#he had many sweet moments with Tentomon

[ashxketchum]

MIMATO WEEK 2023 DAY 1 - "DIGIVICE"

FFN / AO3

Summary: After losing their partners, the Digidestined are learning to let go, they're learning to move on with their lives. But what throws them off track is the sudden revival of their Digivices in a way that none of them expected. The word partner has more than one meaning after all. If one is lost, maybe another will be found?

Notes: Post Kizuna, Soulmate AU

Chapters: 1/?

~~~~~ xxx~~~~~

To live every day with a gaping hole in your life was something that Yamato had now gotten used to.

His routine was simple, wake up, go to college, socialise after classes, come home and sleep, and when the sun rose the next day, rinse and repeat.

This is how things had been ever since Menoa Belluci was apprehended for her actions, ever since Gabumon stood next to him for one last time, before disappearing into a void that Yamato still hadn’t managed to break into. What he had learned from trying, however, was that life goes on despite everything else. Even if he and Taichi could not be there at the scene to resolve the issue of Digimon pouring into their world through random appearances of Digital Gate, someone else was ready to take their place.

Yamato, like many others, had finished playing a role in the grand scheme and had no choice but to accept the next act that awaited him, no matter how small and irrelevant it seemed in comparison.

So that’s what he did, lived life with the hope of making it to the end of the day, ignoring the emptiness that tugged at him from every direction, reminding him of the promise he had made, reminding him of the partner he had lost.

Somewhere along the line, it became difficult for him and Taichi to look each other in the eye after that final battle. Agumon and Gabumon had taken with them the phase of their lives where they depended on each other for everything. From catching up twice or thrice a week, their meetups happened once a month until the two became busy enough to let their get-togethers fizzle out of their schedules and turned them into an occasional message or a short phone call every few months.

Sora had lost Piyomon not soon after, deciding that that was the moment she needed to discover herself anew, moving on to immerse herself in her job and eventually losing touch with most of them. Jou had been the next one to lose Gomamon, he showed up to Yamato’s apartment at 2 AM, crying uncontrollably. Yamato sat with him all night as he sobbed, holding his hand throughout as he held his own tears back. A few months back, Koushiro informed everyone that the timer had appeared for him as well, but so far it was moving slowly so Tentomon was still around. Takeru, Hikari and the other kids were still very much actively trying to work towards solving any Digimon related problems that arose around the world. His brother was sweet enough to not let Patamon tag along when he came by to visit until Yamato told him it was okay to do so.

As crazily as they had been dropped into the Digital World and gotten used to having their partners next to them at all times, eventually, they got used to their disappearance as well. Yamato knew that if he ran into his younger self right now, the little boy would find it hard to believe that he could live every day of his life normally, smiling and laughing, knowing that there was a chance that Gabumon would never appear at his side again. That was probably the only thought that tugged at him the most, every time the idea that he could no longer face his younger self confidently would appear in his mind, Yamato would find it very difficult to look at himself in the mirror.

But, life goes on, and so did Yamato.

Today, he was out socialising after classes with his college friends, the part of his routine that he was always least interested in but could never get out of either. Most of the time the group would go to small izakayas where Yamato would sit cramped between two people he didn’t like, sipping on beer as slowly as possible to avoid getting drunk in front of his classmates. Sometimes he’d be dragged to mixer parties, as much as he tried to say no to these, he was told that the girls would not show up if he didn’t so for the sake of keeping up a good relationship with his classmates he’d allow himself to be showcased as a prize in front of girls he had no interest in. Wanting to try something fresh and new, today his college friends had decided that they would go for karaoke. As Yamato had kept his singing hobby under wraps from this group, he wasn’t looking forward to the night at all but was somewhat relieved to see that only a handful of people joined this escapade.

He was a little proud of himself for managing to avoid taking the mic up for a solo, so far he’d only joined in on choruses when everyone else was singing loudly too, and no one had noticed his bare minimum participation yet. The escape plan became very clear in Yamato’s mind, he’d stand up and join the hype for the next song, then pretend to be tired enough to be excused for the night without suspicion. He tapped his fingers against his knees impatiently, waiting for the two loudest members of the group to come back from the restroom with the hope that they’d pick some loud, rowdy song next which would get everyone in the room worked up for no reason.

Right on queue, the door to their booth opened and for a brief moment the dimly lit room was filled with white light before the two guys shut the door, their loud laughter drowning out the low notes of the ballad currently playing.

“You guys won’t believe what we just saw-”

“It’s so crazy!”

“There’s a girl in the booth next to ours-”

“A really hot girl by the way!”

“And she’s crying her eyes out, it’s insane really.”

Their loud exclamations were met with an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, Yamato was relieved that not everyone in this group thought that a girl in distress was something to laugh about. But as the two boys settled down, a few chuckles and shrugs were passed around their group, dismissing the information as irrelevant as the beginning notes of a preppy song filled the room. Yamato tried not to squirm in his seat as he forced a smile and nodded along to the music, fighting down the suffocating feeling that was trying to overwhelm him. He had planned to stay for one more song but he decided that now would be a good time to escape to the restroom and then come back after a few minutes to take his leave.

Raising his voice to be heard over the boys who were singing, Yamato informed the person sitting next to him that he’d be right back and quietly slipped out of the booth. Once in the empty hallway, he took a deep breath and made his way towards the restrooms. He dawdled around the bathroom stalls, scrolling on his phone and counting down the minutes until he’d need to go back and join the group. Although he hadn’t done much except sit around and fake nod to music he didn’t like, Yamato figured that by the time he got home, he’d be exhausted to the bone.

Deciding that a good ten minutes were more than enough time to go back and make an excuse about not feeling well, Yamato left the restroom and began to make his way back to the booth. When he passed by the booth right next to theirs, his feet automatically came to a halt. He hadn’t peeked inside, he wasn’t rude like his classmates, but something in his heart told him to take a few steps back and see if everything was okay in there. He knew that he wasn’t the best at comforting people, especially when they were crying, but if the person in there really did seem like they were in trouble, then the least he could do was inform the staff so they could come handle it. With that thought in his mind, Yamato confidently took a step back, leaning his head to glance through the large, oval-shaped window in the door.

As Yamato’s eyes landed on the occupant of the booth, his breath got caught in his throat.

His classmates hadn’t lied, the girl sitting inside was indeed crying terribly.

And it just so happened to be that that girl was Mimi Tachikawa.

A million questions raced around Yamato’s mind, should he go in, should he let her be, should he call someone else for help? Takeru would know exactly what to say and Sora would know exactly what to do, but Yamato was neither so at first all he could do was stare at the sight of a completely broken Mimi, fists balled at his side and feet frozen to the ground. He tried to reassure himself, that he didn’t know what had gone wrong, that this could be something personal like an argument with a friend or family member, or perhaps a bad breakup, in which case he really wouldn’t have anything worthwhile to say. It might be best to leave this to the experts, Yamato decided, pulling out his phone to drop a text to Sora. The two hadn’t talked in months but he was sure she would respond immediately out of her concern for Mimi’s well-being. He took a final peek into the booth, just to make sure he’d get all the details right before contacting Sora, and that’s when he noticed it.

Mimi was sitting with her hands clasped above her lap, clutching onto something loosely as she wept uncontrollably. When he moved closer to the door, it didn’t take him even a second to recognise the object in her hand.

She was holding onto her digivice, which once used to be as bright as a clear sky but now lay rusted and lifeless in her hands.

Yamato swallowed a nervous gulp, finally understanding what he was witnessing.

He slipped his phone back into his pants pocket and without hesitation stepped forward, opening the door so he could quietly enter Mimi’s booth. The sound of her crying rose above the music playing in the background. First, Yamato picked up the controller so he could turn off the music, and while setting it back down he noticed the mic that lay on the sofa across from Mimi. He clenched his jaw as an image of Palmon holding the mic and sitting in that dim karaoke booth with Mimi flickered into his mind. He shook his head in an attempt to keep his own emotions at bay before he gently sat down next to Mimi.

