Title: Omisoka
Focus: Makino Ruki. Something that you can take as mild Ruki/Renamon if you really want to. I won't mind.
Rated: PG-13
Season/Timeline: Digimon Tamers. Due to internal clues, I place Digimon Tamers in mid to late 2007, and this fanfic takes place on December 31, 2007/January 1, 2008. Please read the story for any further clues concerning events and dates. Have a Happy New Year!
Note: The title of the story is what, according to a very accurate webpage I used as a resource, December 31 is called in Japan. All information concerning how the Japanese celebrate this day is also from that source. You can find it here: . By the way, the calendar burning isn't a Japanese custom as far as I know. It's just something I thought was fun. It kind of does feel like something they'd do, at least to me, though.
Extra Note: Mr. Makino was never given a personal name in Digimon Tamers. I selected one that I thought was fitting, and that is Takumi. It means 'artisan' in Japanese.
Summary: Ruki celebrates the dawning of a New Year with new friends.
Ruki eyed the calendar on her wall suspiciously. She knew it was silly to think about this, but it was her own mind and she could be silly in it if she wanted to be. But, really, how could December 31 just sneak up on a person like that? It was rude. There should be some kind of warning, at least.
I suppose Christmas counts. Since only a week separated the two holidays, it probably did. But that didn't matter. The only thing Christmas really meant to her was the chance to see both of her parents at the same time. Makino Takumi always did his best to either send her something for the holidays, or come see her.
Be that as it was, however, it didn't change the fact that it was now New Year's Eve, which meant there were going to be parties and celebrations and all kinds of things. Her parents and grandmother were going to be watching the clock until the midnight hour struck. She was welcome to watch with them, but she never had. Her reasons were different this time, though. Unlike most other years, she had other plans with her friends.
"Are you almost ready?" Renamon watched her from one corner of the room, those quiet green eyes thoughtful as always. Ruki almost smiled, remembering how her father's eyes had bugged out of his head when he'd met her partner. It was one thing to find out on the news that your daughter was bonded to a creature from another world and trying to save everything from being destroyed. It was something else to meet this creature face to face.
"Yeah, I've just got find my other calendar." Ruki got back to what she'd been doing.
"You don't get distracted easily, Ruki. Is something on your mind?" Her partner didn't move from where she was, but something in her attitude revealed her concern.
Ruki shrugged briefly, tugging the object of her desire out from where she'd shoved it three weeks earlier. It was a special edition 'Digimon Tamers' calendar, put out as a rush job from the same company that made the Digimon card game. Just a little thank you for saving the world. It had involved a small photo shoot, but since no one asked her to wear a silly dress and Renamon had been with her, she'd survived.
The picture had come out rather well, really. This photographer hadn't been like the one she'd had to deal with when she'd tried to make her mother happy with that other shoot. He'd just asked her to act naturally and pose with Renamon. The resulting image had the two of them leaning on each other's backs, with Ruki holding a card as if ready to slash it.
"All right, let's go." Ruki pushed the drawer shut and yanked her old calendar off of the wall, stuffing it into her bag. The new one she tossed onto her desk; she'd put it up on the wall once she got back home after the countdown. "I'll meet you outside, I have to tell them where I'm going."
Renamon faded away as Ruki headed into the living room. Rumiko, Seiko, and Takumi were all seated around a table together, talking and laughing. The television was on, providing a low murmur of background noise, and a big bowl of the traditional toshi-koshi buckwheat noodles was at hand. Everything gleamed from the cleaning they'd all been doing earlier, and even some of Rumiko's usually flawless nail polish was chipped, testament to how hard she'd worked that day.
The young girl watched for a few moments, a rare smile playing about her lips. If I didn't know better, I'd think this happened every day. Coming home to seeing them both here, being a normal family. Her hand brushed by the card carrier at her waist, and her grin widened. Well, as normal as you can get when you're a Digimon Tamer.
"Ruki!" Her father waved at her briefly. "Are you going to watch the countdown with us this year?"
"Sorry, Dad. Renamon and I are going to spend it with the others." She made a slightly annoyed face. "This is our first New Year's since we all became Tamers, and I think they want to celebrate as a team or something. I don't know." It seemed a little silly to her, but the chance to spend time with at least some of the people she cared about was more than enough reason to go.
Takumi shivered; he still wasn't comfortable with the notion of his daughter running around fighting creatures like she did. "Well, all right. Try to make it home before too long, though. I'm going to be leaving tomorrow afternoon and I want to spend a little more time with you."
"I know. I'll be back later." She wasn't going to make any promises. Those things had a way of being broken, and she didn't want the guilt. "See you!" She didn't give anyone else time to say anything as she dodged out the door and headed away.
As she headed for the park, Renamon dropped down beside her, silent as could be. If Ruki hadn't been her Tamer, she might well have not even known she was there to start with, until the vixen spoke. "You have changed from when we first met, Ruki. You would have spent this time locked up in your room, going over your cards and wondering why people wanted you to spend time with them."
