Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Adventure 02. Or any entry into the Digimon franchise.
Warnings: Non-explicit sexual themes.
Can't Predict The Weather
Chapter One:
"Well this is just great."
A glare.
"What, you're not gonna say anything? That's a first."
"I have absolutely nothing to say to you."
"Oh, I can think of a few things you could say to me. 'I'm sorry,' for one."
He made a disdainful sound. "In what way is this my fault?"
"In the way that everything is your fault."
"Yes, yes. I'm forcing you and your pathetic comrades to challenge me. How could I have forgotten?"
"Of course, we're just supposed to ignore the fact that you're torturing and enslaving thousands of innocent Digimon."
"Innocent," drawled the Kaiser, a smirk spreading across his lips. "I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from such a sentimental idiot."
Miyako felt her left eyebrow twitch. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
His smirk spread wider, but he said nothing in reply. Miyako had to resist the urge to punch him in the nose.
A few minutes passed in uncomfortable silence, with Miyako shifting occasionally to get a more comfortable position on her rock. This was proving to be a near impossible task, given the one end of said rock was quite of bit higher than the other, so there was always something hard pressing sharply into her butt. Frustrated, she stood up and began to pace.
"So how are we supposed to get out of here?" she asked, not really directing the question at anyone in particular.
"Perhaps I could think of something if you kept your mouth shut."
She glared at him sharply. "That was a rhetorical question."
"And yet my response remains the same."
It took every ounce of her willpower not to scream.
To make matters worse, it was freezing, and her clothes were still wet from having fallen through snow. The pacing kept her from shivering too badly.
After a few minutes, she asked, "Are you getting any reception?"
"If I was, do you think I'd still be here?"
"Point."
She continued to pace, up until her fingers started to go numb inside of her gloves. Her toes, too. She was pretty sure that was a bad sign. Sitting back down on the rock, she took off the gloves and blew on her cupped hands.
It didn't help.
"Aren't you c-cold?" she asked, shivering so hard that she almost bit her tongue.
"No," he replied. The bite was gone from his tone, though. He sounded worried.
That was when she realized that she may not make it out of this alive.
"Never thought I'd freeze to death," she said, oddly detached from the thought.
A pause. "You're not going to die."
Her reply was cut off by a violent shiver.
His next words were said in a tone she'd never heard him use before. Hesitant. Almost...shy. "You need to take off those wet clothes. I'll give you my coat."
"'K-Kay," she said. She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't move. "Um...I'll n-need some help."
"...Alright," he said, and walked over to her. He took her by the arm and – with surprising gentleness – helped her to stand. She could see that he was shivering, too, though not as badly as she was.
"I..." She swallowed. "I think you'll need to h-help me with the c-clothes t-too."
He flushed red, but nodded. He was clearly trying not to look at her as he helped her wriggle out of her clothes, until he must've realized that this was slowing down the process dangerously. His face was almost completely red by the time she was down to her underwear. The contrast with his tinted goggles would've been hilarious under different circumstances. But she was too cold to laugh just then.
He draped his coat over her shoulders as quickly as he could manage. It was light, but surprisingly warm. "Th-thanks," she said, and slid to the ground, cocooning herself in the fabric.
He went back to his original place on the cave floor and wrapped his arms around his knees.
Once she was warm enough to move freely again, she skillfully wriggled out of her wet bra and panties, stashing them behind her rock. She was leaning against it now, rather than sitting on it. It wasn't easy on her back, but it was warmer.
Still cold, though.
"Why did you help me?" she asked a few minutes later. The temperature in the cave was dropping, and she needed a distraction.
"Because I don't want to watch somebody freeze to death." She could tell by the tremor in his voice that he was shivering pretty badly.
"Oh," she said. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "So, um..." She licked her lips and wiggled her toes. "If I die, and you survive, will you give my family a message?"
He didn't reply. She carried on, anyway. "Just tell them that I love them, and that I'm sorry." She sucked in sob. "Do you know my name?"
"...Inoue Miyako," he said.
She nodded. "I live in Iyami Mansions on Miura street in Odaiba. Apartment 304. Can you say it back?"
"...Iyami Mansions, Miura street, Apartment 304."
She nodded again. "Th-thanks. I'm counting on you."