She was yet to notice his appearance in the room, when he looked at her face he saw that her eyes were squeezed shut as tears endlessly flowed down across her flushed cheeks, and the sight of her looking so crushed made his heart feel heavy. Her crying voice was also not easy for him to stomach, he was used to her chirpy tone even her slightly high-pitched whiny retorts, but these loud, guttural sobs were something he’d never have associated with Mimi. Being so close to her in this vulnerable state made his own pain resurface. He’d mastered the art of pushing down the numb emptiness he felt in his heart, but now suddenly he could see Gabumon sitting next to Palmon on the sofa across from them.

Yamato closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Now was not the time for him to be consumed by his own sadness, he was here to help Mimi get through this difficult moment.

With the feeble amount of courage that he could muster, he raised a hand and rested it softly on top of Mimi’s open palms. The effect was immediate, though she did not stop sobbing, Mimi did open her eyes wide as she turned to face him.

As surprised as she looked to find him next to her, when their eyes met it was as if everything that she had tried to hold back by herself burst out of her at once.

“She’s gone, she was right there and now she’s not, she’s gone- my best friend-”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Yamato squeezed her hands as he tried to maintain eye contact with her without shedding a tear or two of his own. Mimi darted her head around, looking at where Palmon must’ve been sitting and then back at him, caramel eyes filled with tears and grief as she attempted to make sense of the truth.

“My best friend.”

Mimi repeated those words in a hollow tone and Yamato nodded in response, even though her gaze was focused on the empty spot at the sofa across from them.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed after that, he sat there holding onto Mimi’s hands, making sure that she knew that she wasn’t alone. Even if her tears never stopped flowing across her cheeks, or her sobs never stopped echoing across the room, Yamato didn’t leave her side for even a second. It was all he could do really, he thought about saying encouraging shit like ‘it’ll get better’ or ‘you’ll get through this’ but dropped the idea as soon as it appeared in his mind because he knew the truth, it doesn’t get better so easily and nobody gets through this without feeling incomplete.

Mimi didn’t speak much and only stared ahead of herself in a daze. Once in a while, she’d squeeze his hand, maybe in an attempt to let him know that she was still here. He didn’t know if she appreciated his silence, or even his presence, since they’d never been close enough to bare their true feelings in front of the other like this. But he did know that if he’d turned around and walked away after seeing her in such a broken state, he would never have forgiven himself for it.

Which is why Yamato sat silently, almost as if he was a statue, awaiting any kind of signal from Mimi that would let him know that she was okay enough to leave. But it was the karaoke employee speaking through the intercom to inform them that the room’s usage rate was fulfilled, that brought Yamato’s feet back to the ground. With gritted teeth and a hardened jaw, he coaxed Mimi into standing up from her seat. Her footing was wobbly so he allowed her to hold onto his arms for stability. Looking around the room to check they weren’t leaving any of Mimi’s belongings behind, Yamato gently guided her out of the room even as a fresh batch of tears came rolling down her cheeks as she gave one last glance in the direction of where Palmon had stood last.

He was grateful that the employees they passed on their way out did not seem to bat an eyelid at the odd sight the two of them made, but his luck only lasted for so long. Once out on the street, the two received peculiar looks from the passers-by, with most of them directed at Yamato since he’d draped a protective arm around Mimi’s shoulders to ensure she wouldn’t walk into a busy street in her daze. He knew, however, that they wouldn’t be able to get too far like this, without some well-meaning stranger stopping them and enquiring about why Mimi looked so distressed. Spotting a brightly lit convenience store a few steps ahead, Yamato quickly led them to it, hoping to reduce any suspicion towards him if he talked with her in an easily accessible location.

“Mimi, which way is your home?” He tried to ask the question calmly, he didn’t want to burden her with more tiresome thoughts but knowing where they were supposed to go would make this whole ordeal so much more easier on him.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore,” she mumbled to herself, her eyes fixed on the pavement as she staggered for a moment before clutching onto his chest to keep herself standing straight.

“I can’t take you home if you don’t help me out here.” Yamato pleaded with her softly, hesitantly resting a hand on the small of her back to make sure she wouldn’t stumble again.

“I don’t care where you take me, it doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore.”

Mimi spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper before she leaned her head against his chest and let her body go limp. While Yamato understood that the whole situation had drained her of all her strength, he’d still hoped that she would be able to stay upright till they reached her house. Instead, he was left having to get her on his back all by himself in the corner of a street without looking suspicious.

With great difficulty and after a few awkward eye contacts with passing strangers, Yamato managed to get Mimi safely tucked onto his back and began to make his way towards his apartment, which thankfully wasn’t a long walk from the neighbourhood they were in. He wasn’t sure if he should inform anyone that he was taking Mimi back to his place since she was in no state to get herself home safely because he had no clue if she still lived with her parents. He thought about checking with Takeru, but the whole conversation that that one question would lead to was something Yamato didn’t have any energy for presently.

So with the occasional huff and a few rest stops, Yamato managed to carry Mimi safely back to his small apartment. Once inside, he made straight for his room, glad about his neat freak tendencies since he could just lay Mimi down on his bed without a single worry. He tried his best to settle her on the mattress comfortably, arranging pillows behind her head, taking off her shoes delicately, and covering her with as many blankets as he could find. During all this, Mimi didn’t even flinch once, which in a way was a blessing since it made things less embarrassing.

After he was done bubble-wrapping her into comfort, Yamato glanced at her face. She looked like she had passed out from exhaustion, which was probably the case anyway. Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks were tearstained and tinted pink, the tip of her nose was as red as a tomato, her lips were swollen too from being bitten at carelessly, and her hair lay dishevelled around her face, in other words, she looked like a complete mess.

Yet, the sight of her ignited something inside of Yamato.

He stood there for a few minutes, just staring at her.

He vaguely remembered the first time they’d met at school, he hadn’t paid her much attention at the time. It was only when they went to the Digital World, had he started to notice her.

He’d always liked how easily she managed to gel with Takeru, the youngest one in the group at first, and how she always spoke to him as a friend on the same level, not as somebody older who was trying to assert themselves onto him, something Yamato himself was guilty of at many occasions. He’d always liked how much she cared about everything and everyone, so much so that sometimes those feelings spilt into impulsive or brash actions, but her intentions always remained pure and he’d always noticed that.

There was no denying, that the two had drifted slightly apart as they grew older, with Mimi moving to America and only visiting them once in a while. He always found it difficult to strike up a conversation with her when she’d come back from the States, he felt that nothing about his life here would interest her much in comparison. After they graduated from high school, she did try her best to stay in touch with each of their friends individually, sometimes Yamato would receive a message at midnight asking him about how his day had gone, which always threw him off guard. Lately, he had been lacking in responding to even the shortest questions she sent in, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying.

Now that he stood in his room, watching her chest rise and fall in a slow, tired rhythm, he regretted putting off replying to her messages. Maybe if he’d kept in touch regularly, he might have known about her time with Palmon being limited. Not that knowing about this could have prepared him any better for handling the situation, but still, at least she would’ve known that she could count on him to get through this.

Instinctively, Yamato's hand reached forward and he brushed a few strands of her hair away from her forehead, leaning his face down so he could get a better look at hers.

It would be a while before he’d be able to forget the sight of her sobbing alone in that dimly lit karaoke booth, but he still hoped that tomorrow when she woke up, her face would have the budding hints of her usual brightness, because he really could do with some sunshine and happy smiles in his life.

Shaking his head at the ridiculous thought, Yamato walked out of his room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He eyed his cramped couch with contempt before sighing in defeat as he didn’t have a choice. He tried to rearrange the two cushions on the couch into a headrest for himself, however before he could lie down, a flicker at the corner of his eye caught his attention. Yamato surveyed his living room carefully, trying to find the object that had disrupted his concentration but nothing stood out for a while. After a few minutes, just as he was about to give up on the idea of finding anything, he saw a flicker of light on the shelf that took over the opposite side of his living room.

