#koushiro notices everything

[taichi-x-koushiro]

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mAYBE NOT c OMPLETELY {I consider this more "watching from behind" but-!!)

You gave me an excuse to share these excerpts from my time-loops fic-verse {and AMVs Route spinoffs!} "REPEAT?_" here, so thank you!! ;3;/

{AKA still ONE of the most fav parts I've ever written for them.}

Technically I wrote "neck" and not "back" but to get up {move} to the neck you sometimes have to also 'rub' {shift} against the back first so...

{KOUSHIRO NOTICED}

(Also, that chapter was posted May 4th, 2018 but originally started a bit earlier-) So I pretty much already wrote them doing this as far back as 2k18 \o/ a.k.a SOME PEOPLE consider Intimacy to be dIFFERENT--

(...And it might also be a small personal callback to this fic from 2007 that I read before 2012 era when I first made my Digi-sideblog):

"{Koushiro} notices EVERYTHING." - the original summary of that one \o/

Resting your forehead against the spot on someone’s back between their shoulders is the height of intimacy and romance

[starmahgalaxies]

YES. YES. YES.

I could post more comments but that about sums it up. Drowning in a sea of denial won't save either of you, child. lmao.

Hikari, you look so much better! ❤️

This just made things a whole lot more difficult. I'm not blaming kitty. I could never blame a kitty mostly. I do love that the background for this episode is the digivice being herded around by a lot of animals and some motor vehicles.

Kid goes to to summer camp for one day (and everything I could gather is it's meant to be an overnight camp as the parents are shown surprised their kids suddenly came home) and acts like they were gone for months. I don't want kids but if I had them and this was the response I would be anxious to have them away again for a while.

Anyway, Taichi is a sweetheart and parent hugs can be the best.

You could have told them. "Hey, I would like some privacy, please knock and ask for permission before you come in." And I think they would have taken it fine.

I'm not against kids locking their doors if they need to. They should be allowed to set aside something that is simply their space. I'm more unnerved that there isn't a built in locks already, and Koushiro had to go out and buy one. He is shaken by the decision though, and that's why I'm bringing it up as a simpler situation would be asking.

Every adopted child experience I have heard about says that the children would have been preferred to be told at the earliest possible time, and it's a breach of trust to withhold that essential information and shows lack of faith that they could handle it, exasperating the problem.

Something that could lead to trust issues beyond that (see above with Koushiro installing a lock in his bedroom without mentioning it because he feels that it is the easiest solution despite loving his parents).

I'm not adopted and don't have personal experience, hence why I won't make shitpost jokes about it like I do with Yamato and Takeru dealing with their parents divorce (of which my experience is plenty), but I still feel like mentioning... yeah. Be honest with your kids.

Their faces are funny. Caught in the headlights there.

Child who is more logical and pragmatic coming up with a whole comedy routine on the spot. Respect.

Beyond the roadblock of Koushiro not being told about his adopted status, they could compete for the sweetest family in Adventure.

Koromon small enough to eat without notice under the table XD.

I respect you taking your sister's word for it, but no. Do not let the conversation drop. It's obviously her. AHHHH

In other news, sleepy Koromon is adorable.

Giant iceberg of slime ahead 😁

I knew the perverted old man files will corrupt Gennai eventually. This is a joke... mostly.

If I can't see through Tentomon's disguise from the back then I guess it's a pretty good disguise.

Knows her child came home more emotional than usual and seems to have had a long day vs. "I know he would be upset if I didn't wake him up and tell him his friend called and seemed troubled."

😆😁

He looks so happy ❤️

Yeah! If I child is comfortable enough to misbehave/be rebellious around their parents than that could be a sign that they are comfortable enough to not be seen as "perfect." Showing weakness around authority figures is a better sign than them putting on a perfect act to avoid disappointment or retaliation.

Two worried siblings concerned about two different things looking out into the distance forlornly:

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x43 - A Dangerous Game! Pinocchimon / Playing Games

Previously on Digimon Adventure: After an arduous battle, WarGreymon finally defeated MetalSeadramon. Whamon only scored an Assist despite doing a ridiculous amount of work to make that happen, which really goes to show how unfairly competitive PVP games incentivize toxic play over support and teamwork.

Due to the staggering of episode breaks, the original picks up fresh where we left off while the dub keeps on going 'cause we're two minutes into the new one. The children watch the ocean ribbon around Spiral Mountain withdraw back into the world below.

Takeru: Spiral Mountain's ocean is returning to normal! Hikari: Why? Gomamon: It must be because we defeated its ruler MetalSeadramon! Koushiro: So the dark powers controlling it disappeared! Taichi: Our win cleaned out some of the darkness in this world! Jou: Let's keep this pace up and defeat the rest of the Dark Masters! Tailmon: And then peace will return to Earth! Taichi: YES!!! LET'S GO!!! Jou, Tailmon, & Piyomon: YEAH!!!

MetalSeadramon ate shit and now we're 1/4 of the way to purifying the two worlds. The kids share a moment of excitement and jubilation.

...I mean, Yamato seems to be much more interested in whatever Mimi's doing than in this conversation but you can barely notice them; I'm sure it's not important.

The reversion of MetalSeadramon's domain is a fascinating plot point because it speaks to how corrupt and artificial Spiral Mountain truly is. They didn't just change the landscape, like building an artificial island out of dirt in a bay; The powers of darkness are actively forcing reality to be like this, against its nature. The Digital World is straining to return to its natural state, and will do so as soon as the obstruction is removed.

Like two north ends of a magnet being forced to touch each other by a Dark Master holding them together.

In the dub:

T.K.: Spiral Mountain's ocean is almost completely gone! Kari: But why? Gomamon: Maybe because we kicked its Dark Master's butt! Izzy: Quite interesting, but does this affect us? Tai: Absolutely! It changes everything; If we're going to get any surfing in, we'd better hurry! Joe: Those wimpy Dark Masters are no threat to Super Joe! Gatomon: That's the digi-tude I like to hear from you humans! Tai: ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!!! Joe, Gatomon, & Biyomon: YEAH!!!

The dub follows the script up through Gomamon's line, then decides that's all the exposition we really need to understand what the rules are and what our plan needs to be from here.

To be fair, they're not wrong. The original dialogue is a bit dry and over-explains things. "We defeated the Dark Master so his domain was purified," doesn't actually need three lines to comprehend.

Though it's amazing how erroneously unimpressed Izzy is. "Okay but does this really affect us?" asks the dub's pseudo-intellectual version of the character who routinely uses big words to explain the lore incorrectly, about a cornerstone victory in our mission.

Rallied up and ready to go fight the other Dark Masters, the kids--

Mimi: Wait!

Taichi: What are you doing? Yamato: Can't you tell? They're making graves. Taichi: Huh? Graves? Mimi: (points to far right grave) That's Whamon's grave. (Next to it) That one's Piccolomon's. (far left) That one's Chuumon's. (lays hands on the one she's building) And this one is for Wizarmon. Sora: (solemnly) All of them were destroyed while trying to help us. Tailmon: They all died. You could say they were sacrifices to our cause. Taichi: Then we need to ganbaru for their sakes too!

Taichi tries to use ganbaru, the Japanese cultural value of perseverance through great hardship via hard work and diligence, to revive the gung-ho atmosphere he'd had going a moment ago. But his eagerness to rally the troops causes Mimi's boiling emotions to escalate.

Taichi: We must completely and utterly destroy our enemy! Mimi: I won't. Taichi: (surprised) What did you say? Mimi: I WON'T DO THIS ANYMORE!!! WHY DO WE HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING!?!? Taichi: What are you talking about!? We have to avenge their deaths! Mimi: STOP IT!!!

Mimi has never wanted to be part of this. She's never been comfortable with the lengths they've had to go to for survival, and she's never liked all the violence. From the beginning of them being "chosen", all she's ever wanted was to go home.

Now, in the middle of grieving for their dead, Taichi starts talking about how we need to kick in the door and go shoot up our enemies, damn the consequences, and Mimi breaks completely.

The dub can't exactly disguise what Mimi's doing. It's pretty obvious what she's making. There's no talking around that.

Mimi: Wait! We're not through here yet. Tai: Mimi? What are you doing? Matt: In case you haven't noticed, some of our friends are gone. Tai: Oh. ...sorry. Mimi: (points to far right grave) That one is to remember Wizardmon. (Next to it) The one next to it is for Piximon. (far left) That one's Chuumon. (lays hands on the one she's building) And this one here is for Whamon. Sora: Mimi, they're not dead. It's more like they've been downloaded to a different computer. Gatomon: That's right. We're digital. Our information just gets reconfigured.

They can, however, deny that the character deaths are in any way meaningful and browbeat Mimi for overreacting. Thanks, I hate it.

Interesting choice to swap Whamon and WIzardmon's graves, though. They probably wanted Whamon's to be the one closest to Mimi, that she rests her hands on and later cries over, given how fresh that wound is. I agree with that change.

Tai: What better reason do we need to get the Dark Masters? Payback for making our friends leave! Mimi: I'm not going! Tai: Huh!? What did you say!? Mimi: I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!! EVERY TIME WE FIGHT, WE WIND UP LOSING ANOTHER FRIEND!!! Tai: This is war, Mimi, and sometimes people we like get hurt, so DEAL WITH IT!!! Mimi: STOP IT, TAI!!!

:-O

Gonna be honest, based on how previous episodes have handled Taichi's flaws, I fully expected them to dial back Tai's unhelpful aggressiveness here. Nope! He legit tells Mimi "People die in war; Fucking deal with it!" Holy shit. Holy shit.

While Mimi's breaking down, Yamato cuts in on her behalf.

Yamato: TAICHI!!! Try to consider other people's feelings for a change! Taichi: Huh? What do you mean? Yamato: What you said is right, I'll give you that. Taichi: ... (confused) Yamato: But just because it's right, that doesn't mean we can all shove our feelings down and just do it! Taichi: (small gasp) ... Takeru: Onii-chan! Yamato: We all know that we need to keep moving forward! (Voice breaks, getting emotional) But there are times when you have to stop and remember what we've lost, aren't there?

We cut to a wide shot of the group, with Mimi both visibly and audibly crying for the entire rest of this conversation.

Mimi: (crying) Taichi: If we're always stopping to do that then we won't have time to save the world! Yamato: WE KNOW THAT!!! But... Sora: Hey, can we stop this? Everybody's upset. Palmon: (hugs Mimi) Don't cry, Mimi. Jou: We're too exposed out here. Let's move somewhere safer.

Sora steps in to be the peacemaker as usual, and bottle back up the boiling tensions that have been growing between Taichi and Yamato for months. Then Jou steps up to be the senpai and get everyone moving out of the open, and all of this hostility and intense emotion is pushed aside.

For now.

In the dub:

Matt: Enough! Why don't you stop and think about other people's feelings for a change! Tai: Huh!? What are you talking about!? Matt: We all know you're right, Tai, but just give us a little space! Tai: Huh? Matt: We miss our friends who fought alongside of us! Not everyone has ice running through their veins like you do! Tai: Wha--? T.K.: Calm down! Matt: You're so busy looking forward that you never take time to look back! We've lost some good friends here, Tai, and it's nice to remember them once in a while! Tai: If we always stop to do that, we'll never have enough time to save the world! Matt: You still don't get it! I know you hear me, but you're not listening! Mimi: (starts crying) Sora: STOP IT!!! You're making everyone upset! You two are supposed to be friends! Palmon: Don't cry, Mimi! Joe: We're sitting ducks out here. Let's find someplace a little less out in the open.

A while back, I talked about how Japanese aggressive language tends to attack someone's actions or words while English prefers to attack the person directly. We see a good example of that here.

Yamato: "Your words are correct but are spoken without consideration for others' feelings!" Matt: "You have ice in your veins!"

These are the same sentiment but expressed differently. Yamato attacks the thoughtless words that Taichi's been speaking while Matt attacks Tai personally.

In any case, I do think Yamato's in the right here. Taichi is correct in the big picture that defeating the remaining Dark Masters must be the goal. However, the kids are not mindless soldier drones; They're real people, children even, with real feelings that they need time to process. They have to be able to stop for a moment to breathe, and to mourn their fallen.

Also, Taichi made my kid cry so off the cliff he goes. Koushiro can relate.

The dub's take on this argument is... complicated. On the one hand, they made a point that nobody died and Mimi's overreacting, which weakens Matt's position. But the subtext is nonetheless clear, and Tai yelled at Mimi to suck it up and deal with wartime casualties so his thoughtlessness is still on full display.

The kids make their way into what is clearly Vamdemon's woods, or was once upon a time before Spiral Mountain.

They walk in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Taichi: (thinking) Could I have been wrong? Yamato: (thinking) Do we really have no choice but to keep moving like this? Without ever stopping to rest? Takeru: (thinking) Onii-chan, why are you acting like this? Koushiro: (thinking) If this keeps up, our loyalty to each other will break down. I have to do something. Jou: (thinking) I need to find a place where we can stop and take a break. Sora: (thinking) Everybody's tired. Hikari: Onii-chan? Taichi: ...

Even when Hikari speaks up, calling out to Taichi, he walks on in silence and ignores her. This team is at its breaking point.

Mimi doesn't share any thoughts, but group shots show her walking with a hand over her eye. We can't hear her anymore, but she still seems to be crying.

In the dub:

Tai: (thinking) I'm not as cold as Matt thinks, am I? Matt: (thinking) Maybe I was a little too rough on Tai, but he's gotta respect our feelings! T.K.: (thinking) I've never seen Matt so upset before. Izzy: (thinking) This is terrible. We should be concentrating on fighting our enemies, not each other. Joe: (thinking) I just know they're all thinking about me! That's why no one's talking! Sora: (thinking) Everyone's so tired and cranky. Hikari: You okay? Tai: ....

Matt softens up a bit in the dub, though he still doubles down on his position like Yamato does all the same.

Jou, meanwhile, has another senpai moment turn into a laugh line about what a tool Joe is. Joe, what possible reason could you have for thinking that any of this is about you? You had one line in the argument and it was "We should get moving."

Suddenly, Hikari notices something. She stops walking, looking around the twisted woods around them.

Hikari: ... (Hikari hangs back) Tailmon: What's wrong, Hikari? Hikari: Did you hear something just now? Tailmon: Like what? Hikari: You didn't hear something like a voice? Tailmon: Like a voice? No, I didn't. Hikari: Oh.... Tailmon: We should catch up before we lose sight of the others! Hikari: Okay!

We're given no audio cues of any kind to indicate what Hikari heard. There is a sound, but it's a sharp SUSPENSE tone that plays when something startling or unexpected occurs.

We hear nothing in the dub either, though she has a bigger reaction to it. They replace the suspense tone with Kari herself making startled mouth noises.

Kari: Whuh!? (Kari hangs back) Gatomon: Why'd you stop, Kari? Kari: Did you hear a noise just now? Gatomon: What kind of noise? Kari: You mean you didn't hear someone speaking just a second ago? Gatomon: You mean a voice? No, I didn't hear anything at all. Kari: Weird. Gatomon: Come on, let's get back to the others. There's safety in numbers. Kari: (affirmative) Hm.

All in all, a pretty faithful translation.

Hikari hurries to catch up but, unbeknownst to the group, they're being monitored.

Taichi: (angry) Where did you go!? Hikari: I thought I heard something, but it was just my imagination. Taichi: It's dangerous, so don't wander off on your own! Hikari: Mm, okay.

While Taichi's scolding Hikari, we pan out to see that they're being monitored on a security screen.

Pinocchimon: They need to hurry up and get here! I'm getting tired of waiting for them.... Kiwimon: Well, they are human children. Pinocchimon: Ugh, honestly, they're so slow!

Pinocchimon presses a button on a remote in his hand, causing a conveyor belt beneath the children's feet to activate. It rushes them on ahead, startling everyone.

Taichi: Huh? What the...? Hikari: The scenery's rushing past us. Kids: EHHHHH!?!? Jou: WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?!? Koushiro: The ground we're standing on is moving forward! Pinochimon: (in his room) There! I'm such a good host!

Nothing suspicious or dangerous about this whatsoever!

...maybe we could have stood to take our rest back at the graves.

In the dub:

Tai: (angry) Where were you two!? Kari: I thought I heard something but it was just my imagination. Tai: It's dangerous out here, so stay with the group. Kari: Okay, I'm sorry. (Pan out through security monitor into Puppetmon's place) Puppetmon: If these kids take any longer to get here, I will develop wood rot! Kiwimon: Have patience; Rome wasn't built in a day. Puppetmon: Yeah, but I was, and I'm tired of waiting! (Remote beep; Ground starts moving for the kids) Tai: Huh!? What's this!? Kari: Why are the trees running so fast!? Kids: AHHHHHHHHH!!! Joe: WHAT IS GOING ONE!?!? Izzy: THINGS AREN'T MOVING FASTER; WE ARE!!! THE GROUND WE'RE STANDING ON IS ACCELERATING!!! Puppetmon: This is more fun than the time I was fumigated for termites!

The dub's having a lot of fun making wood jokes with Puppetmon. Though the second one doesn't really make sense in context; Puppetmon was not built in a day. He's a Mega Digimon; It took a long time and a lot of hard work to become a Puppetmon.

Kiwimon's original voice performance is young and boyish, similar to Pinocchimon's. Dub Kiwimon is a stuffy old English butler, like Puppetmon's very own Alfred.

Now that the Chosen Children are on their way at turbo speed, it's time to figure out what sort of games Pinocchimon's going to play with them.

Pinocchimon: When those kids get here, what should we play with? Let's see....

Pinocchimon digs through his toy box before pulling out a revolver.

Pinocchimon: Aha! Check this out! A .44 Magnum. It's really destructive! (holds up a bullet) And this is a dumdum bullet! (loads it) When you shoot someone with this, you can see right through their stomach!

Demonstrating zero muzzle discipline whatsoever, Pinocchimon levels the gun straight at Kiwimon with his finger on the trigger.

"Dumdum bullet" is a way of saying it's an expanding bullet; One that's designed to expand on impact and create a much larger wound than a normal bullet would. Hollow points are a well-known type of dumdum bullet.

In the dub:

Puppetmon: (digging through toy box) Now, where did I put those dolls? I haven't seen some of these toys since I was a sapling!

That's it. That's all you're getting. He makes another wood joke and then we cut the fuck out of there before he finds what he's looking for. You can feel the censors screaming "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!"

I have no doubts that this episode made at least a couple people on the dub team cry.

Incidentally, as a Wind Guardian, Puppetmon's "In-Training" form would have been a Yokomon. So he was, indeed, a sapling at one point. That joke checks out.

Meanwhile, the children try jumping off the track they're on to avoid whatever's waiting up ahead.

Taichi: Jump off to the side!

They jump off into the grass to their side, but then that grass starts moving instead of the conveyor. There's no getting out of this.

Koushiro: NOW THIS ONE'S MOVING!!! Sora: Hey, where do you think this is taking us? Yamato: Where else? The enemy must be waiting up ahead! Takeru: Oh no! Jou: We can't just let ourselves fall into the enemy's hands! Taichi: You're right....

Meanwhile, Pinocchimon's still digging through his toy chest. He takes out a long-range grabbing toy.

Pinocchimon: They still aren't here yet!?

Pinocchimon extends the toy, grabbing Kiwimon's head. Kiwimon pays it no mind.

Kiwimon: Pinocchimon-sama, there's no sign of the children anywhere. Pinocchimon: WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!?

Pinocchimon yanks Kiwimon offscreen, with comical crashing sound effect, then rushes over to see the monitor himself. Sure enough, the children are gone.

Pinocchimon: HUH!?!? W-WHY!?!?

Panicking Pinocchimon pulls out his remote and flips frantically through surveillance feeds, but can't find the children on any of them. We don't see for ourselves but, from audio, it seems that at some point he starts swapping through actual Japanese television channels rather than his security feeds.

Cutting back to the Children, we see they're actually still where we left them, right next to the edge where the currently moving grass chunk connects to the conveyor walkway. But they've climbed the trees and gotten out of sight.

Sora: I wonder if one of the Dark Masters is here. Koushiro: That seems likely. Jou: We were walking straight towards the enemy this whole time! Taichi: But we have to face them at some point anyway. It's the same result either way! Yamato: (angry) We all know that! You didn't have to say it, you know! Takeru: Onii-chan! Don't start fighting! Yamato: (softens) Takeru....

We may have had a momentary ceasefire, but things still aren't settled between Taichi and Yamato.

In the dub:

Tai: We've gotta jump off! (The kids jump, only for that chunk to start moving) Izzy: Now this part's moving! Sora: Obviously, someone's trying to get us somewhere and in a big hurry. Matt: I bet you're right. Why do I get the feeling that someone's not too friendly? T.K.: Oh no! Joe: This is the first time I've ever been carsick without a car! Tai: I've got a plan!

Joe's participation in this conversation is reduced to him whining about his poor constitution again, and the dub credits Tai for single-handedly coming up with the tree-climb escape.

Puppetmon: This one's always good for a few laughs. (Puppetmon long-range grabs Kiwimon) Kiwimon: Master!? Yes, that's very entertaining, Lord Puppetmon, but there's no sign of the children. (Puppetmon yanks Kiwimon offscreen and replaces him) Puppetmon: WHAT!?!? They were here a second ago! Where are they!? (beep) Not here... (beep) Not here! I need a new cable company!

Despite "I need a new cable company" being a perfect setup for the TV channel gag, it doesn't happen in this version. All we hear is the beeps from his remote while he flicks through the feeds.

Sora: I have a hunch that one of the Dark Masters is behind all this. Izzy: I bet you're right. Joe: We have to do something! I say we either keep going or we build a nest! Tai: Well, I say we have to fight whoever it is sooner or later, so let's get to it! Matt: Oh, come on! Again with the fighting? Why don't you just go to a neutral corner or something! T.K.: Come on, Matt; Please stop fighting. Matt: You keep out of this!

Yamato's problem is that Taichi's vocal eagerness to fight is insensitive to everybody else's feelings. He doesn't disagree that we do have to fight them but he doesn't like the blunt way Taichi expresses it; He doesn't like that Taichi seems almost excited to be walking into a trap, seeing it not as any kind of danger but as an opportunity to throw hands with the next Dark Master.

Taichi's position right now is basically Guardians 3 Star-Lord. "It's not a trap if you know the trapper's trying to trap you; Then it's a face off!"

Matt in this scene seems to be disagreeing with even fighting the Dark Masters at all? That's a sentiment Mimi expressed when she was breaking down, but that's not Yamato's position. Also, he snaps at T.K. to shut up, which is a pretty significant dialogue change to make him look even worse than his altered argument does.

Yamato backs off at Takeru's behest, but Taichi keeps pushing.

Taichi: If we stay in hiding, we'll end up getting slaughtered. We should go straight to where the enemy is! Yamato: Hold on a second! Takeru: Onii-chan!

Suddenly, Taichi flickers out of existence, as if teleported.

Yamato: Taichi disappeared! Hikari: Onii-chan! Koromon: TAICHI!!! Jou: Where did he go!? (vanishing sound effect; pan over to the others) Sora: Mimi-chan disappeared too! Palmon: Mimi, where are you!? (Sora and Koushiro disappear) Piyomon: Sora!? Tentomon: Ah, Koushiro-han is gone too! (Jou and Hikari vanish) Gomamon: Jou!? Tailmon: Hikari! Takeru: Everyone disappeared!

