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seventeenlovesthree · 3 days ago

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Digimon Adventure Reboot Sequel AU - Chapter 2: No Matter What You’ll Choose To Become

Summary: Taichi and Agumon arrive at Tachikawa Technologies and aren't just greeted by Mimi and Palmon, but also by Gomamon and Jyou - with the latter being close to a mental breakdown. Meaning to support him in practicing his internship application presentation, Taichi ends up reminiscing over what differentiates a princess from a queen - and a supporter from a leader.

Chapter list: [Prologue] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Based on: [Concept] [Designs] [First Idea]

Word Count: 2940

Being allowed to freely enter the building of Tachikawa Technologies due to having special access privileges - for being friends with the CEO’s granddaughter - still felt surreal to Taichi sometimes.

Mimi had strictly taught him to never show up in hoodie and sweatpants at least. Making a good first - second, third and twentieth - impression was important to her and she did value a proper fashion sense too.

‘Fashion, huh?’, Taichi looked down on himself - blue button-down shirt, school trousers and sneakers were fine, right? - before walking through the entrance area, nodding towards the receptionist. Who was absolutely used to his presence, but still tended to flinch at the sight of the small dinosaur next to him - who did not have to follow any dress code whatsoever. To most people, Digimon were a known occurrence in this world, but more in a “digital hologram companion” sense. Akin to a Tamagotchi who could be projected into reality. They were usually considered to be AI-generated, but not everyone was used to their presence yet. Spreading knowledge, awareness and familiarity about them were just a few of Tachikawa Technologies’ goals.

Taichi smiled to himself. Mimi was a person who had firm beliefs - not only in regards to company policies and the art of dressing herself. Always classy and feminine, prestigious, with a sense of business and casual luxury.

Suddenly, a glimpse of pink hair, covered in golden stars, flashed through Taichi’s mind.

The “Mimi in his dreams” usually wasn’t too different from the one he knew. Sure, she seemed to have a more extravagant, more experimental - and more daring - fashion sense. She also wasn’t the granddaughter of a company boss, he could tell, even though her family still seemed to have busy businesses abroad - considering how that Mimi seemed to reside in the USA most of the time.

So yeah, maybe her circumstances were a little different after all. Maybe she had gone through more hardship than “his” Mimi led on to have…

Taichi could still recognize her through the haze of a distant memory. A sincere, outspoken girl, a delicate yet strong-willed princess, who fought for what she believed in. Even if he was certain that she would have liked to prevent the fighting entirely sometimes…

As the duo rode up the elevator to meet up at their “usual space” - an empty office room on the 7th floor Mimi referred to as “emergency headquarters” -, they weren’t prepared for the chaos they were about to encounter. Mentioned room looked like it had been hijacked by the marketing department and left behind after a 3-day-meeting of heated discussions, tears and sweat. Several flipchart boards, books, folders, crumbled paper… A disgruntled looking Mimi with folded arms, Palmon as well as Gomamon - and a Jyou who seemed close to a mental breakdown.

“You’re late!”, Mimi said loudly not even a second after he had opened the the door, making Taichi raise both arms with an apologetic look. Agumon copied these gestures.

“We tried our best, promise! Jyou-senpai, you’re here too?”, he smiled a crooked smile, causing Jyou to look up. And the closer Taichi walked to the table he was sitting on, the more he noticed the dark bags under his eyes. “Let me guess, this is what our ‘emergency’ is about, right?”

Jyou only pulled a grimace and couldn’t even answer, before Mimi took charge:

“Precisely. Jyou-senpai has to practice his internship application presentation, so I gathered all of us here for additional mental support!”

Both Taichi and Agumon blinked at Jyou. That was surprising to hear.

“Since he’s been ignoring me fake-boo’ing him”, Gomamon explained as he sat on a stack of books on the chair on Jyou’s left, patting his arm. “You and Agumon will be part of our super judgemental crowd.”

“Thanks a lot, Gomamon…”, Jyou grumbled with a pressing smile, which was returned by a bright, toothy grin from the seal Digimon.

“You’re welcome, hehe!”

“Unfortunately”, Mimi elaborated before taking her seat at Jyou’s right side, while Palmon followed, “As always, it was impossible to gather everyone here, so… We have to make do.”

Taichi followed her lead as well - the table had been big enough for at least fifteen people to take a seat, but he picked the one next to Mimi, as Agumon actually sat down on the other side, next to Gomamon. The yellow dinosaur sniffed the air once more.

“Mimi-kun has been very insistent on having you guys here, and, well, I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not entirely sure if that’ll actually help in the long run”, Jyou confessed dryly and scribbled onto a notebook as if to play it casually.

“You’re really nervous, huh?”, Agumon said, basically speaking Taichi’s thoughts out loud. From what he had gathered and ever since he could remember, Jyou had been pretty much set to join Tachikawa Technologies. Taichi knew he had been busy with his final high school year exams, so they had barely seen him around - and Taichi had no idea how tough it must have been to juggle both at once.

“Seriously, what’s the deal here? I thought you already had it in the bag, Senpai?”