Abandoning the couch, Yamato stepped closer to the shelf as the light appeared for a brief moment before disappearing again. The shelf wasn’t cluttered, there were a few photo frames with his family and friends featured on them, some books and a succulent or two. The light had appeared in the centre, so that’s the direction he leaned closer in. In the middle of the shelf was the photo of him and the other kids from their very first adventure into the Digital World, next to it was the harmonica his father had gifted him that summer along with his battered and broken digivice. Not even one of these items was capable of making the light he’d witnessed, Yamato thought, maybe it was just a trick the nightlights from outside the window had played on his eyes. But just as this thought appeared in his mind, it happened once more, and this time he was able to witness the source.

Yamato had kept his digivice out in the open like this because he knew that it was nothing but a piece of memorabilia for him now. The digivice had laid unresponsive on this shelf since the day Gabumon had departed.

And yet, tonight was different.

The minute Yamato fixed his gaze on it, the digivice lit up intensely in a shade that he knew was not meant to represent either him or Gabumon.

Yamato stood frozen in his living room, eyes wide with shock as a bright green glow surrounded his digivice.

Slowly, the light around the digivice dimmed, but to Yamato’s surprise, the digivice that had been lying rusted for days now looked as alive as ever, the only catch?

It had turned completely green.

- x -

[lightchildofthespring]

On one hand, I overall enjoyed the new episode of the reboot. On the other hand, to be teased so many times about Koushiro’s darkness and past for it to mean simply that Nanomon was hiding in Whamon was kind of a letdown. I really believed it was finally backstory time!

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure (Blind Watch) - Episode 31

Koushiro episodes are the best episodes. I really liked this one. It also had kitties...so there's that. It's always kind of funny seeing regular animals showcased in a monster collecting show. I'd like to see more digimon/regular animal interaction honestly.

Digimon introduced: Raremon (why is that his name?)

Notes:

-This episode was so lively! Lots of action and no dull moments. It was also big on character moments and emotional payoff with the kids finally sleeping in their own beds for once. I wanted to gif so many sequences.

-The whole bit with Meeko was great. Very "traveling egg" from Disney's Dinosaur. The cats were cute and well animated but the dog looked really derpy lol.

-It was fun seeing Taichi and Koushiro's parents. I liked how their personalities subtly matched their kids. Taichi's mom seems a little sassier and carefree whereas Koushiro's mom is more proper and contemplative. It's always just nice to see parents in animated media in general since they're often killed off or invisible.

-We find out Koushiro is adopted, which is good to throw in for representation's sake. I feel like adoption storylines aren't done that much these days? Unless it's like a found-family scenario I guess.

-Tentomon is adorable. I would have never thought he'd become one of my faves based on his appearance, but I like his voice and personality. He's so sweet.

-Koushiro pretending he's into manzai was really cute. It doesn't fit his personality at all lol

-Hikari hanging out with her Dad and watching TV was really sweet. The dads don't really get as much screen time for whatever reason. I guess it's the whole "mom raises the kid" sexism...

-They never said that that lady whose boat capsized survived...so I guess Raremon just killed someone :'( RIP

-Gennai's pointless computer programs cracked me up. Very symbolic of how useless his character is.

-The montage of the kids cozy in bed with their digimon was so nice <3 sleepy time goals, honestly

-Koushiro's mom wants Koushiro to act more like a kid. Kinda talking out my butt here, but I feel like that aligns somewhat with my autism headcanon. I could see how a mom could get stressed out if their child acts too perfect, like they're repressing something. I think she just needs to be communicative with Koushiro and let him know it's safe to be open with her (lol why am I giving advice to an anime mom?)

[god-fucking-dammit-mizutani]

melt into you

Rating: G | Word count: 1915 Tags: Future Fic/Epilogue, Family Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Snow Summary: It’s been a long day. Read Below or on AO3

"It's still really coming down."

Koushirou starts at the comment, trailing off on the sentence he had just been reading aloud from his tablet. Instinctively his eyes dart to the sliding door window. Flurries twirl about themselves, this way and that. It is barely any different from when Koushirou last glanced outside, but the already settled snow has risen past the empty ceramic pots Taichi had bought with the intention of starting a garden last spring. It had never really gotten off the ground.

Or even, well, in it.

Koushirou cracks a smile, watching the winter storm for a moment longer. He had been tuning out the sound of the wind rushing by the windows, but he hears it now, howling through the cracks, as if begging to be let in.

In response the heater whirrs audibly.

But still the memory of the cold causes a quick shiver down his spine, a phantom chill over his hands. Although the afternoon had seen a brief end to the snowfall, it had been consistent all through last night, piling up along the roads and parks within the city. Koushirou would have preferred to have spent the day indoors, where the heater could shield them against the winter, but he had been outnumbered easily and so a trek to the park had inevitably become the day's activity.

Koushirou feels the soreness in his legs from trekking up and down hills all afternoon, fighting for a foothold in the billowing snow of the slopes.

Still, he had found himself quite enjoying the experience, sheltered by the sound of familiar, mirthful laughter. Some of it had been his own, cheeks rosy from more than just the cold nipping at them. Tree branches over their heads had been heavy, bending under the great burden of last night's snowfall, dusting across the park here and there on a rogue wind. Against the gray sky the tall lamp posts along the park's main path had been bright. To Koushirou it had looked almost like something out of an old-timey picture book, or a scene frozen in time inside a snow globe.

"Wonder if we'll get snowed in."

He blinks, his eyes taking back in the view of their backyard where the streetlights sit gracefully atop the fresh snow.

"Looking that way," he answers. He hums when there's no chorus of cheers, his eyes darting down to his right side where a thick head of dark hair rests heavily against his arm. He leans forward, cautiously, doing his best to not make any jostling motions and, "Oh."

"What's—" Taichi starts as he turns the corner around the kitchen wall, but Koushirou signals for him to be quiet with a quick finger to his mouth. He halts at the lip of the living room. Steam rises from the mugs clutched in either of his hands as his eyes lower along the couch. "Oh."

Koushirou follows Taichi's gaze down to his left this time. A shock of red fans across his dark slacks. Gently he brushes back the bright locks of hair to reveal a soft, serene face, long dark lashes pressed against pale cheeks. He finds his lips turning upward as he watches her breathe evenly, completely unaware of the world around her.

"They're exhausted," he reports, unnecessarily. The weight against his right side shifts further down, but when Koushirou checks there's no sign of the boy waking. "Storytime must have been the final affront."

"I bet." Taichi's laugh is purposefully tamed, though Koushirou wonders if either of them would stir now if a hoard of monochromon came rampaging through their house. "I'm beat and I only climbed the hill twice. They were running up and down all day. I almost thought we'd have to drag them home to get them to leave."

Koushirou titters. "Technically, Hotaru was dragged home."

"Not by us." Taichi cracks a grin that Koushirou finds himself easily mirroring.

"True." His fingers run through her hair again. She lets out a tired little huff, but otherwise barely stirs. "She took quite a tumble on the ice there."

"Yet Akihiro was the one sobbing," Taichi remembers, leaning back to rest  the mugs on the breakfast bar counter. "Kept dragging her around everywhere on that sled."

"It was very sweet." Koushirou turns his head to press his smile into the untamed, dark hair of his son. "He's quite unstinting in succor." He keeps  like his father  to himself.

"I'll pretend to know what that means." Koushirou catches Taichi wrinkling his nose down at the mugs. "Guess the hot chocolate was a waste."

"Pour them in a thermos," Koushirou suggests. "I'm sure they'll want some tomorrow."

Taichi disappears back into the kitchen without a word. Koushirou listens to the sound of the cupboards opening and closing, followed by a whispered,  "Aha!"

A soft chime calls Koushirou's attention back to the tablet still in his hand. Clicking it back open he scans the message quickly before telling Taichi, "Jyou wants to know if we have sufficient rations should the storm last the rest of the week."

"What, is he planning on bringing stuff over himself?" Koushirou can hear as he pours the liquid of both mugs into their new container. "In this weather?"

Koushirou stares at the message again. "Perhaps with Ikkakumon?"

Taichi barks out a laugh in the other room. "Just imagine a bunch of emergency duffel bags on his horn.  Harpoon torpedo!  Right onto the front doorstep. Like a newspaper boy."