He let out a loud sigh. "You're not going to die, Inoue-san."
She let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob. "You know, I never thought I'd hear you say 'san'. It sounds r-really weird."
He said nothing, and they lapsed into silence.
Miyako somehow managed to fall asleep.
When the Kaiser woke up, he couldn't feel his toes. He was fairly sure that was a sign of hypothermia.
He could hear Inoue singing softly, her voice pleasant despite the fact that it trembled with her shivering. He sat there for a few minutes, just listening to her sing, and decided that there were worse people to freeze to death with – all things considered.
A hiss of pain escaped his lips when a spasm seized his left leg; the singing stopped.
"A-are you awake, K-Kaiser-kun?"
He supposed she didn't know what else to call him. She didn't know who he was in the Real World, after all. Still, it sounded strange.
"Ah," he said.
"You're p-pretty smart, r-right?"
He didn't feel very smart at that moment. "I g-guess," he said.
"Is it t-true that you c-can f-fight off hypo-th-thermia by cuddling for w-warmth?"
"A-ah," he said. "M-most effective...without c-clothes."
She let out a giggle. It was just shy of being hysterical. "Th-that's what I th-thought."
If he wasn't freezing to death, he would've blushed.
"W-well? What are y-you w-waiting for? G-get over here."
He didn't have the energy to argue. With great difficultly, he managed to crawl over to where Inoue was lying. He stripped down with shaking hands, too cold to be embarrassed, and slid under the coat with her. The material wouldn't cover them both unless they really squeezed together.
After some time, he fell back to sleep.
He was warm when he woke up again, his hands grasping something delightfully soft and smooth. With a jolt, awareness came back to him, and he pulled his hands away from what appeared to be Inoue's bare backside.
"Awake, huh?"
Well, at least he was warm enough to blush. That was something. "I'm so sorry," he said. It was only then that he became aware of something – well, two things – pressing against his bare chest. His entire body flushed this time, and not only from embarrassment.
"It was grope or die," she said, voice scratchy in a very pleasant way, "so I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you."
He tried to roll over to hide the evidence of her body's effect on him, but the coat was pulled too tightly around them. He was jolted out of his panic when he felt fingers brushing against his cheek.
"You're beautiful," she murmured. "Why on earth would you hide a face like this behind those clunky goggles?"
His faced burned. He could feel her pressed tightly against him, all soft and smooth and warm. His hands twitched with the desire to trace the curves of her body.
Just yesterday, he would've sworn up and down that touching another person – and being touched – would make him feel nauseous.
Just yesterday, he had been very mistaken.
To try and distract himself from her body, his only recourse was to examine her face. Her glasses were gone, and she must've been near-sighted, because he was sure her eyes looked larger without them. Honey-colored.
Pretty.
"I could say the same about your glasses," he said.
Her cheeks went a very fetching shade of pink. "I need them to see, and contacts are a pain. It's not the same." She let out a shaky breath. "It's okay if you want to touch me, by the way."
He was sure he misheard. "Excuse me?"
Her blush deepened, but her expression was earnest. "Let's just pretend that we don't hate each for a little while." She bit her bottom lip, then said, "I'd like to make love to a cute boy at least once before I die."
He swallowed. "You're not going to die."
She gazed at him intently. "Is this your way of saying no?"
He didn't know what to say, so he kissed her.
She kissed back.
And, for a little while, they forgot that they hated each other.
They were still thoroughly not hating each other when a Drimogemon broke through the wall of the cave, a frantic Wormmon jumping off its back to exclaim, "I found you, Ken-chan!"
The Kaiser broke off a rather vigorous kiss, looking like he wanted to murder the little digimon. Miyako wasn't sure he wouldn't. Blushing to the roots of her hair, she scrambled to find the clothes that she'd discarded...yesterday? Last night? She had no idea.
When she was dressed, she said, "So...Ken, huh?"
He scowled, but nodded.
She sighed, feeling very disoriented. "Are you going to let me go?"
He looked genuinely taken-aback by the question. "You think I want to kidnap you?"
Shrugging, she said, "I dunno. Maybe. Do you?"
"No," he said, looking insulted, and put his goggles back on.
"So..."
"Yes, I'm going to let you go." A pause, and then, "Although, you should probably get something to eat and drink as soon as possible."