Suddenly and without warning, Takeru and Yamato are the only ones left in the tree. Well, them and all of the Digimon.

In the dub:

Tai: Alright, Matt, let's try it your way. We'll stay up here and wait for the enemy to get us! Matt: That's not what I meant! T.K.: Stop it, Matt! (Tai vanishes) Matt: Where'd Tai go!? He disappeared! Kari: Did he fall!? Koromon: Oh no! Joe: He vanished into thin air! (vanishing sound effect; pan over to the others) Sora: Look! Now Mimi's gone! Palmon: Mimi, come back! (Sora and Izzy disappear) Piyomon: Sora!? Tentomon: Maybe their screensavers are on sleep! (Joe and Kari vanish) Gomamon: Joe! Tailmon: Kari! T.K.: Everybody's disappeared but us!

Not sure what Tentomon's joke here is supposed to mean, but otherwise pretty faithful.

The kids re-emerge in pairs throughout the forest, in the order they disappeared.

Taichi and Mimi appear together.

Taichi: What the--!? Mimi: EHHH!?!?

Sora and Koushiro appear together, with Koushiro standing on a log.

Sora: W-What just happened? Koushiro: The enemy must be behind this.

Jou and Hikari appear together, with Jou appearing in a pool of mud which splashes all over him. Because fate is unkind to our poor put-upon senpai.

Jou: WAAAUGH!!! It's cold.... Hikari: ...Tailmon?

While Yamato and Takeru remain in the tree, untransported.

Yamato: They're gone! Takeru: Why? How did this happen? Yamato: I don't know. The enemy must have done something to them.

In the dub:

(Tai and Mimi appear) Tai: Ah! What's going on!? Mimi: OH!?!? (Sora and Izzy appear) Sora: Huh!? How'd we get over here!? Izzy: We've been transported! (Joe and Kari appear) Joe: WAAAUGH!!! I hate mud. Kari: GATOMON!!! (Matt and T.K. remain) Matt: I think it's over! T.K.: But now we're separated from everyone else! Matt: Don't worry; We'll be alright without the others. Especially Tai!

Two separate characters speculating that the Dark Masters are doing this have their lines changed. This hits Matt the hardest, as his replacement line is incredibly spiteful.

Unsure of what's going on, Yamato turns his attention to what matters most to him.

Yamato: Takeru. Takeru: What? Yamato: I'll do whatever it takes to protect you, so stay close to me. Takeru: Onii-chan, we only made it this far by working as a team. So why do you keep giving me special treatment? Yamato: ...Takeru...? Takeru: (hurt) I've been fighting right there beside the rest of you this whole time! Haven't I? Am I just a burden to you? Onii-chan, are you saying you'll protect me because you see me as unreliable? Yamato: Takeru, that's not what I meant... I... What I wanted to say was.... Takeru: What? Yamato: (thinking) I... I....

This has been a long-time coming, since all the way back on File Island. It has its roots all the way back in the Seadramon episode, when Yamato wanted to remove the bones from Takeru's fish but Taichi taught Takeru to do it himself. Takeru feels infantilized by Yamato's treatment, and is finally confronting Yamato about it.

In the dub, this comes on the heels of Matt saying they're better off on their own and to screw the others, so the vibe is different.

Matt: T.K.? T.K.: Yeah? Matt: Just stick close to me and I'll protect you no matter what happens! T.K.: Listen, Matt. The only reason we got this far is because we worked as a team. Each one of us has played a part along the way in keeping us together, including Tai! Matt: But I...! T.K.: (angry) And I don't need you to protect me all the time, neither! If you haven't noticed, I've grown up a lot! I've fought alongside you guys since the beginning and I've always held my own! Matt: T.K., that's not what I meant. What I... What I wanted to say was.... T.K.: What? Matt: (thinking) I'm pushing everyone away!

This is meant to be a close, personal moment about the long-running wedge that's been growing between the brothers. The dub makes it about Matt failing to appreciate the contributions of Tai and the rest of their group, including T.K.'s.

It still makes time for T.K. to bring up Matt's behavior, but that's not the focus of the scene. And T.K. furiously yells at Matt about it, rather than the more sensitive and wounded tone he takes during the original confrontation.

Cut to Pinocchimon in his room. He's laid out a crudely drawn forest map, using dolls of the kids for the teleportation trick. Those are the dolls he was looking for in the dub, before they cut the parts with the gun.

Pinocchimon: (singing) One, two, and three have disappeared~! Pinocchimon: Hey, Kiwimon! This is taking too long. I should just kill them all. Kiwimon: Then you won't have anyone left to play with. Pinocchimon: I guess you're right.

Taking aim with his slingshot, Pinocchimon shoots Jou's doll in the stomach, knocking it over. The real Jou grabs his stomach and screams in agony, falling into the mud from the force of Pinocchimon's shot.

Hikari: JOU-SAN!!! Pinocchimon: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Watching through the monitor, Pinocchimon cracks up laughing at Jou's agony.

Hikari: Jou-san, are you okay? Jou: My stomach suddenly.... Hikari: Does your stomach hurt? Jou: I've been shot in the stomach! Hikari: EHHH!?!?

The dub changes up Puppetmon's sing-song to something that will better rhyme in English.

Puppetmon: (singing) One, two, three, you're still in the tree~! Puppetmon: ...y'know, Kiwimon, this isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I should just destroy them all. Kiwimon: Then you won't have anyone left to play with. Puppetmon: Good point! (Puppetmon shoots Joe, who falls down screaming) Kari: JOE!!! Puppetmon: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Kari: Joe, are you alright!? Joe: My stomach...! Kari: What's wrong? Does it hurt? Joe: No! I'm just doing this 'cause it's fun! Kari: JOE!!!

Even with a slingshot, they seem reluctant to let Joe state he's been shot. Joe sarcastically quips instead. Solid sarcastic quip, though. Perfectly suits the tone.

Pinocchimon has some more ideas to play around with the children.

Pinocchimon: I think I'll try this next... Take this... And this... And do this!

Pinocchimon swaps Taichi and Jou's dolls, causing them to teleport into each other's places.

Hikari: (Taichi appears) Onii-chan! Mimi: (Jou appears) What's going on!? Pinocchimon: Then I do this.... (Pinocchimon swaps Hikari for Sora) Taichi: Hikari! Again!? Koushiro: (sees Hikari appear) Hikari-san! Hikari: Koushiro-san! Where am I? Pinocchimon: And when I do this....

Pinocchimon turns Taichi's doll upside-down and bops his head on the ground. The same happens to Taichi.

Sora: T-Taichi!? Taichi: AUGH!!!

He swaps Yamato in the tree for Koushiro, then swaps Takeru for Mimi.

Koushiro: Mimi-san!

Then he picks up Takeru's doll and tickles him in the belly.

Pinocchimon: TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE!!! Takeru: (laughing hysterically and flailing in midair) (Takeru's set back down on the ground) Jou: Are you okay, Takeru-ku--WAUGH!!! (Jou vanishes, replaced by Yamato) Takeru: Onii-chan! Yamato: Takeru! (hug)

In the dub:

Puppetmon: I've got a new game I want to play! Come here! You too! (Puppetmon swaps Tai and Joe) Kari: (Tai appears; sarcastic) Oh, brother. Mimi: (Joe appears) AHH!!! STOP MOVING!!! Puppetmon: This is like playing chess with the DigiDestined! Tai: Kari! Kari: HELP!!! (vanishes, replaced by Sora) Izzy: (Kari appears) Fascinating! Kari: Maybe for you! Where are we? Puppetmon: We've reached the turning point! (turns Tai upside-down and bops him) Sora: Impossible! Tai: Ugh! (Matt and T.K. exchanged for Izzy and Mimi) Izzy: (Mimi appears) Welcome back! Puppetmon: (tickles T.K.) Coochie-coochie-coo! T.K.: (laughing hysterically and flailing in midair) (T.K.'s set back down on the ground) Joe: I don't know what's so funny but this is no laughing ma-- (Joe vanishes, replaced by Matt) T.K.: Matt, you're back! Matt: T.K.! (hug)

Most of this scene is the kids flailing and yelling each other's names so it'd be hard to get wrong. The dub has some good bits in it. I like Izzy's "Fascinating...." when he sees Kari pop up, and having Joe cut off mid-complaint was also pretty fun.

While the children are being teleported around left and right, the Digimon remain up in the tree.

Piyomon: Where did everybody go? Tailmon: We're no help up here. Let's go search for them! Patamon: Got it! I'll go find Takeru! Mimi: (quietly) ...I'm going to wait here.... Koromon: Koushiro! You stay here with Mimi! Koushiro: Understood. Please find everyone else. Digimon: ON IT!!!

The Digimon leap down from the tree, heading into the forest to find their Partners.

Meanwhile, in Pinocchimon's room, he's making choices. On the surveillance monitor, he's zoomed in on Takeru.

Pinocchimon: I think I'll play with this one first. He looks fun to pick on! Kiwimon: Shall I retrieve him? Pinocchimon: Nah. I'll go get him myself.

Pinocchimon slides down the fireman's pole in his room to the ground floor, then sprints out the front door, eager to acquire his new toy.

In the dub:

Biyomon: You know, I'm getting tired of doing nothing. Gatomon: I won't be some cat stuck in a tree! Let's go look for them. Patamon: Good idea. I'll start by looking for T.K.! Mimi: Oh, this is awful! Koromon: You said it! How could it get any worse? (Cracking sound) Izzy: I'll tell you how! The branches are starting to crack! Digimon: AHHHHH!!! (leap down from the tree) Patamon: They should learn to fly.

A small change: Tailmon takes charge of the Digimon in this scene, demonstrating her maturity and headstrong confidence. The dub lets Biyomon be the one to broach the topic of taking action, though Gatomon's still the one who cements it into a plan.

The more glaring change is Mimi and Koushiro. Mimi refuses to leave the tree, finally delivering the first significant line she's had since she broke down crying at the graves of Whamon and the others. It's a reminder that she is, at this point, utterly traumatized into inaction.

Which the Digimon accept without question, charging Koushiro to watch over her while they go into the fray.

The dub swaps that out for a more generic "This is awful", offering no reason why Mimi and Izzy would remain in the tree - especially after adding in that the branches are all about to break? Weird-ass choice.

Puppetmon: I think I found a new toy to play with. He looks very easy to scare. Kiwimon: You want me to get him for you? Puppetmon: No! I'll get this one myself!

That part's pretty faithful.

We go to a commercial break from here and come back to Yamato checking on Takeru.

Yamato: Takeru, are you okay? Takeru: Uh, I think so, but I suddenly felt something tickling me and I couldn't stop laughing. Maybe something's wrong with me. Yamato: Are you sure you're not hurt? Takeru: Hey, stop worrying about me so much! I can take care of myself now! Yamato: Takeru.... Pinocchimon: (singing in the distance) Let's play~!

Yamato stands up quickly. He and Takeru frantically scan the woods around them.

Takeru: Who's that? Pinocchimon: (slightly closer) Let's play~! Yamato: Takeru, be careful! Pinocchimon: (very close) Let's play~! Takeru: (thinking) The voice is getting closer....

Suddenly, Pinocchimon claps his hands over Takeru's eyes from behind. Takeru reacts quickly, grabbing the hands and shoving them away, then sprinting forward and whipping around as soon as he's free from Pinocchimon's grasp.

Pinocchimon backflips away from Takeru, landing a short distance away and raising his hands.

Pinocchimon: Let's play! Takeru: You're....

Before Takeru can finish that thought, Yamato steps between them.

Yamato: Just try and lay a finger on Takeru again! I'll make you regret it!

In the dub:

Matt: T.K., are you alright? T.K.: I guess so! But I felt like something was tickling me and I couldn't stop laughing! I wonder if there's something wrong with me? Matt: Are you sure you're not hurt? T.K.: Hey! Stop being so worried about me! I told you before that I know how to take care of myself! Matt: (startled) Okay! Puppetmon: (singing in the distance) Hey T.K.! (slightly closer) Whaddya sa~ay! Matt: T.K., stay close. Puppetmon: (Very close) Time to pla~ay? T.K.: (thinking) Sounds like the voice is getting closer! (Puppetmon puts his hands over T.K.'s eyes; T.K. forces him off) Puppetmon: TIME TO PLAY!!! T.K.: It's you! Matt: (steps between) Keep your hands off my brother, Puppetmon, or I'll chop you into firewood!

I like Puppetmon's sing-song here. Good creepy rhyming scheme. Pinocchimon's steady repetition of the same singsong notes getting closer and closer also works for creepiness factor. They both handled that well.

Matt's "chop you into firewood" crack is my favorite of the wood jokes thus far.

Despite Yamato's attempt to intervene, Pinocchimon isn't interested in him. He continues to address Takeru directly.

Pinocchimon: So your name is Takeru. Hey, join me in a game of war. Takeru: A game? Like... just pretend? Pinocchimon: That's right. Here, I'll let you use this.

Pinocchimon holds up an uzi, then tosses it over to Takeru. Takeru catches it with both hands.

Takeru: I-It's heavy....

He drops the gun causing it to misfire and let off a few rounds. Takeru screams, flailing to stay out of its firing line until it stops.

Takeru: TH-THIS IS A REAL GUN!!! I'D DIE IF I PLAYED WITH THIS THING!!! Pinocchimon: OF COURSE!!! Dying for real is what makes the game fun! But don't worry, I won't let you die that easily. It'd be pretty boring if you died right away.

Natsuko has educated her son well about the dangers of being reckless around firearms.

Fucking viruses, y'all.

In the dub, Puppetmon talks to Matt instead of ignoring him and addressing T.K. directly.

Puppetmon: Aww, come on. All I wanted to do was play a little game of War with T.K.! T.K.: Oh? Play? You mean, like, pretend?

Then they cut the entire bit with the uzi and skip to Pinocchimon's response to Takeru's outrage.

Puppetmon: BUT OF COURSE!!! At least, in the beginning, it will be make-believe anyway! But then it's BYE-BYE!!! And it will be time to destroy you for real. If I got rid of you now, I'd have no fun!

So, obviously, the key difference between versions here is that Takeru did not accidentally misfire a machine gun.

As a small characterization note, Puppetmon doesn't quite grasp the idea that playing and killing are the same; He draws a clear line between the two.

Obviously, Yamato has some concerns about all of this.

Yamato: Takeru! Don't listen to him! Pinocchimon: YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!!

Pinocchimon throws a red ball at Yamato, which explodes into ribbons to bind him.

Yamato: This...! Takeru: ONII-CHAN!!!

He tries to remain on his feet, but topples over after a second and falls forward into the dirt.

Takeru: ONII-CHAAAAN!!! Pinocchimon: Now, let's get going! Takeru: NO!!! Pinocchimon: You refuse? Hmm... It won't be any fun if you won't come, so... (points at Yamato) Maybe I'll just kill him instead. Takeru: Ah! Pinocchimon: Well...? Takeru: You can't! Pinocchimon: Then you're coming? Yamato: TAKERU!!! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!!! Pinocchimon: Shut up!!!

Pinocchimon summons some extra ribbons to bind Yamato's mouth, so he can no longer participate in this conversation he wasn't invited to.

Pinocchimon: So, what do you say?

Takeru kneels down and picks up the discarded uzi from the ground.

Takeru: I'll go. I just have to come with you, right? Pinocchimon: That's what I wanted to hear!

Pinocchimon leads the way, while Yamato strains against his bonds and tries to talk through the muffling ribbons.

In the dub:

Matt: T.K., he's just trying to scare you! Don't listen to him! Puppetmon: DON'T LIE TO HIM OR YOUR NOSE WILL GROW!!! (Puppetmon ties Matt up in ribbons) Matt: I CAN'T MOVE NOW!!! T.K.: Are you okay!? (Matt falls down) T.K.: MATT!!! Puppetmon: Now, shall we get going? T.K.: Forget it! Puppetmon: You don't want to? Hmm... Well, if you don't come with me, it's no fun! (points at Matt) Maybe instead I'll destroooooy... your brother! Whaddya say? T.K.: Okay, I'll come! Puppetmon: That's a good boy! Matt: T.K., it's a trap! Run away now while you still can! Puppetmon: Shut up! (Puppetmon gags Matt) Puppetmon: So, is it a deal?

Unsurprisingly, they cut the shot of Takeru picking up the uzi and have Puppetmon keep speaking.

Puppetmon: We'll have lots of fun! Hehehehehe.... (walks off)

"Don't lie or your nose will grow" is a solid reference to Puppetmon's inspiration. I like that line.

Though the original "Stay out of this!" bit speaks to the core of this scene; Emphasizing that this is strictly between Takeru and Pinocchimon, and that Yamato's participation is unwelcome. This plays to the conflict between Yamato and Takeru.

Super weird delivery on "I'll destroy your brother," as sometimes happens when English lines have to shore up to lip flaps that were originally delivering Japanese dialogue.

Matt yelling "It's a trap" is hilarious. OH REALLY? Evil Pinocchio saying "Come play a game with me and I'll kill you when it's done" is a trap? You think so? I dunno. I like the cut of his jib.

Matt is yelling the blindingly obvious, but that works for me because it conveys his lack of trust in T.K. Pinocchimon's standing there with a neon sign that says "COME ENJOY MY TRAP" and Matt doesn't think T.K. can tell that the trap is, in fact, a trap.

Takeru follows Pinocchimon to his mansion, and playtime begins.

In a clear reference to the James Bond franchise, we look down the barrel of Pinocchimon's revolver while he sweeps it around the room, passing Takeru first but then going back for him. Takeru sets the uzi down helplessly on the ground when he realizes he's been made.

Pinocchimon: There you are! BANG!!!

Takeru flinches as if he'd been shot.

Pinocchimon: Hurry up and run; This is getting boring. Takeru: O-Okay!

Leaving the uzi behind, Takeru runs off deeper into the house.

Most of this does not make it into the dub. We hear Puppetmon's voice overlaid against an exterior shot of his house.

Puppetmon: Now you hide and I'll seek and destroy!

Followed by T.K. running for his life down the hallway. They also cut a shot from later of T.K. running up the stairs back in the foyer, with some direct editing done to paint over the revolver in Puppetmon's hand.

Puppetmon: That's good! Keep running! You make the game interesting!

Sprinting down the hall of Pinocchimon's mansion, Takeru looks for a place to hide.

Inside the room down the hall, Mushroomon and Blossomon can hear Takeru's footsteps.

Blossomon: Someone's coming. Mushroomon: Wonder who it is? Blossomon: Must be Pinocchimon-sama's new toy.

Takeru throws open the door and hides inside the room with them. Seeing the two Digimon inside, he doesn't really know what to say.

Takeru: U-Um....

He ignores them and then races around behind a shelf before peeking out.

Takeru: H-Hey, don't tell anyone I'm hiding here, okay?

Before the pair can even say anything, the door opens again. Pinocchimon enters the room.

Pinocchimon: Hey, did Takeru come in here? Blossomon: Takeru? Oh, if you mean that human boy, he's hiding behind the shelves. Pinocchimon: Really? Great!

Pinocchimon runs around to the shelves, then levels his gun at the gap, but Takeru is nowhere to be found.

Pinocchimon: Hands up! ...huh? He's not here? Mushroomon: WHAT!? THAT CAN'T BE!!! WE JUST SAW HIM!!!

Mushroomon and Blossomon run forward to see for themselves. Behind them, in the background, Takeru can be seen creeping around the wall to take cover behind the door.

Pinocchimon: LIARS!!!

Pinocchimon furiously lets out two shots, executing them both. Mushroomon and Blossomon disintegrate into pixels.

(Blossomon was a Perfect so, y'know, holy shit. Hollow-point ammunition is no joke.)

Pinocchimon: They make me so mad! (Takeru suddenly sprints out the door) Pinocchimon: Ah! There you are!

Then we get the shot the dub already used, of Takeru running up the stairs from the foyer.

Pinocchimon: (pursuing) Heading upstairs?

Takeru demonstrating how capable he is in this scene. Not only evading Pinocchimon in this closed room, but even outwitting two henchmon that would have spoiled his escape.

In the dub:

Blossomon: Hey, someone's coming! Mushroomon: Who could it be? Blossomon: Sounds to me like Lord Puppetmon has found a new play toy! (T.K. enters the room) T.K.: Oh, hi there! ...bye! (T.K. hides behind the shelf) T.K.: By the way, I'm hiding back here so don't say anything, 'kay? Mushroomon: No problem. (Puppetmon enters with his gun painted over) Puppetmon: Hey, you guys; You didn't happen to see a little kid run back here, did ya? He's got a green hat and a backpack. Blossomon: No, we didn't see anything like that, boss. Mushroomon: All we saw was a kid wearing a backpack and a green hat. He's hiding over there. Puppetmon: LOSERS!!!

They cut up the footage on Mushroomon and Blossomon's lines, so they can show as little of Puppetmon holding gun-shaped air as possible. They splice in close-ups of Mushroomon and Blossomon's faces for their lines.

Then, on "LOSERS", a super close-up of Puppetmon running through the hall edited to only show him from shoulders up replaces the actual footage of him jogging across the room and trying to ambush Takeru.

We rejoin the real footage at the shot of the empty space behind the shelves, since Pinocchimon's facing away for that and the gun is out-of-frame.

Puppetmon: Come out, come out wherever you are! Especially if you're behind the door. (Takeru runs out the door) Puppetmon: Aha!

Once he finds the space behind the shelf empty, the rest of this scene is cut. Blossomon and Mushroomon simply cease existing between shots and we go straight to Takeru running out the door.

Out in the woods, Patamon discovers Pinocchimon's mansion.

Patamon: What's a building doing out here? Maybe Takeru is in there!

Patamon goes in to investigate.

Inside the house, Takeru slips into Pinocchimon's playroom, looking for a place to hide. He unknowingly steps on Pinocchimon's remote, turning on the moving walkways and bringing all the children outside to a centralized location; Even the tree Mimi and Koushiro are in.

Jou: What's going on here!?

The Digimon cheerfully run up, joining the group.

Digimon/Piyomon: (miscellaneous vocalizing of cheers) / Sora! Gabumon: (alarmed) Yamato!

Gabumon slashes open Yamato's bindings with his claws.

Yamato: Takeru! Pinocchimon got Takeru! Taichi: What!? Hikari: That's terrible! Sora: We have to save him! Taichi: Where did Pinocchimon take Takeru? Yamato: (voice breaks, grabs his head despondently) I don't know.... Taichi: PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, YAMATO!!! Koushiro: I'm sure the moving walkway we were on before must lead to Pinocchimon. Jou: Yeah, that's right! Koromon: LET'S GO LOOK FOR THAT WALKWAY!!! Taichi: Yes! Let's go, everyone!

Back at the graves was not the time for Taichi. But now is the time for Taichi. Bold and immediate action is demanded of this situation.

