lifted herself up to kiss him back.

It was a few moments until she heard a giggle behind her. Patamon and Tailmon had been watching them all along, although they looked at them both patiently and with adoration.

Had she not realized that Patamon and Tailmon were still there with them, Hikari would have kept her lips on his a little bit longer.

"We should probably keep walking," Hikari said, giggling nervously with her face feeling hot. "I want to see Taichi's face when we bring these milk buns home to him."

"You know what, me too," Takeru responded in agreement, although his cheeks were tinged with pink.

Patamon flew up to Takeru's hat and Tailmon joined Hikari at her other side as they continued to walk. Hikari didn't realize until a few feet ahead that Takeru had slid his free hand onto holding hers.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

Hikari interlocked her fingers with his. "Of course it is."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oops, I forgot the key," Hikari said once they reached the door to the apartment. She knocked on the door, knowing that Taichi was home, but grew annoyed after a few minutes had passed.

"Maybe he isn't home?" Takeru asked.

Hikari groaned. "I'll just text him."

Once she set her phone down, she saw from the corner of her eye that Takeru was watching her.

"What is it?"

He must not have realized what he was doing, because the next moment he looked away with a new blush forming on his cheeks.

"It's nothing," was his casual but nervous response.

Hikari had realized then, that Takeru was always watching her, and she was slowly beginning to understand why. He was always looking out for her, encouraging her with no other explanation other than love.

"Takeru," she said.

"Hmm?"

"That chocolate cake from earlier. You've still got some on your face."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. For someone who cared about how he looked, I would've thought you'd notice."

"Maybe I'm just too comfortable around you to care."

"Let me." Hikari lifted her finger towards the corner of his mouth, drawing herself towards him.

Takeru might have figured it out seconds before, but he didn't have crumbs to begin with. It might have been why, after Hikari lightly brushed his cheek with her hand, he accepted her kiss that followed.

And that was when the door finally opened. Both Hikari and Takeru broke off the kiss and turned to Taichi with their arms around each others' waists.

Taichi appeared to be at a loss for words. Hikari took a moment to exchange a glance with Takeru before turning to Taichi again.

"Hey, Onii-chan," Hikari said with a smile. "I was wondering when you were going to answer the door.

"Are you two being serious right now?" Taichi asked.

"Hikari bought you milk buns," Takeru replied, lifting the bag forward nonchalantly. "There's a dozen in here."

"Didn't you say you wanted to thank Takeru for suggesting them?" Hikari added.

Taichi was confused. "How are you not answering me? When did you two become a thing?"

With a grin, Takeru replied, "You're welcome, Taichi. I told you they were amazing."

"Did I hear more milk buns?" Agumon asked behind Taichi.

"Fine, I'll leave the subject for now." Taichi took the bag of pastries from Takeru. "But you better have an explanation for me later, Hikari."

Taichi walked back into the apartment, leaving Takeru and Hikari in a fit of giggles.

"I guess the cornets are for me, too?" Taichi asked loudly from further in. "I know these can't be your favorite, Hikari…"

"He's messing with you, now," Takeru told Hikari, wearing a smirk.

"I can deal with it. I won't let him take away your gift from me."

"Even if he does, I'll just buy you more tomorrow."

Hikari knew that if she told him that he didn't have to, he would still buy her gifts regardless, so she settled for responding with another kiss before they finally said goodnight.

When Hikari and Tailmon entered the apartment, they found Taichi and Agumon at the kitchen counter, both with milk buns in their hands. Taichi had left the cornets on the side to give to Hikari, who, after a few more minutes of dancing around the subject and aggravating Taichi, finally confirmed that she and Takeru were an item.

"It was about time you two confessed," Taichi said. "I'm happy for you."

And now, knowing that her feelings were out in the open, and her heart was going in the right direction, so was she.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic[  Bonds of Blood:  Chapter 2

Four days. Four very long days where Yamato found he could scarcely close his eyes without the image of Piemon rising up behind them and that demanding voice filling his ears, insisting that he find that ruined temple, that he do something he not only didn’t want to do, but didn’t know how to do.

The more time passed, the more certain he was that if he did find that temple, he would know what he needed to do. The sensation of Piemon’s hands, ghosting so close to him, guided him a thousand times in his dreams.

He wanted to make himself stay awake but no matter the amount of coffee he drank, sooner or later he fell asleep and found himself in the woods again, seeking out that place that should just fall apart.

“Big brother, you look exhausted,” Takeru said, staring at him from the other side of the breakfast table. He didn’t come over often, but this weekend both their parents were off doing job related things, and Takeru insisted on coming over.