Jyou huffed in response to that, but at least the smile on his lips had become a little bit less tense. However, Taichi could tell by the anxious scribbling that things were not okay.

“I’m good with the theoretical side of things, studying and stuff like that, but… It’s still a different story when it comes to… Talking freely, you know.”

That checked out somehow - back in the Digital World, when he had been just twelve years old, Jyou had managed to give some impressive speeches. But even then, he had needed Gomamon’s or his friends’ support to succeed. Which, in Taichi’s opinion, was not a bad thing at all, but it still baffled him to hear that he was still that insecure about his performance.

Jyou-senpai had grown a lot in confidence in all these years, now that he was on the brink of adulthood - hadn’t he? It felt like a déjâ-vu to some degree, even though Taichi couldn’t put his finger on it - and immediately shoved away the possibility that his dreams may have had something to do with it...

Trying to clear his head, Taichi glanced over at everything that was laid right out in front of him on the table: It was covered in utilities; a laptop and projector in front of Jyou, a folder with his CV, countless sheets of paper, both printed and manually written on, as well as pens and sticky notes in various colours. The handwritten notes were obviously by Jyou himself - he was more of an analog guy after all -, whereas Taichi was certain the printed notes were provided by Koushirou. The one right in front of him contained a timetable of the company’s achievements ever since it was founded. What a thorough effort.

“He’s been a quivering mess”, Mimi explained eventually and stood up again, walking around the table. Her tone had been less sharp than before. Instead of judgement, her voice was laced with encouragement and excitement. “My grandpa will obviously endorse him once he has finished high school either way, buuuuut… I fully support him wanting to work for it, showing determination here.”

“Proving to be a valuable asset for the company early on!”, Palmon added and Taichi had to grin to himself. He leaned over to gain Jyou’s attention, whispering with a hand over his mouth:

“Valuable asset, is that a different word for slave?”

“Shh!” While he tried to sound disapproving of that wording, Jyou, apparently, couldn’t help but to grin himself now. Unable to suppress his amusement at Taichi’s humour, he hissed back with an underlying laugh: “Don’t let her hear that!”

“What was that?” Mimi rushed between them again, but both guys just jumped apart, simultaneously shouting “Nothing!” at her. Taichi still smiled though - the first measure of distraction had been a full success, Jyou already looked a tad bit less tense.

“Stop whispering and let’s get started. I trust that you’ll provide honest feedback in the end, Taichi-san. I’m still disappointed in you for not having joined our open hours the other day. Grandpa would certainly have liked to see you again!”

He did have to ditch the event at the company due to football practice the other day - and because he had felt groggy after a particularly restless night.

“Hey, maybe that wouldn’t be the worst idea!” Still distracted from his own troubles, Jyou turned towards Taichi. “Especially if you still don’t have any idea where you’re headed?”

“Uh, I’m not in a rush to be honest!”, Taichi deflected. It wasn’t even a lie after all, he simply didn’t feel like talking about his ‘potential’ again. “How about you, Mimi-chan?”

“Me? Oh, seriously, Taichi-san, what a silly question is that?” Mimi’s eyes started to shine as she positioned herself between Jyou and Taichi again. “I’ll take over this company and make sure to increase its appeal to customers and employees alike. We’ll be known for our high-class products - that’s what Koushirou-kun will provide - and our inclusive worker’s rights union all over the globe! With Jyou-senpai managing our HR department with class and dignity and me looking over our marketing campaign, we shall take over the Japanese tech market in the foreseeable future!”

The déjâ-vu washed over Taichi again - but in quite a different way. She really was more confident than “the other Mimi” - or rather, confident in other ways. Where the other Mimi still enjoyed being a “kid”, wanting to experiment and figure herself out more, his Mimi knew exactly where she was headed. With her white blouse and high-waisted burgundy skirt, hair open and wavy, unshaken and straight-forward.

Definitely more of a queen than a princess.

“Progressive as always, Mimi-kun”, Jyou said - and even Taichi hadn’t been able to overhear the glimpse of affection in those words.

“So world domination is just around the corner, huh?” Taichi refrained from asking whether she intended to expand her reach to the USA specifically…

“You laugh, but you won’t once it all comes true, thank you! So I have to disappoint you…” The enthusiasm in Mimi shifted a little, as she now looked at him directly. Unavoidably. “Senpai won’t have any time to become a doctor, as you suggested…”

“You did?!”, Jyou exclaimed in absolute surprise and Taichi could feel his heart sink a little. “Well, my brother is the one who’s a doctor in training, but…”

Panic rose in Taichi’s chest, his palms began to become sweaty again. He had no idea what had come over him when he had asked Koushirou about all the printed materials on his desk the other day. “Is this for Senpai’s medicine school?”, he had asked and Koushirou’s confusion had hit him like a truck. He hadn’t even stumbled about it being an irregularity, it had just felt natural to ask such a question… And now nothing made sense about it anymore.

The way Mimi looked at him now with narrowed eyes while Jyou’s were wide open left him struggling to find an answer.

“Taichi…?”, Agumon asked and so he just shook his head. ‘Stay calm, stay cool, you can do this… Nobody shall know.’