In the dub:

Patamon: Hey, look! A house in the middle of the forest! I wonder if anyone inside has seen T.K.? (T.K. accidentally brings everyone together outside) Joe: What's going on around here!? Digimon: (run up) YAY!!! Gabumon: (alarmed) Matt! (Gabumon cuts Matt loose) Matt: T.K.! T.K. was taken prisoner by Puppetmon! Tai: Puppetmon!? Kari: Oh no! Sora: We have to help him! Tai: Where'd that creepy little toothpick take T.K.!? Matt: (voice breaks, grabs his head despondently) I don't know...! Tai: GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, MATT!!! Izzy: It shouldn't be that difficult to find them. I'm sure that first road we were on leads directly to Puppetmon. Joe: Then we'll all be trapped! Koromon: It's worth it to save T.K.! Tai: I agree! Let's go get 'em!

Joe's last line is changed to make him look cowardly and reluctant, when he was agreeing with this plan in the original.

"Creepy little toothpick". They are not letting up with the wood jokes but, again, that's a good one. Nicely personalized insult for Evil Pinocchio.

I like it when writers come up with inhuman insults for inhuman characters.

With a plan made, Taichi and Koromon rally the team. But before they can set out, they're interrupted by a new contestant.

Taichi: What the--? Kiwimon: Pinocchimon-sama is enjoying his playtime. Please do not interfere.

Kiwimon is an Adult-stage Data-type Ancient Bird Digimon from the Wind Guardians lineup, evolved from a Floramon that's been well-cared for but poorly trained.

I. Um. I need us all to try and be very mature (snerk) about their special attack name. Okay? Can we be grown-ups about this? (haha)

Narrator: Kiwimon. An ancient Digimon who was once believed to be extinct. Despite being a bird-type Digimon, their wings have degenerated so they cannot fly. Their special attack is Little Pecker. Kiwimon: LITTLE PECKER!!!

Look, when they were giving the move its fancy exotic English Words name, they probably didn't know. It makes sense in context. But holy shit, that is not making it across the pond intact. XD

Little Pecker is one of those attacks that spawn mini-me's, like Dokugumon's itty-bitty mini-Dokugumon drones. Kiwimon spits a gatling gun of chibi Kiwimon bullets.

In the dub:

Tai: Who are you!? Kiwimon: No one may interfere with Master Puppetmon's playtime. You're all staying right here. Tentomon: (rundown) OH NO, IT'S KIWIMON!!! An ancient Digimon that was said to be extinct! Although he's a bird-type Digimon, his wings have degenerated so he can't fly! Kiwimon: PUMMEL PECK!!!

Between Bullet Hammer/Puppet Pummel and Little Pecker/Pummel Peck, "pummel" is becoming the go-to word for sweeping uncomfortable attack names under the rug.

Tentomon does a fantastic job with the diegetic rundown. Covers everything.

Koromon evolves to Agumon and the Digimon take turns firing off their attacks; Each shot destroying one of Kiwimon's Little Peckers. Meanwhile, Patamon enters Pinocchimon's estate through the window, entering his playroom.

Patamon: What's this? (picks up Pinocchimon's remote) What are these dolls for?

Patamon prods Jou's doll, causing it to fall over. Then he hears a loud yelp from the monitor displaying the Chosen Children.

Jou: WAUGH-OW!!! Gomamon: What's wrong, Jou? Jou: Someone pushed me out of nowhere! Hikari: (gasp) Are you okay, Jou-san!? Patamon: This is... Then this would be....

Patamon starts pushing buttons on Pinocchimon's remote, watching the walkways move on the screen.

Patamon: Ah! I have to tell Takeru about this!

In the dub, Patamon says nothing when he picks up the remote; His lip flaps simply move in silence. Then he moves on to the dolls.

Patamon: I wonder what these dolls are for? (Patamon pokes Joe) Patamon: This one looks like Joe.

Joe's offscreen reaction when Patamon pokes the doll is weirdly reserved and quiet.

Joe: Agh. Oof. Gomamon: Joe, what happened!? Joe: Why does this stuff always happen to me? Gomamon: What!? Kari: Weird. I didn't see anyone push you. Patamon: Joe's on TV!? Let's see what else is one. (pokes buttons) (The walkways start moving in response to Patamon) Patamon: Ohhh! Hm... Now that's what I call a remote control!

An invisible force suddenly shoves Joe to the ground and his in-the-moment kneejerk reaction is "Yeah, I guess this might as well happen." Poor Joe. What have we done to this boy's self-confidence?

Elsewhere in the mansion, Hide and Go Shoot is not going well for Takeru.

Takeru runs for a staircase to take him downstairs, but Pinocchimon cuts him off, coming up those same stairs.

Pinocchimon: Found you!

Pinocchimon starts shooting, each bullet striking the floor by Takeru's feet and forcing him to jump until finally he loses his balance and falls on his butt.

Pinocchimon: Hehe! I think I'll start with your legs. Revolver: Click. Pinocchimon: ...h-huh? Revolver: Click. Click. Pinocchimon: I'm out of bullets. Got to put in some new ones.

Calling a timeout on Takeru's impending torturous execution, Pinocchimon rifles through his pockets. Then, one by one, he slowly pulls each bullet out individually and loads it into the revolver's chamber.

Pinocchimon's glacially slow reloading buys Takeru an opportunity to think things through and try to figure out a game plan.

Takeru: (thinking) At this rate, he's going to kill me. I have to do something. Something....

The dub edits the gun out of Puppetmon's hand as he comes up the stairs, but they missed a frame. For one single frame you can see the gun flicker in and out of existence. It's super subtle and flashes by quick, though, so it can easily be mistaken for one of Puppetmon's miscellaneous doodads moving around as he's running.

Pretty much all of this scene is cut after he reaches the top. They splice in footage from the next scene, where Puppetmon and Takeru are standing and talking with his gun safely hanging by his side off-camera.

The only part they keep is Pinocchimon rifling through his pocket for bullets, which gets recontextualized.

Puppetmon: There you are! I found you! The game's over! T.K.: Ohhh. Puppetmon: (rifling) I'm gonna destroy you in a minute, but first I have to scratch my legs! T.K.: Hmm. Puppetmon: I guess that's what I get for having a leg made of poison oak! T.K.: (thinking) I can outsmart him!

They stand there and chat, and then T.K. realizes, "Oh, he's dumb. Neat." Moving along.

Thinking about everything he's learned about Pinocchimon, Takeru executes his master plan before Pinocchimon can finish reloading.

Takeru: (whining) Awww... This isn't any fun at all.

Pinocchimon stops reloading, letting out a surprised and self-conscious gasp. Rook takes bishop.

Pinocchimon: What was that!? Takeru: I'm sick of doing the same thing over and over. I wasn't expecting you to be such a boring person. Pinocchimon: No one's ever said that to me before! Takeru: Really? That's probably because you don't have any friends, huh?

Direct hit. Pinocchimon flinches as if struck, then sheepishly looks off to the side.

Pinocchimon: ...I-I have friends.... Takeru: Then why haven't I met any of them? Pinocchimon: ...I'll introduce you at some point-- Takeru: (jogs over to Pinocchimon) Not "at some point". Do it now! Pinocchimon: Now... isn't a good time.... Takeru: Ehh? (leans in) Sounds like you don't have any real friends at all! Pinocchimon: I do too! I'll go get one right now, so wait here!

Desperate to prove himself, Pinocchimon completely forgets that he was about to execute Takeru and sprints downstairs to find a friend he can show off.

As soon as he's gone, Patamon flies up with the remote in hand.

Patamon: Takeru! Takeru: Patamon!

Someone's not going to have to look far to find a friend.

The dub picks up from T.K. casually deciding he can outsmart Puppetmon. They have to do a lot of painting over in this scene to erase the gun from wide shots as well as the bullet holes in the floor. Though they also try to minimize how many shots they use that require that.

T.K.: How boring! I'm not having any fun at all! Puppetmon: Whaaaat!? I'm the life of the party! I put the fun in fungus! T.K.: Ha! You just play the same game over and over again! Boring! Puppetmon: (flinches, sheepish) ...I'm not boring.... T.K.: Well, if that's true, how come you don't have any real friends?

They play that shot of a skeptical bean-mouthed Takeru pressing the advantage twice, so they can use the second one to replace a wide shot of him crossing the hall and closing distance with Puppetmon.

So he bean-mouths a second time, then offscreen teleports to lean in close to Puppetmon.

Puppetmon: I-I've got friends.... Takeru: (leans in) Yeah? Then how come I haven't met these so-called friends of yours? Puppetmon: Alright! Then I'll get them and introduce you right now! (Puppetmon runs off; Patamon approaches) Patamon: T.K.! T.K.: Patamon!

Honestly, the game has been pretty boring in the dub. Because the majority of what they're actually doing had to be cut, Puppetmon and T.K. run around the house playing an ordinary game of hide and go seek.

And since they're still needing to cut footage to hurry us along past the gun as fast as possible, Puppetmon caves to less pressure than it took to get Pinocchimon to fuck off too. Takeru had to work harder to walk Pinocchimon into that emotional mousetrap than T.K. did.

SuckerPinocchimon goes downstairs to a storage closet, picking out parts. He selects a football.

Pinocchimon: This will work....

Unbeknownst to him, Patamon and Takeru are in his playroom going to work.

Takeru rips up the map Pinocchimon was using for his teleport shenanigans. Then he takes a hammer and smashes Pinocchimon's remote to pieces.

Meanwhile, out in the woods, the children are still dealing with Kiwimon. With their numeric advantage, they easily shoot Kiwimon's Little Peckers out of the air.

Yamato: Hey! Where's Takeru? Kiwimon: Hnhnhnhnnn.... Yamato: ANSWER ME!!! Taichi: Yamato! Let's just focus on destroying them. Yamato: (angry) Like you understand how I feel! Taichi: If we don't destroy them, we won't be able to go rescue Takeru! Yamato: No! We should find out where Takeru is before we destroy them! GABUMON!!! Gabumon: Got it. Gabumon, WARP-SHINKAAAAAA!!!

Gabumon says the words, but nothing occurs. Yamato's Digivice and Crest are still and silent.

Yamato: (lightly shaking, shocked) ...It won't glow.... Gabumon: What's wrong, Yamato? I can't evolve. Kiwimon: LITTLE PECKER!!!

YOU and your inappropriately named attack stay out of this! We are having a moment here!

They're both kinda right here. Kiwimon can't tell us anything when they're pixel dust. We do need to go through Kiwimon to get to where we think Takeru is but we're only assuming we know where Pinocchimon took him.

Taichi wants to blow through Kiwimon and go straight for where we think Pinocchimon's lair is, while Yamato wants to stop and interrogate Kiwimon which takes time we might not have. Both of these positions have their pros and cons.

But Yamato is also so emotionally compromised by Takeru being in peril that he tried to burn an Ultimate evolution against an Adult-stage Digimon. That's overkill of the highest order. He is not thinking straight.

He straight up says to Taichi's face that Taichi can't understand what he's going through. We just had an entire arc about Taichi's little sister being hunted for assassination, so that's an unfair accusation to make.

Yamato is doing what he correctly accused Taichi of before. Neither Taichi nor Yamato is wrong, but they are both being unfair and refusing to take other people's feelings into account.

In the dub:

Puppetmon: I like to make friends! (T.K. destroys Puppetmon's stuff and we cut to the woods) Matt: Hey! Where are you keeping T.K.!? Kiwimon: Ohohohohohohohoho.... Matt: ANSWER ME!!! Tai: I know how you feel, Matt, but first we have to destroy Kiwimon! Matt: How can you understand how I feel!? Tai: I understand that if we don't beat him first, we won't be able to find T.K.! Matt: NO!!! FIRST, WE'LL FIND T.K., THEN WE'LL FIGHT YOUR WAR!!! Gabumon: Right, Matt! Gabumon, Warp-Digivolve to.... Huh? (Digivice and Crest make weird out-of-service beeping noises) Matt: (lightly shaking, shocked) It won't glow! Gabumon: What's going on here, Matt!? How come I can't Digivolve? Kiwimon: PUMMEL PECK!!!

"First we'll find T.K., then we'll fight your war" goes hard and I love it. They're still treating Matt's position as if he's against fighting the Dark Masters at all, but as a single verbal slap in the face, it still works as an assessment of Taichi's attitude towards fighting.

I don't like that they have the Digivice start beeping like haywire. Beeping like haywire is what it does when it's working; The point here is that it's not doing anything. The silence of the original is far more effective at conveying the idea that the Digivice won't activate.

Back at the mansion, Pinocchimon finishes construction on his new bestie.

Pinocchimon: All done! No matter how you look at this thing, it's a friend!

Takeru finishes destroying everything in the playroom and sprints downstairs from the top floor, as Pinocchimon comes up the opposite staircase.

Pinocchimon: I brought my friend! Look! Nobody: ... Pinocchimon: (kinda hurt) ...huh?

Takeru doesn't stop running. With Patamon flying beside him, He sprints out the front door and races off into the woods, leaving this wretched mansion behind. He doesn't notice Floramon and Delumon as he passes.

Floramon: It's Pinocchimon-sama's new toy.... Delumon: We shouldn't get involved in this. Floramon: Let's pretend we didn't see him. Delumon: Good idea.

The pair turn around and go back to... being hedges, I guess?

(Probably a good idea not to get involved. Look what happened to Blossomon and Mushroomon.)

In the dub:

Puppetmon: There! Done! I said I like to make friends, and I made one! (T.K. leaves the top floor right as Puppetmon arrives) Puppetmon: I brought my friend! Look! Huh? Nobody: ... Puppetmon: (kinda hurt) T.K....? (T.K. escapes out the front door) Floramon: It's Lord Puppetmon's new toy! Deramon: Where's he goin'? We're going to play charades. Floramon: Maybe he doesn't know how to play. Deramon: Yeah, that's it.

The dub does the "make friends" pun again. In case you didn't catch it the first time, I guess.

Floramon and Deramon don't seem as passively afraid of Puppetmon as their Japanese counterparts.

Puppetmon, however, still has that edge of bewildered sadness in his voice when he realizes he's been played. Good job there.

Back in the woods, while the kids are still discussing what to do with Kiwimon, Kiwimon's Little Peckers go for Sora.

Terrible mistake. Kiwimon was harmless enough that we could tolerate standing around and talking about this. But as soon as they go for Sora, Birdramon evolves and shuts that shit right down.

Blocking the Little Peckers with her wing, Birdramon counters with a Meteor Wing that vaporizes Kiwimon. Kiwimon lets out a high-pitched death cry, then they're gone.

Sora: Thank you, Birdramon! Piyomon: (evolves back) Sora! Sora: Piyomon!

In the dub, Kiwimon lets out this posh upper-class noble giggle when he's killed. His chortle then takes on an echoing ghostly quality and fades as the smoke clears to reveal he's gone. An odd choice for a death cry.

(Might be trying to imply that he ran off in the smoke or something? I don't know. It's weird.)

Sora: Birdramon! Thanks a lot! Biyomon: (evolves back) You're welcome. Sora: Biyomon!

Unfortunately, one person is not very happy with Sora's win.

Yamato: Takeru... What about Takeru!? (Yamato gets up in Sora's face) Yamato: You destroyed them!? NOW WE CAN'T FIND OUT WHERE TAKERU IS!!!

Taichi runs over, grabbing Yamato's arm and pulling him back from Sora.

Taichi: Hey! Watch it, Yamato! Takeru: (distant) HEY!!! Sora: (gasp) Takeru-kun!

The whole group turns to see Takeru running across the grass to rejoin them.

Takeru: HEY GUYS!!! Yamato: (relieved) Takeru!

I've made enough "Sora will remember this" cracks about Taichi being shitty to her and Yamato being more mature that I'd be remiss not to point out what a dick Yamato's being right now. Understandably so, he's having an emotional breakdown about Takeru, but still.

In the dub:

Matt: Biyomon, what did you do!? (Matt gets up in Sora's face) Matt: Look what your Digimon did! Without Kiwimon, we'll never find T.K.! (Tai grabs Matt's arm and pulls him back) Tai: Calm down, Matt! T.K.: (distant) HEY!!! Sora: It's T.K.! (T.K. approaches) T.K.: Hey everybody! Hi! I'm back! Matt: (relieved) T.K.!!!

The team meets Takeru, eager to hear what happened.

Takeru: I was able to protect myself all on my own this time! Hikari: That's incredible! Taichi: That's awesome, Takeru! Congrats! Yamato: (face falls) Mimi: We were so worried about you! Jou: You sure have grown up, without any of us realizing.

Though initially relieved, Yamato's face darkens the more they praise Takeru. Jou's line is his breaking point. He turns and walks away from the group.

Takeru: Hehehehe, stop it! You're embarrasing me! Gabumon: Yamato! (follows) Jou: (turns) Oh?

Gabumon follows Yamato. Jou notices them go, but doesn't say anything.

In the dub:

T.K.: See, everybody! I told you I could do it! I can take care of myself just fine! Kari: You're the man! Tai: Nice going, T.K.! Great job, buddy! Matt: (face falls) Mimi: We were worried about you! Joe: Boy, for a little kid, that was a pretty big escape. (Matt turns and leaves) T.K.: Ahahaha, stop it, guys! You're embarrassing me! Gabumon: What's wrong, Matt? (follows) Joe: (turns) Huh?

Mostly faithful but I have issues with Joe's line. Jou's remark that Takeru grew up without anyone noticing is a significant point for Yamato and Takeru's arc.

Again, this goes all the way back to Yamato wanting to debone Takeru's fish for him and Taichi teaching Takeru to do it himself. Being chased down by a mad puppet with a revolver is a pretty extreme situation for it, but the point nonetheless is that Takeru doesn't need to rely on Yamato to do everything for him.

The fantasy elements are fantasy elements but the point is that Takeru is getting older and becoming more self-sufficient. He's not dependent on Yamato anymore. Yamato isn't ready to confront a reality where his little brother doesn't need him to debone his fish.

The new line for Joe congratulates T.K. for the win, but still keeps him firmly within the boundaries of "little kid". Joe calls this out as an exceptional outlier and not a product of T.K.'s growth and maturity, which is a problem when that's the thing Matt's supposed to be upset about.

Oblivious to Yamato's departure, Takeru continues.

Takeru: I smashed up the weird gadgets that were making the ground move too! Jou: Really? That's amazing! Takeru: Everything's going to be okay. Pinocchimon was manipulating us with these dolls.

He sets down his backpack, showing off the dolls he looted while he was wrecking the playroom.

The kids all pick up their dolls out of the bag, checking them out.

Taichi: (cheerful) This is supposed to be me? I don't look anything like it! Sora: Mimi-chan's looks pretty cute. Mimi: Liar! I am not this ugly! ...but I'll keep it as a souvenir anyway. Sora: Ha! (The girls giggle cheerfully) Piyomon & Palmon: (grabby hands) Show me! Show me! Takeru: Hey, where's Onii-chan? Jou: I just saw Yamato head off over... There.... Huh?

Jou points in the direction Yamato went, but there's only dark and twisted woods over there. No sign of Yamato or Gabumon.

That's not a question that will be answered this episode. For our final scene, we cut back to Pinocchimon briefly, looking around his destroyed playroom. He sadly picks up the smashed remote and stares at it for a few seconds.

Pinocchimon: So he doesn't like playing with me, huh? Alright. I get it.

We leave off there, with that ambiguous yet ominous sentiment.

In the dub:

T.K.: I also smashed the remote control that was making the ground move underneath us! Joe: That's terrific, T.K.! Izzy: Prodigious! T.K.: Everything's gonna be alright now! Puppetmon was using these dolls to control us! That's why all those weird things were happening! (T.K. sets down his backpack and everyone grabs their doll) Tai: (cheerful) Is this me!? I don't look anything like this! Ha! Sora: Wow, Mimi, your doll is really pretty! Mimi: What? No way! I would never wear rags like this! ...oh! I could take her to the mall for some new clothes! (The girls giggle cheerfully) Biyomon & Palmon: (grabby hands) Alright! You go!

In one last bit of slicing and dicing footage, the dub moves Pinocchimon's lament here, interrupting the kids.

Puppetmon: So he didn't want to play with me, huh? T.K.... You'll pay for this....

While the original leaves what Pinocchimon's feeling ambiguous and ominous, Puppetmon directly swears revenge.

Then we cut back to the woods to finish up the other scene.

T.K.: Anybody see where Matt went? Joe: He's right over there. T.K.: Huh? (Joe points to the dark and twisted woods) Kids: HUH!?!? Joe: I don't get it! He and Gabumon were there a second ago! They vanished! Here we go again! Narrator: Will Puppetmon take revenge on T.K.? Is he behind Matt's disappearance? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

They moved the scenes so they could imply that Puppetmon kidnapped Matt for that spicy cliffhanger. Find out the answer to these questions... RIGHT NOW.

Uh. No. That's not anywhere close to what happened here. Pinocchimon is distraught in his playroom and has no time or emotional space to go gallivanting around the woods right now.

...

DUN DUNNNNNN.

Assessment: Holy shit, can you imagine what it must have been like to be working on the dub and have this episode cross your desk? Guns! Actual guns! Guns everywhere! Children playing with guns! Evil Pinocchio kills Digimon with guns!

Pokemon had an episode where Suddenly Guns too but that was a one-off episodic adventure where Ash goes to Safari Zone and gets to see a Dratini. He did catch a herd of Tauros there that goes without explanation in the American version, but nonetheless, it's not super important. They were able to deal with the guns there by carving the episode out of the lineup and simply never broadcasting it.

But you can't do that here because Digimon is a serialized adventure. This episode is kind of fucking important, like most episodes are, and can't simply be deleted from the lineup. So we. Just. Have to deal with the guns. Somehow.

We were tooling along with a cartoon adventure about fighting monsters and then suddenly there were guns and Little Peckers all over the place.

This is the episode that made the censors cry, and it shows in the absolute butchery they had to make of it in order to get it onto television.

(But they also managed to screw up important characterization scenes too while they were at it.)

[seventeenlovesthree]

And a follow up ask: how would you describe the differences and similarities between Koushiro and Iori (as they are my 2 favorites of the Adventure 01 and 02 kids)

Since we were already talking about Iori's traditional upbringing vs. Koushirou's self-imposed correctness causing both of them to be overly polite, I will try to dig into this a little deeper. I was looking for a screenshot of them together, but then I found this pic, which I've never seen before, so I'm gonna use that one:

About their similarities:

Since Iori is meant to be the heir of the Crest of Knowledge, they're both initially shown to be equally curious people. They both wonder about the whereabouts of the Digital World, what the Chosen Children business is all about - and that's where Koushirou himself notices Iori being a great kouhai for himself, so he offers him advice and guidance whenever he needs it. So yes - the easiest comparison to make is that they're both smart and coming up with ideas that help the others along.

On a purely physical level, when they're initially introduced, they're among the youngest AND shortest members of their respective groups. And it is yet to be seen whether they'll actually surpass any other of the male characters in height.

They're both not only very polite in their speech and approach patterns overall, but also highly responsible, studious, goal-oriented and resourceful and want to do things right - to the point of losing themselves in details and (self) doubts, when things are not going according to plan.

They both have strong moral codes, are very kind at heart and highly opinionated; they definitely know what they don't like (and are more or less able to put their feet down about it, but sometimes they get overlooked by others, unfortunately).

Despite usually being level-headed, they can both get snappy/angry/witty (read: EMOTIONAL) if someone annoys them/grinds their gears.