Yamato didn’t have the strength to turn him down. But even if he had, he wouldn’t have; spending time with Takeru wasn’t to be carelessly discarded. Now he just fought to drag up a smile and hoped it didn’t shatter under his brother’s scrutiny.

Then he recalled what Takeru just said and shrugged, hunting for words. “I’m fine.” He wasn’t. He knew he wasn’t. He hadn’t been fine in days.

Of course you’re fine. You’re my son. Piemon’s mocking voice echoed in his head. Usually Yamato only heard it in his dreams but there were moments otherwise. He reminded himself this was just a remnant of a dream - and so was the snort of mockery that came along with it - and focused himself on Takeru.

“What did you want to do tonight?”

Takeru leaned back on the chair and scrunched his eyes together. “Tell ghost stories?”

Yamato shuddered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. “No!” He lived a ghost story every night and couldn’t wait for the day when he’d finally stop. “No ghost stories!”

If you did what I told you - what your father tells you - then you wouldn’t dream of me anymore.

Piemon didn’t know how to be reassuring. Yamato already knew that. He tried, though. He just did it very badly and Yamato tried harder to focus on his brother, a light in his life nothing could extinguish.

Takeru’s eyes lit up without warning. “Wanna go to the Digital World? See Gabumon and Patamon?”

“Yes!” Yamato couldn’t wait for that. He hadn’t been able to tell anyone else about this entire mental mess and surely with them he could. He’d thought about telling Taichi but the words wouldn’t come during their one phone call. They’d talked soccer and concerts and friends and nothing else and whenever Yamato tried, the words froze in his throat.

As if I would allow that ridiculous human to have a hand in this. Though I might have plans for him afterward.

Yamato did his best to ignore that as well. The thought of Piemon, plans, and Taichi all in the same sentence sent his stomach churning.

What made matters even worse, if they somehow could be, was the way he could all but feel Piemon regarding Takeru. It wasn’t the sort of interest he knew much about and having it involve his little brother confused him.

I already have plans for him.

Yamato closed that thought off as quickly as he could, grabbed his Digivice, and followed Takeru through the gate on his laptop into the Digital World. On the other side, their partners already awaited them, and Gabumon hugged his leg the moment that he got there, while Patamon perched on top of Takeru’s hat yet again.

“We found a weird place,” Patamon confided after the initial flurries of greetings ended. “Want to check it out?”

Takeru shrugged. “Sure. We’ve got a whole weekend.” They would likely go back home for something at some point, but he was mostly right. They could do what they wanted, and the longer they were around their partners, the more easily Yamato could convince himself that all of his dreams and the sound of Piemon’s voice in his mind were just his imagination. Again.

Don’t be so certain, my son.

As tired as he was, Yamato found himself still strong enough to ignore that comment in favor of following their partners through the trails to that strange location, wherever it was. And whatever it was.

Takeru didn’t say much as they made their way down the trail. Yamato didn’t argue; the floating figure of Piemon that strolled along with them kept looking in between the two of them, far more amusement in the look than it warranted, at least by Yamato’s standards. He didn’t want to ask why, for multiple reasons.

Piemon let out an amused laugh, swirling closer to Yamato as he did. Did you forget that I know your every thought, my son? My re-emergence, my rebirth, is at hand. You, your pretty mortal brother, together in this place?

Yamato didn’t stop to think. “What are you talking about?”

Takeru looked back at him, head tilted to the side and eyebrow quirked up. “I didn’t say anything. You all right?”

“Sure.” Yamato grinned for a quick moment, wishing he could believe he really meant it. Wishing that he did mean it. “I was thinking about something else.”

Patamon bounced up and down suddenly, pointing ahead of them. “It’s there! It’s there!”

And the path opened up before them and Yamato’s heart sank as he saw the same ruined, moss-covered temple as he’d seen in his dreams. Piemon stood where he had before and bowed mockingly.

Come inside, dear son. Come inside and revive me.

To Be Continued

Notes: Piemon is having too much fun. Really.

[rdmfavcpls]

Rivals

July 8th (My birthday!)

Prompt: Rivals

Summary: AU where Arata and Ami are best friends from school. Arata has fun messing around with a user called ‘Crouching_Tiger’

Note: Since this is a AU, the timeline isn’t the same as it is in the game. The events are out of order but at the time this takes event, I have it to where Ami has met Suedo before. This one is also going to be long, my present to all of you!

