"Claire alert!"

Takato Matsuki gasped as he woke up. A fifteen-year-old girl hopped through his opened window and tossed a skateboard onto his floor. He wrapped himself up in sheets and rolled over. She grasped his ankles right before tugging.

"Okay, I'm getting up! Sheesh, Claire," Takato laughed. He ran his hand through his wild brown hair before sitting up.

"It's your birthday, silly boy! It's time to celebrate!" his best friend exclaimed as she plopped into his computer chair. Claire unhooked her helmet, tossing it next to the skateboard.

"It's seven in the morning… Ever heard of sleeping in on the weekend?" he questioned as he stretched. His back cracked loudly, causing Claire to shiver. Takato smirked and added, "Still a bit squeamish, aren't you?"

"Never," she tried to hide her discomfort through laughter. Quickly changing the topic, she raised an eyebrow right before speaking. "You seem surprised to see me. I've been hopping in your window for four years now."

"And now I'll keep it shut so you'll have to knock."

Takato rolled out of bed. He stepped over to his closet to pick out clothes for the day. A plain white shirt was going to do it for the day. Something to keep him from being too noticed on his birthday. He enjoyed attention, but all the fake kindness on his birthday was a bit much.

"You've been saying that for the past three years."

The blond gave him a playful punch on the shoulder before handing him a present. Takato pointed at himself as if he was surprised. A roar of chuckles erupted from him when Claire gave him the "gray stare of death." He threw tissue paper at her to interrupt the stare. She huffed, but gave him a smile when he pulled out the blue jacket.

"Blue is your color, so I thought the hoodie would do," she admitted and gave him a thumbs-up when he held up to his body. He slipped it over his head, commenting on how warm it was. Takato began to thank her, but she put her finger over his mouth. "That's not all, silly boy. You didn't think that was all, did you? Check the front pocket."

Takato hesitantly reached into the front pocket of the hoodie. Claire was known for pulling pranks on his birthday, but he was surprised when nothing bit him or blew up. Instead, he felt two objects. One was definitely a notepad. He, smiling from ear to ear, pulled out the notepad. His other hand gripped the mystery object and slipped it out of the pocket.

"Digimon cards?!" Takato exclaimed as he began to open the package.

"No, no, no," Claire slapped his hands. Takato froze his hands, allowing Claire to explain. She smirked as she continued, "Don't open those while I'm around. I want to be surprised on Monday when you battle me, Kazu, and Kenta. Maybe you'll finally beat Kazu and graduate from 'chumley' to something more suiting."

Takato nodded and placed the cards down next to his card reader. He told his friend, "You didn't have to get me anything. This was more than I de—"

"It's my best friend's fifteenth birthday! You don't think it needs some celebrating? Besides, I don't get to chill with you the entire day like we usually do. Dad wants me home for 'daughter-father' time."

Takato felt a shiver go down his spine. He knew what that meant and his heart dropped. Claire started to put on her helmet, but Takato grasped it. He said in a low voice, "Don't go. I don't want yo—"

"Can it, Matsuki. I don't need your help." Claire's face and voice softened at the sight of Takato's hurt. She sighed before her classic smile appeared again. "Celebrate today, okay? I want you to have the best birthday ever. I want you to wish big and have it granted."

With that, she snatched her helmet away and snapped it back on. Before slipping out the window, she grabbed her skateboard. Takato ran to the window in time to see her jump. She landed on her skateboarded away before he could truly thank her for her gifts. He wondered how she could do that, but she did have four years of practice after all. The window was left open in case she decided to come back.

He couldn't remember eating that much cake at any of his other birthdays. That was the first time Kenta wasn't there to eat most of the cake. Actually, it was the first time Kazu, Kenta, and Claire weren't there to celebrate in a long time. Years since he had a birthday with just him and his parents. It was nice, but he missed Kazu yelling, Kenta eating until he puked, and Claire accidentally breaking things.

His parents tried to make it as exciting as they possibly could, but baking bread as a birthday activity was the best thing they had scheduled. Their gifts were nice though. A bike will be much better than walking to school.

It was also the first year that he didn't receive anything Digimon from his parents. He asked about it, but they tried to shrug it off. After a bit more persistence, his dad admitted that Takato has been too old for Digimon for years. It was time to find a more productive hobby. His dad said he needed to pick of bread baking. He thought to himself after the speech, Maybe… I am too old. Maybe I should get more serious about real things.

Takato collapsed onto his computer chair. The notepad was practically screaming his name. He reached for a pencil and began to doodle. Before he knew it, he had drawn some sort of red dinosaur. He laughed, realizing he had Digimon on the mind. He titled it "Guilmon" before he colored the dinosaur red. Information about Guilmon ran through his mind, so he copied everything down on other pages before he could forget. He found himself saying out loud, "I'm not too old for Digimon. I wish Digimon were real. Then my parents wouldn't be telling me to grow up."

Curiosity struck when he first said Digimon. He could see the card pack from the corner of his eye. Biting his lip in nervousness, he ripped the pack open. A groan escaped him as he looked over the cards.

"Crap," he started and tossed the first card over his shoulder. "Crap, crap, crap… Wait."

The first few cards were utter disappointments, for the cards were worthless or one he already had. A blue card caught his eye. It sort of glimmered and had a symbol he had never seen before. Feeling as though he struck gold, Takato ran the card through his scanner. The numbers began to go crazy and he face palmed.

"I should have looked it up first," he groaned. That's what happens when he puts faith in objects so easily. He shook his head when the numbers didn't stop spinning. "Now I broke it."

Maybe that's my sign to grow up, he thought to himself. He sighed and crawled into bed. The fifteen-year-old had never been so sad and defeated on his birthday. A tear welded up in his eye, but he fell asleep before he could shed it.

The scanner continued to activate while Takato slept. A light consumed the scanner. The scanner changed shapes into a D-Power. Takato's notepad lied next to the D-Power. The D-Power ripped pages out of the notepad and scanned the pages. Paper was spread all over Takato's floor before the D-Power finally stopped. An egg appeared on the screen and would swell every few seconds, as if it was breathing.

Takato mumbled in his sleep, "Too old…"