In regards to the former point: Something they have in common I wish didn't exist to that extent is that official art tends to depict them as "too emotionless" - which definitely contradicts their multi-faceted personalities in the anime. Yes, as mentioned, they are more level-headed and calm, less outgoing than other characters - but they can have their cheerful moments with the people closest to them (including their Digimon partners and characters such as Taichi and Takeru).

Family and their bonds mean more to them than one might assume at first, since they are generally more closed-off about their private issues.

Also very similar in choosing simple, work/school-compliant clothing (read: shirt, pants, tie, nothing TOO colourful, even if they have preferences in their colours being either more muted or autumn-based).

About their differences:

As mentioned above, they are both highly curious in nature - however, when it comes to the things they want to figure out, their approaches are a little different. While Koushirou approaches everything in a mostly rational manner, Iori's questions are a little more philosophical. While he tries to be rational too, his black-white thinking tends to actually cause him to be more emotional than he'd like to. (Which shouldn't be surprising if you encounter artificially created Digimon that destruct everything mindlessly while asking about the meaning of life... Granted, Koushirou approached an entity like that too, but he ALSO tried to answer to that one more rationally...)

Despite their polite attitudes, the respective origins of their behaviours are a little different. Koushirou's politeness was self-imposed, he forced himself to act like "the perfect son" towards his adoptive parents, not knowing why he was adopted, who his biological parents were, who he even was, and so he kept a distance to everyone else, not knowing how to interact or let alone understand others when he didn't even understand himself. When he reconciled with his adoptive parents, they let him know that he could be what- and whovever he wanted to be and he's still be loved. While Iori's biological father had passed away as well, he was mainly raised in a very traditional household, being taught the customs of kendo - and developing a very black-and-white-ish moral code at first. He may have a hard time understanding other's reasonings if they don't align well with his own - but that also applies to Koushirou if somebody is not acting in reasonable ways. So something I would assign to both of them again is that they slowly but steadily have to learn to pick up cues and to be more compassionate and less rational due to their experiences. Basically - the people they willingly surround themselves with FORCE them both to think outside the box naturally.

They're both overthinkers, mainly keep their emotional states to themselves - however, if Iori bursts out, he absolutely DOES burst out. Koushirou on the other hand is more prone to ramble and talk about non-emotional things he actually wants others to know about, whereas Iori is not that generally chatty at all.

Despite "The Beginning" suggesting otherwise, Iori used to be depicted as being not very computer-crazy - he had a computer, yes, but Miyako was the one who fixed it a lot and used laptop usually, paralleling Koushirou more closely in that regard.

Speaking of "The Beginning", it can be assumed that Iori is more athletic at this point in time in comparison to Koushirou - not to call the latter an office-dweller, especially since he DOES coordinate the Chosen Children business and may participate in that as well. But Iori, despite studying hard to become a lawyer, is definitely actively putting in the energy to stay physically fit as well with kendo training.

Tl;dr, I'm not sure if that makes sense and I hope I didn't forget anything crucial.

[koushirouizumi]

{Digimon Gif by Me} {DO NOT REPOST} (Please ASK to Use it!)

{I'm just here giggling over Favs & Animation Parallels}

[bagerfluff]

Late Night Loving

Older Izumi Koushiro x Non-Binary Reader

Prompt - Late Night Calls

You groaned and opened your eyes, 12:36.

You rubbed your eyes and propped yourself on your arm. Why did you wake up? You looked around, nobody woke you up. It wasn’t until a few seconds till you heard ringing.

How long has that ringing been there? You sat up and reached over to grab your phone. When you opened it you had to close your eyes because of the bright light.

You groaned again, who was calling you at midnight?

Who was up at midnight to call you?

You were annoyed that you woke up, you were about to close your phone and go back to your dreams when you noticed the name of who was calling you. Koushiro.

Why was he calling you at midnight? Did something happen? You quickly pressed the answer button and brought the phone to your ear. “Yeah?”

You asked worriedly. “Hey Y/n”, Koushiro said. He sounded just as tired as you, maybe more. “Are you okay?” You asked, throwing your blanket off your lap.

“I’m fine, it’s just that”, Koushiro let his sentence go on. You put the blanket back over your lap and sighed. Everything was fine, so why was Koushiro calling you?

You knew that Koushiro tended to stay up late, he rarely went to sleep unless someone forced him or he passed out. You wondered if that was it.

But then why would he call you?

“Are you okay?” You asked softly. Koushiro didn’t answer but you heard Tentomon talking in the background. You couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Your Digimon laid at the foot of your bed, completely unaffected by what was happening. You shook your head at them right as Koushiro responded, “I’m fine, just wanted to talk to you”. Koushiro didn’t sound confident in his answer, that made you frown.

You wanted to know what happened but you could wait till morning. You’d bring Koushiro some tea, you two would talk about it over tea. “Well, something strange did happen to me this morning”, you started talking about your day.

You went from when you woke up till you fell asleep. You made sure to keep as many details as you could remember as well as small tidbits about things that happened.

You could hear Koushiro laughing and making his own tidbits too. You heard the change in Koushiro’s voice from when he first spoke, he sounded calmer and happier.

“Then when I was walking past the soccer field, Taichi kicked the ball into my chest. When I see him I swear I’m going to kick him to the moon”, you let out a little laugh and waited for Koushiro to talk but you didn’t hear anything.

You thought Koushiro had hung up but when you brought your phone down you were still on the call. “Koushiro?” You said but all you heard was breathing. “He fell asleep”, Tentomon said.

You were a little shocked to hear him speak. “He did?” You asked, did you make him fall asleep? That made your heart beat a bit faster. “Tento, is he okay?”

You felt bad about doing this but you needed to know if Koushiro was okay. “He was just a little stressed about his work. Thank you for talking to him”, Tentomon said.

“It’s fine, when he wakes up tell him I’m always available if he needs someone to talk to, or just someone to talk to him”, that was true. You’d always be there for Koushiro, even if it was midnight.

“Will do, goodnight” “goodnight Tentomon”, you pulled the phone down and ended the call. You placed your phone back on your night stand and looked at the clock.

1:54, almost two hours. You laid back down and pulled the blanket up, you knew you weren’t going to sleep any time soon but you were happy that Koushiro was asleep.

You were going to talk to him about this in the morning, or in several hours. He needed to stop doing this, but for now until he could get better.

You would help him, one phone call at a time.

[koushirouizumi]

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[detectiveichijouji]

Case 24 - A panicking digimon’s plea

[AO3 version]

“HE GOT TEN?! TEN FRAGMENTS SO FAR?!” Daisuke babbled, shouting and making iconic angry Daisuke noises, “THAT THIEEEEEEEEF…!!”

“We should focus on who will be the next target!” Miyako snapped, “We can track Arsenemon’s stolen pieces later, ok?!”

“But--”

“Miyako-san is right,” Ken sighed, “There’s something bugging me about this though…”

“Hm?” The digimon, Hikari, Takeru and Iori looked at Ken. Miyako was still on the laptop and Daisuke… was just babbling something inaudible right now (probably gibberish noises).

“Espimon was there too, but we didn’t see Noel Leblanc around.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Patamon replied.

“But Noel-kun said he doesn’t like to leave Espimon locked inside a room,” Hikari explained.

“This could mean Ken’s theory that Noel created Arsenemon is true, right?” Armadimon asked.

“Makes no sense!” Daisuke snapped, “Noel wouldn’t create a smug thief digimon and be playing with us! He’s not like… Uh, forget it.”

Ken stared at him for a moment -- yes I know what you wanted to say. But Ken also knew Daisuke didn’t mean any harm. And besides, Ken himself admitted creating Chimeramon was a bad bad idea.

“... Y-you know, sometimes I forgot you were… that guy” Daisuke blushed in shame. He was about to blame the Kaiser again, in front of the one and only former Digimon Kaiser.

“No, I get it. I just hope he’s not like who I was in the past.”

“... Awkward,” V-mon whispered to the other digimon.

“Hmm…” Iori was thoughtful.

“What is it, dagya?” Armadimon asked him.

“Instead of waiting for the next victim to appear, we should set a list of potential targets so we could prevent them from getting caught.”

“Ooh, that’s a good idea,” Hawkmon exclaimed.

“Iori-kun is really a genius,” Hikari giggled lightly.

“Of course he is!” Armadimon said, proudly of his human partner right now.

“Well done, Iori-sama” Daisuke gave Iori a pat in the head.

Iori blushed all of those compliments though. Then, the group started listing the potential victims. Patamon then asked, “Should we include ourselves in this list too?”

“Everyone has a potential to be a target here,” Ken explained. The others could feel he was afraid of something… But still not sure if about him turning into a potential menace again, or about the enemies using the other five against him like they had tried previously with Takeru.

“Right, I think they wouldn’t come after Takeru again,” Daisuke said seriously, “That Impmon noticed Takeru had some resistance to the wicked Digimental fragment, or the brainwash.”

“The lightning doesn’t strike twice, so I don’t think they will target me again.”

“Right, this means…” Miyako looked at the others, “... The rest of us are in danger.”

They nodded. Hikari frowned, “Okay, so who else is left from our seniors?”

“Mimi-san, Yamato-san and Koushiro-san,” Wormmon replied.

“Well, Mimi-san can’t be!” Miyako smiled, “She lives in New York, and we haven't got any request from any American Chosen Child yet.”

“Ok, then Yamato and Koushiro are possibly the next ones” Tailmon mused, “How is Yamato’s mood, Takeru?”

“Huh? He’s… fine, I guess.”

“Fine?” the others repeated, the worried faces made Takeru uncomfortable.

“Y-yeah, everything is fine with him. He told me at least. He’s just busy with university stuff, but nothing to worry… Yet.”

“When you say ‘yet’ like this, it means something is off,” Daisuke sighed. V-mon imitated him as well.

“They would totally target Koushiro, dagya” Armadimon said with a serious gaze at the group, “He got the shards we collected so far. Soon or later they will come after those too! To use it on others.”

“And then there’s Arsenemon too, who will come after those shards once he gets the remaining three…” Ken began musing again.

“... I think we should ask Arsenemon why he wants those,” Daisuke commented, out of the blue, making the others look at him in surprise, “He said we wouldn’t believe him if he told us what he wants with the shards… But… I think we would’ve at least tried to.”

“What?? He’s a thief!” Miyako squinted her eyes at Daisuke, “Isn’t you who keeps saying he’s a thief and that it’s our job to catch him!?”

“Yeah, but he helped us countless times! Even if we had the shard stolen later!”

“Daisuke-kun, why are you suggesting we do that all of a sudden?” Hikari frowned, “And besides, Inspector Fujieda didn’t… Contact us anymore…”

“Did she kick us out of the case??” Patamon asked them.

“Hmm, no. It’s that Arsenemon’s targets are not related to stealing usual objects anymore” Ken replied, “Seems like she and the police decided to quit the case.”

“AH~ Japan’s Autumn is so good~” Mimi’s plane has just landed and she was stretching her arms and she started to hum a song, excitedly.

“Mimi-san?” someone else came with her. Someone… who wanted to see a couple of old friends after a long time without seeing them… “I had never been to Japan before, so please don’t leave me behind…” he chuckled nervously.

“It’s okay~ I bet Daisuke-kun will be happy to see you again, Wallace~ ”

“... W-will they hate me?” a tiny Lopmon was holding Wallace’s leg. Yes, it was…

“I don’t think so, Chocomon. Don’t worry about it” Wallace responded with a smile, “I think they will be happy to see you again, now that you’re back.”

“Yeah, it was Daisuke himself who gave Wallace hope while you were inside that DigiEgg” Terriermon replied, “I bet he will like to meet the real you.”

“The real me…?”

“Now, let’s go!! I want to visit everything while we’re here!!” and then Terriermon took Lopmon’s hand and dragged him through the airport.

“D-don’t go without us!!” Wallace, Mimi and Palmon gasped and went after the twin-mons.

Later, at night…

“...”

Despite everything, Arsenemon kept watching the kids’ activity from the shadows. Especially now that they are the next targets from the eyepatched Impmon and Dracumon. Also… Who would be this Naito person? Would he be the same person mentioned by Taichi?

“Sigh, I’m running into a wall here” the elusive thief sighed, “We could track Impmon down and retrieve the remaining pieces, but this would end my fun…”

The truth is, he’s enjoying the caper shenanigans.

“... But if I don’t stop them, something bad will happen to those poor innocent humans and their digimon…”

He used his own magical tricks to write on the air, making notes on the current thread of events.

“Let’s see… Takenouchi Sora, Yagami Taichi and Kido Joe… Trying to use the Chosen Children with crests huh…”

“What’s up boss?” Espimon popped in, and she realized he was busy thinking about complicated stuff again “Oh…”

“I guess they’re just doing it purposely this time.”

“Huh, but why?”

“Maybe revenge? But it wouldn’t make sense… If the human named Naito is after the Chosen, he would’ve targeted Yagami Taichi’s peers first and then him later. But Taichi was the second victim this time…”

“Hmm… I think they might indirectly attack one of the younger humans…?”

“Oh, that’s for sure mademoiselle. But… Who?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged, “So, who’s next?”

“I’ve come to the conclusion it would be the less expected, less obvious human in this group of douze personnes , and it’s…”

He wrote the name in a calling card, then copied the calling card with his magic. He gave her the original one, “Send this immediately. Maybe if we get their awareness… Maybe we can prevent those Chosen Children from facing something terrible.”

“Aye, sir!!” and with this, Espimon flew away.

But that new target was…

In the morning…

“WHAT!?”

Mimi and Daisuke found the calling cards in their rooms, respectively. Daisuke’s one made him confused -- ISN’T MIMI-SAN IN NEW YORK OR SOMETHING!? -- but Mimi’s confusion was why would she become a target if he had nothing like a shard in possession?

“Might be a mistake,” Wallace looked at the paper “Are you sure it reads ‘Tachikawa’ and not another way? It doesn’t have furigana…”

“Maybe we should talk with Miyako-chan and the others…” She took her phone from the desk and started typing a message on it.

…

“Mimi-san is here!!?” Daisuke blinked, looking at the message he got on his phone minutes later, “Wait… How did he know?! Is she the next victim?! But it makes no sense!!”

“Huh… He’s really good at spying on us” Chibimon had his arms crossed, and he nodded his head sagely.

“It doesn’t matter! We have to protect Mimi-san from Arsenemon!!”

“But weren’t you saying recently that… We should ask him what he wants with the pieces?” Chibimon’s eyes narrowed.

“... Yeah, I did. But I’m not sayin’ we should become best friends ever with him!”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, Mimi-san needs our help. This is a case for our special digimon crimes unit!!”

“He’s back into that ‘detective’ mood…” Chibimon gave a long sigh.

Mimi and the 02 group gathered at the usual karaoke booth. And with her… Wallace and the twin digimon. This was the very first time Ichijouji Ken and Wallace were seeing each other.

“Why is Wallace here!?” Daisuke exclaimed.

“Oh he asked to come to see you five!” Mimi grinned and replied with joy, “See? He asked if they could come too and I said yes why not…? Daisuke-kun and the others would love to see you again!!”

“Huh, is that digimon…” Ken noticed Lopmon. The others looked at Ken and Wormmon.

“Oh, yeah it’s Chocomon!” Wallace took the digimon and put it on his lap, “He hatched!”

“What, didn’t I tell you before?” Daisuke blinked, “Wallace got twin digimon partners.”

“Oh…”

“Anyway,” Miyako cleaned her throat, “Why is Arsenemon after Mimi-san if she does not have a shard?”

“Maybe he knows something we don’t?” V-mon mused.

“That thief is really good at getting one step ahead from us, dagya” Armadimon complained with a pout.

“Um… Can you please explain to us more about those shards and this digimon called Arsenemon?” Terriermon asked them.

“Well, we can…” Hawkmon answered, “But we still didn’t get enough details figured out yet. Is that okay?”

Mimi, Palmon, Wallace and the twin digimon nodded in return. Then the 02 Team started explaining to them what happened.

“Oh I see…” Mimi stroked her chin “Ichijouji-kun destroyed a forbidden Digimental, hid the broken pieces somewhere only to be found by some mean digimon and then started to be spread through Tokyo…”

“Yeah,” Miyako nodded.

“Then this digimon called Arsenemon appeared,” Wallace was also stroking his chin, “claiming he would gather all of those pieces for a reason he claimed none of us would believe him…”

“Yup,” Patamon confirmed with a nod.

“But then an eyepatched Impmon and a Dracumon appeared and started corrupting people with those fragments…” Terriermon said, arms crossed.

“... And now you all have to not only get the shards before Arsenemon, but before they’re activated by someone’s desire?” Palmon completed the line.

“Yes,” Tailmon replied, “There’s also this new student at Hikari’s school named Noel Leblanc. He’s suspicious, but so far he has not been involved with anything bad yet.”

“Oh, is it because…” Wallace asked.

“... He’s a distant relative from Maurice Leblanc” Takeru answered, “Arséne Lupin’s creator.”

“In other words, we suspect he had created Arsenemon” Ken added. Daisuke looked at him.

“Well, we will have to be your bodyguards,” Miyako explained with a serious voice, “At least to prevent either of them from attacking you!”

“I’d like to have you as my bodyguard, Miyako-san,” Wallace said with a smooth voice and a smile. Ken suddenly took the microphone from the table and…

“THAT’S ALL, THANK YOU FOR COMING.” … screamed on it.

And he then gently pushed Wallace and Mimi out of the booth. He closed the door. Everyone stared at him, confused. Except for Daisuke, who definitely got the gist.

“Why did you do that!?” Miyako snapped, “That was so rude coming from you, Ken-kun!!”

“We need to talk. About that plan. Right now.”

“????”

“What was that…?” Wallace whined in his seat, at a local fast food chain around the karaoke’s location, “Daisuke told me that Ichijouji Ken was nice and tidy.”

“Oh don’t mind him,” Mimi giggled nervously, “Ichijouji-kun can be a little assertive when it comes to some of his friends.”

“Does he like Miyako-san too?” Wallace wondered, “He got good taste then.”

“I think we shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet,” Palmon commented.

“Oh so do I still have a chance…?” he smiled.

“Wallace,” Mimi laughed, “You’re so funny~”

“Hmm…?” Terriermon blinked, then called for the others’ attention, “Wallace, Mimi, look.”

“??” they looked to the direction Terriermon’s ears were pointing.

It was an Impmon. It had an eyepatch. So it’s one of the enemies, right? Mimi and Wallace, alongside their partners, got up from their table and slowly left the building, trying to contact Miyako and the others as soon as possible.

On their way, Wallace accidentally bumped into a young man with short white hair: Unryuuji Naito.

“Ah, I’m sorry!!” Wallace apologized with a bow.

“Oh it’s okay, kid” Naito smiled, “Oh you have dropped something.”

“Huh, did I-- Oh yeah, my phone! Thank you, mister!!” Wallace got his phone from the streetwalk and then bowed again to Naito. Finally, he ran after Mimi and the digimon.

Naito smirked, but a certain cyborg digimon witnessed the entire scene.

“What, you saw that Impmon we told you and Wallace?” Takeru and the others had met Mimi again. Oddly, Wallace was not around yet… the twin-mons neither.

“Yeah, we saw it!” Palmon confirmed, Terriermon saw them-- Huh? Where’s Terriermon, Lopmon and Wallace?”

“That’s no good…” Patamon frowned, “Maybe they went after that digimon?”

But, suddenly they see Wallace walking calmly with the twins. He smiled at them and went to meet with the group, “I finally caught you up. Sorry, I bumped into a dude…”

“Are you okay?” Hikari asked, and then Wallace nodded.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, no one got hurt. Well, shall we look for that digimon then?”

“Hmm…” Ken mused.

“What is it?”

“Nothing… Takeru-kun and Iori-kun should go with you. Miyako-san and Hikari-san with Mimi-san.”

“Hey, who made you the leader here?” Wallace stared at him, “You just think I’m after your girlfriend right!?”

“Girlfriend?” The group exclaimed.

“She’s not my girlfriend…” Ken spurted quickly. The group glanced at him again.

“Wait who’s Wallace talking abou--” Miyako raised an eyebrow.

“He’s jumping to conclusions,” Ken babbled again, “Anyway, let’s go. Daisuke agrees with those groups, right Daisuke?!”

“Huh?? Y-yeah I do…” Daisuke blinked, “Ken’s a good strategist so I trust him.”

“Hm… Going by those choices,” Iori stroked his chin, “Ichijouji-san put Mimi-san in priority, Silphymon is smaller and faster, alongside Lilymon they might counter the enemy until we arrive. However, Shakkoumon and Gargomon might be useful to protect you and the twins from turning into a target too.”

“Yes, exactly.” Ken nodded, “Paildramon and Imperialdramon should be used only in an emergency, in case either of you or Mimi-san get corrupted by the fragment.”

“I dunno…” Wallace squinted his eyes, “But if Daisuke says so, I’ll trust him more than you.”

“... Ken,” Daisuke and V-mon had narrowed eyes on the boy.

“Yes?” he gulped.

“Now that we’re alone… Be honest with me. You did it on purpose right?”

“What are you talking about, Daisuke??” He was sweating cold now.

“Y’know, you saw Wallace flirting with Miyako and… Decided to keep the girls away from him.”

“Oh?? Oh no no no no, I thought it would be good if they had Silphymon with--”

“He definitely did it because of Miyako” V-mon nodded sagely. Daisuke kept staring Ken.

“Don’t you believe in Ken-chan?!” Wormmon hissed, “Of course he didn’t do that for Miyako-san--”

“Ok, I admit… Yeah, but. Don’t. Tell.  Them. About. It.” Ken gave Daisuke and V-mon the stare most known as the ‘Digimon Kaiser murderous glare’

“R-right, sir…”

“Sigh, was it too obvious…?” he blushed.

“Y’know, it’s still funny” Daisuke chuckled, “You’re not the kind to be this aggressive when it comes to someone.”

“...”

“You should be like me and be more… Discreet? Is that the word?”

“You? Discreet?” Ken held his laugh. Wormmon and V-mon looked at Daisuke, impressed (but not surprised) that he had the audacity to say that.

“... Say, is it true Miyako-san doesn’t have a boyfriend?” Wallace tried to start a convo with the other two, but they were too focused on catching Impmon before things went south. They didn’t answer Wallace at all.

“Wallace-san,” Iori spoke, looking at the older boy now, “Where did you and Gummymon see that Impmon?”

“Uhh… It was in a fast food restaurant…” he answered, “Gummymon, show them the way.”

“But I… I have never been to Japan before…!!” Terriermon frowned, “How can we get there…?”

“Hmm, is there anything you could remember from that place?” Takeru asked, trying another approach, “Like, what’s on the other side of the street?”

“... I wasn’t paying attention… All I remember is we left and I bumped into this white haired dude, Then I used the digivice to find Mimi-san.”

“That’s a big problem, dagya…”

“But we don’t need to look for the place,” Terriermon said, pointing with his ears at someone in the horizon, “That Impmon is right there.”

“!!”

“Let’s catch him!” Patamon said, and then the boys nodded. But Lopmon was a little slower. Something made him a little wary about this.

“Um.. Umm…” the bunny digimon tried to run faster, to catch them up, but he stepped on his big ears and slipped, rolling like a ball through the street. He then heard some screams and a loud noise. He got up and looked into the direction of the sound.