As if on cue, her stomach gave a load growl. She blushed. "That's okay," she said.
"I can give you a ride to the surface, at least."
She shook her head. "No thanks. I have reception now, so I'll just wait for the others to get me."
"If you insist," he said, looking put-out. Was she hurting his feelings?
Did she care?"
He was boarding the Drimogemon when a question suddenly occurred to her. "Wait, Ken-kun!"
He turned to look at her. "What?"
She rubbed the back of her neck, stomach twisting unpleasantly. "How old are you?"
"Sixteen," he said.
She let out a sigh of relief, which made the corners of his mouth twitch downward. After a few moments of awkward silence, she said, "Um...bye?"
"...Bye," he replied, then instructed the Drimogemon to climb.
She sat back down on her old rock and contacted the others.
After a series of crushing hugs, several tuna mayo onigiri, and an entire 2-liter bottle of water, Miyako had enough strength to fill the others in about what had happened in the cave.
Though she did leave out certain...awkward details. Like the ones involving losing her virginity to their nemesis in a fit of existential terror.
Yeah. She was pretty sure that one was going with her to her grave.
"So he helped you?" asked Hikari, thoughtfully.
She nodded. "He said that he didn't want to watch somebody freeze to death."
Takeru stroked his chin. "He's threatened to kill us multiple times in the past, but maybe he's bluffing."
Poromon snuggled deeper into her arms, sniffling. She stroked the top of his head. "Maybe," she agreed, and was suddenly struck by the memory of how gently he'd touched her. And done...other things.
"Your face is very red, Miyako-san," said Iori, frowning worriedly. "Do you think you caught a cold?"
Swallowing past her suddenly dry mouth, she said, "Yeah, I probably did."
Daisuke looked about ready to blow a gasket. "Even if he did help you, it's the Kaiser's fault that you got there in the first place!" His hands were balled into fists. "I'm gonna kick his ass when I see him again!"
"Yeah!" agreed Chibimon, briefly distracted from his ChuX2.
Miyako was suddenly very tired. Standing shakily, she said, "I'm gonna go home, okay? I need to get some sleep on something that isn't the floor of a freezing cave."
Takeru and Iori jumped to their feet. "We'll come with," said Iori.
"Just in case," agreed Takeru.
She wasn't sure whether to feel annoyed or grateful. "I'll try not to pass out in the street," she said dryly.
Iori looked so worried that it probably wasn't the wisest quip to make. She tried to give him a reassuring smile.
He didn't look even remotely convinced.
Over the next few days, the Kaiser noticed that Miyako wasn't with the others. Sick, perhaps. Or traumatized. Maybe both.
He would've liked to pretend that he didn't care, but he couldn't deny that the lack of answers was distracting him. What if he'd put in all that effort to keep her alive, and endured all that humiliation, just to have her die of pneumonia?
He didn't have any way to contact her.
So when he returned home on the third day, he donned a hoodie and caught a bus to Odaiba. She was the one who'd insisted he memorize it, after all: Iyami Mansions, Miura street, Apartment 304.
It was an older building, without a security gate, so there was no need to do anything fancy. Soon, he was standing on the landing outside apartment 304. He briefly considered finding a way to maneuver himself onto the balcony on the back-side of the building, but couldn't see any way to do it. So he settled reluctantly for knocking on the door.
The woman who answered it was definitely Miyako's mother. "Good evening," he said, bowing formally.
She nodded her head. "Good evening. What brings you here?"
Straightening, he put on his most disarming smile. "I'm doing a project for school," he said. "A survey about the prevalence of diseases in high-density residential areas. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"
She blinked for a moment, then smiled. "Okay. I don't see why not."
He took out a small pad of paper and pen from the front pouch of his hoodie.
"How many times have members of your household gotten sick over the past twelve months?"
"Only twice that I can remember."
"Do you remember what illnesses they had?"
"One had a cold, and the other had strep throat."
He nodded, pretending to write it all down. "And are any members of your household currently sick?"
"Not now, no," she said, shaking her head.
So Miyako wasn't sick. That was...good. He gave her a bright smile. "Thank you very much for your time."
She smiled back. "It was no trouble. Good luck with your project." She shut the door.