~~Story Begins~~

Arata was furiously typing away late at night, he got cocky (and desperate) and thought he could hack into ‘Crouching_Tiger’ account at him. Now he’s trying to furiously keep his location a secret. ‘Crouching_Tiger almost had his location, but Arata hid it and smirked.

He still has his hacking skills that made the leader of the Judes before they got disbanded. His Digi-line avatar sat down within the Digi-Line forum that also had a tiger avatar curled up. Arata typed up a message, “You almost got me, let my defenses down on you.”

The tiger flapped its tail lazily and opened one of its eyes revealing a bright blue eye that looked tired, then again it was 2:00 in the morning.

“Can you please quit trying to hack into my account? What did I ever do to deserve your anger?”

“Hey, you happen to be the second thing I can’t hack into, plus I’m enjoying it?” He doesn’t know why he all of a sudden started questioning it. He hasn’t had a rival like this, he’s a hacker and whoever this person is a cyber sleuth. How could he not have fun?

He looked over at his friend list and frowned, his best friend still hasn’t signed into her Digi-line account for a couple of weeks now. He know she’s okay, he’s seen her here and there, but she’s always busy with her new job as a detective assistant. She’s hardly in school anymore, but something’s changed within her. She has always made time for him, at least in his mind she did.

“You did say you was a cyber sleuth, right?”

The tiger nodded its head, “Yeah why?”

“Think you can check-up on someone for me? To make sure she’s okay?”

The tiger uncurled itself and stretched against the digital floor, “Aren’t you my self-proclaimed rival? Why are you asking for my help?”

Arata’s avatar jumped to his feet, his little hat felling over his eyes, “What’s wrong with being rivals and friends?”

“Calm down tiger, I was just asking. When did we become friends all of sudden?”

“The fact that you are currently talking to me in this forum and not mad about me attempting to hack into your account,” Arata typed up as his avatar sat back down.

“Listen, think about the case you want me to take. If you want me to take it, you have to file a case for it at the office. Get some sleep and please quit hacking my account.”

The tiger disappeared and Arata signed off with a sigh. He’s used to staying up and talking to Aiba throughout all hours of the night. She was his best friend and had a major crush on her, like most boys at their school. She hasn’t been on in weeks and it makes him worry.

The next morning, Arata was walking towards school and saw Ami at their usual meeting place before they headed to school together. She looked tired and didn’t look so good. He ran to her as she waved at him, a smile her face.

That usually calms his worries, his fears, but with her looking so worn down like she is now, it only made him worry more. He’s never seen her like this before.

“Long time no see,” Ami greeted once Arata was next to her and they started walking towards school together. “How have you been?”

“Been bored at school, been busy afterwards. You haven’t been at school in a while but everyone is talking about Jimiken. I’m surprised to see you at school.” He looked at her, “You don’t look too good.”

Ami glared at him, “Thanks, remind me to not wait for you again.”

Arata shook his head, “I’m being honest. It looks like you could use a couple of z’s.”

Ami smiled as their school got within viewing distance, “If that’s your way of showing me concern, than thank you. My job has been keeping me busy but we ran out of leads now just waiting for the target to make their move again.”

“What do you do again?” Arata asked.

“I’m an assistant to a detective,” Ami responded. “I love it, expect…”

“Except?”

“I think I have no tastebuds left,” Ami whined.

“You have no tastebuds?” Arata questioned confused.

“I drank two cups of dragon fruit, tofu, and carrot coffee,” Ami explained. “Either I have no tastebuds left or this headache that I have is dulling my other senses.”

“Dragon Fruit, tofu, carrot coffee? Why would you want to drink that voluntarily?”

“My boss only makes coffee with weird combinations and it's the only thing in the office to drink,” Ami explained.

“At first, I wanted to meet your boss, but now I don’t,” Arata said. The warning bell signalling school is about to started to ring,”C’mon, we’re going to be late!”

School came and went, Arata had planned on asking Ami as to why she hasn’t logged in for a while, but when it was time for lunch, Ami was gone. Arata once again, grumbled about the bad luck he had this year with Ami and him not being in the same homeroom. Apparently, her work called her in thus making her leave school early.

Arata went home and changed clothing before making his way towards Broadway Nakano. He heard about a bookstore there that had a better selection of used books and a coffee cafe that was delicious. Maybe he could help bring back Ami’s tastebuds.

He stopped at Shibuya to check out their bookstore and on his way back to the subway, there was a group surrounding the entrance. When he got closer to the subway entrance, he saw blue, purple, and white squares covering the entrance. He wanted to check it out but a shrill whistle sounded before an all too familiar voice from his past started yelling, “Don’t anybody else get the bright idea of entering the subway. As soon as I see that lady, she’s being arrested for destroying public property!”