He saw Wallace and Terriermon. But…

“A-aahh…!!”Lopmon flew away from there. What did he see??

“Strange…” Miyako pouted, “Why is Ken-kun acting so weirdly today? Geez, I don’t understand him sometimes.”

“Maybe Iori-kun was right and it was to take advantage of a Lilymon-Silphymon combo” Mimi tried to cheer her up, “Or do you think he did it because he was jealous?”

“Jealous?” Hikari, tilted her head, “Um… It’s true that sometimes…”

“Hey, there’s no way he would be jealous!” Miyako snapped, “He’s not Daisuke. Daisuke used to throw tantrums every time someone flirted with Hikari-chan.”

“He didn’t do that anymore though” Tailmon shrugged, “Maybe he grew out of it.”

“Mhm, mhm” Mimi and Palmon nodded.

“Hmph! Ken-kun is too intellectual to lose his patience with someone like Wallace! He’s well mannered, and calm. There’s no way he was putting us in a team to keep Wallace away from us!”

“I think I heard something…” Hawkmon commented, “Oh, someone’s nearby.”

“Hm? Oh it’s…”

… Noel? He seemed to be looking for something or someone. He then saw the girls and panicked. Well, maybe he’s just awkward… He passed by them, in a rush. But something fell from his pocket.

Mimi took it from the ground and it was…

“A card?” they all exclaimed.

It was one of those black calling cards. Miyako then read it, it was actually a calling card specially for him?? 

Your friends are in danger. Hurry up and find the shard, before it’s too late.

“Why would Arsenemon send a calling card to Noel-kun?” Hikari frowned, “And… Is Arsenemon planning to attack Daisuke and V-mon?”

“Oh no, we got to warn them…!!” Mimi babbled. The girls then went back, trying to phone Daisuke and Ken immediately.

“You were laughing!” Daisuke growled, “ Don’t lie, Ken! You were laughing when I said you need to be more like me!”

“I don’t know what you mean, but it was funny the way you said it.”

“Hah! You admitted it! But now you’re feeling less upset, right?”

“So Daisuke was trying to make Ken laugh?” V-mon blinked, Wormmon shrugged in silence.

“Well, if you want to know, I don’t think the word ‘discreet’ suits you. You’re more… ‘carefree’ if you ask me.”

“Carefree huh… Well, that’s how I am, I don’t like to take time worrying about useless stuff.”

“Suits you. See?”

They laughed lightly… Until they saw Lopmon coming in their direction, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” The bunny just hit Daisuke in the face and hugged it like the times Koromon did it with Taichi.

“G-GAH!!” Daisuke fell on the floor, then he took the bun off his face. He held Lopmon gently, “W-what happened, what’s wrong, where’s the others!?”

“TOO MANY QUESTIONS AAAAA!!” Lopmon cried, like a baby. Yeah, Gummymon was right -- Chocomon is a crybaby.

“Hey, take it easy,” Ken then took him from Daisuke’s hands, to let the other get up, “What happened…?”

“Wallace… He--”

Suddenly, a calling card flew in front of Daisuke. He took it from the ground:

Pardon my mistake. You six might be in real danger now.

“What? What does he mean??” V-mon asked the boys.

“Please… save… Wallace… and Gummymon…” Lopmon said, with his voice wavering. He grabbed Ken’s shirt tightly, as if he was saying don’t leave me.

Ken and Daisuke looked at each other. Something happened. Daisuke looked at the calling card again, “Alright so this means the bad guys caught Mimi-san and Palmon.”

“Are you sure…?”

“Arsenemon knew she was the target. There’s no other option here. Let’s go--”

“Alright/Yeah…” Ken, Wormmon and V-mon nodded and then the four went after the girls.

“Ugh…” Takeru woke up, and then he realized he and Iori were stuck inside a basement, “Iori-kun…!”

“Ghn… My head…” Armadimon growled, “Are y’all okay?”

“I’m fine…” Iori finally spoke, “Where are we?”

“We’re underground,” Patamon explained, on the top of Takeru’s head, “Seems like we got trapped here.”

“... Can we open the trapdoor?” Iori asked, but Takeru and Patamon shook their heads.

“Gah, I don’t think we can call for help now, dagya…!!” Armadimon sighed.

“Stay calm, please…” Iori asked him, softly. Then he took his phone, “Maybe I can ask for help.”

“But… How did we end up here, dagya…? Huh? Where’s Wallace and Gummymon, dagya?”

“...”

“Mimi-san!!” Daisuke screamed, and then approached the girl, “Huh, you’re… Normal??”

“W-what do you mean!?” Mimi pouted, “I’m fine…!”

“But… Arsenemon…”

Miyako and Hikari come, along with Silphymon and Lilymon. They all were confused. Daisuke then asked their digimon: “Why did y’all evolve?”

“Miyako-san found this,” Silphymon (Aquilamon side) answered, and then Miyako showed him the calling card.

“Huh, another one??” V-mon exclaimed.

“Did you get one of those?” Miyako raised an eyebrow. Ken was also curious about it, “This one dropped from Noel’s pocket.”

“Noel huh…” Ken mused.

“Maybe he went to warn us?” Wormmon said.

“But why would Arsenemon send him that?” Daisuke frowned, “A-anyway… If Mimi-san and Lilymon are fine, then this means…

Then Daisuke and the others look at Wallace coming into their direction. He was smiling, walking calmly and normally. But they all definitely noticed that Takeru and Iori weren’t with him so it made them all a little terrified.

“Sorry, we couldn’t find that Impmon” Wallace frowned, “Anyone got some luck?”

“Wallace,” Daisuke said with a serious voice, and he was glaring at the other boy, “where are Takeru and Iori?”

“Oh? They decided to keep looking for the digimon a little more, but I got lost from them.”

“You could’ve phoned us,” Mimi said, “I thought you had mine and Daisuke-kun’s number…”

“Hey, what if we split up again? I’ll go with Daisuke this time. We can find them quickly this way.”

“Uh…” Daisuke looked at Ken and the others, and at Lopmon who had asked for them to help Wallace… “It’s pointless to split up now. We need a better plan--”

“No, go with him” Ken interrupted him, and whispered something in Daisuke’s ear.

“Ok… If you say so…” Daisuke shrugged, but whatever Ken had told him made the goggle boy pout. He walked to Wallace, but Ken held V-mon’s arm for a moment. For some reason, Lopmon refused to go with them.

Wallace and Daisuke left, V-mon looked at Ken: “Huh, don’t you think it’s dangerous to leave Daisuke to go all alone?”

“Trust me, I have a plan” Ken said with a determined gaze at the blue digimon.

“Hm?”

“Hey, Wallace…” Daisuke grabbed his digivice inside his hoodie’s pocket, “Where’s Gummymon? If you get in trouble you might get hurt…”

“He went with Iori and Takeru,” he replied calmly, “Huh?” Wallace looked behind, “V-mon and Chocomon are not coming?”

“V-mon is a little tired. I think it’s okay to look for the other two without him. And when we found Chocomon he was afraid, so leave it in Mimi-san and Hikari-chan’s hands.”

“Fine then.”

Wallace, you’re acting too suspicious here… -- Daisuke thought -- I think something is wrong here, but being used as bait sucks!! Hurry up Ken…

“Uh… Shouldn’t it be easier if we call them with my phone?” Daisuke asked, “I think it would be easier--”

“... Daisuke.”

“?”

Wallace led him to an alley. They stopped, and Daisuke clutched the digivice in his pocket. He gulped.

Suddenly, Daisuke noticed something in Wallace’s hand. It was… A shard?!

“Y-you…!!”

Behind Wallace and in the shadows, two flashing red eyes appeared and then from that direction missiles like the ones from Rapidmon Golden were shot. But Daisuke couldn’t defend himself!! So he closed his eyes waiting for the worst, BUT!!

“Un deux trois!”

A magical barrier made of a giant Ace of Hearts card protected him. The three looked up and saw a silhouette of a humanoid digimon. Arsenemon jumped from the top of that building and landed in the middle of the scene.

“My my, you’re a bit reckless when I told you you were a target, non ?”

“I… I didn’t ask for your help!!” Daisuke babbled angrily, “... B-but thanks. I guess.”

“Your little blonde friend here has not only been consumed by the fragment,” he said hesitantly, “But also one more little detail. May you believe me?”

“If you’re goin’ to steal that thing do it now!”

“I won’t let you ruin it.” Wallace’s voice sounded creepier now, “Rapidmon, get rid of them…!!”

 A black digitron Rapidmon appeared from the shadows and assaulted Arsenemon, who used his cane to block the opponent’s attack and shielded Daisuke. The boy was completely confused about why Arsenemon decided to protect him instead of going after the fragment.

“Forget me!” Daisuke shouted, “Get that thing out of Wallace’s hand!”

“If you want this, then better you stop shielding him and come get it!!” Then Wallace ran away.

“He’s escaping!!”

“Are you ok, though?”

“... Yeah I am, but you might not like to lose a piece right?” he smirked.

“W-what?”

Lilymon used her Flower Necklace technique to wrap Arsenemon with her flower and vine rings. Little do they (Wallace and Arsenemon) know that Lilymon had been following Daisuke.

“Kh!! It was a trap!?”

“Hehe” Daisuke laughed, “We caught you, sneaky thief!!” Then he phoned Ken, “Ken, we got him. Now it’s up to you to catch Wallace.”

“Heh, you smooth detective caught me.”

“Shut up, I hate to be used as bait!”

“...”

Wallace and Rapidmon were successfully running away when Silphymon and Shakkoumon blocked the way! It wouldn’t be a problem to get rid of them, right!?

Except… a pair of cables wrapped Wallace and Rapidmon. They looked back and saw… Paildramon?! But HOW did V-mon evolve without Daisuke…!?

“Kh!! H-How!?”

“Easy,” Ken smirked a la Digimon Kaiser, “Lopmon witnessed you using the shard. And then he used ‘save’ when asking us to help you and your digimon.”

“Then Iori called me on the phone and explained everything” Miyako added, “That they were trapped in a basement by you and Gummymon.”

“... So, you figured things out, huh?” Wallace smirked, “But not enough for THIS!! ” and then Rapidmon fired his revolver on his back, attacking in all directions. The group had to cover and hide.

But… More of those card-shields protected them all. Lilymon took advantage and used her Flower Necklace technique on Wallace and Rapidmon by wrapping them with her flowers and vines, thus removing the wicked mental control from the fragment and Dracumon. Rapidmon devolved back into Terriermon and passed out due to exhaustion. 

Ken took the fragment from Wallace’s hand, “I’ll take this, thank you.”

“Huh… How did this thing end up in my hand…!?” Wallace blinked, “Argh… My head hurts…”

They all looked at each other, then back to Wallace.

“Don’t you know?” Patamon asked, raising an eyebrow.  The three Jogresses had undone and all six digimon devolved back to their usual forms.

Wallace shook his head, “Nope… All I remember was… I was using my phone to call Mimi-san and… Suddenly a flash light came from the screen… I don’t remember when I had that shard in my hands, but I clearly remember doing something bad to Takeru and Iori… ugh…”

“Maybe it fused with Wallace’s phone” Ken mused, “Like when Mokami Ryouma fused the shard with his partner’s DigiEgg…”

“Wow, you’re pretty smart huh?” Wallace gasped in surprise.

Mimi walked in, with Lopmon in her arms, Lopmon then jumped on Wallace’s face and hugged it. The boy grabbed the twin-mon gently and took him off his face.

“Thank you,” Lopmon thanked Ken, looking at him timidly.

“Daisuke’s friends are my friends too” Ken smiled kindly, “I hope Terriermon is not hurt though…”

“He will be fine, he’s a tough digimon” Lopmon smiled back.

“But where did those cards come from, dagya?” Armadimon asked, looking at those objects fading in the air.

“Arsenemon…” V-mon clenched his fists. Then, the group saw Lilymon and Daisuke coming to meet them “Daisuke, did you let him go?!”

“... No?” Daisuke blinked, “A-actually he… He was a dummy. Like, not the real one.”

“A dummy!?” the rest of the group exclaimed.

“Yes, a dummy” Lilymon nodded her head, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, you did your best” Mimi tried to comfort her.

“... Sigh, we got THIS close to get the other ten shards back…” Daisuke commented, dramatically.

“Hmm… 8 shards for them…”

In the distance, Noel watched them. Why was he there though? Maybe he arrived too late to warn Daisuke and the others about what happened with Wallace?

“Good… Very good…”

[patamon]

Koushiro Izumi Week

I unknowingly incorporated almost all the suggested Koushiro week prompts into this fic XD. Can you spot them all 👀

Title: One Rainy Afternoon Character: Koushiro Izumi (for @izumikoushiroweek​ ) Word Count: 4390 Rating: G Summary: One rainy afternoon, Koushiro heard a cry that changes everything...

Cross-posted on AO3

Read below the cut 👇

One Rainy Afternoon

There were few things in life that could divert Koushiro’s attention away from whatever complex problems chewing through his mind. 

Today, he found himself captivated by one of those few things.

The rain puddles by his feet, they resembled, in almost perfect symmetry, the splotches of pattern found on Kabuterimon’s wings. Koushiro could recall them with sharp clarity: the translucent patterns and oblong shapes, bringing him back to those life-defining adventures of his youth, during moments that captivated him enough to tear his sight away from the bright glares of his computer screen.

For a moment, he became absorbed in the shapes of the puddles. He questioned and wondered the probabilities of it settling into the shape it did. He hypothesized its origin and mapped out the path of its descent, not realizing the shape and colour of the traffic signal before him had changed, and what ensued was an onslaught of pedestrians pushing and muscling their way past him, damp clothings brushed past him with disgruntled force.

Get out of the way.

Move it or lose it, idiot.

“Sorry, sorry,” Koushiro mumbled, before readjusting the grip on his umbrella and bag of bottled oolong tea, then making his way to the other side of the street.

Once over, Koushiro whisked himself into one of the smaller side streets, sighing in relief at the quieter, calmer atmosphere it offered. Without warning, the rain overhead picked up its pace, prompting Koushiro to do the same. The oolong tea bottles in his bag somehow grew heavier in tandem with the rain all around him.

He only had the comfort of his dry apartment in mind when through the pitter patter of rain on pavement, he heard it: a sound as fragile and delicate as breaking glass, shooting through dense, humid air to pierce his attention. He whipped himself around, his feet nearly slipping on wet concrete, but through the grace of Qinglongmon, he managed to hold steady, eyes searching and scanning his surroundings while his ears honed in on the empty streets around him.

Then, he heard it again, and this time, the sound sharpened into a familiar call.

Meow.

Koushiro gasped, with careful attention to the dripping umbrella and his sacred haul of oolong tea, he maneuvered himself until he was low on the ground, scrutinizing holes and crevices with narrowed eyes.

Meee-owww.

He flinched. This time, there was an infliction to the call, a long drawn out syllable indicating discomfort…or pain. He doubled his effort to scan the area until finally, a spark of something shiny caught his eyes. There was but one logical course of action, he followed the light, only to find a soggy cardboard box tucked behind a crowded bike rack.

“Meow”

He stood frozen for a moment, not daring to breathe lest any outburst might scare away his caller. But in spite of his fear, the sound came forth again, this time with obvious desperation.

“Meeeee-ooowwww!”

“Here, here,” he cried out instinctively. His bag of oolong tea hit the wet floor, but he barely noticed in his attempt to squeeze closer to the box, and upon lowering himself, he finally laid eyes on his feline caller.

By no means was this the first time he had seen a cat. He spent many afternoons and evenings over at Taichi’s apartment, where Miko would hiss at him from afar or threaten to claw out his eyes if he dared walk too close. But this was the first time he had seen this cat, and he was struck by the visible fear in its large green eyes, its rail-thin body drenched with rain, the matted black fur betraying just how skinny it was.

“Uh…hello?” he attempted. The cat looked up at him with an unblinking gaze, the only response he received was a quick twitch of its right ear.

“Uh…” he fumbled through possible courses of action in his mind, parsing and sorting them by logic and sensibility. 

“But I know nothing about cats,” he mumbled.

He could call someone who had more experiences with cats. He pulled out his phone from his soaked jacket pocket, but the only person he had in mind was Hikari, but he sensed it might be awkward to call her just to talk about his current predicament.

The cat opened its mouth, and from the depth of its emaciated body, it cried out again.

“MEEOOWWW”

Koushiro flinched, then the situation escalated to a point where he could no longer parse through the possibilities, for the cat emerged right then and there. It was smaller and thinner than he could ever imagined, and it swayed more than it walked, betraying how exhausted and weak it must really be.

“Uhh…What are you…?”

It plopped down on wet concrete, right before Koushiro’s frozen body and looked up at him with pleading eyes, and suddenly, Koushiro was transported back to when he was ten, when he locked eyes with the dark round ones of Mochimon’s for the first time. He understood now…

“You don’t have anywhere to go, do you?”

The cat did not change its stance, but merely lifted its head up a few millimetres higher, waiting for Koushiro to make his move.

Koushiro sighed, “I guess…the least I can do is bring you home to give you some food,” he mumbled in resignation, then scooped the cat up with his free arm and made his way home, the bag of oolong tea long forgotten behind him in the rain.

—-

There were still a myriad of questions in Koushiro’s mind as he walked into his building with the newfound cat tucked in his arm.

What do cats eat? 

How often do they eat? 

How often do they drink water? 

Are some foods dangerous for cats? 

What happens if they need to use the bathroom? 

Where can he find a litter box? 

But although he could not find clear answers to his questions, it did become clear to him that his feline refugee was in worse shape than he thought. It shook and shivered the entire way home, Koushiro could feel the hard edges of its bones poking through as he held it in his arms. Occasionally, it emitted a pitiful mew, but otherwise kept quiet as it laid in Koushiro’s hold underneath the cover of his black umbrella.

Once he returned to his apartment, dry and warm and safe, he rummaged through cabinets and shelves in search of suitable food for the cat. Unlucky for them both, he wasn’t the best at keeping his pantries stocked, his diet on a good day consisted of an unhealthy amount of bottled oolong tea and premade sandwiches he picked up from any convenience store he stumbled across. The best he could offer was a leftover tuna onigiri he picked up for lunch two days ago. But despite the questionable expiry date, the cat devoured it all, digging into the tuna filling at a speed that put him on edge.

“Hey…um…slow down…uh…you’ll get a stomachache,” Koushiro chided, albeit he felt a little more than silly speaking to a cat the way his parents spoke to him when he was a child.

The cat was a little more than halfway through his meal when its entire body went rigid. Koushiro’s eyes widened, his hand flew towards his chest as he gawked at the cat, wondering if he inadvertently killed it through food poisoning. But before he could take action, the cat pounced away, scurrying underneath his sofa before three knocks sounded out at his door, followed by the chime of his doorbell.

He scurried towards the door, his hand barely on the knob before Taichi’s voice boomed out on the other side.

“Koushiro, it’s me”

Koushiro opened the door hurriedly to reveal a drenched Taichi, rainwater dripping from the top of his brown hair to the soles of his shoes, a brown parcel tucked underneath his arms.

“Here,” he asserted before handing the parcel to Koushiro, “It’s that package you wanted from your office”

“Oh!” Koushiro cried out, then accepted the package with glee. His memory came back to him bit-by-bit, of the project he was working on before finding out he was out of oolong tea, of the frantic message he sent Taichi just moments before he stepped out to the grocery store.

“So…What’s in the package?” Taichi questioned

“A new book published by a Digimon researcher I knew in India. I needed to look something up to help me with this project I was working on before…” his voice trailed off, remembering his trip to the grocery store, remembering the cry that distracted him from his route home.

“So…aren’t you going to invite me in?” Taichi asked, his voice breaking through Koushiro’s reverie.

Koushiro blushed. Any other day, he would have, especially knowing Taichi marched across the city in a torrential downpour to bring him this book. But today, today his heart and thoughts were preoccupied by different priorities.

“Actually um…I’m kind of…maybe not today.”

“What? I walked forty minutes in the rain to deliver the book to you. Can’t you at least let me wait out the rain in your apartment?”

“How about…um…how about I call you an Uber?”

Taichi narrowed his eyes, his gaze now directed to the inside of his apartment, to the glass of water he left for the cat before Taichi’s entrance interrupted its meal.

“Do you have guests over?” Taichi inquired, in a somewhat salacious voice.

Koushiro winced, “No…no it’s not that”

Taichi burst into a rambunctious laugh, then winked obnoxiously at Koushiro, who stood like a deer in headlights.

“Say no more, Kou, I’ll leave you be, but…you have to tell me all about it at work tomorrow”

“What? No no no no no, I…it’s not that…I swear!”

Taichi pursed his lips and shrugged, “Listen, Kou, you don’t have to be embarrassed about it. We’re all adults here.”

Koushiro sighed, “No, it’s not what you think…it’s…alright fine, come on in, you might be able to help me with this…given that you have experience in this field.”

Taichi gave an uneasy stare, but the prospect of a warm and dry shelter was much too enticing to pass off, so he entered Koushiro’s apartment and closed the door, shedding his wet outerwear onto the foyer floor.

“Should I be scared?” he demanded in a hesitant voice.

In response, Koushiro beckoned Taichi over to his sofa, putting his fingers on his lips as he pointed to the darkened space beneath.

Taichi eyed it cautiously, then emitted a nervous giggle while he stared Koushiro down.

“What are you setting me up for?”

Koushiro jabbed his finger towards the space, “I think it’s better…if you see for yourself”

They bent down to their knees and pushed their heads into the small space. It took awhile for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once it did, Koushiro saw the cat huddled deep into a corner, its large green eyes widened with fear.

Taichi gasped and drew his head out immediately, prompting Koushiro to follow suit.

“Is that a…cat?” Taichi inquired.

Koushiro nodded, “Yeah…I found it on my way home from the store. I couldn’t leave it on its own so…”

Taichi laughed and shook his head, “Had no idea you were a cat person, Kou. Did Miko awaken something in you?”

Koushiro rolled his eyes. Both he and Taichi knew he had a very strained relationship with the Yagami cat, but he chose to ignore the statement and moved on with his question.

“So…can you help me out with this?”

Taichi took a step back, “What do you mean? Like….take the cat?”

Koushiro shrugged, “Well…I think it’s best since you’ve owned a cat before…”

“No. Nope, no, no thanks. I did my share of cat caring with Miko growing up”

“Okay fine…don’t take the cat, but…can you at least tell me what to do? You have experience, so…how can I care for it? What do I feed it? What does the cat need?”

Taichi stroked his chin thoughtfully, “Let’s see…you’ll definitely need cat food, both the dry and wet ones, which leads to…food bowl, and a cat fountain, and you’ll definitely need a litter box, a cat bed, and maybe some cat toys…”

“Wow, there,” Koushiro interrupted. Cat toys? “I’m not…I’m not keeping the cat, I just need some small supplies for until I bring it to a proper shelter”

Taichi raised one eyebrow, skewering Koushiro with a stare he could only describe as doubt.

“Oh yeah…how long are you planning to keep it?”

Koushiro pursed his lips, “I don’t know…a few days? But not longer than a week.”

Taichi shrugged, “Alright…whatever you say,” he bent down and studied the cat with one eye closed, “What type of cat is it?”

“I don’t know…black?”

“Really? Like it’s all black?”