"Taichi."

"Sorry."

Akihiro murmurs something in his sleep, head nodding forward. Koushirou gently recalls his arm, stiff from underuse, and let's the boy lean in further, replacing it around him instead. He slumps further down, almost into Koushirou's lap, with a quick, heavy snore.

A stampede of monochromon indeed. Not even a harpoon torpedo through their living room could wake them, Koushirou surmises.

The telltale sound of the refrigerator popping open is followed by Taichi's report of, "We'll survive."

"I'll inform Jyou."

"Tell him my idea about the duffel bags."

"No."

Taichi emerges back from the kitchen, another set of mugs in his hands. This time he makes it all the way to the sofa, holding one of them out for Koushirou to grab. "Your tea."

Koushirou takes the offered mug, his ring clinking on the ceramic as he wraps his fingers around it, balancing the tablet on his lap. With a smile he says, "Thank you."

Now with one of his hands free, Taichi braces himself against the back of the couch. Koushirou feels his heart quicken as he realizes the other's intention and although he gives a weak protest of, "Taichi," he still tilts his head up to press his smile against his husband's own.

"They're asleep," Taichi offers after the chaste kiss. And true to his words, there's no chorus of groans, but it does nothing to cure Koushirou of his personal embarrassment.

He had thought by now he would be used to this— that after years and wedding vows and raising children together, nothing would phase him quite so much. And yet, still, Taichi never ceases to make his heart flutter, to bring a flush to his cheeks with even the simplest of gestures.  

As he leans back up, Taichi's eyes drift towards the view of the sliding door window. He sounds soft, wistful, when he says, "Snow always reminds me of August."

His gaze seems distant. Koushirou wonders if his husband is watching the current snowfall, or if his mind is replaying one from almost a quarter of a century ago.

Sometimes, his own does, even when the sky is clear and the humidity sweltering.

That one summer had changed each of them in some way. Himself, perhaps, especially. At times he wonders, if they had never gone to that other world, had never faced those tribulations, how would things be different now?

Unconsciously he trades the mug to his other hand, brushing his fingers back through Hotaru's hair, tightening his arm about Akihiro. Like a reminder that they're there. That he's really here.

Taichi sends him a quick smile, long and unbidden, just the way he always had; before camp or summer blizzards, tinged now in a way that is undeniably with love, and Koushirou finds himself believing then that no matter how the road had been paved, no matter the bumps and cracks along the way, it would have always brought him here.

But he's still immeasurably grateful this particular route had brought him to Tentomon. Life without him seems quite unimaginable now and he almost wishes he had been here, today, too.

"Me too," Koushirou agrees, quietly, taking a tentative sip from his mug. But when he looks back out towards the blizzard, Koushirou realizes, he hadn't been particularly thinking about that summer at all today. Not until Taichi had mentioned it.

His mind had been occupied with winter afternoons, nippy but warm, gray skies brightened with laughter. Hills, once pristine and glittering with rare sunlight off freshly packed snow, marred with foot prints and sled trails. Hair clumped with snow and toothy grins with little gaps.  

Koushirou hides his smile in his next sip of tea. New memories were taking their own place in his heart, occupying parts of his mind, but certainly no more or less important to him than those before them. They were all part of his own journey, after all.

Unable to move, Koushirou holds out his arm with the mug, motioning quietly for Taichi to put it on the center table. Wordlessly, he complies as soon as Koushirou gathers back his attention.

"Thank you," Koushirou says.

Taichi smiles at him before his expression takes on a more considering look. He places down his own mug next to Koushirou's.

"Taichi—" he starts cautiously as the other man scoops their daughter off the couch and into his arms.

For a moment Koushirou worries she'll actually wake up, but Hotaru just murmurs a soft, "Papa," her arms instinctively wrapping around her father's neck from far too many nights being carried to her own bed. Her eyelashes barely flutter.

"It's fine," he says. Koushirou can't discern if the sentiment is meant for him, or for her sake. He doesn't seek clarification.

Taichi falls into the now free cushions, completely flush against his other side. Hotaru's head lolls back, cradled against Taichi's upper arm, fast asleep.

To his right, Akihiro mumbles again but remains still.

Taichi yawns, dropping his head on Koushirou's shoulder. "Were you going to finish the story?"

He smiles down at the black screen of the tablet, leaning his cheek against Taichi's head as his fingers pass through their son's unruly hair. He doesn't think the ending will be much of a surprise. Most of these stories come with a promise; a happily ever after. A quarter of a century ago, he may have found that predictability lackluster. Lately, he doesn't quite think so.

Rather, Koushirou finds, he looks forward to it.

"We can finish it tomorrow night—" he yawns himself "—when the kids are awake."

Taichi makes a short noise, something distant and barely there. Koushirou's own eyes feel heavy. They should get up, he knows. Make it to their respective beds before they all wake up with cricks in their necks. They really  should, but the couch is warm, comfortable, and Koushirou is surrounded by some of his favorite people and he can’t  really be bothered to change any of that.

(He only partially regrets the sore neck.)

[seventeenlovesthree]

I forget. Did you ever draw either Taichi or Koushiro having their, "oh..." moment about the other? You know, the classic, "oh, I'm in love with him," trope

I actually haven't put it to paper yet, but I DEFINITELY want to, because, on a pining scale, nothing even comes remotely close to the sheer heartache during the moment of realization - especially when you have two "nuts" like Taichi and Koushirou. I have mainly drawn cheesy stuff recently, with them either being clueless or in an established relationship already, because I craved some happiness for them. But the thing is - there are so many possibilities to pull this off, whether you take the canon OR (like me) one of various AUs as baseline.

Canon wise, you might have little moments between them here and there (like the card incident or the entirety of the Dark Masters arc in 01 or the camp scenes in 02) where one of them just... Wonders if this is normal. (In addition to Yamato completely losing it over the fact that they simply can't seem to grasp it.) That's usually the angst route, because once one has realized what's going on, they might be too afraid to approach it or fear that the other will not like them the same way. (Although canon also implies that Koushirou has enough of Taichi's sh*t and wants him to be honest - and Taichi having an emotional outburst is also a great opportunity to make a confession happen eventually.)

For my AUs, I have two scenes pretty clearly in my mind... One of them being a more aggressive version of the scene I recently drew about Koushirou confessing to Taichi that he's adopted. In a scenario in which they are best friends, Taichi would first confess to him about his past trauma with Hikari (they'd be in their mid-teens here), which causes Koushirou to contemplate the idea that Taichi has to be the first one he talks to about it. Koushirou might voice his concerns on how he wasn't sure Taichi would have looked at him differently and that it was difficult to come to terms with himself for the longest time and Taichi would just panic and shout the "BUT YOU ARE LOVED!" at him, grabbing him by the shoulders insistently, before he stammers "... By your parents, I mean, they love you very much." And when they depart, Koushirou thanks him for listening, Taichi reassures him once more - and once they're both alone at their respective homes, they have a classic "Stares at the ceiling, leans against closed door and collapses under the weight of their own feelings for each other after it FINALLY sank in" moment. Cries.