Arata looked over and saw Date coming towards the group, “If you can’t beat them, than join them.”

He ran into the entrance ignoring Date’s yell of him to stop. He looked around in pure disbelief, “Is this reality or is this cyber space?” He looked at his Infermon who appeared next to him. “So, what do you think buddy? Is there a snake or a demon back in this weird space of reality?”

They started their adventure through Shibuya Station.

“You may sound like you have everything figured out,” Arata heard further into the station and recognized the voice, “All you see is the end result, the perfect plan and ideal. You don’t factor in the unknown, do you?”

“I investigate the unknown, dear, the world I wish to create will take away the feelings you are currently feeling,” a voice Arata didn’t recognize spoke back.

“The feelings, I’m currently feeling?” Ami asked back. “How do you know what I’m feeling?”

“I know more about you than what you think,” the unfamiliar voice said back gently. “When was the last time you truly saw and had a conversation with your mother? Does she believe you are perfectly fine or -”

“Shut up!” Ami snapped. “You leave my mother and everyone who I am close to out of this!”

“Temper, temper,” the voice said. “Tell me sir, is she always like that?”

Arata stepped out from around the corner, “No, not really. Only when her mother is involved or when one of her friends does something stupid and dangerous.”

“Arata! What are you doing here?” Ami asked.

“Got curious,” Arata said with a shrug. “No turning back now either.”

Ami’s eyes narrowed, “I’ll deal with you later.” She turned her attention back to the man. “Let me guess, you want me - us - to defeat the Eater here?”

“We’ve been through this before Ami, this is what, our third time meeting?” the man said. “Your young friend is confused.”

“Yeah, it’s a rare sight I don’t get to see very often,” Ami responded. “It’s even rarer for me to explain things to him.” She grabbed Arata’s wrist and started pulling Arata away.

“Now, that’s very rude, I haven’t even introduced myself to him,” the man spoke.”I can always fix that for you, if you like. Yes, I can make quite a few adjustments to you if you -”

A growl could be heard and Arata stared as a WereGarurumon stood in front of the man, “I don’t think we need to reintroduce you to my friends, do I, Suedo? If you can fix my attitude, then I suggest you get your memory fixed first.”

Arata let Ami drag him around the corner and down the stairs, the WereGarurumon following as his own Infermon appeared plus a BlackGatomon and a Patamon. Ami let go of his wrist and she turned on him. “What are you doing here?”

“I got curious, wasn’t expecting you to be the one causing Date to have a hissy fit,” Arata said crossing his arms. “You need to explain some things, like why are you here?”

“My boss asked me to investigate it while she investigates Jimiken’s music video to try and find a location for Sakura and a lot of missing girls,” Ami explained as WereGarurumon stepped next to her lowering its muzzle and nudged it against her. “Yes, he’s a friend,” she started talking to her WereGarurumon rubbing his snout.

“The reason as to why you haven’t messaged me on Digi-line?” Arata questioned as they started walking the subway station.

“My account got hacked and is inaccessible,” Ami said before looking at him. “I thought you have my new account?”

“I haven’t truly seen you for a while!” Arata exclaimed. “You’ve been so busy, I’m actually starting to worry. What did you mean by destroying the Eater?”

“Eater is what Suedo -that old man - is calling those black and white shell like things,” Ami explained. “They are the reason for EDEN Syndrome, they eat data.” She started climbing up the stairs and Arata followed. “Once the Eater is destroyed than this will return to normal briefly.”

“Briefly?”

Ami turned to look at him, “Next time you see this going on, a digital shift or labyrinth, than avoid it. Don’t get yourself involved, please?”

“No promises,” Arata said. “I have Infermon with me, I’ll be fine. You, however, when did you become a hacker?”

“Arata, please,” Ami said. Arata shook his head. “You don’t know what you are going to get yourself into!”

“If anyone is more clueless than me, it’s you,” Arata said with a glare. He honestly just doesn’t want to see her hurt. Now he really is going to have that cyber sleuth look into Ami. “You know I know you better than you know yourself.” Ami looked at him. “You take on too many things and not ask for help. You keep all the pressure and stress to yourself, how you do it, is beyond me. Besides, I’m looking into EDEN Syndrome and now apparently Eaters.”

“Suit yourself,” Ami said turning back around and running up the stairs. Arata could not get her to talk again, not about anything that he’s learning.

They were nearing the end when they saw a figure within blue date, “No way, the ‘Ghost of EDEN’ exists?”