“Yeah, why? Is that…is there something significant about that?”

Taichi chuckled, then stood up again with his gaze still locked on the space beneath Koushiro’s coach, “Actually…yeah…black cats are…well…okay, let me tell you a story, but you can’t tell Hikari this, swear to me you won’t tell her.”

Koushiro scrunched his face in confusion before finally nodding, “Alright? I mean…I don’t know how anything you tell me could come up in my conversations with Hikari, but…let’s hear it”

Taichi shot him an annoyed look, but obliged and continued his story.

“The truth is…Miko was originally a black cat, an all black one like the one you found but well…when my Dad and I brought him home from the shelter, my mom freaked out and demanded that it be taken back and ask for a different one instead…that’s how we ended up with the Miko we had.”

Koushiro gasped, “No way…why?”

“Well…a lot of people are scared of black cats. They’re really superstitious about these things. I still remember my mom’s tirade when we brought the first cat home, about how Hikari was already a sickly child as she is, and bringing in a black cat will only give us bad luck.”

“But…they’re just cats, what difference does it make what colour they are? It’s not their fault they were born with black hair”

Taichi gave a wistful smile, “That’s just the way it goes sometimes. I heard black cats are usually the last to get adopted, and there are so many left in shelters that sometimes, they have to put them down to make room for other cats that get brought in.”

Koushiro’s chest tightened, he looked down at the space underneath the sofa and thought of the round green eyes that honed in on him in that drenched cardboard box, of the way it shivered in his arms as he walked it home, and the way it devoured the leftover onigiri with a desperation that made his heart ached.

It was just looking for a home, a place to belong to…how could anyone hate it for such empty reasons?

“Is that…are you really telling me the truth?”

Taichi snorted, then walked away and entered Koushiro’s kitchen, opening the fridge without an invitation.

“It’s up to you if you want to believe me or not, but…just keep that in mind before you bring it to the shelter, that’s all.”

—

One week later, it was still on Koushiro’s mind.

Taichi’s stark statement echoed in the recesses of his consciousness each morning, jostled awake by the cat bunting its head against his cheek.

“Wha…what…?” he grumbled groggily. But of course he already knew the what, he had somehow inherited a personal alarm clock, one that runs on a need for a morning feeding at 6:30 in the morning, every morning.

In response, it rubbed its head against Koushiro’s mouth, transferring a good helping of black cat hair onto his tongue.

“Oh…okay…okay I’m up, I’m up…I’m going, I’m going…”

He rolled out of his bed, stumbling out of his bedroom and into his darkened apartment, where subtle changes had slowly accumulated over the past few days. He dug up old pillows and cushions to lay around his minimalistic apartment, creating perfect nap nooks for his new - and as he continued to insist, temporary - roommate. 

His feline friend zipped past him and bounded onto the kitchen counter, circling twice before parking itself down and fixing its large green eyes on him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Koushiro mumbled in between yawns, opening up his cabinet to retrieve a can of unopened cat food.

Immediately, the cat reacted, jumping down to the floor and weaving in-and-out of Koushiro’s legs.

“Hey now, that’s not helping me move any faster,” Koushiro groaned, but to no avail. The cat continued its dance between Koushiro’s limbs, rubbing against him while purring in ecstasy.

Koushiro couldn’t stop a satisfied smile from seeping out between his lips. The first time he heard the cat purr was the first morning he woke up with it in his apartment. He fell asleep to it huddled beneath the sofa, even hours after Taichi had left, but he woke up to the cat laying beside him on his pillow, its purr reminding him of the old school heater his grandparents would wheel into his room during his visits. He had assumed purring was a good sign, but after looking it up, he learned a purr can be as enigmatic as a smile, and somehow, it fascinated Koushiro even more. Only a week in, and he had devoted hours to deciphering the cat’s purrs and eye movements, hypothesizing what thoughts could dance in its mind while it rubbed its head against Koushiro’s arms.

After heaping a mountain of cat food on an old chipped plate, he placed it on the floor beside the cat, then kneeled down and watched it devour the offering at breakneck speed.

“Jeez, you haven’t learned to eat any slower, have you?”

It ignored Koushiro, or perhaps…it didn’t hear him, Koushiro wasn’t sure. Only after it licked the last of the food from the bowl did it finally move closer to him, then bunted its head once again against Koushiro’s shin as if to say thanks.

“You’re welcome,” Koushiro chimed off.

The cat gave a satisfied mew, then parked itself down on the floor before closing its eyes and opening them slowly. According to his research these past few weeks, this gesture was much less ambiguous than a purr. When a cat engages in slow-blinking, it feels safe and comfortable enough to let down its guard, and although finding this out thrilled him to a surprising degree, it also left something else in the depth of his heart as well.

Guilt.

Beyond researching cat behaviours and cat caring strategies, Koushiro was busy looking up other things as well.

Cat sanctuaries in Tokyo

Safest animal shelters near me

Black cats

Black cats adoption rate

Black cat superstition

Do shelters put down black cats because there are too many of them?

Every result he pulled up added to his uncertainty and doubt, swaying him back-and-forth between his choices. 

“Don’t give me that look,” Koushiro sighed, albeit with a hue of sadness staining his tone, “You know you can’t stay here much longer.”

The cat turned away, as if understanding every word Koushiro spoke, and ambled off towards his makeshift litter box - an old wash basin Koushiro found filled with the cheapest litter he could buy from the grocery store. Koushiro sighed in defeat, watching as the cat kicked up a storm of dirt, no doubt voicing its displeasure at Koushiro’s intentions.

“Although…” he mumbled, before his thoughts were cut short by a series of chimes from his phone.

He turned his attention to the screen, unsurprised to find his mother’s name appearing on the caller list.

“Hello? Mom?” he greeted.

“Good morning, Koushiro,” came his mom’s usual cheerful voice through the receiver. He let loose an unbridled smile, imagining his mother bustling through her balcony garden, her phone in one hand, the other with her purple watering can to sprinkle just the right amount of water on her beloved flowers.

“I’m calling to see if you’re awake,” his mom continued, “And to remind you to eat your breakfast, and oolong tea is not breakfast, don’t try convincing me otherwise. I don’t care how much vitamin the labels say it has…”

Koushiro held back a chuckle, his thoughts drifting away as he listened to his mother retell the harrowing account of securing the last batch of fresh salmon at the fish market yesterday, beating old Miss Suzuki from a few doors down.

He recalled, with fondness that pinched his stomach, how his mother used to take him to that very fish market, teaching him the marks of a fresh fish, and the ones to avoid. There were passersby that cast adoring gazes upon both of them, and he remembered the old fisherman vendors asking the question with toothless grins.

Is that your son?

And even in his youth, he remembered catching the subtle twitches of his mother’s lips, the way her fingers would stiffen with his palm in hers.

Yes, yes it is. This is Koushiro, my son, and I’m…I’m his mother.

Koushiro inhaled deeply, feeling the question fill his lungs without his consent, but nevertheless, he welcomed it anyways.

“Mom?”

His mom paused his story, there was a slight hesitation, then a response.

“What is it?”

“What made you and dad decide to adopt me?”

Koushiro heard the gasp emanating from the receiver, then a dull thud indicating his mother had dropped the watering can in shock. But he bit his lips and waited, and waited, and waited, until his mother finally responded with a small chuckle.

“You know…everyone always speaks of adoption as if it was a one way street.”

Koushiro froze. Unbeknownst to him, the cat had made its way back to where he stood, as if sensing the tension in his body. It bounded onto the kitchen counter and squeezed itself close, its head desperately pushing up against his palm, begging for attention.

“When we told people we had plans to adopt you, it was always wow, how kind of you and that boy is so lucky. They talked about us doing some great favours for you, as if we were saving your life.”

“Well…you did…in a way…”

“I don’t know about that, Koushiro, but…”

Finally, Koushiro noticed the cat by his side. He looked down at its wide green eyes, remembering the first time it called out to him, desperate for a place to belong.

“I guess…now is as good a time as any to tell you the full story…”

Koushiro’s face contorted in confusion. He remained silent as his mother continued her story, which was preceded by a heavy sigh.

“Originally, we…intended to foster you, at least until Social Services figured out a long term solution for your future. I had thought of adopting you right then and there, but we didn’t think it was a good time since your dad was still travelling a lot for work, and I was working nights. So a week went by, and Social Services was sending messages about a potential family that lives in Nagoya that was eager to meet you, but…when it came time to make plans to bring you there…I couldn’t…we couldn’t do it. I kept remembering the way you laughed when your dad played with you, the way you nestled into my arms when I held you, the way you babbled like you were talking to us, asking us questions…Even when you were a baby, it seemed like…you were already asking questions and wanting to learn everything about the world.”

His mother’s voice broke, the crack of her syllables shattering his own heart. Koushiro clutched his chest and backtracked, until his back made contact with some corner of his apartment. Without missing a beat, the cat hopped off the counter, following Koushiro until it was close enough to rub up against his quivering legs.

“So you see, Kou,” his mother continued, “It’s not so much that we chose you, it was that you chose us.”

“I…I did?” Koushiro questioned in a soft voice.

“Yes, yes you did. If there’s anything we learned, it’s that…adoption is a beautiful bond forged through reciprocity, it’s about both parties opening up their hearts, and accepting one another…as family. In the end, we chose each other.”

Koushiro smiled. His vision became blurry by burgeoning tears, but he held them back, building mental levees with the will of steel. He bent down and bundled up the cat in his arms, then brought him close to his chest, feeling its purr vibrate against his chest.

“Thanks, mom,” he acknowledged.

“Anytime…my son”

Once his phone conversation ended (after a few more stories from his mother about Old Miss Suzuki down the hall), Koushiro decided to fix himself a cup of coffee, and as he sat by his window watching the morning unfold, the cat leapt up to the table with a graceful bound, reminding him of the grasshoppers that fascinated him as a child.

In his research, he learned that grasshoppers are a symbol of good luck, and spent hours building contraptions to catch them in his backyard. He never succeeded, but perhaps it was the start of his fondness for insects.

“Batta,” he mused, and scratched the spot between his ears, where Koushiro knew his new cat loved to be scratched.

The cat responded with a soft meow, then bunted Koushiro’s hands affectionately like it always did when it seeked his attention.

“Yeah…Batta, I think that’s what I’ll call you,” he said with a smile, “Now…let’s see about buying you some supplies, since you’ll be staying with me from now on, maybe a proper bed, and…some cat toys.”

Batta closed its eyes, then opened them again slowly and purposefully, and that was all the confirmation Koushiro needed to understand. 

They had chosen one another, and they were now each other’s forever homes.

(Author’s note: “Batta” is Japanese for grasshopper 🦗)

[bokura-no-digital-world]

Koushiro Week 2022 - Day 1: Tentomon

Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Title: Longing Characters: Koushiro Izumi, Kae Izumi, Tentomon, Mimi Tachikawa and Megumi Izumi (OC), with short appearences of Agumon, Gabumon and Piyomon. Summary: Five moments between Koushiro and Tentomon throughout the years. Note: The scene were Koushiro manages to bring Gabumon, Piyomon and Agumon back has sequels on Oretachi (last scene, written for Yamato's week) and You And Me (also last scene, written for Sora's week). In case you want to read them: Part 2 | Part 3

Everything seemed so... empty. I didn’t think it was possible to feel such thing until I went through it. I knew my adventures with the other seven children would be over eventually, but all I wanted was to be able to go back to the Digital World and see Tentomon again. “Koushiro?” My mother knocked on my door gently. “Are you awake?” “Yes, mom.” I replied, still lying down on my bed. “Come in.” “How are you feeling, sweetie?” She spoke softly as she walked inside my bedroom. “I miss Tentomon and the Digital World.” I admitted, looking at her and giving her a small smile. “But I’ll be fine, I promise.” “I wish there was a way to make things less painful for you.” She sat on my bed. “I’m very sorry you had to say goodbye to each other. I know how much he means to you.” “I keep expecting him to come flying from the window, but I know he won’t.” “Aww, darling.” My mother sat closer to me and put her arms around me. “Wherever he is, I know he’s thinking of you. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before you are reunited again.” “You think so?” “Of course. Such a good friendship can’t get lost like this. Everyone could see the strong connection you two had. That’s very rare and should be cherished.” “So you don’t think it’s strange to be friends with a virtual animal?” “Not at all.” She looked at me. “He’s not just a virtual animal to you. He’s a very dear friend and I’m very glad you found him.” “Mom.” I said in a tearful tone. “This means a lot coming from you.” “I have to admit I miss him too. I never got the chance to thank him for taking care of you and everything he did to you.” “Everything he did to me?” “You may not have noticed, but you’re a different boy now. It’s a positive change and it makes me very happy.” “Mom!” I threw myself into her arms and hugged her. “I’m so sorry for disappearing without telling you.” “Disappearing? I don’t remember that.” She said in a light tone. “There’s nothing to apologize for, sweetheart. You saved the world. I should be the one thanking you. In fact, I know just exactly what we should do.” “What?” “Me and your father are taking you out for dinner.” “Mom, really, you don’t have to. I don’t want you to waste money on me.” “It’s not a waste of money, Koushiro. We’re going to celebrate and also spend some time together. And if you want, you can go to the arcade.” “Thank you, mom.” “No need to thank me.” She gave me a smile. “I love you so much, sweetie.” “I love you too.” “Dinner is ready.” She stood up and looked at me. “You don’t have to eat right now if you don’t want it. I’ll put it on the oven when we finish.” “That’s okay.” I jumped out of my bed and walked to her, reaching out for her hand. “I’m starving, actually.” “I’m relieved to hear that. I was thinking you weren’t eating that much and was worried about it. I bet Tentomon would be too, if he was here.” “He most certainly would. He would keep insisting I should eat more.” I stated and then laughed.

Keep reading it on FFN or AO3

[beermanoftana]

the day love expired (but it didn’t have a definitive date)

header by: @/earlgreymon

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know love had an expiration date.” - letters to juliet

i’m a little late but i forgive myself because i really just thought of this last week. i wrote this one in one sitting today, this wrote itself, and although i know it isn’t my best, i think it’s okay enough? you decide.

anyways, this is my january entry for my own monthly challenge it’s just like in the movies, it’s my second takari fic so let’s see how it goes! (and yes, i changed the title)

digimon adventure masterlist

it’s just like in the movies masterlist

the day love expired (but it didn’t have a definitive date) | main characters ; hikari yagami | inspiration ; letters to juliet | pairings ; takeru x hikari | genre ; au, slight angst | word count ; 2,300 | rating ; g | edited ; thrice - forgive me for any mistakes

Twenty-three.

Twenty-three years.

It had been twenty-three years since she last saw him. They were only eight years-old when they first met, but now, at thirty-one, he was back on her mind. Her first friend. Her first crush. Sometimes she wonders if he was her first love. Probably. Maybe. Perhaps. But who’s to say at such a young age?

But Hikari knew that she would never see him again. They lost contact at the age of fifteen when one of them—she could not remember who; well, more like, she did not want to remember who—had stopped replying.

A few years back, she had tried to look for him. After intensive research, including asking her friend Koushiro for help, she came up empty-handed. It was hard but she eventually moved on. Sort of. 

She married one of her student’s uncles, a man named Tatsuya, and they had a son, Akihito, who was the spitting image of her. She was happy, although she did remember him from time to time. But she loved her family, she cared for them with every bit and piece. And her son was her world.

It seemed everything was in place until Tatsuya’s accident. For a while, she and Akihito drifted apart. He blamed her for what had happened. If she had not gone to see her friend on such short notice even though she was feeling sick, he would not have had to walk in the foggy rain where cars could easily lose control.

And she did blame herself. Her son was right. She was feeling ill when her friend asked her to come over for help, which in hindsight was with something pretty petty. But she was persuaded still and headed out. When Tatsuya learned about whereabouts, he instructed her to stay put and they would walk home together.

Hikari walked home alone that night.

She was worried about him, he was not picking up her calls nor was he in his parent’s house. It was not until the next day that the police arrived at their doorstep. She identified the body. Then she allowed herself to break down.

“It wasn’t your fault,” her mother would assure her.

But she could not believe that, and for the rest of her life, she knew she would feel guilty for his death. ‘If only I hadn’t…if only I hadn’t, if only I hadn’t.’ Those words were tattooed now, she knew it was going to be permanent.

It was now Tatsuya’s fourth anniversary and she and Akihito were paying their respects. They had grown closer once again, knowing that they only had each other now. 

“Mama,” Akihito started in a low voice. Hikari’s eyes were filled with tears, her lips quivering, her whimpers getting louder. She felt herself shaking until her son held onto her arm. “It’s okay. Papa wouldn’t want this.”

Hikari sniffled. “I know.” She wiped her tears away and said, “I’m sorry.”

Her son gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s not your fault.” That was a far cry from three years ago. He had only begun allowing himself to reconnect with his mother. Being angry at her was his way of coping, he needed to let out his anger and grief and he lashed it out on her. She had no fault and he knew it. “It’s not your fault.”

When her own father had passed away, Hikari knew it was time to move on. Yes, she still felt guilty, she still felt that it was all her fault, but she needed to start again. She would never forget him, she would always love him, but she knew he would want her to have a new life. And that was just what she planning on doing.

One day, she was rummaging through some of her mother’s books in her childhood home. She nearly gave up looking for one of the photo albums when she found a tiny notebook. As she dismissed it and popped it back to its proper place, a photo fell out. It was a sepia-colored shot and she wondered what it was doing inside.

She took a closer look and her eyes widened when she realized it was her mother Yuuko and a man she did not know, a man who was not her father. And they looked happy, happier than she had ever seen her mom.

She scanned through the notebook and found that it was much like a diary, but more in the form of letters. She stood up from the floor and walked out of the hall and to her mother where she was cooking in the kitchen.

“Mama.”

“Mm?”

“Who’s Juliet?”

Her mother slowly dropped her arms, then placed the spatula on the counter, and lowered the blaze of the fire. “I forgot where I put those.” Yuuko turned around and smiled. A smile that Hikari could only describe as melancholic. “I never got to send those letters, Hikari. I was too scared, too nervous.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Hikari said a little impatiently. If her mother was reminiscing about the past which did not include her father she had the right to know why. “Why do you have a notebook filled with letters meant for her? And,” she held up the photo, “who is this man?”

Yuuko sighed and turned off the stove. “Sit,” she ordered.

Hikari hesitated but then complied. She slid on a chair and waited as her mother took the one in front of her.

“In Venice, there’s a group of women, Juliet’s Secretaries, who would read and respond to those who wrote letters to Juliet. They would stick their letters to their wall and the secretaries come to collect them then send out their responses.”

Hikari did not react.

Yuuko sighed. “Long before I met your father, I’ve been with a man named Tomoki.” She smiled and bowed her head. “I loved him and we were to be wed.” Then she sighed. “But he had to leave for Venice, his parents were stationed there and they wanted him to go with them. Tomoki asked me to go with him, but I couldn’t just leave your grandparents.”

Hikari lowered her eyes. “Oh.”

“I went to Venice, remember that? I went to Venice with my friends as a celebration for—ah, what was it for again?” She chuckled. “We went to Venice and when I found out about Juliet, I wrote to her. I was hoping she could tell me what I could do. But I thought it was a lost cause so I didn’t bother. I’m going to be honest, I looked for him. I looked for Tomoki, but,” she shrugged, “it just was never meant to be.”

There was a wave of sadness that filled the room, and against her better judgment, she felt bad for her mother.

Yuuko nodded slowly. “You don’t mind if I keep the notebook and photo, do you, Hikari?”

It took a while for her to answer. But now that she listened to her mother’s story, what right did she have? Yes, she was a little angry about her mother loving someone who was not her father but…her mother had done nothing wrong but love a man.

And then it hit her, she and Yuuko were two peas in a pod.

A school choir competition in Venice was all she needed to remember everything. During their free time, she and Akihito would roam around; but what she was really trying to do was prepare herself to walk to the the famous alleyway. She had wanted to go since day one, but she also wanted her son to have some fun.

“Where do you wanna go tomorrow?” Akihito asked, a knowing smile on his face.

Hikari giggled. “You got me.”

And as they walked along the long stone wall, they watched as people stuck their letters of different colors and different designs. She smiled and clutched her purse. Licking her bottom lip, she let go.

“Stick it before they get it,” her son said suddenly. “Hurry.”

She exhaled, a soft laugh came along with it. She stood up, took the pink envelope from her bag, and stuck it to the wall. She may never get their response, given she put her home address in Japan, but with her son’s encouragement, she knew it was going to be alright.

As they were driving back, they passed by a small vineyard. They were taking a long way detour, thus they did not see it earlier. She rolled down the window of the rental car and sniffed the air.

“When I’m older, I’ll be drinking a lot of those,” Akihito joked, and she laughed.

She saw the grape farmers picking the fruits, examining them, and then placing them inside their baskets .

But then she came to a halt, surprising her son and even herself.

“What’s wrong?”

Hikari put the car in reverse, stopped, and stared at the man a few feet away. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she told her son to stay in the car as she opened her door and walked towards the vineyard.

She walked slowly, carefully. But as she neared, the man looked up at her. He looked confused, and really, she could not blame him. He spoke in Italian. Hikari blinked. It seemed like he was asking her a question but she did not understand what he was saying.

“May I help you?” he spoke again, this time in English.

“Yes,” she replied in English. “Do you know a man named Tomoki Chidori?”

The man looked even more puzzled. “He’s my grandfather. Why?”

Her heart was beating faster and she could hear the pounding in her ears, she could feel her nerves, yet, she was very excited. The man in front of her looked exactly like the man in her mother’s photo. ‘He must be the one’. “My name is Hikari Tanaka. Could you…could you tell him I know someone named Yuuko Nakamura.”

The man eyed her cautiously before nodding and walking away.

She watched him until he disappeared before exhaling. ‘This is interesting.’ She walked back to the car and then parked by the side.

“Is everything okay?” Akihito asked, worry evident in his voice.

Hikari stared at the wheel before nodding. “I have to tell you something.”

And it was a year later when the wedding of Tomoki and Yuuko was about to commence.

Akihito, along with his cousins, would tease their grandmother, telling her she was a little too old to be getting married again. Yuuko would laugh and kiss the top of their heads. “I know.”

As Hikari arranged all the last-minute details, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hikari Yagami,” the person said her name softly.

“Hm?” She tilted her head. “Tanaka,” she corrected before spinning around. “Hikari Tana…ka….”

And there, in the flesh, was Takeru Takaishi. They both grew up, they had both changed. But she knew it was him. She knew. She would always know.

He had a small, shy smile on his face. “It is you.”

She nodded. “And it’s you.”

He nodded. “Uh…Tomoki is my father’s friend,” he explained.

“Yuuko…,” she stopped. He knew that.

“I heard it was you who brought them together.”

“I suppose.” She swallowed. “I looked for you. Everywhere.”

He lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stand not being able to see you…so I thought, might as well, right?” He scoffed and shook his head. “Teenagers.” He sighed. “But I thought you would be happy by then so I let you go. I got married, you know. But um…didn’t work out.” Hikari realized that he was rambling. “I have a son, Tenma.”

“I have a son, too, Akihito.”

He smiled. “I think they’re about the same age.”

She smiled. “Playmates then.”