The other moment would be Christmas related - everyone remembers the Christmas episode in 02, right? I'd age them up 1-2 years and make the whole situation a bit more cheesy (I will write this as a fic as well one day): It's Christmas Eve and Tokyo has been riddled by digital distortions recently. The Chosen Children all plan to spend their Christmas differently: Mimi is with her parents celebrating in New York, Jyou has also travelled to the landside after his brother dragged him to have a time out for once. Yamato is having a concert once again and Sora, Taichi and Koushirou decide to attend it in the later afternoon, Takeru and Hikari are actually celebrating with the other 02 kids again. The Yagami family has a tradition of baking huge amounts of sweets on Christmas Eve, whereas the Izumi family plans to have a nice dinner in the evening, so Koushirou promises to be there in time - but before the concert even begins, he discovers another distortion and informs Taichi about it. Who just texts back "That sounds serious. Want to come over early?" and he hesitates, being a bit self-conscious. He had acquired a present for Taichi, but when Mimi made a huge deal about how "presents (and going out together) on Christmas Eve are such a romantic gesture here in Japan!", he started doing research and tries to figure out the meaning of all of this. Tentomon reassures him, but he doesn't quite know how to deal with it. But - distortions are serious, so he has to see him, right??? He promises Kae again that he will definitely be back home in time today and rushes over to the Yagamis - just to be greeted by Yuuko who said she sent her children to buy more ingredients (and she didn't let Taichi warn him beforehand). So they spend time baking until Taichi and Hikari rush back, Taichi is still grumpy about it, but they settle and have a good time after all (cue a scene in which Taichi just... Stares at the cookies Koushirou made and... tries to makes sense of that weird buzzing in his stomach as well). They'd then leave, escort Hikari over to the Motomiya residence, she wishes them "a nice date" (cue blushes and denial), they attend the concert, Sora is actually confessing this time, distortions happen, they have to fight... And succeed. In the end, Taichi accompanies Koushirou on his way back home as well - and the latter decides to actually hand him the present (it's the football tickets mentioned in this interview, because this is still the most romantic thing I can imagine for both of them being clueless teenagers). Taichi actually has something for him as well (it's a book on his current interest haven't decided what it is yet and ointment, since he has noticed that he rubbed his wrists a lot recently when working too long on his laptop) and they depart with bashful smiles, a "Merry Christmas, see you soon" on their lips - and the cheesy "looking against the ceiling, chest burning with sudden affection" moment once again. :D

... Sorry for the rant. I really want to write this one day. There are 7362628 other possibilities as well, but these are the most vivid to me. (I also have a dramatic/life or death situation fight scene in which Kou reaches out to Taichi and can't reach him due to their enemies keeping them separate and he just shouts "TAICHI!" without the -san and THAT is what snaps him out of a state of trance and it's a wake-up-call for both of them. I love my tropes, okay.)

(Also, the closest I ever drew of Koushirou having an “Oh” moment might still be this, haha.)

[atsoraasayoma]

Koumi week I am a fan of this ship. Ever since Tri especially. This is a chapter in my Digital Record Series I had dedicated to them.

Chapter Three: The Rondo of Sincerity and Knowledge

A light. airy perfume filled the air. Koushiro found himself awoken by the lightly sweet scent, breathing it in slowly placing one hand over his heart. He had no trouble lifting his arm, but the moment he felt his chest he winced, pushing lightly to feel a tender bruise. He put his hand over his heart grateful it was still beating. That at least confirmed he was alive.

He breathed out again nice and slowly reflecting on his recent memory visiting with Mimi at the Mall. What had started out as Mimi innocently grabbing the attention of onlookers and asking questions playfully turned into a hostile situation. For one, many of the guys she asked questions to started to come onto her, which, though Koushiro had been on the side, could not stop himself from feeling jealous. He may not have had the best physique or the best looks of the mall shoppers, but no one there could have outsmarted him. That is, if he had data on everything. He found his mind drifting back even further, closing his eyes once more, remembering everything from what seemed like a short while ago...

Koushiro walked with Mimi in the mall who seemed even more energetic than usual as if the two of them were on a date. She wore her usual clothing, but pulled him into different shops, Koushiro protesting, but unable to say no to her enthusiasm knowing talking to her logically would be of no effect.

"You know," she said, eyeing him as they walked, "It wouldn't kill you to pick out a few outfits. You know for summer? You look pretty stiff wearing the same clothes all the time. People might think you're a student living off of a scholarship or something."

Koushiro looked at his clothes surprised by her reasoning. "Does it really matter?" He asked. "We did not come for shopping. We came to gather intel. Have you even started to talk to people about Takeru yet?"

"Of course I have," she winked. "I've already spoken to ten girls and two guys already."

Koushiro looked at her not knowing if he should be shocked or just surprised. "Twelve people?! But you've only been in three stores!" he exclaimed.

She lightly waived her hand at him as if flitting away his outrageous comment. "I move fast," she replied. "No point in hanging around like that unless there's something good to talk about," she said grabbing his hand and walking forward, much to Koushiro's uneasiness.

"Come on, it's your turn!" she said calling out 'heeey', and approaching a couple girls and two guys. He listened as she noticed the fashionable jackets they wore, then something about a concert with some singer he did not know, and then complimenting a girls dress, her purse, and noticed a promise ring on two of their fingers then asking personal questions. Somewhere in there, they seemed to accept her, a few of them laughing and joking and Mimi relating to them, and, he did not know how she did it, but she interjected Takeru Takaishi somewhere and asked if they knew him. Unfortunately they did not, but she grabbed Koushiro's hand to be on their way, as if he was hardly even there. She said nothing about him.

"Mimi," he said not prepared to interact with others. "I can't believe you can talk with people like that. If I did I would have a brain aneurysm."

She let go of his hand and turned towards him staring at him as if she was scheming something. "Ok now it's really your turn!" she said, quickly getting behind him, Koushiro nervously being pushed in front of a couple of girls and a guy.

His mind raced as they stared at him as if wondering who he was or what he had to say. No, he could make this work. He was not that shy interacting with people. If there was anything he could use as his anchor, it was knowledge that people would appreciate.

"Y-yes," he stammered holding up one finger. He started asking questions that people would be curious about. Like 'have you ever wondered why the sky is blue?' Or, 'do you know how much blood can pump through the human heart in as little as a minute?' When that did not work due to their bland 'who in the world is this person?' stare, he tried to philosophize with them and others that passed by, but he only received taunts of 'freak' and 'dork' and 'take it to the university point Dexter.'

He stood there brooding wondering how Mimi could be the way that she was. He was wearing an outfit that she had picked out for him. So maybe that was why. He must not have projected himself that seriously! He had to change outfits!

Of course, the moment he thought that he felt Mimi's lips caress his cheek.

"You're so adorable when you're so indirectly seriously misguided," she said smiling as if he was useless. "Maybe you should just watch me from a distance? You know, adore and pine after me from afar?" she teased.

Koushiro hesitated, but agreed to it. "I seriously don't know how you do it Mimi. I really am no good when it comes to this," he admitted looking down.

She adjusted herself to where his eyes were looking and grabbed both of his hands stretching them out. "If you look good, you talk nice, and you can make anyone smile then don't sweat the details! You just need practice. Just keep watching me," she said letting go of his hands, Koushiro stumbling forward, But feeling Mimi's arms wrap around him giving him a kiss on the cheek.

He did not know what to say. She always had a way of reacting spontaneously, but in a flowing motion almost like water. Koushiro felt ashamed he would have to let his girlfriend go flirt with gu- err, gather intel, but he knew he was outclassed when it came to gathering information like her. Something about Mimi's honesty completely shocked him in a good way, as if she was an answer to an equation he could never solve. She certainly could put things into perspective in ways he never understood.

He acknowledged her and smiled confidently. "Let me know as soon as you find out anything," he said, "and, don't get any numbers," he mumbled.

"What?" Mimi said placing her ear towards him. Koushiro unwilling to believe Mimi could not hear him, and eventually after she kept asking him to say it again, eventually found himself shouting it out embarrassed he had been so loud.

She grinned and waved at him two steps walking away from him. "Don't worry Koushiro!" she said going off. "It's for intel! Intel!" she shouted waving away as she went down an escalator, prompting Koushiro to rationalize her actions. He certainly could not tie her down to a simple answer. Not even logic and simple caution could tame Mimi's carefree spirit.

Koushiro decided to regroup. He purchased a cold drink and watched from a table on the upper deck, his buddy Tentomon updating him about leads he heard. But there was nothing about Takeru except for a couple high school girls who knew him and wanted to know if Mimi knew his phone number. Boy, that troublemaker sure had fans.

He coolly observed the environment sipping on his beverage watching Mimi, Palmon checking up on her every now and then as well from how she seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Mimi did not seem to notice him, but it seemed a lot of other guys noticed her. He tapped his finger irritated on the table slightly anxious. He wondered why she had to be so cute and flirtatious. She was like a flame that brought the moths flocking to her.

Eventually, as the day progressed, he saw that he thought some guys had taken out their phone and put down her number though Koushiro had to admit the people that were interested in her had every right to in comparison to him. He still felt slightly dejected, unsure if she was playing or serious. He could never tell.