“If it gets bad, run,” Ami said before they entered the battle with the Eater.

They defeated the Eater and everything changed back, they were out in the entrance of the subway, at night.

Ami started walking away, “I’ll see you later, Arata, but if you won’t stay away from the Digital Labyrinths, than stay away from Suedo. There’s something off about him.”

Arata just watched her walk away and frowned. This wasn’t like her, she’s usually more cheerful and doesn’t make anyone worry about her. Arata shook his head, he’s overthinking it, she just needs some good sleep and she’ll be back to normal.

That night, after masking his location since he was back at home, Arata was more determined to get answers out of Crouching_Tiger but they weren’t signed in, there was no traces of the account either, it was like they just vanished.

A week later, Arata was sitting in K-Cafe, ignoring the unbelievable hotness of the whole building. He overheard some of the patrons saying their heater was on the fritz now, apparently it was the A/C a couple months ago. He was typing furiously on his computer, trying to track down Crouching_Tiger. He was going to meet them face to face and get his answers that way, the polite way.

Out of nowhere, his laptop screen was closed while his fingers never touched the power button.

“I believe I asked you to quit hacking my account,” Ami’s voice said to him in a whisper from behind him and all of sudden, he could see her gloved hand that wasn’t there before. She moved her hand away from his computer.

He turned around in his chair and saw Ami standing there looking at him. “Ami?”

She smiled and laughed, “Bingo. Seriously though, can you please stop hacking my account? I’m scared to see what the username is for the next account Kyoko makes for me. Are you going to be here for a while?”

“Uh..yeah? I think?” Arata responded. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to turn a case in and take a break,” Ami said. “I’m sure Kyoko will allow me to hang out with you. That is if you want me too, I wasn’t exactly that kind to you last time and since you used to be a hacker, I could possibly use your help. As much as I trust Nokia and Yuuko has hackers, I trust you more.”

Arata narrowed his eyes, “Will you stop hiding things from me?”

Ami looked down, “I won’t have much of a choice soon. Especially since I’m going to be doing something completely stupid which is why I need your help.”

So Arata waited until Ami returned and sit down next to him at the window table. “You should try the coffee, it might bring back your tastebuds,” Arata commented.

Ami giggled and shook her head, “Unfortunately, it won’t, even if it did, my tastebuds would still be ruin. Kyoko has me pick me up the coffee beans from here.”

“Shame, it’s quite good,” Arata said. “So talk.”

“About what? Eaters? EDEN Syndrome? What I’m going to be doing? My Digimon?” Ami questioned. “You need to be more specific than that, either way, you need to get your computer turned on.”

“Why?”

“You are going to hack into my account, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” Ami said with a smile.

“I think, you’ve gotten weirder, much like Tokyo has,” Arata said. “Hackers getting blamed for everything, I’m sure Kamishiro has some part in the rise of EDEN Syndrome.”

“Ami!” a voice yelled causing the two to turn their heads.

“Yuuko, what are you doing here?” Ami questioned.

“You’re Kamishiro Yuuko, right?” Arata asked tilting his head.

“Ah, yes, sorry, I didn’t know you was with a friend,” Yuuko said. “It’s just that I need to talk to you. Can you message me -”

“I can do it while Arata gets his computer up,” Ami said standing up. “Shall we?”

Yuuko nodded and Arata narrowed his eyes as he waited for the computer to boot up. When did Ami befriend the shy Kamishiro Yuuko? Does that mean she also knows Yuugo? His hands tightened around his cup as he thought about it.

“Don’t break the cup,” Ami said gently sitting back down. He looked at her in surprise, “You’ll ruin your computer plus you’ll have to buy K-Cafe another cup, and you might accidentally cut yourself.”

“Since you know Kamishiro Yuuko, does that mean you know Yuugo?” Arata asked.

Ami blinked at him, “If you know one, than you know the other. That is, if you knew Yuugo before EDEN Syndrome and secrets about Kamishiro Enterprise. It’s a long story, and a confusing one for someone who is just getting caught up to speed.” She hesitantly placed a hand on his wrist, “Put the cup down.”

He felt it, this was the first time her skin was on his, directly, in a long time. She was always someone who was hugging, comforting, she was always touching. Her skin didn’t feel like skin. She must have noticed because she quickly removed her hand.

“Ami?” Arata asked concerned.

“Just watched,” Ami said quietly in a whisper, than a barely visible green light surrounded her, and her body phased in and out. Her body disappeared at one point leaving a blue data shell of herself before her body reattached itself to the data.

“You aren’t real,” Arata said angrily.