"Yeah, I know. That was silly of me, wasn't it?" Ruki looked back mentally at the her of a year earlier, and wondered just how much of a brat she'd been. It was all different now, thanks to Renamon, Takato, Juri, Jenrya, and all the others. Mostly Renamon. She showed me it was okay to trust other people. They just proved it. Even Ryou. The jerk. If an emotion could've been said to color that description of him, it would have just been friendly affection, instead of the sincerity that it might have been just a short while earlier.
"Everyone has their silly moments."
Ruki flashed a quick grin at the Digimon. "You don't. You've never been silly as long as I've known you."
"I've been alive much longer than you've known me, and I've had those silly moments. You just weren't there for them." Renamon touched her partner's shoulder briefly, her fingers feeling warm. "I believe you have taught me as much as I have you."
The redhead reached her hand up to touch Renamon's, and two sets of eyes met for a few heartbeats. Something passed between them that had no words and didn't need any for that matter. Ruki finally broke the silence. "We'd better get going. The others are going to send out a search party if we're too late."
Contrary to what the Makinos might have thought, Ruki and her friends weren't gathering at anyone's house for this personal celebration. There was only one place where they all felt like being, and where there was room enough for everyone: the area of the park where Guilmon's hideout, and the gateway to the Digital World, had once been. It was from there that just a few weeks earlier the Digimon had returned to their world, uniting with their Tamers once more.
"Ruki!" Juri waved brightly at the other girl as she and Renamon came into view a few moments later. "Glad you could make it! Did you bring any mochi with you?"
"My dad brought me some." Ruki tapped her jacket pocket where a half-dozen of the traditional rice cakes were waiting to be eaten once the clock struck twelve. She preferred these to the noodles her relatives were going to be eating, all things considered.
Juri bounced up and down, squealing happily. It hadn't take her very long to once more be the happy girl she had been before the D-Reaper took on her form, or at least to act like it on the outside. Ruki wasn't fooled, though. Juri really was quite happy, but where it couldn't normally be seen was a core of steel and strength that Ruki had never imagined could be in the brown-haired girl before seeing it herself. "Great! I just love this stuff! We spent so much time making it, I almost forgot to look forward to eating it!"
"I hope Takato had enough sense to feed Guilmon today. If that dinosaur of his is starving enough, he'll eat us!" Ruki teased lightly, seeing her goggle-wearing friend standing behind Juri. She knew Guilmon's appetite wasn't quite as voracious as it had been when he'd first come into existence, but if you couldn't tease your friends, who could you tease?
Takato just shook his head at her. "Of course I remembered to feed him. It's a little hard to forget when the first thing I've heard every morning since he came back was 'Good morning, Takato. Is it breakfast time yet? I'm hungry.'"
"I think the real question is, did Ryou feed Cyberdramon?" Hirokazu poked his head out of the hideout. "We could always bribe Guilmon with some bread if we had to, but that big lug eats meat!"
"And lots of it." Ryou joined in, coming into the circle of light provided by the campfire burning before them. His partner hovered just over one shoulder, unconcerned by anything they were saying. "But I did feed him. No one has to worry about becoming Cyberdramon-chow."
One by one, the ten Tamers encircled the fire, their Digimon partners settling either behind or beside them for the most part. Culumon curled up in Juri's lap, his mouth widening in a huge yawn. All he'd really understood about all of this was that they got to eat late at night, and that was all he really wanted to understand. He wasn't stupid, but things like calendars and New Year's really didn't have that much meaning to him. Time was either food time or playtime or not one of the other, and that was it.
Impmon shot looks that were supposed to be annoying, or so Ruki guessed, around the group. "So what are we doing up so late? The kids need their rest." He looked behind him to where Ai and Makoto were leaning against each other, snoozing softly already.
"This is New Year's Eve," Jenrya explained quietly. "The end of one year and the beginning of another. We've went through a lot together the last few months, so I thought it would be a good idea if we were together for this, too."
The Small Demon Digimon scratched his head, twitched his tail, then shrugged. "If you say so. I don't see why, but I guess it won't hurt anything."
"And there's a little ritual that my parents do every year," Takato tugged his old calendar out of his backpack and laid it in front of him. "Because we don't need it anymore, and to show the old year's gone and the new year is starting, we burn our old calendars. Who brought theirs?"
"I did!" Hirokazu waved his around, almost hitting Guardromon on the head with it. "Whoa, sorry about that."
Kenta just smiled forgivingly at his friend. "No problem. I brought mine too." He patted the small wire bound calendar before him. "Is that campfire going to be big enough to deal with all of them?"
Ryou peered more closely at the flickering flames, his own calendar bumping against his knee as he did so. "If we're careful and don't shove them in all at once, it should be."
"Didn't someone say something about food being eaten too?" Guilmon looked over Takato's shoulder. "I know I smell food, but where is it?"
"Those are the mochi cakes. You don't start eating those until it's actually the New Year." Juri told the Digimon. "So you're going to have to wait a while on that."
Guilmon's head drooped poutily, but he cheered up as Takato petted his head. "We don't have much longer to wait, boy. Just about an hour or so, isn't it?"
"Sounds about right to me." Jenrya checked his watch, then lifted his head. "Yeah, if you listen, you can hear the temple bells."