“Y-yeah, I was just saying that…”, he cleared his throat, putting his trademark smile back where it belonged as he faced Jyou directly: “You would, technically, make an amazing doctor, seeing how committed, responsible and… Reliable you are, I mean, in general.”

Both Mimi and Jyou gave him a blank stare now, completely flabbergasted - with the former’s face having turned slightly redder in skin tone.

“Well…”, Mimi began, exchanging a glance with Jyou as well now. “That’s an agreeable statement, but…”

Watching Jyou blush even harder at that caused Taichi to smile again - and took away a tiny bit of his nerves as well. It was ironic in a way. Mimi and Jyou had felt pretty familiar with each other within his dreams themselves - so he was relieved to see that their relationship had stood the test of time, quite literally. It was endearing to see them be so in sync with each other. It made him feel nostalgic… And melancholic.

Just like it had felt completely organic to ask about Jyou’s future career in medicine, Taichi had the impression that the dream version of Jyou must have gone through several hardships himself - and yes, just like with the Jyou he knew, there must have been more than just a few doubts and setbacks in terms of choosing his path. Taichi felt a sense of… Sympathy towards him, could relate to him in weird ways.

As if he had been lost, not knowing his place and sense of self for quite some time. An emptiness he had eventually overcome to replace it with unwavering commitment. To become a doctor. To become the best supporter he could possibly be - and to Taichi, it was surreal to think that his other self had to learn to respect this version of Jyou first. They did seem to have developed a harmonious bond, but… Taichi knew it hadn’t always been that way.

It was a little disorienting. But now Taichi knew that the Jyou he was familiar with had his own challenges to face. He may not have gone for medicine as his field of choice - but he was unwavering in his unique way. He didn’t seem as steadfast in his abilities as the other Jyou yet, but they would make sure he could get back on track. Determined to get the job in this company, to become the leader he had always wanted to be one day - instead of a supporter.

As someone who saw himself as the leader of his group of friends, Taichi couldn’t have been more proud of his friend, admired him to no end…

“So, yeah, Senpai”, Taichi said softly - and more assured than before, “If there was ever a time you felt like I didn’t respect you… I wanted to let you know, you’ll do great, no matter what you’ll choose to become.”

Now Jyou’s head was completely indistinguishable from a tomato, a stark contrast to the grey shirt, dark blue pants and tie, all prim and proper. The perfect business partner, companion and ‘asset’ to Mimi he could imagine. Gomamon let out a giggle and patted Jyou’s arm again.

“See, you’ll do fine, won’t ya?!”

“Taichi, what’s with all that flattery, did something happen, did you break something on your way here?”

“Told you, he is being weird”, Mimi folded her arms again, but Taichi simply blocked.

“I’m 100% fine!”

“You seemed a bit scatterbrained recently, wouldn’t you agree?” She kept digging at him, now with a lower, more worried tone. “Sora-san and Koushirou-kun certainly do.”

The other Mimi was close to these two as well. However, she seemed to butt heads with Koushirou a lot more… Thinking back on their bickering didn’t correspond well with the image he had of them. With Koushirou being another key support in their little group, always keen to be of help to him, Mimi, whenever they needed him, almost a little obedient…

Suddenly, his vision became blurry, his thoughts became foggy and incoherent.

‘Not now… Please… Stay on course, Taichi. They’re just reflections, stop overthinking.’

“I think he just needs to sleep a lot more, so he won’t fall asleep with open eyes anymore.”

It almost seemed like Agumon had known that he needed a little help here, so Taichi just felt a surge of thankfness, lessening the panic a little more.

“I-it’s not even that bad…”

Hearing that, Jyou got in full alarm mode, grabbing one of Taichi’s hands over the table. “Have you been suffering from insomnia? That’s serious business, if you need me to look up meds or anything-”

“Huh, maybe you really are a doctor at heart…”, Gomamon cooed and Jyou immediately let go of Taichi.

“What?!”

Instead, Taichi felt both of Mimi’s hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her directly. A bold move - as unpredictable as Mimi could be and even considering how long they had known each other, overstepping physical boundaries like that was unusual even for her. Thus, all three Digimon in the room - and Jyou - gasped at the sight.

“Taichi-san.”

“Y-yeah?”

“You haven’t had a cold recently, have you? Ever felt weird after returning home after gate-hopping? Be sincere. I won’t accept any more deflection.”

Taichi’s eyes widened. This felt like the worst-case-scenario - he absolutely didn’t intend to make them get so worked up over him. And Mimi’s determined yet worried glance was both alarming… And heart-warming. The haze behind his eyes lifted a little, the fog disappeared. Bringing him back to the now.

He was glad that this Mimi was an anchor for him. Who knew how to approach and motivate people. It was like the princess in his memory made him value the queen in the present a lot more.

Just like the Senpai that would lead the way alongside him.

Gently, he grabbed Mimi’s hands and put more distance between them again, smiling his everlasting smile:

“I’ve been fine. Nothing a good night’s sleep can’t fix and I don’t need any sleeping pills for that either. And you all worry too much. Thanks for caring, but we should focus on Senpai giving the speech of his life now, shouldn’t we?”

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