“That’s cold,” Ami responded. “I’m very real. It’s hard to explain, but I have a half cyber body. My actual physical body is currently at Central Hospital, in the Special Ward.”

“You have EDEN Syndrome?” Arata questioned.

Ami nodded, “I do. I don’t know why I have a cyber body all of sudden or what makes me special or qualified to have this ability, but I do. The account that you had, my AIBA account, was the account I used to log into EDEN for the first time. Crouching Tiger is me, let me tell you, every time you tried to hack me, it gave me a headache.”

“You knew! You knew it was me!” Arata exclaimed.

“Of course, I did follow your intranet connections,” Ami explained. “I’m going to go into your computer and download some of my memories, that includes any questions about Eaters, EDEN Syndrome, and everything to help you take my place.”

“Your place?” Arata questioned.

“My digimon, they will go with Nokia. She has Omnimon to protect her so if we happen to cross paths, they can get their anger out at me. You, however, will become a cyber sleuth, solve cases in my place, try Kyoko’s coffee in my place. I’ll be busy doing something else, something crazy and stupid that it makes Ryota actions look sad.”

“Ami, tell me,” Arata said and Ami just shook her head before holding her hand up to his computer and disappeared within a portal that opened on his computer that vanished. “Why aren’t you telling me?”

He watched as files were downloading onto his computer and he shook his head. When she appeared out, he watched her smile at him. “Watch those tonight, Kyoko will call when she needs you.” She waved at him before leaving only to get stopped by a girl with pink pigtails. “Nokia?”

“Ami, there you are! You’re late! Like super late” Nokia said crossing her arms. “How long did you expect me to wait?”

Arata closed his computer and stood up standing next to Ami, “I believe I told you I would message you when I was ready to meet up with you.”

“No, you didn’t! You totally didn’t!” Nokia said stomping her foot! “Like what would have happened if a total creep came to Galactica Park and tried to take my virtue? You wasn’t there!”

“Nokia…” Ami sighed. “You don’t need me to protect you anymore. You have Omnimon and all the Rebels behind you.”

“But, you’re the Golden Maniac!”

“And you’ve proved yourself capable enough of having the strength to face any challenge. If you keep using me as your savior, the bond you have with Omnimon and the Rebels might not get stronger.”

“What? No...grrr...Ami,” Nokia said.

“Look, I’ll meet you in Galactica Park in a little bit okay,” Ami said. “I’ll message you when I get there.”

Ami walked around her and left. “Arg, she’s so spacey! Seriously? My virtue could easily be at stake in EDEN and she leaves me there alone.”

Arata left following Ami, ignoring Nokia’s monologue and caught up to Ami. “What do you plan on doing?”

“You’ll understand I think once you watch the memories,” Ami said. “However, I am becoming your rival, truly.” She looked at him. “I’m sorry if I hurt you in the future.”

“What are you going on about?”

Ami stood in front of the elevator as it opened, “Only time will tell.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Apologize to Yuuko for me, please.” She entered the elevator right as the door closed.

Arata ran down the stairs and when he got there, it was too late. Ami was nowhere to be seen.

“Damn,” Arata said that night running his hands through his hair. He hasn’t even touched the surface of Ami’s memories, but he’s already seen her when she first discovered she was data, when she saw her body in Central Hospital. The first time a labyrinth happened in Shibuya and her first meeting with Suedo. Than the case Yuuko sent her to investigate her father to test them and how that progressed from there. He’s just getting ready to tackle the memories that have Nokia in them before he goes back to the ones with just her. Some of the main memories seemed to make more sense after watching Yuuko’s.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Some of the memories seemed familiar to him, the flashes of younger version of themselves, but he doesn’t remember meeting Yuuko, Yuugo, or Nokia. Ami, Ami he met seven years ago, when he transferred to her school. He was rude to everyone, insulted them, Ami ignored the insults and just offered her lunch to him since he didn’t bring, his mom didn’t have time to make him a lunch and his father was away on a business trip. She skipped away after giving it to him, even through he said no. She did the same thing the next day only brought two lunches and sat with him talking his ear off. Than Sakura started to join as she missed talking with Ami thus Arata had made two friends.

Two years later, Ryota joined the group of friends, and through it all, Ami always had a smile, which never seemed to falter.

Arata wanted to throw something, break something, anything to help his anger. Ami, Ami didn’t deserve to have this thrown on her, to be tossed in whatever is going on right now. She was just going to EDEN to meet Akkino who didn't’ want to go alone to what she assumed was a PR event. “Anger rarely helps you,” Ami’s voice spoke in his earbuds. “Redirect that anger into doing something progressive and let that fuel you.”