After another good solid hour of this he noticed her approach a few other couples, making them embarrassed asking if they were couples, etc. etc., when they kissed, etc. etc. and asking them about their plans for the future. It was really simple, but it was very sweet the way she said things as if maybe she herself wanted to know them about herself. He wondered if maybe he could ask her some of the questions she was asking later, but for now kept it to himself.

Just then Tentomon came flying over under the radar under the table. "Koushiro," he said his voice buzzed and concerned.

"What is it Tentomon?"

"I don't have leads on Takeru, but I do have some sketchy news. There has been this guy stalking around the mall staring at Mimi. Palmon told me," he said. "He only started stalking her as soon as she had said the word 'Takeru.' I think he might know something!"

Koushiro nodded his head and scanned around below. "Great info. What did he look like Tentomon?" he asked keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious.

"He had a black leather coat, dark glasses, and a red shirt and chain," he said. "He kind of had an evil eye to him I heard, though I don't really know what that means," he added.

Koushiro watched Mimi; noticing within a crowd of people a young man wearing that description approach her. He saw Mimi's face enthusiastic, but then hesitant.

"What are they saying?!" Tentomon asked.

Koushiro could not hear really well from where he was sitting, but could read lips. "Uh oh," he swallowed, looking at them. Mimi's face started to clam up as if frightened. The man's lips had curved into a leering gaze, as if looking right through her.

"We have to go now!" he exclaimed, grabbing his drink and heading down the nearest escalator.

"What's wrong? What did he say?!" Tentomon asked buzzing behind him. "Mimi Tachibana you're quite the talker. How about it? Want to go on a date with me? We'll have a nice little chat!"

"That's not good!" he exclaimed, Koushiro surprising himself squeezing by people on the escalator throwing caution to the wind as he hurried towards her.

He managed to reach the bottom of the escalator and ran over to her, Mimi half frozen in fear, trying to slowly back up, but not actually moving.

He saw the man take out a sharp knife and lift it up as if he was going to stab her.

"We're not going to make it!" Tentomon buzzed as they hurried over, people getting out of their way. Koushiro knew it must have been because a giant beetle followed a crazy looking young man running towards danger.

Koushiro had to do something. He gritted his teeth concerned for Mimi, but hesitant to physically attack someone. He looked at his hand and knew he only had one course of action.

"Mimi!" he exclaimed running from behind her and chucking his drink at the stranger. The drink landed on top of the stranger's head flowing out all over his clothes, the stranger standing there, as if irked he had been interrupted.

"Koushiro!" Mimi exclaimed as he approached her throwing her arms around him, her arms shaking.

"I was scared," she said grabbing the back of his shirt collar. "He's a human being, but I've never been this scared," she said as if unable to control her fear.

"Hey," Koushiro said wrapping his arms around her. "It's ok," he said calmly. "Mimi, can you tell me what your favorite dress is?"

"This one," she said.

"Why's that?"

"Because it's pretty and I can move around easily in it and I feel so free in it."

"That's wonderful isn't it?" he asked more tenderly.

Mimi nodded her head and looked down as if she had become slightly embarrassed. "Yeah," she admitted. "You were just trying to calm me down weren't you? "

"You figured me out," he grinned. "But you seem calmer. It did the trick!"

The figure that had been standing in front of Mimi seemed to leer at him, the drink sliding off the top of his head, the youth not even having moved it. "I'm soaked," he said, his eyes looking towards the dagger.

"You are also a digidestined," he said as if studying him, Koushiro standing in front of Mimi.

"What do you want?" he asked. "And why do you care about Takeru? How do you know about us?"

The youth flicked dripping liquid droplets from his blade and stared at Koushiro as if he would not be able to keep talking and was just a hindrance. "Their is no way weak humans like you could have done it," he said withdrawing the blade in his coat. "But I will find out what you know whether you like it or not."

His hand balled into a fist and approached Koushiro who stood in front of Mimi in quite the quandary. He had never been in a fight before. He barely knew how to throw a punch since Yamato and Taichi had taught him.

"Let's get out of here!" other onlookers cried, as if looking at the young man they had looked at a monster as if he was not quite human.

Koushiro made a fist himself, hesitating as if he could not hurt him. Koushiro had not long thought that until he saw a fist land down on his cheek so hard he flopped to the ground holding his face.

"You're not even worth it," the youth's voice said in disgust.

He felt the pain in his face throb, but looked over to Mimi who seemed to be hesitant, but started to firm up. "You're such a bully!" she exclaimed. "What did Koushiro ever do to you?!"

Koushiro listened as he felt more frightened for Mimi than ever.

"He existed," the youth answered disdainfully looking at her as if they were disposable garbage.

With that he smirked as Mimi seemed to draw a pose to counter him as if waiting for him to attack, but he backhanded her sending her sprawling to the ground.

Immediately Koushiro shot up, enraged. "Mimi!" he shouted running over to the stranger not quite sure what he was doing but he had to do something. He grabbed hold of the guy and fell to the ground on top of him, the youth kicking him off of him, the blow to Koushiro's stomach causing him to reel clutching his stomach.

"How dare you do that to her?!" he exclaimed, trying with every faculty to stay functioning.

The youth did not seem impressed. "If you really see me as a threat send your digimon to attack," he challenged.

Koushiro looked down at Tentomon and grabbed his digivice in his pocket. "He can't get away with this," he winced. "Tentomon, you've got to make him pay!"

Tentomon waved his pincers as if making an x. "Wait a second. Hold on," he said, as if hesitant. "Koushiro, that guy is fully human...I think," he said. "I don't sense a digital presence. I don't even have the capability to fight him!"

"What do you mean?" he asked, still clutching his stomach. "Don't you see all the bad things he's doing?"

"Yes," he replied. "I'm sorry I'm useless to help you this time Koushiro. But good digimon can't attack anyone that's an actual human. It's just how we are configured and wired. As long as we are aware of ourselves we can't, but only virus or infected digimon can. Please don't be mad at me!" he buzzed as if he was going to cry.

Koushiro could not believe his greatest weapon and ally could not even be utilized, but more than anything he had to understand his friend when he understood such little else other than he needed to keep his wits and protect Mimi.

"But what can I do?" he said to himself aloud. He felt like rushing in to help, but felt hesitant. Palmon also had approached them, but her claws were clasped on her lips as if useless. The digimon this time might as well have been window curtains. Only he could do something now.

Koushiro grabbed his cell phone and texted the others urgently. Hopefully they would get the message and they would come rushing over.

He then started running over at the youth who looked like he was about to curb stomp Mimi's skull. He felt his body shudder knowing he was going to get pulverized. He made a fist and tried to connect with his face, but he met air as the youth dodged and another punch floored him hard into the ground.

The youth then kicked up mall dust around him as if to insult him and turned around as if he was about to attack Mimi further.

He gritted his teeth, fighting the growing swollen cheek taking over his face, and wobbly stood up. "This is nuts," he said to himself, barely putting a foot forward in their direction. "What kind of sane person would run in and get throttled knowing they could not do anything?"

"Well now," he heard the youth say standing over Mimi. "Shall we begin this torture Miss Tachibana? You will tell me everything you know," he said reaching down and grabbing her by her hair, painful groans echoing out from Mimi.

Koushiro could not take it. Rational decision or not he had to act. "I said leave her alone!" he exclaimed running forward about ready to fall over and trying to lay a punch against him. The youth easily saw it coming, evaded it and lay an elbow straight down into Koushiro's back flattening him to the ground.

He gasped out, surprised his mind was still intact. He felt his body grow numb as if he had become partially paralyzed and lay there feeling helpless as the strange youth turned back to Mimi.

He gasped out barely able to get air. Perspiration pour from his face, a rare occurrence unless his mind became riddled by a fun difficult puzzle. What more then he could do? The stranger seemed determined to hurt them for information, but how did he know they were digidestined and why did he feel he needed to do that? Those questions could wait for later.