He chuckled. “I’d love to meet your husband.” He looked around. “I think I saw Akihito earlier so I guess he doesn’t look like his father.”

Hikari bit her lip. “He passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh.” He paused. “I’m so sorry, Hikari.”

She nodded. “I miss him, but I don’t want to ruin this day. I’m sure he wouldn’t want me to. This is for my mom and future step-dad,” she gave him a tiny smile, “nothing’s going to ruin it.”

“I don’t know him but I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to ruin this day either.” He grinned.

She looked at him. “I missed you, Takeru.”

“I never stopped thinking about you,” he admitted. “I mean, my pen name is Nozomi Hikari.” He gave an awkward, nervous laugh when Hikari’s eyes widened.

“You’re Nozomi Hikari?” She gasped. “I didn’t—”

“I keep a low profile,” he said. “I was able to ask a few people to work around it.”

“Not even Koushiro could find you.”

“Eh…I don’t think that’s true.”

“What do you mean?”

“Koushiro emailed me once, asking about my life. I figured that this guy wasn’t going to sell me out or anything, so I told him my life story. Then he mentioned you…and I asked him not to say anything.”

Hikari’s mouth dropped. “Takeru.”

“I’m sorry, Hikari.”

She bowed her head. Before she could say anything, the wedding coordinator was calling everyone inside. “The ceremony is about to start.”

It was not until the latter part of the reception that Hikari finally talked to Takeru. He slid beside her and gestured towards the back where Akihito was playing with whom she was sure was Tenma, he looked exactly like the man beside her.

There was a cheer and Tomoki and Yuuko complied.

Hikari smiled.

Takeru cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know love had an expiration date,” he said. “I quoted that in one of my books.”

She smiled. “I know, I read it.”

He smiled. “They’re wrong. Love has no expiration date.” He turned to her. “That one I’m sure.”

She turned back to him, a smile still on her face. “I agree. Love…has no expiration date.” And she was sure of that. She was very sure of that.

[izzyizumi]

{A.M.V.} Digimon Adventure x 02 x tri. x 2020 featuring Character{s}/DUO/SHIP/O.T.P: Koushiro{u} Izumi x Taichi Yagami {KOUTAI}/{Taishiro}

Title: Part of {THIS} World

Song: Part of Your World (from The Little Mermaid) (C) D.I.S.N.E.Y Series: Digimon (C) Toei Animation

Summary:

“Oh, there is SO MUCH I DON’T KNOW, There is SO MUCH I HOPE {T H E Y} [TEACH] M E, WHY does a fire ‘burn’? TELL Me,”

I call this A.M.V. & storyline, “the difference between ‘Interests’ you hate / can’t get anything (personally) worthwhile out of {the things Vademon forces directly on Koushiro in Ep 24 - False, empty, anti intellectual ‘concepts’ like “Cosmic Power” mentioned in the J.P.N version}, and Interests you ENJOY, and why they’re Important (to Koushiro Izumi’s canon Character Developments & Character traits across the entire series).” {Yes, INCLUDING in post 02 media like tri., Kizuna, and DigiAdv 2020.}

“Is it wrong to want to ‘KNOW’ Everything?” - Koushiro, genuinely questioning, to Vademon, Adventure Ep. 24 “I DON’T WANT TO KNOW! I DON’T want to kNOW” - Koushiro giving up Koushiro’s “Inquisitive Heart” (in American English U.S. dub, this was localized as “Curiosity”) ... but it’s actually Koushiro’s ‘Inquisitive’ “Heart” “I want to Know! I WANT TO KNOW!” - Koushiro Izumi willingly regaining Koushiro’s Inquisitive Heart, at Ep’s End

A.K.A.: Why WAS Koushiro’s Crest “KNOWLEDGE”? (And why is “KNOWLEDGE” Important to Koushiro’s Whole Storyline?) {And why is finding your personal “KNOWLEDGE” Not A “Bad” Thing??} And why is it NOT bad to acknowledge such things & concepts AS, SPECIFICALLY, ‘KNOWLEDGE’? (Of course, a certain main storyline of Koushiro is tied in by or at the end too, but it’s not the only thing this time...)

And as an added bonus, this cover was sung by Natsuki Hanae himself!!! (Natsuki Hanae is Tri!Taichi’s J.P.N seiyuu {voice actor}!!)

Made in 2 hours, with another hour spent previewing & formatting this post. I must have re listened to this 50 times in a row because the track (it’s a semi common error with things I’ve made by now, I’ve noticed) glitched about 15 clips in, and then Ep 21 clips nearly made the whole thing crash. (Which also wasn’t even 30 clips in) The full amount of clips is 34, but the song is almost 3 minutes long. The clips used here are intended to be timed to mood of the song and the lyrics, (including some influence, if not entirely as I’m also taking from this J.P.N version, from the original English song) while also reflecting actual canon influence.

This is the J.P.N version of the song, so the lyrics are lightly adjusted! Unfortuntely, this one isn’t yet sub’d, so please rely on my reference for lyrics, thank you!! (I highly recommend reading them before watching!)

Clips used are from (mainly) Adventure Episode 24 (a Koushiro focus ep) until through to Tri’s “Kokuhaku” and “Soushitsu”.

The main scenes used are Koushiro relevant moments, (no major battle scenes here), a single shot of Tri!Taichi (Soushitsu / Part 4 relevant moment), and the middle moments of Kokuhaku where the Tri Chosen and Koushiro reunite in front of Taichi, from the middle end of Kokuhaku (the one previewed in trailers). A miniscule moment from DigiAdv 2020 Ep 14 is also used for emphasis, though this one mainly focuses on Adventure{s}!Koushiro, 2020!Koushiro is definitely included in this concept as well.

{DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT re-post}

(Note: replies/Tags that are Positive/respectful are OK!)

[noctisfishing]

Bed of Flowers

Written for Sora Takenouchi Week Day 02 (Flowers)

Characters: The eight Chosen

Timeline: Post tri.

Words: 1,274

Notes: I kinda/sorta want to combine this with the Friends & Family, but as you read more, I think it fits best with the Flower prompt.

This draws heavy references to @sakurarebin’s post on Sora’s ikebana in the short “To Sora”. I loved this post so much. I hope you're doing well, Sakura! <3

There are no intended ships in this, just the Chosen Children finding tranquility in the moment. (aka let the kids rest for a bit :P)

The themes of the tri. stage play have never left my mind since I watched it with my Discord friends a few weeks ago, so that *may* have had an influence in this piece as well. And I may have unintentionally attempted to fill a story gap between tri. and Kizuna.

“Bed of roses”: an easy and comfortable situation in which a person likes to live

~*~*~*~*~

On a lightly breezy spring day in late March, Sora strolled along the sidewalk by herself. She walked past the trees of sakura and plum that were in full bloom, and the sun lit up the bright, blue sky.

But Sora found her attention downward at the front yard of a house she walked past, its garden bursting with a colorful array of flowers that her mother would love to stop and look at.

Sora's eyes fell on the poppies that sprouted right in the middle of the flower bed. Even after graduating high school with Taichi and Yamato, she felt uncertain about her choice in attending a university. Was the specialty she chose for herself captivating enough, or did she find more interest in the art of ikebana?

Another thing she didn't want to think about, but it always lingered in the back of her mind: what about Piyomon and the Digital World? She and the other Chosen Children had lived through yet another Digimon battle with their partners in the real world. Would there ever come a point where she could no longer choose to fight?

She nearly walked into Yamato with her head lowered as she was deep in thought.

“I think we all still feel uncertain about the future,” he told her once she explained that she had been worried. She gave him no further details, but with him, she felt comfortable with telling him that much. It seemed as though there was a sense of understanding when she looked into his eyes that reminded her of the flowers of Baby Blue.

The two of them walked together in silence, and Sora took in the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves and sakura blooming above them. When they walked into the local park, they spotted the odd sight of Koushiro sitting atop the grass in the middle of the lawn. His laptop was nowhere in sight, but with or without it, the expression filled with curiosity on his face made his presence as prominent as a lupine, its bright violet color contrasting against the vivid green blades.

“What are you doing here, Koushiro?” Sora asked.

“Well, I’ll begin my last year of high school soon,” explained Koushiro, “so I figured I needed to clear my mind before I have to put my focus into everything.”

“Are you thinking about the future?” Yamato asked him.

“I’m not certain that I want to right now.”

Then, Koushiro leaned back and slowly outstretched his elbows on either side to lay back against the grass. Sora shared a look with Yamato before deciding to join Koushiro and following his suit.

“Would you look at that, like youths in a bed of roses,” came a voice, and Sora turned her head to see who had shown up to stand above them.

“Hey, Jou,” Yamato said. “Why not join us? The ‘roses’ are fine down here.”

“What do you mean by that?” Koushiro asked.

“‘A bed of roses’ is a metaphor that refers to someone’s comfort zone,” Sora explained and watched Jou set his backpack down and sit down, then lay down with them.

“Oh. Well I’m glad it’s not literal. I’d rather not lay down and ruin anyone’s flowers.”

Sora laughed, then, she noticed that both Yamato and Jou had closed their eyes. She looked to Koushiro who looked back at her, curiously.

“It’s nice to unwind like this before getting back into the daily study grind,” said Jou with a sigh.

As silence fell among the four of them, Sora felt the soft breeze brush against her skin, and when she closed her eyes, too, she heard the birds’ sporadic chirping, and then felt her own self basking in the warm light of the sun. She could feel what Jou meant. Why not just lay here in peace and enjoy their surroundings, like white magnolia buds before they were ready to bloom?

Sora didn’t know if she was ready to ‘bloom’.

“What are we doing?” asked Mimi’s voice, and Sora kept her eyes closed. “Why is everyone laying down and sleeping like this?”

“We’re avoiding our responsibilities,” replied Jou.

“We’re on our ‘bed of roses’,” added Koushiro.

“Ohh,” said Mimi. “It kind of fits with all of us here like this, doesn’t it? It’s almost like we want to stay where we were like before, together, in the Digital World.”

“It certainly does not fit the metaphor, but I see where you’re coming from.”

So did Sora, who felt a tug at her heartstrings from what Mimi said. Those times were not easy, but to go back to when she was ten years old with Piyomon at her side…

“I’d also like to mention that we’re here to enjoy our peace and quiet,” Yamato muttered.

Mimi let out a squeak, and Sora did not need to open her eyes to picture Mimi holding her hand to her lips. “Sorry!”

When Sora opened her eyes to peek at what was going on, she caught Mimi stare apologetically at Yamato, although the unspoken words between the two of them caused Mimi to lay next to him. Even as Mimi fell silent, Sora knew that Mimi stood out from their group, whether she meant to or not. To her, Mimi was a hydrangea, bright, bold, and beautiful among the rest.

Takeru and Hikari had joined soon after, his smile as sunny as a yellow gerbera, Hikari a flower of light. He was about to start his first year of high school along with Hikari, so Sora did not expect them to feel as much pressure toward adulthood as the rest of them. Still, their presence was fitting as they all lay together, facing the sky, their emotions connected.

Sora closed her eyes again, knowing that there was one more missing in this flower bed.

“Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Sora’s eyes opened and this time, it was Taichi standing over her with his hands on his hips. She sat up and he sat down next to her.

“I didn’t know you were all going to meet up,” Taichi added, confused.

“We didn’t mean to do this, Taichi,” said Sora. “We all kind of found our way here.”

“It’s about time you showed up, too!” Mimi added.

“The new school year is starting for us,” Sora continued. “It seems like everyone else doesn’t want it to start. And…”

Sora hesitated to reveal her own feelings to him, even when the others admitted similar feelings. But Taichi watched her, waiting for her to answer, his expression concerned.

So, she just said it.

“I’m not sure I want it to, either. There’s just… a lot to figure out.”

Sora’s eyes looked away from Taichi’s as she explained, and when they drifted back, she noticed he looked pensive for a moment. But then, his lips curled into a smile as cheerful as an orange daisy.

“Maybe we’ll be able to figure it all out someday,” he said, his eyes as uncertain as the rest of them, but his smile was good enough to reassure her. Soon, he joined everyone in laying against the grass with his hands behind his head. His eyes were still open, and he was looking to the sky.

Sora returned to lay in her spot. She absorbed the absence of anyone talking, but she knew that they were all thinking about their own futures, each with their own doubts, but also their excitement on what might be in store. Regardless of what the future might hold for her, Sora found comfort in being surrounded by her friends who understood her best.

[dutchforstrangers]

Happy headcanon birthday! | Takeru Takaishi 12/12/1991

It's the 12th of December, which means it's smooth Sagittarius-boi Takeru's birthday regarding my own Astrology headcanons!

Takeru isn't easy to write for me, so please bear with me. His tropes -for which I used my own Astrology big three headcanons for the 01 Chosen Children and @earlgreymon's build your own story through Astrology post- weren't the easiest as well, although it was somewhat fitting for our novelist, right? Anyway, I gave the prompt a little spin, you'll see, hehe...

So the mysterious woman Takeru is (obviously) crazy about...? I think it's safest to say to imagine Hikari in the catsuit ;) I guess it became a Takari AU :D

Enjoy the read and all the hoorays for Takeru! Sorry, didn't proofread!

Guess this one became way longer than the first two; Part 1 (Koushiro) Match | Part 2 (Taichi) Not so unrequited

Genre: Unaware pining hehe | AU setting: Superhero (Aquarius Moon) | Tropes/prompt: Miscommunication (Libra Rising) | Wordcount: 1.052 | Rating: K+ | Characters: Takeru Takaishi (and Hikari Yagami..?)

Edit by @earlgreymon

Getting to know you

In the midst of winter the sky turned dark early, the rain making it even darker than usual. People were running through the streets, on their way home after a workday that seemed to be endless.

In that regard, Takeru wasn’t anything different.

It had been a busy day since he had been going from meeting to meeting before fully focusing on the crown of his journalists work. Recently, a new superhero had presented herself in the neighborhood and it was Takeru’s job to get every little fact hiding in the unknown to the surface for the people to read.

Or rather Takeru had made it his job to get the story out, his fingers itching to write all about the intriguing woman with the ringed tail and cat-like suit and ears. For all he knew she was charming, seemed to actually care about everyone and everything. Her eyes a light brown, ones he thought he recognized, but couldn’t place. He would describe her character as highly empathetic, soft and sweet, but with a twist of sassiness seeping through.

Takeru had to smile at that thought, he liked his women like that. Her being a superhero was just a fun and exciting extra.

Once arrived at his apartment, he entered through the door before hanging his signature hat and wet coat right beside the door. He switched on the light in the hallway as a cold breeze met him, making him shiver. His blue eyes quickly noticed the open window. He couldn’t remember leaving the window open after he left his apartment this morning. A frown appeared on his face as he made his way to the window to close it.

Then suddenly a light flicked on and the figure of someone unknown caught his attention. As he turned his head to its left, he found her.

“I-it’s you…”

She raised her eyebrow at him with her lips shaped into a lopsided grin. Her arms were cheekily crossed over her chest. She was provoking him.

“I figured it would be nice to pay you a visit to tell you a thing or two about me in person,” came her teasing voice. Takeru was confused.

“What…”

“I know you are writing about me.”

She was direct, looking him straight in his eyes, her light brown ones meeting his blue ones. Those eyes were talking to him, but he didn’t speak their language. Still he tried to figure her out.

“Ah yes,” he answered after a few moments. “In my defense, I believe the people deserve to know who’s the woman behind the mask and so it’s my duty to—”

“… to figure out my true identity. Yeah yeah, that’s nothing new. Heads up, you’re not the first.”

He was speechless. There she was, the one person he hadn’t talked to yet, the one person this whole story revolved around. And Takeru was speechless, his mind turning blank. She stepped closer to him.

“Aren’t you going to ask how I’ve found you?”

Takeru grinned finding back his composure, mimicking her stance.

“How’d you find me?”

She grinned back. He even thought to see her biting her lip, but he wasn’t sure. Eventually she stepped closer to him, bridging some of the distance between the two of them.

“One of your sources is an acquaintance of mine. Or actually an acquaintance of who I am behind this mask. And a very close one at that.” She winked at him. “He’s known for running his mouth.” She rolled her eyes in a playful manner, probably to the thought of the acquaintance she was thinking of.

Takeru had to swallow for a second. Her body language towards him was sensual, but distanced. She was making small talk, breaking the ice and still she kept a respectable distance to him both verbally and non-verbally. He had no idea what she was trying to tell him, but he felt that she was trying to tell him something.

“Why are you here?” Takeru decided to ask, ignoring her talking about the source and stepping a little closer in her direction. He knew he had to get a little more bold to get her away from the small talk.

She looked down at the gap between them, the distance slowly fading by every step forward each of them was making. Her arms unfolded from across her chest to her sides, her hands placed on her hips showing off her slim build and subtle body curves. Mysteriously sexy, Takeru thought and he couldn’t hide a little smirk.

“Nothing special,” one step closer to him. “Just me wanting to meet you,” another step, “as well as the other way around,” one more.

He figured out she was smaller than he was as she stood only a few inches away. Takeru was sure she could hear his heart beating, tension and excitement filling him up from his toes all the way to the top of his head. He inhaled sharply, then held in his breathe as she placed one of her hands gently on his chest.

“One question. May I ask?”

Takeru nodded exhaling, trying to calm himself down just a tad.

“Are you sure you’re writing this story about me for everyone else to read?”

“If not, then why would I write it at all?” He asked back placing his own hand over hers on his chest, grabbing her wrist and softly pulling it away from him. In the process he could feel her heart beating just as fast as his. She quickly looked down at it, then back up at his face.

“Because to me, Takaishi-kun, you’re having a bit of a miscommunication with yourself.”

He let go of her hand. “I don’t get it.”

“Then let me rephrase,” she purred with her face slowly approaching the side of his, her lips close to his ears. “Are you sure you aren’t writing the story for yourself, because you want to get to know me?”

And with that she swiftly left through the open window, leaving him behind confused, cheeks warm and blushing. Who was she? And why’d she have that impact on him…?

It made him wonder… Maybe she was right and he wasn’t just writing the story for the people. No, he was just getting to know her for himself.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] A New Dawning

Taichi wasn’t used to sleeping outside or traveling all day long. When he woke up, he was used to waking up inside of his pleasant bedroom, with guards in their usual places. He would eat with his parents and Hikari, meals that held the greatest and most variety of flavors.

Everything he had, everything he did, just seemed so soft compared to how he and the others lived now. He slept every night near Yamato, if not in his arms, and for every meal someone, usually Mimi, went out to gather whatever she could find for them to eat.

Which was often strange, because as a dryad, she could and did eat things that humans considered either moss or algae or whatever. She was getting better at finding what he, Takeru, Iori, and Hikari could eat safely, though.

Not all of the others needed to be as careful. Yamato was undead – something that he had to admit unnerved him if he thought about it too much – and only quietly slipped away to find what he needed when he had to. Sora was an angel of love, and Taichi had to admit he had no idea of what she needed to eat. He’d seen her eating a few normal fruit, but she’d also said she could go without if necessary.

Daisuke and Ken ate – things. Taichi refused to look too closely at what they ate. Ken was half-demon and could probably have eaten anything from nail shavings to dust and still gained nutrition out of it. Daisuke was a construct, a creature built of magic, and frequently shared Ken’s meals, no matter what they were. Both of them could eat almost anything, but he’d noticed that since this journey began, they shared whatever there was enough to share, with the four humans getting the first pick of it all.

What are Jou and Koushiro going to be like? He vaguely recalled having met Jou once or twice, back even before Yamato’s revelation as being a siren and subsequent – issues.

He didn’t really want to think of those issues being “sentenced to death for the crime of being a siren, throat being slit, and thrown out, only to be brought back as a vampire” and everything else that came from that. So he didn’t.

What he’d heard boiled down to the fact Jou was a vampire now as well, and Koushiro was a werecat.

And I’m going to be a werecat too. At least they hoped that he would be. He had to be something supernatural to avoid being affected by Yamato’s voice. If that didn’t happen, Yamato wasn’t ever going to talk around him again.

That wasn’t ever going to happen. He’d make Yamato bite him if he had to!

He knew he’d have a hard time convincing Yamato of that. So he didn’t worry himself about it right now and concentrated on gathering the wood for the evening fire. He had no idea of how far away they were from the kingdom, but they’d been traveling for weeks.

I should send Mother and Father a message. They’d want to know what he was doing. He’d probably be disowned and cut off from being heir. But he could manage that. Becoming a werecat probably wouldn’t help with that anyway.

So what else would he do with his life? He’d been raised and trained and taught everything he knew to be a prince and later king. Would Hikari return? She hadn’t had quite the same lessons, but it had been more or less assumed she’d enter into the priesthood and not have to worry about ruling.

His eyes flicked by the small white cat – or a not-cat – seated at Hikari’s side as she checked over Miyako. The phoenix – who went off to do her own hunting on a regular basis – had almost healed from the injuries she’d suffered during the battle against Vamdemon.

Even if she doesn’t rule, she might not join the priesthood regardless. Not when she had her very own guardian angel, and the potential to ally them with the phoenix clan.

That would all have to wait for later, though. First he would ensure that Yamato’s supernatural voice couldn’t affect him – at least not anymore than it normally did, since the blond had always had an amazing singing voice. Then he’d figure out what being a werecat meant and if it would cut him away from his realm forever.

His gaze shifted over the circle of people as he settled the pile of wood down and began to sort it properly. He’d barely known how to do this when their journey began. Just one of the many things he’d learned.

A vampire-siren. Four humans. A dryad. An angel. A construct. A prince of demons. A phoenix.

Two that he’d not yet met, but he had high hopes they’d become friends as well – another vampire and a werecat. Everything he’d heard said that they were decent people and that was what mattered, wasn’t it?

They were all his friends, and were going to be his friends if all worked out. If he couldn’t stay to be king, then they’d help him find someone who could. Ken surely knew people! If his parents didn’t trust a demon prince’s judgment, then wouldn’t that of a cupid or a phoenix be worthy?

They were his friends. He had problems and they would help him work through those problems.

I wonder if we can keep traveling after this. Maybe that was something he could do for his people, if not be king. He could be an ambassador, traveling all over the world, to all different types of realms. This could only be the beginning. They could make connections, forge alliances, and meet new people from one end of the world to the other.

His friends would help with that, too. He believed that down the core of his soul. A fresh start for all of them. He hoped it was an auspicious one.

The End

Notes: They have so much ahead of them. And one day I will write it. I hope.

[shihalyfie]

Koushirou and his overall character arc

Koushirou is probably one of Adventure’s most iconic characters, and, despite being somewhat smack in the middle of the character lineup, is somewhat of a mascot for it in some way -- being so related to “the tech world” in a series that’s about digital technology, everything ranging from his iconic computer to his leitmotif (Digital Scratch!) to even his dub catchphrase is considered symbolic of the series itself. He’s also one of the series’s most visible characters in both Adventure and 02, to the point it’s been commented he might actually have been the closest overall to the 02 group.

On top of all that, Koushirou may also be one of the most complex characters within the entire Adventure cast, and so, as always: let’s talk about this!