He looked at his computer and noticed that it was a recording. She said  that to him once, when he was mad at his parents for breaking a promise to take him out to dinner on his birthday. She than let him choose where to go and paid for his birthday dinner with her.

“You are too soft-hearted, Ami,” Arata spoke softly. “I have no idea what you have planned, I haven’t reached that far yet, but I promise you. I’ll bring you back and when I do, you are getting the biggest hug ever.”

Days passed and Arata was getting used to weird coffee tastes. “Damn,” he said as he walked into the Shibuya labyrinth. “I think I know what Ami meant by losing her taste buds. How am I still alive?”

He traversed the labyrinth and went further into a completely wrapped spot and saw Ami surrounded by four eaters, two shells, and two human looking one.

He ran towards her, “Don’t come closer Arata,” Ami spoke. Arata stopped, it was her voice, but it wasn’t Ami. Ami wouldn’t use a cold tone in her voice. He watched as a Eater disappeared into the hand she had outstretched.

“You can’t possibly think about taking them all, you don’t have your Digimon!” Arata said.

The arm went back to her side after the other two vanished into data. He stared as she turned around, her arm was black and silver, like that of an Eater, and her blue eyes were red.

“It’s been awhile hasn’t it? How’s being a cyber sleuth?” Ami asked. She shook her head, “I’m afraid I can’t stay for long, I do have a Royal Knight chasing me.” She smirked, “I believe it's Gallantmon.”

“What happened to you Ami?” Arata asked. He knew this is what she was going for when planning with Suedo. What her overall goal was is only known to Kyoko and Ami herself. Kyoko explained that Ami was going undercover.

“I got tired of being ignored,” Ami spoke before laughing. “Suedo listened and he understood me. He gave me a choice to get rid of the loneliness, sadness, the emptiness, the abandonment, and being forgotten, of being needed only when it benefits someone. I’ve felt all of those these years. How much of me do you truly know, Arata? How much of your so called best friend do you know?”

“Shut up,” Arata said almost yelling. “You’re not Ami. Just someone or something using her!”

Ami laughed again and Arata just wanted to punch something, it wasn’t Ami. “Oh, no, Arata. I am very much Ami, I have never felt such freedom before, freedom from being polite, listening, caring. It feels amazing.”

She walked towards him and then past him, “It was good to see you again, Arata.”

“Sanada. You are not Ami so you don’t have the right to call me Arata,” Arata spoke as she passed him.

“As you wish, Sanada,” Ami commented before running at a ridiculously fast paced away from Shibuya as Gallantmon could be heard coming closer.

Weeks passed and even though he appreciated Ami calling when Examon was weakened and didn’t ‘eat’ the overly giant digimon, he hated it. This cold, malicious Ami wasn’t the Ami that he knows and has a crush on.

He went to his computer and listened to the memories again, listened to the recording pep sayings she recorded, knowing him so well. He had his forehead on his desk, two of his fingertips touching the cyber screen as he listened to the words he has memorized.

“Arata,” Ami’s voice spoke again in his earbuds and his eyes snapped open. Never did she use his name in the recordings. This one was new. “Arata, if you are asleep, you’ll wake up with terrible back pains. Trust me on this, I’ve experienced it.”

He looked up and stared as Ami floated on his screen, “Hey! You are awake!” She tilted her head, “You look terrible, bad day?”

“What are you doing in my computer? When-”

“I’m part Eater?” Ami questioned. “I’m only here to download files which you need to show Kyoko plus to give you a message. I’m slowly becoming a major part of the Eater network, much like Yuugo Kamishiro or better known as the ‘Ghost of EDEN’.”

“Why did you do this?”

“To get files from Suedo’s research over Eaters and the beta test eight years ago.” Ami explained. “Suedo wouldn’t give them up willingly.” She looked down, “Plus, some of the things he said, they sounded promising and he tricked me into following for his plan.” She looked back up. “The files are nearly done downloading. When we meet again, Arata, you will need to hack into me, if you want me to return. There might be some side-effects but you shouldn’t worry about that.”

“Of course I’m going to worry about it,” Arata practically growled.

“Arata, I wouldn’t trust this to someone who is only doing it due to return a favor,” Ami explained. “I’ve saved Nokia from danger who knows how many times and fought in the battles she brought me in. Yuuko, I’ve saved from when an Eater assimilated with her when she was captured by Crusadermon. I’m sorry I’m placing a big burden on you.”

She was gone as the screen appeared showing that the files were finished downloading.