Mimi had always been so considerate of others in a self centered kind of way. Sure she was headstrong and bossy, but even if she acted that way she still encouraged and drew others towards her; drawing people out of their shells and for the most part making them happier. He certainly felt that way after keeping himself kept up in his room so long, soullessly contemplating the wonders of the universe and cyberspace, but not ever actually living his life. She had changed all that.

He reached forward, his arms aching and pulled his body across the floor towards the stranger determined to stop him. There was no way he would let this jerk take away Mimi's smile. He would not have it! He found more resolve as he etched his fingernails in tile flooring and did his best to pull himself forward. He lurched forward, his energy nearly spent and reached out his hand, grunting out as he grabbed the stranger's foot.

"I said leave her alone," he panted staring up at the stranger weakly. The stranger turned around as if he had just been bitten by an annoying mosquito. He lifted up his other foot and kicked Koushiro in the face, Koushiro feeling his head throb in pain, his swollen cheeks swelling up even more, blood dripping down his nose and lip. He gritted his teeth bearing the pain and did not let go.

"I said get away from her!" he cried out, the stranger becoming enraged.

The next thing he knew, the stranger gritted his teeth about ready to burst like a torrential flood and started kicking his face in, once, twice, three times, and then he did not know anymore as he fell back, barely breathing, barely conscious. He felt a kick to his chest over and over again, as he desperately, but weakly clung on for dear life to the stranger's foot.

"Let go weakling!" the stranger snarled, the impact pressing further and further on Koushiro barely able to stay conscious. He heard Mimi's voice break through calling out to him as she cried out his name, a flurry of other voices joining in; one he thought to be recognized as Taichi's and maybe Sora's and Yamato's. He could not process it any further and shut down.

...Koushiro could not get the piercing dark red eyes from his mind. He felt his body reboot slowly healing from the first physical battle he had ever really fought. Sure he lost, but, if he was still alive and he remembered hearing Taichi's and the others voices he must have been successful stalling for enough time. As long as the war continued he knew that he could still fight later, hopefully with more sufficient data next time.

As Koushiro became aware of his surroundings, he opened his eyes as if he had woken up in an entirely different world. He deduced he must be at a hotel or a friend's place, what with how well kept and classy the room seemed with just a slight touch of flair. It reminded him a lot of how Mimi's personality brought life to a room.

Upon thinking of her he wondered if she was ok. She had taken a pretty strong backhand and some hair pulling, but if that was all that happened, at least she would come out practically unscathed. To his surprise he heard Mimi's creamy voice call out to him.

"That was the bravest thing anyone's ever done for me," she said putting her smooth lips against his.

It tasted like strawberries; more of a sweet white variation. He was surprised he put such thought into such a minor detail. His eyes enlarged themselves as she fell on top of him against his chest. All rationalizations and explanations for her behavior seemed to end up with endless possibilities, which seemed to fry his mind, unable to process them.

Her chest pressed against his and he did not know how to handle such contact. He always had stayed so distant, so cold and logical so he could best assess any situation. But, with Mimi with him like this he did not know how to act. He actually felt unintelligent that she had to first initiate any affection with him.

"Mimi," he said trying to compute her affection. "I know I like you, but I wonder why is it you like me back? I know by your hugs and affection, but I cannot rationalize what you see in me," he said giving as simple and straightforward an answer as he could, slightly in pain, from the pressure of her frame.

"Sorry," she said raising her chest, her getting up her entire lower body pressing against his.

As if he had been lagging this whole time, at that moment he realized much to the explosion crossing his mind that she was wrapped up loosely in a velvety robe that had started to come undone.

"I...I just wanted you to know," she said as if embarrassed, "that I am not THAT kind of girl. I might be loud and honest and outgoing, and I may be a flirt," she winked, "but I am not this type of girl. I just..."

Koushiro felt her hands slide under his shirt up to his chest. "I am just going to come out and say it. You know I like you Koushiro, but it's more than that," she said kissing his lips. "I love you."

Koushiro felt his arms wrap around her waist and stare at her velvety amber eyes. "Logically this does not make any sense," he said swallowing. "I do not have a strong physique or consider myself attractive. Me and you clash sometimes especially when it comes to what is the right thing to do, and we are completely opposite."

"That's true," she said brushing one of her hairs away from her face which Koushiro admitted had turned him on in a way he had not acknowledged before. "But don't you think," she said, "That the way I am and the way you are complement each other? You stop me from getting too emotional and force me to think even if I disagree with you," she smiled.

"I know," he said barely able to lift his head, but he felt her lips caress his and he kissed her back. "And when I get too coldly logical you bring me back from that abyss into the realm of humanity," he confessed. "I must admit it's crossed my mind that I may get too involved with the digital world and become a program myself."

He felt her hot breath against his chest and kisses going from his chest all the way up to his lips where she breathed hotly against them. "You have already proven you're the man for me," she said kissing him more forcefully, Koushiro not knowing once more how to compute.

"I don't know what to do in this kind of situation," he said looking into her eyes a bit scared but desirous of her.

She smiled down at him and put a finger to his lips. "Just do what feels natural," she says. "You proved your love to me. Now let me prove my love to you."

Koushiro stared up at the ceiling, his eyes wide open as if he had just discovered another level to the world, not wrapped in logic and numbers, but relationships and bonds. He felt Mimi's head turn laying comfortably on his shoulder, Koushiro wrapping his arm around her. He still did not understand, but, Mimi, giggling to herself in her dreams, echoing out the words 'darling', made him want to.

He kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her stomach, still getting used to actually showing physical affection. He did not feel awkward to it. Mimi literally had to drag him out of his mindset kicking and screaming with endless equations conjuring up some kind of escape, but they unfazed her, and, eventually though he thought she was annoying and not up to his level, he later appreciated her for how much clarity she brought to his troubled mind.

She whispered out another 'darling', as she hummed out sweetly in her dreams.

He glanced sleepily at her backside so vibrant with life even while sleeping. He wondered about her as he pressed his cheek to the warmth, his body warm from being with her appreciating her, Mimi giggling out as if his touch tickled her. He wondered about the commitment he had just made. He had always been the smartest kid around and made everyone feel unintelligent, and rarely had friends except when he met Taichi and also became a Digidestined.

"How could it be?" he said closing his eyes breathing in her scent. He still wondered what she saw in him. Back when they were kids they were still the same. They repelled each other. Then when they separated into high school, nothing had changed but had gone their own ways making their own way. Lastly, when she returned to stay in Japan for good after being in America so long, why only then did he start to care? Was it just because she was pretty and friendly and inviting? No. He realized the more they argued and bickered the more he respected her, and grew affectionate for her even if they never agreed, they could still meet halfway. Maybe she also felt that way.

He lifted his head and stared at her, admiring the most beautiful and headstrong girl he had ever seen in the world thinking about the two of them and how they would continue playing a role in each others lives. He saw her smile sweetly as if she was thinking about the two of them.

"Mimi you break through my cold exterior so much. I love you for that," he said kissing her forehead. He admitted that getting thrashed by that stranger was probably one of the best thing that ever happened to him. He had made a stand not only with his mind and heart, but with his body as well. And for once, they were all in agreement with each other. There was no more confusion between his mind, his body, and even his soul.

He snuggled up next to her and closed his eyes. "You as well," he said enjoying talking to her intimately. "Good night...my darling."

Koushiro felt his wonderful dream interrupted as an alarm went off unexpectedly, Mimi still lying next to him, that same little smile on her face. He stared at her realizing last night had not been a dream, and, not surprisingly he felt a lot better from the beating he took yesterday.

He stared at her slightly embarrassed to be lying naked in bed with her as if maybe she might have thought yesterday was a dream to. He felt his loving gaze stir, as he softly said, though hesitantly, 'Good morning,' wondering if she remembered about last night.

"Darling!" she unexpectedly said wrapping her body around his. He felt her lips touch his, Koushiro returning them kiss for kiss, and caress for caress losing track of the alarm and everything else, but her.

The next time he woke up Koushiro had never felt so tired, but so, how could he say it? Relieved. He stared out at the window seeing the sun looked like it was about ready to set. Academics and the digital world were now the farthest thing from his mind.