"Bells?" Culumon's ears twitched a little. "They're awfully loud, culu culu."
Ruki nodded a little. "They're coming from Buddhist temples all over the city. Buddhists believe there are a hundred and eight earthly passions you have to deal with before you become enlightened. Each ring is supposed to drive away one of them. It takes about an hour to do them all, because they wait until the echo from each ring dies out before they do another one. They're broadcasting in on television and radio too. My family's probably listening to it right now."
"I know mine are," Jenrya agreed. "Shuichon and I can't stay much longer after they're done; Mom and Dad want us home. Something about holidays not being that much of an excuse to stay up too late."
Shuichon giggled, squeezing Lopmon tightly. "I think they are! It's fun to be up late!"
"I agree!" Hirokazu nodded, eyes sparkling with excitement. "So, what's everyone's New Year's resolutions? Mine is to win the Digimon Tournament this year!"
"That's what you resolve to do every year." Kenta murmured. "And you never make it past the first round eliminations."
"Well, this year is different!" Hirokazu clapped both Ruki and Ryou on the back. "I've got the best coaches! The Digimon King and Queen themselves!"
Ruki shot the hyperactive Tamer a deadly glare. "One, I don't remember saying I was going to coach you, two, if you don't get your hand off of me, you're going to be eating it, and three, if you want to win, you don't want Ryou helping you. He hasn't played seriously in nearly a year. I have."
"So that means you're going to coach me, right?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, you haven't asked me yet. I might have something better to do with my time, like sort my cards or watch paint dry or go to school."
"Well, while Hirokazu's trying to figure out how best to beg Ruki to help him," Ryou grinned cheekily at the other card-players, "I think my New Year's resolution is going to be...to...well..." He scratched his head a little, a sheepish look coming over his face. "Honestly, I can't think of anything I want to do. I've done it all. I'm a great card player, I've got the best Digimon, and I've helped save the world."
Kenta laughed, his eyes glinting in the firelight. "So what does the Digimon King who has done everything do in the New Year?"
Ryou snapped his fingers as the others started to laugh. "That's it! My New Year's resolution is to find out what I haven't done yet, and do it!"
"Only in this gaggle would something like that even remotely make sense." Ruki pushed Hirokazu away lightly. "Fine, I'll give you some pointers! But not now!"
"What about you, Ruki?" Juri wondered softly. "What do you want to do this year?"
"Find out why I hang out with you guys?" The Tamer flashed a grin to show she didn't mean it, then shrugged. "I don't really know myself. I guess, find out more about myself. I did a lot of that the last few months, and it came out better than I thought, so why not some more?"
Around and around the fire the question went, and the answers came. Kenta was determined to find out just why he was the only one who could understand MarineAngemon. Shuichon wanted the biggest chocolate cake in the world, so she could share it with Lopmon. Jenrya wanted to learn to be a doctor, to deal with the bellyache that would come from that. The twins were completely happy with having Impmon back with them, while Juri wanted to get to know and appreciate her stepmother more.
"It's almost time. Just a few minutes to go." Jenrya checked his watch again. "Takato, since you're the leader, you want to go first?"
"Okay." The goggle-wearing pre-teen picked up his calendar and eyed the fire, waiting for the moment to strike. As the last echoes of the bells faded away, he carefully tucked the bound pages in, making certain not to knock the fire apart as he did. Flames licked at it, tasting it and finding it delicious. In just a few minutes, the calendar was nothing more than curled black edges and ash.
Takato smiled just a little, then tugged out one of the mochi cakes and started to nibble on it. He always felt a little peaceful when it came to this night. At least he thought he did; he hadn't really remembered too many of the ones before that. There were disadvantages to only having lived through barely ten.
One by one, the group slid the old year into the fire, letting it burn away, then started on their rice cakes. As each year crisped and burned, they stared into the flames and thought of what had gone by and what might come. Ruki pushed hers in there slowly, stirring up some of the old ashes and letting the flames leap higher and higher. Tongues of red and gold wrapped around it, burning the last year of her old angry life away.
Her eyes flicked momentarily around the group, wondering if something should be said. No, I don't think so. They know, even without me saying anything. Just her presence was all the admittance of how much they meant to her.
Finally, the last of the cakes were eaten and the last of the old year had been burned, making way for the new.
"See you later." Ruki was the first to speak, looking at them all in turn. Last year she hadn't known any of them. This year, she couldn't think of a better group of people to spend time with. "Let's go, Renamon. Hirokazu, if you want those tips, come by in a couple of days. And leave your ego at home, you won't be needing it."
Laughs echoed all around as they started away, a smile hovering once more around her lips. This was what life was about. Good friends and jokes and companionship and family. She needed nothing more.
The silence between herself and her partner as they left was the silence of good friends who don't need to speak, the same kind of silence that often fell between the Tamers now. Ruki shivered a little in the chill night air, and looked up with a smile as Renamon put a furry arm around her. The chill didn't seem to matter at all with that, replaced by a deep warmth that filled every part of her soul. "Happy New Year, Renamon." The words slipped out without thought, but thought wasn't necessary for this. It was enough just to feel.
"Happy New Year, Ruki."