If Miyako wasn't sick, then that meant she'd been away for other reasons. He told himself that it didn't matter.
But the sick feeling in his stomach refused to go away.
She was back in the Digital World five days after the incident. He wasn't exactly happy to see her - she was a pain in his side, after all, and the novelty value of having opponents had worn off quickly. But it did make the anxiety that had been plaguing him diminish somewhat.
She was acting as though nothing had happened, though. It was starting to annoy him. After one particularly pointed attempt to get her attention with some not-at-all subtle non-verbal cues, and her not-at-all-subtly ignoring him, he was starting to consider teaching her a lesson.
He was the Digimon Kaiser, after all. He would not put up with being ignored by some...some...
...incredibly attractive girl that he couldn't stop thinking about. Who was actually very funny, when she wasn't being obnoxious.
Indeed, it was suddenly hard to think of her as 'worthless vermin', knowing how soft her lips were, and what she sounded like when he...when they...
When they'd been together.
The thought of her ignoring him was unbearable.
It was therefore completely reasonable that he decided to hack her computer. He was going to show her that he couldn't be ignored.
Miyako was working on an assignment for Japanese when the command prompt opened for no reason.
Frowning, she moved the cursor to close it, but the program refused to comply. A line of text appeared.
-If you don't respond to this message, I'll wipe your entire system clean.
Snarling, she typed:
-Just who the hell is this?
The reply came quickly.
-Who do you think, Inoue-san?
Her mouth dropped open. She couldn't decide if she was more outraged or surprised.
"What's wrong, Miyako-san?" asked Poromon, who was reading a book on her bed.
"The Kaiser's hacked my computer," she replied.
"Whyever would he do a thing like that?"
Miyako didn't even know how to begin to explain the dynamics of human sexuality to a Digimon - even one as smart as Poromon - so she boiled the matter down to its essence. "Because he's a jerk," she said, then typed:
-Is this your idea of a joke?
-I've been trying to get in touch with you using more conventional methods, but you insist on ignoring me. I don't like being ignored, Inoue-san.
-Oh. So that's what you meant with those long, creepy stares. I just thought you were being weird.
-Fine then. I'll know to use this method from now on.
-Why do you even want to talk to me?
-I thought that would be obvious.
-And here *I'm* supposed to the "sentimental idiot".
-It's completely different.
How it was different, she wasn't sure. But who even knew what went through the Kaiser's enormous head. She decided that it was best to get back to the core of the matter.
-I appreciate what you did for me. But the rest...was a mistake. I don't blame you, but I just want to move on with my life. I thought that you of all people would feel the same way.
-Me "of all people"?
-You're a misanthrope with a superiority complex. And you've tried to maim me more than once. I didn't exactly take you for the romantic type.
-Maim you? Don't exaggerate.
-You set a pair of Gokiburimon on me and Mimi-neesan as a friendly gesture, I guess.
-They were harmless.
-Oh, definitely. Being chased by heavy falling objects is very safe. A fun activity for the entire family.
-You actually defeated them far more quickly than I was expecting. It put a damper on my whole holiday.
-Excuse me while I play the world's smallest violin.
-It really did, though. Your reactions were very entertaining.
She was certain now that he was just messing with her. His idea of flirting, perhaps. Or maybe his way of getting revenge for some imagined grievance. Either way, she wanted it to stop. Blowing out a frustrated breath, she typed:
-Enough, okay? I don't know what you're playing at, but please leave me alone. I'm ashamed of what we did, and I want to move past it. So will you respect my wishes or keep acting like a creep?
The reply was slower in coming than the others.
-Fine. I just wanted to clear the air. This will be the last time that I contact you.
She was just starting to type "thank you" when the command prompt disappeared.
Then her entire screen went black.
Ken had never actually expected to run into any of the his opponents in the Real World. Tokyo was a giant city, after all, and there were only a handful of them. So it was a rather nasty shock when he arrived to one of his practice games to see that the entire cohort was gathered there, and that their oaf of a leader was one of his opponents. He was really starting to get sick of all their smug, sanctimonious faces.
Well, most of their faces, anyway.
His eyes met with Miyako's as he scanned the row of his enemies in the bleachers, and he knew immediately that she'd recognized him from the way that her eyes widened in shock.