Just then, a knock on the door startled him.

"Miss? Hello miss?" a voice said as an elderly man with glasses knocked on the door, entered, and stood aghast as Koushiro saw that the man noticed the two of them were naked in bed.

"Mimi! Mimi!" Koushiro said his face ghastly holding up the bed sheets over them. "There's some stranger here and..."

...He watched as her eyes focused and then looked embarrassed looking at the man.

"Oh Jeeves!" she giggled smiling.

"Miss Tachibana!" he exclaimed. "What ruffian has seduced you to degrade your body like this? You have lost the pride of the Tachibana family sullying it's name! What explanation have you for this outrageous conduct?!" he said in a huff.

Koushiro looked at her at a loss for words for once in his life.

"Umm...well," she said as if thinking for an explanation, scratching her cheek. Her eyes sharpened and she smiled wider than ever. "It's a bit late, but this is Koushiro, my fiancee!"

Koushiro stared at her, every single program blowing up in his brain. "Fiancee?!" he shouted out…

[flowersoffairyflufffalls]

My Thoughts On Digimon Adventure tri.: Loss

... a lot of things about the newest Digimon tri movie don’t really make sense and leave more questions than answers... 4 movies into a 6 movie series...

Biyomon being mean to Sora makes no sense, her character changed entirely after her memory was erased. Before she was sweet and caring, but then they made her... angsty and borderline abusive to Sora... for no reason at all. Sora accidentally stepped on Yokomon’s flower petal (why she was laying on the ground like that I’m not entirely sure... just moments before this she was with everyone else at the beach so it’s not like she was taking a nap...) and then suddenly she absolutely HATES Sora and... it just didn’t work. No explanation as to how Meiko got to the digital world. Personally I like Meiko’s character but she is being handled horribly... they’re doing all of the wrong things when it comes to introducing a new character to an already established cast. Fans aren’t going to want to accept change and a new face, that’s with any series (though, personally I appreciate it) so when writing one single character into the plot you have to do it carefully... try to make her likable so that people will care about her character so they’ll be more likely to care about her contribution to the story. They just wrote her in, gave her one personality trait, had her do little to nothing, all while being the partner to the most destructive and threatening digimon companion out of the main characters. This also brings me to Meicoomon... she doesn’t seem to be very consistent in terms of personality... every digimon and chosen child has a dynamic that just works for them. Jou and Gomamon are a very good example of this, they bring out aspects of each other that you wouldn’t normally see... this goes for all of them, their personalities all complement one another. With Meicoomon and Meiko it’s not like this though, they have no actual chemistry... the partnership doesn’t feel real to me and this is coming from a person who likes Meiko and wants to see it.

Also Meicoomon throwing temper tantrums isn’t... good. She’s far too destructive, I understand she is supposed to be like a baby but... the scene when she literally attacked Meiko for not appearing in the digital world sooner was... bad. She could have seriously hurt her, Meiko is just a normal human so Meicoomon attacking her continuously just makes no sense no matter how upset she got. Also Meicoomon is an adult digimon I believe too (like Gatomon/Tailmon) so it kind of makes it even worse. Now... I know this isn’t a complaint about this movie specifically but I’m also going to add... Meicoomon’s design doesn’t match any of the other digimon’s designs at all... she sticks out and it’s not in a way I would call very... good.

The way Meiko and Meicoomon were introduced and treated up to this point have been awful and even though I personally am very happy to see her and Hikari sharing a poster for the next film... I can understand why at this point others who don’t like her character might feel upset, because the writing has given us no real reason to care about Meiko at all. I only like her because I like her design and personality, not because of her role in the story or any of her actions... I also believe that adding just one character to an already established cast makes it a lot harder for them to blend and fit in... now... Digimon has a lot of characters already and is suffering from pacing and plot issues so I’m not sure if I can say that would be fixed by adding another chosen child along with Meiko so that they can bounce off of each other and the rest of the cast and make their inclusions feel more organic... because these are movies, not only is there not enough time to do all of that but everything has to be paced a specific way so that it works as a movie. Which kind of brings me to my next point...

Digimon Tri doesn’t really work as a set of movies... or a set of separate episodes to me. There is a lot going on in the plot, honestly... far too much for the amount of characters and time. This film in particular felt very... chaotic to me, there was so much happening and not enough explanation for a lot of the things that happened. At this point I would’ve hoped the loose ends introduced in the first 3 films would have been tied up since this is the later half of the series and there isn’t really a lot of time left to explain everything, have everything come to a peak, and then resolve all of the problems introduced to the series. We have two films left... that’s it... and we still don’t know a lot of things... a lot of things aren’t even being given the attention they deserve... Sora and Yamato’s relationship... the whereabouts of the 02 children... the general Digimon lore and how everything ties together...

Which brings me to how badly Sora’s character was handled in this film... it was supposed to be about her, she was supposed to get her time to shine but... it didn’t do her character any justice. Her relationship with Biyomon was sour and then she saves her and gains Biyomon’s approval... and then risks her life and is thrashed into an ice cliff twice and still somehow not only survives but also walks away with no injuries... and rides on top of Hououmon mid-battle only to basically be thrown off without Hououmon seemingly knowing... it was all just sloppy and Biyomon’s character was butchered completely, very little about her character was even consistent from the past films let alone the original series.

And since I am talking about Hououmon... why did they cram 3 Digimon evolving from rookie to mega in one battle...? :)It... was a lot... Biyomon to Birdramon to Garudamon to Hououmon... and then they did the same with Patamon and Tentomon... there was so much time being filled by evolutions and that’s not even counting Agumon and Gabumon’s evolutions earlier in the movie. I know that Patamon and Tentomon weren’t able to evolve to mega in the previous movie but... they should have found a more organic way to do it. For instance showing their evolutions to ultimate in the last film (another reason why I think they should’ve evolved to ultimate in the last film other than the reason that it just made no sense to only evolve to champion and then stop there... but also another reason is that I wanted to see Lillymon again... and I wanted to see Mimi and Jou evolve their digimon to mega... since that also would have made sense... especially since I’m guessing from this point onward Mimi and Jou aren’t going to really be getting much more spotlight) so that they could skip the evolutions this time and just have them go from ultimate to mega.

Seraphimon’s debut was lackluster... Takeru and Patamon usually have the most buildup and the most interesting climax when it comes to their arcs and evolutions but... this time they kind of just threw it in there mid-battle just to get it out of the way. Also at this point they all left Meiko and Meicoomon alone... in the digital world... where Meiko has never been before. Gennai found her and after a very very uncomfortable scene where he seems to be molesting her (oh yeah... earlier in the film he literally pinned Sora to the ground and licked her face... :) it was... bad... :) maybe they should’ve looked that part over and :) cut it out so that it didn’t make it to the final product maybe??? :) ) he uses his powers to choke her to activate Meicoomon’s anger so that she would evolve and become destructive. So basically the movie ends with Meiko lying lifelessly on the ground and Meicoomon’s evolution going on a rampage. :)

IT. WAS. A. MESS. At this point I’m not sure how the next films can compensate for the nonsense that happened in this one. There was just too much going on, too many plotholes, poor decisions being made, characters (mainly just Biyomon) changing their personalities, and at this point I feel like the writers bit off way more than they could chew. Maybe if the franchise only had like... 1 or 2 main characters a story like this could work... but with an ensemble cast of (now) 9 characters it is just way too much. There’s far too much going on and not much of anything being explained. I’m also not entirely sure if the films are supposed to be aimed at newcomers or longtime fans and I’m really not sure how they could really appeal to either because there’s a lot of stuff included that alludes to the original series but also just a lot of stuff left out for no reason. It feels like a complete mess right now and that cliffhanger (after like, 10 minutes of digimon evolutions) just... made the already weak film end on an extremely weak note. If fans had to wait like, a week or so in between films it would be one thing... still bad... but not as bad as waiting months and months for the next film only to be left with more questions than answers... 

... that all being said it was okay. I liked it, I mean I liked all of the films and I’m really looking forward to the next one... yay Meiko and Hikari!! ^o^