Koushirou in Adventure

One of the easiest things to notice about Koushirou (which is, unfortunately, lost in most translations) is that he always speaks in polite-form Japanese, to everyone. Unlike Iori, who’s simply being formal out of strict upbringing but would easily be willing to drop some pretty passive-aggressive remarks in said formal language, Koushirou actually is as polite and deferential as his language suggests. In fact, there’s hardly a single time in Adventure or 02 you could ever say he gets truly “angry” (the only time being a comedy drama CD). To be a bit blunt about it, Koushirou’s a bit of a doormat -- and on top of that, it’s made clear in Adventure episodes 38 and 54 that this is a reflexive thing for Koushirou, to the point he cannot speak casually at all without seriously forcing himself.

Koushirou being like this isn’t just because he’s necessarily trying to be the kindest person in the world, but rather, has a lot to do with social anxiety. Or, in other words, people scare him. Him being “polite” to people is basically his way of keeping “distance” (keep in mind that, in Japanese propriety, dropping polite form is basically a sign of becoming “close”). If Koushirou is deferential to everyone, he can keep a safe emotional distance away from everyone, and he can also stay away from confrontation. Hence, why he never really picks a fight with or truly yells angrily at anyone; he just really doesn’t want to deal with it.

From the Adventure novels:

Never before had he talked so much to a stranger, even if that stranger wasn’t a human being. In the days before he had left for camp, he normally avoided taking the initiative to talk to others in school. He didn’t like getting involved with them. Especially not when he didn’t even know who in the world he was. As a matter of course, his classmates rarely had a chance to talk with him. Many thought that he was hard to get along with, and Koushiro personally didn’t find that inconvenient so he did nothing to persuade them otherwise.

We learn, in Adventure episode 31, that one of the biggest things eating away at him was the knowledge that he was an adopted child. Retroactively, we learn that this was what caused him to have a sudden mental lockdown in episode 5, because Tentomon asked him about “being interested in who he [himself] is.” Because Koushirou has no sense of self-understanding -- or, more accurately, he doesn’t want to understand himself at this point because it requires confronting an uncomfortable truth with uncomfortable implications he doesn’t want to think too hard about -- he can hardly bring himself to interact with other people.

It’s also important to realize that just because Koushirou kept his distance from people didn’t mean he was some kind of misanthrope. Adventure episode 28 implies -- and Our War Game!, 02 episode 7, and Diablomon Strikes Back fully confirm -- that Koushirou maintains an extensive network of people he chats with on the Internet, effectively being an early Usenet adopter. (Modern viewers would probably be aghast at the free range a ten-year-old was effectively exercising on the Internet, given what we know about Internet safety now.) As many of us can attest, social anxiety problems are often significantly less pronounced on the Internet due to the extra “barrier” allowing for less pressure. So it’s not that Koushirou wasn’t sociable or couldn’t make acquaintances he’d feel comfortable casually hitting up; it’s just that real-time social communication was overwhelming, and emotionally opening up to people even harder. It’s one thing to have acquaintances you can ask favors from or consult on various topics, and another for that person to actually be emotionally an intimate friend with you.

In light of all of this, in terms of wanting to avoid people by proxy of wanting to avoid even thinking about himself, Koushirou thus turned to his computer. However, it’s not quite the “machines are easier to deal with than people!” trope that you would usually see in “tech geek” or “engineer” characters. Actually, Koushirou’s fascination with computers has very little to do with tech.

The core behind Koushirou’s character is “I want to know.” Or, in other words, Koushirou is perpetually curious about everything. He absorbs information like a sponge, and the presumable reason he buried himself into computers was that -- it being the easiest way to connect him to the wealth of information that is the Internet, as well as easy storage for a bunch of reference materials and analysis tools -- it was his easiest way to learn things, and especially in a way that doesn’t require face-to-face interaction with people. His own Crest, “Knowledge”, has a bit of an oversimplified name -- Adventure episode 24 basically removes all subtlety from the equation by hammering it very clearly that Koushirou’s actual defining trait has very little to do with the technical knowledge he’s actually gained, and far more the curiosity that drives him to constantly learn more and not stay ignorant.

The reason this ties into his initial problem of not wanting to face other people, and not wanting to face himself, is brought up in Adventure episode 5 (although the full context is not quite clarified until 31): Koushirou is enthusiastic to learn about everything else but himself. Basically, it all comes from it having been his coping method of avoiding thinking about his own position in the world -- why not spend all that mental energy thinking about everything else?

This brings us chronologically to the beginning of Adventure -- or, more accurately, a little before it. Just prior to the events of the series, Koushirou joined Taichi and Sora’s soccer club. This is a fact about him that tends to drop under the radar, because in the actual series, it’s only mentioned very quickly in Adventure episode 16, but otherwise it’s something that’s easy to forget because Koushirou isn’t exactly the inspiring image of someone very athletic. The reason why he joined the club is given in the novels:

Because their school curriculum had a physical education requirement, Koushiro was forced to choose a club. It was a mere coincidence that he chose the soccer club. He wouldn’t have to face people one-on-one if he was in a club emphasizing teamwork rather than individual achievement, and the positions in soccer appeared more vague than they were in baseball. He felt that in the soccer club, he wouldn’t have to go out of his way to engage with other people. Taichi was an upperclassman in that soccer club. It wasn’t that he was extremely talkative, but Taichi treated everyone without discrimination, as equals. That attitude of his didn’t change, even towards Koushiro. If Taichi hadn’t invited him, Koushiro was sure that he would have never gone to summer camp.

Again, tying back to what was said earlier about Koushirou wanting to avoid people (because they’re scary) and not wanting to think too hard about himself: Koushirou joined the soccer club because he wanted to be invisible. He didn’t care so much about the activity itself as much as he wanted to have minimal presence and not have to stick out as a person, so he could fulfill his requirement and go home.

This also becomes a key factor into why Koushirou ultimately develops the relationship with Taichi that he does -- because even as his upperclassman and the ace of the team, Taichi straddled the exact balance of reaching out to him while also giving him his space, meaning that he not only managed to convince Koushirou to make one of the most important decisions of his life, Koushirou also developed a respect for him that enabled him to comfortably approach Taichi even during the early episodes of the series, when he would otherwise keep his distance from others. It is likely no exaggeration to say that, from the beginning of Adventure to the end, Taichi probably becomes the emotionally closest person to Koushirou out of the entire group.

For the early stages of the series, Koushirou is, effectively, being bombarded with a ton of new information, and he constantly gets sidetracked. Koushirou ends up falling into a certain psychological pattern that’s actually detailed more realistically than you might expect -- he gets so “in the zone” while being absorbed in gathering information that it becomes difficult to tear him away from it, and he has a hard time stopping because any kind of interruption would cause him to lose it (which happens in episode 5). This is a problem when they’re in the middle of another world and there’s more practical things to be done -- every time he sees something that bothers him, he keeps getting sidetracked by it, because it nags at him and he needs to get to the bottom of it, now.

On top of that, during these early episodes, Koushirou is awful at interacting with people. It’s not that he’s being callous about it (these screenshots don’t show it well, but Koushirou’s tone here in episode 10 makes it clear he does realize things are going south but simply isn’t sure how to fix it), but he’s so inexperienced at dealing with people that he keeps trying to talk about how this will practically help them and not things that actually appeal to Mimi’s emotional needs. He ultimately does try to make it up to Mimi in his own way by helping her and Tentomon out of the labyrinth, and Mimi is a kind person who forgives him easily, but nevertheless, kid’s got a long way to go.

But on the flip side, Koushirou’s tendency to never let a thing go whenever it nags at his head (something that unfortunately tended to get him fixating on less than practical things) ends up becoming a very important asset as he settles into his role as the team’s analyst. Note that I say analyst and not “tech person” -- there’s a very good reason for that, because Koushirou’s accomplishments in this series (while being somewhat impressive for a ten-year-old kid in the late 90s) are actually not that impressive from a technical standpoint. All of Koushirou’s accomplishments in Adventure and 02 have strictly to do with his ability to gather information and put it to good use.

He figures out that (shock) the Digital World is made of data in Adventure episode 19, which is possibly one of the most mundane things you could possibly figure out about the Digital World. The reason this is impressive for Koushirou is that he had to figure this out all from scratch, by putting all of his observation data in his computer and observing things such as markings written on the wall affecting reality. (Even then, a lot of what he says in this episode is hypothesis, as his theory about “real bodies” turns out not to be true come episodes 21 and 28.)

He analyzes the information about Nanomon’s pyramid in episode 20. Again, it’s all based off of information he’d received beforehand, just making deeper use of it.

He solves the card puzzle in episode 28, which only really requires as much technical skill as looking things up in an encyclopedia; the accomplishment came from reading the data out of it and spotting patterns using sheer intellect.

He makes use of some programs Gennai had provided him in episode 31 -- again, things Gennai had provided him, not anything he’d made himself.

He figures out the meaning of the “prophecy” in episode 38, mainly just using sheer logical deduction using clues from the kids’ parents (the computer was really just for reading Gennai’s email).

He figures out a tactical strategy for defeating MetalSeadramon with the Dramon Destroyers in episode 42, which, again, requires about as much technical skill as reading an encyclopedia; the important part is that he pieced together a strategy.

He uses the Internet cables around Mugendramon’s town to connect to the Internet to do research, which backfires spectacularly when they exploit it to figure out their location, and ultimately gets him to spoof their location back (which is probably the single biggest tech accomplishment he pulls off in this entire series). Even that doesn’t work in the end, which makes them all just...physically wing it (and get Takeru and Sora’s help).

...Yeah, that’s it! The kid is, ultimately, a ten-year-old with a laptop; it’s not about his tech skills but the fact he is a remarkably deductive and perceptive ten-year-old with a laptop.

Another interesting thing about Koushirou in episode 19 is that we get our first depiction of Koushirou actually having an extended session of teaching others about what he’s learned. Quite a few people have pointed out that while Koushirou tends to mentally shut other people out when absorbing information, this does not apply when disclosing information -- he breaks things down very easily for others to understand and constantly makes sure that everyone’s following. The difference boils down to the same fundamental reason: Koushirou is passionate about the information he’s gathered. When he’s gathering information, he has a tendency to fixate because he wants to take in as much as he can as once, but when he’s telling other people about what he’s just discovered, there’s no point in telling people about the Exciting New Things he’s just learned if nobody can understand it, so he conversely becomes quite an attentive and easy-to-follow teacher.

In episode 24, Koushirou basically ditches anything to do with the computer and decides to find a way to meet Gennai. This despite the fact he’d previously tried to avoid face-to-face conversation -- because, in the end, what Koushirou really wants doesn’t have much to do with computers, but the fact he wants to Know Things. And here’s the Digital World, full of so many mysteries and things to uncover, that his desire to learn things takes priority. Koushirou’s humble enough to know when there’s things he can’t do by himself -- so in this case, interrogating someone more knowledgeable about it (like his Internet friends, or, in this case, Gennai) works fine too. And he most certainly does interrogate Gennai in episode 28, basically picking his brain about everything he knows, and Gennai ultimately acknowledges his desire to know more by upgrading his Digimon Analyzer and giving him a bunch of software resources that Koushirou later utilizes to make a lot of his more important later-series deductions.

This is how Koushirou becomes such an important centerpiece of the series -- not just merely through having a computer in a story about a digital world, but also being the one who most aggressively pokes into the mysteries behind the worldbuilding and, ultimately, the story itself. There’s a reason Digital Scratch! tends to be one of the most well-remembered of the Adventure letimotifs -- because it plays really often, in terms of anything to do with “uncovering the truth”.

Episode 28 becomes very important for Koushirou’s character growth, too, because what starts off as what should have been Koushirou’s worst nightmare -- being put on the spot by everyone -- ultimately proves to be something very important to what he’d needed this entire time: validation. Taichi, entrusted with everything in terms of making the decision about the card puzzle, chooses to use his leader’s authority to appoint Koushirou to the job. Koushirou pulls it off marvelously, and even apologizes for his limitations in figuring out the last card. Instead, everyone applauds him.

After all of the running in circles Koushirou had gone in for the first half of the series, fixating on details way more than would arguably be practical and getting sidetracked by them, it turns out, all of it paid off, because Koushirou gathering and using this information ended up being one of the most necessary skills needed for this moment. Sure, there may have been snags on the road, but all of the “this might be important later!” turned out to be very much true. And for that, Koushirou is not ostracized or treated like an oddity, but appreciated and valued for being one of the smartest damn people on this team.

Eventually, Koushirou and his parents finally put to rest the core of the issue that had been plaguing him the whole time when they have a proper heart-to-heart talk about the adoption issue, and Koushirou confirms that his parents love him all the same. During this conversation, Koushirou attempts to force himself to speak casually, the way he feels he should be speaking to them, instead of this distance he’s been keeping between himself and his parents this whole time -- but his father assures him that he doesn’t have to force himself or change himself for them. Even with all of these coping mechanisms he’s developed in speaking politely to everyone or immersing himself in computers, that doesn’t make it any less of a valid aspect of himself -- after all, his father points out that this kind of intellectual ability seems to run in his biological family, but, more importantly: “There’s nothing wrong with being into computers.”

At the end of this scene, Tentomon encourages Koushirou to cry as much as he wants -- because this whole time, allowing himself to fully express his emotions and vulnerability to others was something Koushirou had always had serious difficulty with.

The final episodes of the series -- mainly episodes 48, 49, and 51 -- show Koushirou also remarkably allowing his emotional closeness to Taichi (again, the person he was probably closest to this entire time) to increase. On top of being Taichi’s emotional sounding board as he completely loses his head over Hikari in episodes 48-49 (and Koushirou puts up with a lot from Taichi, who almost threatens to start physically fighting him in a state of emotional compromise), he, effectively, actually talks back to Taichi for the first time in episode 51 -- again, Koushirou never gets truly angry over the course of Adventure or 02, but this is the most expressively he’s allowed himself to express his frustration. And it’s for a very emotionally vulnerable and selfless reason, too -- he really, really cares for and respects Taichi, and is upset that he can’t help him.

Koushirou ends the series with Tentomon and an acknowledgment that he still has a long road ahead of him. He still can’t force himself to speak casually, not yet. But in the years ahead, and maybe someday, he’ll become someone able to actually interact with people instead of constantly trying to keep away from them, especially on an emotional level.

Our War Game!, 02, and the aftermath

Koushirou’s character arc continues into 02, and Our War Game!, being between Adventure and 02, gives us a bit of a glimpse of where his character arc is going -- namely, that, throughout the movie, Koushirou mentions having Internet friends who feed him information about the situation on the Internet. This largely has to do with the themes of the movie itself, of course -- the climax of the movie involves “everyone around the world coming together through the Internet” -- but it’s also brought up that Koushirou has some really talented connections, such as a friend with a guaranteed university opening and a Taiwanese middle school student who hacked into the Pentagon. (Let’s think about the fact that Koushirou can drop these sentences like it’s nothing.)

Koushirou, comparatively, is, for all intents and purposes, a completely ordinary elementary school student whose greatest demonstrated skill in tech work seems to be...uh...location spoofing? (He spends the entire movie pretty much reliant on the info said Internet friends are feeding him, getting assistance from Gennai, and hooking up a lot of ordinary hardware peripherals to their computers on hand.) And yet, somehow, he’s started to become really well-connected -- meaning he’s now started to form an active social life, even online, to the point where he can actually utilize his connections to have a ton of influence even if he can’t necessarily do amazing technological feats by himself.

He also momentarily does criticize Taichi for his reckless behavior midway through the movie, and although he cools down quickly, it’s indicative of how far he’s come given that he wouldn’t have dared done so during most of Adventure. He’s more willing to express his own opinions and confront others, and he’s comfortable enough with Taichi enough to do this.

One year later -- according to the Two-and-a-Half Year Break drama CD -- Koushirou becomes the captain of the Odaiba Elementary computer club.

Back before Adventure, Koushirou joined the soccer club because he wanted to be invisible. But by the time of the space between Adventure and 02, Koushirou not only joins the computer club (something more relevant to what he personally wants and enjoys as a hobby), but also becomes appointed as captain, possibly the single most visible position in the club. On top of that, he also seems to be starting what we later learn in 02 episode 39 to be a global network of Chosen Children. In other words, he’s reaching out to people as a leader -- quite remarkable, for someone who used to go out of his way to avoid other people and wanted to have as little presence as possible!

In other words, Koushirou’s post-Adventure character arc involves him not only honing his own native analysis skills, but developing a skill of organizing and coordinating other people.

We learn in 02 episode 1 that Miyako looks up to Koushirou as her former computer club senior -- she practically adores him. It is also very unlikely that she looks up to him for anything related to tech, given that we find out in Diablomon Strikes Back that she can hack into the Shibuya scramble crossing screens. In fact, Miyako is practically a tech prodigy compared to anything we’ve seen from Koushirou; she can assemble and fix computer hardware (02 episode 1), mod D-Terminals (02 episode 13), and even do sound engineering (02 episode 29) -- but the thing is, for all of Miyako’s grab bag computer skillset, she’s never portrayed as having any of the analysis skills Koushirou has (which is why she doesn’t have the same Crest he does), and she’s basically a “dabbler” who seems to do things because they peripherally interest her or can be useful for helping other people (like Iori’s mom or Yamato’s band). So in other words, it’s much more likely that the reason she looks upwards at Koushirou so much is that he has actual leadership, coordination, and analysis skills that she doesn’t, and, even with a much more limited skillset, is much better at actually applying them to do more wide-reaching and amazing things.

Indeed, in 02 episode 7, we learn that Koushirou had sent data on the D-3s to a “friend in America”. Or, in other words, Koushirou has gotten really good at outsourcing. Of course, he’s very talented with computers and can do many things by himself, but now he’s starting to gather an entire network of people all over the world who can do even more incredible things under his leadership (including Miyako herself). And, more importantly, they’re all willing to do this for him, while he organizes all of this together to push everyone forward.

He’s also significantly more expressive than he ever was in Adventure -- again, he never gets truly heated or angry, and he’s still using formal language even with his juniors, but he does spend the end of this episode chastising everyone for going in recklessly and worrying about their safety. (Koushirou really is a very kind person when it comes down to it, so it’s notable that a lot of his frustration most often comes out when he’s worried about others, and he’s still very quick to calm down.) With that, you get a glimpse of the assertive and protective computer club captain Miyako sees in him, rather than the shy and deferential kid from Adventure.

Despite no longer attending Odaiba Elementary (to be fair, Odaiba Middle is next door), Koushirou ends up becoming one of the most visible seniors in 02, because he keeps popping back into the computer lab to check on them or disseminate information. This wasn’t something the series had to portray, given he easily could have just sent everything over email, but it’s important to his role as someone who’s cultivating a skill in “gathering people together and organizing them”; he’s basically the go-between for the Adventure and 02 groups.

This is especially because an entire scene is dedicated to him having a heart-to-heart with Ken in episode 33, where they talk about...well, everything. (He’s also the only of the Adventure seniors to actually sit down and have a heart-to-heart with him within the course of the actual series.) We see a lot of Koushirou’s natural inquisitiveness in play -- he wants to know more about Ken himself as the new member of the 02 team, he’s keeping an eye on the phenomenon of Chosen Children popping up all over the world and keeping tabs on what might be behind their proliferation, and he’s making extensive hypotheses on Digital World mechanics such as the clothes changing. So again, really, Koushirou’s interest isn’t really in computers as much as it’s everything -- including the Digital World and the Chosen Child phenomenon, which has so much to unpack -- and getting to know and having a heart-to-heart with the new kid who has a lot of new information and facts to offer is another perfectly feasible way to get research data. He even laments not having been able to reach Ken earlier -- “we were supposed to find you before [Oikawa] did.”

So, with Koushirou’s skills of “analysis” and “understanding more” mixed with his newfound skills of “organizing people and helping them work together”, where does that lead us?

Well, for one, Koushirou’s streak of constantly being visible in Adventure-based media even when you wouldn’t think he would be continues in Kizuna -- which is advertised up and down as a Taichi and Yamato movie, yet Koushirou gets significantly more screentime and attention than most of the other Adventure group due to how important his role is to all of them. Koushirou is basically functioning as “mission control” for everyone in the group -- he’s the person keeping tabs on the situation and monitoring it, and also the one managing the network of international Chosen Children to the point Menoa targets his database.

Oh, and he’s a CEO now.

IZUMI Corporation is not a big corporation, mind you. We see Koushirou’s office, and he’s pretty obviously running a very tiny startup. But running this corporation means he can do an extended version of what he was doing in 02: he can order production of all the technology used in the movie to help tackle Digimon incidents (as well as, presumably, things such as the smartphone terminals for the Digivices). Koushirou’s not a gadgets genius who can make things in a cave with scraps, but he can organize production companies and other entities and negotiate to have these things produced, especially since he’s pumping any money he makes from the corporation directly into supporting the Chosen Child community. So, again: coordinating people and organizing them to use their skillsets to create larger things.

Not only that, certain things haven’t changed about him -- he still seems to be Taichi’s poor beleagured minder, to the point you feel Taichi’s really lucky that Koushirou puts up with him so much. You can practically hear Koushirou’s increasingly desperate tone begging Taichi to please, please behave with the goggles and not break something this time.

As with in the original series, Koushirou’s major independent skill turns out to be not any particular technical skill as it is his analytical ability -- even without any Digimon Analyzer entry on Eosmon (with it being an artificial Digimon), he manages to do some quick thinking and on-the-spot tactical analysis on the field, and ultimately, he’s the one to figure out that Menoa is the culprit purely by analyzing fragments and following Menoa’s academic paper trail. He then does possibly one of the most clever secret actions in the entire movie, which is texting coordinates to Taichi behind his back the moment he realizes that things are about to go really south with Menoa.

Koushirou still has his trademark tendency to fixate, and he still speaks politely to everyone in this movie, but on top of everything else about him that’s the same as ever, he’s also still got his stubborn determination to get to the bottom of things -- while Taichi and Yamato momentarily start considering Menoa’s suggestion that separation from their partners is inevitable, Koushirou is the first person to put his foot down and declare he’ll find a solution. This includes an extra scene from the novel where he actually has a long, heart-to-heart talk with Tentomon about what the potential for Tentomon’s disappearance means for both of them, and both of them resolve to find a way out -- as much as Menoa accuses him of being naive, it’s a remarkably forward-thinking way to approach it compared to Taichi, Yamato, and Menoa’s lesser certainty throughout the movie.

As always, we end up at the 02 epilogue, and we find that Koushirou ended up as a “Digital World researcher” -- considering he’s working with what seem to be Professor Takenouchi and Kido Shuu, he’s most likely working in academic research. It’s not said whether he still has the company or not -- it’s very possible he still does, given that he’s going to need some way to actually fund the research, and anyone who’s worked in academia can tell you what kind of hell getting those funds can be (in fact, you could arguably say his work for IZUMI Corporation was inherently research in itself). So, again, the important part about his career doesn’t have to do with any kind of technical skill as much as it’s about fulfilling his dream of unpacking all of the mysteries of the Digital World that have yet to be discovered, and sharing that information with the world.

He also has a daughter. It seems like the two of them seem to share some kind of interest in learning, considering that she’s apparently gathering “samples” of something on his behalf (presumably, for help with research) -- but, also, as far as language goes, he has demonstrated at least the capability to speak casually and without distance to his own daughter. It’s unknown whether this applies to everyone else, but he did, to at least some degree, get to the point where “the words just flow naturally.”