That would no doubt prove to be an inconvenience. But it wasn't as though they could ambush him in public. Miyako was practically vibrating with frustration already, so he shot her a pointed smirk before he walked over to consult with his coach.
The game was a joke, of course. Though Motomiya appeared to be taking it all in good spirits, which somewhat dampened the satisfaction of crushing him. A few times he heard Miyako's voice blaring from the bleachers, yelling some variation of "Kick their asses, Daisuke!", which soured his mood even more.
The ultimate blow came when Motomiya intercepted Ken's favorite formation, tackling him painfully before he could score the final goal. So it only out of spite that he bothered to go shake Motomiya's hand, just so he could watch Miyako's reaction from the corner of his eye.
She really did look very cute when she wanted to strangle someone.
"So...Ichijouji Ken is the Digimon Kaiser?" Daisuke's face fell. "But...he was so nice to me after the game."
Miyako's nostrils flared as she paced up and down the computer lab. "He only did that to get under my skin," she said. "He's been fixated on me ever since that time in the cave."
"Well, it's good to have a lead," said Koushiro. "Miyako-kun and I can hack into his school's database to find out his address."
Iori looked uncomfortable. "Is it really necessary to break the law? I'm sure there are other ways to find that kind of information."
Takeru nodded. "One of those fangirls that came from his school is bound to have it. A couple of them seemed like the 'go-through-garbage' type of devotee."
"We don't have time for that!" yelled Miyako, color rising high in her cheeks. "He already knows that we know! Do you think he's just going to sit around and wait for us to get the drop on him?"
Hikari stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Please calm down, Miyako-san..." She looked pointedly at Iori, who was staring hard at the floor.
Miyako deflated instantly. "Sorry," she said. "If it bothers Iori that much, then let's do what Takeru suggested and ask his schoolmates." Given the eagerness of the girls earlier, there was no doubt some kind of fanclub dedicated to their enemy. That would make it simpler, at least, though the thought of it left a sour taste in her mouth.
Iori shook his head. "No, Miyako-san - you're right. We don't have time. But, if you don't mind, I'd rather not be here while you and Izumi-san work."
"That's perfectly reasonable," said Koushiro. "We'll contact you once we have the information we need."
Iori bowed and scooped up Upamon, who looked back mournfully at the snacks he was leaving behind.
Miyako sat down beside Koushiro and booted up the computer. "Maybe we can change his grades once we're in," she said.
She was only half-joking.
When they arrived at Ken's apartment building to find that the police had beaten them there, they knew that they were too late.
A few weeks following his permanent relocation to the Digital World, the Kaiser was surprised to find his Digivice beeping in the wee hours of the morning - alerting him that one of his pests had decided to pay his domain a visit. When he put the location up on screen, he was even more surprised to find that the pest in question was Inoue Miyako.
His eyebrows shot up when he realized that her digimon wasn't with her. What's more, she'd chosen an area with a very obvious Dark Tower in view. It was almost as if she wanted him to notice she was there.
"Well, well," he said. "Just what are you up to, Miyako-san?"
He observed her for several minutes - which wasn't unusual. Ever since their time together in the cave, he'd taken to watching her far more than was strictly necessary for any kind of strategic purpose. He found it...engaging. It helped take his mind off of things whenever he was in a particularly rotten mood.
She looked very pretty in the moonlight, he thought. A very tempting target.
Smirking, he stood, and decided to take the bait.
When he arrived on the back of his Airdramon, she was still in the same forest clearing where he'd seen her on the monitors. She didn't turn around to face him, though she must've heard the Airdramon land.
"It's not wise to be out here alone at night," he said, walking towards her. "And without your digimon, no less. It gives me...ideas."
"I'm here to talk," she said, and there was something very off about her voice. It reminded him of how she'd sounded when she thought she was going to die.
He rushed to her side with a sudden sense of urgency, all of his "ideas" flying out of his mind, and turned her around by the shoulder. The moonlight was bright; he could see that she'd been crying.
"What's wrong?" he asked, unable to keep the fear from his voice.
She bit her bottom lip.
"Please answer, Miyako-san."
After a long pause, she finally said, "Ken-kun..." She paused again, taking in a shuddering breath.
"...I'm pregnant."