“I promised to give you the biggest hug you’ve ever received,” Arata said to himself. “It’s also going to be the tightest.”

He hated doing it, he really did but he had to battle against Ami in a weird Eater forum. He knew that wasn’t Ami because Ami would never attack him but it wasn’t just that. Before the battle, she was trying to fight it, her eyes were flashing blue and red as she argued with herself.

He hacked into her and found himself in a weird dimensional, black and white spirals. He looked around and saw Ami standing in the middle. He made his way over there to her and stood in front of her.

“Why are you here?” Ami asked. “You don’t care about me, If you did, than you would’ve been there for when I needed you!”

The Ami disappeared but Ami’s voice still talked, “Keep going, don’t believe what you hear from that Ami. I’m further in.”

So he did, he kept going and saw another Ami there. “Leave me alone! Unless you want to watch me suffer? Do you want to see me do something emotional and make fun of me?”

The Ami disappeared, “Suedo wants to make a brand new world without grief, sadness, and all of those emotions, but how could we appreciate the things we take for granted if we don’t have those?”

“Ami?” Arata called out thinking he wasn’t going to get a response.

“Hmm?”

“These thoughts, are they -”

“Mine. The darkest thoughts I’ve had at one point. Eaters are using it to try and deter you from reaching me.”

Arata made his way forward and saw an Ami  that wasn’t facing him, he stood behind her. She turned around to look at him only to be met with his blue track suit pressed into her face, his arms wrapped around her tightly.

“Arata?” Ami questioned.

“Welcome home,” Arata said and let go of her just as they returned back from the Eater network.

Ami looked at Arata, “Thank you.”

“AMI!!” Nokia screeched before she glomped the veteran cyber sleuth. “You’re back! You’re back! OMG Your Digimon are restless but oh so cuties!”

“Nokia!” Ami said.

“Welcome back,” Alphamon said. “So, shall we fight side-by-side, for old times sake?”

Ami looked at Arata who nodded her, “Welcome back, cyber sleuth.”

Ami took her digivice from Nokia and smiled, “Let’s finish this!”

Months passed after the two worlds were saved. Arata was sitting in class when he got called into the office and to bring all of his items. He ignored the ‘oohs’ of his peers thinking he got into trouble as he walked out trying to think of what he did wrong.

Yuuko nor Yuugo would get him suspended because he told Yuuko his heart and feelings belonged to someone else. It didn’t take Yuuko long to realize who had them and she smiled and accepted the fact. Yuugo was more supportive of Arata dating Ami than what he was his own sister.

“Sanada,” the sectarian spoke. “You are excuse from your classes for the rest of the day and next week.”

“Huh?” Arata said. “Why?”

“Aiba is awake and responsive. You two are close, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes, thank you so much,” Arata said and he started running towards the subway to get to Central Hospital.

He ran to her room and stared as she was talking to a nurse, sitting on the side of her bed, she was doing the exercises correctly surprising her nurse. To almost everyone, she’s been in a victim of EDEN Syndrome for eight years, but it was only for a couple of months for her.

She looked over at the door and smiled, “Arata!”

“Hey,” he greeted walking in as the nurse said she was done and proceeded to leave. He sat his bag down and stood in front of her. “How are you feeling?”

“Good, perfectly fine. What are you doing here?”

“School let me out as soon as they were notified,” Arata said. He pulled her into a tight hug taking her by surprise again. “Don’t ever, I repeat, ever keep something like what you experienced away from me again.”

“Arata?”

He pulled away and pressed his forehead against hers, “I did some research on you. Why didn’t you tell any of us that your father passed away three years ago.”

“I didn’t want anyone to worry about me, all of us have our own problems,” Ami responded hoping a blush wasn’t on her cheeks at the closeness. She wanted to change the topic so she asked the one question that was burning in the back of her mind. “How are you and Yuuko doing?”

“I’m going great, static now that you’re awake, and Yuuko is doing good. Has her hands full with Yuugo’s physical therapy, but if you are asking about us dating? We aren’t.”

Her eyes went wide, “What? Why?”

“Besides the fact I didn’t know Yuugo was Yuuko when I first became a hacker, I just don’t have feelings for her.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, see, this cyber sleuth friend of mine, she’s too soft-hearted for the world but she’s perfectly amazing and even wearing a smile while she’s recovering, which makes her strong.” Arata smirked as the blush on her face deepened. He kissed the top of her forehead, “When you get released and at your mom’s place. I am going to come over and pin you against the wall and kiss you senseless.”

“Ar-Arata!” Ami said in a hushed pitched voice.